The most resilient bottle in the collection

With the second bottle review on The Wall, I've decided to go with one of the bottles most likely to be removed.  Originally, Shock Top was grouped with Miller Chill, Point Special and all the other beers that never had a shot at making it into our Top 100.  After all, it's just Anheuser-Busch's version of Blue Moon.

From

We started to reconsider the decision when a Bud Light ad came on.  We have a rule in the441 that you can't drink after an Anheuser-Busch ad until you see an ad from any other beer company.  What we wound up doing was unintentionally boosting the value of Anheuser-Busch products.  I had a few bottles of Shock Top left from the six pack of it that I drank and we decided that since they're the same company, an ad from Anheuser-Busch can't be used as a reason not to drink Michelob.  Plus, if it were made by a different company I probably wouldn't consider Shock Top to be all that bad.

Someday, I intend to start homebrewing.  One of the expenses that comes with homebrewing is purchasing bottles.  While most products by MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch have twist-off tops, Shock Top has pry-offs.  I threw the bottle of Shock Top into a sink full of hot water and peeled the label right off.  Not only does the stuff allow us to maneuver around our drinking game rules, but it allows me to save money down the road!  Way to go Shock Top!  For that, we wound up cutting a beer that would probably be a lot higher on the list to keep it.

While Shock Top the beer is nothing exceptional, it's surprisingly useful.  I'd probably give the beer about a C, but factoring in everything it gets a B- from me.

Have you had Shock Top? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments!

Beer of (NFC) Champions

My first experience with Blonde Doppelbock occurred when The Wall was in its infant stages.  I saw a couple in the fridge at my parents' house, and figured that I'd grab one and try it when I got to Milwaukee.  My dad told me that "it was one of his favorites, but it would probably be too strong for me."  He couldn't have been more wrong.

The first beer I truly loved

This past Halloween I went to State Street and made a stop at Opa, a little bar that's a favorite of a few friends of mine in Madison.  After that visit, I have my own reasons for loving the place: Capital Blonde Doppelbock for four dollars.  Up to that point, I hadn't really had beers that I felt tasted good enough that I would drink them even if they were non-alcoholic.  Capital Blonde changed that.  Getting it for 4 dollars (the same price that they sell Blue Moon for) was a ridiculous steal by bar pricing standards.  When I've seen Blonde in other bars it's typically between 5 and 6 dollars.

The bottle I got that night is the one on display on our wall (although according to some bartenders, taking the empty bottle might've been against the law because of open bottle laws? Oops)

After that, I had my dad keep an eye out for it at Woodman's (where Capital is far cheaper than any other beer.  He bought a six pack, along with what he thought was his house beer: Hacker Pschorr Weisse.  Unfortunately, it turns out that it was actually Hacker Pschorr's Oktoberfest.  He swapped four of the Blondes for Oktoberfests, thinking I wouldn't notice.  If he weren't helping me get through college debt-free, that might have been an unforgivable offense.

My favorite memory with Blonde came Sunday shortly after the NFC Championship Game.  Those two bottles that my dad was kind enough not to switch out for beer he thought sucked? I've been saving them since I got them in November.  I wanted to keep them for a special occasion, and I can't think of many days coming up that would be better to drink one of the bottles than in the aftermath of the NFC Championship.

All in all, Capital Blonde is my favorite beer.  I give it an A+

Next up? The Super Bowl.  Then (with a little luck) Bockfest 2011

Have you had Blonde Doppelbock? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments!

Ok...so we started working on The Wall, but...

Well, Day 2 of reorganizing the wall wasn't quite as productive as Day 1.  We took pictures of maybe 12 or 15 beers and then the NFC Championship Game started.  After that, we were glued to the TV until Sam Shields (who is only about a year older than us--weird) put the final nail in the Bears' coffin.  After that we never got started working because, well...

The Packers are going to the Super Bowl!

All I can say is that celebratory Capital Blonde Doppelbock was heavenly.  Seriously.  I don't think I've ever enjoyed a beer as much as I enjoyed that one.  Hopefully I get to enjoy the other one I've stashed in my mini-fridge even more in two weeks.

Phin saw my reaction while he was drinking a He'Brew (don't get me wrong, he liked it) and decided that he wanted that feeling too.  As a result, we went to Whole Foods market.  He got a Chimay Red and I figured since we were there I'd grab a good beer too.  I went with an Orval.

Add in a couple of sandwiches from Toppers and we were both feeling pretty great. 

Holy shit, they're going to the Super Bowl!

All Wisconsin Beer Day

the441 will be celebrating All Wisconsin Beer Day in honor of today's NFC title game.

Here's what we've got in the fridge for the occasion:

Capital Blonde Doppelbock
Sprecher Winter Brew
Capital Winter Skal
O'so Hopdinger
Miller Lite
Sprecher Black Bavarian
O'so Rusy Red
Furthermore Hopperbolic
Capital Supper Club
Capital Weizen Doppelbock
Miller High Life (if it gets to that point, but it probably won't)

Go Packers!

Day 1 of reorganizing is in the books

Phin and I got back to the apartment yesterday.  That meant that it was time to (try to) reorganize the wall and add in the bottles we collected over break.

When you consider that I had an accident that made my break last longer than others and that my dad and I decided that a couple beers a night was healthier than taking narcotics, it goes without saying that I came back with a pretty nice haul.  Phin and I decided that if we're going to do this, we might as well do it right: we've been cataloging and taking pictures of every bottle in the collection before we placed them either under the sink or onto The Wall. 

It's taken longer than we expected.  Through one whole day of work, we managed to pick out the bottles that we had no desire to put on display, pick out the ones that were definitely going on display, and take pictures and document them all.  Right before going to bed, we picked out most of the "bubble" bottles that are going to make the cut until we find some better stuff. 

Today, we have to document and take pictures of the "bubble" bottles that we didn't record yesterday.  considering there are about 70 of them, the work is really not all that close to being done.

After that, you can expect to start seeing profiles of all the bottles in our collection, as well as a better looking blog that has pictures and a background photo that actually makes sense.  With all three roommates back in the apartment, you can also expect to see the other two start blogging sometime in the near future (...I hope).

Our Capital Brewery (non) tour

Today Phin and I headed over to Middleton, Wisconsin to tour Capital Brewery.

Unfortunately, today was their staff Christmas party so we couldn't do it.  Fortunately, the gift shop was still open.

Their prices are absurd.  I paid a dollar for a pint glass, while Phin got a large Weitzen glass for $2.30 and a snifter for $8.99 (plus a 20% off coupon).

Buy Capital six packs right now.  They're giving away tickets for free brewery tours and the gift shop coupons in most packs.

And on an unrelated note, today's the day!  When we get to Milwaukee, Phin and I will be adding 50-some beers to The Wall.  Not to mention, we'll have our cameras and the blog will be looking a whole lot nicer.


What are some of the best deals you've gotten on your beer related merchandise? Let us know in the comments!

Three Sheets has found a home

So it appears I'm a little late to the party...

Three Sheets will begin airing on Spike in February.

I first heard about Three Shets from a Beer Thread on an NBA message board.  After that, I started watching it on Hulu.  So far, I'm through the first three seasons of the show.  I like it; the host is entertaining and the content is interesting.  Unfortunately, all of the beer except for some featured in the Belgian episode and a few brewpub exlusives scattered throughout the episodes are pretty blah.  Zane, you travel to the other side of the world and drink a Corona? 

I understand that a reason for this is that the show is meant to expose people to beers they probably haven't heard of that are readily available in the U.S., but if you're going to expose people to the world of beer beyond Bud and MillerCoors you can do a hell of a lot better than Baltika 7, Birra Moretti and Stella Artois.

On top of that, it seems that Drinking Made Easy--a show about American bars, breweries and distilleries that Lampley started while Three Sheets was in limbo--is furthering the idea that America has bad beer.  In my hometown of Milwaukee, Sprecher and Lakefront are the top micros.  Drinking Made Easy--Milwaukee focused on the original breweries in the city: Pabst, Blatz, Schlitz...basically the cheap stuff that gives Milwaukee's micro scene a bad name.

With that said, I'm excited to have Three Sheets back on the air after Brew Masters seems to be on its last legs.

New additions to The Wall--1/10 to 1/16

Here are the new additions to the collection this week:

Ale Asylum
Mercy

Czechvar

Dogfish Head
60 Minute IPA

Flying Dog
Doggie Style

Magic Hat
Winter Seasonal

New Belgium
Abbey

Paulaner
Salvator Doppelbock

Sam Adams
Noble Pils

Sorry for the lack of posts last week, but I did a little bit more "collecting" than writing.

It's not really my typical style, but I went for a couple international beers this week.  The Czechvar was an obvious must if you've read the blog, but the Paulaner came from my second trip to Woodman's.

Have you had one of this week's additions to the wall? Anything we need to find? Let us know in the comment.

Review: Homeport Blonde, Scuttlebutt Brewery

I've had this review sitting in my drafts for awhile, so I figure I'll post it tonight.

Scuttlebutt has some interesting aesthetic qualities.  The name is different, as is the logo: a mermaid fixed over the letter S. It's a pretty cool bottle, I like it a lot.

I was surprised by what I found when I poured the beer.  "Homeport Blonde" and the low alcohol content suggest a lighter beer than this to me.  The beer has a dark golden color.  When I smelled it I got some citrus and floral smells. 

Like I expected based on the smell, it's stronger tasting than I expected for a beer that's only 4.6% alcohol by volume.  Still, it doesn't have a ton of flavor and is a pretty small step up from macro beers.

If you're looking for a drinkable beer, this is it.  Additionally, it's got a pretty cool bottle that will look good on the wall if it winds up making the cut.  With that said there's not a ton of flavor, so I would give it a C.

Have you had Homeport Blonde? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments.

Additional Info:
Homeport Blonde on Scuttlebutt Website
Homeport Blonde on Beer Advocate
Homeport Blonde on Rate Beer

The hunt for Capital Bockfest tickets

Every year at the end of February, Capital Brewery in Madison, Wisconsin hosts Bockfest.  It's a tribute to Blonde Doppelbock, Capital's award-winning limited release brew that is produced in the fall and just in time for spring.

Seeing as this will (hopefully) be my first Bock Fest, I'll let the people at Capital describe it for you:

"Bockfest features beer, food, music, "catching" fish, and our annual Running of the Blondes 1k race. Only 2,500 very lucky folks will attend Bockfest 2011. Wanna a cold one?"

This year, Bockfest will be taking place on Saturday, February 26.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that it is free, there are a limited number of tickets available for it.  Capital has provided five ways that you can get them.

5 ways to get your FREE Bockfest ticket:

Way #1: Get a room.
Book your hotel room for Bockfest 2011 weekend at one of the hotels listed below and you'll receive two complimentary tickets to Bockfest 2011.

• 
  608-831-6970
  Go To Website
• 
  Go To Website
• 
  608-831-2000
  Go To Website
• 
  608-664-5888
  Go To Website

Way #2: We're giving away 500 Bockfest tickets.

• WHEN: Wednesday, January 26th at 6:00pm
• WHAT: Bockfest Ticket Release Party
• WHERE: Capital Brewery Warehouse
         7734 Terrace Ave.
         Middleton, WI
• HEY: Limit 2 per person

Way #3:
If you show up for the Bockfest Ticket Release Party — but do not receive free tickets — you will be automatically entered into our Last Chance Drawing held Wednesday, February 9th.
Way #4:
Stay tuned to Triple MMM 105.5FM in Madison for Bockfest ticket giveaways.
Way #5:
We just might be crazy enough to give away Bockfest tickets on Facebook. So click here and follow us starting now.

UGH! As somebody who is from Madison, goes to school in Milwaukee and thinks that 105.5 sucks, I'm pretty pissed.  I'm relying completely on getting tickets through Facebook.

If you live in Madison and can bring several friends to the ticket release party, PLEASE let us know in the comments! (you don't need to sign up for Blogger to comment, just select "Name/URL")

For additional info about Blonde Doppelbock, Capital Brewery or Bockfest click here

A reaction to Mississippi's beer laws

Last week, a fellow beer blogger took the time to figure out the cost effectiveness of drinking higher alcohol content beers versus drinking lighter macro beers.

I wasn't too surprised to read her conclusion: "macro" beers with lower alcohol content are generally more cost effective for those who are drinking solely to get drunk.

So firstly, the idea that drinking extremely high ABV beers are somehow a cheaper way toget drunk is false. It doesn’t matter what size bottles you buy, the cost per oz of alcohol is clearly in the favor of the cheaper macro brews – who have gotten that price point based on volume. In the first example above, there isn’t a huge price differential in craft and micro (7 cents?) so I also decided to look further.

 She goes on to discuss the percentage of each purchase (a 12 pack of cans for the macro beers, a 6 pack of bottles for the lower alcohol craft beers and 2 bombers--22.9 ounce bottles--of "imperial" or higher alcohol content beer) that you would consume to consume a certain amount of alcohol.  This is where the low alcohol stuff comes out on top.  You would need to consume the entire purchase of craft beer or all but 0.9 ounces of the bombers, but you would still have a can of the macro beer remaining.

In other words, people who want to get drunk for cheap are probably not buying high alcohol content beer, and Mississippi is likely not accomplishing its goal by banning high alcohol content beers.  On top of that, other types of alcohol that have a higher alcohol content are unaffected by the laws. 

I'm in college, and believe it or not I've been to a few parties.  To this point, the only times I've seen craft beer, or even Blue Moon, at a "party" was at small gatherings that happened on weeknights.  When people want to get drunk they get Keystone, not Dogfish Head.

Bottom line: Mississippi is stupid.

Finding the REAL Budweiser

Awhile back, the441 voted unanimously to make finding Budweiser Budvar (known in the states as Czechvar) a priority, despite our rules that technically made anything "Budweiser" illegal. 

Budweiser Budvar is a Czech beer that began brewing in 1785, and began exporting it's beer to the United States in 1871.  Five years later, Anheuser-Busch began producing the Budweiser that Americans know today.  Shortly after that, the beer hating assholes wonderful people at  Anheuser-Busch trademarked the name in the United States and Canada.  Budweiser Budvar was forced to sell its product as Czechvar, and international naming rights battles began.

Hey, any enemy of Anheuser-Busch is a friend of ours.

I was at Woodman's West today and I found that they carry six packs of Czechvar.  I didn't have money to buy it because I was at Woodman's to buy food (I've been stealing my dad's Maibocks all week and my beer supply is still pretty well stocked, so I didn't need to buy anything) but they had quite a few six packs.  I don't think finding it will be very hard to do.

Next order of business? Finding a REAL bottle of Budweiser Budvar.  Who's up for a European vacation?

If that's not an option, we might try to find this little gem.

Have you had Czechvar? Got a beer for us to hunt for? Let us know in the comments!

New additions to The Wall--1/3 to 1/9

Here are the beers that have been added to the list this week:

Capital Brewery

Maibock

Goose Island

Demolition

 

Lakefront Brewery

Big Easy Imperial Maibock

This week, I pretty much stuck to a few beers I know I like.

Expect a crazy list once Phin gets back from his band's concert in Chicago.  I can't wait to get back to Milwaukee.  We're going to be adding at least 30 beers to the wall.

Have you tried any of the beers we're adding to The Wall this week? Let us know what you thought about them in the comments!

The Glassware 2--Great Dane Imperial Pint Glass

I'm pretty excited about the second installment of The Glassware.  Last night my dad and I went to The Great Dane Pub in Madison, Wisconsin.  I picked up a new glass:

A Great Dane Imperial Pint Glass

The Great Dane is a brewpub that makes its own beer, but I saw that they also have drinks like Strongbow.  Last night I had a Crop Circle Wheat.  It was a decent wheat beer (duh)--Belgian White.  It had a weird initial flavor

While it won't do me a ton of good to have a 20 ounce glass while I'm working on collecting bottles that have 12 ounces of beer in them, I'm eventually going to wind up buying growlers so I'll definitely have a purpose for it someday.

In the meantime, it'll be in a rotation with the three Milwaukee Panther glasses that I've been alternating while I'm home in Madison.

Phin and I are planning a couple Madison brewery tours before the end of the month, and it's pretty much standard practice to give away a pint glass at the tour, so expect a few more posts about The Glassware.

Let us know about your go-to glasses in the comments!

Brew Masters Cancelled

Well, so much for my attempted pimping of Brew Masters.

According to the Twitterverse, it looks like the Discovery Channel's show Brew Masters won't be returning for another season.

The Beer & Whiskey Brothers blog is the source of the commotion.

Well this just sucks.  I have it on good authority that Sam Calagione’s Brew Masters has been pulled from the air after just a handful of episodes.  It was good to see craft beer on TV while it lasted I guess. 
While the show was well-received by beer geeks, the general public was lukewarm about it.  I’m sure the fact that Brew Masters was moved from Sunday to Monday to Thursday didn’t help.
I’ve shared my thoughts about the things the show had working against it, but Don and I still hoped that it would be a hit, so it would pave the way for copycat shows, perhaps ones starring feuding brothers (one of whom is quite witty and handsome).
At any rate, we raise our glasses to Sam and the folks at Dogfish Head for giving it their best shot.  We hope that Dogfish Head will continue to prosper because of the attention the show brought them – they are a wonderful gateway into the universe of good beer.
I know that the craft beer world is better off for having Brew Masters on TV, I only wish the ride were much, much longer.
CLARIFICATION: There’s some conflicting info out there, so I want to clarify what we’re saying here.  There will be no new episodes shot, but Discovery may air the sixth and final episode this spring (it’s the “additional content” they say they’re working on) and possible rerun the series.  But there will be no new shows and for all intents and purposes the show is done. Which again is a huge bummer.

Changing the schedule multiple times didn't help the show.  I sometimes had trouble finding it when it was on and I was actively looking for it.

Oh well, I guess more shows about pawnshops, truck drivers and Alaska can fill it's spot and I can go back to ignoring the channel except for the occasional episode of MythBusters.

Beer Review: The Big O, O'so Brewing Company

Tonight I'm having the Big O by O'so Brewing Company.  

The bottle is pretty standard for O'so.  O'so labels are all different colored versions of the same basic label.  "O'SO BREWING COMPANY" over and over in the background with adjectives about the beer on it.  Decent, but nothing special

The beer had a sweet, orange aroma.  There's a little bit of a malty touch to it, but no real hop flavor.  That held true with the taste too.  The beer is pretty light and sweet with a hint of malt.  While that had a lot of people on Beer Advocate complaining, I don't think that this style of beer is supposed to be hoppy.  It's supposed to be a light, drinkable beer.

In my opinion, it's more of a summer/early fall beer.  Drinking it now is a little odd, but overall it's not bad.

If you're a fan of Blue Moon, this is a beer you should test out.  It's not a style that's for everybody, but it's a definite step up from the more well known "Micro".  While it's technically a Blonde Ale, I'm going to group it with Belgian Whites that it shares flavor with.  Personally, I liked John's Celebration Ale and Avery White Rascal better, but it's not bad.

I give it a C+.  It's definitely worth a try if you're a fan of Blue Moon and that style of beer, but it probably won't be a regular purchase.

Have you had The Big O? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments!

Additional Info:
The Big O on O'so
The Big O on Beer Advocate
The Big O on Rate Beer

Adventures with Beer: Woodman's West

For the second installment of Adventures with Beer, I'd like to talk about Woodman's West in Madison, Wisconsin. Woodman's is great for its ridiculous commercials, low prices, and EXCELLENT beer selection.

Woodman's has a huge selection of microbrews.  My camera cord is at my apartment in Milwaukee for the time being, but when I get a chance I'll upload a picture of the wall that's dedicated entirely to 12 oz. bottles of micros (or 16 oz. in Sprecher's case).  Across from this wall there's a section that has some larger sized bottles of micros, and a section of imports.

The selection for mixed six packs at Woodman's varies greatly from week to week.  Sometimes it's tough to find six bottles worth buying.  Other days (like today), not even the fact that The Wall excludes over 100 different types of beer from consideration can keep me from finding six I'm excited to try.

Today's haul included the following:

The Big O--O'so Brewing
Hopdinger--O'so
Doggie Style Pale Ale--Flying Dog
Hopalicious--Ale Asylum
Wisconsin Bock--New Glarus
Big Easy Imperial Maibock--Lakefront

I've had a couple of these before (Hopalicious and Wisconsin Bock), but we need the bottles on the wall so I jumped at the chance to pick them up.  Flying dog is a fun company that makes good beer, so that was a pretty easy decision.  I've been looking for The Big O for awhile, and Hopdinger sounds like it'll be a solid selection.  Finally, I live right down the street from Lakefront in Milwaukee and I tend to really like lighter bocks.  Plus, nothing says spring seasonal like 3 inches of fresh snow.

On one trip to the store, I really lucked out--somehow a few bottles of Raison D'Etre by Dogfish Head found their way into the mixed six selection.  A few weeks later I found out that those bottles were supposed to be $7.99.  Heh...whoops.

Woodman's West is Wisconsin's Mecca of beer; if you live in the state and love beer, you need to make at least one pilgrimage there in your life. 

Have you been to Woodman's West? Agree with my take? (That was a rhetorical question, of course you agree) Let us know in the comments!

A New Rule

I was planning on writing a review for Alpha King, but that's going to be delayed about 12 hours.  In the meantime, we've had a successful majority vote on a new rule

 If a single beer is purchased and consumed and the buyer thinks it's too awful to review, one of the other members of the house needs to purchase and try it out.  We'll eventually have profiles for all of the beers we've tried, and we don't want to have a faulty review because of a beer that was past its prime.

With that said: Phin and Derek, one of you is going to have to drink a Pilsner Urquell. For all I know, it's the style: I've had lots of beers similar to it that tasted like what I can only imagine using weed as a tea would taste like, but this one went too far.  The only beer I suffered nearly as much to finish was a Point Special, and I (unfortunately) purchased a 6-pack, so I know that stuff just sucks.

Hopefully it was either a bad beer or one of you likes the style better than me.

The Wall's Contents (mostly)

Here's a list of (almost) everything we have on The Wall.  The first tally was done awhile ago, and without moving a lot of the beers, so there's a lot of stuff that hasn't been added to the list.  When we all come back to Milwaukee following the Holiday break we'll have at least 30 new beers, so pretty much everything is going to have to come off the wall.  

The list is currently ordered by brand, rather than brewery.  We may change that in the future so all the BMC stuff is grouped together.

Ale Asylum

Ambergeddon

Mercy

Anchor Steam

Anchor Steam

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Asahi

Avery Brewing
White Rascal

Baltika

No. 3

No. 4

No. 5

No. 6

No. 7

No. 8

Bell’s

Amber Ale

Batch 9000

Two Hearted Ale

Big Sky

Moose Drool

Black Boss

Black Toad

Blue Moon

Blue Moon Belgian White

Harvest Moon

Honey Moon

Pale Moon

Bohemia Classica

Breckenridge

Avalanche Amber Ale

Capital

Autumnal Fire

Blonde Doppelbock

Capital Pilsner

Island Wheat

Oktoberfest

Supper Club

Tett Doppelbock

Weitzen Doppelbock

Winter Skal

Wisconsin Amber

Carlsberg

Coor’s

Light

Dead Guy Ale

Rogue

Dos Equis

Amber

Lager Especial

Franziskaner

Great Lakes Brewing Co.

Holy Moses White Ale

Hacker-Pschorr

Oktoberfest

Weisse

Heineken

Hoegaarden

Leinenkugel’s

Classic Amber

Honey Weiss

Original

Summer Shandy

Sunset Wheat

Red Lager

Michelob

Shiner Bock

Ultra

Miller

Genuine Draft

Lite

Chill

Millstream Brewing

John’s Celebration White Ale

Shockolade Bock

Milwaukee Brewing Company

Louie’s Demise

Solomon Juneau Pale Ale

Mike's Hard Lemonade (it's technically beer...haha)

New Belgium

Fat Tire

Hoptoberfest

Sunshine

Newcastle

New Glarus

Spotted Cow

Stone Soup

Red Stripe

Samuel Adams

Blackberry Witbier

Boston Lager

Oktoberfest

Summer Ale

Winter Lager

San Miguel

Sendik’s

White Shark Wheat

Sigmund Snowpeck’s

Southern Tier

Phin and Matt’s Extraordinary Ale

Sprecher

Classic Amber

Hefe Weisse

Irish Stout

Oktoberfest

Winter Brew

           

Stella Artois

Are we missing your favorite? Have an issue with Mike's being on the list? Let us know in the comments!

Review: Bitches Brew, Dogfish Head

Today for the Packers final regular season game, co-author Phin was thoughtful enough to bring over a big bottle of Bitches Brew by Dogfish Head.  Bitches Brew is a limited release (it's been brewed twice), and it was the subject of the first episode of Brew Masters.  Brew Masters is a show on the Discovery channel about Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware and a lot of the really interesting things they do with beer.  If you like beer, you need to check it out.  I realize that most people who read this blog are probably well aware of the show, but I figure you'll be willing to put up with a few sentences for the sake spreading the knowledge. 

After the first episode of the show, the three of us at the 441 agreed that we needed to get this beer if we had a chance.  Fortunately, Phin found it while he was looking through bottles at Woodmans Supermarket in Madison, Wisconsin. 

The beer poured a very dark brown color.  Very little light makes it through the glass, with a red tint around the edges of the glass.  It formed a very thick brown head--about halfway through my second glass I let it sit for awhile, and the head that formed from hitting my glass against a glass coaster stayed for a good 20 minutes. 

The beer hits your tongue with the same coffee/chocolatey taste that it gives off in the aroma, but there's a hint of the honey flavor.  The aftertaste is the strong coffee flavor.  It's very syrupy going down, but still has a good deal of drinkability considering the style and alcohol content.

This is a damn good beer, easily the best I've reviewed so far.  It's not exactly my style of beer, but I still like it a lot.  The price tag makes it so that I probably won't be getting it again anytime soon, but if it were available at a bargain I'd buy it in a heartbeat, and it's something that I think any craft beer lover should give a chance at least once.  I give it an A-.

Have you had Bitches Brew? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments.

Additional Info:
Dogfish Head Profile
Bitches Brew on Beer Advocate
Bitches Brew on Rate Beer

Adventures with beer: Brennan's Market

Some of the best beer adventures come when you're not even looking for the stuff.

Last week my dad came home from Brennan's Food Market in Madison, Wisconsin. He bought  a couple bricks of cheese, a pound of potato salad and a beer called Schockolade Bock made by Millstream Brewing in Amana, Iowa.  I asked him about it, since I haven't seen many (or maybe any) beers from Iowa when I've looked at the selection at grocery stores in Milwaukee.

He told me that when he was looking at the beer there, they had a lot of different stuff.  Naturally, I had to take a look.  We hopped in the car and headed over.  I came home with a mixed 6 pack of little known craft brews.  Included in the mixed 6 were 2 beers that I'm planning on buying pretty regularly when I get a chance.  The best part of Brennan's is that all of their interesting mixed six packs are just $7.99.

Here's a list of the stuff I got in my mixed six pack:

John's Generations White Ale by Millstream Brewing Co. (a very good white ale flavored with orange peel and coriander--think Blue Moon, but a lot better)
Avery Brewing's White Rascal (another that I really liked, a white ale made with orange peel and coriander, but completely different tasting than the standard "white ale" flavor)
Beltian White Ale by Harvest Moon (a good white ale, once again in the style of Blue Moon.  Worth a try)
Tommyknocker's Jack Whacker Wheat Ale (a good white ale flavored with lemongrass)
Wild Fly Ale by Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co. (a decent Amber Ale...not sure why it's called a Pale Ale on Beer Advocate)
Scuttlebutt Homeport Blonde (a Blonde Ale, very drinkable...take that however you want, bu)

While the selection isn't the best it's certainly interesting, and some of the lesser known brews are damn good.  If you get a chance, I'd recommend you check out Brennan's.

Additional info:
Brennan's homepage...though there's nothing about the beer.

Let us know about your favorite Hidden Beer Spots in the comments!