Posted on January 3, 2008
Filed Under Brews and Breweries |
I’ve been off the radar a bit this holiday season due to traveling back to my wife’s family’s homes in Illinois and Wisconsin. We had a great time visiting both homes and were blown away by how we were spoiled both with gifts and hospitality. Unfortunately, I came down with a severe cold on Christmas that lasted the whole time we were out there. In my opinion there are not too many things worse than being sick and traveling. I ended up not wanting to be the “party pooper”, but in the end I probably should have quarantined myself to get better sooner. I’m actually still trying to kick the cough portion of the cold and the voice goes in and out, but oh well, you only have opportunities for a Jewbelation and having a Spotted Cow so often.
Illinois
We stopped at one of our new favorite beer bars, the Firkin, in Libertyville, IL. This is where we sampled Great Lakes Brewing Co.’s (Cleveland, OH) Christmas Ale, I believe a beer called Affligem de Noel, Three Floyds Brewing Co.’s (Munster, IN) Alpha Klaus and a couple others that we just plain lost track of the names.
Since we were limited on time we didn’t have time to go to Mickey Finn’s Brewery in Libertyville to utilize the AHA membership I got my brother-in- law, but next time it is a must. I missed out on their Santa’s Magic. We did, however, get to sample some of the new homebrew the brother-in-law concocted. He kept down playing it, but it was actually pretty good. He just has to come up with a name for it. He’s starting to really get into home brewing, so hopefully he will find the AHA membership useful when it comes to getting tips from the Tech Talk forums and events. Now we have to get him out for the Great American Beer Festival next October!
Wisconsin
The cold really started to kick in here and I feel like I let my father-in-law down a bit as I wasn’t able to go to both the breweries he wanted to go to. He took us to New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, WI. It is home to the Spotted Cow brew. I think we definitely found the jewel of Wisconsin breweries with this short trip outside Madison. This midsize brewery has won several awards for both the brewery itself and the beers inside. They were a hit at this year’s GABF with their Belgian-style fruit beers they brought (we definitely left home with a few of these bottles). These beers recently won gold medals by Rate Beer as Best beers in the United States and the World respectively. The tour of the brewery was great as well. The only downside is that we could only get to try three of their brews for the tasting. We bought a sampler twelve pack, so we didn’t feel like we were left hanging. You can even make your own six pack sampler, if you desire. This brewery only distributes in Wisconsin which is a bummer for us in Colorado. If you’re ever in Wisconsin definitely pick some up and visit the brewery.
They also spoiled me with a couple other gifts that I will definitely be writing about in the coming month. The only downside was that my father-in-law really wanted to try the Capital Brewery in Middleton, WI. I just wasn’t up to it; the only thing that sounded good to drink where a few Emergen-C packets. However, like Mickey Finn’s in Libertyville, we definitely have something on the agenda for the next time I’m visiting the in-laws.
All in all, I did end up being a bit of the “party-pooper” having the cold, but we really want to thank both families for putting us up for the week and we hope that we helped expand their horizons a bit when it comes to craft beers.
Thanks again for everything.
Cheers!
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