Luna Coffee Stout
Hinterland Brewery – Green Bay, WI
5.6% ABV
Bottle and Draft / Year-round

Hinterland, who recently received some national attention with its appearance at the White House Super Bowl party, is quickly becoming one of my favorite Wisconsin breweries.

Luna Coffee Stout fills your glass with a very dark black body and a couple inches of a coppery tan head that after a moment leaves behind beautiful lace. As you pour the beer you are immediately seduced by the aroma. Freshly roasted coffee beans scream at the top of their lungs with murmurs of chocolate and dried fruit not far behind. It is a very intense and complex smell with some alcoholic notes recorded by our tasters. Based solely on our noses I’d bet Luna would have been in the top five.

Given the exceptional notes that were recorded about the aroma we were expecting a bit more from the rest of the experience. Unfortunately we found Luna Coffee Stout to have a flaws in the mouthfeel department.  One taster commented “more bark than bite”. I’d have to agree, especially when it comes to texture, which almost all of our tasters said was too thin.

Following the initial mouthfeel issues the flavor does follow thorough nicely. Smooth roasted coffee dominates while a medium intensity smokey and burnt malt massage your taste-buds. A sweetness is noted along with chocolate and caramel. A bit of hops and bitterness from the chocolate make this a balanced beer. Overall Luna Coffee Stout has a very clean taste and low alcohol which makes this a very drinkable beer. Midwest Beer tasters liked this beer overall but wanted a bit more body in this coffee stout.

Mike – 3.5 of 5
Overall – 3.3 of 5

Beastie Barrel Stout
Barley Island – Noblesville, IN
6% ABV
Bottle and Draft / Seasonal

This is the first Barley Island beer I have had the pleasure of enjoying. It’s a bit of an odd fit for the style – a Bourbon Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout with 6% alcohol? I was worried it would be watered down or weak but Barley Island packed a good amount of flavor in to this beer, after thinking about it, maybe 6% abv just means you can have more than one without falling over.

Beastie Barrel Stout pours an ebony brown with a rich brown head which sticks around for a few sips. Sweet chocolate and burnt toffee fill your nostrils without knocking you back in your chair. I thought it might be a bit over carbonated, but I was the only one, otherwise the silkiness of the oats shine in this texture. Beastie Barrel has a very malty sweet character with a medium-high intensity, which I was quite satisfied with. Roasted grains, coffee and a slight hop flavor round out a pretty good beer. You may have noticed though, I left one detail out. The name indicates it is bourbon barrel aged, but I wouldn’t have guessed it if I wasn’t told. After I reviewed the label again and discovered that I was in fact supposed to be tasting a bourbon barrel aged stout I began to taste it, that must have been cause I was looking for it.

If you like stouts but not bourbon, perhaps this one is for you. If you like bourbon barrel aged stouts but wish you could drink a few without telling the man sitting next to you that you love him, perhaps this is for you. If you like drinking a strong bourbon barrel aged stout that gives you a hangover from looking at the bottle, this isn’t for you.

Mike – 3 of 5
Overall – 2.8 of 5

The Lucky Monk – South Barrington, IL

On my way home from a run to Chicago recently I stopped at a brewpub called The Lucky Monk. It’s situated a bit west of the city, and conveniently for me, right off of I90 and Barrington Road. A very inviting atmosphere, warm lighting with dark woods and cask barel tops hung from the wall. I wasted no time and headed directly for the bar where I found a very knowledgeable and lovely bartender. She explained their 7 house brewed craft beers and offered me a few samples. I then met with brewmaster Anthony who gave me a bit of history on the brewery, which recently celebrated its one year anniversary. He’s a nice guy to chat with for a minute and judging by his beer a great guy to procure your fermented alcoholic beverages from. Of the samples I tried I picked Gr’ale, an Amber Ale fermented with Belgian yeast, for my one pint before I had to leave. As I sat at the bar I chatted with a friendly gentleman about the Packers Bears playoff game and left a very happy craft beer drinker. I will stop by here again for dinner, their menu looked very approachable. Pizza, burgers and sandwiches, all in the $9-$14 range. Anyway, on with the lighting-reviews…

Solitude – Oatmeal Stout

Not much in the way of aroma, sweet and creamy with a good body. You really get the oats which also help the create a velvety mouthfeel. Low alcohol and no bitterness. I was left wanting a bit more flavor, but what was there was great.

Fallen Angel – Vienna Style Lager

As a Fest beer this is excellent. Its crisp, lite, pleasantly malty, balanced and clean tasting, a very drinkable beer. I know I underestimate how hard it is to get a beer with a small grain bill to taste this clean. Bigger and darker beers can cover up imperfections, but this beer bares all, and I like what I see.

Gr’ale – Belgian-style Amber-Ale

Not gonna lie, I love this beer. It’s an awesome beer. Gr’ale has a very complex aroma; yeasty, peppery and fruity. The amber malts scream sweet notes of malty goodness and the belgian yeast adds a complexity that is hard to describe, but if you twist my arm I’d call it spicy maybe with a slight banana note. Next time I pass by I’ll be stopping back for one of these.

Overall 4 out of 5

Gr’Ale 5 out of 5

Link: The Lucky Monk Burger, Pizza and Beer Co.

Granite City is a brewpub chain originating from St. Cloud, Minnesota in 1999. Over the past 12 years they have expanded to 26 locations in 11 states throughout the Midwest. I have personally only been to the one in Madison, WI but am constantly impressed by their food offerings and solid beer, though I wish they would offer more seasonal and daring beers. The most likely reason for their lack of creativity at the retail site is because they actually don’t “brew” on site, choosing to ship the wort from their main location and ferment the beer on site. They tout this as a feature, I say it detracts from the traditional brewpub purpose, but I digress.

Soon you will be able to get their Brother Benedict’s Bock, Northern Light Lager and Duke of Wellington India Pale Ale in bottle form. The beer will be sold in six packs at a suggested retail price of $7.99. No date has been mentioned for the premiere, but word on the street is mid to late February. We can only assume distribution will cover their footprint of retail sites if not more.

I am excited about this move on GCFB’s part. I am a big fan of both the Brother Benedict’s and the Duke of Wellington. If you’ve never been to their Brewpub, check it out. The food is excellent. My question is, can I use my Mug Club card to get a discount and an extra few ounces per bottle?

Website: http://gcfb.net/

Source: Bottled Brew Coming Soon!

This is my first brewpub review so bear with me. A while back my uncle informed me of a new brewpub in downtown West Bend and I wanted to go. But as most things, it slipped my mind. “But this is beer related!” you say, yeah, it happens even for beer too. So anyway, they opened in 2005 as part of their dream. I had been looking for them at such places as the Great Taste of the Midwest and the Great American Beer Festival, but no such luck. I don’t make it to West Bend very often, the last time was for mountain biking, which isn’t the best thing to do when fueled by beer. Well, I must say it was worth the wait, and I will be finding excused to make the long trek again.

Right down on Main St in West Bend, the Riverside Brewery isn’t mind blowing, but it’s damn good! They have 7 regular taps and 2 “guest” taps and they also have 2 more taps for their home made root beer and orange cream soda. I went on a friday for their fish fry (it’s a Wisconsin thing that should be everywhere!) I had the Canadian Walleye with the garlic smashed potatoes (a choice) and it came with rye bread and cole slaw. I also ordered the beer cheese soup and their beer sampler of course. The sampler consisted of their 7 main brews, and because one of their “guest” brews was actually their own Pumpkin Ale, I got to try one of those too. Bonus! Read more »

In following our want/need to branch out to other than Wisconsin available only brews, I recently went to Chicago and stopped at a liquor store and found a new brewery to us! Flossmoor Station in Flossmoor Illinois and they were rated as “Best Small Brewpub” at the 2006 Great American Beer Fest (GABF). Unfortunately for me, it is on the far south side of Chicago and didn’t have time to make it there. I did, however, pick up 3 of their beers and this is the first one, The Pullman Brown Ale.

This dark, thick and complex, roasty beer, brewed with molasses, eight different malts, oats and 3 different hops is spectacular. The malty aroma and molasses warms the nose and accurately previews what you are about to enjoy. Pours dark as night and thick with a nice tan head. Relatively dry finish. Doesn’t disappoint. Mouthfeel is smooth with a little bite of hops. Very well balanced. Having this, I can’t wait to try the others. Read more »

Located in the former Jovian Taphaus and Cloud 9 Grill building at 876 Jupiter Drive The Great Dane Pub and Brewing Company has recently opened their newest location. The Great Dane Pub: Eastside is just that, a pub. The company does not brew at this location, but ships it beer in from it’s other facilities. Not many changes were made in converting this from the previously failed occupants – new paint, some Great Dane logo’s here and there, not that the decor or layout was the reason for the previous failures at this location. The view is unmatched for an Eastside Madison restaurant, from the upstairs dining room you get a great view of the isthmus highlighted by the Capital building itself. The food is of the same excellent quality you’d expect from a Great Dane restaurant.

How is the beer? Their selection is excellent. Aside from the staples (Landmark Lite, Crop Circle Wheat, Peck’s Pilsner, Stone of Scone Scotch Ale, Old Glory APA) specialties included; Oud Brun, Maibock, Dominator Dopplebock, Tri-pepper Pilsner, Verruckte Stadt Germin Pilsner, and more. We attended the opening weekend on November 19th. It was packed, no room to move in the bar area, but service was quick and friendly. I tried the Oud Brun which was excellent. The style is described as a Belgian red sour, which it pretty much lived up to, maybe a bit blacker and sweeter than the style, but it worked really well.

Although they do not brew on premise, I look forward to this pub’s success. Hopefully the Great Dane’s solid beer, wide selection and quality food will keep Eastsiders coming back for more.

The Great Dane Pub: Eastside
876 Jupiter Drive, Madison, WI 53718
Monday-Wednesday 11am-12am,
Thursday- Saturday 11am-Bartime
Sunday 10am-12am