We were all set to our selection this week. Then we went to Sheffield's for their Life & Limb release party last night and our original writeup was shot right the hell out of the water. By God do you need to brave slick streets and foul weather — life and limb, some might say — to drink this beer. more ›

• Life & Limb, the highly anticipated brewing collaboration between Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione and Sierra Nevada's Ken Grossman, receives its official launch party at Sheffield's tonight at 7 p.m. Life & Limb is a 10 percent ABV dark ale brewed with barley grown by Grossman at Sierra Nevada's Chico, CA brewery, and pure maple syrup from Calagione's family farm in Massachusetts. The two breweries took the mash from that and brewed a 5 percent beer called "Limb & Life." Both will be available for tasting this evening, as will some of each breweries more experimental beers. this would be a great primer for our reader meetup Thursday.
• Binny's South Loop has a reserve champagne tasting this evening from 6-8:30 p.m. featuring luxury cuvees Roederer Cristal, Dom Perignon and more! Also included will be sparklers from the U.S., Spain and Italy. Gourmet cheeses will be paired with the champagnes.

Delilah's held their annual vintage strong ale fest Saturday afternoon. As a beer lover, we could ask for nothing more. We had the opportunity to sample vintage barrel-aged selections from over 20 breweries. Many of the breweries represented brought different vintages of the same ales, which made for some interesting vertical tastings. Sierra Nevada came correct, with selections of their Bigfoot Barley Wine ranging from 1998 to present-day. more ›

In just ten years, Holland, Michigan-based New Holland Brewing Company has established itself as a craft brewer to be reckoned with, fashioning high quality beers and even delving into flavored brandies and liqueurs available at their brewpub. Along with Sundog, Mad Hatter IPA is their most notable brew. If you aren't a "hop head", you might take a while getting acquainted with this overly heady ale worthy of being named after a deranged genius... more ›

If you notice a reduced presence of Bell's beer on the shelves and in bars in the coming weeks, there's a reason. Bell's delivered their last shipment of beer to Illinois last week. Here is some of what Bell's founder Larry Bell wrote last week regarding the situation on a forum thread at the Beer Advocate website (post number 32): "I'm very tired and sad tonight, but I will share thoughts with this group soon.... more ›