Category Archives: Beer!

“Beers that Taste Like Disappointment.”

“I just assumed you liked beers that taste like disappointment.”

This coming from Angelique. One of my best friends. A person who follows this blog and knows I’ve made something of a hobby of beer. A woman who loves beer, but has been known to ask me a question or two about beer and take my recommendation on beers.

Of course, all bets are off when it comes to pumpkin beers. As far as I can tell, there’s no more polarizing beer style. There’s a lot of love or hate for them, and a lot of opinions on what tastes good and what doesn’t.

Angelique and I both avidly try pumpkin beers and look forward to the season. This year, I have been particularly vocal on Twitter about liking “pumpkin-fruit beers[1].”… Continue reading →

SlapShot Brewing Beer Debut at The Beer Bistro’s 8th Anniversary

I wasn’t planning to attend SlapShot Brewing’s beer debut at The Beer Bistro’s 8th Anniversary party. In fact, I didn’t even know about the event. When I found out about it, via my friend Jeremy tweeting his disappointment that he couldn’t attend, I seriously contemplated not going. However, not having any other plans, Bill strongly encouraging me to go, and a very honest desire to support debuts and events happening south of North Avenue really put me over the edge.

I’m glad. It was a blast, and it was a at least three different kinds of evenings all packed into one.

It started as a very low-key evening. The brewers and company were tightly packed at one large table and a couple of smaller tables. I ended up at a two-top a bit removed from them and decided to grab their beer and see what it was like.… Continue reading →

85 Degrees. High ABVs. $2 Water.

If you check out the #goose25 hashtag on twitter, you’ll get a sense of how I spent my Sunday. It was a vaguely miserable experience, and not one I’d expected out of one of my favorite beer companies.

Even so, just a vaguely miserable experience wouldn’t have motivated me to write anything for the blog. What’s prompted me to put up a post on the matter was Goose Island Beer Company’s decision that water should only be available for $2/bottle at the event. I noticed this almost immediately after entering the fest and was a little shocked.

This event was outdoors, in a largely unshaded space, on a day with an expected high of 85F. They were serving beers up to 14% ABV. The only water to be had was for sale.… Continue reading →

A Horrifying Homebrew – Part II & Giveaway

This is a continuation of the last post, A Horrifying Homebrew – Part I, which left off with me asking “What in the world happened?” to cause my vile-tasting beer.

I was really at a loss, I have to admit, after Rob and my off-flavors class seemed to agree that my issue wasn’t infection. Indeed, at the class, “infection” was presented as a single flavor. Since I don’t know a ton about brewing, and my microbiology classes are far behind me, I wondered if it meant that only a few bacteria could live in beer, and they all produce a similar flavor profile.

Twitter to the rescue. I tell you guys what, Twitter has been a huge help to me as I learn more and more about beer[1].… Continue reading →

A Horrifying Homebrew – Part I

For the longest time, I didn’t have a lot of interest in homebrewing, despite the fact a large number of my friends homebrew. And, as I make more friends who are into beer, that proportion is going up.

At some point long ago, my friend Rob (of the attractive cuff) shared with me a link for a peach-blueberry lager and asked if I wanted to brew that with him. I, frankly, am ALL OVER peaches and blueberries and beer, so the answer was an instant and immediate yes. We had to modify the plan a bit, but we ended up with a shared 10 gallons of peach beer, blueberry beer and peach-blueberry blended beer. They were pretty darn tasty, but 5 gallons of beer is a great deal of beer for one beer drinker.… Continue reading →