do not adjust your tv set - the bottle really is that green
Ale Asylum says:
“Ballistic IPA is a fully loaded American-style IPA. The use of American Amarillo hops give it explosive citrus aromas and aggressive bitterness with a smooth finish.”
Ale Asylum Ballistic IPA
American IPA, 7.5% ABV
Beer Advocate Rating of A-
Sayeth the Guys:
Ryan: I picked up this straggler at Discount Liquor in Milwaukee. I could spend hours telling you about how great Discount is and how you should go hours out of your way to stop there. But that will be a separate post. For now, lets just say it’s one of the top 10 beer stores in the Midwest. Hands down.
I call this beer a straggler because it was on the only bottle in its row of singles and was stuffed in the back. It needed a good home and I had never had an Ale Asylum beer so it seemed to be a good match. Continue reading Review: Ale Asylum Ballistic IPA
Lost Abbey says:
“Our Angel’s Share is a barrel aged burgundy colored ale infused with copious amounts of dark caramel malt to emphasize the vanilla and oak flavors found in freshly emptied bourbon or brandy barrels. Each batch spends no less than 12 months aging in the oak. As with all of our beers, this beer is brewed for sinners and saints alike.”
Lost Abbey Angel’s Share
American Strong Ale, 12% ABV
Beer Advocate Rating of A
Sayeth the Guys:
Ryan: There are moments when I drop in to Sheffield’s, or any of the dozen or so other great beer bars in Chicago, and I scan the menu and my heart will skip a beat. Lost Abbey Angel’s Share catching my eye did just that. I have never had any of the versions of Angel’s Share. Never. I have access to them. I’ve seen them plenty of times. But I just can’t bring myself to spend the money to pick one up. Call me cheap, but sometimes I have to prioritize – especially on a budget. But this was my golden opportunity. My chance to get a small sampling of this barrel aged beer. Is it really that good? Continue reading Review: Lost Abbey Angel’s Share
Furthermore says:
“Our triple pale is a bastardization of three regionally distinctive recipes that were stacked in unequal measure in order to make a beefy beer which highlights each recipe’s finer points: Esters from a dominant Flanders yeast are reigned-in by cleaner American and London strains; Kent Golding hops provide mild bitterness, giving English and Belgian specialty malts room to breath; Oregonian hops offer a fragrant nose; Belgian candy sugar boosts the strength of this mash-up to 8.5% ABV.”
Furthermore Makeweight
Belgian IPA, 8.5% ABV
Beer Advocate Rating of B+
Sayeth the Guys:
Ryan: I’ve had a few of Furthermore’s beers before – namely the Knot Stock, Fatty Boombalaty and Thermo Refur. I’ve noticed a bit of a pattern with this brewery; either their beers are great or intriguing. Not bad. mind you, but intriguing. The first two, a pepper pale ale and a big Belgian white ale, were great. The third, well, I can’t think of any other way to describe a beer made with beets as anything other than intriguing. So what does the Makeweight fall under? Intriguing and maybe confusing.
This beer is billed as a triple IPA but not because it is ridiculously bitter like Founders Devil Dancer. No, this beer is a triple IPA in the sense that it is a mashup of a Belgian IPA, English IPA and American IPA. Beer Advocate labels it a Belgian IPA which may be the most accurate way to describe this but I even thought it could be more of a Belgian Tripel. Continue reading Review: Furthermore Makeweight
Bell’s says:
“An American wheat ale brewed with Saaz hops. Spicy and fruity, Oberon is the color and scent of a sunny afternoon.”
Bell’s Oberon Ale
Pale Wheat Ale, 5.8% ABV
Beer Advocate Rating of B+
Sayeth the Guys:
Karl: Oberon will always have a special place in my heart for a number of reasons. I’ve spent numerous afternoons camped out on barstools watching baseball games during the summer, nursing an Oberon or three, afternoons and evenings on porches and patios with Oberon, and other various summer-centric activities where Oberon was close at hand.
Mostly, it was the passion of my Michigan-transplant wife for Oberon, and her nebulous yet very specific rules about timing the first Oberon of the season (pay no attention to the calendar or release date, when it’s time for the first Oberon you’ll know), and her exuberance for Oberon took root in me and sticks around to this day. There’s always a new beer to try, and I’m sure that every midwestern brewer (Michigan brewers for certain) dreams of an Oberon-killer, and yet every time late spring rolls around I start looking forward to that first sunny wheat ale that says “hey, it’s getting warmer out.”
But is Oberon really that good? Or am I being clouded (wheat ale pun intended) by good memories, a pre-craft-beer-website opinion or anything else that might have affected my outlook in the beer? The answer is…well, both. Continue reading Review: Bell’s Oberon Ale
Last month I took a trip up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to visit some friends. My only requirement for making this trip was that we’d have the chance to go on a brewery tour. I didn’t have a lot of time to research which tour would be the best, so I left it in the hands of my very capable friends to decide. Thus, we landed at Lakefront Brewery, located along the Milwaukee River (Yes, river…not lake) at 1872 N. Commerce Street in Milwaukee. Continue reading Review: Lakefront Brewery
