Destihl Wild Sour Series: Flanders Red

Brewed By: Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works in Normal/Bloomington, Illinois 
Purchased: 12oz CAN from a 4-pack bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Flanders Red, 6.1%
Reported IBUs: 15

More Destihl Sours woo. About Destihl: 

Destihl is a brewery (Bloomington) and brewpub (Normal, IL & Champaign, IL) based out of the Midwest. Specifically, the middle of Illinois in the middle of the United States. Daaaa midwest. The brewery was founded by CEO & Brewmaster, Matt Potts, in 2007. Like many brewery founders, Potts started out as a homebrewer, and would eventually trade his law school education and law practice for those sweet barley suds. Destihl currently brews a myriad of regular and barrel-aged beers, including an increasing portfolio of tasty sour brews. For more info, check out their website. 

The Flanders Red is is an "acidic, sour ale with an initial impression of tart cherries and sour candy." 

This pours into a hazy, murky, dark ruby red/auburn body, kicking up two fingers of brown-tinged head. It looks like cherry juice, or your typical Flanders Red. There is good lacing on this one, and solid head retention.

Destihl Wild Sour Series: Flanders Red

On the aroma: a surprising amount of malty goodness. I'm getting cherry, brown bread, bready notes, and some coffee? What? There is definitely a Brown Ale aroma thing going on with the nose, with some hints of dusty cocoa as well. There is some faint berries and vinegar sourness in the back of this, but the aroma is mildly sour. 

This is straightforward, and does taste much like an American Brown Ale base that has been given the 12-step Flanders Red treatment. I'm getting big cherries, light vinegar tartness, lots of acid, and some nuttiness, toast, bread, and hints of dusty cocoa and coffee ala an American Brown. It's intriguing, albeit without any crazy Brett funk or oak character. Actually, I don't even know if this is aged on wood. It tastes slightly oaky, but that could just be my mind playing tricks on me + the acid and sourness messing with my head. The sourness in this beer comes in spurts, and isn't bad at all. 

This is medium-light bodied with above-average complexity. Palate depth is good, and I'm finding this to be pretty enjoyable. There is a nice balance between the ABV, body, carbonation, and sourness. I'm kind of digging how the base beer here is an American Brown Ale...it's like a new twist on this classic style. Up front: sour cherries, red cider vinegar, some burgeoning malts; the mids roll into the malts, with that Brown Ale base; the back end features lingering malts, dusty cacao, bread, faint coffee, sour cherries; and the finish is surprisingly dry. Good acidity, okay sourness.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd) 

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average here. Solid shit, I would buy this again in the can. It would be nice to see this just sitting around on shelves. Food pairings here include grilled meats and poutine. 

Random Thought: These Destihl 4-packs are like $10? Pretty solid deal, IMO.

Destihl Wild Sour Series: Here Gose Nothin'

Brewed By: Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works in Normal/Bloomington, Illinois
Purchased: 12oz CAN from a 4-pack bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Gose, 5.0%
Reported IBUs: 12

Between Penrose and Destihl, Chicago's sour scene is suddenly become more tangible. And that's good for me. About Destihl: 

Destihl is a brewery (Bloomington) and brewpub (Normal, IL & Champaign, IL) based out of the Midwest. Specifically, the middle of Illinois in the middle of the United States. Daaaa midwest. The brewery was founded by CEO & Brewmaster, Matt Potts, in 2007. Like many brewery founders, Potts started out as a homebrewer, and would eventually trade his law school education and law practice for those sweet barley suds. Destihl currently brews a myriad of regular and barrel-aged beers, including an increasing portfolio of tasty sour brews. For more info, check out their website. 

Bad pun aside, the Here Gose Nothin' is a "Leipzig-Style Gose" that undergoes spontaneous fermentation, and features lactic notes of lemon, lime, and citrus. This one also has some coriander and sea salt added. 

This is a filthy wheat beer, pouring into a cloudy, hazy, unfiltered, swampy, pick-your-synonym straw/wheat color. The beer produces a finger of wheat-tinged head that is wheat beer strong. This looks to be well carbonated, and blah blah.

Destihl Wild Sour Series: Here Gose Nothin'

The aroma here is really nice, with coriander, ocean sea salt breezes, wet rain, mist, some light lactic acidity, light lemon citrus, some watermelon rind, and a little bit of wheat for good measure. This is an inviting aroma, if you're into little sour bangers.

This isn't overly sour, but it is incredibly funky. This dips into citric acid, tomatoes, tomato juice, unfiltered wheat, V8 acidity, and tons of lactic acid funk. As you dig into the wheat-acid-lactic funk fest, you can pull out some of the coriander and some of the hints of salt. It's more in line with that mist aroma, ocean breezes. As this warms up, it takes a turn towards the more creamy, with that creamy lactic funk coating. I love it.

This is light, refreshing, and incredibly drinkable. The wheat malts provide some sustenance to the body, especially as this warms up, so I would call it light-full. Palate depth is really good, and the mouthfeel here falls on the flatter side of carbonation, which just makes the lactic acid all the more funky. This is reasonably complex. Up front is lactic funk, V8 acidity, coriander and sea salt; the mids roll into more coriander and sea salt, big wheat, lactic funk; the back end gets a little creamy as this warms, and this drops citrus hints everywhere. It's well done. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd) 

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average here. I'm really enjoying this, and I would pick this up again. This is one of the best things Destihl has cranked out in a can, and the fact that it is reaching distro up in Chicago is great news for everyone. I'm not really sure if this beer is 100% true to the style, but I don't really care. More lactic wheat beers please. Thanks. 

Random Thought: I always have a hard time with food pairings for something like this. The inherent funk to this style makes me think that pairing this beer with strong cheeses or sushi might have a negative result. Maybe pair this with some Greek Food? 

Small Town Brewery Not Your Father's Root Beer (5.9%)

Brewed By: Small Town Brewery in Wauconda, IL  

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Malt Beverage, 5.9%

Reported IBUs: ?

If you need proof that beer geeks have a strong overlap with alcoholics, look no further than the Small Town Brewery and Not Your Father's Root Beer. Not Your Father's Root Beer is an alcoholic root beer that punches in at 5.9%, 10.7%, and 19.5%. You can guess which one beer geeks seek out. I have never quaffed the 19.5%...and maybe that's a good thing. I have no problem pounding 12oz draft pours of the 10.7% version. The beer is not only smooth as hell, but it has some of the best root beer flavor I have ever had. It's legitimately better than non-alcoholic root beer, as the alcohol brings a peppery spice and extra dimension of flavor. And did I mention this stuff is tasty? It makes Sprecher's Hard Root Beer look really crappy. Anyway, about Small Town Brewery:

Small Town Brewery is a small brewery based out of Wauconda, IL. The brewery was founded in 2010, and have become notorious for their boozy root beer. For more info, hit up their website or Facebook page. 

The 5.9% version of Not Your Father's Root Beer is available year-round, and at this point in time I am having no trouble finding it on shelves. As these things go, this really isn't a beer...but you know, fuck it. That wine tag...they see my trollin'.

Not Your Father's Root Beer (5.9%)

The aroma on this is serious root beer with big vanilla, wood, medicinal spice, sassafras, cough syrup, molasses, and some serious cola. There is that amusement park candied sugar aspect, and big hard root beer candies. It's like a blast into my childhood, so I have to give this thing credit for making me drunk and making me feel like I'm 12.

As you can imagine, this tastes like root beer. This is super sweet, sugary, one-dimensional...but this is also really fucking good. It's like a top-tier root beer, with alcohol. You get that spicy bite up front, with some medicinal elements, sassafras, cola, dark fruits; the mids roll into more spice and some bubble gum sweetness; the back end dials up wood, vanilla, root beer candies, and tons of sugar. 

There's not much to say...this isn't complex, but the palate depth is really good. This is basically a stickier, sweeter version of root beer...with alcohol. It is ridiculous how drinkable this is, and that scales up with the higher alcohol version as well. And by scales up I mean scales up inversely. Honestly, the 10.7% is the smoothest 10.7% thing I have ever consumed. Dangerous stuff. 

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this. There is a slightly grapey flavor in here that was present in the Sprecher Hard Root Beer that you don't get when you have this beer on tap (or at least the 10.7% version). It's not a problem though, and sort of integrates into this beer. It's definitely a component in a good root beer, but when it runs away it can cause trouble. In this case, no trouble. You can pair this stuff with anything, but I'm partial to sipping on it after a meal while watching TV or whatever. And by sipping I mean drinking the whole 6-pack. Damn.

Random Thought: So now that the Bear's season is over, I need to figure out who to root for. Suggestions are welcomed.