"Favorite Beer"

It used to be every time someone would ask me what my favorite beer was, I would say something along the lines of Coors Light or even Sunset Wheat from Leinenkugel's for a period of time. Today when I get asked that question, I honesty have no idea what my favorite beer is right now. As I am trying more and more different types of beers, it gets a little harder to decide on a certain beer as my overall "favorite", but rather what is my favorite beer at that moment. 

What I've come to realize is that I have several different "favorite beers" that are based on either the season or a certain type of event going on.

For instance, right now with it being cold outside, I tend to like darker beers and stouts where normally in the spring/summer time I wouldn't. I have been going through several different seasonal variety packs this winter season, and I'd have to say the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale is definitely at the top of my list.

I know this isn't a really dark/stout beer as I previously mentioned, more of a bronze color, but I have become a fan of IPA beers lately and this definitely hits on that. Though aside from other IPA's there is still a darker/malty feel to the beer while still having the bitterness that I've come to like from IPA's.

A slightly different situation that I might find myself in, is what is my "favorite beer" when quantity matters more than the quality of the beer. Some examples of this would be really hot days and something really cold to quickly quench your thirst or playing drinking games with old college buddies, or special occasions where I know beer is going to be consumed over a long period of time.

As much as I love the taste of craft beers, the truth is that when I'm playing beer pong or biz (form of beer die), I'm not going to have Sam Adams in my cup while the opponent has Busch Light....it puts me at a slight disadvantage and I am a competitive person.


Not only is this harder to consume at a fast rate (which is sometimes required) but due to the higher alcohol content of the beer, my hand-to-eye coordination will decline at a faster rate than that of my opponent. So when it comes to these circumstances, my beer of choice has to be something easy to consume, and not have a high ABV....this beer is Coors Light which was my main beer in college, so you can call me loyal, haha.

I do look forward to expanding my taste and appreciation of different beers, and who knows....maybe someday I will come across a beer that I will be able to give the title of My Favorite Beer.

Lakefront Brewery - Wisconsinite Summer Weiss

BEER REPORT CARD - Lakefront Brewery - Wisconsinite Summer Weiss - 4.2%

So I was stopping by the liquor store here in Brookings on my way home from work today to decide what beer to evaluate tonight, and came across a brewery that I have not heard of. I know I'm new, but I have not heard of Lakefront Brewery and was interested in trying a beer from Wisconsin with "local ingredients".

Brookings is currently in a 4 day heat advisory, so when I saw this was a Summer Weiss I was hoping it would be light but still have a lot of flavor, which sounded good because of how warm it was outside.

When pouring into a glass, it actually looked more clouded than I expected and had good carbonation. A very sweat type of aroma, and on my first sip can definitely get a sweat cider taste. Aside from the cider I don't really get a lot of flavors out of this beer, seems more dull and bland than I had hoped. I can't see myself having more than a six pack of these, but might be good for those people that into the sweat summer type beers. In the end, this is a little more sweat than I like, but it's really hard for me to say that I ever "hate" a beer (very few fall into this category), so I feel it was average overall.

Overall Grade: C

Summit - Saga India Pale Ale

BEER REPORT CARD - Summit - Saga India Pale Ale - 6.4% ABV

As I'm still on an IPA kick right now, I saw this at the liquor store tonight and being a fan of Summit and never hearing of it before, I was very excited to try it.

"Our Condolences To The Smelling Impaired", this is what comes up on the Summit website about this beer and they aren't kidding. As soon as I opened the bottle I am overwhelmed by the smell the hops......and it's awesome. When I poured it into my glass, I was kind of surprised at how light the body looks for it being a strong IPA and fairly heavy in alcohol content. I do really like how Summit provides a scale for their beers if you were to research it ahead of time (which I did not):

On my first sip, I immediately catch that strong, bitter hop taste and while it may have caught me off guard, I really liked it. It's almost like drinking whiskey straight, it gets easier after every sip.

Not an actual picture of my wife - my contract
states that I have to say that

Knowing that my wife is a) curious of new beers I bring home, and b) doesn't like IPA's because of how bitter it is, I couldn't help but offer her some saying that she should try it. She took the tiniest sip and immediately gave the scrunched up, bitter beer face look. I wanted to act shocked and concerned, but all that came out was laughter as she immediately put the glass back down on the counter.....guess we'll try next time.

There is a slight fruity flavor, but is definitely overpowered by the hops. I was eating some spicy foods as well and found out that the hoppier the beer is, the less it helps with spicy foods, so if there was a grade for that, it would be an F.

I do like beers with a good hop taste, while this did have that (and I did enjoy the beer) it was almost a little too much after a couple, especially with food, so that is the only part that is keeping this from a higher grade.

Overall Grade: B

Anchor Brewing - Liberty Ale

BEER REPORT CARD - Anchor brewing - Liberty Ale - 6.0% ABV

Matt's Review


I'm starting to really like the steamed beers from Anchor, I've been reading about them in different publications and figured it was something that wasn't available in South Dakota. I was very happy the other day when trying to decide which beer to get at the liquor store and saw some different beers from Anchor and immediately wanted to try them all.


Blame it on the marketing side of me, but it seems like when people grab a bottle of a beer they have never had before, one of the first questions they have is, can I twist this off or do I need a bottle opener? Sometimes this results in a first attempt at trying to twist it open, which either works or lead you to keep trying harder until your cut up your fingers. Well there is no secret with this beer when you look at the top of this beer...."Use Opener".





You can tell there is something different with the natural carbonation, not too thick but doesn't affect the taste of the beer at all. The aroma and body smell/look just like an amber ale and has an orange hint to it. I really like overall taste and get the hop flavor towards the end but it finishes really smooth. This is a great summer beer where it's light enough to have more than one, and still has a lot of favor.

Overall Grade: B+

Tallgrass Brewing - 8-Bit Pale Ale and Sand Creek Brewing - Oscar's Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

BEER REPORT CARD - Tallgrass brewing - 8-bit pale ale - 5.2% ABV; Sand creek brewing - oscar's oatmeal chocolate stout - 4.5% abv

Doing a double report card this week since I missed out last week.

Matt's Review


Last week I had the 8-Bit Pale Ale from Tallgrass Brewing at 5.2% ABV. I had heard about this beer from a couple other friends, but was immediately curious when I saw the can looking like an old Atari with a Pac Man like appearance. The first thing I noticed about this beer was the really strong hop taste (which I loved), there wasn't much for a hop aroma however. Even though I've been into beers lately with a really strong hop taste, this one hit the spot but don't think I could drink too many in one sitting because of how strong the hops are.
Overall Grade: B-

The next beer that I just opened tonight, is the Oscar's Oatmeal Chocolate Stout from Sand Creek Brewing at only 4.5% ABV. It definitely has that chocolaty smell to it, and didn't seem to have too much head/carbonation when pouring it into the glass, which seems to be normal among stouts. I typically do not like dark stout beers, but I'm not sure if it's the low ABV, but this one really finishes smooth with a sweet taste that I really enjoyed. I figured this would be a good one to try while down in the man cave because the basement gets really cold and a dark stout would taste better. However, I don't think this would be terrible outside on a warm day, not saying I'd drink this while grilling, but doesn't really have that dark beer feel to it that would scare off summer drinking.
Overall Grade: B

Widmer Brothers - Pitch Black IPA

Beer Report Card - Widmer Brothers Pitch Black IPA - 6.5% ABV

In an effort to expand our tastes of different beers, Blake and I will be doing a combination of PTI mixed with beer tasting.....Beer Report Card!

Each week on Monday we take turns buying either new beers on the market or a beer we haven't tried yet, and evaluate it, then give it an overall grade. Since this is our first "beer evaluation", you'll have to bear with us if you are more seasoned at doing this, but I welcome all comments and suggestions for what to look for when evaluating a beer.

Matt's Review:

I am not usually one for darker beers, however I do like IPA's so I was very interested to try this beer. Definitely get a dark roast smell right away when opening the bottle. Inside each bottle cap has something to "cheers" towards that I thought that was pretty cool. On the bottle it says "Smooth, Dark and Hoppy", it is definitely smoother than most dark beers I've had and no doubt that it has a dark body from looking at the picture. However I did not get as much of a hop flavor as I had hoped. We had this beer while grilling out for Memorial Day and it's actually getting kind of cold and windy outside so it's not as bad having a dark beer for this occasion. Overall I did enjoy this beer more than most dark beers, just wished there was more of a hoppy taste.
Overall Grade: B

Blake's Review:

I typically enjoy medium to moderate dark beers for many occasions. My taste for hops has noticeably increased dramatically over the past year to 2 years. That combination had me pretty excited to try the Pitch Black IPA from Widmer Bros., whom I have been a fan of for quite some time. That said, I very much enjoy this beer for a noticeable roast flavor initially that blends right into the hop character that certainly isn't overbearing for an IPA. I would rate this beer very good for smoothness and for a blend of dark with some hops, I very much enjoy the beer start to finish. The hops hold on to my taste buds just long enough to at least warrant its IPA classification and the blend is incredibly well done.
Overall Grade: A-

Stuck Fermentation

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to apologize for the lapse of posting and everything as of late. No, we're not having troubles with our yeast or wort. Simply unfortunate personal delays that have caused the world renowned Brew-A-Palooza to be delayed for a few weeks. Blake and I will have to circle the wagons again and determine when we can give this another shot. I will definitely be making another post later this week on something actually beer related, but wanted to get this posted out to let everyone know.