I was in Chicago last month watching the Cincinnati Reds play the Chicago Cubs. I got to sample a few tasty beers brewed right in the Windy City. Here are a few of my faves.

Goose Island 312

312 is classified as an American Pale Wheat Ale. You can definitely taste the wheat, along with citrus flavors. This is a creamy and refreshing medium-bodied beer. I’ve continued to buy 312 here at home, although it’s probably more of a summer beer (I’ve started to stock up on Sam Adams Oktoberfest for the Fall since it’s only available for a limited time).

Goose Island Green Line

Green Line is considered an American Pale Ale with a bright, hoppy aroma and citrus fruit flavor. It is light, crisp with a little spice and a slightly bitter finish. Green Line Pale Ale is the beer at the core of Goose Island’s environmental sustainability initiative, the Green Line Project. The beer is available on draft only in Chicago to help cut down on packaging waste and reduce the impact from refrigerating and transporting the beer.

Goose Island Matilda

Matilda is a Belgian Style Pale Ale. It has a spicy aroma and a slightly fruity – with a hint of honey – taste. The beer is a little dry; not overpowering, but smooth and very drinkable.

Metropolitan Brewing Krankshaft

Krankshaft is a Kolsch style beer. Kolsch is a clear German brew with a bright, straw-yellow hue, and just slight hoppiness. This was the lightest beer of the four and perfect for a hot day . This crisp, light-bodied beer has a lemony sweetness and light malt flavor. Metropolitan Brewing is the newest microbrewery in Chicago.

The other night I had a delicious beer that’s perfect for summer. I was out with friends at Barleycorn’s Five Mile House in Lakeside Park. On tap was Pink Lemonade, a refreshing blend of two Leinenkugel’s beers :

Summer Shandy, a seasonal beer and the  brewer’s version of a traditional German Radler, a combination of beer and German-style lemonade. Radler, which means “cyclist” in German, dates back to the early 1900s. The tale goes…a bar owner short on his beer supply became overwhelmed by a group of cyclists because they were thirsty from their travels. So the bar owner mixed whatever beer he had with lemonade. Over the years, the recipe has added Sprite or 7-Up instead of lemonade. Hmm…I see a little recipe testing in my future.

Berry Weiss, a year-round Leinenkugel’s beer that contains the flavors of blackberries, elderberries and loganberries.

This beer was very refreshing and thirst-quenching. Fitting for the end of a 95-degree day. And it did look a lot like pink lemonade (my pictures did not turn out well so I apologize for not being able to share).

I loved the taste but I don’t think I could drink too many because of the sweetness. It’s a great summer option though if you’re looking to try a different twist on beer.

This is probably a little unorthodox, but I’m going to write about it anyway. It DOES have something to do with beer at least.

It may seem crazy to combine heart-pumping physical activity with beer drinking – although I know some people that would consider beer drinking a sport. Even the organizers call this event “a ridiculous running race.” I’ve always thought an ice cold beer tastes great after a good run, so I’m in.

Tap ‘N’ Run is a 4K (or 2.5 mile) running race that includes four beer chug stations along the race course – plus a full beer at the finish line, along with crazy costumes, contests and awards, and an after-party with live music on the barge at Hooters and Beer Seller down along the river.

The race is professionally timed and all participants will receive a medal – that doubles as a bottle opener of course, the equivalent of more than two beers and a Tap ‘N’ Run t-shirt. They also will offer non-alcoholic beverages and even a taxi partner to help get everyone home safely.

They will be checking IDs, so you must be 21 years of age on race day to participate and you MUST present a valid ID at check-in.

I am joining a few friends to create a team. I’ve never participated in this but it sounds like a blast. Cost is $38 per person if you register before Saturday, April 28. The price goes up from there. Visit http://www.tapnrun.com for more info and to register. Hope to see you there!

I recently hosted a wine tasting for a liquor store and I noticed a champagne bottle in the beer section. I asked about it and the beer distributor told me that it was the Sam Adams Infinium Ale. It’s a premium beer that was collaborated between Sam Adams Boston Beer Company and the Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan (world’s oldest Brewery).

When you peel back the wrapper you’ll notice that it has a champagne cork that you open very carefully like a champagne cork. A crisp champagne-like beer with tiny bubbles and a fruity aroma tastes more like a champagne or wine. It has a hint of citrus, pear, and apple taste with a subtle dry taste of hops. The golden amber color has tiny bubbles that makes you want to stare at it for hours. Malt, hops, alcohol, and acidity are a perfect balance, there’s nothing that I would change about this perfect champagne beer.

Infinium is a drink that beer drinkers and wine drinkers can enjoy together. But there’s only one catch, drink it while it’s still on the shelves and it’s only drinkable till July of this year.

February is shaping up to be a great time to be a beer drinker in the Cincinnati area. The weather’s cold and the nights are long, but there are an amazing number of events coming in the next few weeks. Here’s a quick rundown:

In a few weeks, it will be the inaugural celebration of Cincinnati Beer Week. An official site has popped up to try and track the various events around the city, but I recommend hopping over to the Hoperatives blog for their take on the latest information. Here are a few of the events about which I’m excited:

Thursday February 2
Party Town Local Breweries Backroom Brawl from 6:00 – 8:00pm
Party Town kicks off Cincinnati’s Inaugural Beer Week with a “Backroom Brawl” of only local craft brews featuring the “Cincinnati Beer Week Barleywine,” a collaboration between local brewers, and our 18 tap growler program voted “Best of 2011″ by Cincinnati Magazine! Cost $2.00

Friday February 3
Arnold’s Bourbon Barrel 1861 Porter Happy Hour Tapping at 5pm
In honor of beer week Christian Moerlein has remixed a batch of the Arnold’s 1861 Porter. Arnold’s is already the only place that you could get the Porter, but for this special release, Christian Moerlein will be aging the same beer in a bourbon barrel.

Saturday February 4:
Cincinnati Brew Ha-Ha! from 07:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Cincy Brew Ha-Ha Winter Edition will bring all that has been enjoyed over the past 5 years indoors to the Cintas Center on Xavier University’s campus for its Winter Edition. This one-of-a-kind local event features top beers and top comedians creating the perfect recipe for a great time. From ales to lagers and pilsners to stouts, there is something for every type of beer aficionado – including 6 firkins! Cincy Brew Ha-Ha Winter Edition will feature over 80 selections of beer to sample and multiple comedians on 2 stages.

Additionally, there are a bunch of other events, including a 3 Floyds beer dinner at Tellers (2/8) and a selection of Left Hand beers on tap at the Hyde Park Cock and Bull (2/9) . This all leads up to the Cincinnati Winter Beer Festival on the 10th and 11th. Last year, this event was a great time and apparently it’s going to be even bigger this year. Click over to their site for more information and tickets.

On Feb 25, the Moerlein Lager house will be opening as part of the Banks, adding the first alternative to the Holy Grail, which opened last March. Tickets are $150 and the doors open at 6:30. More information can be found over on the Lager House official website.

I’m off to drink a Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere. That should help keep me sated until next month.

Although the temperature in Cincinnati has been all over the place, the first official day of winter is Thursday. If you haven’t already been partaking in seasonal brews, the time is now.

Fox News published a Best Holiday Brews article this week and it reminded me that these seasonal selections won’t be around forever. Although I don’t usually drink darker, heavier beers, they are great for warming you up on cold winter nights.

I have had – and do like – the top beer on this list: Great Lakes Brewing Co. Christmas Ale, a holiday beer brewed with honey and spiced with ginger and cinnamon. It’s medium-bodied, not too heavy, and a repeat World Beer Championship Gold Medal winner. My sister-in-law was nice enough to share her stash over Thanksgiving (Thanks, Laurie).

Not on this list, but a popular choice - Sierra Nevada Celebration. While Celebration tastes good for a change, I can’t drink many as it’s a very robust, rich ale. But it’s great for bringing along to your holiday parties and for toasting friends and family.  

Do you have a favorite winter beer? Leave a comment here and let me know what you like and what I should try before they all disappear.

Last night I went on the Queen City Under Ground Tour from American Legacy Tours and I was amazed. I’ve been on at least three of their tours and every time I go I learn something new about the greater Cincinnati area. This tour was focused on the Over the Rhine area where there were over 163 saloons, beer gardens, theatres, and breweries were on Vine St. in the late 1800s. The breweries would store and make their beer underground the buildings in these huge tunnels/rooms (the rooms are the sub and sub-sub basements). Some of the tunnels/rooms I was standing in were at least 20 feet high, it was amazing. They had tunnels that were underneath the streets that go in between the barreling and bottling buildings and onto other buildings.

Pictured: One of the tunnels underneath the Guild Haus on Vine Street. This was one of the barrel tunnels underneath the Barreling room.

Did you know that Cincinnati drank over two and a half times more beer than the national limit in the late 1800s? That’s a lot of beer! Besides seeing the underground breweries and historical buildings we saw where the new Christian Moerlein brewery will be located. There was a tunnel that was boarded up from the one building that led into the Christian Moerlein brewery but we didn’t get to see that tunnel. The future home of the Christian Moerlein Brewery was once the Malt and Lager house of the Kaufman Brewery that was one of the breweries during the late 1800s.  Christian Moerlein Brewery was the only Cincinnati beer from that time that was exported internationally.

The tour was a great history lesson and shows how much Over the Rhine have developed in the last decade.  Please note that the tour is a walking tour and to get to the tunnels you will have to go down a few flights of steps. The tour runs till the end of November every Saturday and Sunday. Please check their website for more information.

A quick post on one of our almost local breweries: Schlafly of St. Louis. Michelle and I had the chance to stop in here on our way through Missouri and enjoyed the visit. On tap were two cask conditioned alternate versions of the 80/- (80 Schilling) and the Golden Ale.

I sat down with the cask conditioned 80 schilling. Cask conditioning allows a secondary fermentation to occur within the storage container. In this case it added an extra layer of smokiness that I usually don’t find in the normal Schlafly offering. AbV was in line at 4.7 to create a very enjoyable drink.

I also tried a small sample of the Pumpkin Ale from draft and found a pumpkin-pie flavor along with a very noticeable sweetness. This was pumpkin pie filling with a touch of whipped cream. The 8% alcohol was not apparent.

The food was also impressive. I had a pulled pork sandwich along with a side of the Beer Cheese soup. Michelle had a ham and egg sandwich. We could have easily split either entree between the two of us. The portions were generous and the food itself was well prepared and matched the beer.

Overall, I would give a to the Schlafly brewery experience. We did not have time to take the tour at the Bottleworks location, but if any readers have been on that tour, let us know in the comments. For anyone visiting the St. Louis area, I recommend a quick stop by the brewery to split a meal and try something from their large selection.

You can always follow me on Untappd to see what I am enjoying.

Hope you all don’t mind me writing about beer…

It’s been a fun, busy summer for me.  Seems like I’ve had a lot of social events to attend, which is always exciting.  In the midst of all of these events, I became re-acquainted with one of my favorite beers…and now there’s no turning back.

I’ve always been a “light” beer drinker, but tasting Hoegaarden changed that.  I first tried Hoegaarden about a year ago at The Pub in Crestview Hills Town Center.  And I fell in love with it.  Lately I’ve been buying it to enjoy at home.

Hoegaarden is a wheat beer from Belgium.  I think this beer has a very different taste. With a touch of coriander and a hint of orange peel, the flavor is sweet and spicy at the same time. It is an unfiltered beer and therefore a bit cloudy in appearance.  If you get it out on tap, Hoegaarden is served in its traditional hexagonal glass with an orange slice.

Hoegaarden is very refreshing so it’s one of those beers that’s perfect for a warm summer day. Wonder if we’ll have any more of those.

When I first started buying Hoegaarden, it was not widely available. But I’ve noticed it more in area liquor stores and even in some grocery stores. The downside is I’ve never seen this beer on sale. It’s typically $9.99 a six-pack.

This is not really a review, but I’m gonna give it a big HAPPY face anyway!

It was announced today that Anheuser-Busch has purchased Goose Island. Now remember, Anheuser-Busch itself is owned by global conglomerate InBev, so in essence, InBev now owns Goose Island.

I know this is probably a good thing for Goose Island, and the deal was worth a lot of beer: $38.8 million. According to WBEZ Chicago, not much will change:

In a statement, the head of Goose Island, John Hall, said the Chicago company has grown so rapidly in the last five years that demand for Goose Island beers has outgrown the capacity of its brewery. Hall said the company has had to limit production of some of the beers. Hall said the deal with Anheuser-Busch will help Goose Island continue to grow.

“This agreement helps us achieve our goals with an ideal partner who helped fuel our growth, appreciates our products and supports their success,” Hall said in a statement.

In announcing the acquisition, Goose Island said Hall will continue to be responsible for the Chicago brewery, which the company says will remain in operation.

So I have my fingers crossed I won’t see a Matilda Select or Fleur Lime anytime in the near future.