Upcoming Content Changes

Hello fellow readers,

I apologize for my lack of posting. After all a new job & home will do that to you along with all of the hassle that comes with it but they’re good changes nonetheless. So once again, my lack of activity has been hampered by life events, but at least I saw these changes coming.

However, not everything is kittens, rainbows & unicorns. You see, when it comes to family history of various medical conditions, I didn’t exactly draw a great hand. We’re talking high blood pressure, diabetes, depression & perhaps the biggest one of them all: obesity. Case in point,  my recent visit to the doctor. It went something like this:

Doctor: Well all of your blood work came back well, you don’t have diabetes and are, in fact, very far from even being pre-diabetic. Your blood pressure is down from your last visit & On top of that, you’ve been managing your depression quite well!

Me: Gee wilikers, Doc! That’s great news!

Doctor: Wooooah, not so fast there, I’m not done yet. We still have to talk about your weight!

Me: What about my weight?

Doctor: Well, looking at your body fat numbers, you’re higher compared to last year. In fact, I’d even go as far to say that I’m concerned that if this pattern continues, you run a good possibility of running into the same health complications that have been present in your family.

Me: So in other words: I’m fat.

Doctor: What?

Me: ….What?

Alright it didn't exactly happen like that but that pretty much sums my visit. In part, my high carb intake is partially to blame for my weight gain. And it shouldn’t come as a shock that a good portion of my carb intake comes from my consumption of beer.

This creates its own set of problems when it comes to my writing, mainly because I write about craft beer. It certainly puts me in an interesting, if not. compromising position. So what do I do?

Well, remember when I first started this blog back up, I expressed a desire to focus more of my energy on things like wine & spirits? As luck would have it, I found out that not only are both of these drink categories vast and expansive but also they have way less carbs than beer. In fact, spirits have no carbs what-so-ever and wine typically has very little to low carbs, depending on the style of wine that is. Plus all across the country

It won’t be an easy transition but it’s one that I feel will benefit me in the long run. Plus, now I have an excuse to check out wineries & distilleries.

Rest assured that beer will still play an integral part of this website going forward but it will no longer be the exclusive drink that will be reviewed on here.

Oh and I'm also bringing back my old scoring system too!

Again, thank you all for your continued support & I look forward to what the future holds!

Cheers!

- Nick

Shakopee Brewhall Double Prairieville Review

Name: Shakopee Brewhall Double Prairieville
Style: Imperial IPL (India Pale Lager)
ABV: 9.2%
IBUs: 56

It’s certainly been a busy couple weeks for myself with this move, but I’m pleased to say that I’m now moved in. Now that everything has settled down, it’s time to get back to what I enjoy: writing about beer. For my first post-move beer, we’ve got an offering from Shakopee Brewhall. Located in Shakopee, MN; Shakopee Brewhall is one of those places that set up shop during my absence.

I’ve seen their crowler offerings in a variety of stores in my area but crowlers weren’t exactly my thing when I wasn’t posting on this website since I opted more for the 4 or 6 packs during that time. With that said, I’ve got their Double Prairieville Imperial IPL. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good IPL so I figured this beer would be a great way to get back into the style.

Appearance – Hazy dark yellow color with a light amount of visible carbonation. The head is fairly foamy and the lacing left behind is decent.

Aroma – I’m picking up on some pale maltiness and barley notes, along with some fairly potent bitter hoppiness. There’s also a very light orange peel smell in here as well.

Taste – Upfront I’m getting a mix of pale malts and bitter hoppiness, while the back end of the palate opens up to a surprisingly potent citrus hoppiness and light barley flavor. In the aftertaste is where that bitter hoppiness makes an appearance, albeit a fairly light one at that, which lingers for a couple of moments.

I liked this. It’s an easy drinker yet the hoppy aspect of the flavor goes along with it perfectly. On top of that, there’s really no booziness to speak of, which is something I see all too often in Imperial Lagers. If you see this, I’d definitely recommend checking this out!