Central/Western Illinois Beer Nerds?

Ahoy there, BAers. I’m a craft beer enthusiast/nerd living in Galesburg, Illinois – halfway between the Quad Cities and Peoria – and I’m looking to connect with other beer nerds in the area.

Obviously, a big part of enjoying craft beer/beer and food pairings, etc, is experiencing it with friends and other like-minded folks, so I thought I’d see if anyone out there would be interested in meeting up at some point, hanging out, talking beer, maybe starting a monthly tasting, etc.

Feel free to PM me if interested and we can go from there. Thanks so much and drink well.

 

Honestly, the craft beer selection in Galesburg just six months ago was pretty poor, but things have really improved as of late. Our local grocery store - the aforementioned Main Street HyVee - has a pretty impressive variety of bombers, 750's, etc, and it seems there's more variety - and rarity - with every passing week.

Iron Spike, when it first opened, was amazing. They brewed a killer Belgian dark and a great hefe and American pale. However, management shakeups and greed forced out their original brewmaster and I haven't been back since. I assume, given your disappointment, things have gone downhill?

 

Howdy, my man. Good to meet ya. Yes, please keep an eye on this thread. I'm working to start a monthly bottle share in Galesburg called the Galesburg Bottle Share (GBS) and we'd love to have you.

Iron Spike is still brewing. While I haven't had a chance to try the beer under the guise of their new brewmaster, I haven't heard great things. Basically, they were killing it when they first opened but not so much as of late...

 

Howdy, man – thanks for chiming in.

Sure, let us know the next time you’re in town and maybe we can arrange a meet-up: few pints, bottle trading, etc.

Something’s Brewing, the home brew store, is really fantastic, and Budde’s Bar is also a good craft beer stop – they usually have a few interesting brews on draught.

 

No worries, man, just make the ones you can and that’ll be cool. Yeah, that hike back to Peoria could be messy, but I’m sure we could work something out – plus, a proper bottle share is not complete without some tasty dishes to pair with the food, which should help keep everyone nice and steady.

 

Hey, my man. Just hit-up Friar Tuck's in Peoria on my lunch hour and I believe I saw a new shipment of the 4.20. Good luck!

 

Stone's Russian Imperial Stout and the Chai-Spiced RIS. Southern Tier's Mokah (I'll definitely be picking up a few bottles). 4 Hands Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout.

 

Any idea how much KBS they had? I managed to snag two bottles at Friar Tuck's around 12:30 p.m., then heard they were sold out around 3 p.m. Crazy, right?

 

Hey all. Just realized I haven't posted this yet: I recently started a craft review video podcast called One Guy, One Beer. We've done three episodes thus far, the most recent of which went live this morning and features New Glarus Brewing's Scream Imperial IPA. Figured y'all might be interested seeing as how I'm a local guy. Link the website is below. Take a look, leave some comments, spread the word, etc. Thanks!

www.oneguyonebeer.wordpress.com