Latest Reviews

Blonde Doppelbock
Capital Brewery
Pale Ale
Founders Brewing Co.
Station Master Wheat Ale
Flossmoor Station
Oleator Dopplebock
Sand Creek Brewing Co.
Hop Juice
Two Brothers Brewing Company
Final Absolution
Dragonmead Microbrewery

Evolution Of A Beer Dork

Much like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, Nigel rose from the evil influences of shit beer and became a certified Beer Dork. My name is Nigel Tanner, and I am a Beer Dork.

But I have a confession to make … I haven’t always been one.

It’s true. I spent the early part of my beer drinking life as an ignorant shill following the proverbial herd. Much like Brian the talking dog on Family Guy, who admitted that he had “licked his share of peanut butter” back in the day, I drank my share of B-M-C swill. While I’m … by Nigel Tanner—published May 5, 2008 full article »  (5 comments)

Midwest World Beer Cup Winners

A quick rundown of the Midwest’s medal winners in the 2008 World Beer Cup. The Brewers Association announced the 2008 World Beer Cup winners on April 19 in San Diego. Although I agree the winning brewers deserve praise for the great beers they’ve submitted in the competition, I tend to be a little cynical about the actual awards. My first beef is the number of styles and how styles are decided upon. The Brewers Association basically pulled extra styles out of their ass (“English-Style Summer Ale”—what the Hell … by Eddie Glick—published April 20, 2008 full article »

Make It Better With Beer

Sure, it’s trendy, but the fact is pairing good Midwestern craft brews with food makes eating almost as enjoyable as drinking beer. I’ve never been what you’d call a “foodie.” Food has never been much more to me than basic sustenance you cram into your hole to keep from passing out and eventually dying. So I have to say I was a little perplexed at first when this trend of pairing craft beer and food came to prominence. To be honest, I couldn’t see any reason to drink my beer while eating food. I just didn’t … by Eddie Glick—published April 15, 2008 full article »

Why Is That One-Eyed Cat Walking Backwards?

The Brewers Association annual top 50 list got us to thinking: when is a craft brewer not really a craft brewer? So the Brewers Association put out their annual top 50 lists of all American breweries and American craft breweries a day or two ago. You can view the PDF here. Only a handful of Midwest breweries get a mention and here they are, in order of barrels produced:

1. Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin
2. Pabst Brewing Co., Woodridge, Illinois
3. Minhas Craft Brewery, Monroe, Wisconsin
4. Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Galesburg, Michigan
5. Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, Illinois
6. … by Eddie Glick—published April 9, 2008 full article »  (10 comments)

In Celebration Of Slowly Peeling Off A Skanky Band-Aid

Celebrate—and appreciate—the first step in the repeal of Prohibition by drinking a low-ABV Midwest craft brew … if you can find one. Ah, the 18th Amendment to the Consitution of the United States. Also known as Prohibition, a period of great lunacy not only in this country, but around the entire world, where this concept of “temperance” promised a way to solve all the great ills plaguing the world at the time. Basically it was a typical manifestation of humanity’s “quick fix” mentality, wherein we find it easier to blame a single, definable entity as the … by Eddie Glick—published April 7, 2008 full article »

An Open Letter Of Advice To New Holland Brewing Company

Re: Suing the asses off of those shit beer producers in St. Louis, Missouri Dear New Holland Brewing:

I was in my local beer store recently and I saw a six-pack of Sun Dog, with the description underneath the title stating “Amber Wheat.” At first I thought this was a new variation on your excellent Sundog Amber Ale. Intrigued, I lifted a bottle out of the pack, but upon noticing “Anheuser-Busch” printed on the label (and the overproduced artwork), I immediately let the bottle fall back into its … by Eddie Glick—published March 25, 2008 full article »

Death And Rebirth In A World Of Darkness

Easter, pagans, Top Gun, yeast, and other strangeness on the vernal equinox. I guess I’m kind of fascinated with the fact that many aspects of Christianity are derived from ancient pagan rituals probably tens of thousands of years old. I touched on this around Christmas and the winter solstice, and it’s no surprise that the most important holiday in the Christian world, religously speaking, at least, in which believers mourn the death of Christ on Good Friday and celebrate his rising from the dead on Easter … by Eddie Glick—published March 20, 2008 full article »  (4 comments)

New T-Shirts!

Beer Dorks News

Put this on the shopping list: Great Lakes Imperial Dortmunder, coming out in July to celebrate their big two-oh. Canton, Ohio is set to get its first craft brewery: Blue Hills Brewery. Nudists are taking notice of Stevens Point's Nude Beach Summer Wheat. Let's hope it doesn't make them perk up too much. Dark Horse scores a cover shot on this month’s BeerAdvocate magazine. “When I die, wait three days, then bury me in a giant PBR can.” “OK, Fred. And we swear we don’t think you’re off your nut.” MSNBC lists six "must see" beer festivals for the coming season. Suprisingly, its a decent list from the mainstream media. Mad props to Jim Koch for sharing his hops stash with microbrewers for a fair price. Update: Iowa fast food resaurant stops selling beer via the drive-thru after five days. Guess it's back to Arby's for us. Researchers claim 6:14 p.m is "beer o' clock" in Britain. In America, "beer o' clock" is anytime between noon and 4 a.m. Bell’s is getting into the farming business to grow its own barley.