Local Option Mourning Wood

Brewed By: Local Option Bierwerker in Chicago, Illinois  

Purchased: bought at Bottles & Cans in Chicago, IL; 2015 

Style/ABV: Amber Ale/Hybrid Ale/Barrel-Aged Ale/Coffee Beer, 7.3%

Reported IBUs: ?

Local Option Mourning Wood

You can't stop the Chicago beer train. It's coming at you 100mph like Amtrak. About Local Option:

Local Option is a restaurant/bar (known for their intense Creole food) that happens to also brew their own beer.

The Mourning Wood is an oak-aged coffee amber ale. This beer sits in fresh American oak, and Dark Matter's El Salvador San Jose pulp-natural coffee adds some coffee kick. This one looks like it has been through barrel-aged hell. The beer is a murky, orange color, with tight lacing and surprisingly good head retention despite the barrel/coffee treatment.

The aroma here is dark grains, sweet hazelnut, nutty coffee, toast, oak, and some nice dark fruits. I'm getting some dried berries and figs on the aroma, and I'm reminded of Autumn-style beers (namely the Two Brothers Atom Smasher). As this warms up, the coffee on the aroma starts to pop.

This beer gets appreciably better as it warms, so keep that in mind when you crack this. As I sip on this, I am getting lots of dried berries, serious kicks of Dark Matter coffee ala hazelnut and light roast, toast, and light grassy hops. The oak comes through as a mild character that plays with the Amber Ale base. Caramel, light brown sugar, tapioca, iced coffee, wood, coffee creamer...pretty complex.

This hides the 7.3% with ease, and drops appropriate carb levels. Palate depth is good with nice duration, and this has a fairly complex layering of flavors for an Amber Ale. The oak addition is a subtle touch, and the coffee comes through as a light roast or Java flavor. I find this to be an intriguing Amber Ale, and you can't beat the price. 

Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this. This is not revolutionary or mind-blowing by any means, but it is a solid Amber Ale. Also, the Dark Matter coffee comes through strong, as advertised.  

Random Thought: Awww yeah beer. 

New Glarus Spotted Cow

Brewed By: New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin

Purchased: 12oz bottle bought at Woodman's in Kenosha, WI; 2013

Style/ABV: Cream Ale, 5.1% 

Reported IBUs: ?

Ah, the bottomless mixer of New Glarus beers...here we go. About New Glarus:

New Glarus is the rare, gorgeous "Midwest" brewery, founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey, the first woman to found and operate a brewery in the United States. She raised the capital for the start-up as a gift to her husband, Dan Carey, who is New Glarus' brewmaster and co-owner. Dan Carey has a long history working in the brewing industry, including an apprenticeship at a brewery near Munich, Germany and a job as the Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. The brewery began as an abandoned warehouse using old brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan Carey purchased coper kettles from a brewery in Germany. In May 2006, New Glarus opened their new (current) facility on a hilltop in the village of New Glarus. The facility looks like a Bavarian village, and is gorgeous. The expansion has allowed the brewery to continue to increase their production, and expand their operations. For more information, check out their brewery page or Wikipedia. 

The Spotted Cow is brewed with flaked barley, "Wisconsin malts," and a hint of corn. Inspired by cask conditioned ales, this beer is bottle conditioned. The BJCP, Ratebeer, and BeerAdvocate are all calling this a Cream Ale, which is a light, crisp, clean, and flavorful American "lawnmower" beer. Let's get this into a glass and see what's up.

New Glarus Spotted Cow

The beer pours into a hazy, straw-colored body, and kicks up two to three fingers of fluffy white head. The head retention on this is nice, and as the head drops off there is some lacing. In bright light, the beer is a radiant yellow color, and there is a ton of mid-sized carbonation rising upwards in the glass. Bright light confirms the fluffy, barley-fueled, white head.

The aroma on here is good stuff....you get tons of flaked barley and malt density, almost like a wheat beer. There's some cereal grain as well, and lots of hints of apples, pears, grapes, and some subtle clove/banana. There's also noticeable funk on the aroma, with big grass, hay, and wheat notes.

This is such a simple, drinkable beer...this is what a session beer is supposed to be. The taste is light, with fruity apples and pears, hints of champagne-like grain and corn, and a good amount of wheat, grass, and hay. The flavors stay clean and fruity, and never become vegetal or off-putting. There's also a sweet hint of malt: honey or sweet biscuit. Really nice.

I love this beer, and this would be one of my go-to session beers if I lived in Wisconsin. This is one of the best Cream Ales out there, and this beer has surprising complexity for the style, and great palate depth. You can drink this beer by the 6-pack, and while the flaked barley beefs up the mouthfeel, the carbonation and high attenuation keeps the mouthfeel in that perfect light-full to medium-light range. And that complexity. This beer has some mild hay funk, flaked barley density, fruity flavors, and mild floral hops. You get fruity sweetness up front with apple/pear/grape, and some sweet biscuit; that rolls into the flaked barley, grain, hints of corn; the back end dials up the champagne-like attenuation, and you get floral hops, straw, hay, and grass. The finish is clean and dry, and refreshing.

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

This is a solid Decent Divine Brew. Really, just a simple but elegant beer...the kind of beer you buy by the case. I can strongly recommend this as a session beer to pair with American-style bar food, sports, hot summer days, and whenever. This beer is cheap, available, and makes big macro beers look bad.

Random Thought: And now for...more New Glarus.