New Digs

Some people have pointed out that my post re: the change of venues for me never did mention the brewery I will be headed to. In the event you haven't heard, it is Oakshire Brewing in Eugene, Oregon. They are a small and growing production brewery that began in late 2006. Oakshire specializes in locally produced craft ales, with a nod to sustainability and organics. Big things are happening at the 'Shire. stay tuned.
And fear not, we are laying down the groundwork for a seamless departure and transition here at FSBC.

Cheers
Matt

Tap List 01/28/09

Recession Ale (3.0% a.b.v.)
Our beautiful rendition of an American Mild. Delicious citrus and grassy nose out of a golden and hazy straw colored body. Recession Ale has a light mouthfeel but is probably the most flavorful beer you will ever have at only 3% a.b.v. The Chinook, Amarillo, and Cascade hops assert themselves but help you forget the economy is in the toilet. SPECIAL PRICING! $2/12oz $3/16oz $4/20oz

Obama-Brau (5.0% a.b.v.)
This smooth and drinkable brown ale has soft toasty malt character topped off with a balanced dollop of pure American hops. Thanks for voting. Let’s have a beer!

Celebration IPA (7.1% a.b.v.)
Let's Celebrate a New (and improved) year in 2009! Our reddish IPA is crafted with three American hops (Chinook, Amarillo and Cascade) and are balanced by the medium-bodied sweetness of the malt and the alcohol. The bold citrus and pine type flavors linger on your palate and blend magically with the caramel malt flavor.

Munich Winterbock (6.5% a.b.v.)
This started as a Munich Style Dunkel which is a dark malty lager made in the Munich style, and then it fermented lower, dryer, and made a stronger beer than we anticipated. Plus it’s winter.
Munich Winterbock is an amber/copper/brown colored lager made with lots of munich malt for a bready malt flavor. The nose hints at a touch of roast malt used with little to no hop aroma. The flavor is predominately malt but not sweet. This beer has a clean and crisp finish that makes you want to drink some more.

Guest Tap: Anchor Old Foghorn
Guest Stout:Boulder Brewing Co.'s Obovoid oak aged Imperial Stout

Sausage Fest '09

Please join us on February 21st 2009 for Sausagefest 09, a celebration of handmade sausages, craft beer and artisanal cheeses.

The event will start promptly at 1:00 PM and run until 5:00 PM. We are limiting ticket sales to only 150 to make sure there's plenty of sausage for our hungry guests.

Tickets for Sausafest 09 can be purchased online by visiting http://www.brownpapertickets.com. Search for Sausagefest 09.

Sausages for Sausagefest 09 are all original handmade creations just for this wonderful event. Beer is provided by Rock Bottom Chicago and several guest breweries. Cheese will be provided by the Marion Street Cheese Market in Oak Park, IL.

We'll be there with Killer Kapowski!

Double Deuce at Shootout

We grabbed second place in Beer with Killer Kapowski baltic porter and Second place in Pairing with Killer Chocolate Tart paired with Killer Kapowski. Check out the Chicago Beer Society's page for details.

Pairing
1. America’s Brewing - Bol Le Hautes Terres with Peat Smoked Scotch Ale.
2. Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery - Killer Chocolate Silk Tart with Killer Kapowski Baltic Porter.
3. Rock Bottom E/W (Chicago & Warrenville) - Seared Kobe Beef Medallions with Andouille Potatoes, Spinach, Balsamic-Chipotle Glaze, Tomato Emulsion and crispy carrots. Paired with CBS Düsseldorf Alt.

Beer
1. Rock Bottom E/W (Chicago & Warrenville)
2. Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery
3. Rock Bottom N/S (Orland Park & Lombard)

Westward Ho!

Many of you may have heard by now, but the Van Wyk's are hitchin' up the oxen and makin' new life in the western frontier. A couple of weeks ago I accepted a job in Oregon and will be leaving Flossmoor Station Brewing Company.
In the five and a half years that I have been fortunate enough to lead the brewery at FSBC, I have come across some great people, brewers, suppliers, and customers. I'll miss creating beer for you all but fear not, you will be in good hands. I'm confident that the tradition will live on with my replacement and you will still be enjoying great beers and great service long after I am gone. It was true five years ago when Todd left FSBC and will be true again.

Near the end of March I will end my run at Flossmoor Station and head to Eugene Oregon. It should be an interesting and fun journey traveling half way across the country with my wife and two very excited kids. Hopefully we will not have to hunt for food along the way. And hopefully we also won't have to create a tombstone for anybody.......










Didn't you just love playing Oregon Trail when you were little.? As you can see it holds a special place in my heart. Flossmoor Station and Chicagoland will too and I'll probably be making references to them in my future posts on the www. I'll give you some more on my destination and perhaps a way to follow my exploits out there if you have time to kill. Certainly you don't think I would stop being connected to my loyal readers, do you?

Please stop by in the next two months to have a beer and chat for a bit. I'd like to see you one last time...

Label Approval

Well, we certainly have had a lot of questions about the new label for our Baltic Porter, so I thought I would explain the timeline a bit and our thinking. When we decided to bottle our award winning Baltic Porter, Killer Kowalski we enlisted Joe Krystofiak again, artist on the Collaborative Evil and Wooden Hell, He designed a great label very similar to the one posted below. We submitted the label for approval with the government and chose not to check on consent to use the name. Joe and a few others suggested we should consider that first. However, we had a handful of others in our camp who felt it wouldn't be a problem. Well after much delay, most by me and some by the government (not Joe-he's awesome. contact me if you need graphic design work done or check out http://www.ellipsisdesign.net/ ) we were told we could not use the name "Killer Kowalski" on the label unless we had written proof from the estate on their letterhead. Well, we weighed our options and checked our time. Sadly we had set the release date and there was really neither time to have Joe start over or hope to get permission without having to give a large some of money to use the name. Since the plates needed to be made for printing the label and so forth, we were under the gun.
Then, I had a Zak attack! The name Kelly Kapowski rushed into my head and the beer was renamed. After a little research into all things Saved Be the Bell, we found that episode 1.4 featured Zac being threatened by and angry Kelly and he referred to her as "Killer Kapowski". A new beer was born.

Fatal Distraction [1.4]

Kelly: So many boys, so little time.

---

Zack: Kelly.

Kelly: Hi Zack.

Zack: So Kel, big dance friday night, huh?

Kelly: I haven't asked anyone yet Zack.

Zack: Really, well I just want to know that I'm keeping my calendar clear, you know what I mean?

Kelly: I know what you mean, you want me to ask you?

Zack: You could do worse.

Slater: You could do better.... a lot better.

---

Mr. Belding: Zack, calm down. Just tell me who's threatening you.

Zack: Kelly "The Killer" Kapowski.

Mr. Belding: Kelly Kapowski?

Zack: Yes.

Mr. Belding: Excuse me for a minute.

[turns head to laugh]

Mr. Belding: [still snickering] What's she gonna do? Spike you to death with a volleyball?

Now, I would like to mention that this beer is now way was meant to be associated with Kelly Kapowski or Saved By the Bell and any reference to the real thing is merely coincidence! We were simply inspired by the above references or something like that.....

Rest assured that the beer we have made was the original award winning Killer Kowalski and purchasing said beer will bring as much enjoyment as you experienced when we served it on draft. Sorry for all the confusion. See you at the release on February 7th
Cheers!
Matt

Obama Brau can not be bottled.

So this was approved by the local committee to be given and sold to the local Inaugural Ball to be held here in Chicago next Tuesday. Sadly, it appears that Obama endorsed this and therefore is not allowed on the front of our bottles. But, dont be sad if you are headed to McCormick next Tues or just coming down here to watch the historic day in our pub. You will find something of the sort on draft. On behalf of the TTB and Flossmoor Station...sorry!

Killer Kapowski

Beer School Beer Festival

When:

January 17 : 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Price:

$40. Reservations recommended

Event Phone Number:

773-281-4989

Sheffield's

Neighborhood: Lakeview

3258 N. Sheffield Ave.

Chicago, IL 60657-2211

773-281-4989

Sample rare and specialty craft beers from more than 15 breweries including Bells, Peak Organic, Allagash, Flossmoor Station, Two Brothers, Three Floyds and Goose Island. Reps, brewers and owners are on hand to discuss the picks. Admission includes 12 drink tickets which are good for one beer each; purchase additional tickets for a fee.

Tap List 01/07/09

Big Black Pumpkin (8.0% a.b.v.)
Hey Look, we found a keg hiding in the cooler.

Organic Woody (10% a.b.v.)
While Supplies Last
Bourbon Barrel Aged Belgian-American IPA

Celebration IPA (7.1% a.b.v.)
Let's Celebrate a New (and improved) year in 2009! Our reddish IPA is crafted with three American hops (Chinook, Amarillo and Cascade) and are balanced by the medium-bodied sweetness of the malt and the alcohol. The bold citrus and pine type flavors linger on your palate and blend magically with the caramel malt flavor.

Munich Winterbock (6.5% a.b.v.)
This started as a Munich Style Dunkel which is a dark malty lager made in the Munich style, and then it fermented lower, dryer, and made a stronger beer than we anticipated. Plus it’s winter.
Munich Winterbock is an amber/copper/brown colored lager made with lots of munich malt for a bready malt flavor. The nose hints at a touch of roast malt used with little to no hop aroma. The flavor is predominately malt but not sweet. This beer has a clean and crisp finish that makes you want to drink some more.

Guest Tap: Dark Horse Perkulator Coffee Doppelbock
Guest Stout:Left Hand Milk Stout

Flossmoor Station to release two new bottled beers!

-UPDATE 1/7/08-

All of the available bottles of Wooden Hell have been reserved. Thanks to everyone who sent us e-mails. We look forward to seeing you starting January 20th.


Wooden Hell
Bourbon Barrel aged Barley wine
Bronze Medal-Strong Barrel aged beers 2006 GABF
Two time gold medal winner-Festival of Barrel Aged Beer














Killer Kowalski
Baltic Porter
Gold Medal-Baltic Porters-2007 GABF
Silver Medal-Baltic Porters-2008 GABF


Release details

KILLER KOWALSKI BALTIC PORTER:

The Killer Kowalski Release date is set for Saturday, February 7th at 1PM. The beer will be sold for $10 per bottle. We WILL have nearly 120 cases ready for sale on that date. Right now, no bottle limit has been set. If it all sells that day, it is gone. Anything left will be sold at Flossmoor Station and COULD be shipped to the distributor, but no promises.

WOODEN HELL BOURBON BARREL AGED BARLEYWINE (2 BOTTLE LIMIT!!!):

This will be sold on a pre-order basis. $15 per bottle. 2 BOTTLE LIMIT!! There are only 360 bottles available for sale!!
Procedure (read carefully):
*Send an e-mail to orderflossmoorbeer@yahoo.com with:
-name
-phone number
-address
-desired number of bottles (either one or two)

*You will receive a confirmation response (an "out of office/vacation" type response) This is your confirmation letter. Print it!

*Bring the confirmation letter with you anytime BETWEEN TUESDAY, JAN. 20 and SATURDAY, FEB. 7
YOU CAN NOT PICK UP YOUR BEER BEFORE 11:30 AM on Jan 20.

*Your name will be on a list at Flossmoor Station and we'll sell you your beer when you come in.

*You may pick up your Wooden Hell at the Killer Kowalski Release Party (if you have ordered it)

*Any remaining or unaccounted for beer will be sold on Saturday Feb. 7th at the KK release party

*Questions and comments can be directed to flossmoorstation@yahoo.com (not the order e-mail)

Thanks-back to bottling........