{"id":20112,"date":"2016-03-31T11:00:01","date_gmt":"2016-03-31T16:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/?p=20112"},"modified":"2018-02-06T14:11:07","modified_gmt":"2018-02-06T20:11:07","slug":"hot-takes-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/hot-takes-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot Takes, Quick Tastes: South Loop, Anchor, Bells, Surly (Again!) and a 2nd Green Line Take"},"content":{"rendered":"

Because we respect your time too much to waste it on 1000+ word reviews of single beers, here’s a quick cross-section of what we’ve been drinking and digging lately.<\/em> <\/span><\/h4>\n

\"hottakesquicktastes\"<\/p>\nN<\/span>ot every beer requires a novel written about it. Despite the fact that sometimes I can’t write my own name in less than 200 words (blessed be my editors), we\u00a0recognize that there are A) a lot of beers out there and B)\u00a0you’re busy.<\/p>\n

So here, without further blithering on our part, are some quick snapshots of beers we’ve recently been\u00a0sampling, savoring, swigging, swilling, etc. The internet would call these Hot Takes, or something like that. Anyways. Drink at your own risk.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\"IMG_4396\"<\/p>\n

South Loop Brewing Company: World’s Columbian Coffee Expedition Stout<\/h5>\n

These guys have been around for a while but it feels like they took a big step forward with this coffee stout. I know we all love to be punched in the face with big huge adjunct flavor, but I like the fact that this is most certainly a beer<\/em> that happens to \u00a0feature<\/em>\u00a0coffee, not just a big can full of cold-brew pour-over French Press whatever that’ll also get you drunk. Hearty but not chewy, roasty, a little buzzy with hops but still retaining some semblance of balance. Not only that, but the can art just looks cool. (Provided gratis via the brewer. They also provided the Milkstachio which I just\u00a0wasn’t able to wrap my head around.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Anchor Brewing: Spring Ale Saison<\/h5>\n

If you aren’t putting fruit in an IPA you aren’t getting much attention these days, so respect to Anchor to just\u00a0pumping out a solid, somewhat true-to-style saison that checks all the boxes for a good springtime-y beer. Light lemony\u00a0citrus, a bit of green tea, a healthy dose of floral aroma (perhaps from the lemongrass and ginger; it wasn’t present in the flavor), a\u00a0creamy body and a touch of yeast character. Not exactly crushable and not made for summer fun on the pool deck, but a nice option to have on hand for the first few days where it’s warm enough to go outside in just a hoody.<\/p>\n

Goose Island Green Line:<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Only our second Hot Takes Quick Tastes and we’re already seeing a repeat offender! I picked up another 4-pack of Green Line and I had to wonder if they accidentally packaged the last of the 312 Urban Wheat — I found a beer that was hop-present but definitely lacking the thicker and heartier body of the GL we know and love.\u00a0Guessing things are still fairly variable as they ramp this one up, so buyer be forewarned. Josh Noel at the Trib must have gotten something from the same packaging run, based on his response<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bell’s Oberon:<\/strong><\/h5>\n

C’mon. You gotta have an Oberon<\/a>. If I need to explain Oberon at this point we need to bounce you back to 100-level classes.<\/p>\n

Dogfish Head 90 Minute:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Remember when this was the only Imperial IPA you’d ever had? Remember when it was the only one you’d ever heard of<\/em>? And do you remember how good it was? Remember how it tasted like a caramel candy and weed resin and garden-fresh bitterness and sticky dank raw hops? You guys, it’s still real, real<\/em> good. Step aside from the lobster beer<\/a> and the 658-IBU beer<\/a> and the wasabi\u00a0beer<\/a>. Go back to this one for a minute. Trust me.<\/p>\n

Surly Xtra-Citra:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Big, burly, fumigation-level of hops jump out of the can with this one — the aroma is a big ol’ Citra party all up in the atmosphere. Too bad the\u00a0actual liquid in the can\u00a0is a thin, fruit-and-pine one-note shoulder-shrug of a beer. If you’re looking for your New Favorite Session Pale, keep looking. Points for making the can look like a 90’s-era Mountain Dew clone, though. (Note: This beer was also provided gratis, which was\u00a0nice of them.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4452\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s another edition of Hot Takes, Quick Tastes, with a fun saison, a variable pale ale and a weak session beer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[230,954,935,1026,1012,955],"yoast_head":"\nHot Takes, Quick Tastes: South Loop, Anchor, Bells, Surly (Again!) and a 2nd Green Line Take - Guys Drinking Beer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It's another edition of Hot Takes, Quick Tastes, with a fun saison, a variable pale ale and a weak session beer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/hot-takes-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hot Takes, Quick Tastes: South Loop, Anchor, Bells, Surly (Again!) and a 2nd Green Line Take - 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