Chicago 2013 Day 1

Feloniousmonk and his FFF beer haul

6/10/13

Because Three Floyds is a short trek from Chicago in Munster, IN, Al and I picked up our friend Heather and headed to FFF first with the car before parking for the weekend.  Plus, it was Al's top choice on the weekend.

FFF is becoming a regular stop, so I will just add the highlights. I started with In the Name of Suffering, a black IPA, that was super smooth and hoppy.  Tiberian Inquisitor, a golden Belgian, and Toxic Revolution, a stout porter, were also positives of the stop.

Before each trip to FFF, I check the every changing menu online because it's not always very veggie friendly.  However, they took the bacon out of the White Cheddar Mac n Cheese for me and it was delicious.  Heather and I shared the smoked octopus (I'm pescetarian now) with "ramp pesto, cherry tomatoes, pickled ramps, arugula, mint and grilled bread." Quite amazingly good for eating tentacles.

FFF White Cheddar Mac n Cheese 

While en route to Chicago, Al received word via the social network that a former Minnesota beer friend Adam Schulte, who now works for Artisanal Imports in Chicago, said we should head to Headquarter's Beercade for a special Meantime tapping.

Walking in, the Beercade is eerily similar to Barcade in Brooklyn. The bartender quickly confirmed that Beercade was inspired by Barcade.  The two main differences is that Beercade is less sketchy of a place and neighborhood, and the games can be played for FREE!  While pumping a few quarters is no big deal, it was a lot of fun to just hit restart on Asteroids a few times because of my rusty play (200 points from making the top ten!). While the games aren't as classic as at Barcade, many are from the 80s plus newer ones from the 90s that I don't know how to play.




Nice mix of local and regional brews in the tap list.   I started with the Solemn Oath Mythological Wonder, which was ok. In researching to put it on the list, I saw that it was a collaboration with Sun King, not a favored brewery by me.  To be nostalgic, I ordered a can of Olympia. As a kid, my dad drank Olympia for years until he changed over to Miller Lite.  I see why he changed now.  The Meantime beers came on and I had samples of the barleywine and the scotch ale.  The scotch ale on draft was every bit the beer I had tried in bottles from the Rare Beer Club in 2007. Maybe the best scotch ale anywhere.  My draft of the barleywine fell victim to high expectations. Still a very good beer, but not what I hoped for.

Like Barcade, there's no food service at Beercade.  Our bartender kindly recommended his favorite pizza place and we ordered Giordano's for delivery.  I gave the doorman my name and he nicely watched for our pizza and directed it to us. Very excellent, full meal after the lighter fare I had at Three Floyds.

At Beercade, I was chatting with Chris, who was the owner of a local business called Bee's Knees, which makes bar snacks. Later in the weekend, we were able to find them at the Map Room, and can report that the Chipotle Lime were assertively hot and tasty.

Sheffield's 

Again, based on a recommendation from someone at the bar, we ended the night at Sheffield's, which was in walking distance down the street.  Natural cut fries with aioli sauce appeared at the table (not sure who ordered them)—very good.  I ended the night with a Green Flash Imperial Rye IPA and happy that Green Flash is almost always a good bet.  Al ordered a bottle of 2007 Bigfoot Barleywine, which was solid but past its prime with a bit too much oxidation. We sat in the small bar up front, but from walking around and the website, there's a lot more to Sheffield's than meets the eye.  The aged bottle list, a portion of which we saw in a cooler, was the main reason for the recom. While Beercade has cool beer and is full of hipsters, Sheffield's down the street has an older crowd and the bar seems to cater more to the beer geek. We clearly shortchanged Sheffield's as the last stop of the night, but can't drink every place first, especially when it was unplanned.

Great first day in Chicago.  In the future, I would like to go back for an extended time at Beercade for playing the games until I had my fill while sipping on local beers—slowly, so as not to interfere with the game play. This also should be done alone, to relieve any guilt or pressure to play less or draw focus from the transporting back in time. Or, possibly, the day could be done with a geek of similar passion or old arcade games and beer. When sated on nostalgia with my name in the top ten of a few games, I'd head to Sheffield's for a bottle of something special to end the night.

Chicago 2013 Day 2

Wee Mac (Sun King Brewing, Indianapolis, IN)

Wee Mac is a copper ale with mostly gold highlights shining through in spite of being a wee heavy. Slightly off white head falls quickly. Strong malt nose w/o any hops noticed, but there's a stale bread smell that's rather unpleasant. Strong diacytl, I believe. Diacytal flavors, butterscotch, and staleness continue in the taste. Sour and off flavored, and the mouthfeel is watery. I'm generally beer adventurous, but extremely disappointed with this beer and having a hard time finishing it. Avoid.

Serving type: can

Reviewed on: 12-29-2011 18:02:11

Broo Doo (Three Floyd's Brewing, Munster, IN)

3F, one of the kings (like alpha king!) of hops, has a harvest ale and I finally have been able to get a bottle by happenstance on a trip to Purdue. Thanks for Village Bottle Shop in West Lafayette for having some left. Golden IPA with a beautiful sheen, and a dirty white, fluffy, rocky head. Super clean and bright pine, lemon, and citrus nose that invites thoughts of summer with a deep whiff. Grass and spice hop bite that lingers and builds. Caramely, slightly sweet base the gives a solid base to let the hops shine. I'm a sucker for all harvest ales, but this is one of the cleanest fresh hop ales I've had in recent years. 3F rocks.


Serving type: bottle


Reviewed on: 11-05-2011 02:25:04

Hoptimus IPA (New Albanian Brewing, New Albany, IN)

This 100 IBU Imperial IPA gets its bitterness from four early additions of high alpha Nugget hops and late/dry hop additions of Cascade. Shimmering amber beer with an off white, fluffy head that falls with a lace.  Nose is light on citrus in spite of the dry hopped Cascade, which is very subdued. More spice, pepper, clove and earthy pine in the nose on top of a light sourdough and caramel malt base. Hop bite is good, and flows to the back of the tongue. Lingers nicely, but is raw and not overly subtle. Malt falls deep to the background in spite of being a relatively big beer at 10.7% (a bit over 1.080 if a did the math right). Good, hoppy beer that's fun to drink, but lacks the complexity and character that I prefer in a DIPA. Might be the English yeast not bringing out some of my favorite characteristics, but if you prefer English to American barleywine, this might be a great beer for you.


Serving type: bottle


Reviewed on: 11-03-2011 01:04:46

Harvey (Brugge Brasserie, Indianapolis, IN)

Bright red sour ale with a bright white head that falls quickly in the goblet. Slightly sour nose with a clear but not overwhelming fruit. Light hop or spice underneath. Blackberry arrives in the mouth--light and refreshing summer beer--sourness is there, but light and compliments the blackberry fairly well. If you're looking for boundary pushing funk--this isn't it. But, it's a very nice, light beer that balances the sweet and sour.

Serving type: on-tap

Reviewed on: 10-27-2011 00:37:44
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Golden Zoe IPA (Thr3e Wise Men, Indianapolis, IN)

Ordered the mug special--$10 for a 25 oz filled mug and you go home with the glass. The mug was for their dubbel Long Fang--which is evidently a online gaming reference that means something is cool or ???. While the very nice waitress explained the reference to me--I don't remember enough of it to relay it here. Nice glass though, and took it home to drink bombers of homebrew. 


Amber IPA with shimmering red highlights back lit by the plasma TVs with three different football games on.  Ever so slightly off white head that falls with a nice lace.  Muddled malt, biscuit, toffee, caramel and grapefruit in the nose. Good caramel and malt base with a nice hop bit as well in the taste--slightly metallic and vegetal taste lingering underneath. Adequate IPA for the moment, but I'm not a fanboy.


Serving type: on-tap


Reviewed on: 10-27-2011 01:25:30

Brugge Brasserie (Indianapolis, IN)

10/21/11

I tried Brugge Brasserie at Great Taste in 2007 and was looking forward to the stop in Indianapolis. My niece is a newly minted Boilermaker, so we picked her up from my alma mater to head to Indy to be tourists. After a walk through the memorials downtown, we headed to the Broad Ripple neighborhood to hang out and hit the pub. Of the three pubs in the area, BB is the highest rated over Broad Ripple and Thr3e Wise Men. 

Walking in the door, we had very friendly and quick service. Took a seat and ordered up some frites. As an avid traveler and fan of the Netherlands, I'm well acquainted with frites. However, these didn't taste very authentic. Unless you're really hungry, think twice about ordering the L'Enorme--it's truly enormous. Waitress at the next pub said they couldn't finish it with five around the table one night. For dinner, we ordered crepes--scrambled eggs, roasted tomato, double glazed onion and swiss. Enjoyed it a lot. 

Had a sample of the I70 Ghost Ramp IPA--and wasn't impressed. First draft was of the Tripel de Ripple, which was ok but lacked some character. The final draft was Harvey--a sour ale with blueberries. Easily the best of the night, but still light and middle of the road. Good stop and enjoyed the dinner, but don't think I'll make Brugge Brasserie a regular stop for future Indy trips.

Reviewed on: 10-27-2011 00:51:08

Thr3e Wise Men (Indianapolis, IN)

10/21/11

Walking back to the car from Brugge Brasserie, we saw Thr3e Wise Men across the street--and over we went. Sports bar atmosphere with lots of plasma TVs and multiple games running. Nice U shaped bar, and light wood throughout the place, including the oversized communal picnic tables and beer barrels with tops to stand up at to drink and eat. Place was small up front, but it extended through the back behind the restrooms. Glass wall for the brewhouse in the back makes for a nice setting. Overall, a nice little sports bar. 

And, they seem to be trying very hard. Not sure on the food since we'd already eaten at Brugge Brasserie down the street, but the free popcorn was pretty good. Our server Arianna was attentive and friendly, and really made it a pleasant stop. Chris (a manager?) stopped to chat, and was a '09 Boilermaker (we we're all dressed for homecoming), and seemed to really know beer as we chatted about the local beer scene. And, the attitude of the brewers (Long Fang and Centennial DIPA on push and cask) attest that they have an attitude to push some beer limits. My guess from this, and previous trips, is that the Indiana beer scene is developing but not quite ready for prime time, even with the obvious exception of a Three Floyds in state (technically, near Chicago).

Reviewed on: 10-27-2011 01:38:33

Spazzerack! (Three Floyd's Brewing, Munster, IN)

Blood red to brown combo of Alpha King and Robert the Bruce aged in bourbon barrels. Star anise is evidently cheap, or just very potent, because its abundantly clear in the nose. With the sweet malt added, smells just like anise candy that can be found around Christmas in Dutch bakeries. If you pay attention, the orange of the description can be found tucked away in the side of the anise. Syrupy sweet base with more anise, but the AK hop taste--grassy and grapefruit--pops in the middle. Add to that some peat and bourbon, and this is one interesting beer. I don't think I'll take this one home, but it is one incredible beer that I'm honored to try; the type of beer that's a testament to the art and creatively of brewing that those in the club seek out. Those reading this review can ponder the difference between my rating and those on BeerAdvocate that were much harsher. In part, I'm guessing the anise is a tough mistress when so strong.  But, if you're looking for the beer frontier--this is it.

Serving type: on-tap

Reviewed on: 10-26-2011 02:33:33

Behemoth Blonde Barleywine (Three Floyd's Brewing, Munster, IN)

Amber barleywine with a golden glow backlit by the kung fu movie on the plasma TV over the brewery window. Slightly off white head falls to a nice lace in the snifter. Big, hoppy citrus nose like a west coast IPA. Cool and reminds me a bit of Stone Old Guardian, but a bit more rough around the edges. Dark cherry, chocolate and caramel underneath the commanding hop. Sweet malt backbone that mellows the hop but by no means subdues it.  Lingering Quad resin with more dark fruit and caramel on the tongue, and a bitter finish from the hop. Classic FFF hop interpretation of a standard style. Get it, drink it and live life.  Going to find a clone of this one, and try to brew it at home.

11/4/11 Just drank the bottle of Behemoth that I brought home from 3F and love it even more. Really has moved to the top of my list for favorite barleywines along with Stone OG. Great beer and a must try if you get a chance.

Serving type: on-tap

Reviewed on: 10-26-2011 02:53:10

Zombie Dust (Three Floyd's Brewing, Munster, IN)

Gold to amber APA with a full head that falls to a rounded lace in an imperial pint glass.  Menu says 50 IBUs, but it packs a much bigger punch. Grassy, earthy nose that sings of hops, light fruit, and bitterness up front on top of caramel sweetness. Not a big beer, but doesn't taste light or watery at all--just not heavy. Smallish beer that showcases the hop bite for those with a zombie like craving for hops.


Serving type: on-tap


Reviewed on: 10-26-2011 02:58:50

Lafayette Brewing (Lafayette, IN)

My wife and I hit Lafayette Brewing every year or two when we head down for an annual football game at my alma mater.  LBC is easy to find in the downtown area and generally easy to park across the street or farther down on side streets. When we've been there, the place is generally packed during the post football game hubbub and seems to enjoy a good reputation locally. Generally, there's one new beer on tap to try, and the rest stay pretty standard through the year.  All of the beers are good to very good, but nothing to really test the beer limits of many geeks. Nice if you're in town, but I wouldn't go too far out of the way for it. We would've skipped it this trip, but Chumley's down the street is a bar only, and our freshmen Boilermaker niece wasn't allowed in, so we headed down to the more family friendly LBC. 
The go-to beer for the place is the Black Angus Oatmeal Stout, which I like drinking, in part, for the irony that I'm a vegetarian. Of which, the food choices are bad for veggies--two entrees, a salad and a couple of appetizers. No food this trip because of the earlier pizza run to Arnie's, but I have eaten at LBC before and not been disappointed. New beer for this trip was an Aussie Red Ale called Bushmen's Bitter. Not bad. Hoppier than I expected and I assume with Australian hops because of the extreme fruitiness of the nose, but the amber ale was very light and almost watery. Great transition beer since nothing was 'scary' except the hop forward character of the beer. 

Good stop, nice place, sure bet if you're visiting Purdue. And, unlike the bar down the street--LBC is smoke free; evidently, not a given in Indiana.

Reviewed on: 10-26-2011 01:58:01

Three Floyds Brewing (Munster, IN)

Was able to finally return to Three Floyds on a trip through Chicago to Purdue. While the review below clearly shows my love of FFF, this trip made it it one of my very favorite spots. It helped that my wife was along to DD this time, so the tasting was a more intense, but it was also the fall line up of beers compared to the summer brews that I had last time. Drinking Behemoth, Artic Panzer Wolf, Zombie Dust and Spazzerack! took all of my energy so that I didn't even get to Dreadnaught--one of my favorites. 

But what really put it over the top was the food. I had pizza last time, which was very good. Maybe it's improved as well--didn't have a chance to try this trip. We really liked that they offered small plates so the meal was a more appropriate size. We started with the butternut squash soup--amazing--black truffles, hazelnut yogurt and pickled squash made this a soup to remember. After that, I had the mac n cheese. Doesn't sound too adventuresome, but the old fashioned comfort food with American cheese was spiced up with pickled onions and bread crumbs. I know--onions in mac n cheese? Just have to try it. 

The basic format of the bar hasn't changed in the last few years, but they seem to have settled in with more beer paraphernalia and other decorations on the walls. The big screen TV with a kung fu movie playing was a nice touch--and nice to watch with dinner over the brew house. Not sure how, but it adds to the attitude of the place. Not fancy--just good. Fits my personality exactly. I feel lucky that FFF is directly on my route to visit my alma mater, and hope to make this a much more regular stop in the future to one of my very favorite brewpubs anywhere in the world. 

8/1/07 review from my first visit: Three Floyds is an Indiana legend with Alpha King, as they should be. Lots of attitude, unique, and surviving by just brewing beer too good not to drink, similar to Stone of CA and Surly of MN. This was such a good stop, I simply drove home to Minnesota instead of hitting the rest of my planned stops. 

Needed lunch, and ordered the five cheese pizza as the main veggie option. It was very good--and big. Two or three people at least to eat. It was also good cold for dinner half way through Wisconsin. 

Jumped in with a half pint (thanks FFF for pouring halfs) of Remus: Bravo. This was a paired brew with Remulus: Apollo. They beers were idential APAs except for the Bravo and Apollo hops. Remus the better beer for me--cleaner and smoother compared to the Remulus that had a bit of a grassy taste, unusual for FFF beers in spite of the very large hops bill that must have annually. Next was a draft of the famous Dreadnaught IPA, an Imperial IPA that is worth the travel. The bottle I took home was just as good though the bite was a bit different and lacked the balance of the draft for me. The final beer (so I thought) was the Fantabulous Resplendence (aka X), FFFs tenth anniversary ale. Not really sure what the style should be labelled but it was 100 IBUs, so a DIPA range, but lots of Belgain characteristics, probably from the yeast. Very easy drink with lots of kick. In spite of eating most of the pizza and sitting for three hours, the accumulation of the beers forced the long wait before hitting the road again. 

And, then, a FFF worker tapped a new beer--Gorch Fock Helles--and handed me the test glass to make sure the tap was working properly--then dumped it and repoured another for me because it didn't look quite right to him. To me, this emphasized FFFs commitment to quality at all levels and it is easily seen in the beer. 

Hoping to return for an evening to check it out as well. The only downside of the pub (not for me but for others maybe going there) is that it's basically a thrown together in a corner of the brewery. And, the whole place is in a warehouse district south of Chicago that's a bit out of the way and I found to be hard to find that day. Personally, I like the comfortable college dorm furniture feel that concentrates on beer or form, but maybe not everybody will like that. If you're there to drink good beer--go; if you want a pretty place, head downtown.

Reviewed on: 10-26-2011 03:17:30

Osiris Pale Ale (Sun King Brewing, Indianapolis, IN)

Golden American Pale Ale with copper highlights. Head falls to a light white film--no lace. Huge citrus, grapefruit, light lemon and pepper. Light toasted malt, but overwhelmed by the hop. Clearly a hop vehicle, as promised on the side of the tallboy can. Grassy hope bit with citrus continued on tongue with a sweet malt bed. Hop forward and fun.

Serving type: can

10-26-2011