Allagash-White

This is a fantastic beer. It's an American take on a Belgian white. Pours cloudy with a good amount of head. Smells of coriander and citrus. It tastes great and is less filling. The citrus, clove and banana flavors meld together very well. I can drink a lot of these. Most of the time I'm drawn to Whites in the summer, but it sounded like a good reminder of what reasonable weather was when we bought the 4 pk. It had been in the -teens for the last few days in Chicago.

Granite City Food & Brewery

I went out to grab dinner and a few beers with my sister and girlfriend. It was too late in the evening to make the trek out to 3 Floyd's so we decided to give Granite City a try. I had been there before and it was not that memorable. They had 5 different beers on tap. Alex and I ordered the sampler. There was a light lager (MGD), a bock, a stout, an IPA, a scotch ale, and a mix of light lager and bock. None of the beers were that impressive. Alex and I had a buffalo burger with our beer sampler. Both of the burgers were overcooked. Buffalo has such little fat in it that a med well burger gets real tough on the outside. We asked for med. I will say our server was excellent though. I don't think there will be a next time for me with this place. It reminds me of a watered down yuppie version of Rock Bottom. At least the company and conversation for dinner was good.

Happy X-Mass and Merry Holidays

St. Peter's-Winter Ale

Alex picked this one out while shopping at the Whole. I was quite surprised she want to give a winter ale a try. This is a great winter beer. It has a porteresque taste to it. The aroma has lots of coffee and malt with a little fruitiness. The taste is that of chocolate, roasted malt, and coffee. It goes down very smooth or at least I think it does. Alex may have another opinion. This is a little darker beer than she nomally likes to drink. This is definitely a winter brew that you need to try. I miss the old St. Peters bottles that were shaped like flasks.

New Glarus-Fat Squirrel

Every time you drive over the border to our north you need to pickup some New Glarus. I know that Spotted Cow is their flagship/really popular brew, but my favorite has always been Fat Squirrel. This is a very drinkable English brown. It's a light medium body beer that has a sweet malt and unique nutty taste. There is a great nutty malty aroma too. I was verry excited to see these in 12pks this past summer. I wish New Glarus would start delivering to Chicago. Although I kinda of like the mytique most of the New Glarus brews have to me. It's the same thing Fat Tire had before it came back and started sucking.

Schlafly-Saison

I am a big fan of farm house ales. This one is no exception. It pours to a nice hazy golden color. The aroma is of apples and damp earth. There is quite an apple pear flavor going on, with some bananas and clove too. This is definitely not a typical Saison. I wish that these guys distributed to Chicago. I picked this 6pk up when I was in Indy for work.

Sand Creek Brewing Co.-Oscar's Stout

I like to cook and drink. I don't think I had the right combo of food and beer this time though. It really didn't matter because I was cooking for a work xmas party the next day, but sweet potato quesadillas don't go well with a chocolate oatmeal stout. The stout is from Sand Creek Brewing which is located in Black Falls, Wis. One of my favorite and most frustrating trout streams islocated in Black Falls. I also once tripped while walking alongside the bank right into the stream once. I wish I had video of that. It ended with me laughing hysterically at myself in the middle of the stream with waders full of cold ass water. The Wisconsin craft beers keep on getting better and better. This is a solid stout. It has a nice chocolate flavor up front that leads to a creamy coffee after taste. The stout is not too heavy, just nice and mild on the tongue. I could drink this all night long.