Great Taste of the Midwest Wrapup

(photos stolen from Kelly's facebook)

Last Saturday, August 14 was one of the greatest beer dates in the country. What, you weren't one of the (roughly) 5,000 people there?

This year was pretty great. Normally I park at Ale Asylum and take a bus to the festival, but this year we were near Middleton, so we went to Capital. We got off the bus and walked up towards the line. Jacob didn't have a ticket, so he was kind of worried about what he'd have to pay for the ticket (especially after his Philadelphia incident). Luckily he got his ticket for $40 (face value), which made Kelly a bit upset since she paid a traveling fee of $10 for hers. We got our programs and moved up to the end of the line. Which wasn't too far from the entrance to the fest.

This year the glasses were little mugs with a handle, which was convenient. I didn't mind the previous year's glasses, but the mug was nice. You may not have gotten more beer, but the glass was neat.

Our first stop, once we got in, was at the Three Floyds booth. Roo Goop was a rye wine they put on tap at 1, so we hustled over to get a glass. Being a rye, it held the hops flavors well. It was almost IPA-ish, but had a peppery flavor that comes with rye's.

We then worked our way over to O'Fallon's booth because according to the schedule, they were going to be offering bourbon barrel smoked porter at 1:30. We got there at 1:30 and they were out of it. This puzzled me, so I asked and they said there was a misprint on the program, and we should check their board for serving times. So, I rinsed my glass and cleansed my palate with Wheach. I followed that up with their oak aged wee heavy. It was good, but it wasn't barrel aged smoke porter.

I had most of the day planned out, to be in line for special pours, and got to most of them. I was at Founders for Canadian Breakfast Stout, which I've had before, but it was there, so I got it. The beer I was most looking forward to was Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Brand Vanilla Bean. Sadly, that wasn't my favorite beer of the day. My expectations weren't met. Others really enjoyed it, but I guess I wanted more vanilla flavor. It was good, but it wasn't what I hoped... I probably wanted it to be vanilla bean Dark Lord, but it wasn't.

My favorite beer on the day came from a brewery I've never heard of, Old Hat Brewery. They had a peanut butter stout (or porter) that was awesome. My next favorite was probably Flossmoor Station's Collaborative Evil. It seems Collaborative Evil will be on sale in mid-September, watch their blog to find out when. This years is a baltic porter. It was excellent, Jacob and I were the first two to get the pours.

What else did I have that day...

Um...

I had some ciders, I had some meads. One of the great things about this festival, is there are no tickets for beers. If you could do it, you could have a taste of everything there. Instead of getting 10 or 20 tickets for your money, you get a bottomless glass. Another great thing, is if you are walking to get to a specific brewery for a tapping, if your glass is empty, you can just turn into the nearest tent and have something that you didn't plan on having.

After about 3 or 4 hours of drinking samples of beer, I was pretty trashed, tired, and ready to leave. So we got on the bus and headed back to Capital. I had to work at Radio Maria later that night, so we had to go. I then fell asleep in the car, and woke up at the halfway point of Mendota, Il. I was still tipsy after getting to work at 10:30, and wasn't fully clear until about 1:30.

Sunday, I went into Radio for a beer before softball, and Jacob informed me that I was tipsy because someone bought us a beer at Capital, and it was the Eisphyre, and I downed it in a couple of chugs.

The lights were off for a while.

If you are going to the Great Taste of the Midwest

According to weather.com it's currently 70 degrees in Madison. Sure, that sounds great for a beer festival, however, it's raining.

There are flash flood watches until late tonight.

Additionally, there's a tornado warning (not sure when it's going to expire).

If you are going to be up there bar hopping tonight, it's expected to rain from 8pm until 5 am.

So, for the festival, that means...

Wear clothes that you don't mind getting dirty.

Don't wear white pants, they will be muddy. Don't wear shoes that you don't want to get dirty.

The temps for tomorrow are supposed to be in the 80's during the festival. That should be nice, however, the ground will probably be wet.

Take a change of socks to wear on your ride home.

80's is still kind of warm to be standing around in all day, so try to find some shade, and drink plenty of water.

Have a great time. Be safe.

See you there, I'll be the guy who looks like me.

CU Beer Weekend; Aug 13

Seven Saints

Bell's Oberon
Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout

Wednesday: Whiskey Wednesday, Irish

Radio Maria

Draft Beers as of 08/06/10

1. Founders Cerise $4
2. Southern Tier Heavy Weizen $6
3. Anchor Liberty $4
4. Bells HopSlam IPA $5
5. Arcadia HopMouth $5
6. New Holland Mole Ocho $6
7. Founders Breakfast Stout $5
8. Dark Horse Pam's Kitchen $4.5
9. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout $8
10.Jolly Pumpkin, Lusianarga, the Firefly $8
11.Two Brothers Dog Days Lager $4.5
12.Left Hand Chainsaw $4
13.Delirium Dark Brown $6
14.Mikkeller Centennial IPA $6
15.Brasserie Blanche de Bruxelles $5
16.North Coast Old No. 38 $4
17.Left Hand Milk Stout $4
18.Two Brothers Hoppy Public Domaine $4.5
19.Victory Storm King $5
20.Brewdog Bashah $6
21.Victory Hop Devil
22.Southern Tier Gemini $6
23.Victory Prima Pils $4.5
24.Dark Horse Perkulator Coffee Dopplebock $5
25.New Holland Night Tripper $6
26.Weihenstephaner Weissbeir $5
27.PBR $2.25

Friday: Happy Hour with free appetizers 4:30 - 5:30; beer special, tbd; DJ at 10pm
Saturday: $6 John Daly's, Salsa Night at 10.
Sunday: $2 wells, $1.25 PBR
Monday: 25% off bottles of wine; Board Game Monday; Softball Beer Specials
Tuesday: 1/2 price wine by the glass
Wednesday: $1 off all beers on draft; Frankly Wednesdays: All Frank Sinatra and Rat Pack every Wednesday late night
Thursday:$5 Mojitos, Caipirinhas, and Brazilian Cosmos; Open Decks: local dj's perform.

August 21: Radio Maria Art Fair, 10am, showcasing local artists, running the same as the Downtown Festival of the Arts.

September 20: Goose Island Beer Dinner, 6pm, $50, 4 courses 5 beers including a vertical of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

October 3: German Wine Dinner, 6pm

Blind Pig

Moylan’s Hopgarten Pilsner; Novato, California, Pilsener, 4.5% abv
Anderson Valley Brother David’s Double; Boonville, CA, Abbey Dubbel, 9% abv
Monk’s Cafe; Belgium, Sour Ale, 5.5% abv
Avery Anniversary 17; Boulder, Colorado, Schwarzbier, 8.69% abv
Southern Tier Mokah; Lakewood, New York, Imperial Stout, 10.9% abv
Unibroue Maudite; Canada, Belgian Strong Ale, 8% abv
Victory HopDevil; Downington, Pennsylvania, India Pale Ale, 6.7% abv
Port Brewing 4th Anniversary; San Marcos, California, Imperial IPA, 10% abv
Fuller’s London Pride; England, Premium Bitter, 4.7% abv
Delirium Tremens; Belgium, Belgian Strong Ale, 8.5% abv
Blue Moon; Golden, Colorado, Belgian White, 5.4% abv
Two Brother’s Cane & Ebel; Warrenville, Illinois, American Strong Ale, 7% abv
Stella Artois; Belgium, Pale Lager, 5.2% abv
Pabst Blue Ribbon; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Pale Lager, 5% abv
Rogue Kell’s Irish Lager; Newport, Oregon, Premium Lager, 5.2%
Boulder Kinda Blue; Boulder, Colorado, Fruit Beer, 5.5% abv
Bells Oberon; Kalamazoo, Michigan, Wheat Ale, 6%
Lagunitas IPA; Petaluma, California, India Pale Ale, 5.7% abv
Breckenridge Regal Pilsner; Denver, Colorado, Pilsener, 7.7%
Affligem Tripel; Belgium, Abbey Tripel, 8.5% abv
Original Sin Hard Cider; New York, New York, Cider, 6% abv
Lindeman’s Peche; Belgium, Lambic, 2.5% abv
Belhaven Scottish; Scotland, Bitter, 3.9%
Guinness; Dublin, Ireland, Dry Stout, 4.1% abv

Blind Pig Brewery (the Piglet)

Blind Pig Hard Cider
Blind Pig Belgian Tripel
Blind Pig Belgian Pale Ale
Blind Pig Extra Pale Ale
Schlafly Pilsner; Maplewood, Missouri, Pilsener, 4.9% abv
Bell’s Amber; Kalamazoo, Michigan, Amber Ale, 6% abv
Rogue Chipotle; Newport, Oregon, Spice Ale, 5.5% abv
Fuller’s London Porter; England, Porter, 5.4% abv
Sea Dog Blueberry; Topsham, Maine, Fruit Beer, 4.6% abv
Two Brother’s Ebel’s Weiss; Warrenville, IL, German Hefeweizen, 4.9% abv
St. Bernardus Abt. 12; Belgium, Quadrupel, 10.5% abv
Moylan’s Hopsickle; Novato, California, Imperial IPA, 9.2%
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale; Chico, California, American Pale Ale, 5% abv
Guinness; Ireland, Dry Stout, 4.1% abv

Sunday: Trivia Night; 7-9pm, win gift cards

Crane Alley

PBR 4.7%
Guinness 4.2%
Avery Maharaja 10.3%
Mikkeller Warrior Single Hop IPA 6.9%
Erdinger Hefe Weizen 5.3%
Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast Stout 7.5%
Two Brothers Oak Aged Domaine Dupage 5.9%
North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner 4.4%
Founders Porter 6.5%
Bells Poolside Cherry Wheat 5.1%
Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Ale 5.5%
Green Flash IPA 7.3%
Westons Stowfford Press Cider 4.5%
Port Brewing S.P.A. 5.4%
Affligem Abbey Blonde 6.8%
Victory Golden Monkey 9.5%

Weekend Specials for August 13:

Champagne Salad - Warmed brie served over a salad of
mesculin mixed field greens with roasted cherries and filberts
tossed in Dijon-champagne vinaigrette and sprinkled with
fresh chives. $8.95

Brie and Pear Quesadillas - with red onion and cilantro,
served with lime sour cream. $9.95

Ahi Tuna - 6oz pan seared sashimi grade Ahi Tuna cooked
your way and served with jasmine rice, oyster-shiitake
mushroom sauce and a ginger carrot salad. $16.95

Black Dog Smoke and Ale House

Arcadia Cereal City
Southern Tier Pale Ale
Cathedral Square Iglesia Agave Ale
Lost Abbey Serpent's Stout
Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest

Mark your calendars

Saturday: Great Taste of the Midwest, if you want to go (if you are reading this, then you want to go), I recommend going to Radio Maria Happy Hour tonight,and look for members of the Champaign Urbana Beer Club, as they may have information on tickets. If anybody from the beer club is still in town

Wednesday: CU Beer Club, Crane Alley, theme is Midwest Brews

August 27, 28: Bruegala, Interstate Center, Bloomington

September 25: Urbana Beer and Chili thingy

CU Beer Weekend; April 30

Seven Saints

Rotating taps:

Southern Tier Hop Sun
Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar

Wednesday: Whiskey Wednesday; Bourbon (possibly)

Radio Maria

1. Capital MaiBock $4
2. Green Flash Le Freak $6
3. Ballast Point Sea Monster $6
4. Bells HopSlam IPA $5
5. Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA $5
6. Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale $4.5
7. Founders Imperial Stout $6
8. North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner $4
9. Goose Island Pepe Nero $6
10.Port Midnight Sessions $5
11.Dogfish Head Aprihop $4.5
12.Port Shark Attack Red Ale $5
13.St Bernardus Abt. 12 $6.5
14.Mikkeller Cascade Single Hop IPA $6
15.Southern Tier Hop*Sun $4
16.Moylan Dragoon's Dry Irish Stout $4.5
17.Left Hand Milk Stout $4
18.Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour $6
19.North Coast Old Stock $6.5
20.Dark Horse Tres Blueberry $5
21.Blanche de Bruxelles $5
22.He'brew Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A $6
23.Boulevard Tank 7 $4
24.Victory Moonglow $4.5
25.Capital Imperial Dopplebock $5
26.Ayinger Brau Weisse $5.5
27.PBR $2.25

Friday: Happy Hour with free appetizers 4:30 - 5:30; Scott Sivers' Special $4 pint of Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout, $3 pints of Left Hand Milk Stout; DJ at 10pm
Saturday: $4 Jeremiah Weed drinks and $6 Jeremiah Weed John Daly's, Salsa Night at 10.
Sunday: $2 wells, $1.25 PBR
Monday: 25% off bottles of wine; Board Game Monday
Tuesday: 1/2 price wine by the glass
Wednesday: $1 off all beers on draft; Trivia Night 11pm with MC Juice
Thursday:$5 Mojitos & $6 Brazilian Cosmos

Blind Pig

Cask: Two Brothers Cane & Ebel
Great Divide Claymore Scotch; Denver, Colorado, Scotch Ale, 7.7% abv
Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat; Topsham, Maine, Fruit Beer, 4.6% abv
New Holland Envious; Holland, Michigan, Fruit Beer, 7.5% abv
Kostritzer; Germany, Schwarzbier, 4.8% abv
Founders Breakfast Stout; Grand Rapids, Michigan, Imperial Stout, 8.3% abv
Unibroue Trois Pistoles; Canada, Belgian Strong Ale, 9% abv
Pangaea Lilijas Hop Nest Monster; Wisconsin Rapids, WI, India Pale Ale% abv
Original Sin Hard Cider; New York, New York, Cider, 6% abv
Fuller’s London Pride; England, Premium Bitter, 4.7% abv
Delirium Tremens; Belgium, Belgian Strong Ale, 8.5% abv
Blue Moon; Golden, Colorado, Belgian White, 5.4% abv
Left Hand Polestar Pilsner; Longmont, Colorado, Pilsener, 5% abv
Stella Artois; Belgium, Pale Lager, 5.2% abv
Pabst Blue Ribbon; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Pale Lager, 5% abv
Rogue JLS Paul’s Black Lager; Newport, Oregon, Schwarzbier, 5.2%
Bells Oberon; Kalamazoo, Michigan, Wheat Ale, 6% abv
Monk’s Cafe; Belgium, Sour Ale, 5.5%
Lagunitas IPA; Petaluma, California, India Pale Ale, 5.7% abv
New Holland El Mole Ocho; Holland, Michigan, Spice Ale, 8.8% abv
Tucher Helles Hefe Weizen; Germany, German Hefeweizen, 5.3% abv
Lindemans Framboise; Belgium, Lambic, 2.5% abv
Blanche de Bruxelles; Belgium, Witbier, 4.5% abv
Belhaven Scottish; Scotland, Bitter, 3.9%
Guinness; Dublin, Ireland, Dry Stout, 4.1% abv

Blind Pig Brewery (the Piglet)

Blind Pig Witbier
Blind Pig American Pale Ale
Blind Pig Hard Cider
Moylan’s Old Blarney; Novato, California, Barley Wine, 10% abv
Captial Supper Club; Middleton, Wisconsin, Pale Lager, 5% abv
Black Sheep Monty Python’s Holy Grail; England, Premium Bitter, 4.7% abv
Kasteel Rouge; Belgium, Fruit Beer, 8% abv
Weihenstephaner Hefe; Germany, German Hefeweizen, 5.4% abv
Lost Abbey Red Barn; San Marcos, California, Saison, 6.7% abv
Heilemans Old Style; Woodridge, Illinois, Pale Lager, 5% abv
Avery The Maharaja; Boulder, Colorado, Imperial IPA, 10.54% abv
Castelain; France, Biere de Garde, 6.4% abv
Guinness; Ireland, Dry Stout, 4.1% abv

Sunday: 7-9 Trivia, $1 Old Style, $2 Jameson Whiskey, $3 Guinness Draughts
Monday: $1 off all bottles; Blind Pig Brewery Beer Club

Crane Alley

This just in, bottles of Mikkeller 1000 IBU.

Einbecker Pilsner 4.9%
Chimay Cinq Cents Trappist Tripel 8.0%
Dogfish Head Old Midas Touch Golden Elixir 9.0%
Lost Abbey Carnevale 6.5%
Left Hand Sawtooth Ale 4.8%
Great Divide Titan IPA 6.8%
Bells Oberon 6.0%
Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale 8.3%
Bells Expedition Stout 10.5%
Hoegaarden Belgian Wit 4.9%
Guinness 4.2%
Goose Island Pepe Nero 6.0%
Ballast Point Black Marlin Porter 5.9%
Pabst Blue Ribbon 4.7%
Bells Hopslam 10.0%
Original Sin Hard Cider 6.0%

Food specials for the weekend of April 30

BRIE SALAD - Mixed field greens with pears, walnuts, and dried cherries tossed with lemon-dijon vinaigrette and topped with brie cheese

SALMON CAKES - Honey-walnut crusted fillet of salmon with sauteed squash, zucchini, and carrots over sweet potato puree with sweet onion cream drizzle

INFERNO BURGER - Our 8oz handcrafted burger with carmelized onions, roasted jalapenos, pepperjack cheese, and 4 pepper aioli consisting of chipotle, ancho, pasilla, and habanero. Served with french fries


May 20: Founders/BrewDog Night

A night featuring the brews of Founders. We will have some small batch Founders on tap not available anywhere in Illinois. Bottles of KBS, Backwoods Bastard, Breakfast Stout, Reds Rye, Porter and Dirty Bastard. Some free gifts as well. We will also be showcasing some small batch BrewDog beers this night. Our local representative will be in attendance to give info and answer questions.

July 5: Founders Beer Dinner, 7:30 pm, price and menu tbd

Mike n' Molly's

Guinness
Harp
Strongbow
Miller High Life
Avery DuganA
Schneider Hopfenweissen
Lost Abbey Carnevale
Blanche de Brussels

Two taps I'm not sure of, one by Port, one by someone else

Friday: Inlets
Saturday: The Middle East
Monday: Abe Froman Project, 9-10pm, free/ Rockstar Karaoke, 10-2, free; $1 PBR
Tuesday: $1.25 High Life; $.50 off all taps
Wednesday: Bingo, 9:30-midnight, free; $2 Mickey's Big Mouth; $2.50 rails
Thursday: $2.50 Stella Artois bottles

Black Dog Smoke and Ale House

Founder Breakfast Stout
Hebrew Jewbelation 13
Left Hand Chainsaw American Strong Ale
Summit Horizon Red Ale
Belhaven Scottish Ale
Lost Abbey Carnevale

Cowboy Monkey

Friday: Mhondoro, 10pm, $5
Saturday: Molehill, 10pm, $5
Monday: Roberta Sparrow, 10pm $5
Tuesday: Open Mic Night, 10 pm, free
Wednesday: Salsa, 10pm, free
Thursday: Blues Jam, 9:30pm, free

Highdive

Friday: ROAR (rock out against rape), $5, 6:30; DJ Delayney, $5, 10 pm
Saturday:Dubstep Massacre, 9pm, $5 in advance, $7 at the door
Rest of May isn't filled out.

Canopy Club

Friday: Jus Marley; A Tribute to Bob Marley, 10pm, $6; Teach for America Benefit Concert, 6pm
Saturday: Fishing With Dynamite, 8pm, $5
Sunday: Pizza, Pitcher & a Movie, 80's night 6pm Ferris Bueller's Day off, 8pm The Breakfast Club, 10pm Top Gun
Monday: Third Eye Blind, 7pm, sold out (how have I not heard of this before?)
Tuesday: Trivia Diner: Live Game Show/The Piano Man
Wednesday:Rave to the Grave
Thursday: Mayday Parade, 5pm, $13 in advance; Santah cd release party

May 19: Mastodon, 6pm, $23 in advance

Other Events:

CU Beer Club
Tuesday: Happy Hour at Mike n' Molly's, 6pm

Great Taste of the Midwest
Sunday: Tickets go on sale, noon $40. (limit 2 per person)
To find a ride, go to Radio Maria on Friday for Happy Hour at 5pm.

Monday: Mail Order Sales.

Great Taste of the Midwest 2k9

Well, another Great Taste of the Midwest has come and gone. Man, this year was awesome. It helped that we went in with a plan, as opposed to last year, where we just wandered around and looked for brewery names (until Emily rescued us from our folly).

This year, on the 4 hour drive up, we read through the list of breweries and what they were bringing, and put a star next to the must hits, a question mark by the most likely hits, and left the others blank. Then since they provide a map, we went through and circled all the booths of the brewers that we either starred, or question marked. We had 47 brewers circled on our map.

We left Champaign around 8, and arrived in Madison shortly before noon. We parked at Ale Asylum, as it's the closest place that has a shuttle. We didn't get on the first shuttle, so we had time for a beer. Paddy got the Big Slick Stout, and kridz and I shared ... um ... Satisfaction Jackson double IPA, which was pretty good.

We got on the second bus and headed to the fair grounds. As soon as we got off the bus, we ran into Jacob from Radio Maria. Then, Tom, Nancy, Emily, Luis, and a couple of others from the CU Beer Club walked up. When the gates opened, Noah and some others from the club were way ahead in the line, so they let us know where "Camp Paign" was going to be, it was situated on the hill above New Glarus.

When Kridz, Paddy and I, got in, we headed for the real ale (cask) tent. We had 3 beers in there, but the lines were really long, so we headed down to the other tents. Our first stop was at the Great Dane booth, I had the Tri-pepper pils (again, I had it first the night before we got the tix). It was as good as I remembered. It was kind of funny, just going from circled brewery to circled brewery on the map. Sometimes we'd walk up to one and wonder, "Why the hell did we choose this one?". Then we'd see the beer list and be like... oh... I'll have one of those.

Some of the beer highlights were: Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout; 3 Floyds Barrel Aged Dark Lord *missed the vanilla bean by like 4 people :( * ; 2 different Collaborative Evil's (Flossmoor, and Fat Heads); possibly the best beer there, Kuhnhenn Creme Brulee Java Stout (I only got a little sip out of someone else's glass); Minneapolis Town Hall Russian Roulette (which didn't last long, and I managed to get it before it ran out); and another pepper beer, that I don't remember.

I promised Bruisin' Ales, that I would wear their shirt... (discount?) and ran in to some people who were old friends of the owners, from back in Julie's Pennsylvania days. Also ran into someone else who is a fan of that store; and who can really blame them. *on a side note, I do think I should be able to charge for advertising their beer; I wear beer shirts enough, I like the beer, but I am giving advertising for them, and I even paid for the shirt! (normally).

Just like last year, I didn't run into anyone that I know from online, Cizauskas was there, and supposed to be around the Real Ale tent, but I don't think I saw him. Tommy Werner was there, and I also didn't see him.

I did run into the girl that I had some beers with at Great Dane the day before the tix, which was kinda cool. I seemed to make some friends, although I may have just been an annoying guy trying to steal pretzels off people's necklaces... which, when you think about it, is rather disgusting, since the thing's been around a sweaty guys neck for about 4 hours.

The drive home (for me) seemed uneventful, as I was asleep/passed out, for about 75% of it.

It was a great time, again, if you can go, you need to. It's 2 weekends out of your life, getting the tix, and using the tix. If you like beer (and you are here, aren't you?) you should find a way to go. The circling of the breweries we wanted to go to was a good idea. Also, having several people in a group going around is a good idea too, as you can get more samples from each brewery and then just rotate glasses around.

I still find it hard to believe that we actually couldn't find anyone in Champaign/Urbana who was willing to go up with us. Paddy had to sell his other ticket to just someone walking around who needed a ticket.

Next event is probably the Urbana Beer and Chili Cookoff, September 19, although the Great Lakes Brewfest is the same day. Last year, we had a good beer drinking party at Kridz after the Urbana fest, but dunno if we'll do that again. If we do, we WON'T buy tickets online, it's $7 at the door and $5 online, and the online fees made it cost more than at the gate! Oh, and the buy tix online thing seems to be broken.

See you at a bar/brewery/liquor store near you.

Great Taste Ticket Acquisition

I got my tickets. They are number 975 and 976. Whoo hoo.

The weekend started with Noah picking me up. We then drove up to Madison. We listened to an interview with Dan Carey of New Glarus, on the Brewing Network, on our way up. When we pulled into Madison, we went to the Grumpy Troll, in Mount Horeb. I had the bratwurst, Tom and Nancy (we met them there) split a sandwich, and I don't remember what Noah & 'em had. To drink I started with the Cask Brown Ale, which wasn't too bad, Tom didn't seem to like it alot pickign up some sourness. But the rest of us didn't mind. I followed that up with a Summer Moon, which was a dark wheat, that was pretty good.

We left Grumpy Troll and headed to the Mustard Museum. We started to watch the video inside, but grew impatient. They had a decent selection of mustards made with beer, including Sea Dog, Sierra Nevada, and others.

We left there, and checked into our hotel. Then as we left to go to downtown Madison, we rode the hotel shuttle with some guys in brewery shirts and hats, so I said "I know what you guys are here for..." We asked where they were from, and they said Bloomington. We clarified, Illinois? Yes. So we invited them to the next (and future) beer club events. We chatted some more, asked when they were going to go get in line, and some other small talk. Our first stop was going to be Maduro, but it didn't open until 6, and it was before 5 p.m. Instead we went a couple of doors down, to the Local Tavern (apparently no webpage). My first drink there was a draught, New Glarus Spotted Cow (when in Rome). Next was a Furthermore, 3 feet deep. This was a peaty, smokey stout/porter, that was pretty good. We watched the Kentucky Derby (presented by Yum!) and then headed down to Maduro.

Noah remembered last year, when Maduro had an (according to him) outstanding tap list, with some really rare and delicious beers. We walked in, looked at the board, then left, everything on tap was available in Champaign/Urbana (except for Stone IPA). So we went next door to, Argus. They had an ok selection. I went with the New Glarus Organic Revolution, which was slightly skunky, but not totally unpleasant. I had something else after, but don't remember.

We left there in search of the Bulls vs. Celtics game 7. We wound up at Great Dane. I started with their Texas Speedbump IPA (that seemed to be on cask), followed that up with the Tri-Pepper Pils (that was one of the best beers I had all weekend; somehow refreshing and spicy enough to make you want to drink water, all in one), after that was the Emerald Isle Stout, that was an Irish Stout that reminded me of Guinness. We left there when the Bulls lost and headed back to our hotel, it was only like 10:30, but we were tired, and were getting up early.

Woke up around 4, showered, got dressed, attempted to wake up... left around 5:15 to go get in line. We got there at 5:44, and to our surprise, the Bloomington contingent was already in line ahead of us. Tom and Nancy showed up a few minutes after us. We got there at 5:44, and were in about position 50-60 in the line. We went to Steve's Wine on University. Paddy showed up with Blau Augen some time later, and was back further in the line. With 400 tix at our location, and only 2 tix per person, he wasn't in danger of not getting his 2. Around when Paddy showed, Brian and his gal showed up as well. We all brought lawn chairs, and I borrowed Nancy's blanket. I proceeded to fall asleep, nicely bundled, for a couple of hours, which wasn't a problem, as the line didn't move until 11:30.

We met some nice people in line. (Paddy was going back and forth from his spot to ours), including Lucas, from Gimp Radio.

Around 9 (i think, not really sure, I was sleepy) a guy from MHTG came around to find out how many tix everyone would be getting, and to inform some unhappy people that they wouldn't get tickets. After he got to the end of the line, he came back around, and told us that the location had around 150 more ticktets than people there (room for 75 more people). I don't know if the other locations were sold out initially, but there were tickets left over and I saw a few people get back in at the end of the line. No one from our Champaign/Urbana group got back in line, as we had plenty of people throughout Madison. After we got through the line, we did some shopping in the store, I got a 4 pack of Ten Fidy, and also a 4 pack of Viking Hot Chocolate. Paddy got a 6 pack of Central Waters IPA, he also got a three floyds munsterfest, but I don't remember what it was. I rode back with Paddy. We stopped in Bloomington and got some Gondolas and a Ham and Cheese, at Avantis.

Got back into town around 4, then had a softball game.

Here's a news article on the tix day.

As for those who may have camped out over night and stood in long lines and not ended up with ticket? “That’s just part of managing this very popular event and there are only so many tickets available,” declares Rogers.

Um... how is that possible? We didn't camp out, or stand in too long a line, and we got there at 5:45. Once again, you see people who think they want to do something, but then don't really put out the effort to do it. With 150 tickets that remained at Steve's Wine on University, at around 10, there is no reason anyone should not have gotten tickets.

I'm not sure if the other locations were more full, but the 2 ticket per person, probably is what allowed more people (than before) to get tickets.

I'll see you at the festival, August 8. If anyone has a spare ticket, Kelly K (who commented on a previous post) is looking for tickets.

I didn't see any on Ebay yet. There might be some on Craigslist.

Great Taste of the Midwest

After Dark Lord Day, the next huge event going on it the Great Taste of the Midwest. (Ok, so there are probably other things, but GToM was great!)

This Sunday is stand in line to get tickets day. Paddy and I will be going up with Noah and others from the CU Beer Club to get tix. Last year it was 4 tickets per person, this year, it's reduced to 2. Tickets are $35 each.

Here's the locations:

* Star Liquor (600 Tickets)
* The Cork and Bottle (300 Tickets)
* The Wine and Hop Shop (400 Tickets)
* Steve's Liquor (400 Tickets at Steve's University, 500 Tickets at Steve's Mineral Point)
* Tyranena Brewing Company (400 Tickets)
* Capital Brewery (400 Tickets)


Tickets will go on sale at noon. If you really want them, you need to show up WAY before them. I believe we'll be going to Noah's favorite location around 6.

If you are going to try to win the lottery, Good luck. Letters MUST be postmarked May 1. How to do it is more complicated than I want to get into here, so if you want to win the lottery, read all about it. People actually do win the lottery, Wilson did last year.

So, if you aren't doing anything this weekend, you should go up to Madison and stand in line with us. If you don't want the tix, I'm sure I can find someone who will.

Great Taste of the Midwest, Event Review

Saturday morning, Kriddy and I headed on up to Madison for the Great Taste of the Midwest. It's about a 4 hour drive from CU up there, and it takes just about a tank of gas in the Aveo. We left around 8 and got up there just before noon. The GToM has set up shuttles from several breweries to the park. We parked at Ale Asylum and got on the second shuttle, so we had time for a beer. We shared the Hopaliciouis. When we got on the bus it took about 15 minutes from the brewery to the park; it was spent listening to people singing songs and discussing being thrown out of bars.

We got to Olin Park with about 10 minutes to opening, and got in line. Once the doors opened, the line moved relatively quickly. We got up to the gate and were handed our commemorative glasses and picked up some of the programs, and headed off to find some beer. With so many options, it was tough to figure out what to have first. I'm not sure the order of the beers we had, but we had quite a few. I do know that the last thing I had was Three Floyds Dark Lord. (I took a picture of it and sent it to J, as he sent me a picture of a state fair Guinness)

My favorite beer on the day was from a brewery I'd never heard of before, Dragonmead, they are out of Warren Michigan, near Detroit. Interestingly enough, the people who were in line in front of us, left the line to go be let in by their friends, who were the brewers at that brewery. The beer that I liked so much was "Ring of Fire" which was like drinking Monterey Pepper Jack Cheese. It was awesome. I've had some pepper beers before, but nothing that was quite this good. We also had their Wee Heavy and Triple Bock. This place makes some good beer. If you can find it try it, if you can get there, even better.

We didn't have any beers from Illinois brewers and only one beer from Indiana (Three Floyds Dark Lord). Michigan was good to us, with Dragonmead (3), Founders (2), and Short's (2). Short's had a stout that was rumored around the festival, so we tried that and weren't disappointed. Cup-a-Joe Coffee Creme Stout was one of the better stouts we had on the day. Minnesota provided Flat Earth (1) and Surly (6). From the Real Ale tent we had two offerings from O'Fallon. Out of Ohio, the Ohio Brewing Company, we had 6 of their beers including both of their special tappings. From Wisconsin, we had Angry Minnow (2), Pearl Street (2), and Tyranena (1). I'm not sure what that all adds up to, but I think between us we had about 34 samples.

We started out the day just wandering aimlessly, until Kriddy heard someone say her name, and it was Emily of the CU Beer Club. Emily had a plan of the things she wanted to get to, special tappings and other beers, so we followed her around. It seems that with three people you can get a much better representation of each brewery. Each person gets a different thing and then you just rotate the glasses. If you like something better, you can drink more of it.

The special taps we got to were:

Dragonmead Bourbon Cask Conditioned Wee Heavy
Founders Backwards Bastard
Sherwood 1492 IPA
Surly Bourbon One
Ohio Maple Porter
Ohio Smokin' Scotch Ale
Pearl Street Dankenstein!!

From the Real Ale (Cask) tent we had:

O'fallon Pumpkin
O'fallon IPA
Surly Tea Bagged Furious
Surly Oak-Aged Cynic
Surly Darkness 2008

We started the day walking around from tent to tent, then went to the Real Ale tent, then Kriddy and I got something to eat, then walked around some more. We saw several friends from the CU Beer Club and talked about good beer. It was easy to make friends there, as there were 5000 people who had the exact same interest as you, BEER!

Was hoping to run into Wilson, but didn't see a guy with a red goatee (and I figure a Duck Rabbit shirt). I was wearing my new Terrapin shirt that I picked up in Asheville, and received a few compliments on it, along with some questions about what they make.

If you can get to Madison for the GToM next year, you won't be disappointed. You definitely get your money's worth for a $35 ticket. Kriddy picked up a shirt from Tyranena, I just picked up various things from around the festival; menu's, stickers, anything else they were handing out. It's a good time. Tickets for next years go on sale the first Sunday in May, so mark your calendars.

(We went back to my sister's by Chicago on Saturday night. Sunday morning went to Archer Liquors, and got some beer; Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout, ST Cherry Saison, ST Pumking, 3F Fantabulous Resplendence XI and some other things. After that we headed to Flossmoor Station for lunch, then headed back to CU)