Goose Island Night Stalker

Goose Island Beer Company has held the title as "Chicago's favorite microbrewery" for quite some time. From their flagship brew Honkers Ale to their 312 Urban Wheat to their collection of Belgian-style ales, Goose Island has a brew that will tickle any discerning palate. Their Bourbon County Stout is a beer geek's best friend and is a brew that collectors covet from coast-to-coast. Using the same grain recipe as Bourbon County, Goose Island created Night Stalker, a velvety Imperial Stout.

Night Stalker pours darker than a steer's tookus on a moonless prairie night. It is viscous, jet black and quite imposing in the glass. Aromas are of mocha, licorice, pipe tobacco and toasted vanilla beans. Night Stalker is dryhopped heavily with Simcoe hops, which adds a slight whiff of pine wreath. Rich, roasty flavors of sweet dark chocolate, caramel, espresso and molasses linger on the ridiculously long finish. It has a heavy mouthfeel and is quite tongue-coating. Night Stalker is an entire dessert in a bottle. I suggest pairing it with either an aged gouda, a few chocolate truffles or a heaping bowl of vanilla ice cream. Clocking in at a whopping 11.7% alcohol by volume, proceed with caution while savoring this belly bomb of a beer.

Two Brothers Cane and Ebel

In 1993, two brothers (Jim and Jason Ebel) opened up a homebrew supply store just outside of Chicago. Rather than being content with a retail store, they dreamt bigger and decided to open a microbrewery in 1996. Presently, Two Brothers Brewing Company offers a vast array of microbrews and artisanal/seasonal releases. Cane and Ebel originally was a Spring seasonal brew, but due to the popularity it garnered, Two Brothers decided to make it available all year long. Cane and Ebel is an American strong ale that proudly boasts that it is "a hopped up red rye ale."

It pours a reddish-orange color with with an off-white head and ample lacing. The brew has pungent aromas of fresh-cut grass, overripe oranges, pine and spicy green herbs. Flavors of caramel, toasted rye bread, almonds, spruce and grapefruit compliment the addition of Thai palm sugar, which adds hints of vanilla and a creamy mouthfeel. The finish is spicy and dry due to the hop bitterness and rye malt. At 7% alcohol by volume and 68 IBUs, Cane and Ebel is a refreshing brew that possesses a nice balance of bitterness and sweetness.

Brew Day!

We finally got back to the grind this weekend after too long of a gap between this brew and the success that was Gipple Tripel. This past weekend saw the creation of a beer yet to be named. The name is still a work in process, but the recipe is not... What we have concocted here is going to be a copacetically quaffable brew.
Using roughly a 50/50 mixture of pilsen and wheat malt, as well as a little Belgian biscuit, we lightly hopped this ale with Willamette and cascade hops. Once in the primary ferementer, we proceeded to add a behemoth amount of organic blueberry juice to give this brew a nice summer vibe.


(Brewette adding some bittering hops. First face on this blog I do believe.)


Finally a yeasty mixture of White Labs Cal ale yeast and Kolsch ale yeast were added to the carboy. It didn't take long for fermentation to kick off as this brew was bubbling after only about five hours. Currently she's chilling at a comfy 70 degrees F and will be ready to bottle in about a week. There may be a slight delay as secondary fermentation may be necessary in order to add even more blueberry... but that is to be determined...

Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot

WTF?!? This is an abbreviation for a very well-known phrase, but in this occasion, it stands for Wilco Tango Foxtrot, an Imperial Brown Ale from Lagunitas Brewing Company. Located in Petaluma, California, Lagunitas has a reputation for putting out hoppy ales in many styles ranging from India Pale Ales to Belgian-inspired brews. WTF is a seasonal release that is brewed in honor of the lagging economy and calls itself "a malty, robust, jobless recovery ale."

It pours a dark amber color with a frothy, bone-colored head. Aromas of burnt brown sugar, toasted bread and citrus. WTF has flavors of caramel, roasted nuts, cocoa, grapefruit and toffee. Its richness is balanced and complimented by grassy, citrusy hops, which give it a long and dry finish. At around 7.8% alcohol by volume, it packs a punch without any noticeable boozy properties.

Founders Double Trouble

"Go bold or go sober." This simple motto is our personal rallying cry. Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan was facing near bankruptcy just a few years ago. They started out making solid, ordinary beers, but these offerings had not really found them an audience. On the brink of a financial collapse, they decide to go bold and make the type of extreme brews that had originally inspired them to open a brewery. Since then, Founders has been a wild success.

Double Trouble is an Imperial India Pale Ale, which is code for "IPA on steroids." Need the stats? 9.4% alcohol by volume and 86 IBUs (a measurement of bitterness from the hops.) It pours a brilliant golden color with a foamy white head. Aromas of citrus, pine and peach are mouth-watering. The dominant flavors are of pink grapefruit and grass. I would venture that it is the sauvignon blanc of beers. Double Trouble is a perfect balance of sweet, tart and bitterness that is truly refreshing. The finish is long with the hop bitterness crackling on the back of your tongue. It is the perfect quaffer to match up with beef brisket, grilled lamb or a rich blue cheese. This is a seasonal release from Founders, so you better snag some while you can still find it.

Birra Moretti La Rossa

Hailing from just outside of Milan in Bergamo, Italy, Birra Moretti is one of Italy's most popular and respected breweries. It was founded in 1859 by Luigi Moretti and by the following year, his beers were available for purchase. The brewery was acquired by Heineken in 1996, which helped Birra Moretti distribute its products to over 40 countries. Their La Rossa is a doppelbock, which is a lager made with twice the amount of malted barley.

La Rossa pours a slightly hazy, rich vermilion with an ivory head in the glass. Aromas of brown sugar, roasted malts and caramel blend nicely together. Toffee, caramel and cherry flavors are counterbalanced by notes of spicy, herbal hop bitterness. The finish is moderately long with a malty sweetness. At 7.2% alcohol by volume, it is a substantial brew that is more of a sipper.

If you decide to pair this with food, La Rossa is a match for linguini with clams, roasted duck, Limberger cheese (if you are brave enough) or dark chocolate mousse.

Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale

Flying Dog Brewery was one of the first so-called microbreweries to break through during the craftbrew craze of the 1990s. Even from its humble beginnings as small brewpub in Aspen, Colorado, Flying Dog has strived to make high-quality ales for every palate. Often, that resulted with them to going rogue and creating some of the most extreme brews around. This is certainly the case with the series of "Wild Dog Releases," of which their Double Dog Pale Ale was their inaugural offering. In fact, this brew was so popular that Flying Dog brought it back by popular demand and permanently added it to their arsenal of beers.

Clocking in at a stunning 11.5% alcohol by volume, Double Dog is a big brew even by extreme brew standards. Translated: If you aren't careful, it will be an early bedtime for you. It is dark orange in color with a slight haze and typical carbonation. The aromas of astrigent pine and grapefruit are quite pronounced. Flavors of caramel, tart citrus (bitter orange peel) and raisin dominate throughout. It has a sweet, almost sticky mouthfeel that leads to a dry, boozy finish. At 85ibus, the bitterness is very noticeable. Almost a barleywine, Double Dog Pale ale will surely let you know that you are experiencing an extreme brew. A nice match with a blue cheese like Stilton.