Yard House Glenview and Ted's Montana Grill

Not a real consideration for dinner, but the Yard House does have a selection of some 100 or so beers on tap. If only it had a fuller selection of micros it might be worth more than a visit every half year or so. More on this issue below.

We started with a nice dinner @ Ted's Montana Grill nearby. Excellent beef and buffalo offerings dominate the menu, I and a friend enjoyed variations on the buffalo burger, quite meaty, juicy, and hearty. My wife enjoyed the special, buffalo short ribs and quite enjoyed it. My other friend a buffalo fillet, quite tasty. Very limited beer selections, so it was a draft Sam Adams for me. Overall a B+ and well worth another trip.

Yard House has a long list, they have a unique tower than serves all the tap beers at the same temperature (not optimal), as an addition to the forlorn suburbs looking for a selection beyond Bud and Miller it's great, but could be so much better. Outside a decent micro list of Goose Island, Dogfish Head, Summit, Great Lakes, a few belgians there is nothing special. They do several mixes like Black and Tan, Black and Blue, and most interestingly a Belgian lambic with raspberries mixed with Young's Double Chocolate Stout. Overall, a B-, not bad but could be so much more.

Anniversary Beer for the Ages

This months Session hosted by the Barley Blog covers Anniversary beers, my choice is mentioned in the host's blog, but I cover it here because it is one of my favorite all time beers. The Gouden Carolus Carolus D'Or - Cuvee Van De Keizer is brewed once a year, and it's worth waiting for. My review:

The bottle I had recently was labeled 2007, meaning it was brewed on February 24, 2007, the birthday of a certain monarch named Charles the Fifth. It is rated at 11% abv. It poured a deep garnet clear color, nice head with lace left. Very inviting.

The nose has sweet malt, deep, deep nose of plums, cherries, and a bit of alcohol, very nice.

This may be the perfect Belgian stong dark ale, intriguing deep malt taste, beyond plums and a bit of oak, tastes include a sign of port, chocolate, yeast esters, yes that deep, very good, super!

Perfect fizzy mouthfeel, so it doesn't get to sweet on the tongue, sweetish aftertaste but just right.

Despite the abv, very drinkable, after dinner for sure with figs, chocolate, pie, whatever desert you choose, I love this beer.

This one has aged nicely for almost 1 1/2 years.

The brewers website submits that you can store this beer for up to 10 years. I believe it but cannot believe it would get any better than this one. I'll make this my yearly seek to find a version of this beer so I can have at least one annually. The Belgians certainly know what they are doing, and in the realm of Strong Belgian Darks this one reigns supreme.

The Session for July- Beers Out of Season

The subject for July's Session, a monthly worldwide blog day every first Friday of the month about beers (started by this guy) can be summed up as this: Drinking anti-seasonally. That is, what do blog writers drink out of season. Not what lawnmower beers you prefer in July, but rather do you drink heavy malty beers in summer, or light wheat ales in winter?? It's an interesting question, here goes...

My desire for deep and complex tastes, while satiated in the cooler months, does not go away in summer. This is my special time for anti-seasonal tries. I do drink hoppy beers in winter, but summer is my time for certain winter-style brews. And I have intentionally saved a few winter/xmas beers especially for summer(no - wife of mine - I didn't forget to drink them in cold cold January). Now, I don't go outside and sweat in the sun while drinking these, but rather find myself in a nice after dinner mood in front of the TV, watching the White Sox, with the cooler night air wafting in the back door.

I will have a nice bottle of Jolly Pumpkin's Noel De Calabaza, a malty spicy brew with a sour finish coming from the wooden casks they age their ales in. This is a good choice to pair with sweetish BBQ. With some chocolate cookies, I'll have a nice Gouden Carolus Carolus D'Or - Cuvée Van De Keizer, a strong dark Belgian ale made one day per year in February, which has a wonderful complex taste and a great slightly sweet finish. Finally, we hosted some family last weekend and enjoyed a deep, rich dark belgian type ale from Lost Abbey called Judgment Day. We had this Belgian quad brewed with raisins paired with hummus and light vegetables. Wonderfully complex, and a great offset to the lighter tastes of the foods!

The days may be hot and drying, and you need lots of water to hold up, but I'd rather drink a combo of water with great tasting beers in summer than lower my standards just for some refreshment. No Coors, it's not all about refreshment, it's about flavor, always, always, always....

So That Explains Why I CAN Drink Good Beer

It took the Freakonomics guys to explain it, so it's not just our tastes evolving, it's also our income! Yes, I knew that, you did too, why else were you drinking Old Milwaukee in college!

By the way, dudes, it's Belgian dubbels, not dobbels.

St. Bernardus Tripel

Had a 33cl bottle of St. Bernardus Tripel last night before dinner, a fruity, malty nice head tripel from the Trappists rated at 8.0% abv and good dated until 2010.

Clean head, usual tripel smells (esters, apple, no funk), not sure aging would help this one, it's a nice tripel but not super, just solid. I would favor La Fin du Monde from Unibroue over this one. Again, lots of tripels out there, give this one a B+ and move on to the next one.

Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus

I had the pleasure of having a glass of Cantillon Rosé De Gambrinus on tap at Hopleaf in Andersonville. 'Twas after a very nice lunch at M. Henry.

There are very few geniuses making ales, but the folks at Cantillon are so. This particular brew is a raspberry lambic. As they describe it: "When young, the Rosé de Gambrinus will still present its full fruity taste. Later on, the lambic taste will become dominant at the expense of the fruit taste." On tap, it is still young and presents full raspberry taste with no sweetness, at all. They used to serve this with sugar, but without it - it is pure refreshing, puckering, super - an A+. This will not be described as a candy nor cough syrup. Just a solid super raspberry lambic to follow.

Tasting the St. Bernardus Pater 6

Sunday for dessert I enjoyed the St. Bernardus Prior 6, in the small 33 cl bottle, dated good until 2010! Anyway, a cloudy amber body with 3 finger head came forth.

Smell a bit musty with Belgian yeast for sure nose; tasted roasty, mid-deep dubbel-type malt, little hops but a slightly sourish finish to offset the sweet malt; very nice and a bit peppery with dark fruit flavor (plumbs, dates, etc.); fizzy mouth feel, at a lower than normal Belgian abv at 6.7% abv, tasty, better taste at warmer temps, not one I would seek out for all time, but very nice. Score this nice session-type beer for a B+. Welcome anytime.