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

Hostess with the Mostess

Yup Ashley was really THAT Pleasent

    Ashley is the #1 Bartender at Brasserie V (my opinion) She has been in the business for 10 years and feels like experience is everything. She really enjoys clientele that appreciate the beer, the smell and the taste of the beer. She enjoys folks that come to learn about and experience the beer. It’s all about the BEER!

Well Ashely I agree experience IS everythig  and you made my experience at Brasserie V  everything is could be!

Look!  We got Sophie in a picture afterall!

Brian Smith, Uli Bennewitz, Sophie Bennewitz and John Jansen

Beers in the Flight:

1. Radler – A Radler is a mixture of lemonade and beer. Weeping Radish uses Real Lemonade sweetened with the Stevia plant and Weeping Radish Kolsch beer. ABV? Low. Perfect for a hot day.
2. Corolla Gold – A German lager style. If you are a lager drinker, this is a must try… Light (but not a “lite” beer) and not filling. I’m feeling a session coming on! ABV – 5.0
3. Weitzen – German wheat style beer… Brewed with 100% German wheat, banana on the nose and taste. Very drinkable weitzen! ABV – 4.7%
4. Black Radish – This spectacular German Schwartzbier is listed as “One of the 50 Beers before you die!” This one was slipped into the show by Uli and we’re so glad he did! ABV – 4.6%
5. Christmas Bier – And the crowd goes wild!! The seasonal Dopplebock Christmas Bier was certainly the reason for the season this year. What an amazing beer… Dopplebocks are definately one of Brian’s favorites. They won’t say how many Christmas Bier’s they brought back from North Carolina or how many lasted through the weekend! ABV – 8.2%

You MUST visit the Weeping Radish Farm Brewery when you can:

6810 Caratoke Hwy
Jarvisburg, NC 27947
(252) 491-5205
Located on 24 acres in Jarvisburg, NC on Highway 168/158 between Norfolk, Virginia & Outer Banks, NC

Take advantage of the beer (of course) and the fantastic local meets prepared by a German Master Butcher. Or, order some beer from their website http://www.WeepingRadish.com unless, of course, you’re in Texas in which case you’ll have better luck getting an uzi. <grin>

Weeping Radish Fire Truck

Visit us on the web at http://www.AbsOfBeerTV.com

Cheers!
Brian and John

Watch and learn about these special beers! Ever asked yourself, “I wonder if Schloss Eggenberg’s Samichlaus Beer would be a good session beer?” Click play and find the answer!

Direct Download
HD | SD | WMV

In this show, our hereos are tasting:

Samuel Smith – Winter Welcome 6% ABV
St. Bernardus – Christmas Ale 10% ABV
Dubuisson Scaldis – Noel 12%
Schloss Eggenberg – Samichlaus a festive 14% ABV plus some change… <grin>

and…

You have to drop by the Bier Garden!

The Bier Garden

438 High Street
Portsmouth, Virginia

If these beers don’t leave you festive, we don’t know what will!

Merry Christmas and..

Cheers!
Brian and John

In this episode, Brian and John get into the Christmas Spirit with some Ridgeway Brewing beers. These beers progress from Bad Elf to Criminally Bad Elf plus the special Santa’s Butt!

Direct Download
HD | SD | WMV

Ridgeway Brewing

We tasted:

Bad Elf – 6% ABV
Very Bad Elf – 7.5% ABV
Seriously Bad Elf – 9% ABV
Criminally Bad Elf – 10.5% ABV
Santa’s Butt – 6% ABV

Hope you are having a great holiday season…

Cheers!
Brian and John

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:

 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!

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!

Renne was all that and a bag of chips!

Beer make Renee happy… She works hard at great Brewery (she’s right there) with a great atmosphere and with that going, of Course she wants a great beer….

Gotcha Renee!  Since your working, I think I will have a beer!