Beer Review

December for us Minnesotans was rough. Mischke was fired, the Wild played some of the worst hockey we’ve seen them play, we still do not have Senator number Two, and it was frickin’ cold outside. All the more reason to hang out indoors with some tasty pints eh? There are a few beers I’ve had over the past few weeks that I’d like to give my 2-cents on.

Flat Earth Brewery is based out of St. Paul. It is one of Minnesota’s newest micro-breweries. I’ve tried 3 of their beers. I had their Belgian Style Pale Ale many months ago so I won’t go deeply into that one because honestly all I remember is it was so-so.  The next one on tap was their Rode Haring Flanders Red Ale.  According to The Four Firkins it is a Belgian style sour aged about two years in Oak barrels. Supposedly the only brewery in Minny making this style.  I was really stoked to try this one out. I brought this one up to the family and had them try it with me.  Initial aroma was promising. Somewhat of a citrus aroma with a light red color. First sip and I was struck with something? What was that flavor? Never before in a beer had I tasted this? My dad hit it right on the nuts. “Tastes like green olives.” Indeed, that’s what it was. The general consensus between all of us was that. I tried a few more sips, but it still was there. Maybe I need to try this one again, or find another brewery with a similar style to compare it to, but my taste buds did not like this one.  Finally there is the Black Helicopter Coffee Stout. A traditional Stout brewed with Dunn Bros. Coffee beans. Going into this I was thinking a dark, heavy beer. Somewhat of a thicker consistency. The coffee beans are immediate when it comes to aroma. Very dark with a brownish, dense, creamy tasting head. However, not as thick as I thought it would be. Very smooth actually. A good combination of coffee beans and the roasted barley they use. Neither one overpowers the other. Great brew. All in all, I like what Flat Earth is doing. I’ve only tried these Three but looking at their website and you can tell they put some thought into each beer they create.

Two Brothers Brewing. Based out of Warrenville, Illinois. I’ve had the pleasure of having two of their beers. I’ve got a feeling these guys LOVE hops.  The first one was awhile ago, but I can still taste it. Its called Cane and Ebel. A “Hopped up Red Rye Ale”. The name speaks for itself. An ale brewed with Rye. They also add palm sugar to this. If you like the taste of Rye, give this beer a try. I think it has an IBU reading of 85.  The second beer I had is called Hop Juice Double IPA. The first sip I had and all I could think was WOW. 9.9% ABV and a staggering IBU reading of 100. This beer packs a punch. If you don’t like bitter beers, stay away. I’ve only had two beers from this brewery but its fast becoming one of my favorites. I plan on searching for more beers from these guys. Although the only place I know to purchase their beer locally is The Four Firkins. The closest state listed on the website is Wisconsin.

On a side note, Purple Palace Brewing will be kegging our replica of the Surly Furious in about 3 days. The Furious is one of my favorite IPA’s and to some one of the best American made IPA’s. The use of Simcoe hops comes out to play in this beer. We’re really stoked for this one. Initial tasting in the carboy and the hops really come out. We’re still extract brewing so most of our beers have a malty taste. We made our own IPA and it was OK, but needs work. The Surly replica however will definatley have a hop presence. Besides that, we’ve got nothing in the carboy’s. We’re in the process of moving into a new apartment so that is taking precedence over brewing. Once in the new digs, we plan on putting our All-Grain goals into full force. Looks like another Saturday night of snowfall. So why not drink a few. Tonight, myself and the family plan on frying up the rest of our Walleye and Northern’s from our Canada fishing trip and enjoying that with Ommegang Brewing Hennepin Saison and Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale. Cheers!!

 

Mischke Fired

Its a sad day in the land of 10,000 lakes.  This past Saturday morning. T.D. Mischke host of “The Mischke Broadcast” for 17 years on AM1500 KSTP was suddenly fired. This coming just two days after his much anticipated CD Release show at O’Garas Pub. Mischke had a unique show and was my favorite talk show host. You could say his glory days on the air were when he was on at night. He was moved to daytime a few years ago and his show really wasn’t the same. Some antics he would do weren’t really allowed during daytime. And of course, some of his regular callers hadn’t been drinking yet. I was just getting into his show when he moved to daytime, but I still loved listening to him. His countless occasions where he would break out in song about some topic he was talking about. It usually rhymed and was very good. His moments of “dead air” where you thought the radio went out, only to hear papers shuffling around. He would take a humorous outlook on daily events and news. It was a unique broadcast and I can only hope he will be on the air again someday soon. Curses to KSTP for letting go the talented Mischke. I will leave you with The Mischke Poem written by Mischke’s college roommate years ago. 

The Mischke Poem

The memories are golden there
my daddy’s pipe, my mama’s chair
my grandma’s braid was done with care
and on the wireless was Mischke
My mama’d sit us on the rug
and keep us quiet with a hug
my grandpa’d laugh and the kids would shrug
at the shenanigans of Mischke
Jean said Tommy was the kind of man
that she would like to find
my uncle told her never mind
or there’ll be no more of Mischke
Later on in school boy days
when FM was the latest craze
I didn’t care or change my ways
and my dates all learned of Mischke
More recently my wife would scoff
and yell to turn that joker off
so I’d grab a smoke and play it soft
out on the deck with Mischke
I met him once at the State Fair
it was just outside the beer tent there
I heard that giggle in the air
and I knew that it was Mischke
If he was old or young I couldn’t see
But he was different than I thought he’d be
when he handed me a Swisher Sweet
well he seemed a good egg, Mischke
I called the wife with courage high
and said I’d be home by and by
my luck was too good to deny
I was hanging out with Mischke
We smoked our stogies in the night
as I kept buying him Cold Spring Lights
and before I knew my wrong from right
I was ’bout half-baked with Mischke
He borrowed five bucks and went away
I lost my lunch in a pile of hay
Who drove me home — well I can’t say
but I don’t think it was Mischke
I woke up on the lawn and saw my wife
I couldn’t stand up to save my life
and then from her robe she pulled a knife
and started screaming Mischke
I was up and running, filled with fear
and kitchen things flying by my ear
the wife was yelling loud and clear
You can just go live with Mischke
Well that was many years ago
and still I’m feeling pretty low
and if I had a radio
well it wouldn’t be tuned to Mischke
The man cost me my home and pride
he left a void a mile wide
he made me want to run and hide
and curse the name of Mischke
Now though I can’t afford the beers
I’ve waited by that tent for years
but it’s not about revenge or tears
I want something else from Mischke
See I don’t care much about the wife
or the shambles of my so called life
and I want no pity for my strife
but I want that five from Mischke
Somewhere the sun is shining bright
somewhere the hearts of men are light
and somewhere heroes do things right
and somewhere else… is Mischke

–by Michael Crouser

 

The dreaded “creak”

  Being a bike mechanic there’s nothing I hate more then that bike that rolls in and the customer says “my bikes creaking”. “Ok, where is it coming from?” “I dunno.” What follows are a series of questions directed at the customer to help pin point where it is coming from. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t. The most common creaks are the ones that come from the bottom bracket area. I guess you could say its the most common for a number of reasons. That area is under a lot of load while riding. It can be exposed to a lot of crud. Water, dirt, energy drinks, other sugary substances.  I’m working on one in the shop right now that I can’t figure out. Both my bikes have one. The mountain bike has one coming from the bottom bracket area that I’ve yet to solve all summer. My road bike, recently equipped with Campagnolo Centaur 10-Speed developed one in the bottom bracket too! That one I also am yet to solve, although this post from The Rogue Mechanic might have helped me solve that one  #mce_temp_url#    The best way to eliminate these annoying sounds is by process of elimination. Start with the small things, then dig in deeper. It might be as simple as removing and re-greasing the pedals. Or it might be as in depth and time consuming as removing and cleaning chainring bolts, a bottom bracket overhaul, and a bottom bracket tapping and facing. The thing I hate though is the one you can’t get rid of. The one that you spend all day on. It laughs at you as you try everything you can think of, but he’s still there. You think you’ve got it solved, take the bike out for the umpteenth time and there he is. Creeeeeeeak. BALLS. Still there.  Free time does not exist in my shop in the summertime. And the last thing I want to do is spend an entire day trying to solve one silly sound.

     Its not like you can just say to the owner of the bike “just deal with it.” A creak can take away the sole purpose of that ride. The chance to get out on the country road away from all the chaos that is the city. Just you and the pavement. Cruising down the road with the wind in your ears. Nothing but thinking about what cold beer you are going to crack when you get home. Lager or Ale? Or what’s the post ride meal? Chicken or Steak? Do women think men in spandex are hot? Creeeeeeak. First it starts happening intermittently. You don’t think anything of it. Then it gets worse. Increasing with each pedal stroke. Now its constant. Non-stop. That single noise can drive a cyclist crazy. Your train of thought is gone. All you can think about is that wretched creak. The ride is now ruined. You curse the bastard who put the bike together(In my case I’m cursing myself) full well knowing that the problem is not mechanical error but your emotions are high, and thats the first thing that comes to mind. The last thing a person wants on his or her ride is a nagging noise. Thats where I come in. Its just sometimes those nagging noises that cause all that trouble on the ride, also can cause all sorts of trouble in the shop. If it was just as easy as the father in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” says. “Just put some windex on it”.

 

The American Dream’s demise

   Where’s the accountability? I love how our government is throwing out the term “too big to fail” more and more these days. The next industry in line to get a slap on the wrist from Uncle Sam is the auto industry. There’s talk going around of the possible merger of Ford, GM and Chrysler. The sole purpose of this is to get bailed out. There’s no denying these guys are posting huge massive quarterly losses in the billions of dollars. All those mortgage companies that have been bailed out. Those dirty rotten greedy bastards on Wall Street too.  Small businesses fail all the time and where is their help? Small business is the heart and soul of the American economy. If there’s going to be a bailout it should be for them, not the ones making millions of dollars. Ford, GM, and Chrysler had plenty of time to adjust and change their way of thinking. How long have companies from oversees making cars more fuel efficient. My old 89′ Honda Accord got better gas mileage then most brand new cars from our Big Three auto companies. Only now do we see the American auto industry joining in. They kept trying to push those gas guzzling SUV’s and pickup trucks that kept getting bigger and bigger each year. Did the American Dream get the best of us. So much consumerism that we are now paying for it? Creating more and more jobs each year. Think of all the crap we as Americans have the option at buying at these massive super stores. So much buying and using of products, that the slightest downturn in the market and it sends everything into a downward spiral? I think we got too greedy. Too many Exec’s making millions of dollars. Too many mortgage companies allowing people to buy homes they cannot afford while they make an extra buck. Now instead of holding them accountable for their actions, we are just going to bail them out. Where is the lesson learned? I think people are going to have to lose jobs for this thing to turn around. You can’t keep throwing money at the problem. What does that solve? The bailout was bullshit, but you can argue it needed to be done. The sad reality is that it could have been avoided. Why wasn’t somebody stopping these people? You could say its borderline criminal to convince someone to buy a home they can’t afford. On the other hand, they should know better right? Either way, this whole mess we find ourselves in should never have happened, and its frightening to think how bad some experts say it is going to get before it gets better.

 

Commuter deaths on the rise

If you go by percentages Minneapolis is the second most popular city in the U.S. for bicycle commuters. This is great, I myself hope to start doing more of this. But it has come with a price.  This year there have been nine commuter deaths. All of last year there were four. Commuting in Minneapolis is on the rise, and you could blame that for the spike in deaths. Being a hardcore cyclist for 10+ years and having spent 2+ years in Uptown, a hotbed for bikers, I can see where the problem lies. You can blame both parties for the problems we see occuring.

Drivers around town don’t give cyclists respect for the road. A lot still drive with the mindset that cyclists are not allowed on roads. They honk at us and yell at us to get off the road. This, is wrong. In a city like Minneapolis, its actually illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalk.  I can count so many times where I’m riding on the shoulder of a road, minding my own business and I get honked at, yelled at, flipped off, and the occasional object thrown my direction. Water balloons, bottles, you name it. Another favorite of mine is when I am riding up to street and the car behind me speeds up, cuts me off to take a right, causing me to slam on the brakes, curse the bastard for doing so, then thanking the company that made my brake calipers. You know they are thinking “oh cripes, I don’t want to wait for this clown”. So instead, you floor it, then suddenly brake. Pu-leeease. You can’t wait a few extra seconds to make that turn. Are you in that big of a rush? Drivers are supposed to give cyclists three feet of clearance between them and the rider. Now, in some cases this is impossible, but I’ve been buzzed many times by cars when they had plenty of room to move over. Sometimes, as they pass by they will add the revving up the engine that scares the shit out of you and almost makes you fall over. 

Bikers are just as much to blame as drivers. If not the worst of the two. I’m gonna be honest on this. Bikers in Uptown, and downtown Minneapolis are some of the worst. As an avid cyclist myself I cringe at some of the things that go on. I can’t count how many times I see a biker blow right through a stoplight. Although there is occasion where they will slow down and check for cars, but still blow through the light. Thanks guys. What about hand signals? Good lord, would it kill someone to use a hand signal. I love the look back they give you while you are coming up behind them, like you know what they are thinking, then all of the sudden jet across the lane to make that turn. Its a good game of cat and mouse. The use of lights. Lights and reflectors are required at night. I have had so many instances where I’m driving down a back road in Uptown and some clown comes out of nowhere. Why? Because I can’t see him. Not a single reflector or light on them. I especially love it when they start yelling at me for not seeing them. 

Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of law abiding drivers and cyclists in this city. Sadly, I think the bad apples out number the good ones. We’ve made a lot of strides to make commuting around the cities easier and more enjoyable for cyclists. The Mid-Town Greenway for example. Or the numerous biker “lanes” in the road. Those things make the experience for drivers and riders more enjoyable and less hazerdous. I fear, that if we continue to abuse our freedoms its going to get tougher and tougher to promote commuting. People need to wise up, and start paying attention. How many deaths is it going to take?

 

Wheel building

    Ah the bicycle wheel. Such a cool and simple machine. You take a rim that isn’t laced up to a hub, and its pretty easy to bend it in half. But you put some spokes in there, bring it up to tension, and that thing can take a hell of a lot abuse. Of all the things there are to do when it comes to wrenching on bikes, building wheels is by far my favorite thing to do. 

     The wheel is one of the most important parts on a bicycle. You could say #1. The advances that wheel manufacturers have made the past 10 years is quite astounding. From road wheels that are as light as a feather, yet are stiff as hell and climb like a banshee, to mountain bike wheels that take insane amounts of abuse yet manage to stay relatively true. Thats all good, but there is nothing like a traditionally laced, handbuilt wheel. My years of experience building wheels is at about 2 1/2. I’ve built maybe a dozen wheels in my time, but my latest project will really show how I’ve been doing. A customer of ours is doing a coast to coast bike trip next summer. He came in a few times, and and spent a lot of time perusing through the QBP book seeing if there is anything that would work. They didn’t really have any wheels from their wheelhouse to suite his needs.  He did some brainstorming and wanted to have me build a wheelset. He decided to get the Phil Wood Touring hubset. A good choice for riding thousands of miles with a lot of luggage. I told him the Velocity Dyad would be a great rim. Those Australians can make a good product. AC/DC, Wolfmother, Velocity bicycle components.  DT Swiss Double Butted 2.0/1.8 spokes would accommodate those rims and hubs quite nicely. A 36 hole, 3X wheelset. 

    I know 3 ways to lace up a wheel. I know there are more, but I’ve only known 3. There’s my way, which I was taught by my old service manager. I can’t explain it to someone else, its all upstairs in my head, and seems to work out each time. Although I have had a couple times where I’ve had to lace the wheel a couple of times to get it right.  The Barnett’s way, which I’ve never done, but from what I’ve heard works great. I think it takes a little longer, because it uses a way of marking each hole in the rim with a number and letter. The latest way I’ve been lacing wheels is the “Schraner” way. I purchased the book “The Art of Wheelbuilding” written by Gerd Schraner about a year ago. His method is quite unique. You lace one side of the wheel first. Then do the other side. I have now done 3 wheels using this method, and so far it is my favorite. Its easy, and it makes sense. He goes into detail as to why he has his “braking” spokes going one way, and his “pulling” spokes go another way. I now consider the Schraner Way my way.  I got these bad boys laced up and tensioned yesterday and they look great. This will really be a test to see how well a wheel built by myself will hold up. I’m confident it will. A good mechanic should have wheel building in his repertoire. Not just because of the fact that you can build wheels, but wheel building helps you understand how wheels work. Why are you blowing through spokes down at the hub? Why do your spokes keep coming loose? Whats the purpose of radially laced wheels?

   There are a lot of crappy wheels out there and I’m amazed more don’t just fail while someone is riding them. I blame machines, and no name spokes. If you are not using either DT Swiss or Wheelsmith spokes, you should consider those spokes inferior and nowhere near the quality of these two. Its sad some well known manufacturers opt out of using quality spokes. I’ve seen first hand when a wheel is machine built, with no name spokes, and is not hand tensioned. Its not good. The last year or so I’ve built more wheels then I have my entire life. I’m still a youngling when it comes to wheel building experience, but I will say I believe I build a good quality wheel, and will stand up to many miles. I only hope to get more chances here at the shop building wheels, and continue to learn more about them.

 

A Pub Crawl for Greg

Two weekends ago was the first annual “Don’t Judge Me Pub Crawl” in memory of Greg Halstenson. Greg passed away back in late May of this year. We were out at a few bars in NE Minneapolis that last Friday in May and we all parted ways. Greg was found in a rail yard in St. Paul the following morning. The events that took place between when we last saw him and that next morning are still unknown. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing over the phone that next morning. I couldn’t believe it. He’s gone. For about a month or so every night laying in bed I would say that to myself, not believing it had happened. What a terrible thing to happen to someone so young. It was tough. I watched my best friend bury his best friend. A parent should never have to bury their child. Its supposed to be the other way around. I can’t begin to imagine what his family went through and my heart goes out to them. Well, this past weekend was a weekend for friends and family to get together to remember Greg.

I went to high school with Greg, but didn’t really get to know him until after that. A couple of rowdy and hilarious ski trips out to Colorado, and many nights hanging out in NE was where I really got to know Greg. He was the type of guy that would do anything he wants. If he got an idea, he’s gonna go through with it. He was the life of the party for sure. Greg was always in a good mood and ready for anything. I am happy to say that I considered Greg a friend of mine even if it was only for a few short years. The pub crawl was great. I think it was done right. The way Greg would have done it. We were ready to party hardy. We ruled the streets of NE that night. Bandanas, beads, and buttons, and booze. Go all out! It was great to meet people that I don’t know, but were friends with Greg. That night brought back all those memories of Greg, and it was great to share memories with others. This weekend we’ll be going out to Big Marine and camp on the island where there is a little memorial for Greg. One last weekend for this summer spent out on the island where Greg spent so many weekends. Hanging out with friends, camping, and fishing.

That whole night in late May has made me think differently. What little time we have on this planet needs to be cherished. Am I gonna continue to party every weekend and blow all my money at the bar? Or am I going to start growing up, make more of this opportunity that I have. The last couple of weeks since the pub crawl its been on my mind a lot. I feel that for a 26 year old, I could be doing more. I think to what Greg had. He had a nice little house in Heights, two dogs, and a boat. I know life is not about possessions, but I know he worked hard for those things, and were probably more then just possessions to him. Greg was truly one of a kind. The likes of which we’ll never see again. We miss ya Greg. May you R.I.P.

 

Fall is the best time for beer

    I really was hoping to have the everyday use of a computer by now. However, that has not happened. I’m thinking sometime in late fall, early winter to have that finally in my possession. It sucks not having a computer. Blows ass. All the things I used to love I can’t really do these days. Writing on this site, checking up on current events, listening to all my music(which at this point is gone). Thanks to that piece of shit PC I called the Black Bandit. I’ll even admit to having enjoyment from wasting countless hours on Facebook. Keeping up with my favorite bands’ websites. The Mischke Podcasts. Oh how I miss thee so much. Oh well, soon enough. 

    Purple Palace Brewing is in full swing. Just finished off a Red Ale. People kept saying it had a hint of apple in it. Matt nor myself ever tasted that. Our Belgian Trippel is still slated to be on tap in October. Tasted that one a few weeks ago, and oh my is it gonna be glorious. Our darkest beer to date will be up in September. Power Pack Porter. And finally I’m happy to announce the very first Purple Palace home recipe. Ya see, the beers we have been doing are kits. We buy pre-packaged ingredients and brew them up. We’ve been wanting to come up with our own. We both love IPA’s so thats what we decided on. A few beers and a few hours here and there and the list of ingredients was there. We used 1lb of Pale Malt, about 9.5lbs of Amber Malt Extract. 4oz. of hops. 3oz. in the boil, and 1oz. for dry hopping(Columbus and Kent Goldings hops). White Labs English Ale yeast. The initial outlook was good. Throughout the boil a significant aroma of hops. Most of our boils have more of a malty aroma. After the primary fermentation it developed into a malty aroma. A little bit worried, we were hoping the dry hopping in the secondary would turn that around. I kegged it on Sunday night, but my wretched allergies were so bad I couldn’t smell shit. I couldn’t really taste it either, so I will find that out this weekend. We ended up with a 6.5%ABV which was right on par with what we were looking for. We’ll see how it tastes. I got a new book for my birthday titles “Designing Great Beers”. A little more of an advanced book designed for brewers with a general idea of how beer is made, and what each ingredient does to the beer. It should help us out a ton when it comes to designing beers of our own. We still have dreams of doing All-Grain Brewing and Lagering. That could come into fruition this winter.

    I would like to give kudos to a friend of mine for opening the Twin Cities first specialty beer store. Congrats to Jason Alvey and his store The Four Firkins located in St. Louis Park. In a time where craft brewing is exploding, it is only fitting to have a store devoted to the cause.  Jason is the man to talk to about beer. An excellent selection and wonderful looking store. If you are a beer lover like I am, you MUST check out his selection. With a heavy dose of Belgian beers(which to some, is the benchmark when it comes to good beer) he also has great variety. From IPA’s that will blow your taste buds away, Stout’s and Porters with a punch, German Hefeweizen’s Marzen’s, and one that tastes like bacon, Mead, and the best selection of local breweries there’s a brew for all tastes. So, Cheers Jason, and I wish you the best of luck.

   With work starting that slow slide to winter, my mind finally on something other then the next repair at work, I should find an opportunity here and there to write. Until then, Ciao.

 

Apologies to all you hosers out there

I haven’t forgotten about my site peeps. I am still without the every day use of a computer. It will be sometime before I get my new Mac. Apologies to those who read this blog. I hope to have access to a “confuser” more often fairly soon. 

 

Purple Palace update

Purple Palace Brewing had an EPA on tap this past weekend. EPA meaning English Pale Ale. EPA’s are not as aggressively hopped as and IPA. The perfect mixture of hops and malt to make a good full flavored beer. The first swig of this Ale brings out the malty taste, but wait a couple of seconds after you swallow and the hop flavor really comes out. We calculated an ABV(alcohol by volume) or roughly 5%. It comes out to be a nice clear copper color with a thick frothy head. Its been determined that if we start making our own version of an EPA its going to have the name “Good Head”. Mmmmm. Good head indeed. So far we’ve had two beers in the keg now, and this one beat out the Witbier we had for New Years.
Two weeks from now Umphrey’s McGee will be performing 3 shows at 1st Avenue. So why not have some beer on tap for friends before we see the greatest live show around? Our thoughts exactly. Up next on tap is an Octane IPA. If you like lots of hops, and a bitter flavor, this beer is up your alley. The story behind IPA’s goes back to 18th and 19th centuries. The British had made their presence felt in the East Indies. British sailors loved their beers. One problem. It wouldn’t keep on those long voyages. The fix? Hops. Hops served as preservative and the beer kept longer. Long story short, thats where the name IPA(India Pale Ale) comes from. So, we’re hoping to have an IPA with a strong hop presence in that first sip. We also added Oak Chips to the secondary fermentation. We’re hoping it brings a little bit of a musty flavor to it. IPA’s are my favorite and I can’t wait to give this one a whirl.
We still have our Belgian Tripel due out this coming October. Can’t wait for that. It is now in secondary fermentation and we’re hoping for an ABV of around 8-9%. Perfect for those cool October nights over the bonfire. This week I believe we’re going to try a Cream Ale. Something light and sweet.
So the craft beer movement has made its mark with big beer makers. Miller has announced 3 new “craft” beers that are now out in 4 test markets. They are Baltimore. Charlotte N.C., Minneapolis, and San Diego. The beers are a Blonde Ale, Wheat, and Amber. Being in Minneapolis I can’t wait to try them. One beef I have though are those god awful labels. What kind of think tank came up with those? The guys that have brought us hilarious beer commercials for years, and thats the best they can do? Sorry, but those labels are hideous, and show no appeal. For a guy like me that is a beer connoisseur, I can see around the label. I want to see what a manufacturer known for lagers can do in the craft beer market. But what about your average joe schmo beer drinker? Obviously the first thing to catch someones eye is the appearance. These labels are bland and boring. If they decide to put these beers into full time production, I hope that they re-consider the labels they chose.
I’m off. Go Wild