You bastard.

It is amazing here. Clean, friendly, 28 beers on tap, good menu... I am happy even though I'm alone.

Shiv I'll make you a deal. Of they take my brand of card I'll pick you up a shirt.

Jasmine's headed this way!!

Which one are you at? Clybourn? If so, that Binny's next door is tits! May as well hit Local Option next (pretty close by). The best tap list in the city and they have fish tacos.

http://www.beermenus.com/cities/chicago ... cal-option

Looking at this... they usually have something from Cantillon on. Alas, not today. Still, Peche Mortel, Madrugada Obscura and Beer Geek Brunch on tap is no joke!

That'd be sweet.

Anything good on tap?

Say hi to Jas.

.......Binny's is nextdoor?! Sweet jesus.









Poor Jasmine.

Alright, so that was fun. Had 4 at Goose Island, then Jasmine showed me to Binny's, followed by an awesome bike-themed restaurant with Bell's 2 Hearted on tap (and killer shrimp and grits!). Damn.

Goose Island:

They do brew some of it here, but small batches from the looks of the lauter tuns. I think they have a big operation elsewhere, and another brewpub.

The Beer Menu

2 sided ...with 28 of theirs on tap. I was impressed. Also coincidentally, they had a 2 Brothers beer and Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin'.

Beer #1: Four Stars

A Belgian Saison, but dark. It did have some depths, some figgy / licorice-ish taste way down when it got warm, and it was great, but not HOLY FUCK great. Merely "pretty damned good." B+

Beer #2: Irish Stout

Yeah this was excellent. Like Guiness but much more interesting. It had the dry finish and the creamy body, and smelled COMPLETELY different than their other stouts. Low content (gotta pace yerself), and fucking delicious. A-

Beer #3: Green Line Pale Ale

Hmm... Once the beer is in your mouth it tastes great, but there is something amiss in the smell of it. It smells... funky. It's off-putting. Clean and refreshing and malty and interesting, but whatever that foot funk smell is, it's got to go. B-

Beer #4: Mild Mannered (English Mild Ale)

Another good middle-of-the-road beer, well crafted and interesting and bready and pleasant. Hits the mark its aiming for. B+



Binny's...

I gotta say, I was not overhwhelmed with their selection. It was good, but I had a hard time deciding what to get, because so much of it was available in Boston. No big 22's of any Bell's, Sprecher, and few of the great niche Wisconsin beers. In fact I only saw 3 or 4 kinds of Bell's, and no 2 Hearted whatsoever. I wound up getting 4 packs of:

Goose Island - Pepe Nero
Tyranena - Shaggin' In The Wood (Scotch ale aged in bourbon barrels)
Sprecher Premium Reserve - Abbey Triple

I plan on coming home early tomorrow, watching movies, and drinking some of these. Dont have room for all of them in the luggage.


Oh and I picked up a shirt for me and one for Shiv.

I'll see you at the Map Room tonight, Kyle. More beer.

wOOt!

Bell's doesn't make anything in 22s and Two-Hearted goes so damn fast around here. Between that, Alpha King and Gumballhead not being readily available due to either bad distro or overwhelming popularity, it's a wonder we have any fresh hops for the spring and summer. It all depends on when they get their deliveries too... I think that location gets most of their stuff on Thursdays. You need to go back and get some stuff from Three Floyds and Half Acre. You'll kick yourself if you don't.

St. Peter's tasting in my hood tonight.

Should I bother? Do they make anything worth a shit?

I'm headed back up that way tonight before I get some beers with Todd. But I already have a problem... no room in my luggage. I'm drinking some of the 4 packs now, but I may have to give a few to Todd to make room. This Tyranena barrel aged scotch ale is great, as was the Pepe Nero. Great shit.

Loog and I are both of the mind that their packaging gets an A+ and their beers a B+ at best. They're not bad, and if it's close to home and you've got nothing else going on, I'd go. But they dont make any A's that I've had, and I've had 3 or 4 of them. Pleasant, mild, british.

Got a few of them beers from Squirg last night -- including one of the Tyranena scotch ales. Really looking forward into pouring those this weekend.
Thanks, again for that little sampling. It was a lot of fun hanging out with you last night.

People who have not hung out with Kyle:
When you get a chance to do so, do it! He's a super nice guy with a lot of really good stories.
Also, to see the look on his face when he tries a new brew that he really digs is priceless; it's like watching the look on a young child's face when they try ice cream for the first time. Pure joy.

Have a safe trip back, Kyle. Hope you had a good time while you were here.

I will post my reviews of the beers that I got from K sometime this weekend.

Heh heh. Todd was an excellent tour guide. "That's where they filmed High Fidelity." "You wanna eat at an authentic family-owned costa rican place, or a belgian beer-themed restaurant?" JESUS. I went costa rican, by the way. And it was killer. I like to be unpredictable.

So now I find myself with cold weather (tiny snow flurries drifting down and I am NOT dressed for it), luggage to carry around (had to check out of the hotel), and 4 or 5 hours to kill before my flight. Then I remembered Goose Island has free wi-fi and a full menu... LivePosten from Goose Island this afternoon. This "The Snead" porter is excellent. I am not going to want to leave.

Oh man, this scotch ale is... boring. What happened?! It's flat, almost unhopped, just... Zzzzzz. Damn.

I didn't even travel to Chicago this week, and I tried the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Rare tonight in bottle form.
I also had the:
Ryediculous IPA from the Chameleon Brewing Co.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22 ... ba=rpenke1

The Weyerbacher Verboten Belgian Ale:
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/weyerbache ... en/118862/

The Ephemere on tap:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22/3523

Binny's and their 90's-era out-dated keychain card saver bullshit -- the reason I will never go there again.
Just a big spaced out "overwhelming" warehouse of shit that ultimately fits into a liquor store 1 block from my apt that's 1/4 of its size.
Their shit's way overpriced to make their card-saver shit look reasonable and their selection is comparable to most liquor stores in Minneapolis and subpar to many in Madison.
Go Pack!

I consumed a mix and match six pack last night while watching the International Friendly against Argentina and UFC Fight Night. Half of the beers I drank came from the Samuel Adams Longshot series:

Longshot Blackened Hops
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35 ... ba=taez555

Longshot Friar Hop Ale
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35 ... ba=mduncan

Longshot Honey B's Lavender Ale
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/67332

I also had a bottle of the Goose Island Pepe Nero, an Anchor Porter and

Avery Brewing Co. Out of Bounds Stout
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/avery-out- ... -stout/64/

This made me laugh, Ky, because the packaging suckered me into buying one last week. I got a big haul last week over in Columbine - some repeats (Brooklyn Locals, etc) - that I'll post up as I drink them.

Derris took me to a pimp ass bar in ATL yesterday - great food, good beer selection, and a huge basement with darts, shuffleboard, 2 bocce courts (ATL's newest trend, they had one at the restaurant we had Bloor's surprise party at) and a gnerally cool vibe - we weren't the only people with a kid in there at lunch time.

We drank a Pima Pils and one other while there, and a Sessions lager at the bar pre-dinner. Not sure what beer I got with dinner, but I know Derris and another guy (Gorman, FYI, Kyle) had an Oskar Blues Ten Fiddy post dinner. I opted for a Bourbon flip, which had some kind of egg cream element, and was sprinkled with nutmeg - shit was gooooooood. Then aderris and i had 2 or 3 Guinnesses in an attempt to hang out, but Fems Derris and GAR were failing in real time, so it was short lived.

I've been there, but not with Derris. It's off Howell Mill Rd, right?

I like St. Peters Golden Ale, but haven't tried anything else. I still prefer Terrapin's Golden Ale to it.

Haven't had it - cool. I enjoy 420 well enough when I have it. It's not as good and the GOOD ones, but it's, you know, hoppy and stuff.

http://www.gooseisland.com/pages/specia ... nt/133.php

March 28, 2011
Dear Friends,


When I first started Goose Island Clybourn in 1988, drinkers were just beginnning to explore new beer styles and "craft beer" was a term that no one had even thought of. I couldn't imagine the explosive growth that craft beer has had in the last few years, or the amazing creativity of so many new brewers, and the discovery of the amazing possibilities of beer by a whole generation of drinkers.

I am very proud of Goose Island's contribution too this craft beer movement, of the many awards won by our brewers, our growing number of employees, our support of the communities and life of Chicago, and the friendship of so many beer lovers in Chicago and elsewhere.

Over the past five years our partnerships with Craft Brewers Alliance and Anheuser-Busch have enabled Goose Island to reach a growing number of beer drinkers. This has fueled our growth to the point that demand for our beers has outgrown the capacity of our brewery. Recently, we’ve even had to limit production of some classic and medal-winning styles. To keep up with growing demand from drinkers we’ve explored a variety of paths too secure new capital to support our growth.

Today’s agreement to consolidate ownership of Goose Island under Anheuser-Busch will provide us with the best resources available to continue along our path of growth and innovation.

I am more excited than ever about Goose Island’s future. With the support and financial backing of our new partner, we will continue to brew our authentic classic styles, develop new amazing beers, and serve our drinkers.


Cheers!
John Hall

Hmmmm.
No sir. I don't like this. Not at all.

goddamnit