A perfect beer for your Easter dinner.

Are you looking for the right beer to pair with your Easter dinner, well here is my recommendation.  Smuttynose Maibock from Smuttynose Brewing.  They brew out of New Hampshire but can usually be found at many specialty liquor stores.  Their Maibock has its own distinctive take on the Germany originated Springtime beer, "the Maibock".  

Bocks are usually thought of as stronger, deeper and darker versions of lager beer, but not Maibocks, especially those released in Springtime.  Spring Maibocks are much lighter in appearance, medium bodied and traditionally use German “noble” hop varieties. Smuttynose brewery's Maibock is overwhelmingly malty to start with a subtle finish of a variety of crisp hopiness-the perfect compliment for a traditional ham dinner.  Enjoy!

Chin chin!

David Ruiz is a Sales & Marketing pro who is unnaturally obsessed with good beer.  Contact him at beersnobber@yahoo.com

Goose Island Clybourn's annual STOUT Fest is here!!!!!!!!

Goose Island Clybourn's (1800 W Clybourn, Chicago, IL) will have 20+ Chicagoland breweries and their master brewers live, pouring and discussing their handcrafted stouts Saturday March 16th 12-4pm!  Must be 21 to attend and have a pre-purchased ticket (or try & scalp one at the door).

Some Breweries Attending: Atlas Brewing Co., Half Acre Beer Co., Haymarket Pub & Brewery, Revolution Brewing, Flossmoor Station Brewery, Goose Island Beer Co.,  Rock Bottom Chicago Lucky Monk Brewery, Rock Bottom Warrenville, Pig Minds Brewing Co., Two Brothers Brewing, Wild Onion Brewery, Pipeworks Brewery, Spiteful Brewing, etc.   

Look forward to seeing you all there.

Chin chin!

David Ruiz is a Sales & Marketing pro who is unnaturally obsessed with good beer.  Contact him at beersnobber@yahoo.com 

St. Patrick's Day is almost here

In honor of the day, I decided to give Guinness Draught in a BOTTLE another try.  I am a Guinness lover but quite frankly have never liked the Guinness Draught in a bottle.  It always tasted flat, bland and shallow plus the clanking of the "rocket widget" (introduced in 2001) drove me crazy.

I have to say a couple things have changed since I last tasted it, for the better.
The "rocket widget" is now gone and replaced with a new "innovation dedicated to delivering the best drinking experience".  Guinness has recently adjusted the gas (nitrogen) mix so the widget is no longer needed.

When you open the bottle you can definitely here the loud sound of the gas being released (similar to the draught in a can-that still has a ball widget).  This new mixture, much like the old is supposedly activated every time you tilt the bottle to drink.  According to Guinness you should never pour the draught bottle version into a pint glass.  The nitrogen contained in the new gas mix is released by the tilting action of drinking directly from the bottle.  Every time you drink (tilt) more nitrogen is released adding to the creaminess and texture of the beer.

I was pleasantly surprised by the stark difference in drinkability versus the old widget version.  Definitely worth your time.  Still not as creamy as the can version, but much closer than ever before.  Neither really compare to greatness of the keg version, but if you can't get your hands on a pour from your local pub then the bottle version is now a real alternative.
Slainte!

Chin chin!

David Ruiz is a Sales & Marketing pro who is unnaturally obsessed with good beer.  Contact him at beersnobber@yahoo.com 

Tranquair Jacobite Ale 

Tasted

APPEARANCE-Very deep dark brown hue, almost ruby. Off-white head fades rather quickly and leaves slight edge around the glass. 

SMELL-strong smell of coriander as advertised on the bottle.  Full bodied sweetish, full molasses smell is easily recognized. 

TASTE-Incredibly smooth.  Combo of sweet sugar cookies, the obvious molasses, rich syrupy flavors with a toasty spot on the palette.  Coriander is definitely pronounced, malt goodness to start-almost chewy, thins quickly towards the end.  Hop presence is non-existent. Slight chocolate flavors finish it out. 

Drinkability-full of sweetness, spicy-cinnamon,roasted fruitiness, sugary with rich chocolate malt flavors.  

OVERALL-I would say this is a superb Winter Beer. 

Serving Type-bottle

Chin chin!

David Ruiz is a Sales & Marketing pro who is unnaturally obsessed with good beer.  Contact him at beersnobber@yahoo.com 

Deschutes Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale

-tasted


Appearance: Clearish, tangerine tone. Good creamy off-white head that fades 

slowly to a decent lacing.

Smell: Sweet citrusy, almost floral or even herbal. Just a hint of some pine in the nose



Taste: Malty, doughy start that leads to a slight caramel trace. Very smooth push that is

forcefully bumped by a stronger more intense hop taste that ends with a slight mint aftertaste.  

Works very well together, nicely balanced.




Drinkability: Very clean, Medium body, smooth and tasty.



Overall: Pretty interesting take on the a Pale ale, still prefer their Mirror Pond, but definitely 

worth it.



Serving type: bottle

Chin chin!

David Ruiz is a Sales & Marketing pro who is unnaturally obsessed with good beer.  Contact him at beersnobber@yahoo.com

Argus Brewery-Pegasus IPA tasted

Appearance: brownish, maybe it's reddish. Plenty of thick frothy white foam and considerable lacing of the glass. Head dissipates very quickly.

Smell: Hopped up. Pineish, but not too big of a nose.

Taste: As expected, it tastes hopped, but not a heavy presence as the smell would lead you to believe. Clean, crisp, refreshing, light taste, but not watery. Nice.

Drinkability: Excellent India Pale ale. Perfect with classic bar food or on a hot day.

Overall: Definitely a strong consistent beer that does an IPA well, but not as strong as I prefer them!

Serving type: bottle

Chin chin!

David Ruiz is a Sales & Marketing pro who is unnaturally obsessed with good beer.  Contact him at beersnobber@yahoo.com

Sprecher Brewing Company of Glendale, WI (just outside of Milwaukee) is introducing an alcoholic version of their somewhat famous Root Beer (their beers are much more well known).  Sprecher has been making award-winning beer and sodas since it opened in 1985 (formerly located in Milwaukee proper)

The “Hard” Root Beer is an old fashioned fermented root beer with 5 percent alcohol by volume.  Sprecher said, “It combines the flavors and characteristics of Sprecher Root Beer with bourbon and oak flavors.”

Apparently customers had been asking for a “Hard” version of their Root Beer for years and they finally decided to take action on the requests.

Unfortunately, Sprecher’s Hard Root Beer is only available in limited distribution.  Currently the small number of locations is limited to Southeastern Wisconsin, Madison, WI and at the brewery in Glendale, WI.

Here's to hoping they take their Root Beer and create a beer influenced by it, but for now we will have to settle for spiked Root Beer soda.

Chin chin!!

David Ruiz is a Sales & Marketing pro who is unnaturally obsessed with good beer.  Contact him at beersnobber@yahoo.com