Old Jubilation Ale (Avery Brewing Company)

Avery Brewing Company has been a "staple" shall we say of breweries that we consistently like.  While I (Lily) admit a small bias to liking Avery beer after studying at the University of Colorado, Avery keeps proving to us that their beer should just always be in the fridge.  Now that Thanksgiving has passed, and I am willing to listen to the 24/7 Christmas Carol radio station, I thought it would be appropriate to try some more Christmas ales.

In a pint glass the beer looks quite sophisticated with its deep mahogany color.  There's not a particularly strong aroma to it, but the taste is nice and malty.  There is a hint of bitterness to the flavor also, but it only gives the beer more character.  The flavor is smooth and would definitely stand up to stronger flavors.  The aftertaste is subtle and won't linger in your mouth for too long.  It was a relief to drink this beer after having attempted to drink the beer from the previous blog post.

I (Gene) probably wouldn't go out of my way to get this one - as I will to get some more Great Lakes Christmas Ale before the season is over - but I'd be happy to have this in colder weather.  It'd probably be great with a book by the fireplace.

Rating:  3.0
8.3% ABV

He'brew Jewbilation Sweet Sixteen (Schmaltz Brewing Company)

We're usually fans of the He'brew line of beers from Schmaltz. When we saw Jewbilation in the vicinity of other beers - such as Old Jubilation by Avery - we assumed it was a Christmas beer and grabbed it in order to study it for science.

Instead, this is simply an Anniversary Ale - a curiously-chosen sixteenth anniversary.  The beer advertises "16 malts, 16 hops, 16% alcohol by volume." Yes.  Sixteen percent.  Holy crap.

I (Gene) am usually a fan of strong beers, such as those from Lost Abbey.  But this is simply too much.  You can smell the malty, faintly chocolate beer as soon as you open the bottle.  When you take a sip, you will still be tasting an unpleasant malt aftertaste half a minute later.  That's aside from the sharp, pungent initial taste.  This is a lot like drinking hard alcohol, except that it's vile and you're drinking a pint of it.

Hmm...this would definitely be a committal beer (this is Lily).  I also don't care for it, although it would be handy to have around when that creepy guy in the bar is hitting on you and you need an excuse to exit the conversation.  I would probably say something to the effect of "Dear Lord, this beer is too much.  Sorry, gotta go.  If you want my number it's 867-5309."  I also like strong beer every once in a while - like Daisy Cutter, Arrogant Bastard, etc. but this is too much.  Then again, I'm a big supporter of the simpler the better.  So, needless to say this beer won't have me coming back for more.  I think I'll stick to their nut brown ale.

Rating:  1.0
16% ABV

Fistmas (Revolution Brewing)

Revolution Brewing Company is located in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago's near north side.  While the most well-known Chicago brewery is Goose Island (a subsidiary of Annheiser-Busch, with all of their bottled beers produced outside of Chicago nowadays), Revolution is quickly becoming one of our favorites.

Fistmas (all of their beers have a name that alludes to their fist logo) is a pleasant, very hoppy ale.  However, it doesn't seem particularly festive for the Christmas season - to me (Gene) it seems like more of a fall beer.  The closest comparisons that come to mind are Great Lakes Nosferatu and New Belgium Red Hoptoberfest.  I (Lily) enjoy this beer very much, and I think this Christmas Ale is somewhat close to the bieres de Noel of France.  However, I was hoping that this beer would have been a little more spiced, or different than just a hoppy beer.

Rating:  3.0
ABV:  6.1%

Christmas Ale (Great Lakes Brewing Company)

Great Lakes has a number of great seasonal beers to go with their year-round offerings.  The single most well-known of these is their Christmas Ale.  Stop into any bar in Cleveland between November and December and you'll find a large percentage of the bargoers drinking pints of the spiced ale from snifter glasses rimmed with cinnamon.

This Christmas Ale is pleasantly light (but don't get fooled by the high alcohol content).  It has a hint of bitterness, but nothing unappealing.  The overlying notes are ones of sweetness, honey, and spice.  This pairs well with the cinnamon that some enthusiasts use.

Outside of the Cleveland area, you'll find this on draft once in a blue moon during the appropriate season, and you might find it at some liquor stores that specialize in craft beer.  If you do, don't hesitate to pick up a six pack or two - and don't let it sit in the fridge forever; it's famous for only lasting a couple months due to the honey in it.

Rating: 4.0
ABV: 7.5%

Double Milk Stout (Southern Tier Brewing Company)

After a hiatus from beer blogging, we're back!  We picked up this Double Milk Stout by Southern Tier Brewing Company in a mixed 6 pack from Binny's.  Southern Tier is based out of Lakewood, New York.

This milk stout is brewed with two varieties of hops and three types of malts.  It is a pleasant beer that brings everything a milk stout usually does.  It seems to be a little thinner than other milk stouts we have had before.  However, it still has a nice chocolatey and bold flavor that is not too overwhelming.  The aftertaste overstays its welcome a bit, but that's somewhat to be expected with stouts.

As with most beers of this nature, pairing this with subtle flavors would be a waste of food - but of course, overly-spicy food would be a waste of the beer.  Enjoy with red meats or by itself.

Rating: 3
7.5% ABV

Downtown Brown (Lost Coast Brewery & Cafe)

The Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe is a small brewery in Eureka, California.  We discovered their Downtown Brown Ale through a random six pack at Binny's.

This brown ale has a much more bitter finish than some of the other brown ales we've reviewed, and the overall texture is not smooth.  With the other ales we believe we've been able to find some more chocolate or smoky notes in other brown ales, we don't feel like that's the case here. 

All in all though, it's not a beer that's unenjoyable - but at any place that would serve this beer, there definitely are better options.

Rating:  2.5
5% ABV

Nut Brown Ale (Goose Island)

Goose Island is, of course, a brewery that has been featured before on this blog - and will be in the future.  However, their Nut Brown Ale isn't their best offering.

The flavor is a dull chocolate flavor throughout; there isn't truly a differing note from the nose to the aftertaste.  While not unpleasant, it's a little boring compared to other, more complex brown ales.  Remember how we said that Goose Island's Harvest Ale was just one note of bitter?  Well we'd say that this Nut Brown Ale is just one note of chocolate - however it is definitely more drinkable than their Harvest Ale.

However, you could do far worse for a beer to drink with a steak or just at the end of the day.  But given the choice, we'd rather have a Messiah Nut Brown Ale or Ellie's Brown Ale.

Rating:  3.0
5.3% ABV

Messiah Nut Brown Ale (Schmaltz Brewing Company)

The Messiah Nut Brown Ale by Schmaltz - which carries the additional title of He'Brew to play on the Jewish heritage of the brewery - is one of our favorite brown ales.  They have breweries both in New York and San Francisco. 

This deeply colored brown ale starts bitter but finishes with a bold, chocolate taste.  The texture is nice and light as you would want your ales to be.  It also only leaves a slight after taste in your mouth but nothing too heavy. 

Despite the light texture, this is probably a beer best enjoyed slowly due to the bold flavors - and also probably best-paired with red meats or other very flavorful foods.  Foods with subtle tastes would probably be lost to this beer. 

ABV: 5.5%
Rating: 4.0

White Rascal (Avery Brewing Company)

Needless to say I like Avery Brewing Company a lot (and that's not just because it's based in Boulder where I (Lily) went to college).  Though we need to try more beers from Avery, they already have a pretty darn good track record with Ellie's Brown Ale and now White Rascal.  Lily has to credit Betsy Williams (if you're reading this) for introducing this beer to me back in college--I think it was at The Sink?  And yes, Lily just talked in third person.  And yes, I just started two sentences in a row with the word and.   

White Rascal is a Belgian-style white ale (believe it or not).  It's unfiltered, so when you open a bottle, there is a small sediment of yeast at the bottom.  Many breweries with unfiltered white ales tell you not to drink this part; instead, Avery suggests pouring most of the beer into a glass, swirling the remainder, then pouring the resulting yeast foam on top of the glass.  The result is a pleasant, spicy zest to an already-great beer.

White Rascal has a hint of citrus in its taste, and a spicy finish.  The flavor is bold without the texture being too bold and it's not a beer that will make your stomach feel incredibly full after you've had two...although I can't speak for how you'd feel after 4...or 5...this is a beer that we'd be happy to have all year round.  It's a great light ale that doesn't skimp on flavor.

5.6% ABV
Rating: 4.5

Harvest Pumpkin Ale (Blue Moon)

Though we acknowledge there are plenty of pumpkin ales that we have yet to try, Blue Moon's Harvest Pumpkin Ale for now is one of the best we've tasted.  Of course Blue Moon is known best for it's Belgian White Ale with many floral hints, especially orange.

Drinking Pumpkin Harvest Ale is like drinking pumpkin pie in a bottle.  Slightly sweet with a spicy finish.  It's hard to imagine drinking this on a summer day or in large quantities at a sporting event, but it works very well for a cold fall night spent with friends or family.  Honestly, though, I'd probably get this at a football game if it was an option.  Hmm yes, this is a beer that is meant to be savored one bottle at a time.  But it's definitely worth it!  Happy 10/11/12 everyone!  Bottoms up!

ABV 5.7%
Rating: 4

Mash Tun Beer Festival and Chicago Beer Festival!

This weekend we went to the Mash Tun Beer Festival and the Chicago Beer Festival.  The Mash Tun Beer Festival was at the corner of 35th and Racine at the Bridgeport Art Center.  The Chicago Beer Festival took place in Union Station.  Now, after some chinese food, a mini nap, popcorn, and plenty of water, we're ready to remember our experiences.

The Mash Tun Beer Festival took place in the "atrium" of the Bridgeport Art Center.  More like a loading dock if you ask me.  It featured about two dozen beers on tap, and a pig roast.  The pig ran out before we felt like finally getting in the fairly lengthy line,  but for $30 entry to the festival, it's rather difficult to complain.  Besides the generous portions of beer "tastings," we got to choose our own pint glass from a large selection - for example, Great Lakes Brewing Company had two different styles of glasses available.  Lily chose an Uinta Brewing glass, and Gene chose an Ommegang glass.

While the number of beers was fairly small, the relaxed atmosphere of the event and the high quality of the beers available was a treat.  Oskar Blues was available in cans; their porter was surprisingly good for a canned beer.  Other favorites of ours included Uinta's Detour Double IPA and Revolution Brewing's Bottom Up Wit.  Additionally, Lily enjoyed Stone's Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean.  On the contrary, Three Floyds Snow Weasel was one beer that we felt had too much of a graininess in texture...it was not our favorite.

By comparison, the Chicago Beer Festival was much larger, but slightly more formal and much more crowded.  We also got very small plastic tasting glasses.  They made sense from a liability standpoint, but meant we didn't get fifteen ounces once in awhile like at the Mash Tun.  Alas.  In terms of variety, the Chicago Beer Fest had a lot more--ciders, bourbon barrel ales, ginger beer.  However, we think that it was a lot more inconsistent in terms of the quality of beers.  There were some that we just couldn't drink. 

Among our favorites were: Wyders Pear Cider (Vermont), Breckenridge Brewery Vanilla Stout, Dead Guy Ale Rogue, Diversey Pale Ale by Atlas Brewing (Chicago), Crabbie's Ginger Beer, Metropolitan Brewing Crank Shaft (Chicago), and maybe some more, but those are the ones that stand out.

Undrinkable ones were from the Capital brewery in Middleton, WI.

Nosferatu by Great Lakes was also available at both events, but we both had drank it before.

So was there a favorite of ours out of the two?  Not really.  Would have liked more food and port-o-potties that weren't in the dark at Mash Tun, but overall tasted less beers that we didn't like.  The Chicago Beer Festival was bigger and had more variety, but it was more common to taste beers we didn't like.  All in all, both events were fun and a great way to stay warm on a cold fall day.  Bottoms up!

Pumpkin Ale (Buffalo Bill's Brewery)

We don't know much about Buffalo Bill's Brewery, other than that it's located in Hayward, California.  This beer was chosen by grabbing interesting-looking beers for a mixed six-pack at Binny's - a practice we highly recommend.

This pumpkin ale is decent and pleasant to drink, but it ends up being a bit bland compared to other pumpkin ales one can enjoy during the fall season.  You're not likely to dislike it if you enjoy pumpkin ales, but it's likely you'll end up wishing you had one that you're more familiar with.  I might blame this on my allergies giving me a little bit of a stuffy nose, but compared to other pumpkin ales, the "pumpkin" flavor in this ale is something that I can't taste.  I feel more like I'm drinking a wheat ale rather than a pumpkin ale. 

Rating:  2.5
5.2% ABV

Nosferatu (Great Lakes Brewing Co.)

Whoa, talk about a commitment beer.  I would say this is more of a beer that you drink with people who you are not trying to impress/flirt with.  That being said, we still highly enjoy this beer.

Nosferatu is the autumn seasonal beer from Great Lakes Brewing Company with a vampire on the front of the bottle.  It is the vampire from a famous 1920's silent German film, appropriately enough entitled Nosferatu.

This beer, an imperial red ale, is extremely hoppy with a bolder finish than the nose.  Unlike Goose Island's Harvest Ale, the taste develops while you are drinking it--it has more than just one note in it.  This beer, as I said before, is definitely a commitment beer.  It is much stronger, in our opinion, than other autumn seasonal beers.

ABV: 8.0%
Rating: Gene: 4.0  Lily: 3.5

Harvest Ale (Goose Island)

Let us start by saying Goose Island beers are usually ones that we love.  While not the only high-quality microbrewery in the Chicagoland area, they're certainly the most well-known (thanks, perhaps in part, to an unholy pact with Annheiser-Busch), being found throughout the Midwest and parts of the east coast.

Goose Island's Harvest Ale, however, falls a little short of our usually-met expectations.  It's billed as a "special American bitter," and we suppose that much is true - there is a bitter, hoppy taste that is almost entirely without nuance and the same from the nose to the tail.  It's not unpleasant, but there's not much here that would keep us coming back for more after having one or two.  Especially when there are so many great autumn seasonals.

Rating:  1.5
5.7% ABV

Ellie's Brown Ale (Avery Brewing Company)

Avery Brewing Company is brewed in Boulder, CO--home of CU Boulder, America's most beautiful campus.  They're widely distributed throughout the nation, and brew high-quality beers of numerous distinct styles.

This brown ale has a light consistency but bold flavor; one that's milder at the nose and nuttier at the tail.  The flavors in this beer are very smooth.  It would go well with red meats or spicy food, but might overpower some milder fare.  This is one of our go-to beers.

May I also add that on the bottle it says that it is "Lab tested."  And I assume that Ellie is the chocolate lab on the bottle--very punny Avery Brewing!

Rating: 4.0
ABV 5.5%

Oktoberfest (Erdinger)

Erdinger is traditionally a German wiessbier, one of my favorite from Germany.  It is brewed in Erding, Germany, which is in Bavaria, so the south of Germany.  I was very pleasantly surprised when we found their Oktoberfest beer at Binny's in Chicago.

Erdinger's Oktoberfest ale is a weiss beer with a citrus flavor that's a little lighter and more easily-drinkable than some other Oktoberfests.  It slightly harkens to the hefe weissens you might find in Germany, although is somewhat of a toned-down version of these.  It is lighter and not as floral as Erdinger's Weissbier, although the flavor is very similar.  I think of Erdinger's Oktoberfest as a floral version of what a classic Oktoberfest beer should taste like.  Thumbs up!  Everyone should try it, especially because the Bavarians on the bottle are so happy drinking it!

5.7% ABV
Rating: 3.5

La Rossa (Birra Moretti)

La Rossa is a beer that we first discovered when we went to RPM Italian in Chicago.  I know this isn't a food blog, but if you can spare the money and reserve enough in advance, RPM is definitely worth the money!  They also have a great selection of wines and craft Italian beers, as well as liquors. 

I would say that La Rossa is a dark amber ale.  It's light and very drinkable, however the flavor is bold.  There is also somewhat of a smokiness in the back of the beer, as well as an overall malty flavor.  It's very nice to drink this--I usually look to Italy for their Chiantis and Pinot Grigios, but this beer is definitely very satisfying.

This beer comes in 9 ounce bottles, but the higher alcohol percentage makes up for it, if that's a deal-breaker for you.

7.2% ABV
Rating:  3.5

Holy Moses White Ale (Great Lakes Brewing Company)

Having drinken plenty of Hefe-weizen in my time we are definitely huge fans of the Holy Moses White Ale from Great Lakes Brewing Company (not to be confused with the Great Lakes Brewery--they're actually a whole different company).  It is a seasonal brew usually only available from April to May, so we were lucky to find a couple bottles in August!

This beer is just bold enough, has a lot of floral notes, and is very refreshing overall.  It has a citrus aftertaste that is very pleasant (nothing like the aftertaste of those Halls citrus Vitamin C drops), and for a craft beer, it does not have a dry aftertaste at all.  As summer winds down, it was very refreshing to have a nice crisp, easy-to-drink summer beer--although we would drink this at any time of the year!

Rating: 4
ABV: 5.4%

Avalanche Amber Ale (Breckenridge Brewery)

Breckenridge Brewery is a brewer that we are still discovering; they are heavily-involved in the art, music, and brewing communities in Colorado.  We've also had a couple of their other beers, which we'll likely review in the future.

Avalanche Amber Ale starts out full-bodied but light and ends with a non-bitter malty aftertaste.  As we would say, it's a "non-commitment" beer that still has a nice flavor--meaning you could have this beer while having a very intellectual conversation or while trying to pick up someone in a bar.  Because of the consistency, I would say this beer would be paired better with lighter flavors.  This amber ale is definitely not a beer that would stand up to bold flavors in red meats or other heavily seasoned foods.

We are going to have a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being beers we would likely not drink again, and 5 being beers we would go out of our way to get.

Rating: 3.5
4.4% ABV

Welcome to the Blog

Welcome to Pint of Interest, where we'll be reviewing all the beers we sample in order to catalogue our likes and dislikes, learn more about what's available, and hopefully share some with you.  We were originally going to get one of those fancy beer journals, but we figured this way was greener. 

I (Lily) admittedly drank my fair share of cheap beers in college, but who didn't?  Nonetheless I was very pleased when I found out my boyfriend was also interested in craft beers. 

I (Gene) was also happy to find out Lily enjoyed beers with more character than just the Bud Light I bought her the night I met her (that woudln't go over well nowadays unless it's a baseball game). 

We also might post trip reports here of trips to interesting brewpubs, bars and restaraunts (usually ones featuring craft beer), and breweries.  We also may or may not post wine reviews here; I suppose there is almost enough wine in a bottle for each of us to have a pint.

So we hope that you enjoy our blog.  We do not in any way claim to be beer experts, we simply just like drinking beer (and wine and gin).  No matter wshat, we'll be keeping this blog both for our records and also to learn more about beer and wine itself.

As always folks, drink responsibly :)