Guest Post: LeRoy Takes In Valpo Brewfest

Today's update comes from a Hoosier Beer Geek reader from up north. LeRoy Bowman attended and worked this weekend's Valpo Brewfest, and was kind enough to email us this report.

Dear Hoosier Beer Geek,

Were there any members of KOTBR in attendance at the Valpo Brewfest? I am sorry if no one was able to attend, as it was a pretty good event.

I have to say hats off to the organizers, as it was sold out (1500 tickets sold)! Not bad for a first time event. Luckily, the weather held up, as it was an outside event. It was windy and chilly (low 50's). In spring, Crown Point had its own Mayfest (about 950 attendees). I believe the organizers of the Valpo Brewfest saw how that one did, and made some improvements with having a local restaurant serving food under a large tent with tables and chairs for people to eat at. A band was in attendance to perform also. Some area breweries that were at the Mayfest did not attend Valparaiso (Flossmoor Station, Brickstone, and Shoreline), due to their own events scheduled. Indiana breweries in attendance were: Barley Island, Peoples Brewing, Lafayette, Crown Brewing, Figure 8, Oaken Barrel, Upland, and Mishawaka. Other breweries included; Bell's, Goose Island, Lakefront, Rogue, Magic Hat, New Belgium, Brooklyn, Dogfish Head, New Holland, Sierra Nevada, and others. Many breweries brought their standards, but some brought a few specialty brews. Sierra Nevada brought Jack and Ken's 30th anniversary barleywine--which was the only keg of that beer in Indiana.

One of the local homebrew clubs (Illiana Beer Rackers Union), in which I am a member, was in attendance also. This was a great honor for us, as we were able to hand out samples of our own beers to patrons and other breweries. Quite a few members donated beer in 5 gallon kegs, 22 oz. bottles, and half gallon growlers for sampling. Our initial beer list was approved by organizers, and it seemed they were impressed with what we had to offer. I believe this opened the eyes of some, as many people in our area do not realize most brewers at microbreweries first started brewing a home.

My hope is that with the number of attendees at both Mayfest and Valparaiso Brewfest, both events will improve and grow in numbers breweries, brews, and patrons next year.

Cheers,

LeRoy Bowman

We'd like to thank LeRoy for taking the time to keep us informed. We're invite any HBG readers to fill us in on anything we've missed - keep those emails coming!

Guest Post: North to the Future: Craft Beer in Alaska

Our guest contributor for today's guest column is Sun King Brewer/Owner Clay Robinson. Staraya, his talented and lovely girlfriend, is a former Alaska native.



Staraya & I arrived in Anchorage after a long journey that took us from Indy through Chicago, then to Seattle for a 22-hour layover, complete with sushi and last minute holiday shopping, and then a very turbulent flight to Alaska. I have been now been lucky enough to arrive in Alaska on both the Summer & Winter Solstices, so I have been able to enjoy their longest and shortest days of the year! But no matter what day it is, the best place to go for a beer lover is The Moose’s Tooth.


The Moose’s Tooth boasts an impressive 22 taps, all of which are pouring fresh beer, brewed on site. On this particular day, they had 18 beers pouring! I didn’t get to taste all 18 of them because it was crazy busy and I needed to save room for their pizza, which is exquisite. The place is packed at 8 p.m. on this frigid Monday night and from what I gather that is the case pretty much every night. The doors lead straight into their waiting area, which is right in front of their bar. Two dining rooms extend out from either end of the bar and the place is buzzing with chatter and good spirits. The atmosphere at The Moose’s Tooth is very cozy with exposed wood beams and stone. Everywhere you look they have artwork from their First Tap Series, all of which is incredible. You could spend hours perusing their poster collection that lines the walls.


We put our name in and headed for the bar to grab a beer for the wait. They have a convenient spot sectioned off at the bar for thirsty patrons to grab a beer while they wait for a table, which doubles as a spot for convenient growler fill service. Russell, Jeanie and myself all got the I.P.A. and Staraya got the Winter Warmer. After traveling for a few days I had a powerful thirst for something hoppy and their Fairweather I.P.A. really hit the spot. Its initial caramel sweetness is mild and quickly cut through with big doses of Chinook Hops. The hop flavor and bitterness were just right, so between the delicious beer and catching up with old friends, the wait really flew by.

We were seated and greeted by our server, Kristen, who was comfortably decked out in Moose’s Tooth apparel, topped off with a cozy sock hat. The staff at the Tooth is always friendly and seems to genuinely enjoy working there. After a little chatting, Russell told her that I was in fact a brewer, so Kristen said she would bring me samples of a few things that she felt I had to try… then she left us to the difficult task of choosing our pizza.


Choosing a pizza at the Moose’s Tooth is akin to picking your pie at Jockamo’s. There are dozens of options from traditional to unique and of course being in Alaska there is a Halibut pizza (Blackened Halibut, Diced Red Onions, Diced Roma Tomatoes, Spicy Sour Cream Sauce, Parsley, Mozzarella, Provolone, Garlic & Olive Oil). It is my opinion that some of the best things about pizza are: 1) Good pizza places have their own unique dough/crust. 2) There are a countless number of toppings and combinations. 3) Pizza is perfect for sharing. Of course these are some of the same reasons that I love beer, breweries and traveling to experience them, so I’m kind of in Heaven at this place!

In the infinite sea of pizza decisions, we chose to go with two medium pizzas and have each side of the table pick a pie. Russell and Jeanie chose the White Pizza (Sundried Tomatoes, Artichoke Hearts, Feta, Mozzarella, Provolone, Garlic & Olive Oil) with the addition of sausage. Staraya and I went with the Brewhouse Favorite (Italian Sausage, Sundried Tomatoes, Red Onions, Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Denali Sauce) then added mushrooms and black olives. When Kristen returned, she had three tasty samples of beer. We ordered pizza and a salad and I commenced sampling.

Winter Warmer: I took a sip of Staraya’s Winter Warmer when she first got it. I was happy to have some to myself, so I didn’t end up drinking all of her beer (which happens quite frequently), but given her fondness for this particular beer, I thought I’d better get my own. Winter Warmer is a really nice beer. It is reminiscent of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale in that big malt and generous hops kind of way. The aroma is full of earthy hops. It has a rich malt start with a distinct extra dark crystal malt character. The body is full, bordering on chewy and it is all balanced with a generous earthy hop flavor. Winter Warmer is a well-balanced beer that is very enjoyable and would probably sneak up on you after a couple of pints, which would be easy to consume on a cold Alaskan evening.

Prince William Porter: This is a spot on Porter. It has a lot of chocolate to the nose with a bit of roast. The body is light to medium and the flavor is rich and chocolaty with a nice ester quality. It is a clean, smooth, delicious porter.

Dark Star Lager: From what I could taste, the Dark Star Lager is essentially the Porter, but fermented with a lager strain. The chocolate flavor was really nice in this beer as well and the clean lager finish worked well to make this a really nice beer.

While all of these beers were delicious, as I’m sure most everything else is, Fairweather I.P.A. was calling my name. It is the type of beer that I just can’t get enough of, so I ordered another pint to accompany our pizzas. The pizzas and my fresh beer were delivered to the table in a timely manner and our feast ensued! Both pizzas were f@$!&# fantastic and we devoured every bit of it.

All in all, I can’t see how there could possibly be a better place for pizza and beer in all of Alaska. So, if you ever make it up this way… Stop in at the Moose’s Tooth. It’s worth the trip!

Guest Post: The Digitante Visits Champaign, IL

Today's content comes via long-time HBG reader Andy Howard. Andy is also a regular at HBG events and does a bit of writing and provides technology advice and services through his blog, The Digitante.

Last weekend, the wife and I headed out with our girls to meet up with some friends from Peoria. It goes without saying that I wouldn't be caught dead in Peoria, so we decided to meet about halfway: Champaign.

Champaign has a lot going for it:

It's not Peoria.

It's a Big Ten college town like West Lafayette, the home of my alma mater.

It has a great restaurant called Radio Maria.

As we were planning our trip, the wife and her friend simultaneously selected Radio Maria and I could not have been happier. They have a tap list consisting of 27 beers and a wide selection of bottles and bombers.


The 27 taps are mounted on a former industrial hand-washing station.


That definitely wasn't the only thing in the bar area that was recycled. The light fixtures contained a shroud from a wind tunnel, a neon light that was the 'O' from Leonard's Pawn Shop, vacuum cleaner cords for the wiring, and the pods from a pneumatic transfer system. All said, only the booth seats, bar top glass, and chairs were new.


Now on to the beer. The selections for the day were Southern Tier Cherry Saison, Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, and Two Brothers Cane and Ebel.

Southern Tier Cherry Saison

This beer has been reviewed by the Geeks before, but I had read the post long enough ago to completely forget what they said. When comparing notes a few minutes ago, it sounds like I was right in the ballpark.


The nose smelled like a rosé wine. It mostly felt like a beer wasn't supposed to smell that way. The first sip solidified my thought that this beer was weird. It had a citrusy, Mandarin orange flavor, it was very thick and syrupy, and the alcohol was very pronounced.

All in all, neither I nor the wife was very impressed. In HBG parlance, I probably would have rated it around 2.50 mugs.

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

I had never heard of Ballast Point, but it appears they are a Southern California brewery and I've not seen them in Indiana.

This was the quintessential IPA for me: well balanced with a floral hoppy smell and a relaxed, not overpowering floral hoppy taste. The head was a bit thin, but definitely stuck to the glass through the entire beer.


I would consider this to be a supremely drinkable beer, perhaps the most of any IPA I've ever had. Overall, I would put this beer at about as close to 5.00 mugs as I can. If it was available in Indiana, I would have my new go-to beer.

Two Brothers Cane and Ebel

I believe this is a beer that is brewed using Turbinado raw sugar (Cane=Cain?) by the two Ebel brothers. There's your non-fact-checked background story.

This beer was nearly flat as it produced minimal head when being poured. It smelled very sweet and did not disappoint on the taste. Although it did have a sweet molasses flavor, the sweetness didn't overpower the hops and rye which stood out very well. The aftertaste was a major turn off for me as it left me with an instant iced tea flavor on the back of my tongue that wouldn't go away.


Between the overly sweet taste (I'm not a fan) and the iced tea aftertaste, this beer just didn't do it for me. The hops saved it to some extent though. I would put it at about 3.25 mugs.

Radio Maria is a great bar in the historical district of Champaign. We can't wait to check it out again when we can spend more time moving though the tap list. A special thanks goes out to Jacob at Radio Maria for filling us in on the history of the bar. Be sure to check it out next time you are headed toward Champaign.

Our thanks go out to Andy for the informative and helpful work - I visit Champaign every once in a while myself.

Want to contribute to Hoosier Beer Geek? We love submitted content. Send us an email at knights at hoosierbeergeek.com and we'll iron out the details.

36 Hours in Madison

Hoosier Beer Geek has been fortunate to establish relationships with people who are just as geeked about craft beer as we are. These other geeks come from both within and outside of Indiana. Two of those non-Hoosier beer geeks are Mike from STLHops and Jeffrey from Madison Beer Review.

The three cities are in relatively close proximity and can easily serve as weekend getaways for the craft beer geek. With Memorial Day Weekend coming up, and it being one of the biggest travel weekend of the year, it was decided that each of us would write a guide on what to do if you have 36 hours in their city.

Yesterday, we had a guide for 36 hours in St. Louis. Tomorrow, we will have a guide for 36 hours in Indianapolis, created by HBG's Mike. But today, though, it is Madison Beer Review's Jeffery and his recommendation of what to do if you only have 36 hours in Madison...

Welcome to lovely Madison, WI (photo by Luiz Castro) You’ve successfully braved the traffic in Chicago, construction in Rockford, and you now find yourself in the capital of Wisconsin, where you can Live Like You Mean It (alternate state slogan: “Illinois’ Largest State Park”). Hold on to your hats, because there’s more beer here per capita than any other place East of the Rockies and West of Michigan. In the immediate area around Madison are 10 breweries and brewpubs, and countless more beer bars and gastropubs. We will assume for the moment that you are not here for The Great Taste of The Midwest (if you were, this article would be very short: “Go to Great Taste.”).

Before we get started, you'll want to know two things about getting around Madison. First, the public transport is terrible, so you'll have to drive or walk - this means that one of you will need to remain sober. Second, this town is impossible to drive in - you can print out directions, you can ask for directions, you can know exactly where you're going and you will still get turned around and diverted by one-way streets, streets that change names three times in five blocks, and roads that never run the same direction for more than half a mile. Just suck it up and do what I do: swear very loudly at the steering wheel.

While it's highly unlikely that you've gotten into town at 5pm on a Friday (Chicago traffic at 3pm on a Friday!? HA!), we'll pretend that you did:

Friday 5 p.m.
UW Memorial Union Terrace - While it's on-campus, it is open to the public and is a great place to start your evening. A large, diverse taplist of everything from a house amber to local offerings from Capital and New Glarus to more typical college fare like Labatt's and Miller. During the summer, you can sit on an iconic John Deere Green Sunburst Chair looking over Lake Mendota (one of four lakes in the Madison area) and plan your evening. This location makes for great people-watching and the bandstand is typically active. There are two things you'll need to know about the Terrace: 1) parking can be a challenge, during the summer the school ramps are typically open to the public and available and there is one right near the Terrace, though it can fill up quickly on nice evenings; 2) you need to be a member to buy a pitcher of beer (secret note: on busy Friday evenings, or really most evenings, it's rare that they ever check for your Membership ID).

Friday 8 p.m.
Friday Night Fish Fry - a Wisconsin tradition, fried cod and hash browns (with melted cheese and onions) is your number one bet. From the Terrace you have a number of options: 1) Walk up State Street to State Street Brats; 2) Walk all the way up State Street to the Capitol; 3) head over to the near-East Side. State Street Brats is a University landmark bar, with a decent taplist of macros and Leinenkugels, it's definitely more atmosphere than beer-geek friendly. Don't worry, if you want to hit Brats but want to front-load your evening with good beer, it's open late and you'll probably end your night on State Street anyway. Capitol - you have two options for Good Beer and Fish Fry on the Capitol. The Old Fashioned is a local quasi-gastropub with a phenomenal taplist of only Wisconsin beers; this summer they are featuring beer from every single brewery and brewpub in the state, so there is beer here that you can't get anywhere else in the state, let alone the world. You can also head over to The Great Dane Pub. The Great Dane is a world-renowned brewpub and this location is the original (there are three others). The food is great, the beer is better. East Side - if you're me, though, you get in your car and you head over to Madison's near-East Side, which is quietly turning into a beer mecca in the city. Get your fish on at Alchemy Cafe or Dexter's Pub - both terrific dive bars with great food and amazing taplists.

Friday 10 p.m.
(photo by ibm4381) Hit A Beer Bar - There are four in the area that are all phenomenal. On the East Side and an easy walk from Dexters or Alchemy is The Malt House. The Malt House has a great taplist divided evenly between Belgian, Wisconsin, and "Pub Choice". The bottle list is extensive, and the scotch, bourbon and whiskey lists are equally compelling (it is the Malt House, after all). Maduro is downtown on the square. While the taplist at Maduro is usually Bells-heavy, it does feature a number of great selections from all over the world, in addition to a great wine selection and cocktails. One thing to beware of at Maduro: it is a cigar bar - if you like cigars, it has a pretty decent selection (though there are better cigar bars in town like Drackenburg's, also on the East Side and has a decent beer selection, and Hemingways, on the West Side, conveniently located near the Great Dane Fitchburg); if you don't like cigars or like smelling like cigars, it may not be your place. Two other beer bars worth heading to are Brasserie V and Monroe Street Bistro on the Near West Side. Both have excellent food, so you can grab a bite to eat there as well. Brasserie V has a selection that focuses on Belgian and American Belgian-like beer. You can find some great beer on tap here that you can't get anywhere else on tap. The staff at the Brasserie is probably the most knowledgeable in the city about great beer. Monroe Street Bistro is an unauthorized "spin-off" of Brasserie V and has a slightly more populist taplist as well as cocktails.

Friday Late Night
Most of the beer bars mentioned above, except Brasserie, are open until bar time (1am or so). Though, really, the action after about 11 pm is all on State Street. Hit up Paul's Bar, The Irish, and State Street wouldn't be complete with at least walking into the Kollege Klub. You can end your night with a brat at State Street Brats or a gyro or pizza from any number of local purveyors of drunk food. Saturday - I hope you're up early and not too hung over, it's going to be a long day and you'll probably drink a fair amount of beer.

Saturday 7 a.m.
Start your day with a good breakfast and some coffee. It's not a Saturday morning in Madison without the Dane County Farmer's Market. One of the largest producer-only farmers markets in the country, the breadth of food available is astounding. Get there early, grab some coffee from any number of local roasters (Ancora on the square and Michaelangelo's just off the square on State are my preferred haunts), and cruise the baked goods and cheese or vegetables or meats (buffalo jerky anyone?). Grab a 6oz block of goat cheese from Fantome Farms or a 5-year aged block of Cheddar from Hook's and some fresh-baked bread or muffins and take your coffee down to Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Monona Terrace and relax for a minute or two to start your day off right.

Saturday
(photo courtesy of Eating in Madison A to Z) - Ready for some brewery tours? You have plenty of options, not to mention brewpubs to stop and grab some lunch. Breweries within an easy drive include: Tyranena in Lake Mills, New Glarus in New Glarus, Capital in Middleton, and Ale Asylum on the Near East Side of Madison. If you're looking for an itinerary, let me suggest the following: 10am - New Glarus Brewing Company - it's a self-guided tour and quick, the tasting at the end of the tour is reasonable ($4, I think?); the new brewery should be open by mid-summer and they'll have beer available for purchase at the brewery that isn't available anywhere else. 12pm - Capital Brewery, Middleton, WI - a trip to Madison isn't complete without a beer at the traditional biergarten here. Known for its dopplebocks, Capital is a Madison institution. 3pm - Tyranena, Lake Mills, WI - it's a forty-five minute trip from Capital to the far east side Madison suburbs; make sure you check what time the tour is on Saturdays (usually held in the early afternoon). Tyranena's tours are fun, and the beer is amazing; they typically have some stuff on tap at the taproom that is not available anywhere else. 6pm - Ale Asylum, Madison, WI - last stop, Ale Asylum. Tours are by appointment only, but the taproom has plenty of beer that you can't buy around town including a full line of Belgian blondes, dubbels, tripels, and quads. [ed note: an alternate itinerary would be to start at Tyranena and skip the tour there, but keep heading East to Milwaukee and check out some of the breweries there or hit up a Brewers game] Want a brewpub for lunch or dinner? Check out The Grumpy Troll in Mount Horeb, Gray's Tiedhouse in Verona, the former-JT Whitneys on Madison's West Side (should be open mid-June), or The Great Dane in Madison (two locations - downtown and West Side) and Fitchburg. Head a little farther West to tourist-friendly Mineral Point for Brewery Creek, or head into Milwaukee (only an hour away) and stop at Delafield Brewhaus, Water Street Brewpub, Stonefly, or Milwaukee Ale House.

Saturday Night
For dinner take the twenty minute drive to Mount Horeb, WI and visit the award-winning Grumpy Troll. A pizza joint upstairs, a more formal dining experience downstairs, the beer is equally awesome both places. Head brewer Mark Duchow mixes up the taplines frequently with everything from an authentic, stone-heated steinbier to a flanders-style red. The Baltic Porter and IPA have won numerous awards.

Sunday
(photo courtesy of Eating in Madison A to Z) As you're dragging yourself awake, drive or walk over to Mickie's Dairy Bar near UW's Camp Randall. The breakfast-only diner serves a ton of pancakes, waffles, corned beef hash, and milkshakes. The menu is on the wall, and it's cash only. Oh, it's also a seat-yourself situation, so if all of the tables are full just hang around for a minute; servers may or may not point you in the right direction, but you'll get a table soon enough. I hope you've found this tour of Madison interesting. Madison has more good food and good beer than anyone could ever possibly consume. If you're going to be in the area, please let Madison Beer Review know and we can always get you pointed in the right direction.

36 hours in St. Louis

Hoosier Beer Geek has been fortunate to establish relationships with people who are just as geeked about craft beer as we are. These other geeks come from both within and outside of Indiana. Two of those non-Hoosier beer geeks are Mike from STLHops and Jeffrey from Madison Beer Review.

The three cities are in relatively close proximity and can easily serve as weekend getaways for the craft beer geek. With Memorial Day Weekend coming up, and it being one of the biggest travel weekend of the year, it was decided that each of us would write a guide on what to do if you have 36 hours in their city.

Tomorrow, we will have a guide for 36 hours in Madison. Friday, we will have a guide for 36 hours in Indianapolis, created by HBG's Mike. But today, though, it is STLHops' Mike and his recommendation of what to do if you only have 36 hours in St. Louis...

Friday

5PM - Hey, who got city in my museum?

You've probably just now rolled across the Mississippi and have begun singing "Deep River" like Clark Griswold. The city of St. Louis is laid out in front to you, but where to start? Well, it's a bit too early for dinner, (unless you're my parents) so it's time to stretch the legs. One of the more unusual locations in the area is the City Museum. Not your Father's museum, the City Museum bills itself as an "eclectic mixture of children's playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel."

Run around MonstroCity or view the World Aquarium, the City Museum presents a hodge-podge of sensory delights that will surely awaken your travel-weary bones.

7:30PM -Pubgrub

After all of that exploring, you've probably worked up an appetite. Luckily, you're close to the original location of the largest local brewery in St. Louis and the second largest craft brewery in Missouri, the Schlafly Tap Room. In 1989, Tom Schlafly and Dan Kopman incorporated and created the Saint Louis Brewery, soon after they purchased the Swift Printing Company and the rest is history.

Today you'll find that the wooden interior and stainless steel brewery equipment lends itself to warm dining experience. Chef Andy White has turned what was previously a ho-hum menu into a wonderful gastropub experience. Also, this is only location in the area to experience Schlafly beer on cask.

9:30PM - I'm sure you'll see me here.

33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar is probably the hippest bar in St. Louis, because it's not trying to be the hippest bar in St. Louis. 33 features a casual atmosphere with one of the best hand-picked beer lists in St. Louis. Here you'll find not only over 100 beer selections, but even aged beer and probably the largest selections of sour beer at a bar in St. Louis. If it's not an unbearably humid St. Louis night, check out the back patio, just make sure to go and get your own drinks at the bar.

Saturday

10AM - Taste of St. Louis

Not unlike my beer, I like my food local, both are usually fresher and tastier when they don't have to travel very far. If you're looking for a local breakfast, Cafe Osage is probably your best choice in St. Louis. With the produce being grown in the vegetable garden across the street and fresh herbs grown on the Café Osage Green Roof, I'd say that's pretty darn local.

12PM - Takin' the tour, takin' the tour.

Oh sure, you could visit another large brewery and go through their fancy-schmancy tour, but then try to ask them a question about brewing and watch the deer in the headlights stare you'll quickly receive. Then again, maybe you're a sadist and you enjoy that type of thing? If you're not though, hit up the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood for one of their hourly tours detailing what it's like to brew beer that actually has some taste.

2PM - 3.14159265
You may be now working up another appetite, so it's time to visit your favorite mathematical constant, Pi. Pizza is a very personal thing and many a divorce and fist fight have been fought over what kind of pizza is best. Luckily, Pi offers something for everyone including you vegan types. Hell, even President Obama digs on Pi.

5PM -Prepare to spend some money.

It's time to hit the East Side! In this case it's to visit Corral Liquors in Granite City, IL. Corral Liquors has one of the largest selections of beer in the St. Louis area and allows you to purchase any single bottle to create your own Mix-a-Six. On the Illinois side you'll find beers from breweries you can't get in Missouri, such as Three Floyds. Port/Lost Abbey and Dogfish Head. If you've got a cooler in the car, throw those beers in, you're going to need them cold for the next place you're going to.

6:30PM - Save those quarters for laundry.

Sure it may not look like much from the outside, but every couple weekends a month CP Pinball lights up over 45 pinball machines and lets you get about the best value for $10 you're going to find in the St. Louis area. The best part? Besides the fact it's 10 bucks to play as much pinball as you want for free, it's BYOB. So kick back, crack open a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA and enjoy some Addams Family Pinball.

Just make sure CP is open the weekend you're visiting, as I said above, Charles only opens the place a couple of weekends a month.

8PM - Putting the South in Southern Illinois.

Too few places in St. Louis has great food and great beer, it's kind of a shame and something I've been trying to work hard to change. But one of the places that puts it all together is Erato on Main in Edwardsville, IL. Chef Kevin Willmann blends local produce and some of the freshest seafood in the country with his on spin on Southern comfort dishes. The beer list gives you numerous options to choose from, including plenty of draught beers and things you don't normally see on local beer lists, such as sour beer.

Sunday

10AM - Insert "rooster" joke here.

Are you up finally? Jeez, it's 10AM! You're going to sleep your life away! Well, haul your butt down to Rooster and wash out that coating of sour beer with one of Rooster's mimosas or if you're going down that route, may as well have another beer. I always enjoy a Hitachino White Nest in the morning. Oh, make sure to get a Rooster Slinger, it's the best way to start a morning and to end a trip.

Guest Post: Rodney Weaver - Rock Bottom Spring Brewer's Dinner 08

Many of you may be familiar with Rodney Weaver and his soon to be wife, Jess, through their regular commenting at Hoosier Beer Geek. Rod and Jess do a bit of beer blogging of their own at the aptly named Rod and Jess' Wedding Blog, from which the following post is syndicated.

* * * * *

This year's brewer's dinner opened up as a few others have in the past, with an immense number of reservations and a large number of no-shows. That most likely means that the Summer brewer's dinner will likely require a credit card for a reservation. It kind of stinks that people treat reservations for an event like this with such disregard, but such is life. There was still a decent showing with about 30 or so people in attendance.

Spring Brewer's Dinner menu

The menu this year was slightly modified from the menus sent out previously advertising the event. The courses were as follows:

Flank Steak Lettuce Bib Wraps served with Alt Bier
Marinated flank steak grilled to medium rare, topped with almonds, water chestnuts and served with sauteed papaya and coconut cream sauce.

Fresh Fruit Salad served with Belgian Tripel
Grapefruit, mandarin oranges, kiwi and mangos drizzled with tangy honey soy dressing.

Tuna and Salmon Spring Rolls served with Maibock
Fresh Saku tuna and salmon wrapped with sticky rice, pickled ginger, wasabi and sliced carrots. Served with Thai peanut sauce.

Candied Fruit Egg Rolls served with Saison
A succulent fried egg roll stuffed with apples, pineapples, craisins, brown sugar and oats. Served with vanilla ginger ice cream.

A very classy touch compared to the usual brewer's dinners

The decor at brewer's dinners is usually very festival and whimsical, but for whatever reason they decided to make this one a bit nicer. We thought the improved decor was a nice touch. The centerpieces would probably be a nice touch for our mantle.

Flank Steak Lettuce Bib Wraps with Alt Bier

The first course made for a very good appetizer. The medium rare flank steak was marinated in coconut rum and when wrapped with the papaya sauce and carrots inside of the lettuce wrap it paired excellently with the beer. The coconut cream sauce was decadent and very tasty, but it slightly overpowered the beer pairing. The Alt Bier was a great example of the style and was perhaps the best beer of the evening. The flavor profile contained a dominant malt presence with strong chocolate tones, a creamy mouthfeel and accompanying nutty notes. The finish was very light and had a hint of cherry on the back of the tongue. Overall it was a relatively sweet beer and very refreshing. Jerry brewed this style a few months back and both Jess and I agreed this round was noticeably better. When paired with the wraps, the nutty presence was amplified by the grilled beef and the sweet coconut sauce brought out a bitter character.

Fresh Fruit Salad

The second course was somewhat surprising for a brewer's dinner. The salty sweet honey soy dressing did an excellent job contrasting with the fruit while still complementing it greatly. The Belgian Tripel was a 4 month aged version of Jerry's Tripel this past Winter. The beer contained banana, clove and coriander flavors with accents of honey and Granny Smith apple skin. The sweeter fruits in the salad brought out hoppy and wheat characteristics while the more bitter and sour fruits brought out a spicy finish. Jess noted that it tasted a lot like Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde. This dish made me wonder if Unibroue's Ephemere would pair well with kiwi. My initial guess is yes.

Tuna and Salmon Spring Rolls

The main entree of spring rolls really showed off the versatility of the Rock Bottom chefs. We would have never guessed that they could pull of sushi so well. The peanut sauce was real peanut sauce and not the typical peanut butter base you'd normally find at even some Asian-themed restaurants around town. The Maibock was extremely malty and sweet and seemed to have a slightly minty finish, though that could have been brought out by the lingering kiwi flavor on our tongues. The spring rolls brought out spicy notes in the beer and the ginger paired especially well. The peanut was also a nice complement to the sweet, malty character.

Candied Fruit Egg Rolls

Rolls of apple pie! That's exactly what these tasted like. The Saison had an intense banana taste and a very heavy, wheat-like body. There was also a hint of lime that made for a very drinkable beer. After a few bites of the apple pie egg rolls, a matching apple character emerged in the beer and a lactose-like creamy sweetness pulled through.

Overall this was another great beer dinner by the guys at the downtown Rock Bottom. In comparison with other Rock Bottom brewer's dinners, it seemed like the portions were a bit smaller, but the creativity was stepped up a bit. Rock Bottom continues to be one of the best values in town when it comes to beer and food pairings and this dinner did not disappoint. We're going to try to make the north side brewer's dinner in a couple of weeks to see how Liz' pairings compare to Jerry's. We stayed around a bit and talked with Jerry and Iain Wilson of the Orland Park Rock Bottom after the brewer's dinner. Iain pulled our chile beer recipe out of us and said he'd like to try it in a cask up at his location. Watch for his peanut butter beer at this year's Microbrewer's Festival!

Guest Post: Shawn Connelly, BeerPhilosopher.com - Top Chef, Bottom Beers

A little while back we had a fine dining and beer discussion spurred on by a guest posting by Potable Curmudgeon and New Albanian Brewing Company headman Roger A. Baylor.

The issue of food and beer came up again recently for those of us who watch Bravo's Top Chef, in an episode the prominently featured beer and food pairings as a quick-fire challenge.

I had plenty of thoughts on the episode, and shortly after I came across the following post by BeerPhilosopher.com's Shawn Connelly. Shawn did a nice job of pointing out the same frustrations I had when viewing the episode, so I asked him if we could reprint his post. He was nice enough to grant us permission.

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I have my wife to thank (or blame) for getting me hooked on reality TV shows. We watch Survivor, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, Rock of Love (I and II – what can I say, I was something of a rocker throughout the hair band era and Poison elicits a certain nostalgia …), Gene Simmons Family Jewels (ditto), Deadliest Catch, Hell’s Kitchen and Top Chef with regularity. I bet I'm even forgetting a few. We DVR everything and watch 3-4 of these random episodes in rapid succession, sans commercials. It’s amazing how much TV you can watch when you’re skipping the commercial breaks. If you think about it, doing it this way is not unlike watching a 2-hour movie, commercial free. It’s TV concentrate.

I’m not necessarily proud of the fact that we’ve somehow become reality TV junkies, but cramming this much pseudo-reality drama-dy into your head in quick succession does give you a unique perspective on pop culture and obvious degradation of our society … Maybe we do it to validate in our own minds that we’re relatively normal compared to the train-wrecks often witnessed on these shows, but somehow I doubt this is a sufficient excuse for watching random people voluntarily making fools of themselves on national TV.

But maybe it is … who’s got the pop corn?

The last show I mentioned, Top Chef, is in its fourth season now, I believe. In a recent episode, the hopefuls were challenged to create a dish to pair with beer. The contestants went through a blind tasting and then selected their brew of choice to inspire their dish. I don’t recall if the rules stated that they had to use their beer in the actual recipe, but I do know it was to be paired with the food at the very least for the judges consideration. Most of these crack chefs (and I do mean crack) opted for the worst of the worst light American lager swill overwhelmingly. A couple proclaimed that they “don’t cook with beer” as if it were somehow beneath them and their refined culinary skills. After all the selections were made, and the dishes were prepared, hopeful Jennifer’s beignets won, paired with … Landshark Lager.

This post obviously has little to do with beer, specifically, but it does have to do with the perception of beer among professed “foodies.” Obviously, I don’t feel in my admitted amateur opinion that this line up of chefs necessarily represent the cream of the crop when it comes to young chefs in America, but I do think their attitudes toward beer and its place alongside “respectable cuisine” is telling. These guys are seen at the end of each episode waiting for the winner(s) to be announced, puffing away at their cigarettes and slamming down what appears to be Michelob lager straight from the bottle. Do most chefs chain smoke like that? If so, that might explain why they don’t know good beer from rancid dishwater … they’ve managed to puff away any remnant of a palate they might have once had.

At least Top Chef gave beer a nod in this particular episode, but rather than assembling a selection of fine craft beers for the contestants to select from, they opted to offer mostly swill – whatta ya wanna bet they wouldn’t do that if the pairing was with wine? I don’t wanna sound bitter, but c’mon. This season's show takes place in Chicago ... where's the Goose Island beer?

Oh well, I suppose there is something fitting about mediocre chefs with their mediocre beer.