Results tagged “beer”

Our biggest issue with pumpkin beers is an imbalance between the flavor of pumpkin and spice, usually favoring the latter. Ideally a pumpkin ale should bring to mind memories of good pumpkin pie. You know, with the graham cracker crust and all, some gingerbread or some cloves balanced delicately with the flavor of pumpkin. In short, If you're going to make a spiced ale, make a spiced ale. we want to taste pumpkins in our pumpkin beers. Southern Tier gets it right with Pumking, one of Karl's favorite beers this time of year. Pumking will blow your mind, you'll ask for ice cream for an a la mode.

Our nose was assaulted by the scent of apples and spices from the moment we opened a bottle of Two Brothers Avalon. It was the olfactory equivalent to hearing Christmas carols in October, but much more pleasing. Avalon is another in Two Brothers' "Artisan Bottling" series — Bonfire Dunkle Weiss is part of that series. get past the nose of this beer and you'll immediately pick up a pretty serious hop flavor to Avalon. Most beers or ales brewed with apple cider or must err on the side of malt. Since there is a fair amount of spices in Avalon, the hops work to complement that aspect of the taste profile.

    

Back when we visited Half Acre's Lincoln Square brewery in April, one of the construction projects still in progress was the buildout of a retail space. Gabriel Magliaro's plans were to have an in-wall draft system featuring Half Acre selections, special brews and guest beers; bottles and merchandise.

• Today:Don't Forget that tickets are still available to Nourish: Meals on Wheels annual celebrity chef ball, 6-10 p.m. at Macy's on State Street.
• Saturday: Lycée Français de Chicago's Fall French Market takes place from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. (Sunday hours are noon-4 p.m.). Experience the tastes, sounds, art and antiques of a traditional French marketplace. $10 per child or $15 per family with a recommended maximum of two hours. (Lycée Français de Chicago, 613 W. Bittersweet Place)
• Sunday:The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is hosting a benefit wine tasting at Geja's Café (340 W. Armitage) from 1-5 p.m. The wine tasting will be moderated by Patrick W. Fegan of Chicago Wine School. $50

This being the harvest season, we'll be dedicating the next three weeks selections to brews that reflect in-season fruits or flavors. One of those flavors that we live for this time of year is honey crisp apple. Anthony even showed readers how to incorporate honey crisps into a cocktail. Honey Crisps also make a damn good cider.

We created a monster here at Chicagoist on July 13, 2006 with a review of Trumer Pils, which we cheekily dubbed our "Beer of the Week." It's a series that shows no sign of stopping soon due to the sheer breadth of brew options available to us. But Trumer will always hold a spot dear to us for being the beer that kicked off the series.

At one point in their lives, almost all beer enthusiasts have dropped in to the local liquor store to pick up a single foamy beverage. Many liquor stores, convenience marts and other booze barns sell single cans or bottles of beer in all shapes and sizes. For consumers, single cans are an alternative to grab a quick drink instead of investing in a six pack or full case. For retailers, selling them is a way to cash in on broken cases or on locals interested in a more portable intoxicant. That is exactly what some townspeople in north suburban Arlington Heights want to change.

The last time Sam's Wine and Spirits had a warehouse sale we made out like bandits, buying nearly $600 worth of wine for just over $100 after discounts. They're doing it again from October 14-25, slashing up to 75% off of their inventory. Some lucky shopper will also win a six liter bottle of Reignac Rouge Bordeaux 2003, which will be given away in a raffle

From the time the monks of St. Francis of Paula brewed the first doppelbocks in Bavaria, it's been a custom for breweries to end the names of their "liquid bread" in "-ator." Abita named their Helles Doppelbock, Andygator, a "creature of the swamp." Unlike many doppelbocks, Andygator is brewed to have a dry finish and emphasize a balance between hops, a pleasant light citrus flavor and bready yeasts. It pairs well with hearty sandwiches, like a blue cheese-crusted burger we made last week at home. Andygator should also pair well with anything cajun-related, blackened and fried. It's also a wonderful departure from the everyday Abita releases.

Oktoberfest formally ends tomorrow, but that isn't stopping Rick Gresh from celebrating a few days after. The Executive Chef at David Burke's Primehouse is also an avid homebrewer and he'll be featuring a few of his creations at a Sunday dinner kicking off Primehouse's "OktoBEERfest." The selections Gresh and the Primehouse staff will be pouring include I-PAC (an IPA infused with chamomile); a wheat ale brewed with Seedling Farm peaches called "Stoned Wheat" and one beer Gresh calls "Working Man's Champagne."

We were at otom last week checking out some of the offerings of new executive chef Thomas Elliot Bowman, who's slowly but surely transformed the menu from the moto light of his predecessor Daryl Nash to the more traditional bistro fare originally envisioned for the restaurant. otom has a $25 Tuesday tasting menu that is the very definition of value. For an extra $15 you can add wine pairings or you can pair one beer with the menu for $6.

Ever stumbled in to your neighborhood Walgreens to grab a six-pack before realizing, "Dammit, they don't sell booze at Walgreens!" Your troubles will soon be over, friends. The Deerfield-based company has announced that within the next 12-to-18 months, beer and wine will be available at its stores once it completes the complicated licensing process. [Fox 32]

It was Labor Day Weekend and we just finished watching "Inglourious Basterds" downtown. Nowhere to go and nothing to do we wandered around and found ourselves at Jake Melnick's (41 E. Superior, 312-266-0400, jakemelnicks.com). Within minutes we were wolfing down their burger of the month and begging not to be served the Budweiser they give away for free with the burger. The bartender went out of the way to comp us a Surly Bender. She poured us a Surly Furious, instead.

Half Acre Beer Company's construction is nearing completion and with that comes some wonderful news for beer geeks everywhere. Gabriel Magliaro announced yesterday that Half Acre's long-planned retail store at their Lincoln Square brewery will open to the public October 5. In addition to whatever Magliaro and brewer Tommy Nicely are brewing at the moment, Half Acre will also have selections from other local breweries on hand, as well as spirits and liqueurs from Koval and North Shore distilleries. Magliaro even told us that Half Acre will be selling growlers. [Half Acre Twitter]

Oysters and beer: a combination so simple but perfect. Jimmy Buffet wrote a song where he wished for oysters and beer for dinner every day of the year (only one? Color us shocked!), and as we reach autumn the oysters harvested probably taste better than they will at any other time of year.

• Vocalo was at the Chef's Collaborative Summit this week and filed interviews with Judith Schad of Capriole Goat Cheese, the Signature Room's Patrick Sheerin and Cleetus Friedman of City Provisions. [Vocalo 1, 2, 3]
• Soup and Bread: The Cookbook is on its way in December. [Soup and Bread]
• Over at Drive-Thru, Whitney Merritt's ongoing interview series of food bloggers focuses on Marathon Val [Drive-Thru]

Not all weizens are alike. A Berliner weisse is a sour take on the popular German style. The late Michael Jackson (beer historian, not the entertainer) traced the origins of the style back to the 16th century Hamburg. A brewer named Cord Broihan copied the style and brought it north. Berliner weisses are known for their extreme tartness and low alcohol content. The sourness is caused by bottle fermentation or by adding lactobacillus yeast bacteria. By the 19th century there were over 700 breweries in northern Germany specifically brewing Berliner weisse. Now, only a few breweries remain; 2 of those are in Berlin proper. The term "Berliner weisse" is protected in Germany. to combat the sourness, Berliner weisses are often served with raspberry syrup or woodruff.

We admit that sometimes we tend to fall into ruts here with the "BotW" installments. We find ourselves visiting the same styles and same places. No excuses, really. Now that we upgraded our cell phone from the universal remote we used to carry to a smart phone, we can also take photos on the go again.

We had a scheduled softball with WBEZ called because of rain on successive Fridays. A shame, really: we were looking forward to hearing Carl Kasel do the play-by-play while we made Justin Kaufmann cry and slid with high spikes into "Sound Opinions" producer Jason Saldhana. Digressing, with the first game called we retreated to some shelter underneath a bridge like the blogger trolls we are and commenced to drinking. Which would have been the end result of the game, win or win by slaughter rule.

Decided to cook with beer Sunday and whipped up some amazing buckwheat pancakes using a cup of Lost Abbey Inferno ale. Damned if they weren't some of the fluffiest we've had in a long time. the beer was good, too.

Labor Day's not too far off but coming up sooner is a new tax hike on booze that might make that Labor Day picnic whiskey a touch more expensive if you wait until after September 1 - when the hike goes into effect - to hit the liquor store. Distilled spirits have the highest increase, with a fifth going up from $0.90 per bottle (to a total of $1.71 a bottle), a bottle of wine jumps by $0.13 to $0.28 a bottle, and beer goes up to $0.13 a six-pack. So, as always, the cheapest option is to just buy a case of High Life and see where the day takes you. [Tribune]

So far this week we've already given you the heads-up on the mado/Webster's Wine Bar/Bluebird collaborative dinner and the Chicago Botanic Garden's Pepper Weekend. 'Course the big thing for us is the Publican/New Holland beer dinner Sunday. If those three don't tickle your fancy, try these events.

Although we didn't recognize it at the time, our formative years learning about beer started in the southeast Asia nearly 20 years ago with brands like Tiger, Chang, Bintang, Anchor (not the San Francisco brewery), Kingfisher and Singha. We heard that Lion stout was making its way to Chicago and it brought back old memories. Getting our hands on the stout was like saying hello to an old friend. Say hello to Guinness? Screw that and marketing slogans. Say hello to Lion Stout!

The subject of a city-wide manhunt, the young man caught on tape tossing a beer from the Wrigley Field bleachers on to Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino turned himself in to Chicago police on Thursday. Johnny Macchione, a 21-year old college student from suburban Bartlett, turned himself in and spent a few hours being questioned by detectives before being booked at the Belmont Area police precinct. He was charged with two misdemeanors -- battery and illegal conduct in a sports facility. Macchione was released on bond on Thursday evening.

There are moves afoot in regards to last night's Wrigley Field outfield shenanigans. Cubs chairman Crane Kenney personally called Philadelphia outfielder Shane Victorino and apologized. Not only that, the Tribune is reporting that charges will be filed if/when the perp is caught. The matter is now with the Chicago Police who will charge the fan with assault - after the Cubs and Victorino filed a complaint - if the fan is caught. And, by all accounts, it looks like he will. Besides the above image, courtesy of Deadspin, the Trib's story features a detailed Getty Image of the fans involved that pretty clearly shows who was the thrower. You can also reference the video below which confirms what the pics already show.

During last night's debacle at Wrigley, one bleacher bum decided it was a good idea to toss his beer on Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino, who had just caught a fly ball hit by Jake Fox in left-center field. Another fan. who began taunting Victorino, was ejected by security becuse they thought he was the brew hurler. In fact, he was not but by the time Cubs security could view tape of the situation, the offender has slipped away. The Cubs hope to identify the fan and prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. The team hopes other Cubs fans will help to identify the culprit.

One of the best things about visiting Uncommon Ground Devon's farmers market (every Friday from 4-8 p.m. ) is that you can walk around the vendors set up in the parking lot with a beer in your hand, if you're so inclined. They have a nice rotating selection of drafts and with August finally giving us a semblance of summer — humidity — that's been missing, a good fruit beer is in order. Maybe something that makes a good shandy when lemonade is added.

The adjective to describe Sunday was "epic." There was a lot of eating involved with going to Fiesta del Sol; there were two trips alone Sunday. In between was a visit to LUSH Wine & Spirits University Village location for their free Sunday wine tasting (2-5 p.m. every Sunday). After we ran through the wine selections, a palate cleanser was needed and another customer cleaned them out of Gumballhead. Scouring the cooler we came upon some organic beers. Our history with organic brews is not a good one, but we're anything if not an equal-opportunity drinker and one bad experience won't deter us.

It's common knowledge that the four basic ingredients in brewing beer are malted grain, hops, yeast and water. Most breweries tend to stick to variations of a grain: e.g. barley; wheat; rice if you're Anheuser-Busch or Miller. Belgium's Bosteels Brewery utilizes a 310-year-old recipe for Tripel Karmeliet using wheat, barley and oats in the brewing. The result is a smooth and sweet Belgian Golden ale that can appeal to both serious beer drinkers and folks looking for something cool to drink on a humid day (rare as they've been this summer).

We've mentioned before that local brewing is entering something of a golden age. With both Half Acre and Metropolitan planting roots with breweries, Josh Deth finishing up construction on Revolution Brewing and bringing on Jim Cibak as his brewer, there's no shortage of good local beers.