Ep 162 - VIP Beer Tasting Notes From La Crosse's Beverages And Bites Fest

They took a festival that ran for decades under one name and hit reset. We head to La Crosse's newly branded Beverages and Bites Fest (formerly Between the Bluffs Beer, Wine and Cheese Fest) with our usual mission: get into VIP early, talk to the brewers, and hunt for the beers that actually deliver big flavor instead of big promises.

The day starts with real-world festival problems you only understand once you’re there: a loud tent “hum” that kills on-site recording plans, bigger tasting glasses that can sneak up on you fast, and the constant pressure to choose between “something new” and “something safe.” We share what we noticed about the event’s setup, the crowd, and why VIP time matters if you care about tasting notes and brewery conversations more than just standing in lines.

Then we get into the pours. From 608 Brewing’s barrel-aged barleywine to the curveball of Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale, we talk aroma, finish, and what makes a beer actually drinkable. We also call out the misses, including a sour so tart it overwhelmed everything else and a “rum barrel” imperial stout that didn’t taste like rum at all. The highlights include Third Space Mystic Knot and a surprise win from Avery Maharaja, before we crown our Best Of Fest: Untitled Art’s Mexican style pot de creme double pastry stout made with a stacked ingredient list and serious dessert-stout payoff.

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Transcript

Welcome And Festival Rebrand

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Grab a beer and pull up a chair. Welcome to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. This is Mike, the Northwoods Beer Guy. And as always, I'm here with my trusty fellow beer drinker. What was it? I was supposed to say. Oh, yeah. All the good things. All the good things. Yes. The guy with all the good things. Jim. How's it going, dude? Good. How are you? I'm doing all. I'm glad we rehearsed this. You could say that all right. I know. I I had it and then I lost it, and it did just went downhill from there. So I apologize for that. So yeah, we uh we are back. Well, this was last Friday, Saturday was the used to be the Between the Bluffs beer, wine and cheese fest, and it was now rebranded as the Beverages and Bites Fest. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

So new name, new, new everything. Everything, yeah. Like branding the whole nine yards, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Yeah, exactly. And I and I I'm, you know, being in having a marketing background, that did kind of surprise me thinking that it's been around for 20 five years as beer, wine, and cheese, and then you decide to rebrand it. Right. Just to me, you know, looking at that, it was kind of like interesting.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

So we ended up starting being being called Between the Bluffs.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

I think that was right off the bat.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

So that's what original.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

I think from the original time. So well, we actually had very good representation for the show there. It was myself, you, uh, my brother, yep, the brewer with Brian was there, Toby was there, John was there, and if you remember, ladies and gentlemen, Biz, she was there. Yep. I had grand plans of I had my little travel type microphones and I was gonna do some stuff, and that didn't quite happen that way. Yeah, it was a little louder. Yes, they had live music, which the the band was good. Yeah, the bands they had multiple bands, one at a time, of course. But and it was good music, don't get me wrong, but it made it very difficult. The background noise was that, and then all the people, right? You know, when we're in there, because we we typically do the VIP, so we we do it intentionally, so we have two hours to talk with the the breweries and the people there, you know, so we can at least you know interact with them. Yeah, interact with them and find out some stuff about the beers and that. So after that went south, I totally like dropped the ball and didn't take many notes, which thank goodness you did.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

You took some notes. I I you saw my scribble. It wasn't easy to decipher, but I I think I pieced together a few things, and then I looked today and got a little bit more research, so we can talk a little bit about some of them.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Okay, yeah, you know, and it was it was decent. I mean, the weather was great. I mean, that's one thing better than expected, better than expected. I mean, very nice temperature, it had a light breeze going, so it, but it was very nice, right? Not bad at all. So that was good.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

And it rain held off and clouds up, and was it windy? It was actually very I mean, I don't think you could actually ask for a better end of April day with the way the weather's just been going up and down. So I agree, uh so beer weirdly 100% with you. We've been dealing with flooding and rain and hail and well, I mean,

VIP Strategy And Recording Fails

SPEAKER_00 3:30

I know the wife she packed like winter clothes, long johns, heavy jacket, and shorts and a t-shirt. Because you just never knew you didn't know what it could have been.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Exactly. So, yeah, it was uh now one thing right off the bat that was definitely I mean, it was nice to see it was they had a big giant tent again. I mean, this was like the first time in since COVID that they had that, you know, and they still had some stuff. There were still a few places that had like their pop-up easy up type you know, things for trade shows and such. So there was some of that outside as well. But yeah, it was that part was kind of getting a little more back to normal, I guess you could say, for how it used to be.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

But then I think in your instance, there was no way you were gonna be able to record in that big tent. No, no.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

I mean because it was just like a constant hum, if you want to call it that.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

And I mean it I don't think people were overly loud. No, but when you get a couple thousand people all talking at the same time and close and there's just no way it just acts like a whatever to rebound the sound back at you, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 4:35

So I mean if you had good intentions, I had the best of intentions and it just didn't work out. Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

And I just actually just had a piece, a little piece of paper, and tried to write down just a couple words, and hopefully it would like spur me. We talk about it now, just to like, you know, after drinking after for a couple hours, your taste buds are not tasting everything like they were at the beginning. So hopefully I can remember a little bit about each some of these beers. Oh, I'm sure we will.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

So I know the vast majority of these that you had on your list, I had tasted as well. Okay, good. Uh so we did have corroborating right like that. Yeah, there was oh, I I shouldn't say

608 Barrel Aged Barleywine

SPEAKER_01 5:10

I forgot to mention Larry was there. Uh sorry about that. Shout out to Larry, totally left him off of the introduction. So he was there as well. Anyway, so yeah, you know, when we first got in, we decided to go to the VIP tent because they usually, you know, they used to have a bunch of specialty beers or something in there. So I thought, well, let's hit that C was there because half the time we'd go there and it would already be gone by the time we'd go in there, you know. So we went in, and really the the one beer that the one place that I really noticed that had beer in there was 608. Okay. They're out of lacrosse, of course. And they had I think it was three or four beers there. Really the only we only tried one, and it was their barrel-aged barley wine, and it was called It From the Pit. Ooh. And that one I it was like 15.1% ABV. I did not try that one. Yeah. And honestly, it was it was pretty decent. Now, on Friday, uh, when I uh met up with my brother and those guys, we met at 608 and had to try a few beers. And the one thing that, and I think Larry's the one that pointed this out, he goes, Do you remember last year when we were here, they didn't have any barrels laying around? Oh, really? And this year they had all sorts of barrels. Okay, like sitting there aging. So maybe whatever was happening with their stuff, they've kind of got it figured out and they're getting back into doing barrel-aged stuff. Okay, all right. So uh they did also release a couple of barrel-aged beers there on Friday, but it was the Mexican chocolate cake and the German chocolate cake. And one was from 2025 and the other one I think was new. Okay, you know, and they were good, don't get me wrong.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

Right, we because it's we've had the same batch.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

The flavor didn't change drastically, right? No, correct. Yep. So it was it was good, but hopefully that means that they're kind of getting back on on track for doing that. But anyway, so that barley wine, it it was definitely good. I mean, you could smell that there was a boozy character to it, you know what I mean? I mean, you could definitely smell it, and flavor-wise, it was pretty decent. Now, you could definitely when you tasted it, the the booziness it wasn't as strong as what the aroma was. Okay, you know, but you knew that yeah, you drink too much of it, and you're gonna you're gonna be loopy already, you know. And in fact, it was kind of funny because the the gentleman that was pouring them had asked, go, so you guys are hitting the big boys right off the bat, huh? We're like, well, no better time than the present. Yeah, you know, so can't be afraid. Exactly, exactly. So we tried that, and like I said, it was it was decent. I mean, I think we trying to remember, I'd have to go back and look because I did record something in there, but I could tell right away, yeah, that it was not gonna work for the background. The podcast. Yeah. And I think that when I re we we recorded it, I think we said it was probably like three, two, three, three, three, four, somewhere. I'll I'll have to look back just to make sure. But it was decent. Now, I do know that I've got one or two bottles of it in my basement from when they came home with it how many years ago. So we may have to end up at some point trying that. And just to see, you know, how that aged over time. It hasn't exploded or anything. So that was that's a good sign.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

So very good.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

So yeah. So after that, then we we went into the the main part, and you had already been

Night Owl Pumpkin Ale Tasting

SPEAKER_01 8:20

going through. So you know, I'm getting kind of parched. Okay, well, we do have a couple of beers that we're gonna try to.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

I know these are just some out and left field beers that don't pertain to anything in particular. It's just I thought maybe we could keep our whistles wet while we're talking a little bit. So, what do you got there first, anyway?

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Well, the first one that we have is from Elysian. Okay, and it's their night owl pumpkin ale. Ooh, all right. The reason I grabbed this is because I didn't figure it was gonna hang out very good for to be way in when we hit our pumpkin beers in uh this fall. So good point. I figured we might as well just give her a whirl. See what happens, right? Yeah. So now this is again, like I said, Elysian brewing, and they're out of Seattle, Washington. All right. And it says their description is our OG pumpkin ale. Night owl is brewed with pumpkin, roasted, and raw pumpkin seeds and spiced in condition and conditioning with nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. Night owl won a gold medal at the 2022 Great American Beer Festival in the pumpkin beer category. Nice.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Well, uh well, maybe you got maybe you found the the nuggets in the uh trash there.

unknown 9:32

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Well, we'll find out.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

It's got a lot of good uh it's got a lot of stuff. It can talk good. Yes, it's got a lot of stuff in it, I think. It tastes good, right? That's always the kicker. Sometimes we see a lot of description and not a lot of flavor. So we will figure that out here. Well, it definitely looks like pumpkin. It definitely looks like pumpkin, kind of a that darker color, you know what I mean? Dark. It's got a little orange you can't see through it. That is for sure. Not a lot of aroma. Is that a little spice? Is that a little bit aroma there? Yeah, I do get a little bit of, I think it's like the the nutmeg or the allspice, probably is more of a very, very faint. Very faint. I can definitely taste the pumpkin spice.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

Yeah, but that's not bad. I mean, no, we've definitely had some much worse.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Yes. Yes, I will I will second that thought. We definitely have. It's not bad. I mean, it's it's good. I I'm not really offended by it by any means. I mean, I it you know, when thinking back to when we do some of our pumpkin episodes, it's always kind of like, boy, I wish it had more pumpkin pie flavor. This one's kind of on that verge, not over the top, but it's you know, more than just pumpkin.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Right. And I think it helps. You said it had pumpkin and pumpkin seeds, so maybe that I don't I don't know what the roasted pumpkin seeds do. I don't but it it it does give it some lasting flavor. I mean, yeah, it doesn't it kind of lingers in it's not a bad finish, but I mean uh you know that it's there. Yep, exactly. Which is to me, it's not that's not bad. I mean, surprisingly, I don't mind it. I mean, I think you'll front may maybe agree, but it is a crapshoot when we try these pumpkin beers. I mean, because we go from one extreme to the other.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Yep, especially when it's out of season. We might we've had this one, I think, for a little bit. Or we got it when we were doing a you know, buying buying uh doing a beer run at Total Wine or something, and and it was still there. Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

So and so that this one didn't match up with anything else we have in the fridge. So this I think it was good to have it on here. This could so do you want to go first?

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Yeah, I I like it. I think I like the flavor, you know. It's I it could be a little bit more right on the flavor and aroma, but I think it's one of those you could sit down and drink a bottle of it and not get burned out by any means. Color-wise, definitely looks like what I would expect like a pumpkin ale to look like that kind of color. I think it checks all the boxes that what they said you can taste. You I'm not so sure if I get a lot of ginger, but that's not a bad thing, right? You know, everything else I definitely reminds me of like pumpkin pie filling, you know. So score-wise, I think I'm gonna go like I'll go like a three. I think it was decent. I like I said, I could drink a canner or a can, I shouldn't say that a bottle. I could drink a bottle or two of it.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

I think that was exactly where I was gonna go. And I think that my only recommendation was gonna be maybe just a touch more of the allspice of the cinnamon. I mean, other than that, I mean it's it's definitely a good good beer for a pumpkin beer. Yep, I agree with you, man. Pleasantly surprised. Yeah, there you go. Yes, he made me pick one, and that's what I grabbed. So we dodged the bullet.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

No, but the next one is gonna be interesting, and then we're gonna put our tasters on for that one. And it's definitely one of the more unique names, I think, that we've seen in a long time. So let's get uh get talking about some of them.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

How do you want to do like our top two or three or uh bottom two or three, I guess, or middle two or three?

SPEAKER_01 12:53

I guess what we could do. Should we start with our not so good ones? Yeah, how do we want to start this? I guess we could start because I think we had a couple of them that were one was for sure we didn't really care for. One was I hate to say it was really kind of a disappointment.

Biggest Letdowns Sour And Rum

SPEAKER_01 13:10

I had really high hopes and and such. So why don't we do those two first?

SPEAKER_00 13:14

And how about if I I'll do one of them, okay, and then you can do the other one. Okay. So mine that I was really kind of looking forward to is because I was this was towards the beginning of the day. I th was it towards the beginning, or maybe I think maybe we'd already made our trip and we're we're finishing the end of the VIP time, and this one had just came out, and it was very unique because all the rest of it was cans, and then there was this it looked like a 12-ounce bottle, but the thickness of the glass was maybe like an eighth of an inch thick, the whole bottle. So I was like, wow, so they put a lot of extra money into the making of the bottle just itself. So I'm like, and then the the name of it blood of the cherry. I'm like, wow, that sounds it sounds interesting. So I'm like, so then I go up to talk to the the guy, but I'm like, I haven't seen this like any of the liquor stores or no, no, we only sell it in the brewery itself. I'm like, oh I'm like, well wow, I'm like, you know, all the other beers I can get. I'm like, if this is one of your barrel-age ones, I mean you guys could really sell a lot more if you get it out. Yeah, so I took my cup and I got probably more than I needed out of it. And boy, was I surprised because then I read more of what it was, and it was a barrel-age blended sour refermented on Dor County Cherries, and that was from Oso Brewing. Because I know I think we've talked a couple times. Oso doesn't always have the most flavor, but I'll definitely say this had a lot of flavor. There is there was no holding back on flavor, it just was not in my wheelhouse because I think you know I'm I'm not a sour guy. This one was the cherries were so tart, it was it hurt your belly by taking a swig. I mean, I I know what what were your thoughts on that one?

SPEAKER_01 15:01

Well, it is kind of funny because we were just getting close to that booth, and and you spotted us and you came over and go, Hey, did you try this? And he told me the name. I go, No, I gotta try it. He goes, and you said, Here, taste it. And I'm like, Okay, why? He goes, You're probably not gonna get it. And I'm like, Okay, so I tasted it, and boy, it was the extreme of the sour level. Oh, yeah, it's I can't really even say I tasted cherry, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:28

I mean, have we had anything that was that tart or that sour?

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Not if we did on this ale.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

I mean, that is I say if we did, it was a long time ago because man, it was woof. I mean, it was just hard to even get the other flavors because the sourness just oh yeah, your whole body just cringed.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Yeah, I there must be a market for it, but who? I mean, I you couldn't taste any kind of barrel aging. And like I said, I really didn't even get a cherry flavor, it was just that super bitter, you know, heart tartward hits you in the back of your jaw, you know. And it was it was rough. I mean, it was really rough. I again, my opinion. Now, I do know they had I tried an IPA that they had, and it was decent. And again, I wish I would have this was when I was all discombobulated after my recording thing wasn't gonna work. They did have their their night train, which was a porter, if I remember right. Okay, and that one actually is good. I that's the the one that I can really say that that is a good beer. Okay. But yeah, the blood of the cherry. When I and then when I walked by, I was looking, I go, oh, oh, wait a minute. That's the one that that I just tasted that Jim gave me. So thank you for saving me from having a glass of that, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

But yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

It so I guess if if somebody really liked really tart, sour stuff, they might like that, you know. But for me, I just like, man, I wish it had flavor and yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

I mean, I don't think I don't know if I could my my stomach would physically be able to handle drinking a whole bottle of that.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

It was seven percent. That kind of surprised me.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

I thought it was gonna be higher, but I thought it was gonna be two and only 11 IBUs, which I'm like for bitterness, you're that to me, that would be a 99. Right. As bitter and tart and sour as that was. I mean, that's why I don't understand that that IBU yeah uh methodology, how that math works, because that that one to me, I mean, I understand it probably had to do more if it was hoppier, but this for me was bitter.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

Yeah, this was super bitter. So it was just like whew. So yeah, all right. So what you are on so favorites. The one that honestly I was and I was really looking forward to because and you actually pointed it out to me that hey, at two o'clock, Hillsborough Brewing is gonna have a were they're gonna separate release, like separate release at two o'clock. And it was like, really? And it was called Rum Springer. There you go. Yep. And remember they had on the sign that it was like a rum barrel-aged, was it a stout? Yeah, Imperial stout. Yeah, rum barrel-aged stout. And it was like, okay. And like I think on the sign it said 13.3. Right. I think is what it said on the sign.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

Right. And I looked it up.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

Yeah, and I'm wondering, because I just wonder if this was a different variation where they did it in rum barrels instead of bourbon barrels. Because the information that Jim found is aged for 24 months in Driftless Glen, Woolersheim, and Northern Waters bourbon barrels. Well, this one was rum barrel. Right, right. Or should I say they said it was rum barrel.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

So, you know, we made sure that we were over there beforehand because at two o'clock, that's when they let the general admission in. Yep. And if you're not in line, it gets packed in a hurry. So, you know, we got there, and actually it was like five minutes to two, and he was already pouring, he had cracked it open early for VIPs, right? And was pouring it out of pictures. And it's like, okay, great. And it was dark, and we're like, nice, you know, smell it. And it's like, I really don't smell any any rum. You know, I thought, well, you know, that's fine. And it tasted it, and I'm like, I'm not tasting any rum. Right. You know, and and you had got some too, right? And I said, and I said to Brian and Larry and those guys, I'm like, you know, I really kind of consider myself somewhat of a rum aficionado, also, because that's usually my spirit of choice.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

And I just didn't get any rum flavor out of it.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

I mean, I got very little flavor. I mean, here it says supposed to have chocolate, cherry, oak, and wafers. I I I mean, it was not a lot of flavor overall. I mean, it was dark in color, and that was about all that you could really tell.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Yeah, you know, and and I'm not saying that it was a bad beer, but what's on the can should be in the can, like we always say. And this one, it that was it was just really a disappointment because I really had high expectations. I thought, man, this is gonna really be something. Right. And it just it was a decent stout. Yeah, I mean, you know, but it didn't taste barrel-aged, it didn't taste like rum, it didn't like all these other flavors. I it just was kind of a normal.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

So that was the the one besides the blood of the cherry that I was kind of like, mmm, yeah, that's kind of not the disappointments, yeah. Yeah. Now, I one thing that I messed up on to is I did try a number of different IPAs as well, and there were some really good ones. Okay, and I was impressed. They and and I should have written them down, but again, I've been brow beaten myself for that. But there were some really good, but there were more of the juicy IPAs, the hazy IPAs. Yep. That there was some real someone there that had some really good flavor. And again, if I'd have written it down, it was it'd have been good because I think there's some that you would actually wouldn't have mine as so yep.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

So yeah. So that was that was good because I actually

Surprise Hits Including Imperial IPA

SPEAKER_00 20:30

did have an IPA that I thought was okay. Okay, really? And that because you know that does not happen very often. So I'll have to give my shout-out to Avery like G Avery, Avery Brewing, which I mean, we have I don't think we've had an Avery on here in quite a while because we've kind of found they really oversweeten a lot of their beers. So I just have to be standing, looked over, and Avery, I mean, it wasn't there wasn't a lot of marketing going on, it was just three six packs and cardboard containers sitting there. I'm like, Well, I guess I'll try that one. And it was the Maharaja, the Imperial IPA, okay, 10% ABV. I was like, so I was like going into this with super low expectations because I'm not a big right IPA guy. And this was an Imperial IPA, so I was like, even worse. You're thinking, I'm like, I'm right next to the the pair, the the pail to dump it out in case I gotta like do a quick dump. Yeah, but it was actually very good. I mean, can't complain about at all. This was probably one of the better Avery beers, I think, that I've had, huh? You know, because we've we've probably had some, you know, in the high double digits, right? Right, yeah. This is a 10%. Um maybe I think we may have even talked about this at one point is telling maybe Avery, maybe lower your ABV down so you don't have to sweeten as much, you know, get more flavor to come through. And this this was very good. I mean, it the the hops, like it says, tangy, vibrant, and intense. It was good. I I I would have had another drink of it. I mean another glass of it if you know, but as you're moving around, you don't Yeah, yeah, you're trying to hit as many.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Now, you know, when you mentioned it, I did see them, and no, I don't think I tried. I th maybe I I thought maybe I had tried this one as well, but I don't remember for sure. But you know, remember a couple episodes ago or a few episodes ago, we were talking about how we just don't see their beers around. And you had said, well, maybe there's some of the lower stuff that they have.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

And I th and actually we were at Woodman's the other day, and they do have some of but it's like the white rascal, whatever kind of the lower ABV stuff. Right. They don't have, you know, before it was always we'd find, you know, we've mentioned it before Rumpkin and all these other ones. And we I just don't see those anywhere. So I don't know if they quit doing them or they're just not carrying. I don't know. But but they do have some, but it's not as many flavor, you know, bottles and types as what they had before.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

Right. And these were in it was in a the cardboard box, it was six sixteen ounce cans. Okay. That wasn't even in the bottles because remember, I think before it had like the aluminum wrapping around the top, yep. And individually, these were in a six-pack. Okay. So yeah. So what was your kind

Third Space Coffee Stout Find

SPEAKER_00 23:00

of middle of the road one that kind of surprised you in a good way?

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Um, middle of the road that surprised me. Well, I guess you know, one one of them that I I I thought was pretty decent was the Mystic Knot. Oh, from Third Space. Okay. And I shouldn't say that, yeah, I I wouldn't wouldn't say it was middle of the road, but it it surprised me. Yes. And that was a barrel-aged Irish style coffee stout. And I thought, Irish style coffee stout? How what's that? You know what I mean? So I can safely say I don't remember ever having many like that. And it was 10.5%. You know, so I mean, it surprising it surprised me because it was pretty pretty smooth and drinkable. Very, very smooth, you know, and the nice thing was it didn't it had a coffee flavor, don't get me wrong. But it wasn't that really strong, bitter coffee. Yep, you know. Yes. And maybe that's the Irish style. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

Yeah, it it was very smooth. Yeah. I mean, it had a the aroma was nice, but it was not overpowering. And I don't think it was my mouth didn't dry out. You know, like some of those heavy coffee stouts were like just dries your mouth. This did not have that right after the finish was really smooth.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

Yeah, so that one that one was one that really did surprise me. Yes. I thought for and especially like I said, for an Irish style coffee stout. We've had all sorts of coffee stouts, but I'm pretty sure that's probably our first Irish style. But it was good. I mean, and and I got to chit-chat with that gentleman a little bit, and he was a really nice guy. And I didn't try the other beers because I think the other ones I had were more just kind of their normal standard ones that we've had before. Right. And and I usually I'm looking too for something I haven't ever had. Okay. You know, yep. So that one stood out to me as not middle of the road, but it it definitely surprised me.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

All right. Well, before we get on to our best in show, should we do our best

Drunken Sailor Barleywine Review

SPEAKER_00 24:45

of today? Well, what we're hoping is the best of today. All right. Do you want to read it or you want me to read a little bit while you're opening her up? You can read it. I just had to figure out how to do this. So do you want me to read the name or do you want to read the name? Uh, you can. All right. So this is after several of my my relatives that be mics, some of his uh nephews are all in this department of the navy. So this beer is called. Well, I don't think it's gonna make the noise, I thought. Oh, there we go. There it is. So this is the drunken sailor. The what? Drunken Sailor. Okay, and this is from Chubby Mermaid Brewing Company. I'm sorry, but that's all right. And this was brought back by one of our friends that does not ever want to be on our show, who only thinks that we drink coffee and cigarettes. Cigarettes.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Yep, that's what our beers taste like.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

But he happened to go to a craft brewery down in Florida and he brought this back. It says it's called a barley wine. Okay, but the what it says is already formidable in its base form, which so there must be more variants. Drunken Sailor becomes something truly transcendent after months resting in white oak barrels that once held cognac. Oh, hoity toity. But your pinky oak. Yep, yep. This, though, the reiterated mash and massive malt bill provide the foundation. Wow. I hope that's something good. Dense layers of plums, raisins, molasses, and caramelized sugars. But the barrel aging imparts elegant notes of vanilla, toasted oak, and a whisper of brandy warmth. Wow. Wow. So what is did you say the ABB? 11%. Oh. And 85 IBUs. Whoa. Well, so this is up there. So you may like it or you may not like it, dude. Yes. So this is gonna be interesting. Definitely kind of that darker. Yeah, it's brown. It's definitely brown.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Brown, yeah. I don't get a lot of aroma. Much of aroma.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

The molasses, I think.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

I get a molasses, a little bit of a raisin. What else are the plums? Maybe caramelized sugars. Yeah, that's probably part. But that could be the sugar or the molasses. Because I I definitely think we get them, I get the molasses.

SPEAKER_00 27:04

But br brandy or cognac, I don't get a lot of I don't get a lot of warmth.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

No, you know, you know what I'm saying? When I was expecting it to be like you know, it's an interesting flavor. You know, I'm again, you know, with a lot of these, when it's and it's just like a normal size bottle. Right. But you typically you get them to share. Right. I don't know many people, you know, it's like you and you and and myself, it's not like a lot of times where we're sitting down, here I'm gonna grab this 15% or just sit here and drink the whole bottle myself. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah, this it's you you get it and you share it with your buddies and and all that.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

Yeah, it's not bad. I mean, I'm not I don't have anything negative to say. I mean, uh I mean, other than I mean, like you said, I don't have that warmth and the brandy or cognac flavor. Really pretty muted.

SPEAKER_01 27:48

Yeah, I would I would agree with you there. I'm not getting I mean when we've had a few other beers that have been aged in cognac barrels, and it this one, yeah, it I don't really get a a lot of a barrel flavor out of it.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

But I guess if this maybe you're not the seasoned craft beer drinker, right, and you wanted to try that. I think this one would be all right. I mean, because I don't think you can get scared by doing trying this one. I agree with you. I mean, it's I guess maybe I was hoping for just a maybe just a touch more, yeah. Not a lot more, just just to give me a little bit more to it.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

I don't know if you're noticing this, but like on the when I'm sitting here, after you take a drink and you're just that aftertaste kind of comes up a little bit, you know, where you're sitting there. To me, it almost get it you get a little bit of that, I guess you could say caramelized sugar, but it's almost a little bit of a tinge of a burnt flavor to it.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

That's uh I didn't know what that was, too.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

I didn't know I don't know if it's the caramelized sugar or if it's the from the molasses. I don't know, but that's the one thing I was noticing when you were talking. I'm going, okay, now it's kind of sneaking up a little bit. This a little bit, not not like you know, a robust porter where it's that really heavy flavor like that, but it's got just that little hint that sits there with you.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

And it that's right at the finish, right in right in the very, very end. So I mean, I I mean, the good for them trying. I I don't know if we've had any beer from Chubby Mermaid before. We can safely say we probably have not.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

I don't know if I've even heard of them before we score. I got to give them a tenth of a point for the brewery name and a tenth of the point for the the name of beer.

SPEAKER_00 29:12

So so so they're doing good there. And you know, no, I so I don't know how long they've been around or what they've been doing. I mean, but it it looks like they're on the right track for what they're doing. And you know, this bottle almost looks like that blood of the cherry. Oh, yeah, that's how how thick it was.

SPEAKER_01 29:26

Yeah, yeah, that's kind of crazy. So I guess we'll go first. I was trying to look up here in a hurry to see if we've ever had nope, we've never had a beer from them, so I had which I figured, you know.

SPEAKER_00 29:36

The the chubby mermaid was a is a new one. Yes, so that's always good. I'd like it. I mean, would I have liked a little bit more of the cognac or the brandy? Yes, but I'm I'm still gonna give it a 3.5. I like it.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Okay, yeah. I was gonna say, I think that it's 11%, it doesn't taste like, you know, it's really smooth for 11%. Right. 85 IBUs, I don't get any kind of a hop bitterness or anything like that to it. Again, I agree with you. I think we we'd have liked a little bit more flavor in some parts of it. The cognac just doesn't, I don't taste that at all, to be honest. And I guess just the the only downside is just that that aftertaste, the finish, the the way end of that finish where it just kind of has that little bit of a uh burnt note to it. So I think I'm gonna go like a 3.4. Okay. But I again I think it's a solid beer. And you know, if if we ever stumble across, or when our friend uh goes back down there, we'll say, Hey, if you could grab another one or something of a different one of theirs, you know, it it'd be interesting to try them. You know, because I can safely say I've never heard of Chubby Mermaid and Drunken Sailor.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

So

Top Picks And Best Of Fest

SPEAKER_00 30:45

it's yeah, it was good, very good. So should I give you my top three?

SPEAKER_01 30:49

Sure. Yep. Because I think we're pretty close, pretty close, I would say, on a lot of these.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

And of these three, two of the three I've never had before. The one I just included just because it was it was there, but yep, we've had it before. Yep. So no, I won't give him my number one, I'll just give him my three. Yep. So my the top three I had were more s'mores, a barrel aged stout from Boulevard, yep, the wolf, the Imperial Age Stout, Age, and Bourbon Barrels from Three Sheeps. Yep. And then the third one, the Mexican style pole de cream.

SPEAKER_01 31:23

Oh, I'm glad I thought it was pot de cream when I was there. I think I'm saying right.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

I was wrong, which was a double pastry stout from Untitled Art, the 12.9%. So those are my my top three.

SPEAKER_01 31:36

Yeah, yeah, I would agree with those. Those three stood out to me as well for like the the beers that we are normally looking for. Yep. Now I will put it this way. I'll I'll say what I think my third place one was. Okay, and not because it was a bad beer in any way, shape, or form, but I was hoping they brought one of the variants and it was more just the original, and that was the the wolf. Yes. From from uh three sheeps. Yep. You know, 13.9%. It's still it's a very good beer. And we we're shocker, we're gonna have some episodes because we've got a number of them when we were in the barrel society with them. But I was really hoping they had one of the variants.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Yes, me too. You know, the this very good standby, very good. I mean, you can't go reborrent by by trying it.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Yeah, I I agree. Now, second, I think my second, and uh maybe I should let you go, but I think my second place is probably the more s'mores from Boulevard. And we were there, we did not have that when we were at the brewery. So this was a new one, yep, 8.2 percent. But you know, I really thought it tasted like a s'more. I mean, it it was pretty pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

So one thing I was trying to do some more research, I couldn't find more, but apparently this was a partnership with Whitman's, and Whitman's makes the s'mores ice cream. Oh, really? Right, so I think that's where they got their ingredients from. So I was trying to do like where's Whitman's from or what else, but they have a whole ice cream line, and one of them is the s'mores. Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 33:05

So I did not, I had no idea on that. Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:08

So I tried to do a little bit more, but I couldn't find a lot of info on it because you know, usually the s'mores well, you put on the fire.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

Yeah, it's not the ice cream. No, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

So, but I I like you said, I mean, that one was good. They had the quad with it. Yeah, that was another one. Yep. We'd already had that one, so I'm like, well, I'll just pass on that one. And that's exactly what I did.

SPEAKER_01 33:28

You know, like I said, you know, I'm I think your strategy and my strategy are pretty similar. When we go to these things, it's like first thing I'm always keeping an eye out on barrel age or just high ABV stuff, but then I when I go to I try and visit as many as I can, right? But then I'm always looking at okay, which ones if there's something I haven't had, usually that's what I'm gonna go to, right? You know, to try something new. And same thing. I saw they had the quad, and I'm like, well, we've had that for I don't know how many years we've tried it, you know. So this one is the one that I was like, yeah, I gotta try. And it was good. I thought I think if somebody just tried that one, they would really like it. Yes, you know, and yeah, I I think that was a very good one. I do think that was probably my second place. Yes, and I think we're in agreement. Yep. So actually, I will let you talk about the number one.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

So I have no idea how this worked out, but this was actually the very first beer that I tried.

SPEAKER_01 34:23

I'm gonna cut you off for a second because after we left the VIP tent, we were walking that way, and I think Susie came up and goes, Jim said you're supposed to go to that booth, and this is one you're supposed to try right now. So we're like, okay, so we we headed that way. So, all right, there you go.

SPEAKER_00 34:40

And the only reason why sometimes you gotta say that only because you don't know what kind of quantity of exactly it could be they might have only bought one or two cans along, or because a lot of times it's not always on tap, right? So that's why I was like, Well, I saw a couple cans and I want to make sure that you get to try it. So that's why I was like, boy, that one was really good. So that the Mexican style pole de cream was really I mean, we've had several very good untitled art. They've got their process down, they have flavor, yes, they're they're so and they're not afraid to put flavor in. For me, this one was you know, I the the challenge I think I ran into was the glasses this year were quite a bit bigger than what they were like a normal size glass instead of a taster glass. Exactly. So when I went up the first time, you know, being he filled my glass up probably half full. So I probably had three or four ounce hit the first time around. So I was like, wow, that's really good. So then I told my wife, so she went up, got the same hit, took one drink, and said, Oh, I don't like this. So then I so I had two of them. So I almost had a full. So you had a buzz going after the first stop. Right. So I may be a little bit jaded, but this one it says, you know, it was a barrel aged imperial stout with macadamia nuts, cocoa, cinnamon, chocolate, vanilla, and milk sugar in collaboration with Three Sons Brewing. Okay. So then I said, Well, where's what's three sons? So Three Sons is out of Dania Beach, Florida. Which I'm like, well, that's quite a from Wisconsin to Florida, that's it, quite a collaboration. So I don't know a lot about that brewery, other than it started in 2011 with with you know, in like most small crap breweries in their kitchen, really starting their kitchen, and now it's so if they keep doing what they did with this Mexican style, very impressed. I was going to nominate this, I was gonna say it was a 4.0 in my book. So maybe something we can talk about for beer of the year, another one.

SPEAKER_01 36:36

Oh yeah, we can we can definitely add because I I was impressed. Yeah, I was impressed with it because again, when when you get these, especially, you know, how many times have we said when it's a Mexican style, we're either looking for cinnamon, we're looking for pepper type flavor. Now, I there wasn't any pepper really that I could pick up, but boy, it had such good flavor with the cinnamon, and and I guess I did not realize there was macadamia nut uh in it, but you know, you got all the other flavors were really were there, yes, you know. So yeah, I got no problem adding it because I I did uh think that was probably the best one by far there.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

Yeah, I mean, and kudos to them. I mean, because Untel Art just keeps on coming up with new flavors that are still very, very good. Yeah, exactly. I mean, this not to beat it horse, but if there's the small craft brewery out there, this company is not afraid of flavors. So try their beers and you you'll get so many ideas about how this flavor really works together. Yeah, and it comes shows through on your beer.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

Yep, exactly. And I said, we've had episodes where we focused on them, remember? Yep, and we've we've got some other ones coming up, and I'm sure throughout the year because they're always releasing new stuff, yep. All the time.

Wrap Up Merch And Listener Feedback

SPEAKER_00 37:45

So there might be one coming up real soon. Could be. We'll have to teaser. Yeah, teaser. Hand to hand.

unknown 37:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:50

So yeah, so I guess that's kind of our wrap-up of the 2026.

SPEAKER_00 37:55

I mean, it was very good, very impressive. We you know, now we're already thinking about next year and what it's gonna be like, and you know, they set the good foundation, so everything is really good. So let's hope that they can keep on making making it good and keeping the weather good like it was too.

SPEAKER_01 38:08

Yeah, that's always a big key because it wasn't that many years ago. We were standing in the tent, so it was before COVID, but remember it was snowing like crazy out. And it's like, really? It was going like horizontal to the ground. Oh, yeah. So we were just hanging out in the tent because you had two. You weren't going outside. Well, yeah, you know, that's one of those things that you know, and then what we always keep our eye out for any new festivals or other festivals that are somewhat close to us, so you who knows, you know, we may check something out as well next year. You know, we'll have to wait and see. See how it goes. Yeah, exactly. Well, cool, man. I know this was kind of a little different episode for it. Well, we did try two beers, so it was still in our wheelhouse.

SPEAKER_00 38:44

So we didn't bring a lot of beers in, but we talked about to talk about a bunch of them.

SPEAKER_01 38:49

So so yeah, that was good. I'm glad that I mean we had very good representation there. Yep. We had uh had some merch. Yep. You know, we've got I will I can post some pictures on on our social media. Oh, there you go. I'll put some on social media for people to check out. Right now we have very limited quantities. We do have a couple of different hats, and we've got some leather can kozies. Yes, that don't that keep your fingers keep your fingers nice and warm and they work really well. So uh, like I said, right now, very limited quantities. If you're interested, by all means, make sure you reach out right away. Yep. Sounds good. I'll get those out there, and you know, I'm sure we'll have some more in the future. But right now, if you want to get in on that first initial blast, yes, there you go.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

And if you have any comments, if you were also there but just didn't get a chance to talk to us, send us some comments on what you thought about between the the festival as well.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

Yeah, we'd love to hear what your thoughts are on it. You know, we have our thoughts, and like I said, we're we go into these things more scientific, yeah. So we're not a lot of times looking around at just the overall general whatever, right? You know, we're more focused on okay, tasting this and thinking about it and what we're gonna say on this wrap-up. So so yeah, cool. Well, hey Jim, thanks so much, man, for especially for the drunken sailor. That was very rather interesting, to be honest with you. So thanks to our buddy that brought it back. Yep, you know, one of these years, now he won't ever be on here. So well, we could have been if he was on some of like the the Pilsner one or whatever. We should have had him on that one, but oh well, it'll all work out. So awesome. Well, thanks, dude. Again, thank you so much for being on there and and giving me your thoughts on on the festival and and providing the beers. So no problem. Anytime, buddy. Awesome. Well, hey, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for listening. And like we always say, we hope your campfire is always warm and your beers are always cold. See ya.

Contact Info And Sign Off

SPEAKER_01 40:34

See ya. Thank you for listening to the Northwoods Beer Guy podcast. If you have a question, a comment, or a beer you'd like us to review, please feel free to send us a message at Northwoodsbeerguy at gmail.com. 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 beers cold.