From Earlier in the Week

Alter Brewing Co.
Mixed Confection

Black Horizon Brewing
Barrel-Aged Sugar Bomb

Tangled Roots Brewing Co.
Black Forest Bedtime Story &
Champaign Ae
 

Ike & Oak Brewing
BBA Mauled by Kambucha,
RBA Mauled by Kambucha,
and BBA Class V Double Stout

Mad Hatchet Brewing
Sawzall Kung Fu

Skeleton Key Brewing
Paintball Fight Kettle Sour

Flapjack Brewery
SchmuckJack IPA

Will County Brewing Co.
Otto Brauer German Leichtbeir

Friday, November 13

A Message from the King

You would think that I'd go for a horror-pun on Friday the 13th.  But, the Mrs. and I watched Hamilton last night on Disney+, so those songs are stuck in my head.  Any-who ...

King's Blood from Alter Brewing Company is the amped-up version of King Balaton cherry wheat ale.  That ale was barrel aged in red wine barrels for several months.  How good is it?  Well, a few years' ago, King's Blood took home two awards from FOBAB (Festival of Barrel-Aged Beers).

Coming to Nik & Ivy's

On Friday, we will be seeing Loren's Lager being released at Nik & Ivy.  As soon as I see more, I'll update the post!

A Pothole You Definitely Want to Hit

Rt66 Old School Brewing has released a new stout, Pothole.  It's a 6.4% ABV dark beer that gives you notes that are toasty and chocolately.

Metal Monkey's First in their Shutdown Series

Shoutout to Joliet Brewers Guild!  The guys over at Metal Monkey were avid homebrewers and members of the JBG.  They're flashing back to those days with their new Shutdown Series beers.  The first is Hops in the Abyss.  It's a American Pale Ale weighing in at 5% ABV.  Strong bitterness with notes of pine and tropical fruit, with a dank resinous finish.  Only one keg of this one, which was brewed with Trident and Sultana hops.  Get it while you can!

Saturday, November 14

Fun Size, How I Love Thee plus a DREAMSICLE BEER

On Saturday, 11/14, as part of the "PollyannA Super Fun Time Winter Party November Edition" (the name cracks me up), Pollyanna Brewing will be releasing a mixed four pack of Toasted Marshmallow Fun Size and BRAND NEW Bananas Foster Fun Size.  Available at noon!  Perfect for those like me who can't make decisions - you'll get the new Bananas Foster AND the amazing Toasted Marshmallow.  Dreamsicle Flurries, a what ale with Orange and Vanilla, will aslo be released.  And, lucky for me - the guy who can't make decisions, Friday is payday - so I'll be getting all three.

Tuesday, November 17

Dankier than ever Before!!!

Hey Zebra 7 is the latest installment in Will County Brewing's experimental Hazy IPA series, brewed with Chinook, Citra, and liquid Ekuanot hop extract.  

A Bottle of Old Faithful

Ike & Oak Brewing has released Old Faithful, an American-style Barleywine.  Brewed with Centennial, Cascade, and Simco, Old Faithful is rich, malty and hoppy - notes of bread, caramel, honey, and toffee.

Wednesday, November 18

Whiskey Hill's Cans o Plenty

Some new Whiskey Hill Beer out for everyone!

• Con Nopal - Berliner Weisse with Prickly Pear and Mango
• Wrapped in Steal - NEIPA with Talus, Citra, and Mosaic hops (collab with Luis of Monochrome Brewing)
• Crazy Calabrese - Blonde Ale with cannoli shells (collab with Turano Baking Company)

Thursday, November 19

Awww GTFO

GTFO stands for Get the Fruit Out... not sure what you all were thinking.  It's a Hazy IPA with blood orange, apricot, white peach, pineapple, and pomegranate puree.  This is pt. 10 of the Girls Brew Too series - brewed by Tiffany, one of the Tangled Roots employees.

Volume 15

Horizon IPA, Volume 17, is now available at Black Horizon Brewing Company.  Waves of tropical citrus and fruit wash over a delicate bland of American and German malts.  West coast and southern hemisphere hops deliver notes of pineapple, grapefruit, and candied pine with crisp and balanced bitterness.

Friday, November 20

This Title Just Makes Sense

Have you met Pauly?  Pauly is Rt66 Old School Brewing's new head brewer.  So, what did Pauly do during his first days at OSB?  He's brewed a beer entitled The FIrst Days.  It's a West Coast IPA, 7.5% ABV, that uses classic hops like Columbus, Centennial, Cascade, and Simcoe.  You're going to get resony, piney, and bitter tastes.

The Return of The Artist

On Saturday, November 21, Black Horizon Brewing Company is back with a tasty one - Life of an Artist.  It's a light and easy drinking milk stout infused with peanut butter for a rich, nutty profile that compliments the roasty, dark malt backbone.  

Coming Soon

Movember is Back at Pollyanna and Imperial Oak

The event may be different, but Movember is back at these two breweries.  The annual fundraiser raises money for the Movember Foundation - with both breweries making the same Barrel Aged Double Oatmeal Stout, as well as one variant.

• Pollyanna's Variant is Rye Barrel Aged with choclate and vanilla.
• Imperial Oak's Variant is Rum Barrel Aged with banana.

Miskatonic's Latest Goblinoid

Bugbear is coming!  It's a 10% ABV imperial milk stout inspired by Cafe Brulot.  It's meant to mirror the flavors of this New Orleans cocktail that features Cognac, cinnamon, black coffee, and orange and lemon citrus flavors.  

Alter's HVAC Sounds Like It's Working Fine

Hazelnut, Vanilla and Coffee.  Sounds like a great beer on its own, but listen to this ... Alter took those falvors and blended them into a bourbon barrel aged barleywine.  Barrel Aged HVAC Barleywine Ale is coming soon!

Dementor, Dementor!

Sign me up for a few of these ... although I probably could only drink one at a time.

• Dementor:  Will County Brewing Company's first ever Russian Imperial Stout.  This bad boy weighs in at 10.0% ABV
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Dementor - Cherry Cordial:  Aged in Blaum Bros. Distilling Co. Bourbon Barrels, with cherries and chocolate.  This Dementor is even bigger, 11.5% ABV. 

Here's Comes Santa, In All His Glory

It's that time of year, where Flashing Santa can be seen on the Ale Trail.  Metal Monkey's spiced holiday ale makes its first appearance on November 27 at 12pm.  

Everything Real Nice

If you're going to name a beer, this is a really nice one.  Literally.  Everything Real Nice Holiday Brown Ale is being brewed by Flapjack Brewery, featuring cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cacao nibs, brown sugar, and vanilla beans.  Look at this list of ingredients, it truly is everything real nice.  

Goldfinger's Baltic Porter

Goldfinger's double-decocted Baltic Porter is lagering very nicely. These types of roast forward lagers benefit tremendously from prolonged lagering to round out the roasty acidity with dark fruits and chocolate flavors. Even though the beer finished at 7.3%ABV, any hot alcohol qualities are non existent.

A Gold Butcher Collab

Quoting Goldfinger's latest post

We did something really fun yesterday! For our first ever collaboration beer, we teamed up with our friends from Hop Butcher for the World to brew a beer that transcends style guidelines and upends the lager stereotype. The great hop-centric minds at Hop Butcher and the lager loyalists at Goldfinger brainstormed a beer that would represent both breweries in the most drinkable way possible. Combining rare new hop varietals with unwavering traditional lager brewing techniques, we can’t wait for you to drink this beer.

As with all beers at Goldfinger, it will require patience as extended lagering will make this beer truly shine. Stay tuned for more details on the beer and the release.

On Deck at Garage Band

Fear the Voices (Double IPA) and Fell on Black Days (Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout) are being brewed at Garage Band Brewing in Plainfield.  All are coming soon!