May 30, 2025 • 44 mins
What happens when craft beer enthusiasts dive into mystery brews from across America? This episode takes you on a flavorful journey as Mike and his brother Brian, an experienced homebrewer, sample eight diverse beers from a Beer of the Month Club subscription.
The brothers work their way through a carefully arranged tasting flight, starting with lighter options like the Hardywood Pils—a traditional German-style lager brewed according to the historic Reinheitsgebot purity law of 1516. Their expert commentary reveals how this centuries-old brewing approach continues to create clean, refreshing beers worthy of modern appreciation.
As they progress through the lineup, unexpected favorites emerge. The Sierra Blanca Outlaw Lager from New Mexico surprises with its rich caramel profile and balanced finish, while certain offerings from Bent River Brewery prompt thought-provoking discussions about flavor expectations versus reality. When breweries claim exotic hop flavors like strawberry and honeydew melon that don't materialize in the glass, it raises important questions about marketing integrity in craft beer.
The tasting culminates with River Horse's Oatmeal Milk Stout, unanimously crowned the winner with its velvety texture and complex malt character. Throughout the episode, Mike and Brian share valuable insights about brewing techniques, beer styles, and the challenges of introducing craft beer to newcomers—including hilarious stories of Coors Light drinkers finding even mild craft offerings "too strong."
Whether you're a seasoned beer enthusiast or just beginning to explore beyond mainstream options, this episode offers a perfect blend of education and entertainment. Listen in, and you might discover your next favorite beer—or at least learn which flavors to be skeptical about when reading those ambitious beer descriptions!
Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northbeerguy@gmail.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Grab a beer and pull up a chair.
Welcome to the Northwoods BeerGuy Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hey, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the
Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast.
This is Mike, the NorthwoodsBeer Guy, and once again this
week we are joined by my brother, the mad scientist brewer Brian
.
How's it going?
Hey, everybody Doing well?
Yes, I am Good.
So this week he brought another.
How many do we got?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
We got eight this time Eight more beers that were
in the Beer of the Month Club.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So, looking at these, there's not most of them I've
never even heard of, no, I thinkthe first one I've had before,
but I can't guarantee it.
So we're going to try them out,though, and, and if you
remember right last, well thenwe got three, I should say, from
bent river, which I may havetasted one I don't remember what
they had on tap, but I don'tremember those ones for sure.
(01:17):
So I may have had them I'm notpositive but the other ones I
haven't even heard of.
So we're going to give them awhirl and see what happens.
So what have you been up tosince last week or the last time
you were on the podcast?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Not a whole lot, just trying to get caught up on
stuff.
There you go.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
That's pretty much all you can do.
So awesome, well, cool, well,hey, we might as well just.
We got eight of them.
We might as well just jumpright into it, jump right into
it.
So the first one we got is in alittle shorty can and this is
Hardywood Pills.
It's a German-style lager and Ilooked on untapped and again,
we don't have information cardson them or whatever.
(01:54):
So I looked on there andthey've got a fairly decent
length of a paragraph here.
It says crisp, clean anduncomparably quaffable,
quaffable.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Is that like a technical term or what?
I'm not sure what quaffable is.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Okay, hardywood Pils sparkles a brilliant shade of
gold, with rich cloud white head, handcrafted with only the
finest Europeanan pilsner maltand german noble hops pills, is
patiently conditioned for weeksin our lagering tanks, maturing
(02:32):
into a beer that refreshes thepalate and satisfies the soul,
brewed in strict accordance withthe how do you say that?
The ryan ryan?
Speaker 1 (02:44):
hartsebolt that thing Does it have the year on?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
there?
No, isn't it like 14 and somecrazy thing?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
That's their purity law in Germany, the German
purity law?
Yep.
This classic Pilsner is thequintessential lager beer in its
purest form.
Tad drier than its bohemiancousin, with a signature snappy,
herbal spice of Bavarianhalerto hops to balance delicate
maltiness.
This Pils offers a nod to oldworld tradition by the
(03:17):
innovative brewers at HardywoodProst Boy they're talking it up.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Oh yeah, the Reinheitserbult beer purity law.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Isn't it from like 1457 or some crazy thing like
that?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
1516.
Oh, I was off.
The Reinheitserbult law was putinto effect.
Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, Iwas 60 years off.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
That is the German purity law saying that beer is
supposed to be made out of water, malt, yeast and hops yep, like
I say, we had talked about thatwhen toby was on the podcast
one time about that.
That law, and it's like youthink about it it's pretty much
stayed the same since 14 or 15,16 or whatever you said there's
(04:00):
a lot of adjuncts and differentstuff that's added into them.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
But it is, yes, it is still.
You start with those four mainingredients, and it's pretty
crazy that it's been that wayfor 500 years Exactly.
Well, if it ain't broke, don'tfix it.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
That's what I say.
So this one it's not bad.
I mean, you look at it, it's alittle cloudier than like your
American Pilsners.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yes, you know, so I'm guessing it's not filtered.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
But taste-wise, aroma-wise, first off, I mean it
smells like a Pilsner.
Yes, Taste-wise, this would bea lawnmower beer.
Yeah, it's not a bad beer, butI mean, it has some flavor to it
.
I give it that you know.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
No, I give them credit.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
They did a good job.
But uh, and it's in a littleshorty yeah bottle.
That's kind of weird.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I'm guessing it's a 12 ounce bottle, but it's a 12
ounce bottle, but it's onlyabout six inches tall.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, it's a little shorty one shorter and thicker,
I guess, is what you would saywe got two of those in this uh
tasting it's kind of funny.
Yeah it's.
Uh.
Where did we say?
Oh, it's out of rich Virginia,5.2%, 35 IBUs.
Remember the last time we triedthese they were mostly out west
, yep.
So it'll be interesting to seeif most of these now are in the
(05:14):
eastern half of the US or what.
But once again, brian had gotthem from a Beer of the Month
club and so we're getting themwhirled here.
See what they taste like.
So this one is not bad.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
I don't mind it.
No, it's a good beer.
It's nice and clean.
No bad off flavors.
It's not overcarbonated yeah,not like a couple of those we
had the last time.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yes, they were definitely, you could tell were
overcarbonated.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
You open the bottle and it starts foaming up right
away.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, we had a couple of them like that that were a
little sketch, but yeah, thisone is decent, I mean.
As far as so score wise, youknow our normal scoring system
zero to five stars and by tenthof a point I'm going to give
this like a two, eight, two,seven, two, eight, I go two,
eight.
I think it's better thanaverage.
Good crisp flavor to it.
Not a huge amount of flavor,but it's still there's.
(06:04):
There is flavor.
It's more than some of the onesthat we had last time.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
I'm going to go 2.7.
Okay, just a little bit below.
It is a really good beer, goodlawnmower beer, like you said.
I'm not a big fan of Pilsners,right, but this is way better
than some of the other oneswe've had.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
I was going to say especially and I hate to say it
this way, but especially out ofthe Beer of the Month Club some
of the Pilsners we've had out ofthere before have been a little
bit, you know, but this one isnot bad, you know, this would be
a decent one if it's hot out,ice cold.
Yep, you know, I think it wouldbe a good one.
Well, I guess we can jump rightinto the second one we got, and
this is by Sierra BlancaBrewing Company, outlaw Lager.
(06:50):
It's a California Common, iswhat Untappd says?
Okay, 5.2%, 34 IBUs.
It's out of Moriarty, newMexico, and it says this unique
lager balances a rich caramelmalt flavor with a smooth, hot
(07:11):
finish that keeps the palatecrisp, reddish amber in color.
This is a complex CaliforniaCommon beer style with a great
malt-hot balance.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
So most of the time, that's the one I have not made
is a California Common.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
When I think of California Common, I always
think of, like Anchor Brewing.
Yes, you know, that's kind ofthe one that everybody knows
about.
Yep, you know.
So you know.
You said you haven't made aCalifornia.
Do you know what makes it?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Some of them, some of them, they do natural
fermentation on them Right.
I think that's what Anchor didyes In these great big tubs or
whatever, so it was just open tothe air for the fermentation,
and myself I don't like thatRight.
Oh yeah, there's too good of achance of getting infected with
(07:59):
something.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
See, that's what I was going to say.
It seems like that leads tochances of bad things getting
into there.
You know you got to sift outthe bugs if they get in your
beer or whatever.
You know.
Yep, and maybe it's because youknow, in Minnesota, wisconsin,
iowa, those type of upperMidwest, you have more bugs.
Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Right, but I just think that I've never been to
California, so maybe they don'thave bugs out there, but we have
a lot of them here.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yeah, I've only been there once, and it wasn't around
a brewery that was doing that,so I don't know.
It just seems like you'reopening yourself up to more
things to make it go bad.
So it definitely is like anamber-type color.
That's not bad, no.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
I mean that's got a pretty decent.
It's a pretty malty beer, yes,pretty sweet caramel flavors, uh
.
So they've used probably a lotof caramel.
I'm gonna guess 80 or 120 malt.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah, they don't say what they use for them, but you
definitely get that caramellykind of a flavor to it.
Yeah, I, I like that.
I think's pretty good.
That's not a bad beer at all.
No, no, I would drink a bottleof this and it is a lager.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yes, which is surprising, I mean, a lot of
times the lagers have a lightergrain bill, so they're all
lighter in color, you know.
But no this is more like yourdarker amber style beer, just
that it's lager.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
That's actually pretty darn good.
It's pretty good.
It's surprising, honestly, whenI think back to the ones that
we tried before those six.
This one is right up there withthe top ones at this point.
Yes and yeah, this is good.
I like this, and I don'texactly think we'll ever get any
more, probably not From NewMexico.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
I don't think we'll get down there, not until I
rejoin the beer club again.
Yeah, no, this is good.
I think I had paused it until,I thought, last October, but it
never restarted, so maybe it'sthis October.
It could be this October, whoknows.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Well, like I said you , you know, I mean it is fun.
It's really cool because younever know what you're going to
get.
Get beers from all over thecountry, but it is kind of
expensive?
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Yeah it is.
It's like $42 a 12 pack for it.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Which, again, you and I have both spent more on
single beers than we have.
You do on that, but it still iskind of like Well it's more the
inconvenience of when they tellyou they're going to deliver it
.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
You have to make sure someone's at your house to sign
for it, see, and I don't, whichluckily I got lucky where mom
and dad could go up there andget it.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Right, and you know, like for me, being in Wisconsin,
a lot of these places can'tship to Wisconsin for whatever
reason, and I'm sure it's thatstupid three-tier crap that
Wisconsin has going so that youcan't get beer shipped here.
You know, so a lot of timesit's just like, oh, I'd like to
get that, and then you go, oh,we can't ship to.
Wisconsin, you know.
So I don't know, we'll have towait and see.
(11:02):
But so I don't know, we'll haveto wait and see.
But yeah, I mean, this is good,I mean as far as score-wise.
What do you think on the OutlawLager?
Speaker 3 (11:10):
I would probably do like a 2.9.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
I'm going to do the same.
Like I said, it is definitelyfor me it's pushing that 3, but
it's still a 2.9.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
But this is really good.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I definitely think this is a good flavor of a beer,
especially out of the Beer ofthe Month Club.
Yes, and I know we talked aboutit last time.
We don't know how thesebreweries choose these.
You know, sometimes I justwonder if it's stuff they got
stuck with.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
We can't sell this so we're going to send it over
here, but this one is good.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
This one is very good , so I think they did a good job
.
So the next three we got areall by bent river and I just
laid these out by the style ofbeer.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Right, we can look at them.
I think the first one is awheat.
Yes, yep, so we'll go with thatone, and then we can.
If we want to mix up the paleales, we can switch them up with
something else, sure yep, butlike I said, you know this bent
river.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
I've been to a couple times because that's when
Callie played basketball atBradley.
Yep, their conferencetournament was in Moline.
We'd go there and we'd stophere before the game started,
you know.
So we'd hit that and it's acool place.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I just laid them out like this everyone.
So it's basically going by beerstyle, right?
Because anyone who who drinksipas you know, if you drink a
bunch of ipas and then you go toa pilsner, you can't taste
nothing, right?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
so yeah, and my brother told me one time before,
if you feel a cold coming on,you're supposed to drink six
ipas.
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Yep, and that's supposed to get rid of the
tannins in the hops.
Help fight off a cold, so Ididn't know.
And I'm going to believe itbecause it came from a beer
magazine.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Well, like I said, I don't know if it's that or, by
the time you're done with six ofthem, that you've got a buzz
going and you really don't carethat you're sick.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Well, either or I have found, if I have a really
bad cold and if anyone out thereknows where you can get
120-minute IPA from Dogfish.
Head and you got a bad chest.
Cold drink a bottle of the120-minute IPA and it burns it
right out.
I've done it many times.
(13:21):
It's an amazing beer, oh sure,and it'll fight off your cold.
See Now in 120 minutes that'slike their top, and one right
that's 120 IBUs, I think, and17% alcohol.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Well, because they have I don't know they've got 90
minutes.
They've got 60 minutes, 90minute, 90 and 120 right?
Speaker 3 (13:46):
yes, the 120, if you can find it.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Where I used to get it, it was 43.99 a four pack I
was gonna say memory, the onetime we got it at eddie's and it
was like 40 bucks for a fourpack.
You know and uh, and I know,ladies and gentlemen, that is
expensive and and such, but inthe grand scheme of things for a
craft beer, Well, a craft beer.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
You're talking about 17% alcohol.
Yeah, so you only have one.
Yeah, you buy four, you putthem in your fridge and you save
them.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
And like.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
I said cost-wise.
I mean we've spent more on youknow, of course, your bourbon
counties are typically more thanthat.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Yeah, they're anywhere from $20 to $75 a piece
for a bourbon county.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
And of course, you and I and Larry and Jim, we each
kicked in and we bought abottle of Utopia and that was
$200 a bottle, and which thatone is 29%, but it's kind of on
the verge of not being beer yeah, you know but it was good, you
know, and I I enjoyed it.
So yeah, so let's see.
(14:53):
So this one.
Getting back to this, the bentriver american wheat ale uh, did
we have nope on untapped?
We have no description, so Idon't care for that one.
Well, looking at it, I had itat the brewery.
So I'm going to see what Ithink now compared to what.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
I said then Nope, yeah, it's kind of really harsh.
That is tart, yes, and it'scrazy, because, wow, for an
American wheat, it should not bethat tart.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I don't necessarily even taste the wheat in it, it
is just sour.
Yes, here's what I'm going totell you.
When we had it at the brewery,fresh out of the tap, I gave it
a 2.1.
This bottle here is nowherenear A 2.1.
No, I'm just going to say rightnow I'm thinking a 1.5.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Exactly what I was going to say I'm going a 1.5
because this is.
It's hard to even drink ataster glass.
I don't think I even am.
I don't know.
I probably will, because wealways say you can drink a
taster glass.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Yeah, you got to at least drink the taster glass.
It's only so much, but, boy, Ithink when we're done that one
we might not try again, becausethat is just harsh, that's real
bad.
And hopefully for them it'sjust that bottle, you know what
I mean.
But, like I said, I gave it a2.1 at the brewery so I'll
guarantee Jim was probably lowerthan that.
(16:21):
Yep, but boy out of the bottle.
Yeah, that's a disappointment.
Yeah, I don't.
Like I said, most of the timewhen you get a wheat beer you
can taste that wheat flavor.
You know what I mean.
You know it's a wheat this onenope, it's like.
I hope that it.
It went bad in the bottle, likeI said, but I just I don't know
it Not good, yeah, I would notrecommend this.
(16:47):
New people coming into craftbeer.
No.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
I'm ready to my glass after that one.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Here.
I'll give you mine too.
I'd rather not have anyremnants of that one in there.
For the next one Wow, that isjust rough, all right, well, man
, I hope the next ones aren'tthe same.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Well, the next ones are IPAs.
They're IPAs or pale ales.
I think that's a pale ale.
I think that one.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Okay, let's see.
Okay, I have not had this, sothis is from Bent River as well.
This is their Daytrotter PaleHorse Pale Ale, 5.2%, 30 IBUs,
and they do have a descriptionon here.
Oh, there we go.
All right, it says.
For over a decade, day Trotterhas shined a spotlight on
(17:36):
up-and-coming brands oh, I'msorry, up-and-coming bands by
recording their work and givingthem a stage to showcase their
talents, their talents, here inthe Quad Cities.
When Bent River Brewing Companyagreed to brew a beer with Day
Trotter, they wanted to shine aspotlight on some lesser-known
hop varieties.
(17:56):
The Pale Horse is brewed withAzaca and Hull Melon Hops,
h-u-l-l.
Melon hops, which lends flavorsof strawberry and honeydew
melon to this refreshing, easydrinking pale ale.
So let's see if we getstrawberry or honeydew melon.
(18:18):
I mean, it smells like an ipa.
You know what I'm saying lookslike an ipa.
I get no melon or strawberry no,I don't taste that at all
either.
It's got kind of a.
It has a different flavor.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna say thatfor sure.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
It's a little over carbonated, yes, which could be
just because of how long I'vehad it right.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Yeah, that could affect the flavor a little bit,
but I don't get strawberry.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
No, I don't get honeydew melon.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
No, it does, like you said, that overcarbonate.
It has that fizzy when youdrink it.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yeah, and that really messes with the flavor of it.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Right.
So, man, I don't know what tothink of this one.
You know what I mean.
It's not terrible.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
I'm hoping.
When it's not like that, it'sbetter Right.
When it's not like that, it'sbetter right.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
But even with the, with the, with the hops they
called out, I just don't thinkyou would get strawberry or
melon, okay, because, yeah, youknow you and I had talked about
that earlier, about you know youhear these hot varieties and I
I can tell you, you know some.
Yes, you taste like grapefruit,a oh, it's like a tropical
flavor.
I really have never hadtropical flavor and I can safely
(19:30):
say I've never.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Or the one that tastes like stone fruit.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
What the hell does stone fruit?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
taste like?
That is exactly what Jim and Italk about.
What does stone fruit tastelike?
Which?
Speaker 3 (19:40):
I should learn, since I'm a brewer.
I need to go and I need to buya stone fruit somewhere and see
what it tastes like, but likethis.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Have you ever had a hop that tastes like strawberry?
Speaker 3 (19:51):
No, I've never had a beer that tastes I never have
From the hops.
The only beers that I have hadthat tastes like strawberry is
because I put strawberry pureein it.
Right, that's what I'm thinking, you know so it's, and it right
, that's what I'm thinking, youknow so it's, and it's it.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Well in the same with honeydew melon because we know
what you know honeydew melon.
You know what a honeydew melontastes like and I've never had
one and I've never had that it's.
It's either grapefruit, lemonzest or pine.
That's kind of the threeflavors for the most part, yeah
you know.
So I don't know when they, whenbreweries, call out, oh it's
going to taste like strawberryor whatever, unless you put some
kind of strawberry adjunct inthere.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Yeah, no, you're not going to get it Right.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
That's what I was thinking anyway, and boy, I'm
getting burpy from that.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, it's over carbonated.
It is over carbonated, yeah, soit's like whew.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
That's why I moved it back, so that one can get
dumped out at the end.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Score-wise, I'm going up 2.0 myself.
I think it's just.
What they're calling out iswhat Jim has said the whole time
.
If it's on the label, it shouldbe.
If it's on the can.
It should be in the can.
I get no strawberry.
I get no honeydew melon no so I, I'm, I got it.
(21:08):
I'm gonna give him a twobecause it's just it's.
It is over carbonated, whichwill affect the flavor a little
bit, but I don't think that iswhat.
No it didn't affect it enough totake the flavors away, right so
I'm gonna do the same 2.0 okayagain, not a knock on them
because, like I said, I've beento the brewery a couple times
and they've got a really coolplace.
They have some really goodbeers and it could be like you
(21:30):
said.
It's been sitting for a whilebut I've never tasted a hop that
made a beer taste likestrawberry or honeydew melon.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Yep, yep, yep.
The only time I get a lot ofthem, flavors like that is what
I put into it, right.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Yeah, I don't know.
So the first four we're halfwaythrough Brian, Halfway through
this extravaganza, and we're at50-50 so far.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Yeah, right now we're 50-50 going.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
eh, I'm like darn it.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
I should have tried these first, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Well, because you got , when you get these, these, do
you get like two bottles eachthree bottles.
Ah, three bottles, threebottles, okay, so you have some
of these still sitting.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Two breweries, two beers, three bottles each.
Okay, yeah, so I got more ofthese at my.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I got two more of each of these.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
I think what you need to do is have a little beer
tasting oh you have other peopleoh yeah, it'll be on my deck
this summer when we're doing abig cookout.
There you go.
You want a good beer?
You got to drink one of thesefirst.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
I mean, we're doing samplings.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Yeah, samplings, samplings, that's what it is,
all right.
Well, now we're on to our thirdand final Bent River, and this
is their undercurrent IPA, and Ihave had this one before and at
the brewery.
It was pretty good.
This is what I'll tell youright now.
(22:52):
Let's see.
So the description on this oneis a lot shorter.
This is copper color, sweetcitrus fruits up front, almost
floral, moderate and delicious,bitter finish.
Done.
You know, that's it, okay.
So, like I said, this one theydid have on tap at the brewery
(23:13):
when we were there and we'll seehow it compares to what I think
of it.
Compared to when we were there,that one definitely has a
little more flavor to it.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Yes, it's a little more balanced.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Yeah, this is not bad .
No, it's a little more balanced.
Yeah, this is not bad, no itdoesn't say what the hops they
used.
Not on the description, itdidn't.
It is 6.8% ABV and 68 IBUs.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
It seemed a little higher on the malt.
So, yeah 6.8%, it is.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
They did say you know that it has malt, you know Well
, actually, no, they didn'tCopper color sweet citrus fruits
up front, almost floral,moderate and delicious bitter
finish.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
This is about the same color as my Mosaic IPA.
Okay, but a little less of thehop flavoring, but it's a little
less hop.
Compared to yours, yours hasmore of a hop flavor to it yeah,
my mosaic ipa is, which I onlyuse mosaic hops in it.
Okay, but we we put a lot ofmosaic hops in it, sure, but the
(24:19):
nice part is that that's one ofthem beers that even the
non-IPA drinkers will drink,really.
Yeah, there's not a lot of biteand not a lot of bitterness to
it.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Okay, because I was going to say, with a lot of hops
you'd think there'd be a lotmore.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
You would think it would be, but it's with all the
Mosaic hops.
It does have more of the citrusflavor.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
And where people are like, oh, I don't like IPAs,
we're flavor okay.
And where people are like, oh,I don't like ipas, we're like,
okay, hold on, try these two,because I have that one on right
now.
And then I have a black we callblack helmet ipa which, uh,
anyone that's in the beer world,um, it's a cascadian black ale,
okay, but the owners wanted tocall it a black ipa because it's
(25:02):
like 60 ibus.
Oh, gotcha with that one, theroasted malts mask a lot of the
hop bitterness.
Okay, so even the non-ipalovers will drink it because,
because of the coffee flavor init interesting, okay?
Speaker 2 (25:18):
so yeah, because we've talked about it before
where hops are definitely verypolarizing.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Yes, and they scare people away, yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Yeah, because you know, when you get a lot of
people that aren't very craftbeer savvy together and you give
them, you know, even bring outjust an APA or a regular pale
ale, you know there's peoplethat think that's just, oh my
gosh, that's terrible.
You know it's so hoppy.
They don't even know what theflavor is.
They just instantly are turnedoff Because all they drink are
(25:49):
your big brands that have noflavor.
Yep, so yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Which I even had one guy one time in there when I was
bartending that night.
My lawnmower beer that I servedon there is called Dalmatian
Ale.
It's a very mild ale,moderately hopped, it's not real
bitter.
But I had a Coors Light drinkertry it and, oh my God, I
(26:17):
thought he was going to fall onthe floor.
Oh God, it's so strong and I'mlike what it's like.
This is the mildest beer I'veever made wow, yeah I'm like,
okay, whatever well, that I'msure you remember.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
you know, a number of episodes ago, when I was
talking about people that driveyou to drink, that would be,
yeah, you know, when I wastalking about the person that
goes to a brewer, craft brewery,and ask what, what's the
closest thing you have to this?
Yes, you know, and it's likethe water we made it out of, you
know, and it's like oh, we getthat a fair amount where people
(26:53):
ask what do we have?
Speaker 3 (26:53):
that's like bush light, Exactly yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
And we're like I'm sorry, why do you go to a
brewery and ask for bush light?
Yeah, why would you go to abrewery and ask for that?
You know it.
Why would you go to a breweryand ask for that?
You know it makes no sense tome at all.
So, yeah, yeah, those guys.
Well, if you remember from mystory when suzy and I were at
industry brewing in peoria andthat those two old guys came in
and they were giving thebartender a hard time and she's
(27:23):
like sir, you're at a craft brew, we brew our own beer.
You don't have miller lighthair and she looked like dug
around in this little dormfridge, looking you know little
thing, and found one.
I got this, okay, you know, andthen they they left after they
were done and I was just likeyou know we always really, you
know it's disrespectful to thebrewer oh yeah, to go to a
(27:46):
brewery and not at least try oneof their beers.
Yep, well, you know, and it'sfunny I think I told you about
it where the one time Jim had itwas an Oktoberfest party at his
house and we decided, oh, we'regoing to do a beer tasting.
So, oh, because all thesepeople are coming, oh, the one
cousin of this friend of ours,oh, he's this huge craft beer
(28:07):
guy.
And all these other people, oh,they want to be in on it.
Okay, so we did Oktoberfest, wedid pumpkin and then wild card.
Okay, so the guy that I wastold was this huge craft beer
guy, we got done with theOktoberfest category and he went
in the house and passed out,basically, and the pumpkin beers
(28:28):
went, okay, you know.
But then we went to wild cardand jim had a goose island
bourbon county stout, brought itout and there was like three of
the people that ran it, lookedat it, dumped it in the dump
bucket and said, oh, it'sterrible, zero.
And somebody put miller lightin the wild card.
(28:49):
Oh, five, that's a five, allthese people you know, and it's
like I told jim.
I said well, we can never dothis again.
Yep, I'm like you can't do abeer tasting with people that
have no idea with non-craft beerdrinkers Correct what they're
doing, because it was so skewed.
You know what I mean.
And we're just like are youkidding me?
(29:10):
And it was funny because Jay,who's been at a number of our
tastings I think he participatedlast September.
It was the first time he everactually participated Because he
was never a craft beer guy, buthe's slowly getting into it and
this more he does it.
You know he likes to hang outwith us, but he ended up winning
it, right, and so whoever wongot a.
(29:33):
He had a.
Jim somehow got a big beer steinfrom Sam Adam.
Well, I ended up trading him asweatshirt for it because he's
like, well, I don't need it, youknow.
But the funny thing was he wasjust like, you know, guys, I
thought the funniest thing was,you know, jim breaks out that
goose island and that thing islike 20 bucks a bottle and how
(29:54):
many people just dumped it outwithout even tasting it and I'm
like, yeah, you know, it wasjust rough, you know, and we've
never done that since becauseit's like, no, you know, you
can't when, especially when it'swhen people won't have an open
mind about a, you know, tryingdifferent beers.
Yeah, you know, and I thinkthat's the the part of the craft
(30:15):
beer industry that I reallyenjoy is the vast majority of
the people.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
They're willing to try anything just get a beer and
try it and we see something newand we're like oh yes, we're
gonna try one.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Yeah, you know, and that's I mean, how many times
have we been?
Well, I do it all the time.
I know you do it all the time.
You're at the beer shop,wherever, whatever liquor store
you're at you're like oh, I'venever even heard of that I'm
gonna try it, you know and itmight be horrible, it might be
great, but we're gonna try it,you know, and I wish more people
would do that where they'rewilling to, to be a little more
(30:48):
open, yep you know, to newthings like that anytime we go
to a new brewery, we get asample of one of everything they
make on tap.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Oh yeah, because, yeah, we want to see what
they're doing, how it is and andif it's something I need to
look into.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Yep, well, you know, it's funny because, like when
Susie and I went to Hawaii whenCallie was playing in that
tournament, you know last yearand the same thing, we went to
Hawaii, to Maui Brewing, and Igot flights to every beer they
had we tried Actually, we triedthe normal stuff.
We did a podcast of that thenight before we had their I
(31:26):
can't remember what they calledit, but it was like their other
series and I ended up trying allof those that night.
Then, when we went to WaikikiBrewing, they had 14 beers on
tap and we tried them all.
I bought two flights and Ithink they gave me the last four
because we told them what wewere doing and all that and they
were like here you go, and weended up.
We haven't done a podcast on it, I still have my notes on it
(31:50):
and we should.
But again, I'll give them ashout-out because their beers
were really good.
They had some amazing ones.
They had a Habanero beer thatwas honestly really good and, uh
, they had a couple other onesthat were extremely good and
then they they did have.
They had one in my notes thatsaid uh, smelled and tastes like
dirty socks, so that one wasn'tvery good, but but overall
(32:13):
their beers were great, the foodwas amazing, and that's the one
thing I told the, the waitressthat we had.
I said you know, I can count onone hand the number of
breweries that I had been towhere the beer is great and the
food is great, because usuallyit's one or the other Right or
neither you know, but yeah,theirs was, they were very good,
so all right.
(32:34):
So we let's get back to theundercurrent IPA.
What are you thinking on ascore for that one?
Speaker 3 (32:40):
I'm probably.
Hmm, I think I'm going to do a2.5.
2.5 on it?
Yeah, Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
I was thinking a little bit higher, but I was
going to go like a 2.7, 2.8.
I'll go 2.7.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
Again, I do kind of like the maltiness of it, but it
seems like the ipa side of itcould be a little bit.
Yeah, and then on mine it was alittle charged again, right,
yeah, you know.
So that's.
That's probably a skewing myscore a little bit.
It's still a good beer.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
It just, it just right, it could have been better
.
It's missing something orwhatever.
All right, so the next one thatwe have oh, we got a little bit
of write-up.
This is by upland brewingcompany and they are out of
bloomington, indiana.
This is their dragonfly ipa.
Oh, I'm seeing some foam.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
It started.
Yeah Well, it's not too badwhen you pour it.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
So this is a 6.7% ABV , 65 IBUs, and it says Our
Dragonfly India Pale Ale isbrewed with four hop additions
to create a powerful hop profile.
A solid malt base, however,tempers the bitter American hops
, giving Dragonfly a balance notoften found in this style.
(34:04):
The end product is awell-balanced malty beer with
crisp taste of hops and anexceptionally floral nose.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
I wish they would have listed the hops.
Yeah, they didn't say what theywere, because there's nothing
called American hops.
Okay, yeah, it just have listedthe hops.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Yeah, they didn't say what they were, because there's
nothing called American hops.
Okay, yeah, it just said four.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
American hops.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
There are American strains of hops Right.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
So I wish they would have said what they were.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
So you wonder, did they just put four hops in the
barrel?
Speaker 3 (34:35):
Yeah, it's not very hoppy at all.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
No of the three IPAs.
We had four.
No three.
Yep, this is hop-wise.
And it's what did I say?
They said it was 65.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
IBAs.
It does not seem like it, butthat could be the grain Bill,
because it is pretty malty, yeah, and that will affect your hop
flavor.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Okay, but it seems to me this is like the bitter hop
flavor.
This is the lowest of the three.
Yes, I would say Yep.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
So that's why I wish they would have said which hops
Was it Willamette and MountainHood and Northern Brewer, which
are all milder hops, okay, orwhat.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
But I still was worried about someone
replicating it, so they didn'twant to.
Well, I'm sorry, but every beerout there has a clone recipe
out there available to anybody,for the most part, yeah anymore.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Yep, I mean it's not bad.
No, no, I don't mind it, it's agood beer.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Honestly, this might be my top of the three IPAs.
Yep, but, like I said, you wishthey would have been a little
more, because they build it upto be like this big hop flavor
and it's not that.
Nope, you know, and again, I'mnot ripping on it for that at
all, but again, just times youwish they would.
(36:04):
Like you said, if they listedhere's the hops that were used,
you know, then you'd have had abetter idea that, yes, this is
what we should expect, but, yeah, it's I.
I don't mind it, I, I like Isaid the three IPAs we've had so
far, I think this is the bestof the three, Absolutely yeah.
Yeah.
Color-wise, it has a little bitof a golden color.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
It's a little opaque you can't see through it.
It's a multi-beer.
When you drink it it's got alittle sweetness to it which,
like I said, that will affecthow hoppy it is, Right?
Speaker 2 (36:36):
But yeah, it's not bad.
Score-wise, what are youthinking, so, of the IPAs?
You gave a 2 and a 2.5.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
I'm going to do a 2.7 .
Okay, well, is that all right?
I have a 2.7.
Well, you have a tie, that'sokay.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
I'll do a 2.8.
How about that?
Speaker 1 (36:57):
I'll allow a tie.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
That's not a big deal to me, but if Jim were here,
he'd have been like whoa, hewould have threw down right
there he would have said whoa,oh man, now that I look at my
scores, I'm kind of paintingmyself in a corner, because if
you don't want to do a tie, I'vealready used a 2.8 and a 2.9,
and I had a 2.8 and a 2.9, and Ihad a 2.7 and a 2.
It's not a 3 to me.
(37:23):
No, it's not a 3 beer.
Well, I'm going to cheat.
The undercurrent is going to goto a 2.6, and this will go to
2.7.
Just to keep it balanced there.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
Yeah, because it's not a 3 beer, but it's not a bad
beer either.
No, it's just.
I'd drink one of these on a hotday.
We're just really picky on ourbeer scores.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
You know, and like Jim said, he just wants there
not to be scores, because thatway people can kind of gauge.
This one was a little bitbetter than this one and I give
him credit.
That is a good reason you knowto do that.
So I I give him credit.
But, like I said, it's alwaysfunny because like hey, you
can't have a tie you know.
So I was like okay so even andhe's had to change some scores
(38:11):
before because of that becauseyou're like, oh, this one was
that one was better than thisone and I got to change this, or
this is better than that, butit's not that, you know.
So we have two beers left andthese are going to be the two
darker ones that we have forthis group, and it's we got
another little shorty bottle,yep, so let's see what we got
(38:33):
here it's a dark lager from uhhardy wood.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Hardy wood hard Brewing.
An American dark lager.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Oh, here we go.
Okay, 5% ABV.
Oh, I've got a little write-uphere on untapped.
If you enjoy Richmond'sauthentic craft lager in
Hardywood oh, we had an issue,ladies and gentlemen, it was
(39:02):
foaming up.
Let me start over.
If you enjoy Richmond'sauthentic craft lager in
Hardywood, richmond Lager, youcan't miss Hardywood Richmond
Dark Lager this winter season.
Richmond Dark Lager providesthe same refreshing and crisp
experience with an ever soslight, sweet, dark malt
(39:23):
characteristic.
Is it still foaming?
Speaker 3 (39:25):
Yep, I'll try and see if it.
Speaker 2 (39:28):
We haven't dumped it, I think, just try it.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
It seems like it's so foamy that all you get is a
foam.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Yeah, it just foams up instantly.
Speaker 3 (39:36):
Which, it sucks.
The last one I had actually wasdecent.
That's all right, though.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
yeah, the last time when we went to kelly's parents
house, I brought one of each ofthese yeah and the pilsner
foamed all up and this onedidn't all right, so we're down
to our last one, and this one isriver horse oatmeal milk stout
by river horse brewing companyand they're out of ewing, new
(40:10):
jersey, and it's 6.7 abv and itsays a velvety smooth stout
brewed with oats and milk sugarthat create a creamy finish over
a dark malt base, 6.7% ABV,available November through
(40:31):
February.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
Well, they talked it up and it sounds amazing, so
hopefully it lives up.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Oatmeal milk stout.
We had talked about a very goodone last time, you know, in the
Buffalo Sweat, Because that'sisn't that an?
Speaker 3 (40:44):
oatmeal Yep, it's an oatmeal cream stout, cream stout
.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
What's the difference between a cream stout and a
milk stout?
They're the same.
Same, okay, just different.
See the oatmeal cream stoutshave flaked oats in it where the
milk stout doesn't, but theyboth have powdered lactose in
them.
This isn't bad it's.
It's not buffalo sweat, butit's.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
No, it's not bad.
No, it's not a bad beer.
No, they talked it up a lot.
Yes, so I was a little um, Iwas expecting a little bit more
by what.
The write-up was right, but itis a good beer yeah, and again,
we are partial to the stouts andthings like that, but it's not
bad no, but like I said, it'snot.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
You know, we've definitely had some other ones
that are that are better better,but I this isn't bad.
I mean of of this group, thisone here I can see going into it
like a three.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
Yes, I'd say a three also.
Definitely I mean for a beer.
I got in the mail Right that westill don't know how they pick
them and all that.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
No, I don't mind this .
I'd say this is the best of thegroups.
Speaker 3 (41:54):
Yes, I would say this is the best of the ones we did
on this session.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
Yep, I would agree.
It definitely has that maltyflavor.
Speaker 3 (42:06):
Yep, the coffee notes , of course you know from the
roasted grains.
Yep, and you get that it'ssmooth from your lactose, I say
your milk stock.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
They usually have that smooth mouth feel.
This definitely has that.
Yeah, you know.
Yeah, I think this is 3.0.
Uh, this is the best one thatwe had in this group yeah, I
agree and after that I I wouldgo after this one.
I'd say you know, the milk saltwas number one, the outlaw
lager was number two.
Yes, yeah, I think we're inagreement there that that was,
(42:31):
uh, actually your dragonfly ipa.
You rated it higher right, yeah,okay, but I think that was neck
and neck yeah, yeah, they were,that was my third, you know, so
it was yeah, they were closebut yeah, I think these are
definitely, definitely good and,like I said, you know same
thing we said last time.
You know these are beers weother than the bent river, you
(42:55):
know yep we probably never would.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
Oh god, no them.
Then you didn't know they werearound.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
So, yeah, they're really good and, yeah, thank you
so much for bringing them and,you know, deciding we're going
to try them here and do apodcast on them.
So, like I said, they weredefinitely good.
I think all of these, for themost part, a new person could
try them.
You know a couple of the IPAs.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
Well, that wheat, ale I wouldn't have recommended to
a new person, because that no,that wasn't good.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
It didn't taste like an actual wheat ale, so I guess
you know.
Thanks, brian, thank you somuch for bringing them and being
a part of the podcast and yeah,I'm sure we'll have you back
real soon and uh, all that.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank youfor listening.
Hopefully, you know, some ofthese beers might be in your
area, maybe that you know, oryou could be like us where you
(43:50):
you never would see them unlessyou had the beer of the month
club or something like that, andif you're looking for something
really fun to get in the mail,yeah, definitely look into the
Craft Beer of the Month Club.
Speaker 3 (44:00):
There you go.
Like I said, it's likeChristmas every month, it's the
gift that keeps on giving,exactly Because, if you wouldn't
have got them.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
We wouldn't have had them right now.
That's right, awesome, well,cool, well, hey, ladies and
gentlemen, thank you forlistening and, like we always
say, we hope your campfire arealways cold.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
See ya, thank you for listening to the Northwoods
Beer Guy podcast.
If you have a question, acomment or a beer you'd like us
to review, please feel free tosend us a message at
northwoodsbeerguy at gmailcom.
You can also find us onFacebook, twitter and Instagram.
If you're on untapped, look upNorthwoods Beer Guy and send a
friend request.
Until next week, I hope allyour campfires are warm and all
(44:39):
your beers cold.
Grab a beer and pull up a chair.
Welcome to the Northwoods BeerGuy Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hey, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the
Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast.
This is Mike, the NorthwoodsBeer Guy, and once again this
week we are joined by my brother, the mad scientist brewer Brian
.
How's it going?
Hey, everybody Doing well?
Yes, I am Good.
So this week he brought another.
How many do we got?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
We got eight this time Eight more beers that were
in the Beer of the Month Club.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So, looking at these, there's not most of them I've
never even heard of, no, I thinkthe first one I've had before,
but I can't guarantee it.
So we're going to try them out,though, and, and if you
remember right last, well thenwe got three, I should say, from
bent river, which I may havetasted one I don't remember what
they had on tap, but I don'tremember those ones for sure.
(01:17):
So I may have had them I'm notpositive but the other ones I
haven't even heard of.
So we're going to give them awhirl and see what happens.
So what have you been up tosince last week or the last time
you were on the podcast?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Not a whole lot, just trying to get caught up on
stuff.
There you go.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
That's pretty much all you can do.
So awesome, well, cool, well,hey, we might as well just.
We got eight of them.
We might as well just jumpright into it, jump right into
it.
So the first one we got is in alittle shorty can and this is
Hardywood Pills.
It's a German-style lager and Ilooked on untapped and again,
we don't have information cardson them or whatever.
(01:54):
So I looked on there andthey've got a fairly decent
length of a paragraph here.
It says crisp, clean anduncomparably quaffable,
quaffable.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Is that like a technical term or what?
I'm not sure what quaffable is.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Okay, hardywood Pils sparkles a brilliant shade of
gold, with rich cloud white head, handcrafted with only the
finest Europeanan pilsner maltand german noble hops pills, is
patiently conditioned for weeksin our lagering tanks, maturing
(02:32):
into a beer that refreshes thepalate and satisfies the soul,
brewed in strict accordance withthe how do you say that?
The ryan ryan?
Speaker 1 (02:44):
hartsebolt that thing Does it have the year on?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
there?
No, isn't it like 14 and somecrazy thing?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
That's their purity law in Germany, the German
purity law?
Yep.
This classic Pilsner is thequintessential lager beer in its
purest form.
Tad drier than its bohemiancousin, with a signature snappy,
herbal spice of Bavarianhalerto hops to balance delicate
maltiness.
This Pils offers a nod to oldworld tradition by the
(03:17):
innovative brewers at HardywoodProst Boy they're talking it up.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Oh yeah, the Reinheitserbult beer purity law.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Isn't it from like 1457 or some crazy thing like
that?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
1516.
Oh, I was off.
The Reinheitserbult law was putinto effect.
Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, Iwas 60 years off.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
That is the German purity law saying that beer is
supposed to be made out of water, malt, yeast and hops yep, like
I say, we had talked about thatwhen toby was on the podcast
one time about that.
That law, and it's like youthink about it it's pretty much
stayed the same since 14 or 15,16 or whatever you said there's
(04:00):
a lot of adjuncts and differentstuff that's added into them.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
But it is, yes, it is still.
You start with those four mainingredients, and it's pretty
crazy that it's been that wayfor 500 years Exactly.
Well, if it ain't broke, don'tfix it.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
That's what I say.
So this one it's not bad.
I mean, you look at it, it's alittle cloudier than like your
American Pilsners.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yes, you know, so I'm guessing it's not filtered.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
But taste-wise, aroma-wise, first off, I mean it
smells like a Pilsner.
Yes, Taste-wise, this would bea lawnmower beer.
Yeah, it's not a bad beer, butI mean, it has some flavor to it
.
I give it that you know.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
No, I give them credit.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
They did a good job.
But uh, and it's in a littleshorty yeah bottle.
That's kind of weird.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I'm guessing it's a 12 ounce bottle, but it's a 12
ounce bottle, but it's onlyabout six inches tall.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, it's a little shorty one shorter and thicker,
I guess, is what you would saywe got two of those in this uh
tasting it's kind of funny.
Yeah it's.
Uh.
Where did we say?
Oh, it's out of rich Virginia,5.2%, 35 IBUs.
Remember the last time we triedthese they were mostly out west
, yep.
So it'll be interesting to seeif most of these now are in the
(05:14):
eastern half of the US or what.
But once again, brian had gotthem from a Beer of the Month
club and so we're getting themwhirled here.
See what they taste like.
So this one is not bad.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
I don't mind it.
No, it's a good beer.
It's nice and clean.
No bad off flavors.
It's not overcarbonated yeah,not like a couple of those we
had the last time.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yes, they were definitely, you could tell were
overcarbonated.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
You open the bottle and it starts foaming up right
away.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, we had a couple of them like that that were a
little sketch, but yeah, thisone is decent, I mean.
As far as so score wise, youknow our normal scoring system
zero to five stars and by tenthof a point I'm going to give
this like a two, eight, two,seven, two, eight, I go two,
eight.
I think it's better thanaverage.
Good crisp flavor to it.
Not a huge amount of flavor,but it's still there's.
(06:04):
There is flavor.
It's more than some of the onesthat we had last time.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
I'm going to go 2.7.
Okay, just a little bit below.
It is a really good beer, goodlawnmower beer, like you said.
I'm not a big fan of Pilsners,right, but this is way better
than some of the other oneswe've had.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
I was going to say especially and I hate to say it
this way, but especially out ofthe Beer of the Month Club some
of the Pilsners we've had out ofthere before have been a little
bit, you know, but this one isnot bad, you know, this would be
a decent one if it's hot out,ice cold.
Yep, you know, I think it wouldbe a good one.
Well, I guess we can jump rightinto the second one we got, and
this is by Sierra BlancaBrewing Company, outlaw Lager.
(06:50):
It's a California Common, iswhat Untappd says?
Okay, 5.2%, 34 IBUs.
It's out of Moriarty, newMexico, and it says this unique
lager balances a rich caramelmalt flavor with a smooth, hot
(07:11):
finish that keeps the palatecrisp, reddish amber in color.
This is a complex CaliforniaCommon beer style with a great
malt-hot balance.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
So most of the time, that's the one I have not made
is a California Common.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
When I think of California Common, I always
think of, like Anchor Brewing.
Yes, you know, that's kind ofthe one that everybody knows
about.
Yep, you know.
So you know.
You said you haven't made aCalifornia.
Do you know what makes it?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Some of them, some of them, they do natural
fermentation on them Right.
I think that's what Anchor didyes In these great big tubs or
whatever, so it was just open tothe air for the fermentation,
and myself I don't like thatRight.
Oh yeah, there's too good of achance of getting infected with
(07:59):
something.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
See, that's what I was going to say.
It seems like that leads tochances of bad things getting
into there.
You know you got to sift outthe bugs if they get in your
beer or whatever.
You know.
Yep, and maybe it's because youknow, in Minnesota, wisconsin,
iowa, those type of upperMidwest, you have more bugs.
Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Right, but I just think that I've never been to
California, so maybe they don'thave bugs out there, but we have
a lot of them here.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yeah, I've only been there once, and it wasn't around
a brewery that was doing that,so I don't know.
It just seems like you'reopening yourself up to more
things to make it go bad.
So it definitely is like anamber-type color.
That's not bad, no.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
I mean that's got a pretty decent.
It's a pretty malty beer, yes,pretty sweet caramel flavors, uh
.
So they've used probably a lotof caramel.
I'm gonna guess 80 or 120 malt.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah, they don't say what they use for them, but you
definitely get that caramellykind of a flavor to it.
Yeah, I, I like that.
I think's pretty good.
That's not a bad beer at all.
No, no, I would drink a bottleof this and it is a lager.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yes, which is surprising, I mean, a lot of
times the lagers have a lightergrain bill, so they're all
lighter in color, you know.
But no this is more like yourdarker amber style beer, just
that it's lager.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
That's actually pretty darn good.
It's pretty good.
It's surprising, honestly, whenI think back to the ones that
we tried before those six.
This one is right up there withthe top ones at this point.
Yes and yeah, this is good.
I like this, and I don'texactly think we'll ever get any
more, probably not From NewMexico.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
I don't think we'll get down there, not until I
rejoin the beer club again.
Yeah, no, this is good.
I think I had paused it until,I thought, last October, but it
never restarted, so maybe it'sthis October.
It could be this October, whoknows.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Well, like I said you , you know, I mean it is fun.
It's really cool because younever know what you're going to
get.
Get beers from all over thecountry, but it is kind of
expensive?
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Yeah it is.
It's like $42 a 12 pack for it.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Which, again, you and I have both spent more on
single beers than we have.
You do on that, but it still iskind of like Well it's more the
inconvenience of when they tellyou they're going to deliver it
.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
You have to make sure someone's at your house to sign
for it, see, and I don't, whichluckily I got lucky where mom
and dad could go up there andget it.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Right, and you know, like for me, being in Wisconsin,
a lot of these places can'tship to Wisconsin for whatever
reason, and I'm sure it's thatstupid three-tier crap that
Wisconsin has going so that youcan't get beer shipped here.
You know, so a lot of timesit's just like, oh, I'd like to
get that, and then you go, oh,we can't ship to.
Wisconsin, you know.
So I don't know, we'll have towait and see.
(11:02):
But so I don't know, we'll haveto wait and see.
But yeah, I mean, this is good,I mean as far as score-wise.
What do you think on the OutlawLager?
Speaker 3 (11:10):
I would probably do like a 2.9.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
I'm going to do the same.
Like I said, it is definitelyfor me it's pushing that 3, but
it's still a 2.9.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
But this is really good.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I definitely think this is a good flavor of a beer,
especially out of the Beer ofthe Month Club.
Yes, and I know we talked aboutit last time.
We don't know how thesebreweries choose these.
You know, sometimes I justwonder if it's stuff they got
stuck with.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
We can't sell this so we're going to send it over
here, but this one is good.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
This one is very good , so I think they did a good job
.
So the next three we got areall by bent river and I just
laid these out by the style ofbeer.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Right, we can look at them.
I think the first one is awheat.
Yes, yep, so we'll go with thatone, and then we can.
If we want to mix up the paleales, we can switch them up with
something else, sure yep, butlike I said, you know this bent
river.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
I've been to a couple times because that's when
Callie played basketball atBradley.
Yep, their conferencetournament was in Moline.
We'd go there and we'd stophere before the game started,
you know.
So we'd hit that and it's acool place.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I just laid them out like this everyone.
So it's basically going by beerstyle, right?
Because anyone who who drinksipas you know, if you drink a
bunch of ipas and then you go toa pilsner, you can't taste
nothing, right?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
so yeah, and my brother told me one time before,
if you feel a cold coming on,you're supposed to drink six
ipas.
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Yep, and that's supposed to get rid of the
tannins in the hops.
Help fight off a cold, so Ididn't know.
And I'm going to believe itbecause it came from a beer
magazine.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Well, like I said, I don't know if it's that or, by
the time you're done with six ofthem, that you've got a buzz
going and you really don't carethat you're sick.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Well, either or I have found, if I have a really
bad cold and if anyone out thereknows where you can get
120-minute IPA from Dogfish.
Head and you got a bad chest.
Cold drink a bottle of the120-minute IPA and it burns it
right out.
I've done it many times.
(13:21):
It's an amazing beer, oh sure,and it'll fight off your cold.
See Now in 120 minutes that'slike their top, and one right
that's 120 IBUs, I think, and17% alcohol.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Well, because they have I don't know they've got 90
minutes.
They've got 60 minutes, 90minute, 90 and 120 right?
Speaker 3 (13:46):
yes, the 120, if you can find it.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Where I used to get it, it was 43.99 a four pack I
was gonna say memory, the onetime we got it at eddie's and it
was like 40 bucks for a fourpack.
You know and uh, and I know,ladies and gentlemen, that is
expensive and and such, but inthe grand scheme of things for a
craft beer, Well, a craft beer.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
You're talking about 17% alcohol.
Yeah, so you only have one.
Yeah, you buy four, you putthem in your fridge and you save
them.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
And like.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
I said cost-wise.
I mean we've spent more on youknow, of course, your bourbon
counties are typically more thanthat.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Yeah, they're anywhere from $20 to $75 a piece
for a bourbon county.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
And of course, you and I and Larry and Jim, we each
kicked in and we bought abottle of Utopia and that was
$200 a bottle, and which thatone is 29%, but it's kind of on
the verge of not being beer yeah, you know but it was good, you
know, and I I enjoyed it.
So yeah, so let's see.
(14:53):
So this one.
Getting back to this, the bentriver american wheat ale uh, did
we have nope on untapped?
We have no description, so Idon't care for that one.
Well, looking at it, I had itat the brewery.
So I'm going to see what Ithink now compared to what.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
I said then Nope, yeah, it's kind of really harsh.
That is tart, yes, and it'scrazy, because, wow, for an
American wheat, it should not bethat tart.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I don't necessarily even taste the wheat in it, it
is just sour.
Yes, here's what I'm going totell you.
When we had it at the brewery,fresh out of the tap, I gave it
a 2.1.
This bottle here is nowherenear A 2.1.
No, I'm just going to say rightnow I'm thinking a 1.5.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Exactly what I was going to say I'm going a 1.5
because this is.
It's hard to even drink ataster glass.
I don't think I even am.
I don't know.
I probably will, because wealways say you can drink a
taster glass.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Yeah, you got to at least drink the taster glass.
It's only so much, but, boy, Ithink when we're done that one
we might not try again, becausethat is just harsh, that's real
bad.
And hopefully for them it'sjust that bottle, you know what
I mean.
But, like I said, I gave it a2.1 at the brewery so I'll
guarantee Jim was probably lowerthan that.
(16:21):
Yep, but boy out of the bottle.
Yeah, that's a disappointment.
Yeah, I don't.
Like I said, most of the timewhen you get a wheat beer you
can taste that wheat flavor.
You know what I mean.
You know it's a wheat this onenope, it's like.
I hope that it.
It went bad in the bottle, likeI said, but I just I don't know
it Not good, yeah, I would notrecommend this.
(16:47):
New people coming into craftbeer.
No.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
I'm ready to my glass after that one.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Here.
I'll give you mine too.
I'd rather not have anyremnants of that one in there.
For the next one Wow, that isjust rough, all right, well, man
, I hope the next ones aren'tthe same.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Well, the next ones are IPAs.
They're IPAs or pale ales.
I think that's a pale ale.
I think that one.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Okay, let's see.
Okay, I have not had this, sothis is from Bent River as well.
This is their Daytrotter PaleHorse Pale Ale, 5.2%, 30 IBUs,
and they do have a descriptionon here.
Oh, there we go.
All right, it says.
For over a decade, day Trotterhas shined a spotlight on
(17:36):
up-and-coming brands oh, I'msorry, up-and-coming bands by
recording their work and givingthem a stage to showcase their
talents, their talents, here inthe Quad Cities.
When Bent River Brewing Companyagreed to brew a beer with Day
Trotter, they wanted to shine aspotlight on some lesser-known
hop varieties.
(17:56):
The Pale Horse is brewed withAzaca and Hull Melon Hops,
h-u-l-l.
Melon hops, which lends flavorsof strawberry and honeydew
melon to this refreshing, easydrinking pale ale.
So let's see if we getstrawberry or honeydew melon.
(18:18):
I mean, it smells like an ipa.
You know what I'm saying lookslike an ipa.
I get no melon or strawberry no,I don't taste that at all
either.
It's got kind of a.
It has a different flavor.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna say thatfor sure.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
It's a little over carbonated, yes, which could be
just because of how long I'vehad it right.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Yeah, that could affect the flavor a little bit,
but I don't get strawberry.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
No, I don't get honeydew melon.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
No, it does, like you said, that overcarbonate.
It has that fizzy when youdrink it.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yeah, and that really messes with the flavor of it.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Right.
So, man, I don't know what tothink of this one.
You know what I mean.
It's not terrible.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
I'm hoping.
When it's not like that, it'sbetter Right.
When it's not like that, it'sbetter right.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
But even with the, with the, with the hops they
called out, I just don't thinkyou would get strawberry or
melon, okay, because, yeah, youknow you and I had talked about
that earlier, about you know youhear these hot varieties and I
I can tell you, you know some.
Yes, you taste like grapefruit,a oh, it's like a tropical
flavor.
I really have never hadtropical flavor and I can safely
(19:30):
say I've never.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Or the one that tastes like stone fruit.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
What the hell does stone fruit?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
taste like?
That is exactly what Jim and Italk about.
What does stone fruit tastelike?
Which?
Speaker 3 (19:40):
I should learn, since I'm a brewer.
I need to go and I need to buya stone fruit somewhere and see
what it tastes like, but likethis.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Have you ever had a hop that tastes like strawberry?
Speaker 3 (19:51):
No, I've never had a beer that tastes I never have
From the hops.
The only beers that I have hadthat tastes like strawberry is
because I put strawberry pureein it.
Right, that's what I'm thinking, you know so it's, and it right
, that's what I'm thinking, youknow so it's, and it's it.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Well in the same with honeydew melon because we know
what you know honeydew melon.
You know what a honeydew melontastes like and I've never had
one and I've never had that it's.
It's either grapefruit, lemonzest or pine.
That's kind of the threeflavors for the most part, yeah
you know.
So I don't know when they, whenbreweries, call out, oh it's
going to taste like strawberryor whatever, unless you put some
kind of strawberry adjunct inthere.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Yeah, no, you're not going to get it Right.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
That's what I was thinking anyway, and boy, I'm
getting burpy from that.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, it's over carbonated.
It is over carbonated, yeah, soit's like whew.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
That's why I moved it back, so that one can get
dumped out at the end.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Score-wise, I'm going up 2.0 myself.
I think it's just.
What they're calling out iswhat Jim has said the whole time
.
If it's on the label, it shouldbe.
If it's on the can.
It should be in the can.
I get no strawberry.
I get no honeydew melon no so I, I'm, I got it.
(21:08):
I'm gonna give him a twobecause it's just it's.
It is over carbonated, whichwill affect the flavor a little
bit, but I don't think that iswhat.
No it didn't affect it enough totake the flavors away, right so
I'm gonna do the same 2.0 okayagain, not a knock on them
because, like I said, I've beento the brewery a couple times
and they've got a really coolplace.
They have some really goodbeers and it could be like you
(21:30):
said.
It's been sitting for a whilebut I've never tasted a hop that
made a beer taste likestrawberry or honeydew melon.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Yep, yep, yep.
The only time I get a lot ofthem, flavors like that is what
I put into it, right.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Yeah, I don't know.
So the first four we're halfwaythrough Brian, Halfway through
this extravaganza, and we're at50-50 so far.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Yeah, right now we're 50-50 going.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
eh, I'm like darn it.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
I should have tried these first, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Well, because you got , when you get these, these, do
you get like two bottles eachthree bottles.
Ah, three bottles, threebottles, okay, so you have some
of these still sitting.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Two breweries, two beers, three bottles each.
Okay, yeah, so I got more ofthese at my.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I got two more of each of these.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
I think what you need to do is have a little beer
tasting oh you have other peopleoh yeah, it'll be on my deck
this summer when we're doing abig cookout.
There you go.
You want a good beer?
You got to drink one of thesefirst.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
I mean, we're doing samplings.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Yeah, samplings, samplings, that's what it is,
all right.
Well, now we're on to our thirdand final Bent River, and this
is their undercurrent IPA, and Ihave had this one before and at
the brewery.
It was pretty good.
This is what I'll tell youright now.
(22:52):
Let's see.
So the description on this oneis a lot shorter.
This is copper color, sweetcitrus fruits up front, almost
floral, moderate and delicious,bitter finish.
Done.
You know, that's it, okay.
So, like I said, this one theydid have on tap at the brewery
(23:13):
when we were there and we'll seehow it compares to what I think
of it.
Compared to when we were there,that one definitely has a
little more flavor to it.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Yes, it's a little more balanced.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Yeah, this is not bad .
No, it's a little more balanced.
Yeah, this is not bad, no itdoesn't say what the hops they
used.
Not on the description, itdidn't.
It is 6.8% ABV and 68 IBUs.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
It seemed a little higher on the malt.
So, yeah 6.8%, it is.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
They did say you know that it has malt, you know Well
, actually, no, they didn'tCopper color sweet citrus fruits
up front, almost floral,moderate and delicious bitter
finish.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
This is about the same color as my Mosaic IPA.
Okay, but a little less of thehop flavoring, but it's a little
less hop.
Compared to yours, yours hasmore of a hop flavor to it yeah,
my mosaic ipa is, which I onlyuse mosaic hops in it.
Okay, but we we put a lot ofmosaic hops in it, sure, but the
(24:19):
nice part is that that's one ofthem beers that even the
non-IPA drinkers will drink,really.
Yeah, there's not a lot of biteand not a lot of bitterness to
it.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Okay, because I was going to say, with a lot of hops
you'd think there'd be a lotmore.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
You would think it would be, but it's with all the
Mosaic hops.
It does have more of the citrusflavor.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
And where people are like, oh, I don't like IPAs,
we're flavor okay.
And where people are like, oh,I don't like ipas, we're like,
okay, hold on, try these two,because I have that one on right
now.
And then I have a black we callblack helmet ipa which, uh,
anyone that's in the beer world,um, it's a cascadian black ale,
okay, but the owners wanted tocall it a black ipa because it's
(25:02):
like 60 ibus.
Oh, gotcha with that one, theroasted malts mask a lot of the
hop bitterness.
Okay, so even the non-ipalovers will drink it because,
because of the coffee flavor init interesting, okay?
Speaker 2 (25:18):
so yeah, because we've talked about it before
where hops are definitely verypolarizing.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Yes, and they scare people away, yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Yeah, because you know, when you get a lot of
people that aren't very craftbeer savvy together and you give
them, you know, even bring outjust an APA or a regular pale
ale, you know there's peoplethat think that's just, oh my
gosh, that's terrible.
You know it's so hoppy.
They don't even know what theflavor is.
They just instantly are turnedoff Because all they drink are
(25:49):
your big brands that have noflavor.
Yep, so yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Which I even had one guy one time in there when I was
bartending that night.
My lawnmower beer that I servedon there is called Dalmatian
Ale.
It's a very mild ale,moderately hopped, it's not real
bitter.
But I had a Coors Light drinkertry it and, oh my God, I
(26:17):
thought he was going to fall onthe floor.
Oh God, it's so strong and I'mlike what it's like.
This is the mildest beer I'veever made wow, yeah I'm like,
okay, whatever well, that I'msure you remember.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
you know, a number of episodes ago, when I was
talking about people that driveyou to drink, that would be,
yeah, you know, when I wastalking about the person that
goes to a brewer, craft brewery,and ask what, what's the
closest thing you have to this?
Yes, you know, and it's likethe water we made it out of, you
know, and it's like oh, we getthat a fair amount where people
(26:53):
ask what do we have?
Speaker 3 (26:53):
that's like bush light, Exactly yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
And we're like I'm sorry, why do you go to a
brewery and ask for bush light?
Yeah, why would you go to abrewery and ask for that?
You know it.
Why would you go to a breweryand ask for that?
You know it makes no sense tome at all.
So, yeah, yeah, those guys.
Well, if you remember from mystory when suzy and I were at
industry brewing in peoria andthat those two old guys came in
and they were giving thebartender a hard time and she's
(27:23):
like sir, you're at a craft brew, we brew our own beer.
You don't have miller lighthair and she looked like dug
around in this little dormfridge, looking you know little
thing, and found one.
I got this, okay, you know, andthen they they left after they
were done and I was just likeyou know we always really, you
know it's disrespectful to thebrewer oh yeah, to go to a
(27:46):
brewery and not at least try oneof their beers.
Yep, well, you know, and it'sfunny I think I told you about
it where the one time Jim had itwas an Oktoberfest party at his
house and we decided, oh, we'regoing to do a beer tasting.
So, oh, because all thesepeople are coming, oh, the one
cousin of this friend of ours,oh, he's this huge craft beer
(28:07):
guy.
And all these other people, oh,they want to be in on it.
Okay, so we did Oktoberfest, wedid pumpkin and then wild card.
Okay, so the guy that I wastold was this huge craft beer
guy, we got done with theOktoberfest category and he went
in the house and passed out,basically, and the pumpkin beers
(28:28):
went, okay, you know.
But then we went to wild cardand jim had a goose island
bourbon county stout, brought itout and there was like three of
the people that ran it, lookedat it, dumped it in the dump
bucket and said, oh, it'sterrible, zero.
And somebody put miller lightin the wild card.
(28:49):
Oh, five, that's a five, allthese people you know, and it's
like I told jim.
I said well, we can never dothis again.
Yep, I'm like you can't do abeer tasting with people that
have no idea with non-craft beerdrinkers Correct what they're
doing, because it was so skewed.
You know what I mean.
And we're just like are youkidding me?
(29:10):
And it was funny because Jay,who's been at a number of our
tastings I think he participatedlast September.
It was the first time he everactually participated Because he
was never a craft beer guy, buthe's slowly getting into it and
this more he does it.
You know he likes to hang outwith us, but he ended up winning
it, right, and so whoever wongot a.
(29:33):
He had a.
Jim somehow got a big beer steinfrom Sam Adam.
Well, I ended up trading him asweatshirt for it because he's
like, well, I don't need it, youknow.
But the funny thing was he wasjust like, you know, guys, I
thought the funniest thing was,you know, jim breaks out that
goose island and that thing islike 20 bucks a bottle and how
(29:54):
many people just dumped it outwithout even tasting it and I'm
like, yeah, you know, it wasjust rough, you know, and we've
never done that since becauseit's like, no, you know, you
can't when, especially when it'swhen people won't have an open
mind about a, you know, tryingdifferent beers.
Yeah, you know, and I thinkthat's the the part of the craft
(30:15):
beer industry that I reallyenjoy is the vast majority of
the people.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
They're willing to try anything just get a beer and
try it and we see something newand we're like oh yes, we're
gonna try one.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Yeah, you know, and that's I mean, how many times
have we been?
Well, I do it all the time.
I know you do it all the time.
You're at the beer shop,wherever, whatever liquor store
you're at you're like oh, I'venever even heard of that I'm
gonna try it, you know and itmight be horrible, it might be
great, but we're gonna try it,you know, and I wish more people
would do that where they'rewilling to, to be a little more
(30:48):
open, yep you know, to newthings like that anytime we go
to a new brewery, we get asample of one of everything they
make on tap.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Oh yeah, because, yeah, we want to see what
they're doing, how it is and andif it's something I need to
look into.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Yep, well, you know, it's funny because, like when
Susie and I went to Hawaii whenCallie was playing in that
tournament, you know last yearand the same thing, we went to
Hawaii, to Maui Brewing, and Igot flights to every beer they
had we tried Actually, we triedthe normal stuff.
We did a podcast of that thenight before we had their I
(31:26):
can't remember what they calledit, but it was like their other
series and I ended up trying allof those that night.
Then, when we went to WaikikiBrewing, they had 14 beers on
tap and we tried them all.
I bought two flights and Ithink they gave me the last four
because we told them what wewere doing and all that and they
were like here you go, and weended up.
We haven't done a podcast on it, I still have my notes on it
(31:50):
and we should.
But again, I'll give them ashout-out because their beers
were really good.
They had some amazing ones.
They had a Habanero beer thatwas honestly really good and, uh
, they had a couple other onesthat were extremely good and
then they they did have.
They had one in my notes thatsaid uh, smelled and tastes like
dirty socks, so that one wasn'tvery good, but but overall
(32:13):
their beers were great, the foodwas amazing, and that's the one
thing I told the, the waitressthat we had.
I said you know, I can count onone hand the number of
breweries that I had been towhere the beer is great and the
food is great, because usuallyit's one or the other Right or
neither you know, but yeah,theirs was, they were very good,
so all right.
(32:34):
So we let's get back to theundercurrent IPA.
What are you thinking on ascore for that one?
Speaker 3 (32:40):
I'm probably.
Hmm, I think I'm going to do a2.5.
2.5 on it?
Yeah, Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
I was thinking a little bit higher, but I was
going to go like a 2.7, 2.8.
I'll go 2.7.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
Again, I do kind of like the maltiness of it, but it
seems like the ipa side of itcould be a little bit.
Yeah, and then on mine it was alittle charged again, right,
yeah, you know.
So that's.
That's probably a skewing myscore a little bit.
It's still a good beer.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
It just, it just right, it could have been better
.
It's missing something orwhatever.
All right, so the next one thatwe have oh, we got a little bit
of write-up.
This is by upland brewingcompany and they are out of
bloomington, indiana.
This is their dragonfly ipa.
Oh, I'm seeing some foam.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
It started.
Yeah Well, it's not too badwhen you pour it.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
So this is a 6.7% ABV , 65 IBUs, and it says Our
Dragonfly India Pale Ale isbrewed with four hop additions
to create a powerful hop profile.
A solid malt base, however,tempers the bitter American hops
, giving Dragonfly a balance notoften found in this style.
(34:04):
The end product is awell-balanced malty beer with
crisp taste of hops and anexceptionally floral nose.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
I wish they would have listed the hops.
Yeah, they didn't say what theywere, because there's nothing
called American hops.
Okay, yeah, it just have listedthe hops.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Yeah, they didn't say what they were, because there's
nothing called American hops.
Okay, yeah, it just said four.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
American hops.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
There are American strains of hops Right.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
So I wish they would have said what they were.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
So you wonder, did they just put four hops in the
barrel?
Speaker 3 (34:35):
Yeah, it's not very hoppy at all.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
No of the three IPAs.
We had four.
No three.
Yep, this is hop-wise.
And it's what did I say?
They said it was 65.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
IBAs.
It does not seem like it, butthat could be the grain Bill,
because it is pretty malty, yeah, and that will affect your hop
flavor.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Okay, but it seems to me this is like the bitter hop
flavor.
This is the lowest of the three.
Yes, I would say Yep.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
So that's why I wish they would have said which hops
Was it Willamette and MountainHood and Northern Brewer, which
are all milder hops, okay, orwhat.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
But I still was worried about someone
replicating it, so they didn'twant to.
Well, I'm sorry, but every beerout there has a clone recipe
out there available to anybody,for the most part, yeah anymore.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Yep, I mean it's not bad.
No, no, I don't mind it, it's agood beer.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Honestly, this might be my top of the three IPAs.
Yep, but, like I said, you wishthey would have been a little
more, because they build it upto be like this big hop flavor
and it's not that.
Nope, you know, and again, I'mnot ripping on it for that at
all, but again, just times youwish they would.
(36:04):
Like you said, if they listedhere's the hops that were used,
you know, then you'd have had abetter idea that, yes, this is
what we should expect, but, yeah, it's I.
I don't mind it, I, I like Isaid the three IPAs we've had so
far, I think this is the bestof the three, Absolutely yeah.
Yeah.
Color-wise, it has a little bitof a golden color.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
It's a little opaque you can't see through it.
It's a multi-beer.
When you drink it it's got alittle sweetness to it which,
like I said, that will affecthow hoppy it is, Right?
Speaker 2 (36:36):
But yeah, it's not bad.
Score-wise, what are youthinking, so, of the IPAs?
You gave a 2 and a 2.5.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
I'm going to do a 2.7 .
Okay, well, is that all right?
I have a 2.7.
Well, you have a tie, that'sokay.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
I'll do a 2.8.
How about that?
Speaker 1 (36:57):
I'll allow a tie.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
That's not a big deal to me, but if Jim were here,
he'd have been like whoa, hewould have threw down right
there he would have said whoa,oh man, now that I look at my
scores, I'm kind of paintingmyself in a corner, because if
you don't want to do a tie, I'vealready used a 2.8 and a 2.9,
and I had a 2.8 and a 2.9, and Ihad a 2.7 and a 2.
It's not a 3 to me.
(37:23):
No, it's not a 3 beer.
Well, I'm going to cheat.
The undercurrent is going to goto a 2.6, and this will go to
2.7.
Just to keep it balanced there.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
Yeah, because it's not a 3 beer, but it's not a bad
beer either.
No, it's just.
I'd drink one of these on a hotday.
We're just really picky on ourbeer scores.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
You know, and like Jim said, he just wants there
not to be scores, because thatway people can kind of gauge.
This one was a little bitbetter than this one and I give
him credit.
That is a good reason you knowto do that.
So I I give him credit.
But, like I said, it's alwaysfunny because like hey, you
can't have a tie you know.
So I was like okay so even andhe's had to change some scores
(38:11):
before because of that becauseyou're like, oh, this one was
that one was better than thisone and I got to change this, or
this is better than that, butit's not that, you know.
So we have two beers left andthese are going to be the two
darker ones that we have forthis group, and it's we got
another little shorty bottle,yep, so let's see what we got
(38:33):
here it's a dark lager from uhhardy wood.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Hardy wood hard Brewing.
An American dark lager.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Oh, here we go.
Okay, 5% ABV.
Oh, I've got a little write-uphere on untapped.
If you enjoy Richmond'sauthentic craft lager in
Hardywood oh, we had an issue,ladies and gentlemen, it was
(39:02):
foaming up.
Let me start over.
If you enjoy Richmond'sauthentic craft lager in
Hardywood, richmond Lager, youcan't miss Hardywood Richmond
Dark Lager this winter season.
Richmond Dark Lager providesthe same refreshing and crisp
experience with an ever soslight, sweet, dark malt
(39:23):
characteristic.
Is it still foaming?
Speaker 3 (39:25):
Yep, I'll try and see if it.
Speaker 2 (39:28):
We haven't dumped it, I think, just try it.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
It seems like it's so foamy that all you get is a
foam.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Yeah, it just foams up instantly.
Speaker 3 (39:36):
Which, it sucks.
The last one I had actually wasdecent.
That's all right, though.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
yeah, the last time when we went to kelly's parents
house, I brought one of each ofthese yeah and the pilsner
foamed all up and this onedidn't all right, so we're down
to our last one, and this one isriver horse oatmeal milk stout
by river horse brewing companyand they're out of ewing, new
(40:10):
jersey, and it's 6.7 abv and itsays a velvety smooth stout
brewed with oats and milk sugarthat create a creamy finish over
a dark malt base, 6.7% ABV,available November through
(40:31):
February.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
Well, they talked it up and it sounds amazing, so
hopefully it lives up.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Oatmeal milk stout.
We had talked about a very goodone last time, you know, in the
Buffalo Sweat, Because that'sisn't that an?
Speaker 3 (40:44):
oatmeal Yep, it's an oatmeal cream stout, cream stout
.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
What's the difference between a cream stout and a
milk stout?
They're the same.
Same, okay, just different.
See the oatmeal cream stoutshave flaked oats in it where the
milk stout doesn't, but theyboth have powdered lactose in
them.
This isn't bad it's.
It's not buffalo sweat, butit's.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
No, it's not bad.
No, it's not a bad beer.
No, they talked it up a lot.
Yes, so I was a little um, Iwas expecting a little bit more
by what.
The write-up was right, but itis a good beer yeah, and again,
we are partial to the stouts andthings like that, but it's not
bad no, but like I said, it'snot.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
You know, we've definitely had some other ones
that are that are better better,but I this isn't bad.
I mean of of this group, thisone here I can see going into it
like a three.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
Yes, I'd say a three also.
Definitely I mean for a beer.
I got in the mail Right that westill don't know how they pick
them and all that.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
No, I don't mind this .
I'd say this is the best of thegroups.
Speaker 3 (41:54):
Yes, I would say this is the best of the ones we did
on this session.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
Yep, I would agree.
It definitely has that maltyflavor.
Speaker 3 (42:06):
Yep, the coffee notes , of course you know from the
roasted grains.
Yep, and you get that it'ssmooth from your lactose, I say
your milk stock.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
They usually have that smooth mouth feel.
This definitely has that.
Yeah, you know.
Yeah, I think this is 3.0.
Uh, this is the best one thatwe had in this group yeah, I
agree and after that I I wouldgo after this one.
I'd say you know, the milk saltwas number one, the outlaw
lager was number two.
Yes, yeah, I think we're inagreement there that that was,
(42:31):
uh, actually your dragonfly ipa.
You rated it higher right, yeah,okay, but I think that was neck
and neck yeah, yeah, they were,that was my third, you know, so
it was yeah, they were closebut yeah, I think these are
definitely, definitely good and,like I said, you know same
thing we said last time.
You know these are beers weother than the bent river, you
(42:55):
know yep we probably never would.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
Oh god, no them.
Then you didn't know they werearound.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
So, yeah, they're really good and, yeah, thank you
so much for bringing them and,you know, deciding we're going
to try them here and do apodcast on them.
So, like I said, they weredefinitely good.
I think all of these, for themost part, a new person could
try them.
You know a couple of the IPAs.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
Well, that wheat, ale I wouldn't have recommended to
a new person, because that no,that wasn't good.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
It didn't taste like an actual wheat ale, so I guess
you know.
Thanks, brian, thank you somuch for bringing them and being
a part of the podcast and yeah,I'm sure we'll have you back
real soon and uh, all that.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank youfor listening.
Hopefully, you know, some ofthese beers might be in your
area, maybe that you know, oryou could be like us where you
(43:50):
you never would see them unlessyou had the beer of the month
club or something like that, andif you're looking for something
really fun to get in the mail,yeah, definitely look into the
Craft Beer of the Month Club.
Speaker 3 (44:00):
There you go.
Like I said, it's likeChristmas every month, it's the
gift that keeps on giving,exactly Because, if you wouldn't
have got them.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
We wouldn't have had them right now.
That's right, awesome, well,cool, well, hey, ladies and
gentlemen, thank you forlistening and, like we always
say, we hope your campfire arealways cold.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
See ya, thank you for listening to the Northwoods
Beer Guy podcast.
If you have a question, acomment or a beer you'd like us
to review, please feel free tosend us a message at
northwoodsbeerguy at gmailcom.
You can also find us onFacebook, twitter and Instagram.
If you're on untapped, look upNorthwoods Beer Guy and send a
friend request.
Until next week, I hope allyour campfires are warm and all
(44:39):
your beers cold.
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