Scholarship table
I thoroughly enjoying the Alt Bier here in Dusseldorf. It's a style I rarely see in the USA. The little glasses it's served in is fun.
Same size glass but beer is dark in color and light in taste. It's been explained to me that Dusseldorf and Köln are rivals like Boston and New York. Don't order Kolsch in Dusseldorf and don't order Alt in Köln.I am visiting Köln tomorrow on my off day.
Lots of fun. Also play the game of who can get the most marks on their coaster. If you have a lot of time try to head to Bamburg for Rausch Bier. My wife lived in Dusseldorf for 2.5 years and it's where we got engaged so it has a special place in my heart. We have quite a few friends who still live their too.
Is it like a tray of kolsch?
I've been a few times now to the Ballast Point tap room which opened a few weeks ago in the West Loop. Around thirty of their beers on tap (with more rotating in), including Barrel Aged Victory at Sea. Great space, very good food. I think a concept they may roll out in other places too (currently in a few spots in CA and one in VA).
Personally I find their concept stupid. They don't even brew on site. Well, they make 1 batch on a big home brew system a week - woopie!. What's the point? Personally it feels like some marketing person in their offices on Michigan Ave thought they needed a spot in Chicago now that they're based here with Constellation. From their spot in the West Loop you could go to quite a few better tasting rooms with beer made on site within 10-15 minutes. Also places with better food. Just my $.02.
Just opened a 2012 BCBS... yes, today.
In my opinion there is a lot of bad beer in the local Milwaukee craft brewery tap rooms right now. Too many brew masters trying to be cute with creative beers, rather than producing a consistently decent product. And the whole IPA menu imbalance has already been discussed, but continues.Which leads me to the reason for this post: I was invited to sample the beers at http://www.gatheringplacebrewing.com/ yesterday and I came away very impressed. Quality beers are being brewed there. I really enjoyed the winter seasonal. And they offer more than just one or two beers on the malty side of the scale.
Doesn't like every town have their own brewery now? Every week I see news of another brewery opening somewhere in Connecticut.
Every town has its own brewery with a flagship IPA, amber, and porter. And they all taste about the same. They also all look the same.
There’s a lot of this, but I would guess it’ll start swinging the other way before too long. Brewing unspectacular beer seems pretty scalable, so I think a restaurants and pubs are just adding brewing. But it’s to the point where places with good beer lists are sticking in my head more often than brewpubs.
The tap room is a great place to try the one-offs and see what works and what doesn't. That said, I don't think Eagle Park needs 8 NEIPAs and 4 Milkshake IPAs on their menu.I had some of Gathering Place's beer shortly after they opened and it was hit or miss. Hopefully they're hitting their stride. Rooting for them, as they are a MU alumni biz.Semi-related... anyone been able to find the new Lakefront BA Barleywine in MKE?