Beers 11-13

After our many hours in line for the Bell Tower, Kevin and I knew we had to hit Old Chicago for some grilled cheese and beers. The first beer on special that day was New Belgium’s 1554. I had already tried this beer once before when I visited the New Belgium brewery. This beer has a coffee/chocolate-y taste to it. It’s heavier than most but still tastes pretty good, even to someone like me. 

Next up was the Highland Gaelic Ale. I thought this was a bit more difficult to drink than the last one, but Kevin disagreed. It was a darker beer than the 1554. I tasted a bit of caramel and chocolate in this one, so it was a bit sweeter than the roast flavors of the 1554. 

Finally, I ordered a Yuengling Traditional Lager. I had definitely had a Yuengling or two before, but never at Old Chicago. This was my favorite of the three beers today. It is more amber and and not as heavy as the rest of the beers from that day. I really like the sweetness of this and how cheap it is in grocery stores.

Beers 8-10

The next three beers to look at for my World Beer Tour extravaganza are the Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale, the Sam Adams Boston Lager, and the Oskar Blues’ Mama’s Little Yella Pils. This was a guuud night for beers for me.. I liked all 3!

The Goose Island, out of Chicago, has pretty low amounts of hops and an orange-y flavor to it, so it is right up my alley. If I wasn’t trying to try only new beers, I would have chosen this one all night.  I’ve never been to Chicago, but this may be a reason (among many!) to go.

The second beer, the Sam Adams Boston Lager, was my least favorite of the three. The Sam Adams’ website calls this the “Go To Beer” (trademarked and all!), but I don’t think it would be mine.  I do think this beer would go really well with some crab cakes or clams while sitting outside for lunch near the Boston Harbor (fitting, eh?). I think the reason I wasn’t digging on this one as much is because it’s a tad bit hoppier than the other two. Not crazy hops, but enough to notice.

Finally, my favorite of the three. The Mama’s Little Yella Pils is a beer that I’m preeeetty familiar with. Back when some of my guy friends and I were Monday night regulars at Brixx, I used to order this beer. It is lighter, yellow (duh), and 5.3% APV. While some of my friends (*cough Tricia cough*) said that it tasted like Natty Light, I beg to differ. This is like the high(er) class version of a shitty beer, but that tastes better and usually costs $3 more. Regardless of the haters, I like this beer so I’m gonna keep on doing me.

As the true wine aficionados say (seems off topic, but I’m getting to a point), the only good wines are the wines you think are good.

 

Beers 5-7

After  a brief Old Chicago hiatus, here I am with the next few beers on my list. Today, I’ll be reviewing the Aviator Black Mamba Oatmeal Stout, the New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale, and some Sea Dog beer that I don’t remember.

First on the list is the Black Mamba from Aviator Brewing Company, out of  Fuquay Varina, NC.  This brewery is super cool and started in 2008 out of an airplane hangar!  They are now in a larger building and do brewery tours every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Last May, some friends and I went to take a tour and sample some of their beers.

 

I don’t remember trying the Black Mamba while we were there, but I DO remember the Devil’s Tramping Ground Tripel. It’s a Belgian ale with a fruity flavor. A bit sweet, but not as heavy as most beers with 9.2% APV.

Back to the point, this Black Mamba beer from Old Chicago was pretty difficult to drink. At 6.5% APV, this beer has a serious chocolate aftertaste. After checking out the website, I learned that this beer is aged in old bourbon barrels, which is pretty freakin cool if you ask me.

 

 

Next on the list is New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale. Most beer drinkers are familiar with this beer out of Fort Collins, CO. I didn’t realize until I started writing this post that I have ALSO been to this brewery! When I was in Colorado this January, Gabrielle took me to New Belgium to try out some flights.

 

As you can see from the picture, I got to taste a lot of different beers. I like a lighter beer and Gabrielle prefers darker ones, so we each started from one end of the flight and worked our way inwards.

The Fat Tire is a Belgian Beer and, like I said, pretty standard when it comes to beginners’ beers. I LOVE this beer, so when it was on special at Old Chicago I was extra excited. You can definitely taste the bready-ness of the beer (or toasty and biscuit-like according to the more eloquent review on the website).

Now, here comes my first lesson in the World Beer Tour blog series. I didn’t take any notes at dinner, so I can’t even remember which beer I had. The World Beer Tour website just shows that it was a Sea Dog beer, but because it’s a rotating tap at OC, it doesn’t specify which.

But, I can tell you a little bit about Sea Dog according to their website. They are “Maine owned and Maine brewed” and have a nautical flair to all of their beers. Barney, the sea dog, was their mascot and an “apprentice brewmaster.”

So these blog posts are kind of boring unless you’re really into beers, but I’m hoping that as I start trying more beers I will be able to compare/contrast them and have a bit more opinions on them all.

Anywho, that’s all for this post, folks. Happy Easter!

And so it begins

In an attempt to try something new for my blog, I enrolled in Old Chicago’s World Beer Tour on Monday. The World Beer Tour is OC’s rewards program that encourages patrons to drink 110 different beers on tap in order to get your name on a plaque. A plaque you say? That sounds lame you say? Well they also have other prizes available along the way:

WBT Credits	1st Trip	Multiple Trips
10 WBT Credits	WBT Playing Cards	5 OC Bucks
25 WBT Credits	WBT Clip-on Watch and Compass	5 OC Bucks
40 WBT Credits	Old Chicago Bottle Opener	5 OC Bucks
55 WBT Credits	WBT T-Shirt	15 OC Bucks
70 WBT Credits	WBT Travel Mug	5 OC Bucks
85 WBT Credits	WBT Baseball Cap	5 OC Bucks
100 WBT Credits	WBT Travel Cooler	5 OC Bucks
110 WBT Credits	WBT Sweatshirt	20 OC Bucks

I’m really looking forward to the clip on watch…..

I have a handy little card that keeps track of all my beers and can log into my account online to see my progress.

As you can see, I’m 4 beers in and already found a loophole! Even though you can only drink different beers, the way they code the rotating pints is all under the same number. So my two Leinenkugel Summer Shandys from Monday both counted. Suckaaas!

Moving forward, I’m going to review each of the beers I try (and all the prizes I get!!!!), but since I just came up with this idea I don’t have anything great for the beers I tried, I don’t have a great review for them. Luckily, I didn’t go too far out of my comfort zone, or the realm of beers that people have heard of, drinking the shandys, a Blue Moon Belgian White Belgian-Style Wheat Ale, and the Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye.

The regular blog posts will keep on coming, but keep your eyes out for the WBT tags, too!