CHAOS Audio Slideshow

Part 17: Worst of the CHicago Beer Festival

Although the Beer Festival did have many wonderful surprises, it also had it's fair share of massive disappointments.

Here are the worst brews of the Chicago Beer Festival:

Image via Brew Notes

Leffe Blonde: 

Tasted like Delirium Tremens was brewed in a shoe. Very disappointing.

Alex's Food & Drink Blog Rating: 4









Brickstone Hop Sinner: 
9.5% Double IPA. They also wash your cups for you. Hoppy! Like drinking wheat grass.

Alex's Food & Drink Blog Rating: 4

Image via Great Brewers

 Julian Hard Cider:

Clear as water. Pretty low alcohol content.

Alex's Food & Drink Blog Rating: 5

Image via Phoo-d

Rogue Chipolte Ale:

Since the favorite beer of the competition was a Rogue, it seems fitting that the worst would be as well. This beer had a strange mix of smokey and spicy flavors that, although it should be applauded for it's ingenuity, fell very flat on the taste buds.

Alex's Food & Drink Blog Rating: 4

Part 16: Best of the Chicago Beer Festival

A representative pours a glass of purple haze. Photo by Alex Rich

The Chicago Beer Festival held its inaugural event this Saturday at Union Station. This blog was there to taste as many of the different varieties as possible, and then posting twitter reviews about each one.

Unfortunately, due to time constrains (not to mention the staying power of the human liver), not every beer was tasted and some vendors skipped entirely.

Here are the best of the best from the Chicago Beer Festival:

Image via 365 Beers

1) Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar

This beer tastes amazing. The nuts gave the beer a wonderfully sweet aroma. Although it was good to sip, overkill could be a problem. It would work wonderfully as a sweet desert beer.

Alex's Food & Drink Blog Rating: 9 of 10

Image via Wyder's Cider

2) Wyder's Dry Pear Cider

Very tasty if you like sweet, smooth drinks. By far the best Cider of the festival, with a very nice pear taste and the right amount of sparkle.



Alex's Food & Drink Blog Rating: 8 of 10

Image via AllWomen'sTalk

3) Bell's Oberon Summer Ale

Sweet and not too hoppy. Very nice aftertaste. Light enough for a nice summer afternoon on the back porch.


Alex's Food & Drink Blog Rating: 8 of 10

Image via Summit Brewing

4) Summit Brewing Extra Pale Ale

Very nice taste for a Pale Ale. A great balance of hops and sweetness.

Alex's Food & Drink Blog Rating: 8 of 10

Honorable Mentions (Rating of 7):

Crispin Fox Barrel Pear: much more pearful than the other. Still good.
Blue Moon Blackberry Tart: very berry.
Shiner Bock: very good.
Delirium Tremens: very sweet.
Uinta Dubhe Imperial Bock IPA: wow. Very alcoholic, dark beer.
Emmett's Victory Pale Ale: very good. Not too hoppy.
Hamburger Mary's Peanut Butter: Rich, dark. You can actually taste the peanut butter.
Rock Bottom Red Ale: Very sweet

Finally, the award for best named beer goes to Big Muddy Brewing Companie's Saluki Dunkel Dog (rated a 6).

Part 15: Yeast and Flavor in Beer

White Labs California Ale Yeast. Image via Beer-Wine.com

This blog will soon post an audio diary on making beer with liquid yeast instead of dry yeast.

The liquid yeast used was White Labs' California Ale Yeast.

In doing research, a helpful article by Christohper White entitled "7 Fascinating Facts About Yeast" proved to be quite interesting.

Of the 7 interesting facts, perhaps the most interesting is that yeast provides most of the flavors and aromas in beer.

To an untrained brewer, taste could be thought of as coming from the variety of grains or hops that the brewer decided to boil with his beer. White says this isn't true.

All of the flavors already in the wort are changed by the yeast, adding 600 flavor and aroma compounds to the finished product.

"For example yeast change the way malt and hop compounds taste and smell," he writes. "Hops are affected because different yeast strains adsorb different amounts of iso-alpha-acids, which account for 60 percent of beer’s bitterness. Malt components are affected because they are metabolized by yeast."

Yeast does much more than produce the alcohol that makes beer worth drinking.

Part 14: The Chicago Beer Festival Is Upon Us

Chicago's own Goose Island is one of the breweries on display

.*

There are only six days before the inaugural Chicago Beer Festival graces us with it's tastings and charming atmosphere.

Here's the break down:

What: There will be many breweries (50+), locals from Chicago to international breweries, on site for sampling, tasting, and talking through their approach to beer. Check the "Who" list below for more details.
Where: Union Station at 210 S. Canal St.
When: There are two sessions. The first is in the early afternoon from 1-4 pm and then another from 6-9 pm
Cost: $40

Who (taken from the groups Facebook Page) and what Beers:

Goose Island: Matilda, Sofie, Green Line, 312
Central Waters: Glacial Trail IPA, Mud Puppy Porter, Ouisconsing Red, Satin Solstice Imperial Stout
Emmett's: Victory Pale Ale, McCarthy Red Ale, Imperial Stout
Summit: Unchained Black Ale, Maibock, Pilsner, EPA
Uinta: Baba Black Lager, Monkshine, Dubhe, Wyld
Bridgeport: Hop Czar, Dark Rain, IPA
Uncommon Brewers: Bacon Brown, Golden State, Baltic Porter
Milwaukee Brewing: Louie's Demise, Booyah, OGI
Brooklyn: Stout, Brown, Weisse
Jullian: Hard Cider
Duvel: Duvel Single, La Chouffe, Houblon Chouffe, Liefmans Cuvee Brut
Ommegang: Hennepin, Abbey, Witte, BPA
CBA: Redhook ESB, Widmer IPA
Shock Top : Shandy, Shock Top
Hamburger Mary's: Peanut Butter Porter, Speakeasy Saison
Artisanal Imports: Bockor Omer, La Trappe Quadrupel, St. Feuillien Saison, Cuvee des Jacobin Rouge, Sunner Kolsch

Delirium Tremens Belgium Ale 

Gouden Carolis Cru Golden Ale (Limited Release)

Bulldog Brewing: Industrial Harbor IPA, 11 Mile Lager, Roby Red, Black Wheat
Wild Onion Pub: Dunkel Vice, Paddy Pale, Summer Wit

Chicago Beer Co: Windy City, Pale Ale
Argus: Pegasus, CalSteam, Jarret Payton Wheat
Firestone: Union Jack, Double Jack Double IPA
Woodchuck: Amber, Private Reserve Belgian White
Sierra Nevada: Pale Ale, Topredo, Seasonal
Spaten: Lager, Optimator, Hef
New Belgium: Fat Tire, Ranger, Shift, Dig
NAB: Magic Hat #9, Magic Hat Seasonal, Pyramid Hef
Crispin: Original, Foxburrow Pear
Boston Beer: Summer Ale, Lager, Cherry Wheat, Girffin's Bow, Tasman Read, Dark Depths, Cinder Block
Total Beverage: Afligem Blonde, Weihenstephaner Hef
Diageo: Guinness Black Lager, Parrot Bay Pouches, Red Stripe
Paulaner: Maibock, Weiss, Edelhill
Lakefront: Fixed Gear, Bridgeburner
Southern Tier: 2XIPA, Hop Sun
Abita: Purple Haze, Barley Wine

*The Goose Island image via Grapes and Grains

Part 13: The Beer Diet

Many people choose to give up drinking beer for Lent, a little sacrifice to hopefully better themselves for the Easter season.

Some people, however, take a different approach for those 40 days: a Beer-only fast.

This isn't something thought up during a 3 a.m. chat between two wasted frat brothers, but in fact goes far back 300 years when Bavarian monks would brew strong beer and give up on solid foods. Many people have done this fast since, included an editor of a German newspaper and an Iowa beer blogger.

Here's the CNN video:

The Iowa blogger says he lost 22 pounds during Lent.

Part 12: Chicago Home Brew Shops

Here are some places where a brewer can purchase supplies in Chicago:

Via Google Maps

1) Brew Camp
Where: 2039 West Belle Plaine Avenue in Chicago
What they have to offer: Brew Camp not only has beer making supplies, but they also offer classes for new brewers for $20.

Via Google Maps

2) Brew and Grow
Where: Two locations in Chicago. On the North Side at 3625 N Kezie Ave and 19 S Morgan St
What they have to offer: Brew and Grow offers equipment for both beer making and hydroponic growing. They also offer weekly classes on Thursdays (7 p.m.) and Sundays (10 a.m.) at their North Side location and Wednesdays (7 p.m.). There is a $20 fee. 
Brew and Grow also offer homemade Absinthe kits.

3) Bev Art Brewer and Winemaker Supply
Where:10033 South Western Avenue in Chicago
What they have to offer: Bev Art offers more in-depth classes for brewers and winemakers which cover are held over the course of two sessions for beer and three sessions for wine. Classes cost $99.00 but do not include the ingredients for either process, which must be purchased separately.