They did an Advent Calendar of Illinois Breweries……I just got home today from Taiwan, so I am a day behind, but try and catch up at some point…shouldn’t be too much of a challenge. 
Day 1 : obscurity Brewing Shoot Your Eye Out Nitro ESB. Pretty low ABV (4.5%) but great malty flavor. However, I did screw up the Nitro pour. I’m blaming the jet lag.
And a Belgian ale sampler, somehow missing (along with the pozole) from this pic of the Ale Imitating AI:
Skipped over Day 2 of the Advent Calendar so I could get in synch with the days…will double back eventually to that one (but it doesn’t really sound very good).
Day 3 was Headless Horseman Imperial Pumpkin Stout from DG Brewing. A boozer at 10%ABV. Despite the appearance, it didn’t have much pumpkin flavor, but a fair amount of other spices. Not bad overall.
Today was Little Christmas from Triptytch Brewing….West Coast Pale Ale with Spruce. Had high hopes for this one but it tasted like drinking the water from the Xmas tree stand. WAY too piney.
Morgan Territory Moontime Hazy IPA. Good but last visit here the Harlot Blonde Ale (Societe Brewing) was better.
Not Half Dome like the picture on the can, but Low Dome for the 4% alcohol. Tasty - I like blood orange wheat beers.
Love it, was totally me when I drank.
Recently moved to Frederick MD, figured live in the “city” while our daughter was young, but we also found ourselves going to a different brewery to discuss houses we had just seen and realized it made sense to be in town. Big cycling scene too which wasn’t a deciding factor but made the choice easier, forced myself out on one group ride a month ago and have a strand of lights on the way for the holiday light ride tomorrow… where we end up at a brewery (next to this one) .
Turns out the agency we bought through owner/husband opened a Brewery so we not only got invited to the Agency holiday party there 2 weeks ago but also to a soft opening taste test night last week… And then we all got sick (not from the beer) and I forgot to post. So we now have been 2x and they don’t even open officially until tonight.
Beers were good, seltzers (She had one at the holiday part) were not.
Very nice. It’s amazing to me how some seltzers are absolutely awesome, and others literally taste like carbonated vodka from a sodastream with some mio squirted in. I guess there are good versions and bad versions of all products, but with seltzers it’s genuinely order and hope
I honestly couldn’t even taste the one she had, no carbonation, no flavor, like you knew it wasn’t water but you really weren’t sure what it was. She was nervous to try the sour because of that but that was actually quite good. You could taste all the fruit in a good way without any crazy slap in the face sour. Which i actually don’t mind but was glad this wasn’t. The lager is the one that surprised me, never usually order them but will try them in a flight if she gets one, would order this again.
I need to catch you all up on my Illinois Brewers Advent Calendar….
Solemn Oath Brewery Heavy Metal Santa Black Kolsch. Never had a black kolsch before, but it was similar to a Czech Dark Lager. Really good.
White Oak Brewing Red Flannel Jacket Red Ale. Not enough red ales left in the world and this was very enjoyable.
Phase 3 Brewing Nutcracker Overture English Brown Ale. Fantastic.
Old Bakery Beer Ginger Snapped Stout w/ ginger and molasses. A great twist on a Stout…not too heavy.
Not from the calendar, but Old Irving Brewery Scentinel Cask Conditioned IPA. I was excited for this one as Scentinel is one of my favorite local beers, but the cask version was a let down. The flavor was just….off.
The bottom center of the can reminds me of CCR singing that refrain that celebrates a town just 20 minutes south of here “Oh Lord, Stuck in Lodi Again”
Very familiar with Lodi…My uncle was the mayor of Lodi a couple of times and my aunt still lives there. They named a park for him after he passed a few years ago.
I remember the huge amount of seltzers at the beer store. They said ‘You are supposed to like that.’ I asked Do I? And they said ‘Nope!’…
Not quite what I thought it was going to be like, but not too bad. I’ve been looking for it for months. Glad it’s not 13.5% ABV!
Their 25th was 12.5%, delicious, but with a punch!
Tonight’s calendar entry….Art History Brewing 60 Schilling Scotch Ale. Not bad, but it is more of a red ale than a scotch ale.
Just closed my biggest deal at this company, three years in the making. Have to work on contracts tonight so no ride 
but I did crack open 1 new beer. Two cans side by side so you can see the gorilla playing the rooster in chess!
Average or above average (
) Witbier, I dunno, still excited about this deal that just doubled in size.
