Latest Reviews

Double Dry Hopped pseudoSue
Toppling Goliath
Modus Vivendi
Wild Beer Co.
Spaceman
Brewfist

Recent Articles

Outdoor Winter Tippling Tips
Stay safe from the pandemic and stay warm with these winter patio drinking tactics. Shameless
Craft brewer sellouts become as tone-deaf and underhanded as their new overlords. Great Taste Eve
Check out the burgeoning Madison beer scene the night before the best fest in country. Good Beer Makes Good Conversation
The effects of drinking beer worth talking about. The Beers of Walmart
The largest retailer in the world now has its own line of beers. archives »

Beer Reviews

Fixed Gear

Lakefront Brewery, Inc.
Milwaukee, WI
USA
http://www.lakefrontbrewery.com/

Style: Altbier
ABV: 6.5%

Eddie’s Rating:
   (Outstanding within its style.)


Comments:
Our Michigan correspondent, Rings, has been heard to remark that in the state of Wisconsin, every other building third house is a bar. And in Milwaukee, that sometimes seems true. One of my favorite bars to visit in Brew City, U.S.A. is Wolski’s Tavern, which sits in the middle of a very residential side street, and appears to be nothing more than some friendly stranger’s basement. You can feel the 100-plus years this place sports. Although the beer list is more dive bar than craft friendly—the times I’ve been there they’ve had Blatz on tap, for Christ’s sake—the vibe more than makes up for the lack of diverse beer offerings.

And if you want a real list of great brews, you’ve got to truck over to Roman’s Pub, in the sleepy Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee. Easily one of the better beer bars I’ve been in and, like Wolski’s, located in a residential area and looking like a converted house. Plus, I’ve heard the owner tell someone who came in to order a soda because he “didn’t drink” to get the fuck out. Doesn’t get much better than that.

That’s my super mini tour of Milwaukee, home to tonight’s featured beer, Lakefront Fixed Gear. This is one of Lakefront’s special offerings, available only on draft or 22-ounce bombers. But if you see Fixed Gear on the tap handle or in the fridge, grab yourself some and enjoy, because this is one great beer.

The pour is a dark, murky red, more opaque than translucent, perhaps due to the fact that this bastard’s bottle conditioned. (Yay!) Slapped on top of everything is a thick, goopy, off-white head. It’s not the prettiest of beers, but ugly things can come in yummy packaging, if that makes any sense.

The nose is grainy and malty, not a lot of hop aromas to stir things up. The sip starts the same way, malty but pleasingly smooth, drinking on the easy side for a medium-bodied brew. The malt lays right through to the middle, all set to overwhelm the entire sip, until a wave of hops rises up with an assertively bitter finish.

This is one well done beer. It’s on the hoppy side for an amber and/or alt, but if you like your beers with a bitter side, this one is damn near perfectly balanced. One of Lakefront’s better beers, if you ask me.

Reviewed by Eddie Glick on November 4, 2011.

Drinkin’ And Thinkin’

Beer Dorks News

Want to know how healthy the craft beer industry is? As always, look to Portland. Craft pioneer Bridgeport announces sudden closure, adding to a growing list of PDX casualties. Did Anheuser-Busch Chicago offer their shit beer to Cody Parkey before his missed field goal? Because that may explain why he "accidentally" biffed it. Chicago now has the most breweries of any city in the country. Other things Chicago has the most of: murders, mobsters, and Ditkas. Trying to spin it positive, BA releases end of year graphic. Only 5% growth in the craft sector when nearly 1000 new breweries opened? That's a collapse waiting to happen. R.I.P. Tallgrass... another casualty as the regional/national craft beer market continues to get squeezed. Wait... Constellation Brands cut all of the Ballast Point and Funky Buddha sales staff? They merged it with their Corona/Modelo staff?? We're SHOCKED!!! Pizza Beer founder crying about failure of company, blames everyone else. Reminder, the beer tasted like vomit. Try having better ideas or making better products so you're not a failure. It's Bud Light so doesn't really matter, but we expect this beer to be sitting around for awhile. Indiana brewery to open with controversial beer names to "get the conversation going". Translation: taking advantage of serious issues for free publicity. Hundreds of amazing beers in Wisconsin and the Cubs took back the one everyone drinks just because it exists and people have heard of it. How fitting...