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My Night in Madison

John — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:50:32 +0000

Brasserie V

When in Madison this is a MUST stop! The Beer, The Atmosphere, The Staff. All in my mind = one of the best Pubs in the country…… So where to start???? The Beer obviously but 1st.. For me I can go to a place if the beer is GREAT and the wait staff is poor; If the wait staff is Great but the beer is poor I won’t go back. However at Brasserie V -

Ashley and Kim create an excellent place to go.

Ok Beer TIME…. 1st up drafts….. and what a line up:

Atomium Grand Cru * Corsendonk Christmas * Cuvee Des Trolls * Echt Kriekenbier * Petrus OUD Bruin * Bells XMAS

St. Bernardus ABT 12 * Val Dieu Grand Cru * N0gne0 Winter Ale * Crispin Cider * Ell River Climax Noel * Lagunitas IPS *

Loast Coast 8 Ball Stout * Norrebro Bryghus

Bottles??? 2 many too drink; Heck too many to mention.. So lets focus on the ones I had…. 1st up (I think)

Next the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout….

I had no idea Goose Island could do this.

Ashley said this beer was awesome and she was right

Next Up… The Storm & Averij translation = Storm and Damage. This American Style 9.2% Imperial/Double IPA from the Brouwerij De Molen in Bodegraven, Holland

This is one of the best Breweries I have ever been to. This beer was great and followed up the 2 Stouts with no problems.

This is the 1st time I have seen this beer in this country…. (Besides what I have) Thank you to Ashley; Thank You to Brasserie;

Thank YOU to Wisconsin for allowing your citizens this Plethora of beer. The state I live in is tax grubbing, freedom stifling and so full of Red tape we may never be lucky enough to have De Molen…. http://www.brouwerijdemolen.nl

Brasserie V
1923 Monroe St.
Madison, WI 53711
608-255-8500
info@brasseriev.com

Ale Asylum

Ok so I didn’t make it up there that night it was the next day… But Wow I lucked out. This place was also well…. to fit the name (Ale Asylum) Crazy GOOD! I did not have as much time as I would have liked but I was there long enough to have 3 of the 10 beers they had on tap. I can not hide my favorite type of beer and as you all know are Belgian Ales and they had 3 beers that reminded me of home…. Well I am not from Belgium but I can dream!

Ok so I tried The Happy Ending Belgian Abbey * Mercy Grand Cru * Tripel Nova Belgian Tripel…. I don’t have tasting notes I apologize I was talking to the bartenders and the Brewers but I can say as all the followers of the show know our favorite verb… WOW!!! As I said these Belgians could all have been made in Belgium!

There are no Tv’s here.. This is a place to meet folks and enjoy great beer. I spoke with Chris Riphenburg the head Brewery and his comment to me was “we wanted no Tv’s so that the biker could sit next to the Technical Services Manager and enjoy each other’s company” And that is what happens at Ale Asylum. Madison has great folks and great folks that work at all 3 places that I went to. I have a philosophy that Great beer can be made even greater if the Brewer or in this case Brewers are great guys and Chris and his counterparts were as well which made the beer even sweeter! I can’t wait to get back up to Madison to really sit down and enjoy Ale Asylum brews…. and i am hoping that I can get Chris to send us some beers to feature on our show… Hint, hint

Ale Asylum

698 KINSMAN BLVD
MADISON WI 53704
608-663-3937
bandit@aleasylum.com

Trappist John at the Cricketers Arms

John — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:57:04 +0000

Cricketers Arms

WOW Dark.... Should have brought a DATE!

This is another great place in Orlando.

An English PUB! Sweeeeet!!!!

Great beer and of course great food…

2 styles of Bangers, Fish & Chips, Shepherds Pie, Scotch Eggs and Sandra….

Oh wait she actually wasn’t on the Menu… My BAD!!

Sandra The Beer Wench

I had a great time talking to Sandra the Beer Wench and that she was.

Sandra is from Ireland and she works in an English PUB…. WT??? Her Mom isn’t very happy about that and I cannot type what her Grandmother said “&@%#!!” Hey this is a family BLOG!

This is the second time I have been here. I really enjoy English Ales (well as you all know I enjoy beer!) the Cricketers Arms also has great people and a great atmosphere!

Did Any one say English Ales??????

Mmmmmmm BEER

What is better than BEER???? More BEER!

Ok… Beers as follows:

Shipyard Export

Ringwood Old Thumper

Longhammer IPA

Drifter Pale Ale

Fullers ESB & London Pride

Indica IPA

Old Speckled HEN

Oh yeah they had a bunch of “other” taps but…….

You can Visit and reach them here!

Cricketers Arms

5250 International Drive

at Festival Bay Mall @ International Drive

Orlando, Florida

(407) 354-0686

Trappist John at RedLight RedLight

John — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:44:34 +0000

RedLight RedLight

Ok so my review is a twincy bit overdue. 1^st of all I will apologize to the George and Teege.

But Hey; Can’t I just blame my tardiness on the beer? So a Pub with Red Light in its name twice it has to be excellent and it WAS!

A Bar so Good they had to name it twice!

The breakdown well normally I need to talk Taps and Beers here right…. NOT….. Let’s talk people.. The 2 guys behind the bar George and Teege… Great guys and that is why they have great customers. The entire place was friendly. George and Teege promote this open friendly environment.

Even the Beer BOARD has a Skull & Crossbones

George hard at PLAY

George and Teege having a quick chat about what Great beer to share with me!

Ok the stats: 22 taps, 2 hand pumps, Cellared beers, 6 of the 7 Trappist Monasteries are represented.. Holy Beers Batman!

I can’t say enough about Red Light Red Light great people, great beer

When in Orlando this is a Must STOP… So don’t give Disney ALL your money.. Spend some right here!

Some of the beers I had here: Dogfish Head Raison Dextra… 2007…. 18% High & mighty Home for the Holiday’s…“ A hopeful winter ale”

NICE

Leaving here will be tough especially with the Flaming Lips pumping thru the sound system… Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.. But wait there is one more. The saying is; “A Picture is worth 1000 words” Well then you the Beer Lover will finish this BLOG:

LaTrappe Isid’or

You can visit and reach them here!

Redlight Redlight
745 Bennett Road
Orlando, FL 32803
Phone: (407) 893-9832

Trappist John at Orlando Brewing

Brian — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:16:20 +0000

Orlando Brewing

Orlando Brewing is Florida’s only certified organic brewery!!!!

Mmmm Beer!

The brewery is off the beaten path down a dimly lit street that was reminiscent of an older vacant industrial park or maybe a bad neighborhood at least at night. When I got out of the car I looked around at my surroundings and as I walked towards the front of the building. I heard bottles being kicked around and breaking…. Scared the Shyte out of me!

Is there a doctor in the Bier Garden?

It turned out to be a buzzed couple stumbling down the road. They rested in the Beer tent I think she twisted her ankle on the bottles or something. Ouch!!!!

Once inside the bar was nicely laid out the taps all in a row easy to look at and I was eager to get down to do some sampling.. They even had 3 guest taps as well. I never have a problem with guest taps: Lindemans Framboise Lambic, Sierra Nevada Big-foot & Chimay Cinq Cents…. What more can I type?

Nice Taps!

The Bartender – Cat was a great girl with a big smile… Wouldn’t let me take a picture but we can’t hold that against her can we?

Bar Layout

Look at these samples!

Must be time to Sample? As we can see there were 11 on the Sampler tray so let’s get busy!

Blonde Ale:

Typical light Blonde; what can I say?? Clean, crisp, flavorful, not my style

ABV: 4.33%

Pale Ale:

Nice beer , An American adaptation of an English pale Ale, great Amber Gold color, Great taste, look and smell very drinkable!

ABV: 5.92%

Red Ale:

Not flavorful enough to follow the Pale

I know that is not a real review but hey, it had a great color! It was good for a Red Ale… Did I mention how good the Pale was??

ABV: 4.34%

Brown Ale:

1^st lets start out by saying I am not a Brown ale guy but…. (I never liked Indian food either) This one was very good… Hopefully the light came on. This was a pretty beer. Toasty, caramel, hoppy bitterness, strong flavored…. AOBTV was back in business!

ABV: 6.61%

European Pilz:

Nice Relaxed Pilsner easy drinking great beer to have on a hot day.

ABV: 5.2%

Olde Pelican Ale:

Copper Amber Hue, Malt upfront, Carmel, medium body, full flavored, prominent hops would love to have this as a “real ale” Great beer reminded me of Blackpool…. (tear in my eye)

ABV: 6.46%

Pompous Ass IPA:

Anything with a name like this I thought would have nailed me between the eyes with hops but at only 45 IBU that was not the case…. Another great beer I was on a roll at this point not for you hopheads per say but these beers are good… Look good great aroma easy drinkability

ABV: 6.2%

Miami Weiss:

I get it a play on words…. Hah! I love German Hefe’s and been to Germany. Here in VB we have a great Bier Garden… I wasn’t sure if this was an American wheat or a German wheat; it was light not remarkable…

ABV: ???

Octoberfest:

Another good beer, nice gold color, bready, fruity aroma true to the style not over whelming with hops, true to the Octoberfest style.

ABV: ????

Eagle Stout:

Sweet Oatmeal, Beautiful Midnight black, Full-bodied, roasted, faint nutty medium hops, great Oatmeal Stout.

ABV: 5.67%

Blackwater Dry Porter:

Dark Brown – you could tell right away the coffee like nose chocolate aroma’s another great looking beer. They call it the “Black lite.” This beer was surprisingly drinkable and since was the last beer I sampled was up to room temperatures so the flavors came on strong a great way to finish.

ABV: 5.13%

So there you have it!

A funny thing happened on the way out of the Tap-House… Sampling beers and writing blogs is not a race, it is a marathon. I did not finish every sample… I was on my way to another place. A couple guys at the bar joked me about it and one of them actually finished my samples????? WT???? All in all, I would recommend Orlando Brewing to any one heading to Orlando. There is no food Menu so this is a true Tap-House. This is a great place for a vacationed our parent that needs relief from overpriced tourist traps. The beers are a great value the folks that were there that night (Cat and Richard) were great people and true ambassadors for Orlando Brewing.

Ever seen this in a bathroom?

You can visit and reach them here!

Orlando Brewing
1301 Atlanta Avenue
Orlando, Florida 32806
407-872-1117