The Beer Geek Returns or Chain, Chain, Chain...Chain of Brewpubs

More beer geek thoughts from Terry...

Since my first Beer Geek v. Beer Snob article had good feedback, I’ll try again. This time the snobbery struck close to home. I was at Romans Pub having a beer with one of my oldest friends and the conversation was about beer, of course. I mentioned the Rock Bottom- and the BOOM there it was, Beer Snobbery - “ I don’t care for them since they’re a chain” replied my friend. I sipped my Dragon Milk Stout, bit my tongue, and measured my response. Having more than one location would appear to be the sign of success. Do we criticize Rogue or Great Dane because they have expanded? Why does the Rock continue to get the “chain” treatment? Last time I looked at medals given out at GABF, Rock Bottoms, from all over the country, were winning with different recipes.

I choose my brewpubs based on a lot of things; atmosphere, price, pub food, customer service and yes the beer. Rock Bottom has scored high on my list on all of these. The mug club is an outstanding bargain; where else are you going on a Wednesday night, for $2 beers and free appetizers? The food is terrific and it is extremely family friendly. Now the beer- go get a growler of Up Your Kilt Scottish Ale and compare it with the peaty example from Sprecher. I think you will find Rock Bottom an excellent example of the style.

When it comes to my brewpubs, I do not care if it is a chain, or the beer is brewed with extract, or shipped in from Iowa, I go there for fresh beer, good pub food and the atmosphere. Two years ago, before I visited my brother in San Diego, I did a little research on the beer scene. Yes, there are a lot of no-brainers, Stone was the first stop, half hour from my brothers place and Pizza Port was 2 blocks from the hotel. However when asking locals, I got a lot of Snobbery about Karl Strauss Brewpub. The beer “snob” community despised it. We all know the late Mr. Strauss is a beer legend in these parts, but is not so appreciated in San Diego.

Well as a geek, not a snob, I found the perfect opportunity to visit a Karl Strauss right next to Lego Land. It was crowded, and appeared to be like a TGIF without the crap on the wall. Bottom line is I’m glad I went, because I had the best microbrewed Hefe Weizen I have ever had. I wish Mr. Strauss had opened up one of his brewpubs here in Wisconsin. It would just be another “chain” brewpub I’d love to go to.

Cheers,
Terry
Beer Geek in Racine

Everyone must get Stone

Stone Brewing made its entry into southeast Wisconsin last week with a release party at several bars on the south side of Milwaukee. Several friends and I visited Cafe Lulu and Sugar Maple for the event.

It was my first visit to Cafe Lulu and overall I was impressed. The beer selection was good, however I will admit we focused on the Stone products. The Stone Pale Ale was very nice, with some hop bitterness but not overpowering. Overall a very drinkable beer and at $12 for a pitcher quite affordable. While waiting for the release party to begin we enjoyed having a couple of appetizers. The Hummus Deluxe was tasty and plentiful and a nice change of pace from the standard spinach artichoke dip available elsewhere. We also had the Bleu Lulu, a basket of thick fresh made potato chips with a side of tangy blue cheese dipping sauce. The chips were huge and cooked perfectly cooked, crunchy but not overcooked or greasy. The addition of the blue cheese dip made them even more enjoyable. I was really happy to find such an interesting place to have a bite to eat, especially one so close to Sugar Maple.

After finishing our appetizers, we walked across the street to the Sugar Maple, to see it the release party was in swing there. That was when we found out there had been some transportation problems and pub crawl release party was having a slow start. No matter, Sugar Maple had 3 of the Stone beers on tap and we could start tasting right away. Stone Ruination was our first choice. Ruination is an IPA, however it is probably more correctly an Imperial IPA. It was intensely bitter, the hop character dominated the flavors. That being said though, there was still enough malt to make it an enjoyable beer. We ended up talking with Bruno (the owner) and found out that he was looking forward to having Oaked Arrogant Bastard on tap in a week or 2. Fortunately, my friend Terry who was with us had thought to bring along some samples from his cellar. Terry's brother lives in the San Diego area and often surprises Terry with Stone products that up til now were not available in Wisconsin. Well, the Oaked Arrogant Bastard was just the beginning. Soon bottles of Stone XI, Double Arrogant Bastard, Old Guardian and Vertical 06.06.06 appeared. They were all great beers with varying levels of hops and malt; almost magical elixirs or gifts of the Gods. At some point the tasting notes were forgotten and the simple enjoyment of the brewer's craft took over. With beers like these, you must experience them first hand; everyone must get Stone.