First, the good beer stuff:

For my littlest brother's 21st b-day this weekend I made him a beer enthusiast's mix-pack, with a Kostritzer Schwarzbier, Guinness Irish Dry Stout, Paulaner Hefeweizen, Victory Hopdevil IPA, De Troch Chapeau Framboise Lambic, and a New Belgium Mothership Wit. Hopefully he likes at least a few of those, but I think that's a decent 6-beer tour of the flavor possibilities.

For myself, I stopped at Spirits of Nisswa, which has more and cheaper beer than any of my liquor stores down here. Beers acquired:

Weihenstephan Hefeweissbier Dunkel
Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter
Rogue Chocolate Stout
Big Sky Trout Slayer Ale

For Josh's party, we went to the Pickle Factory in Nisswa. I started with a Honey Weiss, then ordered a bottle of Schlitz — new recipe! I don't know why I thought an old lager recipe would be especially interesting; the beer was decent, a bit like MGD with a bit more grain maybe, but that doesn't justify spending $4 to get it. Finally I had Red Hook Sunrye, which tasted like orange and cream to me?

When Josh's girlfriend let me try her vodka gimlet, I wished I'd ordered one of those. Or stuck with the Honey Weiss. Or bought Kettle One last time I was at the liquor store. I also tried a sip of the Pickle's so-called "Sex on the Beach," which had melon, coconut, and pineapple flavors. It was like a tropical drink parody.

Josh had a bunch of mixed drinks in addition to the "Sex on the Beach" and was no worse for the wear. He liked the rum and coke, and disliked the whiskey coke. There was other stuff I don't remember.

The Pickle was really weird if you liked beer, e.g. they had flyers for Fat Tire all over the place but didn't actually have any available. And they gave me the Schlitz in a bottle instead of pouring it out into a glass. (Even if you're not a beer snob, you have to admit that a glass is classier.) That sort of thing.

Labels: Honey Weiss, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing, JOS. Schlitz Brewing, Redhook Ale Brewery, Schlitz, Spirits of Nisswa, Sunrye, The Pickle Factory

Tonight I had a Capital Brewery Munich Dark. The beer was light-bodied with notes of caramel and a bit of chocolate. The mouthfeel was a little cloying/dry; otherwise I probably would have finished much faster. It was good, but it was also like finishing a French Silk pie that's just a little too rich for you.

That said, with this weather it was nice to have a dark beer again.

I had another Honey Weiss earlier tonight with some pizza, and that was good too. I've definitely come to appreciate Leinie's. In one way they're like the Premium of Wisconsin — ubiquitous, accessible, and local — but in another way they're like Summit.

My Wisconsin experience was limited to the Green Bay area, but it seems like Leinie's is the entry beer for most Wisconsinites interested in other styles. And they don't do a bad job: their seasonals are excellent and their Big Eddy Imperial Stout (!) is getting good reviews. I'd take Honey Weiss over some MGD nonsense any day.

(Wow, I would love to track a bottle of that Big Eddy down... something to keep an eye out for come November.)

Labels: American Pale Wheat Ale, Capital Brewery, Honey Weiss, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing, Munich Dark, Munich Dunkel Lager

Went to Tavern on the Avenue last night; it's actually a decent place, in the same rough bar genre as Memory Lanes or the V.R. at Lawrence. I started with a Stella Artois that was... not great, for whatever reason. I still had the taste of marrow in my mouth and it's pretty hard for a beer to win in that situation.

Barry and I once again talked about Springboard, though I didn't realize it at the time. (The label has "mountains" and a "glacier")

For the rest of the night I had Leinie's Honey Weiss with a lemon, my basic bar beer. It's not fancy, but it's good stuff.

Labels: American Pale Wheat Ale, Euro Pale Lager, Honey Weiss, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing, Stella Artois, Tavern on the Avenue