Kansas City is a great town.



But it sure is distracting. So, yeah! Almost no time has passed since the last time I have gotten you a beer, right? Oh, right. It was March. Sorry. Like a good habit of exercise, keeping the site updated with new draughts of the week becomes easier and easier to avoid, to the point that you don't even feel guilty anymore, and just don't care. But here's the thing:

I do care!

I want you to have the best experience possible, on this website. As such, I have an obligation to provide you with semi-original content, on a semiregular basis. As of late, I have failed in this obligation, especially concerning what was once the most popular part of this website, the Draught of the Week. I have decided that I like having readers and reading their comments more than I like sitting around in my underpants feeling sorry for myself. Plus, chicks dig dudes with initiative.

Lately, I have taken to walking around this fantastic town, especially what with the unseasonably awesome weather we've been having, this late October and early November, and my silly walks have progressed farther and farther afield. I went for a short walk today, only to 17th and Main, to Bulldog, only about a mile from my place.

This was a view, on the way there. Click it for a full-sized picture to set as your desktop background. You know you want to.



It was pretty early in the day when I walked in, about 3:30, so I had no trouble at all finding a spot at the bar. Everyone else there either worked there or was a chick on the phone at the end of the bar.

I pause here to announce that quiet bars are a very inappropriate place to have a phone conversation. If I ever open a place, I will enforce
a strict "no cellphone" policy for patrons seated at the bar. It's just really obnoxious. The phone woman, while very attractive, was apparently waiting for a friend to join her, and occupied every second of her time, waiting for her friend, making phone calls, to completely eliminate any possibility of having to sit quietly at the bar, or, horror of horrors, having to talk to someone.

Anyway, I took a seat at the bar, and asked what they had on tap. The bartender recited the relatively expansive list, and I settled on a local beer, Bob's 47.

Named for the year of the graduation of Bob Werkowitch, Boulevard's first brewmaster, from the US Brewer's Academy, Bob's 47 is the brewery's fall seasonal, and the only lager produced by the brewery. Everything else they produce is technically ale. Meant to bring in the season in time for Oktoberfest celebrations, Bob's 47 is available for most of September and October, and apparently, is still available on tap now, in November.

Like any respectable Marzen/Oktoberfest beer, it pours a deep copper color, but is heavily filtered to make it completely transparent, as you can see.



Also, like any good beer of its style, it delivers a sharp, sweet, raucous punch, and so, is very popular when it's available in Kansas City. but for all its popularily, it still takes a distant backseat to beers like this.



Even so, it's not uncommon to see it on tap in any of a number of downtown bars and restaurants. For full details about what I think of it, see the official ratings below.



I missed you too.

Ratings (out of ten)

Aroma:	5	(A little light on aroma, as lagers tend to be. If you really make an ass of yourself, and get your nose really in there, a floral aspect appears, with hints of the pervasive malt contained therein.)
Flavor:	8	(A creamy, malty sweetness lolls around the front of the tongue, and washes over, revealing its hoppily-sharp bitterness as it slides off the back of the tongue. It's neat to notice.)
Body:	7	(It's thick, creamy, and nicely carbonated. As it coats your mouth with a trail of flavor, its legacy is a delicious, malty-bitter phlegm sealant for your entire mouth and throat.)
Smoothness:	9	(Boulevard really has a way of producing beers that just want to be imbibed. It rolls down the throat, enveloped, packaged, if you will, and you will, in that neat, delicious film of phlegm. Like a big, liquid, delicious pill.)
Price:	7	(At $3.50 a glass, I wasn't complaining, but it certainly could have been cheaper. Any of three levels cheaper.)

Once again, work took me to Madison, WI last week. I had previously arranged to meet up with an old college friend and short-time roommate, James, who makes his home in Madison with his wife Jackie. He rolled up to my hotel at about 6PM on Tuesday, where I was waiting outside, talking with my work partner(TJ) and his Louisiana counterpart(Gerold). The temperature was in the thirties, and when James pulled up, he got out of his car and changed shirts.

TJ and Gerold both freaked out when they saw my friend do what he did on what they considered to be an arctic day, and freaked out further when they saw that this crazy person was a friend of mine. We said good-evening to TJ and Gerold, and, with James' friend Marcus, went over to the Prime Quarter for some steak. Apparently, James' bachelor party was held there, and he ate the 40-oz "Beefeater," steak, a feat that gets your picture on the wall, shown below.



After stuffing ourselves adequately with KC strip steak, I pressured James and Marcus into a trip to the Come Back Inn, which is now officially my favorite place in Wisconsin. We walked in and took some seats up at the bar. We had all each had a 32-oz beer or two with dinner, so we were very talkative, and set to conversing with Dave and Johnny behind the bar. James settled into his beer quickly.



Marcus helped himself to beers he requested as, "the lightest you have," when he discovered they don't carry budmillcoors on tap. Honey weisses, wheats, and various yellow beers passed his lips, before Dave the bartender thought it appropriate to adorn his next beer as such.



I decided on a year-round offering from Cleveland's excellent Great Lakes Brewing Company: the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter.



It pours a deep brown color, and an equally deep roasted aroma emanates off it immediately. The first sip throws itself all over the front of your mouth with its dark roasted flavor, and before you know it, your glass is empty.



This, in my opinion, is one of the truly great American Porters, and one of the best beers available in the Midwest.

Ratings (out of ten)
Aroma: 8 (Dark chocolate hints at a sweet maltiness)
Flavor: 9 (Chocolate malt is very heavily pronounced, followed by a roasted maltiness)
Body: 8 (Thick and even, leaves roasty residuals)
Smoothness: 8 (The thick even body makes for a smoothness that is as uncharacteristic of porters as it is pleasurable to drink)
Price: 8 (The 22-oz German-style glass was on special for $3)

I decided to stay at the Blind Pig for another beer, as their selection is just second to none in Central Illinois. Careful not to get anything too strong, as I still had a 40-mile drive ahead of me, I spotted the alcohol content on Boulder Brewery's "Never Summer" Ale. 6%. I also thought of the extremely complementary words for this beer on the part of my friend Dave, and that was that.

I asked Charlotte to pour me one as soon as she had a moment.



It pours a deep brown color, as with any quality winter beer, promising a delicious fifteen to twenty minutes. Unfortunately, those minutes are up before you notice.



Not eager or ready to be tossed out on my butt just yet, I ordered a Two-hearted ale off their very impressive row of taps.



Ah, Bell's. Is there any time you don't come through when I travel in the Midwest outside Missouri?
(note: the Midwest is composed of Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri)



Ratings (outof ten):
Aroma: 7 (Chocolatey, with hints of maltiness)
Flavor: 8 (Had a strange fruity flavor that I can only identify as "inverse bitter," with fruity undertones in its relatively bitter finish)
Body: 8 (Fruit-propelled thickness retreats soundlessly down your throat)
Smoothness: 6 (It goes down easily, but because of its fruity flavor, one is enough)
Price: 7 ($3.50; Not terrible, but still more than I'd expect to pay in Champaign)

After moving my rental a little closer to the bar, and throwing another fifty cents into the meter, good for two hours, I wandered into the Blind Pig, and quickly became acquainted with Charlotte, the pretty Dutch woman tending bar. After getting my first beer, Dogfish Head's 90-Minute IPA:



...we talked for a good hour about fun things to do in the Midwest, as she had only recently moved here with her U of I scientist husband, and was frustrated with both the lack of things to do in Central Illinois, and the distances one must travel to get anywhere, compared to in her native Netherlands.

I told her I was originally from Peoria, and she kinda sorta lit up, saying how relieved she was with Peoria, with its expansive river, topographical variety, and vast forests, after seeing nothing but flat land and cornfields for the whole time she's been here. For once, I felt justified in my civic pride, for having come from Illinois' "River City."

The beer was fantastic, and because of our conversation, I didn't get anymore pictures. See below for more information.

Ratings (out of ten):
Aroma: 9 (Awesome. Spicy with only a hint of hops)
Flavor: 9 (A happy marriage of pine(?) and hops)
Body: 7 (The spiciness comes through in the mouthfeel, compensating for a thin feel)
Smoothness: 9 (I could drink this all night but I could never stop noticing the flavor)
Price: 6 (At $4.50 a draw, it's a little expensive for a town as small as Champaign, but if that's the price you have to pay for an excellent tap selection, I'll happily pay it)

When I rolled into Decatur, I almost immediately noticed the, "I want to die," character of the town. I would guess that forty or fifty years ago, it was a pretty bitchin' place to live, but now, I can see that the people in Illinois' eighth largest city are pretty accustomed to their town not being that great.

Don't get me wrong. There are more than enough Wendy's, McDonald's, Arby's, and even my Illinois favorite Steak n' Shake, to tide over the cursory doubting Thomas, but I still went wanting, when I found out that there really isn't much to do in Decatur, regarding beer on tap. So, when I found out about a certain fact that I'm sure most Decaturians know about, I high-tailed it out of my hotel room, and did what so many before me have done, when faced with the prospect of going out in Decatur.



I went to Champaign.

I read up on Beer Advocate that the Blind Pig was a great place to go in Champaign for beer on tap, so I went there post-haste, only to find that they don't open until 3 PM, while I was standing outside their door at 1:50 PM. So, I walked down the block to the Esquire, where I ordered a cheeseburger and a Bell's Winter White.



It's interesting to find such a light beer listed as a wintertime beer, but who am I to base a complaint on convention? Being a resident of Missouri, I have only ever seen this beer in bottles, so, also being a huge fan of Bell's beer, I eagerly drank up.



I ate my burger in peace, spoke with some locals about the Illini and close-in Weapon Systems, and finished my beer. I must also complement publicly the quality of the service and atmosphere at the Esquire in downtown Champaign, IL.



Ratings (out of ten):
Aroma: 7 (Sweet and yeasty)
Flavor: 8 (Also yeasty, but with a bitter finish)
Body 7 (Thick but mostly headless. Great with food)
Smoothness: 7 (Very strong flavor, but light enough to drink all night)
Price 9 (At $2.25, I can't complain about the price of a seasonal craft brew)

I traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, last week, and finished all the work I had scheduled to do in two days, in one. That left me with a free day, and hence, a free night for drinking beer. I consulted Beerfly, which has an entire category devoted to Madison, and found that the best rated place in town to get a pint was a local brewery called the Great Dane. I stopped by, and had a mouth-watering Monte Cristo, and two mouth-watering pints of ESB and IPA, before moving on to a great place, also listed on Beerfly, and elaborated elsewhere, called the Come Back Inn.

The Come Back Inn, adjacent to a more-authentic-than-most German restaurant, boasts one of the best tap selections in Madison, and some of the friendliest, most helpful, most knowledgeable bartenders I have seen in such a bar. They obviously love the business of evangelizing American craft brewing, and their playground(one quarter of it, anyway) is pictured here.



This is a closer look at the list of the beers that they currently had on tap.



They had a Tuesday night special, dictating that all these beers, in an 18-oz German-style mug, would run the customer $2.75 a pour. I got right to it, and helped myself to glasses of Bell's Two-Hearted(previously mentioned on BDC), Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Big Sky Moose Drool, and Anderson Valley IPA. Among these great American beers, however, I felt the need to review something local to Madison, and I chose Capital's cold-weather offering, Winter Skål.



It pours a color that is surprisingly light for a winter beer, but with a deep copper-brown hue, it's still handily darker than most beers one will commonly see. I think it should also be said that winter, if it's considered an entire style, is my favorite beer style, and if it isn't a beer style, then it's my favorite time to get a beer.

This beer gets right down to business, biting the tongue with a sharp, burning fizziness as it enters the mouth. This biting subsides as the beer slides closer to home, and is evocative of honey and a light sweetness as it takes the plunge down the throat. It may have been my imagination, but the beer, as it journeys along the tongue, shooting off new, impressive flavors as it moves, like a wagon full of ignited fireworks, seems to produce a sensation of a sort of rolling. The beer- the flavor, that is, has its own character that feels like it's determined to make you keep enjoying the beer well after the last of it has been carefully swallowed. Also, it burps well.

I had about twelve breaks, as the friendly bartenders kept bringing me free samples of their favorite beers, but after about a half hour, I finished the glass, and euphoria ensued.



Ratings (Out of ten)
Flavor: 9 (Complex honey flavor that wears its alcohol content on its sleeve.)
Body: 7 (Heavy brown beer that is evocative of drinking carbonated rum.)
Aroma: 9 (Smells exactly how it tastes.)
Smoothness: 8 (Goes down very smoothly, but makes you feel guilty for rushing.)
Price: 9 (At only $2.75 a glass, this beer was a steal, for its quality.)

It's been entirely too long since I have provided you with a drink. I have decided to rectify this, and Nathan helped. We prepared for the oncoming ice storm by going to Tanner's last night, splitting a plate of ro-tel cheese dip and sitting down to some very tasty beers. Assuming that because it's such a common beer, that it would be relatively reasonably priced, Nathan ordered a Fat Tire, which we later found out was $5 a glass.

I chose the only seasonal on the rail: Samuel Adams Octoberfest. It pours a deep orange copper color, and advertises Two Men and a Truck movering company.



The Oklahoma-USC game was on that night, and instead of getting caught up with the game, I chose more often to look out the window.



We enjoyed our beers, had some laughs, and called for the check. Upon seeing our bill for five beers and a cheese dip, I hastily finished my beer, paid, and we took our leave.



Ratings (out of ten)
Flavor: 7 (Tasty enough to make me notice it, and its sharp little prods of flavor all over my mouth.)
Body: 8 (The spiciness hits your tongue with spines of remindermentationing.)
Aroma: 6 (Smells pretty much how it tastes, I found.)
Smoothness: 7 (Unfortunately, it's so drinkable that you stop noticing it.)
Price: 6 ($4 for a 22-oz, and $3.50 for a pint. Not bad, but not great either.)

As is evident elsewhere, Josh and I bottled this weekend. From the dregs of the "Ale Pail," we siphoned two glasses, once the bottling was complete, and decided to have the first-ever Draught of the week without any carbon dioxide or nitrogen propulsion, or any carbonation, for that matter.

Here I operate the "tap."



The beer pours a deep copper color, and looks to be about three days stale.



Our first words after tasting it were, "to the next batch!" However, the more we had, the more we liked it. In addition, we guessed that this beer is very strong. the original gravity reading was 1.082, suggesting a potential alcohol content of about 12%. I don't think it was that strong, but the effects it seemed to have as soon as we each swalled a bit suggested that it was a very strong glass of beer. So, we've got that going for us.



On top of that, the beer was neither carbonated nor chilled, which made it a bit odd. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. But again, I must mention the draw it had, to encourage us to keep drinking it.

Ratings (out of ten)
Flavor: 6 (Not bad, not great, but sort of like Newcastle. Belies its alcohol content.)
Body: 7 (Very thick. You know you're drinking beer you didn't buy at the store. Take that as you will.)
Aroma: 8 (This is the main redeeming factor, in my opinion. The hoppy aroma is pervasive, and promises good things to come. It gives me hope that the bottle conditioning will have a good effect.)
Smoothness: 7 (Actually goes down pretty smoothly. The more you drink, the more you want.)
Price: 2 (At about $230 to get everything in place, this is probably the most I've ever spent on beer. But then again, this whole brewing thing isn't about saving money.)

I knew I had maybe one more beer in me before I extended myself too far, so I looked carefully over the list of Japanese craft brews and hoped I would be able to select something that would really knock my socks off. While I was extremely impressed with the bar itself, the Japanese beers had so far done nothing to impress me. They were good, and clearly brewed by capable hands, but I was hoping to taste something uniquely 'Japanese,' yet all the beers I had tried so far had been good, but unoriginal. Perhaps there was something to the idea that beers should be brewed tailored to the local yeast strains and not in emulation of other countries' specialties. America has its hoppy IPAs and West Coast ales, Belgium has its lambics and multi-layered barn brews, Germany has its pilsners and fundamental imperialist tendencies; what does Japan bring to the brewing table? I was beginning to fear that I wouldn't discover that flavor, if it existed at all.

I figured my best chance to discover something unique lay in the hands of the bartender, who I suspected was also the owner. He was quick to interpret my hand gestures and brought me a Swan Lake IPA (925 yen, brewed in Niigata Ken). I ordered the 'Pizza of the Week' as my complementary appetizer.



The Swan Lake was not the new flavor I was looking for (and would ultimately leave without discovering, if it existed at all), but it was clearly the best beer so far, with a sharp sweetness at the start blossoming to a hoppy, poppy finish. Clearly, my gamble on trusting the 'tender paid off, and I was rewarded with a rich, rounded beer that would probably stand up to most of the American IPAs that I was starting to enjoy. In fairness, I was already pretty inebriated, and I also think it is best to compare beers in alternating swigs. But even disregarding my hope to discover a beer that moved past 'good' into 'great,' I can stand behind my assessment that the Swan Lake is very solid.

Still, while a great beer is always a pleasure to discover, I have to say I was disappointed overall in the craft output of Japan's brewers (at least the four I tried). I guess a beer is a beer is a beer, to an extent, especially if you stick to the four core ingredients, but I still hoped to discover a risk-taking beer that hadn't been - or could not have been - duplicated anywhere else. Maybe that's unfair%97I don't exactly have a lot of experience trying beers brewed outside of the 'core beer' countries.

As a bar, though, Popeye's is not to be missed if you are in Tokyo. The selection of beers is outstanding, an order of magnitude beyond what I've seen anywhere else in the city, and you owe it yourself to try the Japanese craft brews for yourself. I don't put too much stock into others' opinions, to an extent, as my own tastes change more often than I would expect. There may be qualities that I'm not appreciating. And besides, a new beer that is only so-so is always worth drinking.



The bar is impressive, although the bamboo-backed stools leave little room for my big, beautiful ass. And after I paid, the bartender followed up with a sample of a delicious barley wine, Japan-brewed That was a treat%97maybe I should have started with that first?

Ratings (out of ten)
Flavor: 8 (Sweet, almost syrupy start (in a good way), with a POW
block of hops at the finish)
Body: 6 (Solid, but not its strong suit. Still no head)
Aroma: 8 (Bubbling mixes of hops, with the occasional flower coming through)
Smoothness: 7 (Easy to glug, with no sharp edges)
Price: 6 (A fair price for Tokyo, but still expensive)

An Amy Grant song started playing over the sound system. I noticed that many of the beers displayed on tap weren't on the menu, including Murphy's Irish Stout, Conquest Master Brew, Old Engine Oil, and BelleVue Kriek. If all the taps were actually live, they had a very impressive selection, rivaling the tapworks of any bar I've ever been to. I also noticed a sign for 'Shizenbakushu Pyramid Old Lambic' from Hakuseki Kan Brewing%97I was determined to try a Japanese 'lambic' if they actually had it, but after some hand gesture communication I determined they didn't.

Instead I ordered a Echigo Stout, from the eponymous brewery from Niigata Ken, for 935 yen for a pint. I had been noticing the staff being extra polite, probably because I had my Powerbook out and was clearly taking notes (and I have to admit, giving a little bit extra class{flourish} for each sip). It might have made me a ripe bastard, but it's not often one can be in a situation to suggest they are an important journalist documenting their experience in a bar without actually having to lie about it. I finished my cigarette before starting in on the stout.



The Echigo Stout was fairly light in color for a stout with little-to-no head. I had a little swig to cleanse the cigarette taste and ate the potatoes I had ordered along with it, which were served in the typical Japanese quarter-wedge style (along with mayonnaise, butter, and what tasted like cocktail sauce).

The stout had a strong coffee line, although none of the richness typical of the sweet, milk stouts that I prefer. Many of the beers I had been sampling in Japan shared that same fear of richness - single note beers seemed to be par for the course. Even when that single note was pleasant - and the coffee note of the Echigo certainly was - it still left the overall impression to be one of immaturity, not simplicity. The bouquet of the Echigo was much the same - appealing, but not intriguing.

I realized with a start that I had consumed two and a half beers in the space of about 45 minutes, which put the likelihood of my successful return to my hotel in Shibuya in some doubt, especially when I had such trouble getting to Popeye sober. The Japanese are a friendly sort (with a few notable exceptions), so I decided to just go for it. I had spent almost every night lit up like a Christmas tree since I landed, often from beers that I only drank because they were there. 'Might as well make a night of it,' I figured, even though it was just then seven in the evening.

Overall, the Echigo Stout is pleasant, but suffers from my prejudicial preferences in stouts. It is clearly a dark-roasted barley drink, but I like cream stouts, and it is too clear of a flavor to really suit me - I like my stouts muddled and rich. Still, as I slowly worked down my glass, I was anything but dissatisfied.

Ratings (out of ten):
Flavor: 7 (Tasty but not complex. Coffee tones, not chocolate)
Body: 6 (Very round, but not creamy at all)
Aroma: 6 (What smells it had were great, but they weren't strong
enough to set the nose and tongue ready)
Smoothness: 5 (Very drinkable, but nothing remarkable)
Price: 6 (A fair price for Tokyo, but still expensive)