From Earlier in the Week

Whiskey Hill Brewing
Con Nopal
Wrapped in Steel
Crazy Calabrese

Tangled Roots Brewing Co.
GTFO (Get the Fruit Out)

Black Horizon Brewing Co.
Horizon IPA, Vol. 15

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 Friday, November 20, 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.  

The Offspring Is Back

Coriander and bitter orange in a cream ale.  Sounds amazing, right?  It is.  Get out to Hickory Creek Brewing Co. and get Offspring of the Korn.  If that description doesn't intrigue you, the can definitely should.  

Saturday, November 21

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.

Friday, November 27

Miskatonic's Latest Goblinoid

Bugbear is coming on Black Friday!  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.  

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.  

Coming Soon

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!

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!