Wildeman Cometh!

Behold! Wildeman cometh from Flying Dog Brewery. Or I guess that's what going down in this odd launch video. I'm not really sure, but I'm both frightened and confused. Hail the Flying Dog! I guess. They do have some of the most original label and advertising going I must say and their Wild Dog series is pretty f'n awesome.

"Tentanda via est! The way must be tried. Wildeman has arrived. A new beer from Flying Dog Brewery, Wildeman Farmhouse IPA cometh in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC January 30."





(Frederick, MD) – Flying Dog Wildeman Farmhouse IPA will make its bottle debut at the start of the new year.

His axe is stained with the blood of a thousand adversaries. We fall in behind him as he leads us into darkness. He turns his gaze on us. “Tentanda via est!” The way must be tried. Wildeman has arrived.

A recipe originally brewed for the 25th anniversary of Amsterdam’s In de Wildeman, we are now unleashing this beast of a Farmhouse IPA on the U.S.. Unfiltered and hazy gold in color, Wildeman begins with notes of citrus and spice on the nose, followed by potent hop flavor. This extreme bitterness is balanced by light malt highlights and finishes dry, crisp, and with a slight hint of acidity.

Legions of followers marched across Europe in his wake. Now, it’s your time to fall in line.

Package: Draft and 6-packs
ABV: 7.5%
Availability: Mid-January in CD, MD, VA
Specialty malts: Rye, Munich and local Wheat

2011... The Year in Beer

I drink a lot of beer. Hey I'm no alcoholic or anything, I just like the taste of it and all the styles and flavors and such. The buzz is a bonus. So every year I seek out a lot of new beer to try and visit all the pubs my fat butt can get in to before I'm kindly shown the door. 2011 was no exception. I actually visited 3 breweries in 1 day this year. July 5th, a day that will live in infamy. Did 2 breweries in 1 day later in the Summer in Nashville. I also made it to beer festivals in Texas and Mississippi. I drank beer in New Orleans, Las Vegas, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock, Houston, Hot Springs, Jackson (MS) and various points across Missouri. I played beer pong, held numerous tastings, added another plate to the wall of the Flying Saucer and a plaque on the Wall of Foam at Old Chicago. I also started brewing again. Yes my friends. I. Drank. Beer. And lots of it.

So crack open a cold one and behold the glory that is my end of year beer awards. And please, turn off all cell phones and hold your applause until they're all over.



11 Favorite New Beers Tried in 2011

* Dogfish Head World Wide Stout - Overpriced but awesome. Dark, rich, roasty and complex.

* Russian River Pliny the Elder - Finally had this one right after I finished my first half-marathon and it's just a fantastic IPA. It packs plenty of hops punch. Yet, very, very drinkable. Super smooth.

* Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout - The vanilla takes away from some of the harshness of the regular Bourbon County and gives it a very smooth finish.

* AleSmith Speedway Stout - Roasty, toasty, caramel malts attack your taste buds.

* Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast - If there is a beer heaven, this is definitely served at breakfast.

* Founders Blushing Monk - An explosion of rich dark raspberries with floral notes and sweet malt.

* Mikkeller Simcoe Single Hop IPA - Really everything you could want from an IPA... hoppy, bitter after taste, nice malty balance.

* Boulevard Chocolate Ale - Loads of sweet milk chocolate flavor with some cocoa and vanilla.

* Stone El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale - Sort of a charred or roasted flavor of dark fruits... hints of pepper.

* Surly Coffee Bender - It's like popping open a big ole can of expresso. Roasty malts and choco with a super smooth finish.

* Goose Island Night Stalker - Like a big, delicious, boozy glass of licorice.

11 Favorites Beer Bars Visited in 2011 (Great selection, great atmospheres or just great locations... but MUST have the great beer selections)

11. Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop @ New Orleans - Breaking my own rule above, but really the beer selection isn't that special here. Just an awesome old dive. They were filming scenes for Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter with Brad Pitt when we were there last. People keep mistaking me for him. Happens a lot.

10. Gaido's Seafood Restaurant @ Galveston - Good food and a shockingly good selection of brew. Overlooks the beach.

9. Brick House Tavern and Taproom @ Galveston - Nice selection of Texas beer and good food. Next door to our hotel was helpful.

8. Hofbrauhaus @ Las Vegas‎ - Great selection of German style brews and food with a wildly fun atmosphere. We ended up in a limo back to the strip and just had a blast all around.

7. The Yard House @ Las Vegas - Well off the strip, we hopped a cab to go to another pub and he directed us here, and it was well worth the detour. Excellent selection of taps from the west.

6. Cooter Browns Tavern @ New Orleans - Odd place way down at the end of the St. Charles trolley line but the beer selection and burger makes it a must-visit place.

5. Farmer's Gastropub @ Springfield, Mo - Fantastic little pub with lots of local grub and all sorts of good brew.

4. 12 South Taproom and Grill @ Nashville - Excellent beer selection out of the tourist area. Got tipsy, hopped in a taxi and ended up with a shirt from here when I woke up the next morning. Signs of a fun night. The camera agreed.

3. The Avenue Pub @ New Orleans - Look up a dive and there should be a picture of this place. Look up awesome beer selection and a location just off the St. Charles trolley line and you'll see it too.

2. The Burger Bar @ Las Vegas - I just love the sliders here but their beer menu is excellent too.

1. The Flying Saucer @ Little Rock, Nashville, Houston and Memphis - A great chain for beer lovers and the Little Rock one is my home base. I love the Nashville building in an old train station and the Memphis one is just a block or so from Beale Street. Made it to the downtown Houston Flying Saucer this year as well.

Best Beer Stores: I discovered the awesome Brown Derby in Springfield, Mo this year as well as the equally awesome Spec's Wines, Spirits, & Finer Foods in Galveston.

Favorite New Breweries (to me): We got Tallgrass beer in cans here and even before that I was picking up their brews on road trips, not only because of the sweet can (heh heh sweet cans) but also it's just damn tasty beer. Their Oasis, IPA, Buffalo Sweat, Halcyon Wheat, Ale and Velvet Rooster all regularly made an appearance in my pee-pee. Also discovered Mother's Brewing out of Springfield and was pleased plus from out in the middle of nowhere Missouri we went to Piney River Brewing and just had a fantastic time and sampled some great beer (see plenty more here). Can't wait to get these 2 around here. Spent a week in Texas drinking Saint Arnolds and Southern Star also and couldn't have been happier to do so.

All this typing is making me thirsty now, and all the flashbacks are sort of giving me a hangover, so I'll stop I guess.

You'll be missed 2011. R.I.P.

Who Do That Brew Do Like I Do?

WorldClassBeer.com is posting some pretty cool videos on brewing your own beer. As I've recently started (or re-started) brewing I found these pretty interesting and thought I'd share them. This one is a good starter with the basics of brewing beer from ingredients to the brewing process and below that is one on basics of beer styles. Maybe more to come.

For more modules and to use the interactive versions of any Beer U module, visit http://worldclassbeer.com and click on Beer U!



There are dozens of beer styles! This Beer U module recording covers the basics of those different styles.

13 Craft Beer Pairings For Thanksgiving

You know how I love my beer and I'll pair it with every food you can think of, so I was looking around for some cool Thanksgiving ideas and I found this cool video posted by HomeBrewVideos.com:



Get Your Free Beer Pairing Guide: http://www.HomeBrewVideos.com

We're all about Great Beer... Great Food, Great Friends, and Great Fun!

Before I tell you what I do, I would like to tell you why I do it. I believe that life was meant to be enjoyed with good friends, good food and good beer. If you're a foodie, and you don't know much about craft beer, you're about to take your love of food to another level.

I love brewing and tasting craft beers, and the only thing that makes craft beer better is pairing it with great food and great friends. That's what my HD quality video trainings are all about.

I also believe in supporting locally owned, independent businesses, to maintain a unique community character, provide continuing opportunities for local entrepreneurs, build community economic strength, and prevent the displacement of community-based businesses by national and global chains.

I believe that good craft beer is much more versatile than wine when it comes to food pairings, not to mention more affordable. Beer can be crafted in so many different ways to create so many different flavors, that it's the ultimate weapon for foodies.

I believe that the world of beer is open to anyone. As long as you respect beer and have the knowledge, you will be accepted into this club.

I believe that in order to truly appreciate and understand beer, you need to learn from the 5 pillars of beer knowledge: beer history, different styles, how to taste it, how to pair it with food, and how to brew it. To be a complete brewer, you need to have an understanding of these other principles.

That's what I teach at my website: http://www.HomeBrewVideos.com

It's The Great Pumpkin Beer, Charlie Brown

You may not remember it this way, but Linus had a good reason to hide in that pumpkin patch. What with Lucy pulling that damn football away every time Chuck tried to give it a boot, not only was he stressed out but probably had a severe back-injury before it was all over. Linus had a possible cure, and he was a beer brewer. Yep. And he wanted to make a pumpkin beer, of course to save until he turned 21. Because nobody drinks beer before they're 21. Right? And let me tell you if I got a f'n rock in my bag at every stop on Halloween I'd have started hitting the brew much younger too. So what's the best way to make a good pumpkin beer? Slaughtering the Great Pumpkin and using his insides to brew a batch. And so it began. Lucy drove Charlie to drink and it all started with pumpkin beers, possibly even causing the swelling of his giant noggin to the size you see now. Look like a pumpkin to you? Thought so.

Personally I really like pumpkin beer. It's a nice novelty and I drink quite a bit of it during the Halloween season, as you can look in my fridge at the moment and see. I went to the wonderful beer ratings site I use, BeerReviewsOnline.com, and looked up all my comments and ratings for some pumpkin beers so you can pick you own.

The ratings are over the last 4 years though, and my tastes have changed and continue to, but you'll get the picture. It should also be noted that a majority of them just begin to taste a like after a while. It's hard to get this style to really stand out. I look for a nice pumpkin flavor, good mouthfeel and a little bit of spice to make me happy. Your tastes may (and should) vary. But start here if you want.

And, being a big Halloween lover and jack-o-latern fan, some of the labels of these are just awesome. I'll post a few of those as they've some of my overall favorite beer labels.

I'll start with my current favorite:

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale
Rating: 8/10
A very nice, sweet caramel taste with slight alcohol hints... good cinnamon and nutmeg notes. Some bitterness too but all nicely balanced. A damn fine pumpkin brew from the St. Louis brewery.

Saranac Pumpkin Ale
Rating: 8/10
I found this to be a very satisfying pumpkin ale. Lots of flavor, big pumpkin spice.

Arcadia Jaw-Jacker
Rating: 7/10
The taste is a very nice spicey nutmeg and cinnamon combo, almost like a good pumpkin pie. I sort of wanted vanilla ice cream with it. Love the name and label. Solid pumpkin brew.

New Belgium Lips of Faith Kick
Rating: 7/10
A bit different, as the taste is sour/tart with a lot of cranberry but I thought a bit light on the pumpkin for what I was expecting. Had some spice but not overdone. At 8.5% ABV this one isn't for lightweights.

O'Fallon Pumpkin Beer
Rating: 7/10
I think they got the spice right in this one and just about the right amount of pumpkin so you can taste it, but it's not overpowering.

Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale
Rating: 7/10
Nice pumpkin flavor with some spices, maybe cinnamon or ginger (or both?). Body was a bit thin perhaps, lowering my score a little, but this is a fine, easy-drinking pumpkin ale.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale
Rating: 7/10
I definitely got the pumpkin flavor from this one unlike some of the others. A bit of spice too.

Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin
Rating: 7/10
The pumpkin isn't overpowering as it all comes out much more spicy like a Christmas beer I thought. Good though. Hides the fact that it'll knock you on your butt pretty well. At 9% ABV, it's a big boy.

Dogfish Head Punkin'
Rating: 6/10
A nice mix of pumpkin and beer. It's got good spice to out weigh the sweetness. I sort of wanted more pumpkin flavor though. It's been years since I've had this one though in all fairness.

Southampton Pumpkin Ale
Rating: 6/10
Hints of spice but underwhelming.

Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale
Rating: 5/10
It really doesn't have much of a pumpkin flavor for what it's supposed to be. Not horrible or anything just doesn't stand out in the patch.

Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale
Rating: 5/10
Doesn't really have that pumpkin pie sort of thing I was hoping for. Didn't mind it too bad at first but as I got on through the bottle it just became really "meh" and bland.

Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale
Rating: 5/10
Very average.

Not a big range of ratings, I know, but really if you make a decent ale and add some pumpkin and spices I'm going to like it somewhat no matter. And if you gave me a blind taste test on any day with all these lined up I might have totally different ratings, but I think I could pick out the excellent Schlafly and Saranac versions. The Kick would stand out too.

There are a whole pumpkin patch full of others that I haven't gotten to try. A quick look at BeerAdvocate.com says their highest rated ones are from Elysian Brewing, Selin's Grove and the Schlafly one I listed above. I'd love to try those top 2. One of the most often rated and highest at the same time is Souther Tier Pumpking, which I haven't found any where either. Here's their top 10:



So go! Seek! Find! Drink! And report back. And don't let Lucy fool you into trying to kick the football, even after a 6-er.

Finally... KISS Beer

When KISS puts out a product that really has nothing to do with music, I don't ask why I usually ask what took so long? I mean they have KISS caskets for the love of Gene! They have pretty much merchandised everything and I always hear some of their fans grumbling about it but I've just looked at it like they don't make me buy anything, it's my choice. So market the hell out of everything I say and I'll just pick what I like. Well I like beer. And I want this. Oh yes, I want this...


Their official description: KISS Destroyer Beer is an easy-to-drink beer in the best German tradition! A careful brewing process creates its great head of foam, nice flavor, and a balanced bitterness, like an original "Pils." The cool brew is available in both bottles and cans.

Brewed: Sweden
Alcohol content: 4.7%
Bottle: approx. 11.2 oz
Can: approx. 16.9 oz

And I realize that a canned pils from Sweden is probably going to taste like Gene Simmon's sack, but with the God of Thunder as my witness I shall have this and get plastered on it while watching KISS Meets The Phantom on my flat screen! In my KISS Army jacket. So shout that outloud.

Harold Knows Best

As we get older we sometimes begin to doubt our ability to "make a difference" in the world. It is at these times that our hopes are boosted by the remarkable achievements of other "seniors" who have found the courage to take on challenges that would make many of us wither.

Harold Schlumberg is such a person.



"I've often been asked, 'What do you old folks do now that you're retired'?

Well, I'm fortunate to have a chemical engineering background, and one of the things I enjoy most is turning beer, wine, and margaritas into urine."

Harold should be an inspiration to all of us.

Top of the Weekend

I'm heading down to Jackson, MS today for the big 2nd annual Top of the Hops beer festival and I'm quite stoked about it. They have a lot of good breweries on hand and I'm holdin' a VIP ticket to get in the event an hour early and it also gives me access to a few special beers plus some extra food. And you know I need extra food and special beers.

Atlanta Brewing Company, Abita, Bayou Teche, Lazy Magnolia, Diamond Bear, Mendocino, Tommyknocker, Tallgrass, Shipyard, Stephens Point, Widmer, Yazoo.... all of these and more will be on hand to make my day a fuzzy one. And if that's not enough, check out the giveaway. One lucky winner (moi!) will be taking this table full home:



Um... yeah. I need that big pile of beer to complete me. It's even called the "Mound of Love". If I win I'm going to surround myself with them in my hotel bed when I sleep.

I'll try to take a few pics and so forth as I attempt to taste every brew in the building. There are also beer seminars, food pairings and live music.

And yes, I have the phone number of a taxi company in Jackson already.

Beer And Elvis?

Since I post a lot about beer, hot women and often post about Elvis as well, this video is made just for this blog I guess. Check out the cool new TV commercial for Heineken that features the great track "Bossa Nova Baby" from Viva ELVIS. The ad is now airing in Ireland. Well done Heineken! I believe I'll have one in your honor, King.





Visit Elvis.com for more information on the King of Rock N Roll, Elvis Presley.

Summer Days

So yeah, it's hot here. Every day. Really though, I've lived in this great state for quite a few decades now and this isn't far from the norm. Hot, humid as hell, no rain... welcome to Summer in the south. It hasn't kept me from my (sweaty) morning runs or going to the ballgames or the lake, all of which keep moving right along. We've been to the lake about every weekend for at least 1 day.


Indoors, I've got some good shows on the calendar coming up too. Tomorrow night is Sevendust with Adelitas Way and Seven Day Sonnet here in Little Rock. I'm not even sure what time this is for me seeing Sevendust, but I think around 6? Maybe 7. I love Sevendust. Looking foward to them once again. We've got tickets in hand for 2 upcoming Keith Urban shows as well, in Nashville and Jonesboro, both in August. In September we have tickets already to see Journey, Night Ranger and Foreigner over in Memphis. That's 3 of my very favorite "classic rock" bands, or whatever genre you put them in I guess. I have all of their new CDs and play them regularly so I'm not going to exactly say they're out of date for my tastes, although I spent many a night cruising dirt roads around my hometown while I was growing up listening to these 3.

Lots of good new music out lately. I've been spending a lot of time checking out the new CDs from Queensryche, Burn Halo, Theory of a Deadman, Pop Evil, Limp Bizkit, Bad Meets Evil and Egypt Central. So much good stuff out lately it's almost hard to keep up.

Upcoming road trips... I'll be in Jackson, MS in 2 weeks for Top of the Hops, yet another beer festival. Hey, I like beer, sue me. After that we'll have a long weekend in Nashville to start August and we'll end the month with a week in Galveston. Plenty of good beers to be found I'm sure. Here's what I look like when we find a good beer store on the travels where I can build my own six-pack (or 3):


Yeah, a kid in a candy store indeed. Replace the word "candy" with "beer" and replace the word "kid" with... well, you can just leave that word I guess. All of the great purchases pay off with beer tastings with my beer brethren coming over and also just smaller tastings like the other night when my lovely best beer buddy and I tried all 4 Tin Mill beers we'd picked up in Missouri with some cajun grilled shrimp and boudin sausage. Very nice evening. Our last big group tasting was this past Friday night. Check out this bad ass line-up:

* Unibroue La Fin Du Monde
* Dupont Bière de Miel (Biologique)
* Weston Brew Labs #1 IPA
* Weston Brew Labs Prototype Stout
* Southern Tier Iniquity Black Ale
* Dogfish Head Red & White
* Surly Bender
* Surly Coffee Bender
* Broederlijke Liefde
* Lakefront Bridge Burner
* Southern Tier Mokah

Yeah, that's a damn good tasting. Several new favorites there that I'll be seeking regularly, love the Surly Coffee Bender but especially that Southern Tier Mokah. Oh man, it's a big ole imperial stout that's chocolately sweet, creamy and smooth. One of my all-time favs I think. I'll let you know after I find about 5 or 6 more bottles.

And I have finally returned to the theaters after a long layoff! Yay me! I've been 2 weekends in a row actually to see Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I'm going to try to keep the momentum up and catch Captain America: The First Avenger this coming weekend and Cowboys and Aliens after that. Maybe I'm back in the groove?

That's about it in my world I guess. Cheers.

The Hills Are Alive With The Taste Of Beer

OK I promised a post about some other brewery stops across Missouri last week so I guess this is what you get. Hooray! Try to contain your excitement.

I already told you about all the beer I stockpiled while in Springfield at The Brown Derby liquor store and the awesome visit to Piney River Brewing near Houston, Mo so after that we paid a quick visit to a little brewery called Little Yeoman Brewery just outside of Cabool, Mo. Yes, these aren't exactly huge cities I'm telling you about, but these are the types of places you find great beer made by beer lovers (and it's absolutely beautiful scenery). One could argue they have nothing else to do, but I would argue what else would you rather be doing? Don't be afraid to get off the beaten path my beer loving buddies. The road we travel is a thirsty one, but always enjoy the hunt.

I've probably blabbed too much already about this road trip (it was only a couple of days for the love of hops) so I'll just say we followed the signs and found Little Yeoman Brewery down a dusty road and the guys were super nice as we drank some of their Vienna style ale and also a Pale Ale. Both were fine brews (I loved the pale ale actually) and the hospitality and beer talk is well worth the trip to this very unpretentious little building with some tanks and such. They have a nice shaded area with picnic tables to swap beer tales at while you sample so you could probably take a sammich with you and be all set. We grabbed a shirt on the way out even. A sexy shirt at that, once I cut the sleeves off and tie it up in the front it will be I mean.






An hour later, give or take, we hit Springfield. Brian from Piney River Brewing had told us about a bar called Farmer's Gastropub in the downtown area where we might find plenty of Mother's Brewing Company products, and he was right on. They're another Springfield brewery who just got rolling a few months ago but are already turning out some damn fine beers from what I tasted. Their Towhead Blonde, Sandi Wheat, Lil' Helper IPA and Three Blind Mice Brown are all readily available there and the food was very nice as well. A highly recommended stop on your road to buzzville.


Then it was just a few blocks walk over to Springfield Brewing Company, who make Mueller Ales and Lagers. It's a very nice older 2-story bar with a lot of woodwork and a pleasant atmosphere. The bartender was pretty beer knowledgeable and I got a small sampler of each of 6 beers (Lager, Pale Ale, Black Sheep Dry Stout, German Hefe, American Wheat and Little Piney Copper Ale). I'll say that while none of them blew my pants off or anything (and who doesn't want their pants blown off) none of them were bad and all were fresh and clean. I thought the copper ale and the dry stout stood out the most among them and I would revisit those 2 with no worries, but I wouldn't smack a fool for giving me any of the other 4. They do bottle so you can find their product around town at grocery stores and such.







So now I'll shut-up and just say that combined with Piney River Brewing, this made for a helluva beer day. Lastly, a small shout out to S & S Package Liquor in Houston who had a really good selection of beer (including Missouri brews from Tin Mill Brewery) and let you build your own six-packs. Go there on your trip to Piney River, cause I know you're going there.

Upcoming brewery visits: Jackalope Brewing, Yazoo Brewing and Jubilee Brewing... all in Nashville. You see, that's because I'm going to Nashville. For reals. Takin' my little yeoman with me. Until then keep your whistles wet and your pants dry.

Show Me Your Hops!

So yesterday I posted a quick bit about our short Missouri road trip and promised some photos and tales so here ya go.

Our first destination was Piney River Brewing Co. somewhere near the big city of Bucyrus, Missouri. And by "big city" I really mean the middle of the Ozarks, which sort of feels like the middle of nowhere as we wound around gravel roads, through creeks and farmlands and I swear I heard banjos playing. Of course that feels a bit like home to me as I grew up in a small Arkansas town so I actually love that sort of area. It's a beautiful part of the country and a welcome escape from the city I live in.

Finally, just when I was feeling like my Garmin was screwing with me, we came we came upon this sign:



And I got excited like a kid pulling up to an amusement park. Those dusty roads can sure make a guy parched. Notice the sign says closed but the guy running the show and I had been in contact and he assured me he'd let us check it out if we were to swing by. True to his word, we met the owner, Brian Durham, in person finally and he showed us around a bit and let us sample some of the product.

Brian and his wife Joleen started making beer on their kitchen stove and last year decided to revive a 70-year old barn made from red and white oak trees harvested off the farm, and Piney River Brewing Company was born. Now it's called the "BARn" (see what they did there?) and it's being turned into one of the most unique breweries I believe I've seen. Check this out:



Seriously, this is one of the coolest things I've seen ever in the beer world. He took us on a tour and the upstairs is one huge 2,000 square foot room that's going to be made into a tasting room/bar/party room and I can't wait to drive back up and check it out when it's finished. It overlooks a big pasture and pond and is just a gorgeous view. You can actually see cows and such, and they're adding a big deck (Brian and his wife, not the cows) that faces the sunset. Here's the unfinished upstairs with my lovely girlfriend (and beer lover) posing with Brian:



Now technically I believe Piney River would be considered a nanobrewery with some taps to fill pint glasses and growlers but don't expect it to be that way for long. They've got a canning line coming and a couple of big tanks, a 15-barrel fermentation vessel and a 15-barrel bright tank, set-up inside and looking ready to rock. You can see them behind Brian and I in this picture:



Meeting and hanging out with the (co)brewery/owner/brains was great. He's about as nice of a guy as you can find I'd guess and he loves his beer and is extremely knowledgeable, not just about beer and brewing but about how to market it and keep fresh ideas flowing. What I really like is you can just tell he's excited about beer and loves to talk about it and share what he knows. It's infectious to just be chatting with him over a cold pint.

I loved the set-up, the names of the beers, the labels and all the great plans for the future they have. But now that I've told you a bit about that side of it, the biggest and most important thing about a brewery to me is the beer, and we got to try the Missouri Mule IPA and Ozark Firefly Wheat. All of this stuff above would be for naught if the beer sucked... but have no fear. Both of these were solid representations of the styles. I didn't have enough of the wheat to say too much (liked what I tried though and my girlfriend loved it... and she knows her wheats) but I had enough of the IPA to know that it was quite tasty and super easy-to-drink. I believe he told me it was 7.5% ABV also, but you wouldn't know it from a pint. It's smooth and very sessionable. I think he said he used Glacier and Centennial hops, both American varieties. The IBU on it is 70 if I remember correctly, and it packs a very nice punch. I wish I'd have taken a couple of growlers with me to fill with this very nice IPA. Delicious. I look forward to trying all these other brews (click on the photo to blow it up if you can't read the names):



Piney River Brewing Company may be a bit off the beaten path, or a bit out of the way, but it's definitely worth finding and visiting. They're open on Saturdays usually and if you follow their Facebook profile they'll let you know when I'm sure. We're going back on a Saturday this fall when the leaves start to turn colors we think and I'll be sure to take several of my growlers. Hopefully we'll get to meet Brian's better half this trip too. In the meantime, I'll just have to wear my sweet hat, shirt and use my pint glasses as often and remember the excellent visit we had.



I'll post a bit about Little Yeoman and Springfield Brewing Company visits soon.

The Road Trip Part 1

Well, maybe it wasn't a long road trip but damn it sure was a good one. I went home for 4th of July an then we decided to drive across the bottom of Missouri and ended up in Springfield, then get up and drive home this morning. We worked in a whole lot in that short time I must say. I've got some great pics and words that I'll post later but here's some quick stats:

3 - breweries visited (Piney River, Old Yeoman, Springfield Brewing Company (Mueller))
1 - new hat... Piney River
2 - new pint glasses... Piney River
2 - new t-shirts... Piney River and Old Yeoman
11 - new beers sampled

I needed plenty of cans for some upcoming lake trips and I believe I took care of that. Beers collected...

12 pack O'Fallon Wheach (wheat/peach) in cans
12 pack Leinenkugel Summer sampler in cans (Summer Shandi, Honey Weiss, Sunset Wheat, Berry Weiss)
12 pack Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat in cans
4 pack Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat in cans
4 pack Tallgrass IPA in cans
4 pack Tallgrass Buffalo Sweat in cans

Tin Mill 4 pack sampler (Midnight Whistle Dopplebock, First Street Wheat, Skyscraper Pilsner, Red Caboose Amber)
1 - 22 oz Southern Tier Imperial Iniquity Black IPA
1 - 22 oz Weston Brew Labs No. 1 IPA
1 - 22 oz Weston Brew Labs Prototype Stout
singles... Avery New World Porter, TommyKnocker Hop Strike Black IPA, Buffalo Bill's Alimony Ale, Sierra Nevada Beer Camp #16 (Juniper Black Ale), Sierra Nevada Beer Camp #8 (California Common), Sierra Nevada Beer Camp #37 (Weizenbock), O'Fallon Wild Ass Amber, Stevens Point 2012 Black Ale, Wider Brothers Pitch Black IPA, TommyKnocker Imperial Nut Brown Ale, Great Divide Wild Raspberry Ale, Bell's Consecrator Dopplebock, Lakefront Big Easy Imperial Bock

Whew! That's how it's done my friends. My taste bud's potential happiness makes up for the anger of my checking account right now. I've got a good month or 2 of tasting and rating ahead of me. And it begins....

right now.

Bam! You Just Might Learn Something

Every once in a great while I try to take a break from all the useless info I post, be it rock videos or movies or UFC chatter or some other such nonsense, and post about something really important. A public service if you will, not just the normal waste of time junk. If I can help just one person to better their life, then maybe this ole blog is worth it all.

So here is For The Win host Mike Capes demonstrating how to open a beer bottle with not one...not two...not three... but 12 random household items. Plus, how to open a beer with another beer. Folks, this stuff is EXTREMELY useful, so pay attention. Bam!

How To Open A Beer With... Anything:




For more great advice, visit http://www.MadeMan.com.