The Goose is Loose

Day #700 Pere Jacques 2012 / Goose Island Beer Company, Chicago, IL
Previously from this brewery: the others

Today is a Penn State game day, so let's all hope that goes well.  Your beer for the day is a bottle of Pere Jacque 2012 from Goose Island that's been sitting in the fridge for a year or so.  This Belgian style ale poured into a tulip glass a honey brown color, with no head.  There are welcoming aromas of yeast and cherry, and when you imbibe you pick up flavors of sweet malt, bread, apple, dried cherries, and light notes of honey.  From the bottle, you learn that this beer develops well for up to five years, further dispelling the notion that you need to drink beer quickly after it is made.  Good beers are like wine in that they grow and evolve over time, and this one is more than just "good."

That's French for "tasty"

Thing to Think About Today:
If Goose Island is up for review, we're going to pay homage to one of the great film roles of all time, from one of the greatest movies of all time:  Goose, from Top Gun.

Played brilliantly by Anthony Edwards, Goose was Maverick's wing man extraordinaire, even when it came to picking up ladies in the bar - hence, where today's common usage of the word wing man truly originated. And if we're talking about Anthony Edwards, let's give him credit for also being amazing in another "greatest of all time" movie, Revenge of the Nerds, and one of the best tv shows of all time, ER.  My man brings his A game.

You know, I can't even begin to tell you how many women I've picked up in bars by finding a random microphone and then getting the entire bar to join in a sing-along serenade.  Too many to count, really.  So, Goose and Mav (and the rest of the bar), take it away....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRA6rM2gTjk

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this....."

We Can Be Heroes

Day #699 Anti-Hero / Revolution Brewing Company, Chicago, IL
Previously from this brewery: N/A, this beer is the first out the limo

It's another Friday, and that means you get a beer review.  Tonight's offering is a can of Anti-Hero, an IPA from Revolution Brewing.  This was another beer acquired in a beer trade with a co-worker.  In the glass, this beer pours a dark copper color, with a dissipating white head.  There's a pleasant orange citrus aroma, and when you take a drink you find a dry bitterness, with ample lemon and orange citrus, with some floral notes, pine, and malt in there as well.  Somewhat light for an IPA, but the citrus flavor actually makes this a really enjoyable beer.  Definitely check this one out if you find it near you.

Anti good photo

Maybe this is a sign of the craft beer explosion, but there is another Revolution out there; the previously reviewed Revolution Cider. Only so many names to go around, I guess.

Thing to Think About Today:
Would you think less of me if I said that the first thing that popped into my head when thinking of what to write here was Hero, by Enrique Iglesias?  Well, if you didn't think less of me, you probably should. So, instead of dropping that here, I'll go in a different direction, and leave you with The Greatest American Hero, an old sitcom about (as best I can remember; this came on when I was like 8) a teacher who gets a superhero suit that gives him amazing powers, but unfortunately he doesn't know exactly how to use them. For example, the suit allowed him to fly, but he didn't know how to land.  Hey, it was the 80s, people did a lot of drugs.  Plus, it had this totall badass theme song, which I absolutely have in my iPod.  Good day, all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4JCehDOy54

"Who could it be? / Believe it or not, it's just me"

Day 690: Goose Island Pere Jacques

My advice to you: If you see a problem developing, do not ignore it for months on end. It will not go away. And it may result in a missing toe nail. That is all.

That beer up there is the Pere Jacques 2012 from Goose Island.  It is a Belgian style ale and this particular one was bottled on October 18, 2012. This one managed to age for just over a year in my house and supposedly it ages beautifully for five years. Beer never lasts that long in my house.

It poured a hazy medium-tone amber sort of brown color with a thin off white head. It wasn't nearly as rosy as it looks in this photo. It smells of Belgian candi sugar, bread dough and apricot preserves. It has a full mouthfeel. The flavor is lots of creamy fruit sweetness with a dry finish. There's a little cracker flavor in there as well. 

Beer stats

Style: Belgian style ale

ABV: 8.7%

IBUs: Unknown

Rating: Great

Previously reviewed from Goose Island

A review of Matilda from what feels like a million years ago

Mr.'s review of Honkers

Thirty Eight Special

Day #509 Sidekick / Two Brothers Brewing Company, Warrenville, Illinois
Previously from this brewery: Diversey & Lill(e), a collaboration, and Cain & Ebel

For those who were not aware, yesterday was my birthday!  Perhaps your town had a parade in my honor, or people just celebrated in the streets on their own without any formal ceremony.  Either way, thank you for joining in the celebration (I kid).  Had a busy but very productive day, and I'm very thankful to be here to see another year kick off.  Last year on May 1, I put it in writing that I'd run another 24 hour ultra marathon in 2013.  Yes, there are still seven months of the year left, but it's clear that one isn't happening.  What can I say, sometimes you set big goals and don't always hit them.  No special goals this year, other than to be happy.  That seems like a good enough goal, right?

Part of my birthday was spent drinking beer; specifically. a pint of Sidekick, an American Pale Ale from Two Brothers Brewing.  You see a dull gold color with a thin head, and a mellow aroma of pine and lemon.  The taste is a good mix of pine and citrus (mostly lemon), with a bit of malt sweetness in there as well.  Maybe a touch too sweet, but this is a solid beer, and very drinkable.  Not a bad choice for a picnic or a night spent drinking beers outside.

Beer was better than this picture suggests

Thing to Think About Today:

I'll take things in a slightly different direction than usual to wrap up today.  Yes, another birthday means I'm feeling a bit older and contemplating where exactly did the past 37 years go (hint: I have NO idea).  So, I'll let The Wailin' Jennys send us off into my 38th year with their cover of Neil Young's Old Man.  Great song for when you're feeling a bit old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33sUCcSOeBw

"I need someone to love me the whole day through...."

Like the Wind

Day #473 Threadless IPA / Finch's Beer Company, Chicago, IL
Previously from this brewery: Golden Wing and more Golden Wing

I like the fact that spring is trying to return.  I mean, it's still very cool outside, but the sun is more or less out, and it feels more like spring than winter.  I'll take it.  Good day to go for a run, but I'm already sitting here staring at my laptop, so I guess maybe I'll go for that run another day.  It's the thought that counts, right?

Today's review is a beer I had on draft at the recently renovated TJ's not too long ago; the Threadless IPA from Finch's Beer Co.  It pours from the tap with an orange amber color and thick white head.  The aroma is hoppy, with plenty of pine and lemon.  When you take a sip, the taste is dry and earthy, with ample pine, lemon, and grapefruit.  Rather dry throughout, and overall a decent IPA worth your time if you find it near you.  Not the greatest IPA ever, but certainly not the worst.  And stop by TJ's when you get a chance to see the remodel.  Place looks like an awesome beer bar (which it is), and much less like an industrial sex dungeon, like it did before (sorry, but with the black walls it did).

Not as bad as most of my pics

The website for this brewery is a Facebook page.  Just saying.

Thing to Think About Today:
Recently, on the one nice day we've had so far this year, my neighbors started rocking out to yacht rock, and ever since I've been adding a ton of smooth late 70s/early 80s songs to my iPod.  Previously, you may have enjoyed some Yah Mo B There on these pages, and tonight I'm hitting you with Christopher Cross and Ride Like the Wind.  If anyone wants to go sailing on my yacht this summer, bring your Micheal McDonald and/or Christoper Cross cds and tons of champagne.  It will be glorious, and I'll see you at the dock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIOuNk1gMGw

"It is the night, my body's weak / I'm on the run, no time to sleep"

Day 466: Two Brothers' Cane & Ebel

Typos and consistency errors physically pain me. Is that strange? If I find an error in one of my posts on this blog--no matter how innocuous or how long ago--I die a thousand deaths. OK. I have a problem. I need help.

Tonight's beer review features Cane & Ebel, which is brewed by Two Brothers Brewing Company. As you can tell from the photo, I found it at TJ's. 

Eventually I'll fix this photo. My computer currently
hates me and won't actually save any changes.

Cane & Ebel is a red rye ale. It poured a cola color with a good tan head. There was immense amounts of sticky lacing all down my glass. The smell was pine hops, rye, and green bell peppers. This isn't the first beer review that I wrote that includes peppers; see proof in my review of Stone's Vertical Epic ale.The flavor was green vegetables and grass with lots of hop. It's also kind of sweet but sharp in flavor with the rye.

The description of this beer on Two Brothers' beer page is awesome: Dry, but with a creamy touch of Thai palm sugar and the spicy tang of rye, all balanced by loads of the wackiest new hops we could lay our hands on. Yep, it's an original. And that's no sin.

Beer stats

Style: Red rye ale

ABV: 7%

IBUs: 68

Rating: Excellent

Previously reviewed beer from Two Brothers

A collaboration between Two Brothers and Brasserie Castelain, Diversey and Lill(e)

Beer 363: Half Acre Daisy Cutter and The String Cheese Incident

The highlight -- or lowlight depending on how you look at it -- of my day was what I'm affectionately now referring to as "The String Cheese Incident."  Oddly it's the name of a band as well. I wonder if they've had the same misfortunes as me.

I couldn't get my string cheese open for my afternoon snack. The little "peel here" tab was mangled and that really is the key to accessing your string cheese.  Who knew? So after a ridiculous amount of time struggling with a vacuum sealed tube of cheese, I finally took the scissors to it and freed about 80%. That's when I broke my string cheese. I thought it would be easy to just pop that last little bit out of the packaging and in doing so, managed to launch it straight into the air and directly into my eyeball. 

Lessons learned:

1. String cheese chunks are dangerous projectiles.

2. Eyeballs are very sensitive.

3. Cheese burns when applied to one's eyeball.

I also think I still have cheese fragments lodged in there. 

You know what goes well with cheese? An American pale ale.  So let's go with the Daisy Cutter pale ale from Half Acre Beer Company. It's brewed in Chicago (5.2% ABV) and I definitely need to check them out next time I'm in the Windy City. They appear to have quite a variety of brews in their portfolio.

The color is somewhere between a bright apricot and copper.  The head was slightly off white, thick and fluffy and disappeared into chunky flotsam. This beer also left significant lacing as it disappeared.  It smells of bitter grass and grapefruit.  

The flavor is citrus hops, pith, pine and very light hints of orange. Overall I find this to be a great beer. Cheers!

Beer Gives You Wings

Beer #327 Golden Wing / Finch's Beer Company, Chicago, IL

Highlight of my day?  Got a new sweater, and the wrong color arrived.  Yep.  And it seems a foregone conclusion that my old man basketball team is going to get curb stomped tonight... again.  One of those days.

However, the show must go on, so tonight I'm reviewing Golden Wing, a blonde ale from Finch's Beer Company, which is based in Chicago.  In the glass, this beer is a hazy yellow color, with a fluffy white head.  You find aromas of citrus, yeast, and bread, and the taste has earthy and nutty notes, with a bit of fruit and and a dry, bitter finish.  Definitely worth a try if you find it near you.

Bird is the Word

Finch's is a relative newcomer to the scene, and the founding partners have backgrounds in art, design, and architecture.  Now you know!

Thing to Think About Today:
If these wings are golden, I'll stick with the theme and drop in some Golden Years by David Bowie.  My second place choice here tonight was going to be Broken Wings by Mr. Mister.  Maybe someone out there on the internet can mash the two together.  Anyone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcKrr0s2yuY

"Last night they loved you / Opening doors and pulling some strings"

Beer 321: Finch's Beer Co. Golden Wing

I'm posting from the car so this is going to be short and sweet.

Finch's Beer Company is based in Chicago, Illinois. I had the fortune to find a can of their Golden Wing blonde ale (5% ABV).


It poured a hazy golden color with a white head. It smells a bit of banana. The flavor is very hoppy -- very much more than I expected for a blonde ale. There's also some bready yeast flavor and spice. The hops are a bit too dominant for me and it has a surprising bitter finish. I'll rate it average...I'm sure someone out there would enjoy a very hoppy golden ale; just not me.

Cheers.

Beer 303: Diversey and Lill(e) Collaboration

Tonight's beer is a collaboration between Two Brothers Brewing Company (Illinois) and Brasserie Castelain (France). It is the Diversey and Lill(E), a biere de garde with an ABV of 6.5%. The credit on this collaboration between Jason Ebel and Nicholas Castelain goes to Castelain/France where the beer is actually brewed.

It poured with a big fluffy and sticky ecru head. It smells really good with a little fruit in the nose. The taste is ripe fruit and spice. My notes indicate that I thought it was a crazy biere de garde. It's been awhile since I drank this one and I'm now wondering what brought on that note.


From the Vanberg & DeWulf site: It is a little known fact that Chicago’s first brewery, Diversey and Lill, had a French connection. Diversey, a Frenchman, and Lill ran the largest brewery in the West in the mid-19th century. The brewery was lost in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Now how many years later, the name Diversey and Lill(e) is back on the beer scene.

As fleeting as it is, I think this was a good beer. Cheers!

Beer 273: Wild Onions Can't Be Broken

Today's beer comes from Wild Onion Brewing Company, which is based in Barrington, Illinois. The selection is the Jack Stout -- described on the label as a full bodied and luscious stout brewed with five kinds of malts giving it a rich mouthfeel and nuances of chocolate and espresso. It has a 6% ABV.


It poured pitch black with deep cocoa color head. The head is quite dense but bubbled away and left a thin film behind. The aroma is rich chocolate with some fireplace. It drinks thin with a lactic sensibility. The flavor nicely melds chocolate, coffee and roasted malts. There is just the tiny bit of cola bite at the end. This is a very good beer.

Cheers! I'm off to TJ's in Paoli to watch the PSU Virginia game. This could be my last visit there depending on how the game goes!

NOT Paddy's Pub

Beer #241 Paddy Pale Ale / Wild Onion Brewing Company, Barrington, IL

Interesting phenomenon happened today - the arrival of the autumn beers to Wegman's.  I get that fall (and thankfully, football season) is right around the corner.  However, as of today, it was 90 degrees with ample humidity, and with global warming autumn isn't likely to arrive until mid-October.  I'm still in the market for summer ales, kolsch beers, shandies, and so forth.  Anything involving pumpkin or nutmeg or whatever makes a beer an autumn brew can sit quietly and wait in the corner.  I guess this is craft beer's version of the mall putting out Christmas decorations in early October?

Today's non-autumnal beer is the Paddy Pale Ale, an American pale ale from Wild Onion Brewing.  Paddy's, you say?

Flip, flip, Flipdelphia!

Yeah, definitely not related to Paddy's Pub from Always Sunny.  This one has a orange amber color, with a thin white lingering head.  The aroma is light, with some pine and citrus, and the taste brings a light flavor as well, with citrus and a fair balance of malt and hops.  Probably needs more of one or the other, though, as the taste was a little too mild for me.  Definitely a session beer, and one that won't weigh you down or beat up your taste buds.

Paddy, no relation.

This brewery can be found about 45 minutes outside of Chicago, and they started brewing in 1996 and opened a brewpub in 2003.

Thing to Think About Today:
We don't strictly celebrate American heroes here - there's plenty of room in this space for the only person to pull off a unique distance running Olympic triple double: gold medals in the 5,000m, 10,000m, and the marathon.  That's roughly three miles, six miles, and well, you know.  Yes, we're thinking about Czech distance running wunderkind Emil Zátopek, who didn't just sweep the gold medals in the 1952 Helsinki games, he set an Olympic record in each event.

It's impressive enough that he managed to win both of the shorter races, but what really puts Zátopek in another galaxy was the fact he had never even RAN a marathon before in his life, let alone won a race at that distance.  In fact, his only strategy was to stick close to Jim Peters, a record holder and medal favorite.  During the race, Zátopek asked Peters if the pace was too slow.  Figuring he could con Zátopek into pushing too hard and dropping out, Peters agreed, and so Zátopek sped up.  Bad move, as Peters couldn't keep up and the "Czech Locomotive" cruised home in record pace.  Not a bad first outing, without a doubt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6--kiYKx9kA

I Like the Pick and Roll/I Like the Give and Go

Beer #97 Honkers Ale / Goose Island Beer Company, Chicago, IL

Great way to spend a Friday: blowing off work for the afternoon, hanging out with friends, drinking beer, and watching basketball.  The first day and a half of the tournament hasn't produced as much madness as I'd like, but that might be changing.  Norfolk State already took down Missouri, a #2 seed, and Lehigh (LEHIGH!) was battling Duke (DUKE!) on even terms through half the game.  As my alma mater isn't much of a basketball powerhouse, I typically go into this time of year praying for chaos.  I love a good Cinderella story and always root for the underdog, even if that means my bracket gets laid to waste.

And what goes better with basketball than beer?  Unlike the River Spirit Casino, you can find some decent craft beers at O'Hare Airport.  In my case, the Honkers Ale from Goose Island.  Another beer from the bottle, so not much to report on appearance or aroma, but the taste has good malt notes, with citrus, caramel, and hops.  It all combines nicely to make a good and flavorful yet still easy drinking English bitter.

I'm a bigger fan of Goose Island's Green Line Pale Ale, but you take what you can get in the airport, I suppose.  It's also important to note that beer giant InBev, owner of Anheuser Busch, bought up Goose Island last spring.  So far, that seems like a way for InBev to collect the profits from craft beer and reduce their own distribution costs in the state of Illinois, more so than a plot to drive Goose Island to use cheap ingredients and make crappy beer.  We'll continue to watch that one.

Thing to Think About Today:
I was thinking of suggesting we all think about some of the great NCAA basketball tourney upsets, but there are too many amazing finishes to try and pick just one.  It's a Friday and the beers are flowing, so let's think about basketball, but mix in some awesome 80's music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_shxzlTRK44&ob=av2e 

'cause it's basketball with Mr. Kurtis Blow!

More food. But better this time!

Beer #25 Daisy Cutter Pale Ale / Half Acre Beer Company, Chicago IL
I apparently still have food on my mind.  After yesterday's banner meal of mac & cheese, we're stepping our game up considerably this evening.  Trying out a new recipe for carrot soup with miso and sesame.  Don't make that face - it's good.  In fact, it's great and on the verge of awesome, but that last compliment is just because Marci made it for me.  I typically do all of the cooking, but Marci holds it down in the kitchen.

Also on my mind: I was thinking about Chicago earlier this week, and apparently I'm still focused on Chicago.  Now, after a trip to TJ's in Paoli, I'm also drinking Chicago.  Second day in a row I've found a beer from a brewery I wasn't familiar with: this time, it's Half Acre.  Their Daisy Cutter has a clean, floral, hop flavor with just a hint of an earthy taste to the finish.  Trust me on the earthy taste... after taking a sip, Marci commented that it, "tastes like dirt."  I wouldn't listen to her, she doesn't like hoppy beers.  Daisy Cutter checks in at 5.2% ABV, which feels about right for a good tasting, easy drinking pale ale.  Looking forward to trying some other offerings, hopefully when I can swing by in person!

Half Acre appears to have a fairly limited distribution, as they mostly sell around Chicago with the exception of a small batch they ship back east, where the brewers grew up.  I have a feeling that might change in the future as they get more well known.

Things to Think About Today:
Okay, so if I knew I was going to drink this beer, I would have saved my Wishbone brunch recommendation - this brewery is about a mile away from Wishbone's Northside location.  Live and learn, live and learn.  We'll keep the same food theme, though.  When you visit this brewery (or anywhere else on the north side of Chicago), first stop off at Ann Sather for breakfast.  Any of the locations will do; they're all close to Half Acre. Order whatever you like, but save room - A LOT of room - for a side of their famous cinnamon buns.  They're easily a delicious, sugary, giant, awesome meal on their own.  Think about sharing them. 

Okay, so this is a pic of Cinnamon Bun French Toast.  Still delicious

Or not.  Your call.  I won't judge you....