Chicago Craft Beer Week - Day 6 (Tuesday May 24, 2011)

Jak's Tap
1. Bridgeport - Kingpin Double Red Ale. My Rating: The glass is half empty

Haymarket Pub and Brewery (has very good food).
1. Pizza Port (16 beers on tap)! This was definitely the most well organized and enjoyable tap tasting of this scale that I have ever been too! I had a lot of the beers - too many to list. It was especially cool to briefly meet with Haymaket brewmaster Peter Crowley and Pizza Port brewmaster Jeff Bagby and thanks to them for being so nice and letting me sit and have a beer at their table!! My Rating: The glass is full
2. Haymarket - The Alarm Double American IPA. My Rating: The glass is full
3. Haymarket - Fear American IPA. My Rating: The glass is full

Chicago Craft Beer Week - Day 5 (Monday May 23, 2011)

High Dive (has good food)
1. New Belgium - Dunkelweiss. My Rating: The glass is half empty

Cleo's
1. Summit - Unchained 06: Gold Sovereign Ale. My Rating: The glass is half empty

Twisted Spoke (sadly, I missed all the Goose Island barrel-aged stouts that were available earlier this night)
1. Stone - Arrogant Bastard". My Rating: The glass is full

Chicago Craft Beer Week - Day 3 (Saturday May 21, 2011)

Small Bar - Logan Square
1. Two Brothers - Cane and Ebel (firkin). My Rating: The glass is full
2. Two Brothers - Askew Sour Ale. My Rating: The glass is half full
3. Half Acre - Gossamer Golden Ale (firkin). My Rating: The glass is empty (at least for the firkin version).

Quenchers Saloon
1. Bear Republic - Racer 5 IPA. My Rating: The glass is full

Owen and Engine (my first time here - highly recommended)
1. Two Brothers - Oak Aged Resistance IPA. My Rating: The glass is full

Cole's
1. Great Lakes - Dortmunder Gold. My Rating: The glass is full

Revolution Brewing
1. Dos Osos West Coast IPA. My Rating: The glass is full

Rocking Horse
1. Great Lakes - Lake Erie Monster. My Rating: The glass is half full

Chicago Craft Beer Week - Day 2 (Friday May 20, 2011)

Small Bar - Fullerton
1. Half Acre - Baume Rye Stout. My Rating: The glass is half full
2. Two Brothers - Oak Aged Resistance IPA (firkin). My Rating: The glass is full
3. Metropolitan/Small Bar - Gold Star for Robot Boy (single hop pilsner). My Rating: The glass is half full

Paddy Longs
1. Three Floyds - Alpha King. My Rating: The glass is full

Chicago Craft Beer Week - Day 1 (Thursday May 19, 2011)

I kicked off the first day (yesterday night) of Chicago Craft Beer Week in my own spontaneous way.
The 4 bars that I visited and the draft beer that I had at each place:

Maria's Packaged Goods and Community Bar
1. Lagunitas - A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale
My Rating: The glass is full

the Village Tap
1. New Holland - Envious
My Rating: The glass is half empty

Jerry's Sandwiches (highly recommended)
1. Port - Wipeout IPA
My Rating: The glass is full

The Beer Bistro
1. Lagunitas - Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale
My Rating: The glass is full

Tonight (right now!) I'm off to Small Bar - Fullerton, and then maybe Paddy Long's or Sheffields.

Happy Chicago Craft Beer Week!

Sticky Fat from Half Acre

I'm enjoying these first few days of autumn-like weather and the Labor Day weekend with a growler of Sticky Fat from Half Acre Brewing Company in Chicago. It was just released and will probably have a very limited availability (in growlers only at the brewery). Read their tale of the Sticky Fat Bear on the Half Acre blog here.

I always love ales brewed with fresh/wet hops, which Sticky Fat most certainly is. But it is also a very nice dark ale along with the hoppiness, so it has fantastic balance of flavor.

Sticky Fat was released on Friday September 3 and already has a grade of A (outstanding) on BeerAdvocate.

It may be the perfect kind of ale to get in a growler. With the ABV at a reasonable 6.5% and with the fantastic flavors in each pour, you can keep drinking this one all weekend.

Pub Pics - Paramount Room

Since my birthday in March 2008, I have enjoyed many times at Paramount Room, which opened in Fall 2007. Paramount Room is about 2 blocks southeast from the Grand/Halsted/Milwaukee intersection and just near a train track bridge (and it always smells like chocolate outside because of Blommers Chocolate nearby). I enjoy their frequently rotating taps of craft beer (always with an updated list), their excellent Kobe burger and tempura fried green beans, and the comfortable modern pub atmosphere. We usually sit in the underground lounge space, but this time we sat at the first table by the front door. Featured in this edition of "Pub Pics" is a pint (being thoroughly enjoyed, hence the "glass is half full"!) of the recently available Two Brothers Long Haul Session Ale. This ale is light in body and alcohol (only 4.2%) but has such fantastic flavor with oaky notes, due to the aging in French oak fermentation tanks (foudres). Maybe I need a little break from all those strong IPA's lately, but I seem to be enjoying this one a lot more than other reviewers. Plus it's a great session ale to have while watching all the Chicago Blackhawks games - who are hopefully "in it for the long haul". And that's why it's my Beer of the Month this April 2010.

AleFest Chicago 2009 Follow-Up and Photos

Just as it was last year, AleFest Chicago 2009 (3rd Annual) was a fantastic time this past Saturday, on a beautiful day near Soldier Field. There were about 150 beers from which to sample, although I have actually had a lot of them before, so there wasn't much beer new to me. I still enjoyed tasting beers that I haven't had for a couple years or having some of my old favorites. Some of my favorite breweries were there, including Two Brothers, Lost Coast, Dark Horse, Charles Wells, Goose Island, Great Lakes, Unibroue, Wychwood, Lagunitas, and Founders. A brewery that's newer to me is Barley Island from Indiana and I very much enjoyed their Barfly IPA and Dirty Helen Brown Ale (which I favorably reviewed last year) which were poured from their great looking taps. Unfortunately, one of my favorite breweries Three Floyds was not there again this year, so it seems they are never interested in participating in this AleFest, even though they are so close to Chicago. For the special ReplicAle 2009 event, for which many breweries brewed their version of a Belgian-style wit beer, I only tried the ones from Piece Brewery & Pizzeria and Emmett's Tavern & Brewing, which were both excellent (as expected). Enjoy my slideshow of photos that I took during my time at AleFest Chicago 2009, along with my girlfriend Lin and her dad Denny:

AleFest Chicago (3rd Annual)

This Saturday July 11 will be the 3rd Annual AleFest Chicago.
It will be in a large field just outside of Soldier Field Stadium from 2pm to 6pm.
We went last year and had lots of fun and overall thought it was excellent. Therefore, I am definitely going again this year.

It is $40 for admission, but that gives you 20 samples from a selection of over 150 craft beers, a commemorative AleFest sampling glass, and event sampling guide with informative beer and brewing references, along with many other features. This year, the proceeds will go to support the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild, and on their website they elaborate on this year's special "ReplicAle" which will be the style of Belgian Wit.

If you love beer like me, and this time and location is convenient for you, you should try to make it.

Last year, I wanted to write about my AleFest 2008 experience but never got around to it, even though I had plenty of material (reviews, photos). Hopefully I will write about my AleFest 2009 experience, soon after attending this Saturday.

I also have literally tons of new photos and beer reviews that I have been meaning to post, but have been extremely busy for the past 6 months. I will have to figure out a way to get this blog up to speed this summer.

Pub Pics - Elephant and Castle Pub in Chicago

Pub Pics - Small Bar in Avondale, Chicago

Oktoberfest & Pumpkin Beer at Delilah's Follow-Up

A couple weeks back (I gotta write more often on this blog!) I went to Delilah's in Chicago for their Oktoberfest & Pumpkin (& Autumn Beer) "Festival". I did not buy the $20 tasting for all the beers (2 oz. each, I think). I have already had many of the beers on the list. So, I just had four beers that I have never had before. I also tried to get some photos, but as expected Delilah's is just too dark.
To the left, you can view the list of beers offered at Delilah's - just click it to view larger.
Here are my ratings.

Weihenstephaner Festbier - The glass is full

Arcadia Jaw Jacker Spiced Ale - The glass is half empty

Breckenridge After Rakin' Autumn Ale - The glass is half full

Lakefront Pumpkin Lager - The glass is empty

In general, I am not really into pumpkin ales. I say ales, because as you can see from my rating of the pumpkin lager above, I just don't think pumpkin works well at all in a lager. Recently, I had a pumpkin ale that I thought was really good and enjoyable to drink, so I made it the Beer of the Month for this October. It's Brooklyn Brewery's Post Road Pumpkin Ale.

I'm back! And probably going to Delilah's tonight.

Don't worry. Highway to Ale is not dying. I had to take a break for a while, since I was moving and starting a new job. I am all settled in now and actually making some decent money, so I have some new interesting beers about which I will write. However, I haven't really figured out my internet situation outside of work, so the minimal internet access at home has definitely contributed to a decrease in my posting. Looks like I will combine July, August, and September for what will be my most recent "Monthly Beer Review and Rating" at the end of this month. For the past two months, I have actually been minimizing beer bottles that I would have to recycle by drinking primarily growlers of different styles of beer from Emmett's Brewery in West Dundee and Piece Brewery in Chicago. I do have some regular bottled beer to also review and rate.

Just now I put up my pick for Beer of the Month for September on the right sidebar - it's one of my favorite seasonal beers and it's called Heavy Handed brewed by Two Brothers. I didn't get around to posting a Beer of the Month for August before, but there will be one in the list. I also have many more things that I have been meaning to post, such as some beer related events that happened way back in the Spring and Summer. And, of course, I have lots of "Pub Pics" and a few new "Weird Beer Thursdays" lined up for the near future.

Ok, regarding tonight, Delilah's in Chicago is having an "Oktoberfest and Pumpkin Beer Festival". This is rather perfect since I haven't had the chance to write about Oktoberfest beers in particular this month, and I am also still trying to determine which pumpkin beer I like the best. So I will probably check this out. I'll try to get some photos, but not sure if they will show up well since it is usually so dark in Delilah's.
From Delilah's website, here's the info for tonight:

Oktoberfest & Pumpkin Beer Festival

On Tuesday, September 23rd, Delilah’s will be hosting a comprehensive tasting of Oktoberfest, Harvest, & Pumpkin beers. We will be tasting every possible version of these beers available in this market – plus a five year vertical of Ayinger Oktoberfest.
Beers to be tasted include but are not limited to:

• Ayinger Oktoberfest
• Paulaner Oktoberfest
• Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest
• Becks Oktoberfest
• Goose Island Oktoberfest
• Summit Oktoberfest + Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale + Buffalo Bills Pumpkin Ale
• New Holland Ichabod Pumpkin Ale
• Dogfishead Pumpkin Ale
• Lakefront Pumpkin Lager & O’Fallen Pumpkin Ale

This is guaranteed to be ideal for both the new enthusiast as well as the long term aficionado – and talk about becoming an educated shopper.

Tuesday, September 23th, 5pm - 9pm
Delilah’s - 2771 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago
(773) 472-2771
There is no cost to attend and the various beers will be available to purchase by the 2oz sample or whole bottle/pint - information about the beers will be available. Call with any questions.

AleFest Chicago - A Celebration of Craft Beer this Saturday!

Sorry, this is kind of late for anyone out there who didn't know about this yet. AleFest Chicago is happening this Saturday July 12 from 1pm-6pm at Soldier Field Staidum Green (just outside Soldier Field). Apparently this is the 2nd annual one, but I don't remember hearing about it last year at all, and I was pretty busy, so obviously I didn't go before. This year, I have seen posters for it up in some beer bars that I have visited recently, so I figured it must be pretty good. Then I found the nice website where it has all the details. Admission is $40, but includes a bunch of stuff such as 20 samples of craft beer, a commemorative tasting glass, a stainless steel bottle opener, and it's also for charity for the The Lupus Foundation of America, Illinois Chapter (LFAI). Then I looked at the list of breweries that will be there (I have them listed below), and I was quite impressed! I'm still not sure if I will definitely go, but I am seriously considering it. Now I have some free time, but not much money, since I'm between jobs right now. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal and a good way to spend this Saturday, though, so I may go for it. Anyone else already planning on going, or wanting to go?

Participating Breweries Include:

	Abita Allagash America’s Arcadia Avery Ayinger Belhaven Bent River Black Sheep Blackthorn Blue Cat Boston Beer Boulder Breckenridge Brooklyn Chang Charles Wells Chimay Trappist Destihl Dogfish Head DuBocq Emmett’s Flatlanders Floris Flossmoor Station Flying Dog Gaffel Goose Island Gordon Biersch Gouden Carolus Great Lakes Greens		Hirter Jever Kaiser Kasteel Lagunitas Lefebvre Left Hand Lindemans Lost Coast LunaR McAuslan Metropolitan Mickey Finn’s MT Barrels New Holland North Coast Piece RAM/Big Horn Rock Bottom Samuel Smith Southern Tier St. Louis St. Peters Stiegl Three Floyds Two Brothers Unibroue Wexford Wychwood Young’s Zatec

Monthly Beer Review and Rating - February March April 2008

Instead of reviewing/rating beers individually each time I have one, I think I am going to just go through them all at the end of each month. Also, I will keep things pretty easy and brief overall. Some may have a photo, some may not. Some may just have my rating, without further elaboration. Some may be on tap at a pub, but many will be bottles that I have had at home. Since I just started this blog about a month ago, I will include February, March and April 2008 in this "Monthly Beer Review and Rating" from Highway to Ale. They will be listed in roughly the order that I had them (since February up until today). Since there are so many for this installment, probably I will just give my rating and give links, which will give more info about the beer, the style, or the brewery if you are interested. My Rating Guide is shown here at the top left of this post, and always on the right sidebar.

Additionally, you can check out the "Weird Beer Thursday" (Highway to Ale's "Special Feature") beers that I have reviewed and rated so far.


At Home:
Scotty Karate Scotch Ale - Dark Horse Brewing Company

My Rating: The glass is half full

Olde Suffolk - Greene King

review from Michael Jackson ("Beer Hunter")
My Rating: The glass is half full
















Altenmunster Winterbier Doppelbock - Allgaeuer Brauhaus AG

My Rating: The glass is half empty

Hairy Eyeball - Lagunitas

My Rating: The glass is half full













Conway's Irish Ale - Great Lakes Brewing
My Rating: The glass is full













Dubbel Reserve - Allagash
My Rating: The glass is full














ESB Special Ale - Ska Brewing
Yep, in a can. I wish more microbrewed beers came in cans.
Read this recent blog post, from A Blog About Beer, about how more craft beers are being canned.
Of course, I poured it into a glass. I just forgot to get a photo of this one.
My Rating: The glass is half full















Celis White - Michigan Brewing Co.
My Rating: The glass is half full

Old Dundee Scottish Ale - Emmett's Tavern and Brewing

My Rating: The glass is half full

Gumballhead - Three Floyds

My Rating: The glass is full

India Pale Ale (IPA) - Moylan's

My Rating: The glass is half full

Hopsickle Imperial Ale - Moylan's

Delicious and beautiful beer! And affordable! One of my new favorites.
My Rating: The glass is full

Dirty Helen Brown Ale - Barley Island Brewing

This is the first beer that I've had from this brewery in Indiana.
Interesting and good brown ale - I would try their others.
My Rating: The glass is half full

Garde Dog - Flying Dog Brewery

This is one of the few beers that I have ever bought, and have been truly disappointed to the point that I would say that I hate this beer. I feel that I wasted my money on this beer. Thought I would try it since it seemed like an interesting new seasonal. Supposed to be in the style of Biere de Garde. But it fails miserably. Tastes to me like Old Style, which would have been fine if I paid $3 for a six-pack (and was expecting cheap crappy beer) instead of $10! Actually, it seems worse than Old Style. Obviously, I think this beer sucks. If I ever want to try the Biere de Garde style again, I will be sure to try any of these instead. Or anything by Brasserie La Choulette.
My Rating: The glass is empty

Crooked Tree IPA - Dark Horse Brewing

Very nice bottle conditioned IPA. I had and enjoyed their Amber Ale a couple months ago. This brewery in Michigan is new for me, and I am really liking their beers. This is the brewery that makes the Tres Blueberry Stout, but once I heard about it I couldn't find it anywhere because Winter was ending.
They also make the Scotty Karate Scotch Ale, with which I started this long review post.
My Rating: The glass is half full
















On Tap: Lots of excellent beers!
at Poor Phil's in Oak Park, Illinois (I hit the jackpot at this place!)

1. Lagunitas Hop Stoopid - My Rating: The glass is full
2. Three Floyds Travissimo - My Rating: The glass is full
3. Two Brothers Imperial Cane and Ebel - one of my absolute favorites - My Rating: The glass is full

at Small Bar (technically in Avondale, just north of Logan Square) Chicago, Illinois

1. Surly Furious - My Rating: The glass is full
2. Three Floyds Gumballhead - My Rating: The glass is full
3. Two Brothers Hop Juice - My Rating: The glass is full
4. Victory Hop Devil - My Rating: The glass is half full

at Emmett’s Tavern and Brewery, West Dundee, Illinois

1. Emmett's Victory Pale Ale - My Rating: The glass is half full
2. McCarthy Red Ale - My Rating: The glass is full
3. Double Barrel Oatmeal Stout - My Rating: The glass is full

at M.T. Barrels Brewery, West Dundee, Illinois

1. American Pale Ale - My Rating: The glass is full

at The Hopleaf, Andersonville, Chicago, Illinois

1. Surly Bender - one of my new absolute favorite beers - can't wait until I can get more here in Illinois and to try their other beers - and they come in cans! My Rating: The glass is full
2. Surly Two - made with lots of cranberries, very interesting but not that great. My Rating: The glass is half full
3. Dogfish Head Burton Baton - oak-barrel aged strong sipper. My Rating: The glass is full (but would not have more than one)

at Two Brothers Brewery, Warrenville, Illinois - I plan to write a separate post about my experience here, hopefully this weekend.

All About Beer Magazine's "125 Places to Have a Beer Before You Die"

"125 Places to Have a Beer Before You Die" according to All About Beer Magazine.

Looking through the list, turns out that I have been to many of these places already (I'm 29 years old). Plus, a few of my favorite places to drink beer in Chicago, Illinois not only made the list, but are in the top 50.

Below are the places on the list that I have been to, and of course, drank beer at. "Starred" are places that I have been to many times. The others, just once.

11. Hofbrauhaus, Munich, Germany
**24. The Hopleaf, Chicago, IL (Love it! Just went the other week, and tried three great beers for the first time - Surly Bender, Surly Two, and Dogfish Head Burton Baton. More about those later.)
35. Great Lakes Brewing, Cleveland, OH
**43. Clark Street Ale House, Chicago, IL
**47. The Map Room, Chicago, IL
71. The Brewer’s Art, Baltimore, MD
76. City Tavern, Philadelphia, PA (I walked by, but I think they were closed at the time)
**84. Goose Island Brewing, Chicago, IL
113. beerbistro, Toronto, Canada (we walked by to check it out, but went somewhere else instead. I think it was a little pricier than what we were looking for)
115. John Barleycorn, Chicago, IL (I assume that they are referring to the historic location in Lincoln Park. But still, um, whatever. I would definitely not recommend.)

One place that my girlfriend recently proposed that we go in 2009:
5. Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany (!!!)

Which places on the list have you visited and enjoyed a beer at?
Or is your favorite beer drinking establishment not on the list - what is it?
I would love to hear about it in the comments!

Revolution Brewing Company gets new brewery equipment

A new brewery/brewpub is being started up in the neighborhood where I currently live. It will be Revolution Brewing Company.
Today, there was a post on their blog, showing the process of obtaining brewery equipment from a former brewery in Michigan, and moving it to their location in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago.
Check out the short story and all the interesting photos in their post "How to Move a Brewery in Three Days".
I will likely not still be around here when this place officially opens up, which not until next year. But it is interesting to follow the progress of this brewery planning and building.