Legal Beer

So I’m terrible at posting in a timely fashion sometimes, particularly on occasions where I drink a lot of beer, and two Thursdays ago was no exception. This was the week of Dark Horse Brewing Company’s release parties and I felt obligated to sample some of the brew they were bringing into our fine city from the land of Michigan, so my friend Mike and myself took a nice, slightly brisk bike ride down to Stub & Herbs to meet fellow bike and beer enthusiast Dirtyspeed of Friday Night Beer. Dirtyspeed and myself initially ordered glasses of Dark Horse’s Trip Ale and mike grabbed a glass of their Crooked Tree IPA. When they were brought to us I was initially surprised by the similarity in color of the two brews, the IPA has a slightly more red hue, but they were darn close. The Sapient Trip pours a hazy orange color that has no obvious sediment but it is completely opaque, there was little head present when I received my lovely 22oz glass but I am curious to see how it pours from a bottle. Aroma is like that of many Belgian Tripel Ales, the yeast is noticeable but not too strong in the nose. Smooth slightly sweet malt flavors blend nicely with a hint of bitterness. The mouthfeel is carbonated but rather dry, body is quite light for a Tripel. Definitely a good beer, simple but solid, particularly with its 8.5% ABV. While snapping photos and taking notes like the geek I am mike managed to finish his beer and wound up with a Two Brothers Heavy Handed IPA at the suggestion of Dirtyspeed. Never having sampled this brew I gave it a taste and immediately knew what I needed to order next. Two Brothers Brewing Company from Warrenville, Illinois has been on my radar for some time but this was the first opportunity I had to sample some of their brew on tap, and I am happy to say I was very pleased. Their Heavy Handed IPA pours a nice deep red color. Aroma is hoppy but only slightly bitter. Flavor is a nice blend of initial sweetness that is very subtle, finished off by wonderful hop flavors that lean towards the bitter side but are not particularly intense, no tongue burning here. With its full flavor this beer is still very drinkable, having a rather light body and smooth mouthfeel. A unquestionably delicious ale. Coming in at 5.7% ABV this is a great beer to drink all night long, and that’s exactly what we did. Cheers to stubs for having $4.50 22oz taps after 9pm on Thursdays. Happy to have sampled two tasty new brews, particularly the IPA we had a fun, much less chilly ride home; freedom is the only way. Give em a shot and ride your bike.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 at 3:40 pm and is filed under Beer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.