Viewing by month: September 2010

Iconic Scotch Blends: Old v. New

How cool is this: tasting two bottles of the same iconic blended Scotch side by side, one right off the shelf today, and one bottled three, four, or even five decades ago? This is how I spent Tuesday night, in the company of the self-described Midwest Single Malt Appreciation Society (they were aware of the irony in their tasting a series of blended whiskys). We met on the patio of a local watering hole ...

Read more...

1 comments - Posted by Greg Versch at 4:15 PM - Categories: Spirits

Coming Soon: Onion Brewery Pumpkin Ale in Cans

This blog was going to be about a viable alternative to the hard to find Southern Tier Pumking, but it turns out the beer we were going to recommend in its place, Hoppin' Frog Frog's Hollow Pumpkin Ale, seems to be just as scarce this year.  In years past Frog's Hollow has long outlasted Pumking on our shelves, but ...

Read more...

5 comments - Posted by Kyle Fornek at 11:38 AM - Categories: Beer

A Question of Price

I had just moved to the Chicago area and needed to meet some people, so I sat on a folding chair in my new apartment complex courtyard. A neighbor came out onto his balcony and asked if I wanted to hang out. He had some friends in town and they were bored. As it often does, it came up that ...

Read more...

3 comments - Posted by Greg Versch at 5:05 PM - Categories: Wine

De Proef Collaborates With Terrapin

Monstre Rouge is the fourth beer in a series in which De Proef Brouwerji from Belgium invites a famous American craft brewery to head across the Atlantic to collaborate on a beer.  What makes Monstre Rouge unique to us Illinoisans is that De Proef collaborated with Terrapin Brewing Co. from Georgia, whose beers are unavailable in Illinois.  The previous three breweries to collaborate with De Proef (Lost Abbey, Allagash, and Bell's) are all available in the Land of Lincoln...

Read more...

0 comments - Posted by Kyle Fornek at 6:02 PM - Categories: Beer

Thoughts on Mezcal

The explosion of tequila in the last few years has created a lot of confusion surrounding spirits distilled from agave from Mexico.

Here's a thumbnail sketch.

The origins of distillation in Mexico date back to at least the 1530's, brought to the new world by Spanish Conquistadors. They used the most readily available fermentable material in Mexico...

Read more...

0 comments - Posted by Brett Pontoni at 2:43 PM - Categories: Spirits

Rare Imports Hit Our Shelves

Several  rare beers made an appearance on our shelves last week, and we would like to share them with you...

First up is Mikkeller and Brewdog's collaboration I Hardcore You.  The brew is a combination of Brewdog's Hardcore IPA and Mikkeller's I Beat U.  Both are double IPA's in the 9% ABV range...

Read more...

5 comments - Posted by Kyle Fornek at 9:45 AM - Categories: Beer

Food and Wine: Art or Science?

Fork, Cork and Style is coming to Arlington Park on October 2nd featuring 200 plus wines, 100 restaurateurs and oh yeah, Emeril Lagasse.  This will be a good opportunity to taste a lot of food and wine together. With the cooking demonstrations and many winery representatives in attendance, you will have a great chance to learning something new dealing with food and wine.   

Read more...

0 comments - Posted by Jon Bernardoni at 12:51 PM - Categories: Wine