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.

Beer Review, New Holland Oak Aged Mad Hatter

Last night, after attending Smart@ss's birthday dinner; Kridz and I went to Radio Maria for some drinks. I started off with a Rogue 1981 Charlie. Kridz went with a Founders Double Trouble. I followed that up with a beer I haven't had before, the New Holland Oak Aged Mad Hatter.

Mad Hatter is their IPA offering, so I was interested in trying an aged version.

As you can see, it poured (on tap) relatively clearly, it was a pretty golden brown color. It had a decent white head that stuck around for a while. It also clung to the glass well, but I think that was probably more a function of a beer clean glass.

I was surprised that there was hardly any smell to this brew. I asked Kridz to smell, and she also couldn't pick anything up. I found this to be wierd, as she had it before and said that it was almost too oaky for her to drink, so I expected a big wooden smell, but it wasn't there. I figured the beer may have been initially too cold to be aromatic, or that the glass was to full for it to release the boquet, but even as it warmed, and got emptier, there was very little smell.

The beer felt rather thin and slightly effervescent (bubbly) at first, but later it seemed to be somewhat coating on the tongue. Odd that a beer could seemingly change viscosity by getting warmer, but it seemed to. It at first tasted slightly oaky and very sweet, the hops really disappeared in this beer. I wouldn't have expected them to be so fragile to go away, but there seemed to be no bitterness in it at all. What was in the glass reminded me of something that I just couldn't quite name. It may have been a cherry sweettart. It may have been Dr. Pepper, well since Dr. Pepper has 23 flavors, it's probably easy to pull some of that out.

Jacob, the manager at RM, informed us that it was aged in Woodford Reserve barrells for 3 months. After being told that, the bourbon-ey, whiskey-ey flavors really came out. I asked what he thought of the taste, and he said there was some vanilla and caramel, neither flavor I picked up on. As it warmed up (the lighted bar top helps that) the bourbon flavor became more and more pronounced.

The beer made me think of when I was a kid, growing up in Green Bay, going to Southwest High School in the summer to go swimming (for a quarter, I think it was). The beer didn't remind me of swimming, it made me think of the candy table, I'm not sure if it was the big sweettarts, or some kind of laffy-taffy, but there was something in this beer, that made me think of 30 years ago.

This was a good beer. It had the nice drinking qualities of a sipping bourbon barrel beer, without being as thick as a stout. It would probably make a good beer for having with a cigar, or even a cigarette, but I didn't take it outside. It wasn't smokey, but would have gone well with it. I'd get it again.

Beer Review, Southern Tier Mokah

Well, it's been a while since I've reviewed a beer, so here you go. This is a live tasting, and it's not my first, or sixth beer of the night, but it's the first time I've had this one.

This beer is Southern Tier mokah. As you can see from the pic, it had a decent head when I poured it. It's also very dark. No light is getting through it anywhere. It came in a 22 oz bomber that I purchased at Crane Alley. It has a strong scent of chocolate, which I guess is good in a beer named mokah. When I first poured it, there was a strong smell of alcohol, so it might be kinda strong. There's not much smell of coffee in it, just the chocolate.

It's slightly effervescent, even though it's well chilled. It doesn't feel to thick at all on the tongue. I'd say it has a medium body for a stout.

It tastes of chocolate. It's more of a dark chocolate than a milk, or sweet chocolate. I'm not picking up much coffee at all. It has the feeling of a baskin robbins chocolate smoothee.

The large foamy head dissipated in a couple of minutes, but the top of the beer still has a bit of bubbles on it. Either my glass isn't the cleanest (which is possible) of it doesn't produce very good Belgian Lace.

It finishes slightly bitter, but that's more of a dark chocolate bitter, than an hops bitter. (A hops bitter, an hops bitter?).

It's a good nightcap. I'm using it as an end to a pretty good day. Work was good, then went to Crane Alley for dinner and some beers, then went to Rademakers in Tolono to watch L.A. Guns (the Traci Guns version) and they put on a good show, then went back to Crane to drop off the other guys (Eric and beer club Scott).

Well, that's my impressions on this one. I've got about 19 more ounces of it to finish before heading to bed.

Sorry for the lack of posts, and for slacking on the calendar. Things happened that I wish didn't. But it's probably all for the best. Thanks for sticking around.

V

A Timeline of Craft Beer; Beer Class at 7 Saints

If you missed it last night (and you probably did) Andy B. instructed a special beer class last night in honor of American Craft Beer Week.

The theme last night was "a timeline of craft beer".

The first beer we had was Anchor Steam, while it's not one of my favorite beers (or breweries) without Anchor, there might not be a craft beer movement in the U.S. Anchor opened in 1896, but Fritz Maytag bought it in 1965.

The next beer we had was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Sierra Nevada opened in 1979.

Bells Oberon. Bells opened in 1983.

Sam Adams Boston Lager. Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) opened in 1985.

Rogue Dead Guy. Rogue opened in 1988.

Left Hand Milk Stout. Left Hand opened in 1994.

Founders Dirty Bastard. Founders opened in 1997.

Three Floyds Dark Lord. Three Floyds opened in 1996. (Ok, so that's out of order, but it was the Coup de grâce. There's really nothing you could do, to drink after the last beers were put out.




What would/could you drink after those five bottles?

(To the tune of "Jesus Loves the Little Children")

Virgil loves the vintage Dark Lord
All the Dark Lord every year

Red, Gold, Gray, Black, and White
They are precious in his sight
Virgil loves the vintage Dark Lord of the world!

Ok, supposedly it's orange and not red. It was awesome. I'm not sure the value of that lineup, but Andy provided the most recent 4, (gold through white) and Noah brought in the Red/Orange. I think the White, Black, and Gray ($125) were all ones that I brought back from the brewery.

There was a distinct difference between all the beers. The white (this year) seemed a bit thinner than the rest, and it's flavors were sharp. The black was very good; thick, creamy. The gray is one of the best vintages of Dark Lord. I've never had the gold before, and by the time we were on that one, my palate was going. The red/orange I had on Dark Lord Day, as Doctor Andy brought a bottle.

Just having those 5 beers would have been a most excellent beer class, but to have them as the kicker on the timeline, made a great evening. We drank them right up to around midnight.

Thanks to Andy for hosting us and providing those 4 bottles. Thanks to Noah for bringing in the fifth.

Nobody Likes a Mr. Pink

Andy (of Seven Saints) sent me an email with his views on tipping. It's a good read.

There's no way to get around it, craft beer drinkers...your bartender expects you to tip 15-20% on the low end, 18-25% on the high(er) end...at all times. Industry folk generally tip even more than this, but we don't necessarily expect the "Earth people" to follow suit. Customers from all walks of life maintain this standard, and so should you.

Gratuity should always be based on sales, as servers and bartenders are taxed in part according to their tippable sales. Your bartender is taking an initial hit to serve you that $14.00 beer, and he expects you to make it up to him with a primo tip. I've also been told that bartenders generally prefer cash to credit card tips for (ahem) certain tax reasons.

The central point is this: the craft beer industry has risen to the occasion by offering the consumer a superior product to that of their competitors. Craft products are luxury items that cost the consumer more, but we support these efforts because we root for the little guy and love the brews that these efforts have produced. It's a pay-to-play pastime in which we shouldn't forget the guy behind the bar. After all, a rising tide lifts all ships. Frankly, tips should rise accordingly to encourage quality bartenders to enter into the craft beer field, as they are on the front lines of an increasingly competitive industry. Look at them as your craft beer ambassadors!

As far as the effort-to-tip ratio...don't try to stick it to the man by sticking it to your bartender. Bartenders get paid $4.65 per hour...they pay their rent based off of your tips. Quality beer bars should employ quality bartenders, and if you don't think the service being provided is worth an extra few bucks, then it's time to pick up your pen and write a letter to the owner. Bartenders should be able to tell you what's new on the beer list and a few details about each brew, but don't expect them to read you a novel about each new brew. It's tough to keep current on your info and keep up a well-run bar at the same time. I expect my bartender to always give a clean glass in roughly appropriate glassware. I expect him to know what is seasonal, as well as which stinky keg may have been sitting around for a while. I expect him to serve me as quickly as possible (keep in mind that he's probably multi-tasking, so be patient). I expect him to remember my drink of choice before he remembers my name, but either is a bonus to me.

The only reason I will ever tip a bartender poorly is if he is blatantly rude. I mean discourteous. Salty. Mean. He may be hurried, stressed, and short with me; these are all ok depending on how busy the bar is at the time. However, at the end of the day he's there to make my experience a pleasurable one and lack of basic manners will always be a barrier between my wallet and his. If you have an exchange that leaves you offended or angry, leave what you feel is a minimum and, once again, take it up with the owner.

Cheers!

Andy

So there you have it, 15-25% when you are out on the town.

Craft Beer Tipping

I'd like to get a discussion going on tipping. Mostly, I want to find out what is appropriate. (I'm going to ramble)

I'd think, most people tip a buck per beer, I find that to be reasonable. If you are paying cash on the spot for a beer, a tip of $1 for the beer is normally (to me) the correct amount. Most of the time, my beers are about $4 to $5 a beer, a $1 tip on that is between 20 and 25 percent, which is a pretty good tip.

What about the times when you order a beer that costs $15 or higher. Is tipping dollar still appropriate? (on $10 a 1 buck tip is 10%; on $20 a 1 buck tip is 5%)

Did my bartender do more to make my $15 beer better than he did to give me the $4 beer?

No, the bartender didn't (normally). The bar has charged me more for the beer, and I have to hope that the more that I pay, the better they are going to take care of the beer. But then, isn't that "they" the bartenders? The bar provides the space for the beer (hopefully a nice cool dark place) to store those more expensive beers before they make it into the cooler. On my $15 beer, some of that money has to be for correct storage of the beer, doesn't it?

What am I tipping the bartender for? Is it harder to open a more expensive bottle; and pour it into appropriate glassware? Does it take longer? (Oddly, a Guinness is less expensive than most beers that I drink, and it is more labor intensive to pour than what I'm getting, so shouldn't the Guinness be tipped on the most?)

The question comes down to this: Should a person tip 10-15% on a beer, or should a person tip a flat $1 per beer?

Will the same apply for hard liquor? Do most people tip $1 for a shot? What if a person is drinking $20 a shot whiskey? $1 is a bad tip on $20 (as we've already discussed). Did the bartender do more with the $20 shot than the $4 well shot?

What should the expectations of the server and the consumer be for higher priced goods (that are tipped upon)?

What are your thoughts on this?

I have done it both ways, looking at my tab, counting up the drinks and tipping a buck each; and tipping 10-15% on the total bill. What do you do?

If you are in the Industry, what do you prefer (or does it change based on the value of the drink)?

American Craft Beer Week.

It's American Craft Beer Week (consider yourself proclaimed).

In celebration, the Champaign Urbana Beer Club will be drinking alot, possibly more than normal (yeah, screw those bloomington bastards anyway!). There's an itinerary for the club. Please follow along.

Monday, May 11, Blind Pig.
Tuesday, May 12, Mike and Molly's
Wednesday, May 13, Crane Alley
Thursday, May 14, Seven Saints
Friday, May 15, Radio Maria
Sunday, May 17, Corkscrew (beer tasting)

There's also a Saturday thing going on, but that's a farewell to Dr. Andy :(.

It's American CRAFT beer week, not Crap beer week, so have something crafty, Bud American Ale, is not craft, it's faux-craft. Blue Moon... hmmm, that's a tricky one, I'll say, NOT craft; if there's nothing else, then it's as close to craft as you'll find.

Oh, and Monday is my 38th Birthday, so buy me a drink.