Showing posts with label Lagunitas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lagunitas. Show all posts

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Monthly Beer Review and Rating - May 2008



At Home:

Southern Tier - IPA
A solidly good IPA. A little off balance for me.

My Rating: The glass is half full


















Great Lakes - Moondog ESB
A very good beer, but not excellent.
You really can't go wrong with any
beer from Great Lakes Brewery.
My Rating: The glass is half full
















New Belgium - Springboard Ale
This is indeed a good beer for Spring and Summer,
but the unusual ingredients of wormwood, lycium, schisandra,
and 2% ale aged in oak barrels just didn't work together that well
to taste that good to me. It was interesting to try, but I will likely
not want it again.
My Rating: The glass is half empty

















Founders - Centennial IPA
This is one of the best IPA's that I have ever had. Awesome.
My Rating: The glass is full
















Lagunitas - Lucky 13
A great beer and a great deal ($5).
My Rating: The glass is full















On Tap:
at Poor Phil's in Oak Park, Illinois
  1. Two Brothers Bare Tree Barley Weiss - first time having this, I really enjoyed it - My Rating: The glass is full
  2. North Coast Red Seal Ale - one of my favorite overall great ales - My Rating: The glass is full
  3. New Holland Existential - intense and strong, and I like hoppy beers, but doesn't taste very good overall, as it is very off balance to me - My Rating: The glass is half empty
at Small Bar, Avondale/Logan Square, Chicago, Illinois
  1. Lagunitas IPA - My Rating: The glass is half full
  2. Victory Prima Pils - My Rating: The glass is half full
at The Hopleaf, Andersonville, Chicago, Illinois
  1. Surly Bender - My Rating: The glass is full
  2. Founders Red's Rye - another awesome one from Founders - My Rating: The glass is full

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

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












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












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









My Rating: The glass is half full











My Rating: The glass is full













My Rating: The glass is half full













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













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












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















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.

About Me

My photo
Chicago, Illinois, United States

"Lines on Ale" by Edgar Allen Poe

Fill with mingled cream and amber

I will drain that glass again.

Such hilarious visions clamber

Through the chamber of my brain -

Quaintest thoughts - queerest fancies

Come to life and fade away;

What care I how time advances?

I am drinking ale today

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