Has anyone had Brooklyn Breweries Lodger....

For everyone who likes a ton of flavor try this beer. It's like a kick in the face. Very strong taste and not to bad might I say.

Has anyone had Brooklyn Breweries Lodger....

For everyone who likes a ton of flavor try this beer. It's like a kick in the face. Very strong taste and not to bad might I say.
- Zero

I've heard good things about that brewery but never had the beer. Did you try the Blue Moon yet?

I've heard good things about that brewery but never had the beer. Did you try the Blue Moon yet?
- emtae

No I went back the next night and couldn't bring myself to order it. So I got Newcastle again. I promise next time I go I will order atleast 1 Blue Moon and give a full and updated review.

No I went back the next night and couldn't bring myself to order it. So I got Newcastle again. I promise next time I go I will order atleast 1 Blue Moon and give a full and updated review.
- Zero

It's really not a bad beer, just very trendy, but New Castle Brown is hard to beat.

It's really not a bad beer, just very trendy, but New Castle Brown is hard to beat.
- emtae

Can't argue with ya' there.

Can't argue with ya' there.
- Zero

It's been hotter than hell here, cold beer is just the ticket, Have you practiced the golf swing yet? We have another fun tourney this weekend, my wife hates it, but it's all good for me!

It's been hotter than hell here, cold beer is just the ticket, Have you practiced the golf swing yet? We have another fun tourney this weekend, my wife hates it, but it's all good for me!
- emtae

Me and my buddy are actually trying to plan something for this saturday(might not get a tee time though). He's been practicing his swing in his back yard. However he's been swinging at air. LoL. A case of beer a whole day to relax. I think it will be good for me.

Me and my buddy are actually trying to plan something for this saturday(might not get a tee time though). He's been practicing his swing in his back yard. However he's been swinging at air. LoL. A case of beer a whole day to relax. I think it will be good for me.
- Zero

A case of beer and golfing? You'll be lucky to remember the day.

A case of beer and golfing? You'll be lucky to remember the day.

- jtswinehart

To me that's relaxing I won't remember how bad I sucked and the plus side is I get to drink a bunch of beers. I don't see a down side.

Did somebody say pizza beer?

http://www.chicagotribune....story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Did somebody say pizza beer?

http://www.chicagotribune....story?ctrack=1&cset=true
- Docwhiskey

Could you possibly post the article. It says I need to log in to read it.

Could you possibly post the article. It says I need to log in to read it.
- Zero

That's odd, I didn't need anything. Anyways:


Pizza beer holds the anchovies, thankfully

By Josh Noel
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 18, 2007


For years, Tom Seefurth drank what he called "lawn-mower beer" -- mass-produced, canned brew best suited for drinking while mowing the lawn.

Then he tried a small Oregon brewery's dark, rich stout and everything changed. He realized beer could be art.

The real estate broker and father of two turned part of his garage into a brewery -- he added a refrigerator, brewing equipment and hung beer cans from the ceiling -- and went to work. He crafted porters. He crafted pale ales.

And last fall, he came up with something he swears will revolutionize the world's favorite 5 p.m. drink: pizza beer.

While there are no pizza chunks in the reddish-brown ale (the biggest misconception Seefurth fights), the brew does include ingredients and an aroma generally associated with marinara sauce: tomatoes, garlic, basil and oregano.

Already on tap at one Aurora restaurant as Mamma Mia Pizza Beer, mocked by Jay Leno on national TV and the hot topic of discussion among home brewers -- for better and for worse -- Seefurth plans to incorporate still more food flavors into beers in a movement he calls "culinary brewing."

Salsa beer. Curry beer. Oatmeal raisin cookie beer. He has tried them all.

While the notion of such brews may cause noses to turn up and faces to scowl, Seefurth asks: Please don't judge his creations too soon.

"The pizza beer is not for the Saturday night bowling alley," said Seefurth, 43, who lives in a subdivision in unincorporated St. Charles that backs up to a farm. "But it will appeal to a wide range of people if they keep an open mind."

Restaurants are increasingly treating beer like wine and pairing it with food, but Seefurth claims to be the first to pair food and beer in one frosty mug. Or as he prefers, a wine glass, where his beers can be swirled, contemplated and tasted in all their robustness.

He hopes to strike a deal with a small regional brewery to get the drink on tap in Italian restaurants.

In a home-brew industry surging back to life after peaking about 10 years ago, the pizza beer reflects a growing ambition, experts said. Spices like oregano and basil were among the flavors in beer for hundreds of years before today's most common flavor, hops, was added, in part because hops act as a preservative.

But industrywide, spices are being reasserted as prime flavor ingredients.

"People are trying new things," said Charlie Finkel, owner of The Pike Brewing Co. in Seattle. "I am fascinated by pizza beer. But from my point of view, I don't know why you'd want to put the pizza in there. ... But when I was last forced to drink mass-marketed beer -- Shiner, in my case, because I was in Texas -- I would mix it with tomato juice and it made it a lot more palatable. So maybe it would work."

Randy Mosher, a Chicago beer author, educator and lecturer, called pizza beer a "goofy idea," and said Seefurth is one of the area's more eccentric beermakers. But he complimented Seefurth for trying to come up with a beer that accompanies Italian food -- a niche that is currently unfilled. He also said he admires the product.

"It's much better than you might think," Mosher said. "It's definitely gimmicky, but sometimes gimmicky is what you need. People have their habits, and sometimes a gimmick jars them out of their complacency."

Seefurth said he came up with the idea Labor Day weekend, when he had his mind on beer and noticed a pile of fresh tomatoes on his counter. In his home brewery, where beer cans, bumper stickers, plastic signs and cardboard cutouts cover the walls, he brewed a batch and was shocked that it worked.

"We'd thought it would taste like bloody mary mix with beer," he said. "But when it tasted like pizza ..."

While judging a home-brew contest, Seefurth approached Mike Rybinski, brew master at Walter Payton's Roundhouse in Aurora, and suggested they brew up a batch. The award-winning Rybinski had crafted 70 styles, but nothing like pizza beer.

"He's always making something," Rybinski said. "He's definitely not afraid to try new stuff."

They brewed the beer over the course of a day in April, dumping in two kegs of canned tomatoes, 450 cloves of garlic and, for effect, two pizzas (sans cheese and oils) that were strained from the final product. The batch of 10 barrels -- about 375 gallons -- fermented for a month before being tapped in May. It is expected to be at the Roundhouse bar for another month.

"Two kegs of tomatoes?" Rybinski said. "That's crazy. I was laughing the whole time I was making it."

The beer has sold reasonably well and is served as Seefurth does at home -- in a wine glass. Many try it out of curiosity, like a group of teachers from Burlington Central High School who were celebrating the last day of school recently with lunch at the Roundhouse.

"It's good, but it's not like if you were working in the garden you would want to pop one," said Anne Schmidt, 48.

Fellow teacher Stacy Nemec said her first reaction to pizza beer was simple: "Um, gross." But it was better than expected, she said.

"It's a sipping beer," she said. "You can really taste the oregano. It would be really good with pizza."

That's the exact reaction that makes Seefurth optimistic. He said he has discussed a licensing deal with three breweries and at least one "major player, someone big-time" in the restaurant industry. He just wants to maintain control over the recipe and the marketing.

"It's the most different thing on the market right now," he said. "I know I'll be brewing it somewhere."

I'd give it a shot. Probably wouldn't like it. But I'd give it a shot.

I'd give it a shot. Probably wouldn't like it. But I'd give it a shot.
- Zero

I don't know about this one Pizza goes great with Beer, but I think they're made to compliment each other not be in a glass. What's next: steak merlot, salmon chardonnay?

I don't know about this one Pizza goes great with Beer, but I think they're made to compliment each other not be in a glass. What's next: steak merlot, salmon chardonnay?
- emtae

LoL. Yeah I actually like beer tasting beer with my Pizza. Like I said I'd give it a shot but doubt I would like it. I'm just surprised someone actually thought of this.

I don't know about this one Pizza goes great with Beer, but I think they're made to compliment each other not be in a glass. What's next: steak merlot, salmon chardonnay?
- emtae

Oh God, we're not going back to the Asparagus Aparatif and the Sweet Potato Sherry are we?

LoL. Yeah I actually like beer tasting beer with my Pizza. Like I said I'd give it a shot but doubt I would like it. I'm just surprised someone actually thought of this.
- Zero

What shocks me is the other flavors he tried. curry? Salsa? Oatmeal raisin cookie? I cant imagine any of them tasting good.

Oh God, we're not going back to the Asparagus Aparatif and the Sweet Potato Sherry are we?
- jtswinehart

I tried to erase that from the memory bank.

Ok, I saw this news story on a new fad in Boston, beer popsicles. They are being sold at a restaurant called Rostico's (not sure how to spell it). I ask the Boston Brethern of the International Beerhood to try this out, or if you have to give a review of it, please.

Ok, I saw this news story on a new fad in Boston, beer popsicles. They are being sold at a restaurant called Rostico's (not sure how to spell it). I ask the Boston Brethern of the International Beerhood to try this out, or if you have to give a review of it, please.
- jtswinehart

JT, I think you can make those yourself using your favorite lager, icecube tray and some toothpicks

JT, I think you can make those yourself using your favorite lager, icecube tray and some toothpicks
- RynoBull

I always thought that alcohol did not freeze (ie., that's why you put vodka in the freezer)? Maybe cause the % is so low? I know when I've had a can of frozen beer, it's tasted like crap.

I always thought that alcohol did not freeze (ie., that's why you put vodka in the freezer)? Maybe cause the % is so low? I know when I've had a can of frozen beer, it's tasted like crap.
- jtswinehart

HA! I think you found your review!

HA! I think you found your review!
- RynoBull

could be.

I just read this thread for the first time now, and didn't really read all of the pages so I'm not sure if people are still doing this but I thought I'd throw in my opinion:

Best tasting - Heineken or Keiths
Best for getting drunk - Schlitz
Worst tasting - Canadian

Honorable mention to the new Rickards white...tried it for the first time last night, its a good summer beer...nice and refreshing, no strong after taste...It'd be a good beer for non-beer drinkers too

I just read this thread for the first time now, and didn't really read all of the pages so I'm not sure if people are still doing this but I thought I'd throw in my opinion:

Best tasting - Heineken or Keiths
Best for getting drunk - Schlitz
Worst tasting - Canadian

Honorable mention to the new Rickards white...tried it for the first time last night, its a good summer beer...nice and refreshing, no strong after taste...It'd be a good beer for non-beer drinkers too
- aguynamedgeoff

I have'nt really given an opinion yet, just joked around with it, but for me:
Best Tasting: Moosehead (but I prefer Weisers Rye)
Best for getting drunk: Mickey's Big-Mouth (because it's high % and it's like drinking out of a glass)
Worst Tasting: Carlings Black Label