Piece Brewery & Pizzeria - Chicago, IL

Went to Chicago to go visit some friends and had planned on going to Goose Island Brewery. When we were ready to get going, we hadn't eaten and one person had a great recommendation for a pizza place. He lives up in Chi-town so I'm willing to trust what he says is good. And what is better than a good Chicago pizza? Nothing.

They are a 7 barrel brewhouse so they are very craft and don't bottle anything. This made the decision to go here instead of Goose Island a no brainer. They also had karaoke with a live band starting at 11pm. As much as I wanted to sing Sublime's Santeria, I decided against it. I would have absolutely destroyed

Arrived at the bar and there was about a 40 minute wait at 8 o'clock on a Saturday night. The wait was fine because you can drink at the bar as time passes. The beer was awesome. One of the winner was the 'Camel Toe', which was an awesome 9.5% thicker beer that came in a snifter. Not a chugging beer.

For the pizza, there were two kinds: red (traditional with pizza sauce) and white style (no pizza sauce, olive oil, garlic). I love pizza sauce so I thought I would only like the red. The white is what they were known for so we got a white, pepperoni pizza. Another in our party got the white with clam and bacon, which sounded gross, but was AWESOME! I don't like clams, but this was good. I would recommend it because it is unique and memorable. This bar gets a B+.

Other beers enjoyed:

Golden Arm - A friend called this the quintessential lawn mower beer. Its a german style Kolsch beer that can be best described as smelling like coors light but has a full body and good floral notes.

Top Heavy Hefeweizen - Strong hints of orange and very smooth. Like a blue moon but much stronger orange. If you like oranges, but don't like the taste of 'peels' in the beer, this is the beer for you.

Not tasted:
Worryin Ale - Rye Beer
Wingnut - Imperial/Double IPA
Dysfunctionale - American-style Strong Pale Ale
Fornicator - Bock
Full Frontal Pale Ale - Ameican-style Pale Ale
Dark-n-Curvy Dunkelweizen - German-style Wheat Ale

Piece
1927 W. North Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622

Boca Raton, FL - Brewzzi

Took a trip to Boca with the 'rents and was trying to get over to Brewzzi the entire time. We were finally able to make it on one of the last days. Sure enough someone clipped the back of the family van so it put a damper on the dinner. Worse, it was kindof a hit and run situation.

The people that clipped them said they didn't realize that they had done it, but I was in the seat where the car rammed backing up (in the middle of the street). I had a great view of it and I don't see how you could not know. They ran in the Brewzzi and we couldn't find them. We located them as they were leaving and worked it out. They were a nice couple with kids on their adults night out. I always give people the benefit of the doubt since they felt bad and seemed genuine. It could be buffed out, but its the concept of the hit and run that made me mad.

This is a great place to go with a group of people who may not normally like breweries. They have a great fruity beer called Tropical Madness ( a crisp, blonde lager with hints of apricot, blueberry, peach, and raspberry). My wife doesn't drink beer but she said she liked it when she tried it. The food is very good too which appeals to the people that don't like beer in general. My favorite was actually an IPA that is a rotating 'Brewzzi Reserve' out of the brewmaster's reserve. I can't remember the hops that were used, but it wasn't over 90 IBU's. My bro and sister-in-law are beer fans too and loved the brewery.

I'd give this brewery a B+. If I am ever in Boca, I would definitely head back there again. The staff was accomidating with the hit and run situation, the beer was great, and the food was stellar. I have no complaints. The '+' was because they have something for everyone which is a big factor for me since I visit some breweries with people who don't like beer.

Brewzzi
2222 Glades Rd
Boca Raton, FL 33431

Blog Traffic Dilemma

It's funny writing a blog in the first 7 days knowing that no one will read what you're typing. I could say anything and I wouldn't get any complaints. Blah blah blah yackity smackity. I've had 19 vistors so far. I think I've been about 4 of those.

My demographic so far:
US - 13 hits
Mexico - 2 hits
Germany - 1 hit
Indonesia - 1 hit
Cyprus - 1 hit
Brazil - 1 hit

I like to pretend that my international vistors are real people and not remote server farms. In reality, I think I am the only person that has visited my site since the US visitors are probably bots.
<- This kind of humor is lost on bots

If you are a person and are reading this, make sure you come back or refer friends so I know people are reading this. I will have an email people can send me stuff at later. I'm drinking too much beer at the moment and catching up with posts until then. Stay tuned. All zero of you are super psyched I'm sure...

Since no one reads this blog, we recently found woodchucks in our backyard. No joke, we saw them chillin' outside our shed not looking that different than the photo on the right. They've been tearing our yard up in the worst way. I'm trying to fend them off with Fox urine, but its not working. On a side note, I wonder if they're making woodchuck cider much like the keebler elves make keebler cookies...

Sun King Brewery - Indianapolis, IN

So I was looking up the address of a brewery in Indianapolis and saw a search result with 'Sun King Brewery' and 'Indianapolis' in the description. The brewery is the dream child of two Indiana brewers who worked at downtown breweries (Ram/Rock Bottom). I have had their beer before, but did not realize they were the ones who made the beer. There is some extreme talent brewing this beer that's for sure.

I think I will absolutely love this brewery since there was a blog that mentioned that they have Belgian Saison and wheat beers.¹ I will be totally psyched to have a Saison brewed consistently in Indy (esp if its commercially sold).

The brewery is not yet open, but has started brewing beer from their 15 BBL system. BBL? A BBL is 'barrel' unit of liquid measure (Volumes). A US barrel is 31 gallons (117.3 litres) while a UK barrel is 36 gallons (163.7 litres). BBL used in a sentence: "Rodney Farva's litrecola was actually 0.008525 BBL's of cola"¹



Everyone needs to make sure that if they see this beer on the menu, order before they get a non-local beer and if they don't have it, ask the bar to order from this company. That is the kind of stuff that creates a following like Fat Tire has. I would love people to throw parties and stuff when an Indy brew is finally served in their state.

Sun King Brewery
135 N. College Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46202

Beerbike? Where do dreams come true...

Not Disney World. In a place where open container doesn't matter, how does an open-sided bar/bike sound? Yeah. I know pretty awesome! Where else other than Amsterdam? Where dreams come true... You drink and bike in the US and its a DUI.




<- awesomely seats 1



disaster waiting to happen with 10-22 of your closest friends ->




Amsterdam is awesome! Got to go there back in '06 and it was totally worth it. Didn't know about the beerbike then though. They just encountered some problems with the law after three women were hurt in a beer bike incident in May 2009. ¹ We'll see if they're still there when I head back. (the beer bike, not the hurt women)

If you are going to ride the beerbike, there a few helpful things you need to have with you for a fun and safe adventure:

1. Bring your pedaling shoes unless you plan on flintstone-ing it

2. Metro-sexual euro-clothing so you blend right in to the locals

3. Stoner Hat - Lighters are harder to find there than these

4. If you're overly self-aware, just tell yourself they're only staring because you're not wearing wooden shoes...

PS: They also have a karaoke bike which I don't like since karaoke is annoying outside of a bar and what's the point of being outside in Holland on a bike and not turning around and enjoying it all... just saying...

Check 'em out at Happy Beerbike Sightseeing Tour if you can stop laughing long enough to buy a ticket. They are called 'Coffeeshops'.

A little about this blog so far

If you are wondering why there are so many posts in such a short time frame after this blog was created, it is because I've been queueing up a list of breweries that I've visited and written notes down about each in a word doc.

I didn't really have an outlet for these until I created this site while in Norfolk, VA. There are a lot of unorganized notes about sites that I am still working on converting into posts. This being said, you'll see many more in the coming 2-3 weeks until I am caught up to the present.

I've omitted many of the beers that i have tasted at these various breweries because they change frequently and brewmasters can change just as often. For that reason, I try to rate and inform about the breweries as a whole and not just the beer that they produce (but I will do that from time to time).

Fermentation is an artform. A brewery/winery has a state of mind that relies on the individual with the dream and a business plan that executes that vision for sustainability.

Indianapolis, IN - Rock Bottom Brewery, Northside [Chain]

This brewery is about 20 minutes from where I live. Not only are they close, but they brew some amazing beer. Most recently they brewed the ever elusive Saison beer.

Saison (means 'season' in French) beer is one of my new found favorites after having a bottle of a really nice one from Italy. Despite being a rare style, Saison Dupont from the Brasserie Dupont brewery in Belgium was ranked as the best beer in the world in 2005 by Men's Journal.

Since saison beers are bottle conditioned, they age very well. This is right up my alley since they can taste very 'winey' or wine-like. Brewers can also add a wide variety of herbs and spices during the fermentation process like orange peels, cinnamon, cloves, and even chamomile which creates a very unique beer.

Back to Rock Bottom, one of their brewmasters is a female (Liz Laughlin) and that is hard to come by. Thursday's are karoake nights and $2 mugs of their beer of choice (bonus).

This place gets a B+.

Rock Bottom Brewery [Northside Indianapolis, IN]
2801 Lake Circle Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46268
(317) 471-8840

Carmel, IN - Granite City Food & Brewery [Chain]

There was a building being built not far from where I grew up, but didn't know what it was. The location used to be a cornfield and an old Marathon that was torn down about 10 years ago. The land was sold and was not being used for a few years. There was a big office building and a parking garage put up not too long ago then this new building.

After some sleuthing, I heard it was a restaurant. Ok. Cool I guess. Then I heard that it was going to be a brewery! Badass! Hell ya to Carmel's first brewery! This brewery, part of an upscale chain from Minneapolis, was the 26th location and opened February 11th. Granite City sounds way better than Pebble Town or Gravel Village.

The opening was posted to Reuters and they had some great things to say about Indy's best city:
"Carmel was listed as one of the top ten places to live in the Midwest by Money
magazine because of its high quality of life. With excellent schools, safe
neighborhoods, an award winning public library and an expanded park system, the
City has attracted more than 40 corporate headquarters to Carmel. Its Meridian
Street Corridor is home to the second highest concentration of workers in the
state."~Reuters¹

That aside, we were there on opening day. There were a lot of managers around and everyone was helping everyone so service was great. They said things were crazy and there was a lot going on wrong behind the scenes but we couldn't notice.

They tout low prices for high quality and this showed in their food (awesome!). They are definitely more of a food establishment over beer however. On the downside, they only have 4 unique beers (and one seasonal) and 2 drinks that are a combination of two beers (not bad) and the beers are not made on site. The beers are pretty good, but nothing that blows my mind. The deserts definitely do though.

That being said, I am psyched to finally have a brewery in Carmel, and they are definitely worth going to. I would rate them as a B until they have more beers on tap.

Granite City Food & Brewery
150 W. 96th St.
Indianapolis, IN 46290
317.218.7185

Virginia Beach, VA - Gordon Biersch [Chain]

This brewery was pretty nice and is part of a large chain that is found internationally. I was staying in Norfolk, VA, but decided to drive over to Virginia Beach for an evening. It was around 95 degrees and very hot, but the sun was warm and there was a cool breeze. What did this mean? I was in the mood for a wheat beer of course!

Gordon Biersch brews (almost) all of their beer according to Reinheitsgebot¹ which is also known as the German/Bavarian purity law. This law dictated that only four ingredients [barley, hops, yeast, and water] should be used in the making of this beer. The law was needed in the 15^th century as beer was a very lucrative business and people were making it from fish bladder, tree bark, eggs, and other potentially poisonous things¹.

More correctly, Gordon Biersch is compliant with Biergesetz, not the purity laws because they make a wheat beer (thank god!) and wheat was forbidden by Reinheitsgebot. A wheat beer is considered to be 30-70% wheat and the rest is barley malt ¹.

Barley was the only grain allowed because wheat and rye were reserved for the bakers and this made the cost of ingredients for them to go down (medieval lobbyists at their best).

Complience to this law is a big selling point as there are a number of breweries in America that use non-standard ingredients.

All that aside, they had great beer and my favorite there was the one that didn't comply with the purity law. I would definitely visit this brewery again if it is in a city that I am in.

Gordon Biersch

Akron, OH - Thirsty Dog Brewing Company

Thirsty Dog Brewery
Did not get to go to the brewery, but had some of their beer via The Winking Lizard which was only 5 minutes from Solon in Bedford Heights so the drive was more attractive than another 35 minute one (went to Willoughby the night before).

• Siberian Night Russian Imperial Stout (bottled) - GRADE: B+
9.0% ABV,IBU 58. Very high in alcohol and very flavorful. Roasted coffee with chocolate and light nutmeg. Drinkable and won several awards.


• Cerberus 10 Dog Ale (on tap) - GRADE: B
10% ABV,IBU 31. Thicker, sweeter. Honey, almond, light roast. Golden colored, smooth.

Willoughby, OH (Cleveland) - Willoughby Brewing Company

Was traveling on my birthday so I went 40 minutes to Willoughby, OH to watch the Purdue/Michigan St. game. Nice inside with exposed tanks behind bar. Great happy hour specials. Purdue 73, MSU 54 which was pretty awesome. Would visit again if I had the chance.

• Willoughby Wheat - GRADE: B+
3.9% ABV,IBU 12. A little thin, but would be a refreshing wheat for working outside in summer.


• Lost Nation Pale Ale - GRADE: B
5.2% ABV,IBU 35


• Cherry red Ale- GRADE: A 'My favorite from Ohio!'
4.5% ABV,IBU 13. The winner. Strong hints of balaton cheries. LOVED IT. If I didn't have to buy a growler plus beer, I would in a heartbeat. Would buy a keg if I had a kegerator


• Pride of Willoughby - GRADE: B
7.25% ABV,IBU 31


• One-Hopper IPA Warrior - GRADE: B-
7.25% ABV,IBU 99. Single strain 'Warrior' hops brew


• Snowbelt Winter Lager - GRADE: B 'for weirdness'
6.5% ABV,IBU 21. Reminds me of a swish of mouthwash with a stout (not Lager). I thought it was a stout when I was drinking it becuase of the color and coffee/caramel hints. Has a peppermint taste that is interesting....


• Last Stop Stout - GRADE: B-
5.2% ABV,IBU 30

Willoughby Brewing Company
4057 Erie St
Willoughby, OH 44094
(440) 975-0202

Cleveland, OH - Great Lakes Brewing Company

Cleveland's biggest brewery. Hertz screwed up my reservation so I had a tricked out mustang instead of a Chevy Aveo. Drove 35 minutes from Solon, OH in a snow storm to get there. Would totally drive through a blizzard to get there...again... Watch out for mapquesting and using a GPS to find the location. They have the commercial brewing building (not open to public) 1 block from the actual place you drink the beer.

• Burning River Pale Ale- GRADE: B
6.0% ABV,IBU 45. Bought some for home.


• Commodore Perry IPA - GRADE: B-
7.5% ABV,IBU 80


• Dortmunder Gold Lager - GRADE: A-
5.8% ABV,IBU 30. Bought some for home. Consistenly wins awards. Seems to be the local favorite.


• Edmund Fitzgerald Porter - GRADE: B
4.7% ABV,IBU 37. Bought some for home.


• Eliot Ness Amber Lager - GRADE: B+
6.2%,IBU 35. Bought some for home.


• Rubicon - GRADE: B+
5.8% ABV,IBU 45


• Woodtooth Porter - GRADE: B
6.2% ABV,IBU 25

Christmas Ale - GRADE: A
The winner! 7.5%,IBU 40

So popular, they have to ration their distribution of it. Comes in a souvenir snifter. 6 packs in stores are sometimes 1 per customer (so I was told).

Great Lakes Brewing Company
2516 Market Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
216.771.4404

Denver, CO - Wynkoop Brewing Company

After waiting 2 hours to eat at a place called Snooze, worth it since the food was good they had a full bar and you could drink outside while waiting, we walked downtown and ended up walking to Wynkoop which was right downtown.

While I did not have the Obamanator Maibock Lager (for the DNC) to the left, they did have an incredible milk stout. There was also a great chili beer.

Apparently, they brew a ton of experimental beers and have a very high turnover of them which is never a bad thing. They mentioned they had something like 20 beers on tap that they made which was pretty crazy.

The location of the brewery is right downtown and one block from Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. I am not a big baseball fan anymore after the Pete Rose scandal (1989) and the 1994 Major League Baseball strike. If I do watch baseball, Go Cubbies!

We were all pretty tired from the early morning and long walk to there, but it was totally worth it for not only the brunch, but the beer. I'd give this place a B+ because they are not afraid to brew obscure styles of beer and do a great job of it too.

Wynkoop Brewing Company
1634 18th Street
Denver, CO 80202
303-297-2700

Denver, CO - Breckenridge Brewery

This was the first brewery that we hit when we were in Denver. I was already pretty psyched to be with the guys, but then to hit up a brewery was even better. It seemed kinda small and there weren't very many people there. One wall was clear which allowed the people sitting in the bar to see the fermenters which was nice.

While we were sampling the beers, this dude came over and asked us if we liked the beer and wanted to go on a tour of the brewery. Hell Ya! They are a commercial brewery (never been to one before) and they did all their own bottling in that facility. Even cooler, we weren't looking at everything behind a glass window. Very chill.

My favorite beer for this brewery was Agave Wheat, a wheat ale brewed with agave nectar. Agave Salmiana, aka 'Giant Agave' (5-6' high 10-12' wide), used in the brewing of the beer is the 'great wine making agave' to the Tehuacan and Puebla regions.

This brewery gets an A-. They enjoy the beer business and it shows in the excellent quality of their product.

Breckenridge Brewery
2220 Blake Street
ph: 303-297-3644

Denver, CO - Flying Dog Brewery

"Good People Drink Good Beer" ~Hunter S. Thompson.

This brewery is awesome! They were the first brewery in Aspen in over 100 years and were headquartered out of Denver, CO. They stopped producing beer there in January 2008 and moved all of their production to Fredericks, MA. Their business headquarters is still in Denver.

There are three great reasons to come to this brewery.

1. Ralph Steadman's art work is ridiculously awesome! His work was plastered all of over the walls of their old brewery location which has a bar attached.RalphSteadman.com

2. They use a Hunter S. Thompson quote as their main motto

3. Great beer. My favorite being the Gonzo Imperial Porter named after 'Gonzo' journalism pioneered by Hunter S. Thompson and can best be seen in the timeless movie 'Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas' staring Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro.

This brewery gets a solid A!

Flying Dog Brewery
2401 Blake Street
ph: 303-292-5027

Denver, CO Beers

In April, I took a trip to Denver to have guys weekend and hang out with friends from college. Being a big beer guy, I was in heaven there with all the microbrews. The first thing I noticed when hitting up a local bar is that none of the specials were for major production breweries.

I am not a Coors/Bud Light guy. "Drinkability" should be the motto for water, not beer. If it's a decent pore for < $1, I'm down. As a big note though, everything there was Coors Original, not light which was pretty cool.

I had many different kinds of beer, but there were three breweries that we hit: Flying Dog Brewery, Breckenridge Brewery, and Wynkoop Brewing Company. We skipped Coors to go to Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Also went to Boulder and had quite a bit of Boulder Brewing Company beer (Hazed and Infused).

The Rating System of All Beers

I am a HUGE believer in credit when credit is due. My inspiration for rating comes from the following: http://www.3wineguys.com/. Check them out or I will cut you... Just kidding. I'll just be buffudled as to why you wouldn't want to check out one of the best podcasts around (shout out to Free Talk Live)

• A+
• This is the kind of beer you would mortgage your house for. "Once in a lifetime, bro!" I would never give this rating out... unless I wouldn't mind being homeless...
• A
• Would totally buy a keg
• A-
• Would totally buy a keg... but have to check with the wife first
• B+
• This beer is worthy to be remembered and talked about in a beer conversation. If you're really drunk, mumbling the name works, too.
• B
• This is worth buying a 6 pack of
• B-
• If I saw this beer on the menu, I would consider buying it and recommending it to someone else
• C+
• Something good/special about the beer, but it's not stellar.
• C
• The beer is nothing special. This is why breweries have samplers
• C-
• I don't really prefer this beer. It's not bad, I just don't like it.
• D+
• Bad beer. I would not drink this again.
• D
• Drinakable, but pretty bad. As bad as I've rated beer
• D-
• Choke that sucker down.
• F+
• Skunk beer.
• F
• Pass the rest to a friend and tell him/her it's awesome.
• F-
• That's pinesol, dude. (or gin)

As a preface...

My name is 'Jester' and I love beer. I am a consultant and I love the beers. Most posts are blunt and don't get too technical so the casual drinkers can get my drift.
For the beer enthusiast, there will be tech stuff in the posts, too. I just don't know how to get them in here without being distracting.

I'll review beers from locations that I travel to looking for the best of the best from not only local breweries, but also chains. I'll make sure there is a noticable separation between chains and locals.

NOTE: LOCAL BREWPUBS SHOULD ALWAYS TAKE PRECIDENCE OVER CHAINS. Just my opinion in bold. I wasn't yelling it, but my fingers on the keyboard were.

I will prefer brew pubs that are local to where I am at the time (email to ask), but will travel if incentivized to rate a region's brew pubs if requested.