The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
We love craft beer! Each week we will taste a number of beers from around the country and give you our thoughts, not only will we talk about the flavor, but also the artwork and anything else that comes to mind.
We will also go on location and visit breweries and try a number of their offerings and give you our thoughts as well.
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The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
Ep 99 - Sampling Six Unique Brews: A Journey Through Nebraska's Craft Beer Scene
Explore Nebraska's craft beer scene as we dive into unique brews from four breweries, each offering something different. From spicy pickle beers to smooth porters, we highlight the distinct flavors and craftsmanship in Nebraska, encouraging listeners to discover these hidden gems for themselves.
• Craft beer serves as comfort during unpredictable weather
• First brew from Zipline Brewing: Spicy Pickle beer with a nice balance
• Nebraska Brewing Company's Brunette Nut Brown offers cozy flavors without much intensity
• Kinkaider’s Devil's Gap Jalapeno Ale pleasantly surprises with flavor and manageable heat
• Kinkaider’s Raspberry variant adds complexity while maintaining balance
• Zipline's Oatmeal Porter presents rich, smooth notes of chocolate and coffee
• Bottle Rocket's Juicy Burst IPA encapsulates a juicy, fruity experience without harsh bitterness
Listeners are invited to explore these Nebraska breweries and experience their own craft beer adventures.
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Grab a beer and pull up a chair. Welcome to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. This is Mike, the Northwoods Beer Guy, and once again I'm joined by Jim. Hey, buddy, how are you doing? I'm doing good man, how are you doing?
Jim:Another wonderful day in paradise.
Mike:There you go. It'd be even more wonderful if Mother Nature would decide if it's going to be winter or spring. I know it's still winter, but the temperatures have been all over the board. It seems like.
Jim:Yeah, the temperature has been up and down. You just don't know what's going to be from day to day.
Mike:No exactly, and it just makes it difficult because it looks nice out and you want to do stuff outside, and then you get outside and it's either really cold wind or whatever.
Jim:Or I think we recently had some rain. Oh yeah, you don't get rain in the wintertime usually.
Mike:Usually not. At least it didn't turn into ice, yes, but it's like you just don't know.
Jim:It's like you can't plan for anything. Exactly you got to stay inside and drink craft beer. Well, put it that way it's. I'm glad it's doing what it's doing, then, and we're just the guys to maybe help everybody out there through this difficult time exactly so this week, uh, we decided to visit nebraska.
Mike:Where nebraska? Visit nebraska so to speak.
Jim:That's a long trip, so to speak, so okay, all right, what do you mean? Because suzy had brought back six beers for us from nebraska nice, all right so we're gonna crack into those and this is so are you saying we're gonna have to get on a road trip to go to nebraska?
Mike:nope, we're gonna do it right from the comfort of the studio here. Perfect, I'm all for that.
Jim:I was a little worried there when you said because that's not, that's not, that's like a day trip that's a longer trip.
Mike:yeah, so she was down there watching our daughter play basketball and brought back some beers for us. So, have you had all these? There's one brewery in here that we've had one beer from before, but I mean not these. All these beers. We've never had these, I've never even heard of these beers before. All right, and the other four we've never had a beer from those other four breweries Sweet.
Mike:There's three breweries, right? Yeah, there's one, two, three. We have four different breweries. We've got two beers from two breweries and then one apiece from two others, and they're all across the board. So it's really just kind of.
Jim:So the only theme is they're from Nebraska, they're all from.
Mike:Nebraska Well.
Jim:I guess that's a good thing. I think, isn't it.
Mike:Well, I think so Again. I kind of enjoy trying beers from other states or areas we've never had from before, just to see how they do stuff. And some of these may not be the greatest ones to try and figure out how they do stuff, because some of them are a little different style.
Jim:So how many of these are? We got some heavy-duty, barrel-aged ones right Right in our wheelhouse. Yeah sure, oh, that didn't sound very confident it depends on how high you're expecting.
Mike:Oh, all right. If you're thinking anywhere from like 4% to 6%, 6.5% percent, then yep, right in your wheelhouse okay, well, so what we're looking for in these is probably more flavor, it's more flavor is what I'm thinking that's a good way to put it. I think this is going to be, even though we still look for flavor. On the barrel aged beers, these ones are not barrel aged. All right, and it's going to be interesting. Uh, that's all I can tell you all right.
Jim:Well, should we try one?
Mike:Yeah Well, do we want to go? Should we go on ABV order? Abv order, we could do that, I guess, and then that kind of gets rid of one of them I'm a little concerned about right off the bat.
Jim:Oh, and you know what the good thing is too.
Mike:What's that? Did you hear that you found questions on these places? Yes, I did.
Jim:I found all kinds of stuff that's going to keep you edumacated.
Mike:I've got to try and tell you what we're going to use later in the week. I think or something, maybe I don't know.
Jim:Alright, so what do you got for first?
Mike:The first one that we have is by Zipline Brewing Company. I'm going to look on the can here to see if it says where Lincoln, Nebraska. So when I looked, it actually.
Jim:I think on the website it had four different locations. Oh, okay, but it didn't have like this is our main place.
Mike:Sure.
Jim:So I didn't put it down because I wasn't sure. But I'm like well, it's Nebraska, but there's four different spots. So I guess on this can I'm sure they put on the can where they bought it.
Mike:Right. So I'm just going to say Lincoln, perfect, we're going to go with that. This is their Spicy Pickle. That would be Spicy Pickle, yeah. When Susie had asked me if I'd ever had it, I said no, let's try it. It sounds interesting because we've had other pickle beers. We've had a Spicy Pickle beer before, yes, and that one is pretty spicy, the one from Distal.
Jim:So just FYI, when I looked on untapped, every picture of this was in a Bloody Mary.
Mike:Okay, because we've talked about that before. Where all these pickle beers? I think you have to have them with a Bloody Mary. Unfortunately, we don't have a Bloody Mary with us, so we're just going to Right.
Jim:So I didn't see any pictures of just a glass of beer, Right. So I guess we need to strap into this one, because this Well, here we go, all right. And I think the only thing I could find is this one sentence that said a delightful combination of dill and tantalizing heat for a flavor explosion.
Mike:So I think you said 4% ABV, so it's not high, but but it didn't say on the website what kind of pepper or anything right, nothing, just that one little sentence. That's all it says on the can too. So I was just looking at that Very light colored, kind of like a pilsner color, I can smell it from here.
Jim:You can smell the pickle, I can smell it from here. You can smell the pickle and it is very, very light in color.
Mike:Yeah, like I said, like a pilsner, yeah, I mean that's kind of a light, light, see-through color Bubbly, I think I've actually seen urine that's darker than this.
Jim:Mm-hmm, oh boy, that's got an aroma. That's not too bad.
Mike:I mean it's, that's weird. The pickle is there.
Jim:I mean, you can taste the dill pickle must be. You definitely get a saltiness from it but I think the aroma is a little bit more scary than the bite. Yeah, flavor I mean I will.
Mike:I'm trying to think of what. When you you drink because it's fairly fair amount of carbonation, and when you drink it, when it kind of foams, you get kind of a boy. I don't even know how you describe the flavor. It's a different, I hate to say it. It almost tastes like Alka-Seltzer when you drink that and it's that really foamy carbonated stuff and I don't know. It's not bad. I wouldn't buy a six-pack and drink a whole six-pack of it by any means. Now, maybe in a Bloody Mary would be all right.
Jim:Right, I mean the way that they lead us to believe by their marketing I was expecting jalapenos and like fire and lightning coming out of it, and it is not that at all. I mean because I don't really like the spicy pickle stuff. I mean I don't even like the pickle beers Yep, like the spicy pickle stuff. I mean I don't even like the pickle beers yep. And this is the aroma is probably the most pickles. Yeah, I've had out of a pickle beer, but the flavor is not over the top.
Mike:So no, and like you, shouldn't be scared of this one no, like you said, I was expecting it to be hotter pepper wise. Yes, you know, because, like that, the one we had, that other spicy pickle we had was by distal and that one was spicy, yes, yes, you know, and it was like wow, and this is not anything like that. So what are you thinking? Um, you know, again, it's it's. You can't rate a pickle beer real high, you know, um, I'm gonna say I'm gonna go at 2.3, I don't think it's bad. Uh, I think the pickle, pickle wise, it's not over the top like some of them we've had, right, and then the pepper is not over the top. But I again, I just, I couldn't just sit and just drink a pickle beer. Oh, you know, I mean, yes, in a bloody mary this would probably be fairly decent, but I think you almost want something a little spicier at least I do in a bloody mary, you know to kind of give you a little more of that, that heat.
Jim:But uh, yeah, I like it, it's not bad and to echo I mean, I feel the same way, like right now, what I'm feeling a little bit and I think it might be the pepper, like you said in the back of my throat, just a little bit of a burn. Nothing that's bad, nothing that's going to make me go for a glass of water, but that's probably the only thing that I have for a finish is that little bit of burn? Yeah, which bit of burn? Yeah, which it's? That's not bad, that's that really shouldn't scare you.
Mike:Uh, I was gonna go at 2.2.
Jim:Okay, so we're in the neighborhood right, just a little bit lower. Um, nothing like I mean it's.
Mike:The aroma is really that deceiving yes, it smells, very strong pickle smell yes but the flavor itself isn't that over the top, right, you know. So yeah, it's definitely interesting. Like I said, we've had worse, for sure we've had better, but it's not bad for a pickle beer.
Jim:So I do have a couple questions for you. Are you ready? Sure, did that, whet your whistle to get you.
Mike:Got my thinking gears going possibly.
Jim:All right. Well, so since we're, some of these questions are maybe more geared towards, like the state itself. Okay, Because when I had the crack research team looking for info, it looked like their craft beer is made pretty much the same way as every other state. Sure, nothing unique about Nebraska. So, with that said, what is the capital of Nebraska?
Mike:Lincoln isn't it.
Jim:All right. Is that the largest city in Nebraska?
Mike:Hmm, that would be a twist there, because one of two things is going to happen. I'm either going to overthink it or it's not. So I'm going to say no, it's not. And what is the largest city in Nebraska? Man, I am drawing a blank, and once I tell you, you'll be like oh, oh yeah, I know I'm going to be kicking my I don't know what is it.
Jim:Omaha. Oh man, See, these are hard questions.
Mike:No, I should have had that.
Jim:Right, so that was an easy one yeah Minus 500. Yeah minus 500.
Mike:Somebody got it right out of head zero.
Jim:Right right Dang it, omaha, I should have known that, so here's another one, because I know that you are very interested in politics. Okay one, because I know that you are very interested in politics. Okay, so, but I'm gonna try to keep this like a generic politics question. Okay, so did you know let's see if I can phrase this as a question that nebraska is the only state that does?
Mike:this for their uh, their elections. I think I know what you're talking about. What's, what's that called? I don't know the name of it, but it's where they can have, uh, you can win like I don't want to say a district, or uh, because you can, they. Usually it'll be like nebraska one, nebraska two you know where both candidates could actually end up.
Jim:You're actually answering. The second question was dealing with the electoral college oh so the electoral college is not a winner take all right it's based on districts okay, so, but you want to know just the election itself. Right, the political party stuff. So it's called unicameral, oh Okay, which means you don't have to be affiliated with any political party to get elected. Okay, and it's the only state in the nation that does that.
Mike:Really, I did not know that. I did not know that either. I was thinking you were talking about, like, the electoral college.
Jim:Right. So that was another thing too, that they're the only state that does not assign all their votes as a state. Yep.
Mike:It's not a winner. Take all situation, and it's always been, it's been that way for a while, and it's always weird because it's like, oh, this person could win this, this one, or then the other person wins the other one, right, I mean? And or they could, you could. You've seen it where they've one person, one of both, but you know it's, it is different to see that, so that's, that's pretty wild right, so let's, let's we have another beard.
Mike:I'll save some other good questions, right yeah, I want to get uh, maybe get that pickle out of my mouth. So the next one we've got here is a 4.7 percent abv, 20 ibus, and this is Brunette Nut Brown and this is by Nebraska Brewing Company out of La Vista, nebraska. I do not know where La Vista?
Jim:is? I do not know that either.
Mike:Oh, yeah, okay. So on the can, it has our version of the classic English-style brown ale. Exudes rich aromatics from the beautifully blended malts and brings to mind nut-like and toasted bread aspects in this excellent seasonal ale. Embrace the flavor.
Jim:Yeah, and the only other thing I could find is that coffee, toffee, caramel tend to come to mind when this excellent Saison ale. You mean Session ale? Oh, it's not a.
Mike:Saison no, Saison is a different type. This Session means it's lower ABV.
Jim:Oh, for this Session. Let's keep it low then.
Mike:It looks like a nut brown. You know kind of that tannish color. It's definitely got a little more color.
Jim:A little more color than for sure, the pickle one.
Mike:The can, of course, has a lovely brunette and like a little kind of some kind of dress on there and it's all in a brownish. Yeah, like a tan, light tan Color scheme. I guess you could say that, yeah, dark cream maybe. I don't know the smell isn't too bad.
Jim:It's not too bad. No, it's not going to scare you away.
Mike:No, and I know we've talked about it in the past before where a lot of brown ales don't have a whole lot of flavor, you know, I mean not a lot that stands out and this. I think this is kind of there as well, but you do get a little bit of that kind of a nutty type flavor, more kind of a roasted malt.
Jim:You know it's really. I mean, especially when they said there's going to be coffee, toffee and caramel.
Mike:Yeah, I'm not getting that.
Jim:I'm not getting that. And then what? What do they use? Brown Brown, nothing.
Mike:That narrows it down a little bit. They're kind of I'm not going to say it's nondescript, but it's like a tick above nondescript.
Jim:Could you drink this? If this was ice cold on a hot day, you probably could.
Mike:Probably could Drink a can, but I don't know if you can do more than one. No, you'd want it to be ice cold as well, you know.
Jim:And this is low abv 4.7. I mean 20 abus. I think that's like 20 times too high. Yeah, yeah, there's not. I don't have any hop bitterness, I mean it's, it's not bad, but it's just there's not much flavor there right, correct.
Mike:I agree with you very faint. Like I said, it's I. I hate, I always hate to say something's really nondescript but it's. And this isn't nondescript but, like I said, it's just one step yeah but one hair above.
Jim:Yeah.
Mike:Because it's just not and it's and I don't think it's this in this one in particular because, like I said, a lot of the brown ales are like that, right, unless you put something else in it. But yeah, I could drink a can of it more so than I could that.
Jim:But I think for me, unfortunately, I'm actually going to rate this a little bit higher, or maybe a little bit lower, because the first one did have flavor.
Mike:Oh sure.
Jim:Yeah, this one. You've got to really search to get some flavor Right. I'm actually going to go one tick below the spicy.
Mike:I'm going to go a 2.1 on this one 2.1. Okay, yeah, I agree, I think we pretty much an easy drinking one. Yes, but you're going to be like, once you get done, I think you'd be like okay, what was it I was supposed to taste? Yeah, you know.
Jim:What am I missing? What did I forget?
Mike:Yeah, I agree. So I think that one is where it's at, yeah.
Jim:So oh boy I out in the interwebs if there's anybody that's collating a lot of information. So when a brewery makes a comment, we're the first to do this. How, I don't know if I could confirm it. I don't know if you can confirm it yeah right. You know. So one of the things I found, I'm sure we could be corrected, but the place that we just had Nebraska Brewing.
Mike:Nebraska Brewing Company.
Jim:They said and this is their, their, uh comments that they're the first brewery in the united states to barrel age, a craft beer, in a wine barrel. Okay, huh, I don't. Yeah, I could be, it could be, yeah, but I I don't even know if they could, nobody, could anybody discount?
Mike:right, right. Yeah, that's a good question, because who knows? I mean, I think it'd be easier to say we're the first in nebraska, right? Or the first in our town, right? You know, then you can claim it, but right. But to say the first anywhere, that's, that's a bold statement and it's in the middle of the united states where there's not a lot of wine country. Yeah, right, I would have thought maybe something out west or whatever.
Jim:Huh so I'm not even gonna ask, make that a question frank, because I I can't confirm that. Right it seemed like well interesting?
Mike:Yeah, if they are, that's an interesting factoid.
Jim:Right, maybe they would send us something and let us know, because we didn't find that bear.
Mike:Right, yeah, we did not find that one.
Jim:The wine cask one, so that would have been actually good.
Mike:Yeah, so I agree. Makes it good. Yeah, so I agree.
Jim:Speaking of. I think we may have asked this question before. Okay, but while you get the next one ready, do you know what is the thirstiest country in the world?
Mike:I'm just going to go out on a limb and say Germany so close.
Jim:You were so close. What was it? The Czech Republic? Ah, the other style that we Right. So the key part to the way I phrased it was China drinks more craft beer because they have a larger population, right, yep. But the Czech Republic based on.
Mike:So, like per capita, you're talking, yes, okay. They average 418 12-ounce bottles per person per year. 418? Yes, well, those are just amateurs. See, I did ask you the question about how many.
Jim:Yeah, well, those are just amateurs, see, I did ask you the question about how many. Yeah, see, that would have been Wow, that's pretty impressive. So here's see if you get this one right. All right, how many consecutive years have they been number one, probably a lot yes it is.
Mike:But how do we say? I'm going to say 25 years, 26.
Jim:That was oh 26. Oh, that was 100%. Guess you were close.
Mike:Wow, 26 straight years. They're the drink in this country, huh.
Jim:Right Per capita. So Czech Republic is a birthplace of Pilsner Yep, but also there beer costs less than bottled water.
Mike:Really. So that's what I mean. Well, now it makes sense, yes, see.
Jim:I didn't know if you knew those little pieces of infrasol no that is cool Again educate while we entertain. I mean, we're trying, we're trying, we might be the best at it, but Cheaper beer is cheaper than bottled water. That is amazing. Well, hey man, yes, so what is next on tap?
Mike:Well, the next one is by a brewery that we have had one beer from before. Okay, one beer, one beer.
Jim:And this is Kincaid. Do you remember how that one tasted? You can either confirm or deny.
Mike:I can neither confirm or deny, because I can't remember for sure.
Jim:It was around Christmas time, I remember it was one of the Christmas beers, so did it really stick out in your mind?
Mike:What stood out in my mind was at first I thought the name of this brewery was Kinkrator. Oh, but it's Kinkater.
Jim:Oh, there you go. So I do apologize. A little high-end words there. Yeah, okay, the way it was written, I was like, oh, that's kind of weird Nice.
Mike:So what do we? Got Devil's Gap, jalapeno Ale, nice, okay, and this is a 5% ABV and 10 IBUs. Okay, now I don't know if on the can, if it says where they're out of.
Jim:I think this is another one where it had multiple locations.
Mike:Oh, okay.
Jim:It didn't have. Definitely in the state of Nebraska, just not sure which brewery was making it Okay.
Mike:Now I will say the artwork is pretty cool. Yes, it sure. Which brewery was making it? Okay, now I will say the artwork is pretty cool. It's like a cowboy looking guy with a surest badge on, but of course the guy's a skeleton, yes, uh, and fire and such around it. So this should be an interesting. Uh, were you able to dig up some?
Jim:so I got a little bit on this. Okay, why don't?
Mike:you read that all right.
Jim:So one of the things I did find was apparently for the kinkader brewery. This is like their number one seller.
Mike:Really that is kind of wild. Who would have thought that a pepper beer would be somebody's number one?
Jim:Right, so they've had a couple of different variants of this. Yep. So it says. Our best-selling Jalapeno Ale gives you an intense jalapeno flavor with a slightly heated finish and aroma. The perfection in this beer will please both heat seekers and flavor chasers. It's the beer that truly has something for everyone to enjoy. So then, once we take a drink, the next part is actually about the guy in the can.
Mike:Oh yeah, now I can smell the jalapeno for sure. You get a strong jalapeno aroma. Yes, right from the get-go.
Jim:you get it without even taking a little sip, that's not bad. I mean, the flavor is the jalapeno. This kind of fills your mouth with the jalapeno flavor, that flavor, but the heat.
Mike:When they talked about the heat, I was expecting more. Right, this has really good pepper flavor.
Jim:Yes, I mean, I think it almost tastes just like if you're like if you're cutting up peppers that you're going to put in a meal. That's kind of what the aroma smells like like a fresh pepper, yeah, yeah, but not over the top power or intensity.
Mike:Now remember the Central Waters, one we had.
Jim:That was habanero yeah.
Mike:But still that was hot. This one reminds me one of Susie's nephews. He had brought back a beer from I think it was the Dells area. Nah, he may have got it in the Dells, it was from Wisconsin but it was a pepper like a jalapeno ale, and it reminds me of this, where it was a really good flavor of the pepper and not a whole lot of heat, so that was pretty impressive. And flavor of the pepper and not a whole lot of heat, so that was. That was pretty impressive.
Jim:And this is. This is not bad, and I mean the finish.
Mike:There is a little bit of heat on the finish a little bit not terrible, not bad, I mean it and it quickly goes away. A little bit more than the spicy pickle, right, but not not bad. It lingers just briefly and then it's gone yeah, this is definitely not bad this is better than I was. I thought I was expecting it to be. I thought.
Jim:I might have to get an ice cream to sit on or something, right, but this is not bad at all. No, I think it's pretty decent. I mean, you shouldn't be scared away by the way that it's labeled Devil's Gap.
Mike:Yeah, jalapeno, ale Well, and like you said, what you read, it was like oh, it's Heat Seekers. I thought uh-oh, but this is good, I like it. So what are you thinking of the score? I think I'm going to go like a 2.7.
Jim:Wow, because I think You're going to jump right up there.
Mike:Yeah, I think I like this because I like the flavor of the pepper. You do have a little bit of burn, but it's not.
Jim:You can stand it you know what, but the flavor's the right way and the flavor is really good, so, yeah, I like it.
Jim:Yeah, I would have to say this is one of the better jalapeno beers I think that I've had, personally, because it's not over the top. They're not trying to burn my lips off my face, right, they're just trying to give me a good flavor, yep. So I really appreciate that. That central waters once the scale kind of tips where it's super hot. Then it's like do you really want to drink more of it, right?
Mike:you know, because then you're like well, if I take another drink it's not going to cool my mouth, this is going to make it even hotter where this doesn't have that same.
Jim:I mean, the flavor is just good all the time yep so kudos to them. I think I'm gonna. I was following right in line. I was gonna say 2.7 as well okay oh that, that's a very yeah it's definitely better than I thought.
Mike:Now. You said you had some more info on the guy on the can.
Jim:Yeah, so what it says is the legend In 1878, cattle kingpin, prince Olive and his posse made their way from Texas into the Sandhills. The Olive gang ran folks off their farm far and wide Okay off their farm far and wide. Okay. Finally, two brave, unfortunate souls stood up to the outlaw and were set ablaze in what folks now call Devil's Gap. A short time later, the kingpin came up against a gun quicker than his and died in a blaze as well A blaze of gunfire.
Mike:Oh, so I think that's where the guy so that's the guy on the can is that legend?
Jim:Yes, okay.
Mike:Well, that's the guy on the can, is that legend? Okay, well, that's cool. I mean, there's a backstory, that's neat, right, a lot of artwork. You don't get that, you know.
Jim:Right, and it's cool then that they can tie into their brewery with you know, some local folklore from their area Yep, and spread that throughout the country. I mean that's cool.
Mike:Yeah, that's neat. I think that's cool, all right.
Jim:So, while you get the next one ready, so the next oh, you have questions. I got a couple for you. All righty, I know you like a lot of trivia In the sequencing of you know when states actually came into the union.
Mike:What number is Nebraska? I'm 27.
Jim:So close, 37. Oh.
Mike:One number off. One number off, just the big number. Right Dang it, you're doing better than I thought I was like wow, you're like, are you boning up on your questions? No, no, I'm just getting lucky on some guesses. That one wasn't very lucky, though. That was too far off.
Jim:Since we are talking about craft beer, how should you store your craft beer?
Mike:How should you store it? Yes, well, I store mine in my basement, where it's cooler, and then when I get ready, then we put it in the fridge and not in direct sunlight, right, so keeping it out of direct sunlight? Yep, so that's one. Yep, okay, did the cooler thing. Not so much, didn't really matter.
Jim:So the tie-in is room temperature.
Mike:Okay, so yeah, it's.
Jim:Yeah, so what's the last one?
Mike:How do you have them now Sitting out?
Jim:No, upright, oh, upright, oh okay. They said keep them upright, okay, well, yeah, I guess that makes Nothing tricky, just yeah, that's different so hopefully, if you have a bunch of craft beer out there and you don't have it, a space in your fridge and you got a place in your basement yep, I've gotten them in boxes that are just standing upright, and you know, in the boxes, and then I got them right on there all right, so I'm doing everything right.
Jim:Good, you're right on spot on good. Good, I'm glad to hear that. Yeah, so what do we got next?
Mike:well, the next one we have, j Jim, is a variant of the last one that we just had. So this is again by Kincader, and this is their Devil's Gap Raspberry, raspberry, yep, 5% ABV and 7 IBUs.
Jim:So lower IBUs Lower.
Mike:IBUs, which the last one. I didn't taste any IBUs anyway. There was no hoppiness or bitterness On the can. It has sweet and heat, our best-selling jalapeno as you said with crushed raspberries for a subtle sweet and spicy flavor, Wow. So I wonder, do you think this is going to be red, A reddish tinge, or will it?
Jim:be, I'm guessing. Yes, that's my guess.
Mike:Okay, I'm going to say no, but I'll probably be wrong. So we'll see A light, red, a light yeah, it's not going to be.
Jim:It's not going to be like pour out ketchup.
Mike:Not a little bit, I guess. It's a little, maybe a little darker than the first one.
Jim:I think it's closer to you saying no than it is to me saying I think so. When you look at a distance, it does have a little different color than the first one, but not much, no, not a lot.
Mike:Boy, you can smell raspberry.
Jim:Wow, and the jalapeno.
Mike:Both, which is Boy. That's almost a confusing smell, isn't it?
Jim:I don't think I've smelled anything like that.
Mike:You can smell both of them Right and distinctly, very distinctly. Wow, well, here goes nothing. Wow, that's different, different. Neither of them are overpowering. Again, I think you get about the same heat as the first one, yep, and the raspberry you get kind of a faint raspberry flavor. It's not way too much. No, I get the tartness of the raspberry.
Jim:Yes, yes, on the finish. Yep, that's different, it's not bad.
Mike:No, I think either one of these I could definitely drink. I guess I was maybe Not a six pack.
Jim:Oh, right, right, I was kind of maybe expecting a little more sweetness. Maybe I don't know, I mean, because I've had raspberries, just the fruit itself.
Mike:Right, and we've had a lot of raspberry beers and they're usually very sweet Right.
Jim:This is definitely not sweet, but it's not bad. No, I mean, if somebody's scared about drinking a beer with a jalapeno, this would probably be the next step in that, because this is not over-the-top jalapeno. The raspberry's really cut down on the—compared to that first one.
Mike:Right, yep, yeah, I agree. Like I said, when I smelled it, the first thing I smelled was the raspberry, yes, and I thought, uh-oh, it's going to be really fruity, yes, but it's not.
Jim:Definitely not bad, I guess. For me it's just that tartness, right, just a little bit. Maybe for me just a little bit too much. Not seeing as bad. Just if they could have toned that a little down, just a crack, I don't know, but I don't know how you turn the knob Right. How do I turn?
Mike:You put one less raspberry in or what you know Interesting.
Jim:I was worried about, about these two, because I thought they were going to be burn your guts out hot you know, and they're not bad.
Mike:So we've had three spicy ones now, yeah, and they're all okay. You know, I mean definitely not, we've had worse.
Jim:So yes, I mean this. It's not bad. I mean I think I'm gonna go. I do like the first one. First, I'm gonna give this a 2.6, okay what are you thinking?
Mike:yeah, exact same. I was gonna say, just a tick lower, that I do like the raspberry, a little addition of the raspberry. It does add that tartness. Maybe they're on that line, because I think if they had put a little bit more in then I'd have been complaining they put too much in. Yes, you know, but it's very interesting. It reminds me a little bit of having like a jalapeno popper with like that whatever bit of having, uh, like a jalapeno popper with like that, that whatever, like the sweet, oh, whatever you know, you know that sauce I'm talking about, um, that jam like that.
Jim:Well, you can use jam.
Mike:Yeah, it reminds me of that, but like strawberry jam, of course. Right, but uh, they have. There's some sauce that's out there that's like like a almost like a sweet sauce or whatever. That's red, okay, and I think that's strawberry and it kind of, but it's kind of vaguely reminds me of that combination a little bit.
Jim:Yeah, I mean it's definitely good. I mean, yeah, kudos to them. I think they got something good going there yeah, I agree because you don't find those around here and the fact that that's their best.
Mike:Now I understand, I guess, why it's their best seller. You know, I I never would have guessed, like I said earlier, that a jalapeno ale would have been a brewery's top seller. But those are good. I can understand why.
Jim:Yeah, I mean that's really good. All right, we're getting down around questions.
Mike:How many beers do we get left? We got two beers left, two beers.
Jim:All right, let's see here what kind of easy question I can bring up for you, since your glass here, if you hold it up so that listeners can see it, there you go, it's empty.
Mike:Oh yeah.
Jim:What is the fear of having an empty glass called? I know you've asked me this before.
Mike:It's a super long name, I believe, and I don't remember, I made some goofy remark like thirstophobia or empty glassophobia, something like that.
Jim:I don't remember the name of it, so you did get the phobia right. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, so it's senosilicophobia.
Mike:Just remember that now. Oh yeah, yep, the fear of having an empty glass. An empty glass, that's a serious condition.
Jim:Oh yeah. I'm just saying If you notice that our glasses are empty.
Mike:And you look kind of fearful.
Jim:Yeah, so what do we got? What is next then?
Mike:Well, the next one we have is actually 6%. Uh-oh, we're stepping it up, yep, a little bit. And this is by Zipline Brewing, and they're in Lincoln, nebraska, as well. Oh, we had. That was the spicy pickle, was the same one, and this is their Oatmeal Porter.
Jim:Okay, what's the? What's the? Does it have a fancy name?
Mike:Uh, nope, zipline Brewing and Oatmeal Porter. So we don't have the we don't have a fancy like devil's gap or anything like that.
Mike:This is just straight beer, straight to the point, all right. And it says. It says, uh, all the dark chocolate and coffee notes you expect from a porter with locally sourced rolled oats delivering an uncommonly silk smooth finish. So this should be. It's been a while since we've had just an oatmeal. I guess this is a porter, but yes, you know, an oatmeal porter, even just an oatmeal stout, because we've, of course, it's been our barrel aged, uh, marathon oh, look at that, that's dark.
Jim:I wonder if this is our only dark beer for this episode. I would guess.
Mike:Yeah, because the last one's an IPA, the last one's an IPA, and if that one's dark, there may be an issue.
Jim:Even the head on this is even kind of a dark brownish that smells like a porter. Yes, it does, for sure, that's definitely a porter, definitely a porter. That's not bad, it's smooth. Yeah, to me it kind of helps my throat right now it gets rid of, but that's not bad. I mean, that's really good, that tastes just like a very solid porter.
Mike:I mean just, you know, being oatmeal sometimes I think that does smooth stuff out a little bit. I like it. I think this is a good example of an oatmeal porter.
Jim:Yeah, it's not bitter. You know, like some porters are a little bit bitter with their malts, this is really smooth. I don't know if it's the oatmeal part of it, but it's really helped it very good. I like that they did a good job on that.
Mike:Yeah, that's, that's uh, maybe not the best quarter, but it's up there. Oh yeah, right, it's up there yeah I'm not saying that it's you know, oh my gosh, that's the best porter I've ever had. But it's the best porter we had today. Oh wait, that's the only part of it today. But no, this is good. I like it.
Jim:I think they did a really good job, but again I don't really know all the things that are in it. I couldn't find a lot.
Mike:Right, yeah, that's the one thing I noticed too.
Jim:All it is is chocolate coffee notes and rolled oats, yeah.
Mike:Is that all of it? Or I mean, I definitely get the. You can get that malty, the oat type flavor Coffee, I guess, kind of Chocolate, kind of yeah.
Jim:Very, very minor amounts.
Mike:Yeah, yeah, like I said, I think it tastes. This is a good example. If you've never had a porter, try it. Yeah, because I mean this is very good flavor.
Jim:It won't scare you away. I mean, the finish is smooth, it doesn't linger, it doesn't have a bad aftertaste. Yep, you're exactly right. I mean, you could definitely drink a can of this, oh yeah. Yeah, because it's only 6% as well, so it shouldn't scare anybody away.
Mike:No, yeah, I like that. I think that's a pretty good beer Score-wise. I think I'm going to go. I'll go a 2.8. I'll do that, yeah, because I think so far this would be the first one that I would say yeah, I'll have a couple of them that we've had so far, because, like the jalapeno ones, I think after a full can of it I'd probably get tired of the pepper a little bit. Right, but this one's good, I like it.
Jim:And you got the exact score. I was going to say a 2.8 as well. Same with you. I like this one Just a touch better than the jalapeno ones, yep, but it's a really good representation of a porter.
Mike:I agree, I agree. I think Zipline did a really good job, job. So if you get a chance, you got to try that one for sure. Yeah, um, very smooth, I like it. So we got one beer left there, jim, you got it, I got one. One more question question for you.
Jim:I think, okay, well, maybe if you get this one right, there's two questions. Okay, all right. So which country in the world produces the largest quantity of hops?
Mike:which country? Oh boy, um, I think I know. Okay, it just popped in my head New Zealand Close. You were really close.
Jim:It's not Australia, though.
Mike:What is it?
Jim:It's Germany.
Mike:Oh man, I was way off. So what was the second part of?
Jim:that question, if I got it right.
Mike:Wow, For whatever reason, I thought we had talked about that one time and it was New Zealand, but I guess not but guess not so. Your second question is where did the term rule of thumb originate? Rule of thumb, yes, uh at. In germany, at the hop farm, they had to measure the hop plant. If it's as big as your thumb, then you could pick it close.
Jim:You're, you're getting, you're really close was I yeah, so it's from brewers who would stick their thumb into the mix to see when the temperature was right to add yeast.
Mike:I wasn't even close.
Jim:Oh, I'm trying to make you feel good. Well, thank you.
Mike:I appreciate that, did that help, yeah, so they'd put their thumb in when it was cooking.
Jim:Right to see what the right temperature was. Huh. Interesting, I will guarantee my brother's probably going. How did you not?
Mike:know that I don't know, see, no, but so next time you have all this, now I'm wealth of knowledge. Yes, yes, all right, so we're on to the last one. All right, so we're on to the last one. And this one is from bottle rocket brewing in seward, nebraska, and I don't know where. Seward is Juicy Burst IPA and this one is 6.5% ABV, 68 IBUs.
Jim:That's possible, being bitter.
Mike:Okay, let's see. So, on the can, they've got Okay, so they got some other information. A little bit of information about the brewery. Oh, a little bit. Come visit us in the Fourth of July City. Okay, bottle Rocket Brewing Okay, makes sense. Yep, we are located in Seward, Nebraska, a town nationally recognized for its 4th of July celebrations. Oh, this hazy IPA is bursting with juicy hop flavors and aromas. Hops added to the Whirlpool and Fermenter produces an array of citrusy flavors, including peach, melon, apricot, orange and mango. Wow, the combination of the malts with addition of oats also adds a soft mouthfeel. What scares me is when people list all these different things. A lot of times we don't pick any of them up.
Jim:Right, and I will say on the website it's like all red, white and blue Really yeah it's all patriotic. Okay, that's cool, I like that. So I did not know all the background to that, though. Oh, she's got some.
Mike:She's a little foamy, I'm going to try and pour yours. Did you shake it up? I'm going to try and pour yours a little better than I did mine. You didn't shake them, did you? There's some head on it, though there's some froth in there. Yeah yeah, I got to see if I can get some more beer in mine. I can smell some hops. Oh yeah, so 68. But it's a juicy. It shouldn't be real hop bite to it, right. So well, if I can wade through the foam here, all right, it's not bad.
Jim:It's definitely not a bite to it. 68, in my opinion, is high Right.
Mike:Oh yeah, what it tastes like. I mean, I don't think, yeah, it doesn't taste like it's that high.
Jim:If people read those numbers and try to hold the beer to it, they're going to get scared and think, oh, this is going to be bitter. That's not bitter, no, I mean it's just like a juicy apiation.
Mike:Oh yeah, yep, you're 100% right there. I'm trying to pick up what were the fruits. I can taste citrus stuff, peach, melon, apricot, orange and mango, but that's a lot of fruit, there's a lot of fruit, that's a lot of fruit, and it's hard to.
Jim:So are you saying that I could have this in the morning for breakfast? I think so and get all the fruit that you need for the day Well, all the fruits you need for the day.
Mike:Well, you may need. We'd have to see how much fruit is in there to see if it reaches 100% of what you're supposed to have. You may have to have a couple oh before work.
Jim:You never know Before you go to work.
Mike:Yeah, there you go. You may have an early day, depending on where you're working.
Jim:But if you have a nap, you'll sleep good. I mean, this is not bad, not, is not, not bad, not bad. It's just like you said. I don't pick up each of the individual fruits. No, I there's the citrus flavor, but I don't.
Mike:I can't differentiate all the different fruits, you know. When you said you can taste like a lot of citrus or type, I taste that, but, like you said, I can't pick out the individual right, so it's but I mean it's, and as an ipa, I mean I mean it's even hard.
Jim:I mean the ipa part for me is the aroma. Yep, other Other than that I don't think it's. That it's not bitter, it's not hoppy. There's no grapefruit flavor, so I mean like a juicy IPA. I think it falls right in line with those Yep.
Mike:Yep, I agree. Score-wise I'm going to two and a half. I think it's just kind of average for a juicy IPA. For a juicy IPA Right in the middle, right in the middle, yeah.
Jim:Yeah, I think I was going to hit the same score, I think. Unable to pick up each of those flavors, it's not bad. I just can't tell you what each flavor is.
Mike:Yeah, and, like I said, you know, it just reminds me of your normal juicy IPA where you don't get that hot bite at all and they're a little sweeter typically. And this one, like I said, you can tell there's some kind of fruit in it, but I just can't distinguish them right. None of them stand out, which is probably good, you know. But I'm sure some people probably will taste them and be like, hey, I can definitely taste this or this or that. I just think they all kind of meld together.
Jim:Yeah, I mean it's not a bad flavor, it's just. I think we always talk about do you need to put all the fruit in there? Than if you can't pick out each one, right, yep.
Mike:I agree, Well cool.
Jim:So Nebraska's not bad.
Mike:No, yeah, I mean for the small sampling that we got and, like I said, these were definitely all across the board. And my wife actually went into I think she said it was like a Hy-Vee or something Okay A local grocery store at the town that she was in and this was all in their build-your-own six-pack. Oh nice, that's not bad. Basically, she called and was asking me have you ever had this, have you had this? And I'm like no, no. And there was a few other ones that she had picked up that didn't sound kind of eh, some of these I thought like the jalapeno well, got to try it.
Mike:And if you're want, you might as well get the raspberry one you know, Right, and she did say, yeah, she goes.
Mike:I looked and there's no barrel aged stuff or anything like that there, at least in the build your own six pack, you know. And I was like, okay, no problem. So these, like I said, were really all different styles, four different breweries, you know. But I think they did, they showed that they know what they're doing, you know, and some of them surprised me. Surprised me, I mean, you know. My number one, well, I guess both of ours was the porter. Yep, I thought that was very well done. I did really enjoy the, the jalapeno that surprised me, you know. And and the raspberry one. They're neck and neck, right, you know. I thought they did a really good job. Uh, the other ones were all. They're all very good. I mean, none of them were terrible by any means. I would say, on these, anybody, anybody could try. If you have never had a craft beer before, you could have tried any of these. Yes, I believe so.
Mike:You know, so I think they showed that there's breweries all across the United States which we have known for a long time, that they all know what they're doing. But, like I said, I do enjoy trying some of them from different areas that we've never had a beer from before, just to see you know, do they know what they're doing or not? And yeah, all these places know what they're doing.
Jim:Yeah, I mean I 100% agree. I mean this is a good cross section of different breweries from Nebraska, different cities, different breweries, different styles. So I mean we can definitely say that we're not like honed in on one, like barrel aged or anything like that. So I think you know it's got to be interesting too where you're in the middle of the United States but you're getting a lot of these fruits and vegetables that may not be from your state, so you're getting some good quality materials to make their beer too. Oh yeah, yeah. So I mean that's kudos to them. They're doing a good job. All of them, I mean, like you mentioned, are really close together, right?
Jim:I mean nothing is way really good or nothing's really bad. Yep, they're all in the middle and I think which then, like you, hit on just about any, whether you're a novice or an experienced craft drinker you could try any one of these and not get scared away and not going away like, oh, I should never try that. These are all good.
Mike:They're all solid examples. Yes, yep, awesome, well, cool man, thanks for agreeing to take this quote-unquote trip to Nebraska with me.
Jim:Yes, and it was a lot less driving time today, a lot shorter than you thought. Yeah, I thought we were going to be in the car for a long time. Right, I'm going to try to drive back after having a six-pack.
Mike:Yeah, I like the way we did it, all right.
Jim:Well, next time you can bring me along anytime.
Mike:There you go, we will do that. Awesome. Well, hey, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for listening and hopefully you'll get a chance to try any one of these breweries from Nebraska, because they are definitely worth your time and, like we always say, we hope your campfire is always warm and your beers are always cold. See ya, bye. Thank you for listening to at northwoodsbeerguy. At gmailcom, you can also find us on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. If you're on untapped, look up Northwoods Beer Guy and send a friend request. Until next week, I hope all your campfires are warm and all your beer is cold.
