AlphaBeer V!

Who: The Local Tourist
What: AlphaBeer V, A-Z beer tasting, 26 samples of some of the best beer available
When: June 25, 2011 - 6:00pm

Where:Cactus Bar and Grill

$40 in advance, $50 at the door.
Bring 5 friends for a Table of 6 ($200), and you go free!

Here's a repost of the A-Z list.

• Allagash White
• Bell's Two Hearted
• Cerise (Founder's)
• Dark Horse Amber
• Ebulum Black
• Fat Tire (New Belgium)
• Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold
• Half Acre Daisy Cutter
• Iron Horse Efes Pilsner
• Jever Pils
• Krusovice Ceme Dark
• Lagunitas IPA
• Metropolitan Krankshaft
• Newcastle
• O'Fallon Hemp Hop Rye
• Paulaner Hefeweizen
• Quelque Chose
• Rogue Dead Guy Ale
• Southern Tier HopSun
• Two Brothers Domain Dupaige
• Unibroue La Fin Du Monde
• Victory Moonglow
• Weihenstephaner Hefe Weizen
• XX Lager
• Young's Double Chocolate Stout
• Zephyr (Lagunitas)

The Brewmaster leading this alphabetical tour de beer is Christopher Tourre. Here's what AlphaBeer posted:

Christopher Tourre is an artist, educator, self-proclaimed "social aggregator", and of course, beer lover and brewer. Born and raised in the countryside of Western Pennsylvania, Tourre earned a BFA in Sculpture from the Pennsylvania State University in 2005 and an MFA in Studio Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2009. Tourre's art projects have engaged communities from raising chickens in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen to building furniture with torn down houses at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago). In 2010, Tourre began a new project titled Public Brewery. The project's goal was to entwine communities, stories, personal narratives, and education through the creation and distribution of beer and soda-making. After brewing great beers for (and with) the public for over a year, Tourre decided he wanted to take the spirit of the project into the craft beer industry. In 2011, Tourre founded Arcade Brewery with friend and director of Threadless.com, Lance Curran. The two are dedicated to make Arcade Brewery fun, and sincerely socially engaging. Arcade Brewery plans to be operational in the fall of 2012.

Happy New Year - have a stout Chicago!

Especially appropriate for those of you that prefer your dark beers in the winter, Quenchers presents Stout Fest 2011. The epitome of dark beer gets its place in the spotlight. Below are the groups of stouts that are tapped for the first half and second half of January. Previous years have seen a deal wherein if you buy all but one of the stouts in a group, you get the last stout in that group free. No word on whether that's going on this year. This is an event no Chicago beer drinker wants to miss.

Group 1 – Tapped January 1st.
Emelisse Russian Imperial Stout – Netherlands – 11abv
Stone Brewing IRS – CA – 10.5abv
Brooklyn Chocolate Stout – NY – 10.6abv
Lion Stout – Sri Lanka – 8.0abv
Two Brother’s Northwind Imperial Stout – IL – 8.5abv
Belfast Bay McGovern’s Oatmeal Stout – ME – 6.5abv

Group 2 – Tapped January 1st.
Southern Tier Oatmeal Stout – NY – 11.0abv
New Holland Night Tripper – MI – 10.8abv
Lefthand Brewing’s Imperial Stout – CO – 10.4abv
Great Lakes Black Out Stout- OH – 9.0abv
Bells Double Cream- MI – 6.1abv
Belhaven Stout- Scotland – 4.5abv

Group 3 – Tapped January 15th.
Lost Abbey Serpent’s Stout – CA – 11.0abv
Lagunitas Imperial Stout – CA – 10.14abv
North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout- CA – 9.0abv
Grand Teton Black Cauldron Imperial Stout- WY – 8.0abv
3 Floyd’s Hell’s Black Intelligenser – IN – 6.0abv
Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout – CO – 4.95abv

Group 4 – Tapped January 15th.
Dogfish Head World Wide Stout – DE – 18.0abv
Half Acre Big Hugs – IL – 9.5abv
Nøgne Ø Imperial Stout – Norway – 9.0abv
Founder’s Breakfast Stout – MI – 8.3abv
Dark Horse One Oatmeal Stout – MI – 8.0abv
Summit Oatmeal Stout – MN – 4.7abv

Some delightful beers from the Half Acre party "On Photon"

In exchange for my elite volunteer services (pouring beer like a champion, herding drinkers away from stairwells, high-fiving Mucca Pazza members) Half Acre let me a cast of volunteers attend their "On Photon" holiday party. Beers were provided by the following, besides Half Acre:

Pipeworks (more about this "new" Chicago brewery soon)
Piece
Three Floyds
Dogfish Head
Revolution Brewing
Flossmoor Station
Short's Brewing
Cigar City
Sixpoint
Goose Island Brewing

It's a little blurry, but some stand-outs.

Pipeworks Pastrami on Rye, brewed with rye and pastrami spices, and I believe belgian yeast? Can't be sure, but this was delicious and complex. Not overspiced. Flossmoor's IPA and their woodford reserve barrel aged belgian red ale were highly talked about by guests. The Half Acre S.S. Simon Short porter. Revolutions' Fistmas Ale...and that's all my memory can handle. Good times, Half Acre, good times. Maybe next year I'll remember to write down all the beers.

Festival of Barrel and Wood Aged Beer (FOBAB 2010)

8th Annual Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer!

Otherwise known as FOBAB, the festival is two sessions, afternoon and evening, of Saturday, November 6th. Brought to the fine beer drinkers of Chicagland by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. Below is a list of the breweries participating, most of which are bringing more than one beer. Admission includes souvenir tasting glass, program and 12 sample tickets. The afternoon (1-5PM) session is sold out, but tickets are still available for the evening session (6-10PM) for $40.

Location: Chicago Journeyman Plumbers' Local Union 130 Stephen M. Bailey Auditorium, 1340 W. Washington Blvd, Chicago, IL

Participating Breweries (as of October 18, subject to change):
AC Golden Brewing Company, CO
Allagash Brewing Company, ME
America's Brewing Company, IL
Bluegrass Brewing Co. - Main St, KY
Bluegrass Brewing Co. - Shelbyville Rd., KY
Capital Brewery, WI N
Central Waters Brewing Company, WI
Cleveland Chop House and Brewery, OH
Court Avenue Brewing Company, IA
Crispin Cider Company, MN
Crown Brewing Company, IN
Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works, IL
Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales, DE
Emmett's Brewing Company, IL
FiftyFifty Brewing Company, CA
Firestone Walker Brewing Company, CA
Fitger's Brewhouse, MN
Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery, IL
Founders Brewing Company, MI
Glacier Brewhouse, AK
Goose Island Beer Company, IL
Goose Island Brewpub, IL
Grand Teton Brewing Company, ID
Half Acre Beer Company, IL
Harpoon Brewery, MA
Kona Brewing Company, HI
Lagunitas Brewing Company, CA
Lakefront Brewery, WI
Limestone Brewing Company, IL
Lunar Brewing Company, IL
Maui Brewing Co., HI
Metropolitan Brewing, IL
Moylan's Brewery and Restaurant, CA
Nebraska Brewing Company, NE
New Belgium Brewing Company, CO
New Holland Brewing Company, MI
Oakshire Brewing , OR
Olde Main Brewing Company, IA
Piece Brewery and Pizzeria, IL
Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey, CA
Ram Restaurant & Brewery, Wheeling, IL
Revolution Brewing, IL
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, Chicago, IL
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, Cincinnati, OH
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, Des Moines, IA
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, Lombard, IL
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, Warrenville, IL
Schlafly Beer, MO
Schmaltz Brewing Company, NY
Smuttynose Brewing Company, NH
Squatters Pubs and Beers, UT
Stone Brewing Company, CA
Sun King Brewing Company, IN
Three Floyds Brewing Company, IN
Two Brothers Brewing Company, IL
Uinta Brewing Company, UT
Upland Brewing Co., IN

Oktoberfest v. Harvest Fest in Chicago

Much like an OMG Beer! tasting that occured a few weeks ago and will be written up tomorrow, fall and beer have become trapped in a complicated yet delicious seasonal dance. The hop harvest ends in September, and harvest ales and wet-hop ales are plentiful in this hop loving world of ours. But, traditions remain strong in the beer world. Oktoberfest starts at the end of September and ends of course, in October. Other harvests occur as well, and of course, pumpkin beers have been around for years. Thus, you get tastings like this one, with one bar full of Oktoberfest, and other full of harvest ales. Delicious! And you can get to both with a long walk or a short cab ride.

Where: The Fountainhead and Bar on Buena
When: Noon Saturday running til Sunday night or when they're out of the participating beers

Bar on Buena's Oktoberfest beers:
Ayinger Oktoberfest
Great Lakes Oktoberfest
Left Hand Octoberfest
Spaten Oktoberfest
Flying Dog Dogtoberfest
Hofbrau Oktoberfest
Victory Fest Beer
Avery The Kaiser
Monchshof Festbier

The Fountainhead's Hop Harvest related ales:
Founders Harvest
Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest
Sierra Nevada Estate
Left Hand Warrior
New Holland Hopivore
Port Brewing High-Tide
Three Floyd's Broo Doo
Two Brothers Heavy Handed Cascade
Two Brothers Heavy Handed Centennial
Two Brothers Heavy Handed Columbus
Two Brothers Heavy Handed Galena

Cask Conditioned:
Two Brothers Heavy Handed Columbus

As well as:
Southern Tier Imperial PumKing
The Bruery Autumn Maple
Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela
Half Acre Wake of the Flood
Victory Festbier
and a keg of:
Sierra Nevada Octoberfest

Get Your Alphabeer IV tickets!

Alphabeer IV, hosted by The Local Tourist, is 30%+ sold out, maybe more by now.

Sample a beer for every letter of the alphabet.

This is the only event that invites you to taste 26 beers - one for every letter of the alphabet! Only craft brews are sampled and the tasting is led by an expert who truly appreciates fine beer. It's a three hour tour of hops and barley and lagers and ales, and everything we taste is crafted by masters who are passionate about their beers.

Here's what we'll be tasting:

* A Amber Ale, Dark Horse Brewing Co
* B Boffo Brown Ale, Dark Horse Brewing Co
* D Dirty Bastard, Founder's Brewing Co
* E Eliot Ness, Great Lakes
* F Flying Dog
* G Great Lakes
* H Humming Ale, Anchor
* I Iron Fist, Revolution Brewing Co
* J Jackman's Pale Ale, Left Hand Brewing Co
* K Klaster Dark Beer
* L Lakefront
* M Magners Original Cider
* N New Holland
* O One Oatmeal Stout, Dark Horse Brewing Co
* P Porter, Founder's Brewing Co
* R Red Lager, Leinenkugel
* S Sprecher
* T Two Brothers Heavy Handed IPA
* W White Hawk IPA, Mendocino
* Y Yorkshire Ale, Riggwelter
* Z Zhiguly Grande 9,5

A portion of the proceeds from AlphaBeer benefits Endure To Cure

$40.00

From The Local Tourist, meet Alphabeer IV's Beer Expert:
Meet The Expert:

Kyle McHugh is a Boozehound - literally. He formed his beverage education and events company as a means of making quality beer, wine, spirits and bartending accessible to industry professionals and the public alike. In 2008, he opened Drinks Over Dearborn – a specialty beer, wine and spirits retail boutique in Chicago’s bustling River North neighborhood, which is equipped with a classroom and private event space to carry on his work as “The Boozehound.” Kyle is also currently on the faculty of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts - Chicago, where he teaches aspiring chefs about the vast world of beverage alcohol. He continues to give interactive beverage seminars, serve as master of ceremonies, lecture on the beverage industry & entrepreneurship, and host beverage events in cities around the U.S.

Kyle and his work have been featured in Food & Wine Magazine, Wine Enthusiast, Fine Living Network, WMAQ – NBC 5 Chicago; WCIU – Ch. 26 Chicago The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times, Paper Magazine, Santé Magazine, Chicago Social, Chicago Scene, The Chicago Reader, TimeOut Chicago, and Metromix Television.

Upcoming Chicago Beer Festivals

You probably thought Chicago had enough beer festivals and other such events this summer. You are so so wrong. Craft Brewers Conference, World Beer Cup, AlphaBeer III, and what seemed like a trillion other tasting events. Stone Brewing arriving in Chicago. Beer and Burger Pairings by Hopcast and ManBQue, so many SmallBar Rare Beer Tastings, it's amazing there's rare beer left (there is, promise, we've got bottle stashed all over OMG Beer! Headquarters anyway).

At least two more beer events are on there way.

In less than two weeks, AlphaBeer IV! Tickets will be available through OMG Beer! starting tomorrow. Alphabeer III was the first AlphaBeer we attended, and it was delicious, educational, and one of the more fun ways to experience 26 different beers. No one was hurt in the process.

Location: Blackstone Hotel
Hosted by: The Local Tourist and
Date: October 22nd, 2010
Time: 6pm
Price: $40 in advance, $50 at the door

And then, in November, the Festival of Barrel and Wood-Aged Beers, best known by the moniker FOBAB. This is the 8th year of this fantastic display of barrel/wood aged beer. Breweries will be bringing out their most fantastic barrel concoctions.

Location: Chicago Journeyman Plumbers' Local Union 130 Stephen M. Bailey Auditorium, 1340 W. Washington Blvd
Hosted by: Illinois Craft Brewer's Guild
Date: November 6th, 2010
Time: Two sessions, 1-5pm, 6-10pm
Price: 40 in advance, 50 at the door

Tasting glass and 12 beer tickets with entry ticket, more beer tickets available.

AlphaBeer III - A Recap

Based on my handwritten notes, I had a fantastic time at AlphaBeer III back in early July. No notes made it to paper on the last 1/4 of the AlphaBeerbet, and a few are missing from during the earlier parts of the tasting, because I ended up sharing my thoughts with Jim McCabe, our tour guide through the AlphaBeerbet, and Brewmaster from Milwaukee Brewing Company. Much thanks to Jim, and Theresa Carter of The Local Tourist, for hosting. Alphabeer IV is on October 22nd, in Milwaukee, at The Blackstone.

A - Avery New World Porter: Always a solid beer. Intense starting point. The roasted malt flavors are dominated by chocolate in the finish. Ends, unlike the drier british-style porters, with a lingering sweetness. Nice medium bodied, "serious" beer.

B - Brooklyn India Pale Ale: Bitter at first, with champaign-like carbonation that brings out the grapefruit citrus of the hops. Still, I've always wondered if there's any British hops used as well, melding English IPA with American IPA.

C - Curmudgeon Old Ale, Founder's: A huge sweet malt aroma of toffee, vanilla, caramel, and butterscotch. Hint of bourbon even, as the aroma of this beer's high ABV melds with those typical bourbon flavors. Aged in a bourbon barrel. An annual favorite of OMG BEER!

D - Dark Horse Amber Ale: Belgian yeast spin on an American Amber, bringing out a slightly tart, green apple cider flavor. As it warms a bit of sweetness comes out. Recently paired by OMG BEER! with Mapo Dofu (a spicy chinese pork and tofu dish). Fantastic, unique beer from Michigan.

E - Eel River Certified Organic Porter: a british-style porter, with a more coffee and roasted malt flavor than the Avery porter. A lighter mouthfeel as well, with an earthy hop finish bittering some milk chocolate.

F - Founder's Pale Ale: A pleasantly carbonated, classic American Pale Ale. Cascade hops give it a citrus/grapefruit aroma, and the taste starts with that, then a hint of malt breadiness, and then a drying bitterness on the tongue.

G - Goose Island Summertime Ale: this kolsch-style summer ale is fruity, pleasantly reminded me of that childhood classi, 5 Alive.

H - Harpoon Summer Ale: another kolsch (so says my notes, I never looked it up, based it on my tasting), more subtle than the Goose Island Summertime.

I - Iron City Lager: Pittsburgh's PBR.

J - Jolly Pumpkin La Roja: nice sweet & sour combo that reminded me (at the time) of a cherry cider, without any cloying sweetness and a refreshing tartness.

K - Krankshaft, Metropolitan Brewing: fruity bread, a hint of raisins. amazingly, an aroma that almost suggested refried beans.

L - Louie's Demise, Milwaukee Brewing:

M - Moose Drool, Big Sky Brewing: delicious and very drinkable brown ale.

N - New Belgium Skinny Dip: keffir lime leaves, you can just catcha hint of lime flavor and an almost slight bitterness that reminds one of lime rind.

O - Ommegang Hennepin: a fizzy chardonnay, without the oak, and with a touch of fruitiness and spice.

P - Pullchain Pale, Milwaukee Brewing Co: a delicious almost dill pickle aroma. A notch below Founders in overall drinkability, but equal in flavor. From a craft-quality can!

Q - Quilmes Lager: Argentina's answer to macro lagers.

R - Red Rye, Founder's: another OMG BEER! favorite. At this point in the tasting, all I could write is "Done and Done, I, We love it." I went to this tasting alone, so multiple personalities agreed.

S - Summer Shandy, Leinenkugel:

T - The Poet, New Holland: Despite the use of The to get a "T", the beer notes start with "fuck yeah." I love this beer. Chocolate finish, creamy coffee, even a hint of hops in the aroma. Ends with a coffee bitterness aided by the hops. Creaminess in the middle is from oatmeal.

U - Unibroue La Fin Du Monde: my only notes were that this is a killer beer, but also killer at the end of the tasting with it's ABV.

V - Victory Golden Monkey:

W - Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen:

X - Xingu Black Lager (Brazil):

Y - Young's Double Chocolate Stout:

Z - Zielder-Brau, Milwaukee Brewing: a homebrew recipe of Jim's made in their brewery now, but given a slightly altered name for the tasting? I think he said this was sort of an Alt/Scottish ale hybrid.

Alphabeer III: A to Z (THE BEERLIST)

Check out more info on Alphabeer III here.

* A Avery New World Porter
* B Brooklyn India Pale Ale
* C Cerise, Founder's
* D Dark Horse Amber Ale
* E Eel River Certified Organic Porter
* F Fort Collins Chocolate Stout
* G Goose Island Summertime Ale
* H Harpoon Summer Beer
* I Iron City Lager
* J Jolly Pumpkin La Roja
* K Krankshaft, Metropolitan
* L Louie's Demise, MKE Brewing Co
* M Moose Drool, Big Sky
* N New Belgium Skinnydip
* O Ommegang Hennepin Ale
* P Pullchain Pale Ale, MKE Brewing Co
* Q Quilmes Lager
* R Red's Rye, Founder's
* S Summer Shandy, Leinenkugel
* T The Poet, New Holland
* U Unibroue La Fin du Monde
* V Victory Brewing Golden Monkey Ale
* W Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen
* X Xingu Black Lager
* Y Young's Double Chocolate Stout
* Z Ziedler-brau, MKE Brewing Co

AlphaBeer III: Beer from A to Z! Saturday, July 10th in Chicago.

Saturday, July 10th, at the Four Points Sheraton (630 N. Rush St), Chicago's www.localtourst.com will host AlphaBeer III! For three hours, 26 beers, from A to Z, will be available in three-ounce tastings. There will be a beer for every letter of the alphabet, and the tasting is led by Brewmaster Jim McCabe of Milwaukee Brewing Company. 40 dollars for 3 hours of beer. That's a deal people, promise.

Partial proceeds benefit Endure to Cure.

OMG Beer! likes letters, as well as beer, and will be there to enjoy this fine event.

Beers of Summer Festival at The Bottom Lounge in Chicago

Beers of Summer Festival in Chicago

What: Beer Tasting
When: July 1st, 2009, 7:30PM
Where: The Bottom Lounge (2nd floor, Volcano Room)
What: 100 + summer beers, representatives from Louis Glunz Beer, Inc, distributors
Cost: $20, tickets available at the door only

OMG beer!

American Craft Beer Week - Chicago Celebrations

American Craft Beer Week runs from May 11th to May 17th, celebrating the culture and delicious concoctions of the craft brewing industry. Recognized by the U.S. Congress, Craft Beer Week is about breweries that produce under 2 million bottles and are independently owned. Over 150 breweries participated last year and just as many are expected to join in the celebrations in 2009.

The Declaration of Beer Independence
You can also follow American Craft Beer Week on Facebook.

Following is a list of Chicago area events:

Beerfly Alleyfight @ Rock Bottom Brewery-Chicago Art plus beer plus food, including homebrews. I'll be at this Saturday afternoon.
Delilah's Lambic Beer Festival

Beer & Chocolate, May 16th pairing

Chocolate - good. Beer - of course its good, you wouldn't be here if you didn't agree with that. Stephen Beaumont of the World of Beer blog shall pair six delicious beers with six scrumptous chocolates from Vosges Haut Chocolat. This holy collision between chocolate and beer takes place at Drinks over Dearborn on Saturday, May 16th, @ 6:30PM. Tickets are 30 dollars in advance, 40 at the door.

Brasserie Jo and Metromix Spring Beer Festival

Last night, Brasserie Jo hosted the Metromix sponsored Spring Beer Festival. Advertised as 20+ beers for 20 dollars, the promoters definitely understated the amount of beer available. In fact, though counting while beer drinking is generally something the FDA does not recommend, there were approximately 48, maybe 50 beers. A bargain, for twenty dollars, and Chicago knew it. One half of Brasserie Jo was bursting at the seams with Chicago's microbrew fanatics. Rightfully so, since Two Brothers, Metropolitan, Tyranena (and their IPA championship semi finalist Bitter Woman IPA), Round Barn, Dark Horse, Lagunitas were all in attendance. Two fantastic Belgian-focused distributors, Vanberg DeWulf and Artisanal Imports were also pouring. It's impossible to break down just how many amazing beers were quaffed, but some standouts were the Tyranena Bitter Woman IPA and Headless Man Alt, Scaldis Prestige (also called the Bush Prestige), and the Lagunitas 2009 Correction Ale.

Metromix/Brasserie Jo Spring Beer Festival

Sponsored by Metromix and hosted at Brasserie Jo, the Spring Beer Festival is a chance to sample over 20 beers for 20 dollars. Appetizers will be provided by the amazing Brasserie Jo kitchen. Among the breweries listed are Two Brothers and Metropolitan Brewing from Chicago, and The Round Barn, from Michigan.

Two Brothers Beer School at Brasserie Jo, Part 2

After Bare Tree Weiss Wine and Domaine Dupage French Country Ale, why naturally you need to start on dessert. The final two beers for the night were the Northwind Imperial Stout, a Russian Imperial Stout with a velvet chocolate texture and a delicious roasted malt character, and the Red Eye Coffee Porter, a coffee-infused Baltic Porter (think Imperial and less chocolate flavor).

Northwind Imperial Stout comes in at only 7.5% ABV, maybe a little light for an imperial stout, but with all the great flavor and warmth. Velvet chocolate layered with a hint of hops and a huge roasted malt flavor wrap around caramel. The great texture and almost creamy feel of this dark dark ale comes from flaked oats. Jason Ebel suggested going for a robust spicy food pairing, maybe Thai Spicy Basil Chicken, an interesting but unexpected pairing with an imperial stout.

The evening's spotlight - for me anyway - was on the Red Eye Coffee Porter. A thin brownish head kicked up a huge coffee nose, and a hint of spice, perhaps from the hops. This is like a whole new style of beer, the way the coffee flavor maintains its uniqueness and makes this beer almost a merging of iced coffee and ale. I thought I detected hints of dark berries and plum, along with alcohol. The 9.3% ABV is hidden well though, and this beer is extremely easy to drink. Drinkable desserts, you can't go wrong.


The next tasting at Brasserie Jo (who served delicious appetizers after the beer was finished) will be on March 17th, at 5:30, and Jason Ebel will be joined by Urthel Brewery's Hildegard Van Ostaden.

Two Brothers Beer School at Brasserie Jo...

Tonight, Jason Ebel spoke about beer at Brasserie Jo, focusing a little on the Two Brothers history, and highlighting the maltier, winter offerings of the brewery. One hour and four beers and Jason Ebel converted a room to the cause of craft brewing, though surely some present were already devotees.

The night began with Domaine Dupage French Country Ale, a Biere de Garde, inspired, according to Jason, by an ale from Le Brevent, France. A great brew to start a night of malty brews with a great caramel toast aroma, Domaine Dupage is a sweet full bodied ale brewed with vienna and munich malts. A hint of yeast in the aroma suggests the country ale influence (think French, amber version of saison maybe), but its the balance between sweet toasted bread notes and spicy hops in the finish that make this one of the easiest drinking Chicago-brewed ales.

The next stop on the Two Brothers beer train was the aptly named Bare Tree Weiss Wine. Brewed to barley wine alcohol levels but with the ingredients of a German Hefe Weizen, this beer is an annual, but little talked about Two Brothers special. Yet to be released, this was a sample right out of the aging tank, with no carbonation. This is how homebrewers drink their beer just before calling it finished and getting around to the bottling or kegging phase. This is franken weizen! The aroma is pretty true to the Hefe Weizen style, but with a little more punch in the nose. The first sip was sweeter than the aroma suggested, and besides apricot and banana, which the accompanying tasting notes suggested, I got a bit of green apple too. This beer ended drier than most hefe weizens, and stuck to the tongue. Same feeling as an imperial IPA, without the pine.

Two beers still to talk about, the rest of this week is dedicated to Two Brothers. Third at the tasting was Two Brothers Northwind Imperial Stout, and fourth was the newly released artisan series beer, Red Eye Coffee Porter. Two other favorites, Heavy Handed IPA and Cane & Ebel Red Rye, were missing from the tasting, but need to be discussed as well.

DogFloydapalooza (Not my choice of title...)

The Bottom Lounge (1375 W. Lake St.), here in Chicago, is hosting Nick Floyd of Three Floyd's Brewing Company and Sam Calagione of the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.

The beer pouring meet and greet starts at 9pm and admission is $10, which gets you one beer. There will be live music from the Waco Brothers.