Beer fans

[Boris13c]

don't remember Red Dog, but do remember Red Wolf :



nothing fancy or great but I thought it was a drinkable Andhowsyourbush beer ... I remember they had a Halloween edition where the eyes of the wolf on the bottle label changed depending on the temperature of the beer



damn things are listed as collectables now, so should have stocked up (and not drunk it all)

[Otis Day]

Funny how these brewers copy off each other. Red Dog was Miller. I remember it being a little stronger than their other run of the mill beers. Those bottles with the red eyes are awesome.

Buddy of mine is having a Beer tasting party this weekend. He has a theme going, summer beers. He will probably have the shandys, summer ales and probably other seasonal brews made by big and small breweries. Will be nice to taste them and not have to pay for them.

[wab]

Forgot about this beer. It was big in central IL in the early 90s. The liquor outlet has it for $12.99 for a 30 pack. Good deal there.

This was pretty much the official beer of Monmouth College when I was there from 95-99.

[Otis Day]

Went out drinking this weekend, guys afternoon out and about. We decided to hit up some of these "summer", seasonal brews. I can say I am not a big fan of most of what we drank. We had the Leinenkugel Summer Shandy (not a fan), Sam Adams Summer Ale (not a fan), Schlafly Summer Fest (fair), Leinenkugel Canoe Paddler (have had before and like), Landshark (like) and some summer shit by Sierra Nevada. That was some of the worst friggin beer I have ever had. Mixed in some shots of Peppermint Schnapps and some chocolate flavored rum (Tippy Cow) which was damn good. Needless to say didn't get much done yesterday.

[Boris13c]

the Total Wine and more (used to be Total Beverage) near me got in a shipment of the mini beer kegs (5 liters) ... usually when they get them in something other than Heineken the price is obscene ... not so over the weekend (must have been on sale, though no sale signs - just low prices)



so I got one of the Newcastle Brown minis, my neighbor chose Grolsch ... chicken on the grill, 2 flavors of decent beer, card game in the evening ... made for a pretty mellow and fun Saturday

[wab]

I like Landshark and some of the Sam Adams summer brews. The rest you mentioned are garbage. Shiner has a summer beer called Redbird that's got a hint of ruby red grapefruit...but not so much that it's overpowering.

[Middleguard]

I have a Uline tap in my basement that I bought nearly 30 years ago. It was designed for half barrels but I can just manage to cram three 1/6 barrels in; that way I get something different to drink about every 10 days rather than having the same thing for a month (that's the equivalent of about 4 bottles a day). Drinking that much, I have to avoid the high alchohol brews, and nowdays I have to avoid the highly hopped beers as well (I buy those in bottles for the occassional treat).

Nobody else here, except the Oberon drinker, seems to be a craft beer fan, but that's what I drink. Firestone Walker's Limited Release Beers set the bar (joke son), but they're very expensive (and from California). The Chicago area has a large number of exceptional breweries and brewpubs and the Midwest has recently resumed extensive hop production. There is now a gourmet-yeast production facility in Chicago that appears to be thriving. I'm happy to live here.

[wab]

I don't dislike craft beer, I'm just not going to be a pain in the ass about it. I just buy beer that I think tastes good…..

[Boris13c]

I don't dislike craft beer, I'm just not going to be a pain in the ass about it. I just buy beer that I think tastes good…..

ah, but the cool thing about buying beer that tastes good is now having so many different options

and I know from my perspective, the beer I am getting fresh from the taps at local micro breweries is simply awesome ... the only issue is some of the smaller ones near me don't even bottle their stuff for distribution, so to take some home means buying a growler ... which isn't a deal killer just less convenient than being able to pick up a 6 pack at the store on the way home

[wab]

I buy a lot of growlers for that reason.

[Boris13c]

I buy a lot of growlers for that reason.

have you seen the growler taps?



I won one in a raffle at the last beer fest in my area ... works fine ... can't put the growler in the fridge with it on though ... too tall

[wab]

Whoa...that's cool.

[Boris13c]

Every state in the USA, ranked by its beer

http://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/e ... map=%5B%5D" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Otis Day]

Went to a small brewery a few weeks back in southwest Wisconsin, Potosi Brewery. It also houses the National Brewery Museum. The museum is somewhat small but worth the $5 admission. At the end of the self guided tour you show your wrist band and you get a free brew. They had about 8 beers on tap the day we were there. I had the Ole Potosi, which is just a regular style brew, golden ale and I also had there Oktoberfest which was really good. some of they make are not listed on the link provided. They had a chocolate hazelnut porter I wanted to try but it is a seasonal/ winter brew.

http://www.potosibrewery.com/ourbeer.cfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Was drinking this last night. Not as good as a Black and tan made with Guinness, but what the hell.

[Forebears]

Two Brothers Brewing from Warrensville craft some fine beer. My fav is Domaine DuPage... Bitter End and Ebel Weiss are two others that I like from them as well.

[Stay_Cool]

My folks are from Bartlett and I've been to this brewery for a tour. Awesome place. Domaine Dupage is fantastic.

[Middleguard]

My wife hostessed my 60th Bday party at the Two Brothers facility, near the brewery, that Walter Payton used to own. There's a plaque to him on the wall outside the entrance.

Bitter End is an old favorite. My new summer preference is Sidekick. They've just started experimenting with putting some of their beer in cans: Outlaw, a 7% IPA.

[Boris13c]

on a recent trip back to Chicago, I went with my daughter and her husband to the new revitalized Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee

http://www.brewhousesuites.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.bestplacemilwaukee.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

the developer has done a really nice job on this project, and it is not yet fully complete ... we got a behind the scenes tour of the areas still under construction ... one of the plans for that area is a basement speakeasy ... through a vault door in the basement is what used to be beer storage in barrels ... there are several areas that were used for this which are nice brick archways being cleaned up ... in each of those archways is going to be old tyme game tables

we were told by the event staff that the main party area of the facility is now booked 2 years out for weddings, receptions, and special events

as to the beer, I actually sat and drank Pabst Blue Ribbon and Schlitz on tap ... and they were both nice light drinkable pilsner beers instead of the swill they had become years back ... we were told Schlitz is now brewed under the original recipe and process from back in the 30's ... apparently what made the Pabst line undrinkable in the 80's and 90's was due to the descendants of old man Pabst changing recipes and processes to make more beer faster rather than paying attention to the actual quality

another part of the story is when the Pabst facility closed down, they called all employees into the great room and told them they had 1 hour to get what they wanted and leave, then the place was chained shut for years ... when the current developer bought in and brought in his initial survey team they found all sorts of things simply left in place ... food and plates on tables, people's personal items, and of course lots of old bottled beer ... but they also found treasures left behind like boxes of the beer patches that were sewn on employee coveralls, old stock certificates (worthless now except as souvenirs), old signs in new condition .. all of which you can buy in the gift shop of course

it was a nice trip and a nice tour and I recommend anyone in the area or going to the area stop in

[Boris13c]

well, so much for them returning to their historical past :

Pabst Brewing to be sold to Russian company

[Boris13c]

http://www.drinkspirits.com/beer/oculto ... ired-beer/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

tasty stuff

[Boris13c]

Henry's Hard Soda



https://www.henryshardsoda.com/av

remember Zima? did you drink it / like it? well the days of Zima are long gone, but Zima like beverages are all over these days ... the latest (for me at least) is Henry's Hard Soda ... sold in the beer aisle with items like Mike's Hard Lemonade, Not Your Father's Root Beer, and many more

the Grape is exactly like drinking Grape NeHi (Radar O'Reilly would be proud) ... the others are tasty too, except for the Orange ... something seems amiss about the Orange ... doesn't taste like Orange Crush (as I expected it to), but doesn't taste like any other orange soda substance either

[Otis Day]

Got turned on to this when in Mississippi last week. I can honestly say it is the best beer I have ever had. Limited distribution unfortunately so will not be buying in the Midwest. Had it draft and in the bottle

[wab]

remember Zima? did you drink it / like it? well the days of Zima are long gone

Zima is back baby.

http://www.adweek.com/creativity/miller ... ited-time/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[wab]

Got turned on to this when in Mississippi last week. I can honestly say it is the best beer I have ever had. Limited distribution unfortunately so will not be buying in the Midwest. Had it draft and in the bottle

They have it at Benny's if you are near one up there in the Burgh.

[Otis Day]

Nearest one is in Bloomington, may have to take a road trip. Co-worker said she bought it once in Peoria at a Friar Tuck's.

While in a big liquor store in St Louis, checked, they didn't have it. I bought a locally brewed pecan beer and it just wasn't the same.

[Otis Day]

Reliving my college days this past weekend. Was in Macomb so had to pick up some Mickeys. It had been about 30 yrs since I had them. Shit went down too smooth. I don't remember them tasting this good. Followed the Mickeys with Stag!!

[Boris13c]

Reliving my college days this past weekend. Was in Macomb so had to pick up some Mickeys. It had been about 30 yrs since I had them. Shit went down too smooth. I don't remember them tasting this good.

perhaps it does still taste like deer piss but your taste buds are worn out?

[Otis Day]

making my way thru some Leinies the past couple of weeks.

[Wounded Bear]

We used to drink this malt liquor in high school and college called Haffenreffer Private Stock. It had these phrase puzzles on the inside of the caps to solve so you were incentivized to drink more....really, really bad idea.

I swear I saw a wall move 8 feet away from me when I was sitting on a couch drinking these things. Later that night I woke up lying in the middle of an apartment parking lot with a car going by me. Needless to say, I was hooked - the stupidity of youth.

[Adipost]

We used to drink this malt liquor in high school and college called Haffenreffer Private Stock. It had these phrase puzzles on the inside of the caps to solve so you were incentivized to drink more....really, really bad idea.

I swear I saw a wall move 8 feet away from me when I was sitting on a couch drinking these things. Later that night I woke up lying in the middle of an apartment parking lot with a car going by me. Needless to say, I was hooked - the stupidity of youth.