Results tagged “tasting”

As Karl mentioned, Oberon Season is getting an early start. Meanwhile we're waiting for the folks at Three Floyds to send us our DarkLord Day golden tickets, which we paid for and will not scalp in the parking lot on April 25.

There's always a beer tasting around town, and if you don't think so, you just aren't looking hard enough. Tonight's tasting, from 6-8 p.m. at Binny's South Loop (1132 S. Jefferson St., 312-768-4400), will focus on strong ales and barleywines. This is definitely not for session beer lovers.

Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head and Three Floyds' Nick Floyd are two of the more extreme brewmasters working today. So when the two of them decided to collaborate on an experimental ale, the mind boggles at what they could create.

We've written about Blue Sky Inn (including an interview with Executive Director Lisa Thompson) before. The bakery and cafe they run in Albany Park (4749 N. Albany, 773-478-2233) is part of the non-profit organization's mission to provide job training to at-risk youth. It's also a great-looking storefront.

We've had a hard time warming up to Maryland's Delaware's Dogfish Head Brewery and have a hard time explaining why. They have everything we expect in a great brewery: a commitment to brewing inventive, high quality brews; a balance of hops and malt; wide selection and good word-of-mouth. For us the problem with some of Dogfish's signature selections is in the balance. Some of their brews are so overboard on both hops and sweetness that it makes our jaws ache. And don't even get us started on Raison D'Etre.

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.

Longtime "BotW" readers might remember that we reviewed a barley wine last spring from Louisville's Browning's Brewery. We bought it retail in town but, after making a phone call to the brewmaster in Louisville, didn't disclose where we made the purchase for fear of outing the store in question for selling booze outside the three-tier distribution system.

Like a lot of you, we took advantage of yesterday's weather, donned some shorts and ate brunch (Vella). On the way home we decided to make a detour and taste some wines. The weekly tasting at Lush focused on the staff picks for 2007.