Folks, I’m trying a new post format I’m calling “Quick Draw.” This will be a post where I choose a beer based on nothing in particular and describe it very simply with the parameters of aroma, appearance, flavor, and mouthfeel, and then draw what I taste. I won’t include any information about the style or its history–this segment will be focused more on drawing what I’ve experienced in a … Continue reading Quick Draw: Black Tuna IIPA
The first time I heard of a radler, I was a 20-year-old college student studying abroad, on a weekend trip to Munich, Germany. My friends and I had purchased tickets to Mike’s Bike Tour, a bicycle tour on which we traveled a total of 4 miles over the course of 4 hours. What took so long, you might wonder? In between brief bouts of historical tidbit-sharing, … Continue reading Radlers: The Beer Without a Style
Here in Chicagoland, Spring has sprung, (at least it tried to spring and then sprang back and will maybe re-spring next week) so I thought it was about time to switch to a lighter style more appropriate for the coming season. And why not start with the style whose name literally means “light” in German: Munich Helles. In German, “hell” describes something light in color, and “helles” … Continue reading Style Study: Munich Helles
Last week, my friend Kim Leshinski, fellow graphic designer and creator of local craft beverage blog Hail to the Ale, kicked off a monthly guest spot on Lakeshore Beverage’s beer blog. Kim has partnered with the Chicago distribution company to share the history, design, and purpose of beer glassware and has begun doing so with the creation of this amazing infographic: I encourage you to read Kim’s full article on the Lakeshore Beverage blog. It will … Continue reading Hail to the Ale’s Beer Glass Guide
Russian Imperial Stouts are currently classified as style 13F within the BJCP guidelines, and are described as being “brewed to high gravity and hopping level in England for export to the Baltic States and Russia.” The popular belief is that the likes of Catherine the Great loved this style, but after I went down an Internet rabbit hole in search of more information on this idea, … Continue reading Style Study: Russian Imperial Stout
What beer are you enjoying today? Cheers! Continue reading Happy Nat’l Beer Day!
Foreign extra stouts were hard to find, at least they were for me. I was able to secure a Guinness Extra Stout fairly easily around St. Patrick’s Day, but the others were more of a challenge. Since this style is currently subdivided into “tropical” and “export,” I’d hoped to get my hands on both varieties for comparison, but none of the stores in my area … Continue reading Style Study: Foreign Extra Stout
In honor of my second-favorite holiday (Halloween is first), Matt and I brewed a traditional dry Irish stout that we named “Lucky Ewe.” (Haaaaahahah, see what we did there?!) In the past we’ve brewed a few iterations of an Irish red ale, but decided to switch it up this year to try something darker and roastier. Lucky Ewe came out with some really nice coffee and … Continue reading Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
For this style study, I actually skipped forward by one to try American Stouts (currently style number 13E as classified by the 2008 BJCP Guidelines) simply because I had a handful of them ready to go and didn’t have any Foreign Export (13D) styles in my fridge. I have to admit, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to illustrating what I thought would be another pile of coffee beans … Continue reading Style Study: American Stout
Oatmeal in beer!? Yes. You can drink beer for breakfast and tell your boss you had some oatmeal and you would not be lying! Woo hoo! Oatmeal Stouts are currently classified as style number 13C, which means I’m halfway through tasting all six types of stouts, as classified by the 2008 BJCP guidelines! You can see my post on Dry Stouts here and the one I did … Continue reading Style Study: Oatmeal Stout
Worth A Thousand Beers 