Scholarship table
Speaking of MSP, at Ike's enjoying a Surly Bender.....solid
Surly ranked as 11th best brewery in the world....some pretty good company as rated by http://www.ratebeer.com/RateBeerBest/bestbrewers_012012.asp 1 Three Floyds Brewing Company Munster Indiana USA 2 Founders Brewing Company Grand Rapids Michigan USA 3 Bells Brewery Kalamazoo Michigan USA 4 AleSmith Brewing Company San Diego California USA 5 Cigar City Brewing Tampa Florida USA 6 Hill Farmstead Brewery Greensboro Vermont USA 7 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido California USA 8 Russian River Brewing Santa Rosa California USA 9 De Struise Brouwers Oostvleteren - Belgium 10 Kuhnhenn Brewing Warren Michigan USA 11 Surly Brewing Company Brooklyn Center Minnesota USA
Barley wine Fest is on at the Sugar Maple, I counted 12 on the list last nightI tried the Moylans Blarney Wine and the New Glarus, the Moylans was good but the NG is very good
I'm a huge Barley Wine nerd, and it's tough to find good selections as a lot of breweries don't brew them every year or they only sell a limited amount. Will be up in MKE this week, gonna have to find time to get down to Sugar Maple for a couple samples. What's the name of the NG barley wine? I've had a chance to get Central Waters 2010 and 2011, both were pretty fantastic. Southern Tier Back Burner continues to be my favorite but I haven't seen it at all this year.
Have you tried the Barrel Aged CW BW? It's pretty tits.
What's the name of the NG barley wine?
Our 2012 Barley Wine bridges continents of style, a harmonious creation of Diploma Master Brewer Daniel Carey. He personally chose the hop fields that were harvested for this powerful beast of a brew. Styrian Golding, Willamette, Columbia, and Sterling with bold citrus and resin notes. All perfectly balanced with toasty graham cracker flavors of floor malted barley. Savor this very big beer at 45° F and it will reward you with an open embrace. http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/index.cfm/beers/ourbeers/beer/barley-wine
No name, it's their latest Thumbprint formerly Unplugged" series - just Barley wine
Yeah, I was in Milwaukee and made my pilgrimage to Discount Liquors (which I do every time I go up because it's better than most anything here in Chicago) and they were selling single bottles. Bought the two they allowed. Positively delicious.
When I go up to Milwaukee I also stop by at DicLiq but only to get New Glarus and Alaskan Brewing Co. beers, stuff I can't get in Chicago. Where in Chicago do you buy beer? There are plenty of places.
I shouldn't post this because it will make the supply that much harder to find but Founders KBS is on it's way to stores now. A friend of mine hit KBS day at Founders on Saturday and for the 1st time in 5 years he was too late to get in the case line even though he showed up at the same time as before.
I would go to Woodman's in Oak Creek now instead of Discount. Same if not better selection plus better prices.
With you on the prices, I used to live just down the street from that Woodman's. But there's nobody to talk beer with, and I personally like trying out new beers based on someone's knowledgeable recommendation. I'd also disagree with the better selection. May be on par for your typical craft beers and carrying most good breweries, but the limited release seasonals (i.e. CW barleywine, KBS, hopslam) won't typically be found there.Edit: Woodman's is a great place to buy beer and worth a trip for those who might have taken my comments as an indictment of their selection.
Anyone tried Pipeworks Brewery's Ninja vs. Unicorn. They just started bottling as are many of the Chicago area breweries in the near future.http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/stew/chi-pipeworks-brewing-pipeworks-brewing-launches-20120309,0,5985130.story
Sierra Nevada is releasing there Hoptimum again this Spring, anyone ever had it? Generally like a lot of SN, even if it is a larger scale micro beer. The SN Celebration Ale is one of my go to's around the X-Mas holiday.
It's a solid beer. I enjoy it. Tho I am currently drinking a Zombie Dust after a night of Goose Island Bramble and Marisol and Black Xanus. As for the larger scale craft brewery - that's a crap thing. If the beer is good, drink it. If it sucks, don't drink it. Full disclosure I work for Goose Island and this ticks me off. I won't into here but the beer we make kicks ass (for the most part - hell, I know we are not even immune certain things but our Belgian Style and Bourbon / Aged beers are world fracking class) but there are other small breweries people keep going to which don't turn out nearly as good of beer as Goose, Sierra, Deschutes, Bell's, etc. End Rant.