Goose Island The Muddy Review

Name: Goose Island The Muddy
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.0

I've got a new release from Goose Island Brewing and it's the third release that I'll be having in the "The" Series. It's the name I've given to the limited release series that Goose Island has been releasing recently. First came The Illinois, an Imperial IPA named after Frank Lloyd Wright's conceptual mile high skyscraper that would've been built in downtown Chicago. Then came The Ogden, a Tripel which is  named after William Ogden, the first mayor of Chicago.

The newest addition to the series is The Muddy, an Imperial Stout that gets it's name from Muddy Waters, who is responsible for the creation of the Chicago Blues scene, which first rose to prominence in the first half of the 20th Century. According to the bottle, this is is brewed with licorice.

The Muddy pours a pitch black color with some high visible carbonation. The head takes on a thin khaki appearance along with some sparse lacing.

The nose starts out with rather strong roastiness with chocolate malts, dark licorice and light vanilla notes. With the exception of the light vanilla, this is a very dark & roasty smelling beer and the licorice and roasted barley work in conjunction with the chocolate malts to make this possible.

Sure enough, that dark and roasty aspect carries over into the flavor. It starts out with a strong roasted barley taste which is followed up by some chocolate malts & dark licorice before being topped off with a bitter hop aftertaste.

The body is quite hefty and the carbonation is pretty moderate. It also possesses some thickness so it does feel a bit chewy.

The Muddy is a nice, dark and roasty Imperial Stout that is sure to please fans of the style. However like The Ogden before it, the asking price is a bit high when you consider that it only comes in a 4-pack, which is around $15 before taxes in my area. My advice would be to do what I did and buy a single bottle and try it out before deciding if a 4-pack is worth the price of admission.

Goose Island The Muddy - 8.5/10

Regular Guy Brewing Extra Pale Ale Review

Name: Regular Guy Brewing Extra Pale Ale
Style: English Pale Ale
ABV: N/A

It's time to look at the final beer sent to me by Seth from Regular Guy Brewing. For this review, I'm treading familiar territory with their Extra Pale Ale and I say that because Summit Extra Pale Ale just so happens to be a regular visitor to my fridge (amongst other things, of course.)

Unlike the last two bottles I got, the label on this is basically a sticker that was drawn on with a Sharpie. That's because it's still a beer in the testing stages as evidenced by the label.

Now originally I was not going to give this a score at Seth's request because it's an unfinished product, but because of my rebellious nature, I'm going to give this a score anyways as you will see why shortly.

Regular Guy EPA pours a very dark orange color with a very hazy appearance. The head is very foamy and voluminous, especially with an aggressive pour which I found out the hard way. The lacing is somewhat soapy and some mild visible carbonation.

The nose has a very distinct citrus and tropical fruit scent upfront with the tropical fruitiness smelling a lot like kiwis. There's also some toffee malt sweetness and some mild yeastiness on the back end of the nose.

A relatively strong yeastiness starts things off in the flavor but with some prominent citrus hops, mangos and kiwi fruitness. There's some floral hoppiness in here too along with some caramel maltiness, which are on the back end of the palate. As for the aftertaste, it's actually very dry with the exception of a light yeast and floral hop flavor.

As for the body, it is pretty light with some fairly moderate carbonation, which is on par with other EPAs that I've had before.

For an "Unfinished" EPA, this is actually quite good and the flavor provides a unique spin on what is an otherwise familiar style to myself. While some traditionalists may be put off by the fruitness of the beer, I for one welcome it and would gladly buy this if this were available in stores.

Regular Guy Brewing Extra Pale Ale - 8.5/10

Regular Guy Brewing Hot Blonde Review

Name: Regular Guy Hot Blonde
Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 4.5%

It's time to look at my second beer that was sent to me by Seth from Regular Guy Brewing. This time it's their Hot Blonde. As you may have guessed from the name, it's a Blonde Ale brewed with Jalapeno peppers.

Now I'm going to go on the record here and say that I'm not terribly familiar with chili beers. In fact, I've only had maybe one of them in my life, which was from Fitger's Brewhouse. Come to think of it, my only exposure to spicy anything comes from my wife, who happens to make Indian dishes on a regular basis.

Much like Smokey Grove, Hot Blonde has a very professional looking label that could probably pass off as one from an actual brewery. The only thing missing is the Regular Guy custom cap, but I've already got one for my collection but I'll let it pass!

Hot Blonde pours a very hazy yellow color with a thin, yet foamy head. The lacing retention is actually quite good and the carbonation is rather low in terms of appearance.

The aroma is somewhat yeasty with a nice spicy aroma that is not too overbearing. There's also some pale maltiness in here too with a bit of barley, some mild hoppiness and light peppers.

The flavor, much like the nose, starts out with some yeastiness and a nicely balanced spicy heat. On the back on the palate is a very strong peppery taste that starts to interfere with the rest of the flavor save for the spiciness. There are some malty notes and light hops, but they're all but eclipsed by the sheer raw peppers.

The palate is thankfully very light in terms of body and the carbonation is also very light, which is a good thing too when you consider that this is a chili beer and any carbonation would no doubt intensify those spicy flavors.

I like the aroma, I like the overall body, but the flavor needs some work. To be fair, the flavor itself is actually quite good and has a nice heat to it but it tasted like too much like a liquid Jalapeno and therefore way too peppery for my liking. All that needs to be done is to tune down the raw jalapeno taste (not the heat itself) and you'll have an awesome chili beer on your hands.

Regular Guy Brewing Hot Blonde - 7/10

Regular Guy Brewing Smokey Grove Review

Name: Regular Guy Brewing Smokey Grove
Style: Porter
ABV: 6.5%

Well it's finally time! After months of waiting, I'm finally getting the chance to review some beers from Regular Guy Brewing Company. Some readers may recall my interview I did with Seth Treptow, one of the brewers from Regular Guy Brewing, that I did earlier this year. Right now, they are planning on opening up a nanobrewery in the St. Louis, Missouri area but for the time being, they're brewing in the comfort of a tricked-out garage.

I received 3 beers from them last week and I was going to hold off reviewing this particular beer until I went through the others but temptation got the better of me. I give to you Smokey Grove, Regular Guy's Smoked Porter which is brewed with apples. Ever since I first heard about Smokey Grove, I've been curious to try it out and was actually about to get it back in May, but the forces that be broke the bottles while in transit. Luckily, things turned out differently and now I finally get a chance to try this out.

First thing you'll notice about the bottle in the photo above is the label. I may not be the most knowledgeable about graphic design (even though I do dabble in Photoshop,) the label looks professionally done or could be passed off as such. However, my favorite part is the custom "Regular Guy Brewing" bottle cap. It's definitely going on my bottle cap fridge magnet collection!

Smokey Grove pours a pitch black color with a very foamy head. The lacing retention is quite good and there is a hint of carbonation climbing up the sides of the glass.

The nose has a strong smoked malt and apple scent. Also present in the nose is a prominent oak characteristic and a moderate roasted barley profile. It's like they took a rauchbier and infused it with apples. It smells like autumn.

As far as the taste is concerned, smokey is right! That is because the smoked malt and apple flavors again take center stage in the overall taste itself with a solid roasted barley foundation with some chocolate notes and a very mild bitter hoppiness. As far as the aftertaste goes, it's more smoked malts and apple flavor that was present at the beginning.

The palate is moderate in terms of body and carbonation. It's also got a bit of thickness to it as well, which is actually quite nice.

If this were to, somehow, be made available in stores, I would be buying this on a frequent basis because this is an outstanding porter! Everything from the aroma and right down to the taste is rich and robust in its very own way. If I had it my way, it'd be available year-round but I can see this being an excellent fall seasonal. For the time being, the only thing I can do is wait until I can get this in stores.

Regular Guy Brewing Smokey Grove - 9.5/10