Close enough (the sequel).....

...for Gary Gonterman. Once again, nobody guessed the exact spices used in 12 Days of Christmas #3, Ginger and Dried Cranberries. Only one person (winner#2 Heidi K.) detected the cranberries (lucky guess Heidi!). Of all the people whe guessed one ingredient correct, Gary was pulled from the hat to recieve a free growler of his choice. Congratulations Gary. Come on in and pick it up.
Thanks for playing, everyone.

Close enough........

....for Heidi Krystofiak. Nobody was able to get both spices right on 12 Days of Christmas #2 (admittedly very hard). So we drew out of a hat all entries that guessed clove. That was the first and easiest to pick out. The second was.........Rose hips. Yes, the strange berry from a rose plant. Todd has included into beers like Le Chein Blanc (Wit), and rather than make jam out of this fruit with high concentrations of Vitamin C, I stuck it in the beer. Cloves and rose hips.
Good Luck on number Three. Clue...follow the pattern created from the first two kegs.

Heidi, stop by for your growler sometime.

Congratulations Danny....

Mateja, for being the only one to correctly guess the secret spices in the 12 Days of Christmas Keg #1. It was cinnamon and orange peel. I have a feeling he might of been in earshot when I was talking about it or, he just has an incredible palette?? Regardless, he wins a growler of choice. Don't forget #2 is pouring now.
Sorry for the subtlety in Keg #1. I took it off the spices before serving and I think the citrus character became subdued. Most people nailed the cinnamon but missed the orange peel.

Keg #2 only pours until Thursday at 2PM. Stop by and take a guess. One of the spices might be easy and the other is near impossible. Hint: Some guy named Todd Ashman has used this in beers before. Sorry if you've guessed and know it now.....but that's life ;)

Cheers!

Holiday Beer Update

If you've come in this month to see the merry-go-round of beers, here's a quick update:

Ol' Woody is the barrel aged beer du jour. This is our American IPA aged in a Woodford Reserve Bourbon barrel. It was further dry hopped in the keg.
Next up is Trainwreck of Flavor, which is Sheol Barleywine blended with Pullman Brown in a Woodford Reserve Bourbon Barrel.

We started serving the 12 Days of Christmas on Wednesday. This is a series of three kegs, each served for 4 days. Each keg has a different pair of holiday spices. Guess the spices, win a growler. See the bartender for details.
Keg #1 pours through Sunday Afternoon. Get it before it is gone!

Finally, we'll tap into a limited quantity of Grandma's Chocolate Mint Stout on Sunday December 17th at 4pm. It will be on during our annual Christmas at the Brewery celebration. Bring the kids to see Santa and have a glass.We only have 6 gallons.

Happy Holidays! Matt and Andrew

Eh, Just because

Tap List 12/7/06 Pearl Harbor Day The Tap List That Shall Live in Infamy

Kind Ale I.P.A. (8.5% abv)
A hazy, orange double I.P.A. with a subtle hop nose, subtle hop body, and subtle hop finish. Subtle additions of Amarillo, Cascade, and Summit hops balance out against the subtle alcohol body.

Man Skirt Wee Heavy (8.3% abv)This year's winter warmer is a hearty scotch ale. Deep mahogany, malty, and a little peaty smoke thrown in too. Medium carameled body, with very little hop presence, and a warming alcohol finish, it's big but very enjoyable.

Replicale Saison (6.3% abv)This year's installment of the Illinois Craft Brewer's Guild's Replicale project is a belgian-style farmhouse saison. Ours ended up very fruity and spicy from the saison yeast that we let go wild. Look for a pale to yellow beer that has a complex, tart, and refreshing flavor to it.

CHEEEESSSSEEEE!!!!!!!!

BEER is the perfect match for cheese. The varied textures, flavors and aromas are a great pairing. Not to mention the scrubbing power of the carbonation just lifts the mouth coating cheese off of your palate, so.....

come in for our Free Beer and Cheese Pairing Open House. Thursday December 14th at 7pm.

we'll have six different beers paired with six different cheeses. Stop on by and sample them all.

'Tis the Season..........

Ahhhhhh... the holidays!! So much to do and so little time. The shopping, the decorationg, the traffic at the mall. The snow and ice and the bitter cold. How can we handle it all??
Perhaps with a beer from Flossmoor Station!

This time of year everyone is asking what is going on at the brewery and what is your Christmas beer? Well, here's a list of events and special beers coming up this month that may just entice you to drop on by after a long day of shopping/working/driving/lying on the couch.

Winter-type Beers(just right for a cold blustery December day-we do have others available):
Man Skirt Wee Heavy
At 8.3% this dark and complex malty brew wil warm ya.

Barrel Aged Beer Du Jour
Check out our Tap of Rotating Barrel Aged Beers. We gots lots!

Grandma's Mint Chocolate Stout
Grandma could always make a mean dessert. Come see what fresh mint grown at my house does to our Iron Horse Stout(think peppermint patty). Tapped only on Sunday December 17th during Christmas at the Brewery-keep reading

The 12 Days of Christmas Ale
To scratch your itch for those Holiday spices. Beginning Wednesday, Dec 13th we will put on the first of three kegs of a big Red ale. each of the three kegs will be spiced differently. Can you guess what I used??
1st keg-Dec 13th-Dec 16th
2nd keg-Dec 17th-Dec 20th
3rd keg-Dec 21st-Dec 24th
Get it? twelve days. Yeah......
Mug Clubbers, there will be no special tapping but please come in and fill up your mug.
RateBeerians, sorry, this one's gonna be tough to log. Whatyagonna do?

Upcoming dates to stick in that Blackberry.
Tuesday Dec. 5th-KindAle IPA is tapped
Wednesday Dec. 13th- 1st keg of 12 Days of Christmas comes on. Noonish.
Thursday Dec. 14th-Beer and Cheese pairing. 7PM. Watch for more details. Free!
Sunday Dec. 17th 4PM-8PM-Our annual Christmas at the Brewery. Santa Claus arrives! Grandma's Mint Chocolate Stout is unveiled. I only have two keggys of it. Can you fight through the Christmas at the Brewery crowd to get to the bar??
Sunday Dec. 17th-2nd keg of 12 days of Christmas comes on tap.
Thursday Dec. 21st-3rd keg of 12 Days of Christmas goes on tap.

Monday Dec. 25th-Christmas!!! (Did you get your growlers filled last night??)

Well, that should help keep you (and us) busy this month. Cheers, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hannakuh, and God Bless you and your family.

*Editors Note* Matt and I would also like to wish you a Happy Kwanzaa, Festivus, Winter Solstice, or Boxing Day. They don't have those holidays in Iowa, but that's why I'm here.

Matt and Andrew

BARREL AGED BEER: YOUNG SARGE IS TAPPED!

As of Saturday December 2nd, the barrel aged beer that is pouring is Young Sarge. This is our Imperial Mocha Stout aged for a couple of months in a Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrel. It was made with Bittersweet Chocolate and aged on espresso beans. This particular beer has LESS coffee character than what was originally served as Imperial Mocha Stout. This beer was named in honor of Andrew's brother, Sergeant Mason, who will be returning home from Iraq any day now.

*Editor's Note*
He's back and safe in Alaska. Jan 22nd he will be back in the continental U.S.

While the keg of Brown Heaven is gone, we do have more in the barrel. Be patient.
Next beer up is Ella's Reserve. This is a Belgian Golden Strong Ale aged over a year in a Woodford Reserve Bourbon Barrel. It recently garnered 2nd place in the 2006 Festival of Barrel Aged Beer.

*Barrel Aged Beer Alert*

So, some of you may have heard that Brown Heaven is currently being served for $6 a snifter. Some of you are right, it is being served. We kicked off our Barrel Aged Beers a little earlier than planned. When one runs out, we will put on another. When that one runs out, we will put on the next one. When will they run out and when will we cycle through them? We certainly don't know. It pretty much depends on how fast you drink it. I can tell you that after Brown Heaven we will put on Young Sarge, and possibly after that Ella's Reserve, but those are not guarantees.

We have a good amount of barrel aged beer to serve. Come drink it.


(These are the kinds of beers we are serving)

Tap List Update 11/29/06

Man Skirt Wee Heavy (8.3% abv)

This year's winter warmer is a hearty scotch ale. Deep mahogany, malty, and a little peaty smoke thrown in too. Medium carameled body, with very little hop presence, and a warming alcohol finish, it's big but very enjoyable.

Replicale Saison (6.3% abv)

This year's installment of the Illinois Craft Brewer's Guild's Replicale project is a belgian-style farmhouse saison. Ours ended up very fruity and spicy from the saison yeast that we let go wild. Look for a pale to yellow beer that has a complex, tart, and refreshing flavor to it.

House Beers----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zephyr Golden Ale
Our lightest beer, the Zephyr is a light and refreshing golden blond ale in the style of premium American beer. Brewed with three varieties of hops and a touch of rice, this light golden ale provides a smooth introduction to the distinctive flavors of our premium quality handcrafted beers.
Gandy Dancer Honey Rye Ale
With a blend of aromatic rye and a whisper of Orange Blossom honey, our Gandy Dancer is light and sparkling, yet full of flavor. The addition of three varieties of hops guarantees an inviting and complex taste, proving that lighter beers can have character.
Station Master Wheat Ale
A golden, flavorful, and crisp light ale brewed with 46% wheat malt, our Station Master Wheat is distinguished by a hoppy yet smooth taste with a malty body and a subtly spicy aroma.
Chessie Cherry Wheat Ale and Roundhouse Raspberry
Fruit beers originated in Belgium and we at The Station are proud to offer our version of these continental classics. Our light-bodied Chessie Cherry Wheat is a blend of red cherries and wheat ale, which yields a slightly sweet, yet agreeably tart, fruit ale.
Panama Limited Red Ale
Our Panama Limited Red is a hoppy, robust yet smooth amber ale brewed with nine different malts and four types of hops. With its deep amber color and rich malty body, our Panama Limited Red will smoothly transport you into the wonderful world of complex and flavorful handcrafted beers.
Pullman Brown Ale
This robust, dark brown ale gets its rich flavor from seven different malts and three types of hops. The addition of hand-toasted oats and a generous portion of molasses give Pullman Brown Ale an incredible smoothness and quaffability.

Ahoy! Thar' be beer on the horizon!

Coming up: Tuesday, November 28th, Man Skirt Wee Heavy
Flossmoor hasn't had a wee heavy since Todd took off, in fact it was the last beer he made at Flossmoor before going to Titletown. Man skirt is a big (re: 8.3% abv) beer that's perfect to warm you up in these upcoming cold months. Dark, Carmely, a little peaty smoke, and plenty to enjoy.


December 4th (at 4:20 dude! (not really))
We've been slacking in the Hops department here at Flossmoor for a while. Vishnu's ran out a while ago, and I know you have been hurting for the green stuff. As you may have read earlier on this blog, Mountain Sun/Southern Sun in Boulder Co. makes a beer called Colorado Kind that is full of hops. They also make a bigger, crazier version called Superkind. In a nod to them, this most recent I.P.A. we have concocted has a boatload of Amarillo, Centennial, and Summit Hops. And as a bonus we also threw in some wheatgrass, lemon grass, and hemp seeds. So come the first week of December, look for Kind Ale I.P.A., a 8.5% I.P.A. that should cure what you're jonesing for.

Awards recap for 2006

(matt holding the award for driving the biggest P.O.S Toyta Previa in the U.S. awarded by your neighboorhood hacksaw dealer)

It's been a pretty decent year for Matt and I at Flossmoor Station. That may seem to be putting it a little lightly, considering all the stuff that we have walked away with this year at the World Beer Cup, Great American Beer Fest, ICBG Barrel Aged Fest, etc, but as Matt has said before, it's not all about awards.

It's great to win, anything, but even if at the end of the day you walk away with nothing more than what you came in with, your brewery doesn't go out of business, they don't take your beer off the shelves, and bars don't shun you away when you come calling.

That being said, winning awards is awesome and makes you feel like all of your time and energy hasn't been wasted on "merely making beer." So lets look back at a year that I won't soon forget.

Smarch 4th, Night of the Living Ales (Popular Vote)
Champion Real Ale of Chicagoland - X-I.P.A.

April 14th, World Beer Cup
Category: 10 Specialty Beer - 17 Entries
Gold: Pullman Brown Ale
Category: 43 Belgian-Style Sour Ale - 22 Entries
Silver: De Wilde Zuidentrein

May 22nd, Radical Beer Open
CATEGORY 4 - WILD
Bronze - De Wilde Zuidentrein

September 30th, Great American Beer Festival

Pullman Brown Ale

Silver

Specialty Beer

Angry Mike's Stoudt Creek

Silver

Experimental Beer

Black Wolf Schwarzbier

Gold

German-Style Schwarzbier

Wooden Hell

Bronze

Wood- and Barrel-aged Strong Beer

Small Brewpub Company and Small Brewpub Company Brewer of the Year

November 4th, ICBG Festival of Wood and Barrel-aged Beers
Category 1: Classic Porters & Stouts
Silver - Brown Heaven
Category 3: Barleywines
Gold - Wooden Hell
Category 4/5: Classic Styles, Strong/Double/Imperial Pale Beers
Gold - Ol' Woody
Silver - Ella's Reserve

Runner-Up Best in Show:Ol' Woody

November 11th, Chicago Beer Society Fall Tasting (Blind tasting & popular vote)
Imperial Mocha Stout - 1st place favorite beer

Next year we aren't going to win anything, or make good beer so make sure to get it while you can.


(Don't ever let Matt into a malt house and give him a tour)

Brewers who blog

Jay Brooks, at Brookston Beer Bulletin, (a great blog that covers craft beer, media's coverage of craft beer, and a litany of other beer related topics) recently mentioned us in a post about brewers who among other things, blog. Go check out his writing (about us) and the other beer stuffs.

FIRKIN FIRKIN FIRKIN

We'll be tapping into a firkin of Iron Horse Stout on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 5PM. Stop by for a pint of cask conditioned ale anytime that evening. Cheers!

Imperial Mocha Stout takes first at CBS Fall Tasting

On November 11, 2006, CBS celebrated its 30th Anniversary fall tasting and dinner at Marcello's in Chicago. 111 people sampled 16 extraordinary beers in a blind tasting and voted Flossmoor Station Imperial Mocha Stout as the top beer of the event. Placing second was Goose Island Imperial IPA, while Okocim Porter (from Stawski Imports) took third. The other fantastic beers were: Blue Cat Count Magnus (Belgian strong dark), Brockway Chophouse Sydney's Pale Ale (APA), Emmett's Victory Pale Ale (APA), Jever Pilsner (Raven Import Company), Lakefront Brewery Rendezvous (Bière de Garde), Mickey Finn's Düsseldorf Brown (altbier), New Belgium Saison, The Onion Pub & Brewery Mayzie (traditional bock), Rock Bottom Chicago Imperial Pils, Rogue Brewer Ale (American strong ale), Sprecher Dopple Bock, Three Floyds Gumballhead (hoppy American wheat ale), and Two Brothers Philosophers Stone (Belgian-style specialty, saison).

Is that a Salted Nut Roll in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Chris German and J.D. from Brewers Supply Group, came by recently to say "hi", carry a pallet of grain down to our basement for us, and deliver the largest nut roll I have ever seen.



That thing is 5lbs of nut roll. It's a nut roll loaf.
Thanks guys.

Don't Forget *FIRKIN THURSDAY AT FLOSSMOOR*

We'll be tapping into a firkin of Iron Horse Stout on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 5PM. Stop by for a pint of cask conditioned ale anytime that evening.
Cheers!

Life's Little Lessons-Reflections on the Great American Beer Festival-part III

Sorry for the delay- if you've been following my three part series on the 2006 GABF where we were fortunate enough to win Small Brewpub or the Year, here is the final installment. If you are new to our little space on the world wide web, you might scroll down to my first two ramblings on this topic.

Deciding what to take to the GABF every year is always tough. There are so many great beers and there are so many factors involved. Putting a beer in the right category, getting your beer into a bottle , and getting it to Denver in good shape are all factors to consider. We knew we were sending our Pullman Brown(silver this year) since it just came off the WBC gold. We would also send some bottles of De Zuidentrein and see if it too could continue its winning ways. Since there was only a small amount of this, we would send it "judge only", meaning it would be judged in the competition, but not be available for the festival-goers.

What else ? After long thought and debate (and careful sampling of many beers) we decided to send a couple of barrel aged beers (Ol' Woody and Wooden Hell-bronze 2006). We also thought we could send our Honey ale since Todd had won awards with it, but it had not been to Denver since I have been at Flossmoor. That was five beers. We rounded it out with Imperial Mocha Stout in the coffee category and Angry Mike's Stoudt Creek. AMSC is an interesting beer, because we had about 6 bottles of it leftover from other occasions. It was the reigning Gold Medalist two years running in the experimental category at the Festival of Barrel Aged Beers. However, we had sent it to WBC and GABF before with good comments, but no awards. Our choices were 1) drink it ourselves or 2) send in the last few bottles and see if it could finally win. Luckily we chose #2 and it was 2nd place in the experimental category! Sorry Sam Adams, we were ahead of you again.

So that's the original seven beers we planned to send to the 2006 Great American Beer Festival. We did a lot of thinking, planning and hoping to get our line up ready. As I learned in my days as a teacher, remember the 6 P's. Lesson #8 Proper planning prevents piss poor presentation! Well, it's a good thing we kept thinking about our beers before the final deadline because I was not so sure Gandy Dancer Honey Rye Ale was the beer we should be sending. Andrew and I discussed alternatives and we felt like our newly made Schwarzbier was tasting good and would be perfectly lagered come late Sept. After countless days of waffling, my gut said go with the Schwarz. And go we did, and it's a good thing because without the gold we won with that beer, I would not be telling you about winning Small Brewpub of the year. That decision was huge. Lesson #9 When all else fails, go with your gut.

Alright, fast forward to September 27th. We were off to Denver. See Andrew's previous posts for pics and stories about our great breakfasts, a day in the mountains, and the great people we met and great beers we drank.
As the Festival wore on, I could not help but think ahead to the awards ceremony. We packed a lot into a half week, and it flew by as expected. Saturday came and I was feeling pretty good. Not only did lots of people love our beers (of course they did, who comes by your booth and tells you they hate everything you have) but I was happy with several of the beers we sent. This says a lot because as my wife will attest, I am my own worst critic. I guess this is a good spot for lesson #10 There is always room for improvement.
Even though I was confident that we sent one or two good beers this year, I started early on the routine with Andrew. " No regrets", "Being shut out won't matter" , blah blah blah. We found our seats (standing means pacing-that's not for me). I got a piece of paper out to mainly keep my hands busy and my mind off losing, but also to keep track of what medals my friends won. It's always great when our fellow Illinois brewers do well. It just shows that there ARE other good brewing regions beside the west coast. (eh hem-Piece Brewing WBC Small Brewpub of the year) So the ceremony began. 69 categories. 3 medals in each. It was going to be a long hour or two.

Many of the beers we sent this year and last year were bunched near the beginning of the list.Silver for Pullman Brown in the Specialty category, then Silver for Angry Mike's in the Experimental, then Bronze for Wooden Hell in the Stong Barrel Aged Category. Bam three medals in the first dozen categories. I think people noticed us!
Don't get me wrong, we were MORE than satisfied to win three medals at one GABF, but we did need a gold for the cycle :) Well, just 16 more categories and we would be to the German Style Schwarzbier. BAM! we earned gold. Unbelievable. From that walk on stage my head was spinning and a lot is foggy, so I'll try not to make too much stuff up now. After we got back to our seats, you couldn't have pried the smile off my face. In 28 of the 69 categories, we got to shake hands with Charlie Papazian 4 times! (for those not up to speed in the craft Brewing scene, Papazian would be thought of as a forefather. He was doing IT before there was an IT. Author, brewer, leader, and president of the Brewer's Association). Needless to say we were stunned amazed and in awe. And we had one beer left. I dialed my wife real quick to tell her how things were going. We did have a while until category 56 came up. Andrew just about knocked the phone off my ear. "Knock it off, we have to pay attention, don't jinx it" were some of the ramblings I remember him saying. Well, Zuidentrein did not win anything and we fully understood why. There are some really kickass sour beers being made today in the US. We couldn't stand up. Oh well.

As we collected our thoughts, it dawned on us that those four medals could possibly be enough to get Small Brewpub of the Year (3 pt. for gold, 2 pts for silver and 1 for bronze). They were winding down the medal list and as they did, last year's small brewpub of the year, Pelican in Pacific City Oregon began a landslide of medals. Gold, Gold, Silver, Gold, Bronze. As our categories were all at the beginning, his were all near the end. Well, that's it, we decided. As much as you might daydream about winning the big award(and I did) and hoping you win it, you're pretty sure that's never going to happen. People like me don't win stuff like that. And really who cares. The beer is still good and we did get four medals. Pretty darn good. Honestly. Well, if I'm going to be totally honest, we don't send the beer and pay a hefty entry fee for seven beers just to come home with one bronze medal. Don't get me wrong, I'll take that one bronze medal and wear it proudly, but c'mon, we all want to sit on top, right? so.. while we were thrilled with the results we knew finishing just behind Pelican (a damn great brewery) was a litlle bittersweet.
So they started to name breweries of the year. Large brewery-Pabst, Mid Size-New Glarus, Small-Bear Republic, Large Brewpub-Pelican brewery----What??!!!???



Crap, they must have made enough beer this year to qualify as a large brewpub. Andrew caught my dumfounded glaze. My heart rate rose and my blood pressure pulsed. Could we possibly win the coveted award. Having sat through 90 minutes of awards, you can't really tell who won multiple awards so we didn't know. It seemed like an eternity went by. C'mon...announce it already. And when they did I was shocked, astounded and amazed. I'm certain that there was only about a couple of minutes from the announcement to the time we came off the stage, but in that short time as all the clapping is going on and cameras are being flashed, all the hard work that went into getting to that point went flashing by. Angry Mike's was put together three years ago and aged in a barrel, Wooden Hell was put in a barrel a year ago, the bottling, the delivering of festival beer to Wisconsin, the delivering of bottles to Goose Island, filling out the forms, getting everything out to Denver, waiting, hoping, planning. It was like a big weight was lifted off our backs. The rest is fuzzy. 80 million people said congratulations. Thank you by the way if you said that to me that afternoon and I gave you some mumbled response. It was crazy.
I know to some, it may not seem like much. It's just an award for making beer. But in reality it goes way beyond that. Beyond the fact that it is one of the top awards we can recieve in our industry. Sure, many can argue the flaws of GABF and I know not EVERY beer and brewery in the country was entered(yet they were invited-remember, you can't win if you don't play. Which lesson was that? ;) ) But here's what it really means. My peers, the judges, said that I make quality beers. The judges are beer industry professionals, brewers, beer writers and some are BJCP certified. Many have judged for years and there are several from other countries. In short, they thought so highly of my beers and so many of my beers that we were able to earn the top spot of all the small brewpubs entered. And what it tells me is that all the details that we sweated over (how much hops, how long to age, which beers to send, how much bubble wrap to put around a bottle before sending) all paid off in the end. And no matter what happens down the road, nobody can take away the 2006 Great American Beer Festival.
With our recent wins (WBC and GABF) people have asked me about raising the bar too high. What next? they ask. Well, winning this award once was great, but some might think a fluke. Aw, he was lucky, the naysayers reply. Well, win it twice and we'll make believers. Maybe that's just what we'll do.
You keep drinking great craft beers and I'll keep makin' em. Lesson #11 Drink good Beer!

2006 Festival of Barrel Aged Beer Results

We had a great day at this year's FoBAB. Full results coming, but this is how we did. Look for these elixirs to pour at our bar in December and January.

1st Place Barleywine- Wooden Hell
1st Place Strong/Imperial/Double Pale beers-Ol' Woody
2nd place classic stout and porter- Brown Heaven
2nd Place Strong/Imperial/Double Pale Beers-Ella's Reserve

Runner up for Best of Show- Ol' Woody

Beer Haiku Daily shout out

Go say hello to Capt. Hops at Beer Haiku Daily.

Ol’ Woody
Roll out the barrels
Getting a big Ol’ Woody
Will make my weekend

Holla!

FoBAB list

So, The Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beers is coming up this weekend at Goose Island Wriglyville. I hope you already have your tickets, because I'm pretty sure they are nearly sold out. Here is a list of what we are bringing.



Ol' Woody
100% Amarillo hopped American I.P.A. aged in a Woodford Reserve Barrel, and then further dry hopped with more Amarillo.

Wooden Hell
GABF 2006 Strong Barrel Aged Bronze, Woodford Reserve Barrel Aged Barleywine

Young Sarge
The base of our Imperial Mocha Java Stout, aged only 3 months in a Heaven Hill Barrel. This beer is named after my brother who has been in Iraq for over 18 months now. The final version of the beer will age for at least the same amount of time he spent over-seas. This version is "Young" Sarge.

De Zuidentrein Frambozenbier
GABF 2005 Bronze Fruit Beer, Belgian style brown ale aged in french oak and on fresh raspberries.

Ella's Reserve
Belgian Golden Strong aged in a Woodford Reserve Barrel.

Brown Heaven
Pullman Brown aged in Heaven Hill Barrel

Trainwreck of Flavor
Sheol Barleywine and Pullman Brown blended together and aged in a Woodford Reserve Barrel. A Todd Ashman throwback.

-10-
A special experiment designed for the brewery's 10th Anniversary this past Summer. Never served because it wasn't "done cookin'" Let's just call it an Old ale, shall we.

Remember to pace yourselves, it's going to be a big day.

Tap List 10/31/06 Happy Halloween

Harvest Ale
As an answer to all of those, "Where is your pumpkin beer?" we offer Harvest Ale this year. Dark to amber colored, spicy, and a touch of pumpkin. We should have this on until about Thanksgiving, so don't miss your chance to try it.

Replicale Saison (6.3% abv)
This year's installment of the Illinois Craft Brewer's Guild's Replicale project is a belgian-style farmhouse saison. Ours ended up very fruity and spicy from the saison yeast that we let go wild. Look for a pale to yellow beer that has a complex, tart, and refreshing flavor to it.

Terry's Fest Bier (Octoberfest) (6.5%abv)Terry Richardson, our recently departed fellow brewer from Gov'nrs Pub is the namesake for this year's batch of Octoberfest. Malty, a little bready, and a touch of noble German hops on the nose make for a very drinkable fall fixture. Raise your glass in Terry's name and drink to a great man.

Black Wolf Schwarz (5.5% abv)
Named after Jim Wolfer from Prairie Rock who let us borrow his lager yeast, Black Wolf is brewed in the style of a German Black Lager or Schwarzbier (black beer). It has a small amount of dark and roasted malts added to the grain bill to give it a distinct, yet not overpowering roasty aroma and taste. At 5.5% it is easy drinking and has a pleasant crisp lager finish. Try this black beer and be surprised by a different kind of one of those "dark beers."

Imperial Mocha Java Stout (9.3% abv)Summer is the perfect time for a huge stout that warms you up from the inside out. Well maybe not, but we have one anyway. Our Imperial Stout is loaded with dark roast espresso beans from The Great American Coffee Co. in Bourbonnais Il. We used bittersweet chocolate in the boil to add a certain creaminess, and loaded it up with alcohol. Because of the small batch size, and the fact that we will be barrel ageing a good portion of this brew, we will only be serving it in sinfters for $5 a glass.

Avante-Garde Biere de Garde (7% abv) [Getting Low!]
Avante Garde is a deep coppery red that begins with sweet malty aroma. Flavors of dark fruit are balanced against a toasted, bready malt body. This style is tradionally a Northern France/Belgian farmhouse style that was set down to age over the warm months. ("de Garde" means "To guard" or "store" similarly to "lagern" the German version of storing beer.) Avante Garde has a slightly musty cellar character with very little hop presense. But at 7% watch out for a beer that will warm you up a bit if you aren't careful. Look for ours served in a 12oz Goblet for $4.25

The Iron Horse Cometh

Iron Horse rides again! It's been about 18 months since it lost it's title of "house stout," but we have brought it back. For those of you who don't remember, Iron Horse is an Oatmeal Stout, that is bold, dark, and has just a touch of sweetness left in the body. Come out and see why it used to be on year round.

Life's little lessons-Reflections on the great American Beer Festival-part II

The last post wandered away from the GABF memoir towards our trip to Seattle last April, so I'd better start from there.

We finally made our Hajj to the great Mecca that is the Pacific NW. Thanks to the Brewer's Association planning the Craft Brewer's Conference and World Beer Cup in such a great beer destination, Andrew and I were off. Fresh off the previous fall's unbelievable(in our eyes) bronze medals at GABF 2005, we sent five beers to the World Beer Cup competition. Regardless of the outcome, we were in Seattle baby! Microbrew, coffee, and rain. Awesome!



During the Awards dinner I continued to pelt Andrew with the, "no expectations" , "no worries on a shut out" routine I go through every time so that I'm not too disappointed when we don't win. I'm certain that he is terribly sick of my routine which has now just become a nervous habit. Regardless, it feels twice as good to win a major brewing award after you've convinced yourself that you are going home empty handed.

Well, we didn't. First it was the Pullman Brown. Gold in the specialty category. The most award wining beer in our stable and possibly in Chicagoland(the jury is still out) finally took a Gold. As much mileage as that beer had traveled in ten years, it finally held the top spot. And it goes without saying that a gold at World Beer Cup just made those bronzes turn a shade more pale.

Next up was our crazy experiment, De Wilde Zuidentrein. We made a Flemish brown ale(sort of) and aged it in oak white wine barrels. We aged it on fresh raspberries. Later we put it in stainless vessels and aged it seperately on two strains of wild Belgian Yeast, Brettanomyces. Finally we blended that to our liking. Then, crazily, we stuck it in Belgian sour beer. You might have heard of some GREAT American beers in this category, La Folie, Cuvee de Tomme, Supplication et al, not to mention the great entries that would be coming straight out of Belgium. Plus, there were Belgian brewers in the judging pool. How could we win? Well, we didn't, but second place with one of my all time favorite beers, Rodenbach, above us and Dogfish Head right behind--good company. Remember lesson #3 about selling yourself short-don't do it.

Of course we were blown away and later I remembered a moment I would like to forget. It wasn't quite Tome Cruise on Oprah's couch, or even that Italian dude at the Oscars who climbed over the seat, but I did get excited. I'm back stage getting the actual award and I see Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione walking ahead of me. Great beer, Great brewer, Great guy, so I holler ahead my congratulations, he says thanks, and I look behind me to see the Rodenbach brewer/rep? accepting the award. I begin to babble on and on about how much I love Rodenbach and all the beers they make. He politely thanks me and gently says, "and who are you?" I wanted to shout wildly, I'm Matt from Flossmoor Station and I can't believe my little beer was judged second behind Rodenbach and ahead of so many other fantastic and inovative sour beers!-but I didn't. Lesson#5 Know when to shut up and smile.



A gold and a silver at my first World Beer Cup. And to think, I didn't enter in 2004 because I was trying to keep cost down. hmmmm.. costs WERE down, but I digress. Lesson# 6 You can't win if you don't play.

So, I've wandered quite far from GABF 2006, but I wanted to set a back drop and show you just what has happened in the short span of 12 months leading up to this year's GABF. Things just kept getting better and better. Likewise, sales at the pub continued to gain. Everyone was happy. We also tried hard to keep focusing on the beer and always making high quality beer at the pub. I felt the last thing you want to do is put all your energy into winning stuff and forget about who pays the bills. To me, it was important(and still is) to stay as humble as possible and remember it's all about the beer. Nothing else. I want to make that point clear. The stories I am recounting makes it sound like the focus is the awards. If you make beers that people like and also you like that are of the highest quality, the awards will take care of themself. Lesson#7 Stay focused on the important things.

Next post: It can't possibly get better...can it?

Life's little lessons:Reflections on the Great American Beer Festival-part I

(photo © Joe Preiser 2006)

Where to begin......well, Andrew has certainly given you a taste for what we saw, did, and felt last month in Denver. I know he slowly added updates not only because he works at several breweries and just moved into a new house, but mainly because it takes a while to fully reflect on what we have just accomplished. Likewise, I've been trying to put the weekend into words and just figure out how to capture it. So here goes(in three easy installments):

Almost six years ago I left a stable career as a science teacher(Andrew was actually one of my students, but that is for another post). I had great benefits, a decent pension after about age 55, and some time in the summers to work if I wanted and hang out if I didn't. Well, now I work year round, make less than I would as a teacher, and have to flood my own IRA account if I want anything to retire on. I don't make this point for you to feel sorry for me, but to let you know that despite that, I'm having the time of my life. I make beer for a living! Don't you wish you did too? I can't possibly imagine staying in a job you don't enjoy. Sidenote: I did enjoy teaching, I just had this opportunity for a career change and I never wanted to regret not trying something that I thought I could do well. Lesson #1: If you hate your job/career, leave and do what you love. Lesson #2: No regrets!

Anyway, throughout the six years that I was a teacher I was respected and appreciated by both those above and below me (I think-Andrew??), but never won an award, either nationally or internationally. Sure, a student here or there told me how much they like me, but so does Keith and Paul from the other side of the bar every day. The Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup are the largest and best beer competitions in the Country and world respectively. To get recognition from a panel of expert judges which include some of your peers is beyond explanation. I've watched renowned Brewers get decorated repeatedly and I even followed one here at Flossmoor Station, but never thought I was in that league. Lesson#3: Don't sell yourself short.

After getting shut out in my first GABF in 2004 I wondered if paying all that money for a little judging feedback (that was way too hard to read anyway) was worth it. But the next year I tried again and actually earned three bronze medals. Ah, the shameful bronze...or so the joke goes. I thought I had reached the top of the world. I had hit the top of my game! I was going places! I'm somebody!!! Lesson#4: When you put your foot on the gas, don't let off.

Next post: What could be better that winning THREE GABF medals?

t-shirts

Some of you have been asking me about the t-shirts I have mentioned. They unfortunatley won't be ready for this weekend but I'll show you the design anyway.

Front: Over the left breast



Back


(click for larger version.)

Denver: Day 4

I've waited a little bit to find out if reflecting back on the day would alter the way I tried to tell the story of winning it big. Certainly trying to explain things on the Saturday we won would be confusing. I had a nauseous feeling for hours afterward because it seemed very unreal. I had a lot of adrenaline to work out of my system. I don't know Matt's feelings on the issue, they very well may be different from mine, especially since his name is on the award, not mine, but not a lot seems that different now that a few weeks have gone by.

We've received some good recognition and some very kind words from other brewer's and fans from around the U.S. but you still go back to work like everyone else. Maybe Small Brewpub of the year will seem to have a bigger impact on things a year down the road or even farther out. This coming Saturday (October 21st) we will be having a big party at Flossmoor to celebrate. Music, food, $3 pints, maybe even t-shirts if they can get made in time. Hope to see you guys there, it should be a good time.

So here is the story of Day 4. The Awards.

It still seems like a blur so some of the details may have been changed to protect the innocent. Matt and his two college friends were watching quite a bit of College Game Day on ESPN because their Hawkeyes were playing #1 OSU that day and they were all hoping for an upset with Iowa coming out on top.

It's a nervous day. You wish all of your friends good luck. They pretty much all have beers in competition just like you do. A lot of them are probably up against your beers in the same categories. I had the categories list in front of me with the seven categories we had entered circled. 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 28, and 55. We struck out on 6, Coffee Flavored beer. Later when we got our judging notes back we found out that it went on to the 2nd round (or the medal round if it was a smaller category) but wasn't good enough for a medal. We actually found out that all of our beers except De Wilde Zeiudentrein, our World Beer Cup silver medal winning, belgian-style sour frambozen, went onto the next round. Fairly shocking. It's hard to have even one beer move onto medal consideration, let alone 6 of your 7 entries.

Well, when we didn't win with the Imperial Mocha Java Stout, I had kind of a crappy depressing feeling, because I thought that was one of our stronger, if not strongest entries of the seven. But when you have beers in nearly back to back to back to back to back categories you don't have too much time to think about it because before you know it, Pullman got called up for a silver in the specialty category.

It was really exciting. We had won a bronze the year previous at GABF for Pullman and won Gold at World Beer Cup with it as well. Another solid award for what has proved to be a very solid beer over the years. Next Jonathan Cutler won Gold in the Rye Category for Worryin' Ale, which he also won Gold for at the World Beer Cup. Go Piece!

Experimental we won Silver for Angry Mike's, which was double awesome because we sent our very last 6 bottles out for judging and it won. Then we beat out Sam Adam's Utopius which we also beat out at the Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beers here in Chicago last year. So sorry Jim.

Nothing won in Wood and Barrel Aged beers, but winning bronze for Wooden Hell was very surprising. There are an incredible amount of strong barrel aged beers being produced in the US and to pick up even bronze in that category was a big honor.

And then we had a bit of a wait ahead of us. I couldn't stop grinning because we still had two beers left and had already done better than last year. A number of people had told me that the Schwarz was tasting good and that they were impressed with it, but I had no real idea that it would do as well as it did. Winning gold was mind blowing because 1) we get to make about 2 lagers a year at Flossmoor and that was one of them 2) the yeast we used was 3rd hand transferred around Chicagoland and 3) neither of us had ever made a schwarz before. I guess Matt has the Midas touch.

By this point, we were keeping track of who had won what. Pelican was picking up awards right and left, and big ones at that. We thought that if we had a chance of winning Small Brewpub it would have to be because they didn't do as well as we did. The Sour category came up empty for us, which was disappointing because it did so well at World Beer Cup, but 4 medals was not exactly anything to cry about. Pelican had an astounding three golds and two silvers by the end of the ceremony and had won small brewpub of the year last year, so we pretty much knew that we would just have to be happy with our gold, two silvers, and a bronze.

They announced Large Brewery, Mid-sized, and Small, and came to Large Brewpub. When they said that Pelican Pub had won Large Brewpub of the year Matt and I looked at each other dumbfounded. I thought that I had crapped my pants. We knew that no one else in our size had come close to Pelican, and unbeknownst to us, they had made over 1200bbls of beer and been stepped up to the large brewpub category. Without saying it, we both sat as Penny from Briess came up to the podium, and we knew that she was going to say Flossmoor. It was like if either of us said anything it wouldn't be true, we would have jinxed it somehow. But then that was it. We were small brewpub of the year. We received our awards, took pictures, and when we came down all of the Illinois brewers were there waiting for us. It was a really special moment, and one that I know I won't be forgetting anytime soon. I doubt that I will ever be up on that stage again accepting that award, so I feel incredibly fortunate.

Tap List 10/11/06

Replicale Saison (6.3% abv)

This year's installment of the Illinois Craft Brewer's Guild's Replicale project is a belgian-style farmhouse saison. Ours ended up very fruity and spicy from the saison yeast that we let go wild. Look for a pale to yellow beer that has a complex, tart, and refreshing flavor to it.

Terry's Fest Bier (Octoberfest) (6.5%abv)
Terry Richardson, our recently departed fellow brewer from Gov'nrs Pub is the namesake for this year's batch of Octoberfest. Malty, a little bready, and a touch of noble German hops on the nose make for a very drinkable fall fixture. Raise your glass in Terry's name and drink to a great man.

Black Wolf Schwarz (5.5% abv)
Named after Jim Wolfer from Prairie Rock who let us borrow his lager yeast, Black Wolf is brewed in the style of a German Black Lager or Schwarzbier (black beer). It has a small amount of dark and roasted malts added to the grain bill to give it a distinct, yet not overpowering roasty aroma and taste. At 5.5% it is easy drinking and has a pleasant crisp lager finish. Try this black beer and be surprised by a different kind of one of those "dark beers."

Imperial Mocha Java Stout (9.3% abv)
Summer is the perfect time for a huge stout that warms you up from the inside out. Well maybe not, but we have one anyway. Our Imperial Stout is loaded with dark roast espresso beans from The Great American Coffee Co. in Bourbonnais Il. We used bittersweet chocolate in the boil to add a certain creaminess, and loaded it up with alcohol. Because of the small batch size, and the fact that we will be barrel ageing a good portion of this brew, we will only be serving it in sinfters for $5 a glass.

Vishnu's Vice I.P.A. (8% a.b.v.)
It's been weeks since we had an I.P.A. on tap! Matt and I are both very sorry,...we swear. As penance, allow us to offer Vishnu's Vice. It's so good that not even The Great Preserver can resist. If he could drink four at a time he probably would. This I.P.A. is big at 8% a.b.v. and has enough body to stand up to the generous amounts of Amarillo, Simcoe, Cascade, and Summit hops. Enjoy it with a sample of our Anniversary Pale Ale and compare the different hops.

Avante-Garde Biere de Garde (7% abv)
Avante Garde is a deep coppery red that begins with sweet malty aroma. Flavors of dark fruit are balanced against a toasted, bready malt body. This style is tradionally a Northern France/Belgian farmhouse style that was set down to age over the warm months. ("de Garde" means "To guard" or "store" similarly to "lagern" the German version of storing beer.) Avante Garde has a slightly musty cellar character with very little hop presense. But at 7% watch out for a beer that will warm you up a bit if you aren't careful. Look for ours served in a 12oz Goblet for $4.25

Denver: Day 3

Day 3 was a day of brewpubs and awesome treatment. After our trip to Pete's Kitchen we hit the road to check out Boulder. Last year we checked out Mountain Sun in downtown Boulder. This year we opted to see their second brewpub, Southern Sun. But when we showed up in Southern Boulder, they weren't open for business yet.

So we cruised on over to Boulder Beer Co. which has been around for years.


We got a chance to have Hazed and Infused from the source. I also enjoyed their Mojo IPA made with Amarillo and Centennial hops. It reminded me of our X-IPA and was very nice. I had no idea that BBC was as large as they are. They have a 50bbl system with 100 and 200bbl fermenters and brite tanks.





By the time we finished out beers it was time to see if Southern Sun was rockin' and rollin' yet. Southern Sun turned out to be about the coolest thing we did the whole trip because we ended up getting the royal treatment from the staff.



When we sat down the GM asked us if we were brewers and we introduced ourselves. He told us all the beers were on him and told us we could try whatever we wanted on tap. They had a very large list of beers on tap.



The Hummingbird Ale was a type of Braggott (a type of mead or honey and malt based beverage) that was very tasty and ended up winning bronze in the specialty honey category. While we were sitting and enjoying the beers, the kitchen came out with a delicious quesadilla that was mistakenly ordered or something and was offered to us. We gladly accepted.



This was one of the owners, bussing glasses, cleaning, and generally hustling around during a busy lunch rush to make sure things still go smoothly. Cheers to that!

The late afternoon held the Alpha King Challenge at the Falling Rock. Last year Jeff Bagby won when he was still with Oggis' Pizza. This year he snagged 3rd and 2nd.


First this year was Washington's own Boundry Bay Imperial IPA. Finally someone won who isn't from California.

After that we had a little reception back at Wynkoop for hop selection from Brewer's Supply Group. They had different lots of their hops out for sampling for those of us that contract certain amounts of hops through them.



I dove in and sniffed a few different lots but all of that resin and alpha acid messed up my sinuses pretty bad. I had to recover with a few beers.

The night session was really busy at the fest and was announced as a sellout.




End of Day 3.

Coming soon: Day 4: Awards Ceremony

Denver: Day 2

Day 2 was a day of seeing things we haven't seen before on GABF trips. This year we opted to drive up through the Rockies to see the mountains and breathe the crisp high-altitude air. To start the day we ate at Pete's Kitchen, A Denver landmark since 1942.



Pete's was so good that we ate there not once, not twice, but three different mornings on this trip.
Off the the mountains. On the way to Rocky Mountain State Park we stopped at the spot that marks the Continental Divide. At that point water on the left flows to the Pacific, and water on the right flows to the Mississippi and Atlantic.




Us Midwesterners were so excited to see snow in September that Matt had to juggle. It's what he does when he gets excited.

P.S. You back country skiers need to be careful.




We made it to the National Park and drove up on Trail Ridge Road.





The mountains were a really nice change of pace from your typical rolling nothing of Illinois. When we got back from our mini roadtrip we hit up the first night of tasting at the fest and checked out RockBottom Denver's Rocktoberfest.



End Day 2