Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

Chicago is an oddball beer-wise. There's some good stuff coming out of there, but a lot of it is over-inflated. I think it goes back to the days when there were only a couple breweries in the area and the locals had to rely on beers from other areas. Now that Chicago has a more lively scene it seems like every new beer or brewery is praised like they're the 2nd coming of Russian River. Pretty cool to see the throwback brewery Metro getting some respect. While decidedly uncool, I still think Goose Island is the best by far.

 

Chris, there is no doubt in my mind that Goose Island is being rated lowly because it is owned by AB InBev.

Cheers!

 

I tend to think so, too. They're also decidedly "old school" when it comes to their IPA, Honker's, 312, etc.
Half Acre and Pipeworks are far more progressive in the sense that they're using newer varieties and hop timings. Some are quite good, others I'd take Goose IPA over every time.
Still, most people do tend to give all of the Bourbon County variants a pass.

 

I enjoy drinking the Goose Island 'sister' beers particularly Sophie.

Cheers!

 

Here is Ballast Point's Smoke Screen, a draught only smoked helles lager. I haven't had the fortune of trying Schlenkerla's version, so I don't have a great baseline for the style, but I really like the way this helles was influenced by the smoke. All lager up front, crisp, noble, but then the smoked malt pops up in the background. And, similar to my experience with Schlenkerla's marzen, the smoke kinda fades the more you drink. It still pops its head out every now and again just to remind you it's there, but it really serves as a complement rather than the main event. Anyway, I right enjoyed this, and it paired particularly well with a nicely smokey slab of burger on brioche. Prost!

 

Yeah, Half Acre and Pipeworks are definitely children of the modern hop-hunters trend. I tried Daisy Cutter when it first came out and thought it was okay, but it's a definite hop bomb. Goose IPA is more inline with what I look for in a hoppy beer these days.

 

Not sure why the link doesn't want to work anymore, but here's another try.

Strange that it keeps "blocking" from here when it works just fine in a thread over in the Great Lakes forum.

http://bit.ly/1Fwf7Dy

 

Honker's Ale is still one of my favorite US beers.....period. The hops add an incredible dimension/balance to the English bitter when fresh. And I often find it quite fresh in my area, especially since the acquisition.

 

Love Honker's! My store typically has case sale for less than $30 out the door. Always fresh, brewed in Rochester.

 

Last time I posted this beer, was adamant it was clear and my photo was an aberration. Have to apologize, beer is definitely hazy, in photo and in direct light. Still enjoyable, although it seems to be slightly sweet as I finish the sixer. Clearly (pun?) not an authentic appearance.

 

Having another Urban Chestnut Zwickel after work. This has to be my favorite new beer. Great balance of lightly bready malts and spicy hops. Not dull, not bland, but not in-your-face.

Oh, and just as hazy as the Sunny Ridge... but it's meant to be!

 

Following up with a fresh TJ's Bohemian Pils. I'd never noticed it before, but this brew has that light diacetyl Pilsner Urquell is known for. Nothing big or distracting -- doesn't come across as a Best Bitter, but adds to the balance of bready malts and dry hop bitterness.

 

Tried a TJ's beer yesterday night- Mission St. Hefeweizen. Avoid at all costs. It's one of the highest rated TJ's brews on the site, with an average rating of 81 (rAvg 3.56), so I figured I'd give it a shot. I wanted a bomber for homebrewing and I figured this was a cost effective way of doing it.

This was probably the worst weizen I've ever had. It was only 4mo old too, so by no means past it's best-by date. The thing was a cloying caramely mess, with minimal yeast notes and with a heavy dose of farmy grainiess. Just a piss-poor experience. I almost just drain poured it, but I managed to choke down the whole thing somehow.

Sorry to keep reading about the Sunny Ridge haze. I remember posting a few weeks ago recommending it, since I thought it was pretty tasty (it seems like many agree, minus the weird haze). Jack's Abby has a reputation for being relatively unreliable from batch to batch.

 

Not really a Weizen -- pretty sure it's an American Pale Wheat Ale like Widmer.

TJ's does have a true, Bavarian-style Hefeweizen in their Joseph's Brau line -- brewed by Gordon Biersch, and it's pretty good -- if not a little on the light side.

 

Are you sure? The label says it's a hefeweizen.

Either way, even taken in the same vein as Oberon or 312, it's still awful.

 

I agree with @steveh the Joseph's Bräu line is pretty good.

As far as the Mission Street goes, it depends on where it's being brewed. Here on the west coast it is (or was) being brewed by Firestone Walker, and it's a solid brew, great deal at (I think) $2.99 for a 22oz. @Beric check your label to see where it's being brewed, that might shed some light on the contract brewery in question.

 

Yeah, pretty sure -- and @einhorn is right -- it's brewed by Firestone Walker for TJ's. Never really tried it myself, but the Mission St. IPA and Pale Ale FW brews for TJ's is pretty good.

Hard to believe it's worse than 312, but not difficult to think Oberon is better -- that stuff is too good.

*Edit: I seem to remember something about FW discontinuing brewing for TJ's because it was taking up too much of their time, so maybe Mission St. is being brewed somewhere else now and has fallen off in quality.

 

Best American made German style I've ever had: Heller Bock at Ploughshare in Lincoln, NE last week. They absolutely nailed one of the hardest to brew styles on the planet. Has anyone else had it?

 

One of the hardest styles to brew, really? There are quite a few breweries in the Midwest making good Heller Bocks. Then again, there are definitely some sub-par examples too.

Haven't had the Ploughshare, but I'll bet the distribution area doesn't reach me. Have you had any of the Urban Chestnut (St. Louis) German Styles? While not a Heller Bock, their Zwickel is my new favorite.