The Beer Thread

[Freed Roger]

Tell me more of this Twin Oaks. Is it TwinOak Wood Fired Pizza and BBQ in Brentwood?

Yep.

It's nothing special. But they do a great job with their 8 taps. The bartender is great. The owner/owners are huge douchenozzles. I do like the food but I wouldn't really make it a destination.

yeah, it's ok, nothing special. 8 taps, but the requisite couple locked in on staples and one empty Abraxas. Better than what we are accustomed to around here.

JL, you meet the New Zealand chap that hangs out there?

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Who is the bartender at Twin Oaks?

[33anda3rd]

Tell me more of this Twin Oaks. Is it TwinOak Wood Fired Pizza and BBQ in Brentwood?

Yep.

It's nothing special. But they do a great job with their 8 taps. The bartender is great. The owner/owners are huge douchenozzles. I do like the food but I wouldn't really make it a destination.

Next time I'm down that way I'll check it out. I'd rather eat somewhere with ok food and good beer and a good bartender to talk to than somewhere with fancy food. My wife and I are usually eat-at-the-bar kinda people anyway.

[lukethedrifter]

Tell me more of this Twin Oaks. Is it TwinOak Wood Fired Pizza and BBQ in Brentwood?

Yep.

It's nothing special. But they do a great job with their 8 taps. The bartender is great. The owner/owners are huge douchenozzles. I do like the food but I wouldn't really make it a destination.

Dammit.

The first part of this exchange had me thinking there was a semi hidden gem not too far out of my way that I needed to check out.

[Jocephus]

Well-a, well-a, well-a, uh!
Tell me more, tell me more
Did you get very far?
Tell me more, tell me more
Like does he have a car?

[33anda3rd]

My Goose Island anti-establishment prejudice narrowed my worldview.

I think you gotta get past that. The stuff that is coming out of the Fulton & Wood Series, (....check out now, jim)... like the Lilith Pomegranate Berliner Weisse is so freaking ridiculously good and well-made that I'd put it up against anything coming out of Perennial/Side Project, Pipeworks, Floyd's, you name it. The stuff on this menu that is exclusive to the brewpub is so good. That smoked Helles, jeez, so good.

The three best new-ish breweries in Chicago--Off Color, Penrose, Moody Tongue--are all former Goose Brewers. There's a tradition and heritage in that Clybourn brewpub and at Fulton & Wood of making rad beers and the AB thing hasn't changed that.

[lukethedrifter]

Have you been to the new Side Project place?

[Freed Roger]

Have you been to the new Side Project place?

I have not.

To try something different, the IL side seems worthy of the trip. Seems like several brands distributed over there, that we don't get in MO - Dogfish Head the biggie, as well as Ale Asylum. Plus they have some small local brewers I never heard of - Was surprised to drink a decent beer from a brewery in Godfrey.

The difficulty with beer in Illinois side of metro STL:
the bar/restaurant offerings tend to appeal to milquetoast suburbia or good ole blue collar people that want to get old-school rip roarin drunk on cheap liquor and beer. Fast Eddies style. Not that there anything wrong with either one, just not much middle ground.

Other than that place in Grafton -which is more of a bar than the winery they tack on the name, I've had real good beers (And food) at Cleveland Heath in Edwardsville. Looking forward to trying this place soon, because my wife will like that sort of place, and supposedly they have good beers --though according to Yelp -I see some scuttle about all the craft beers being served in mason jars or frosted mugs.
Oh pishaw.

[33anda3rd]

It's surprising that you guys don't have Dogfish. They seem ubiquitous. I guess the 1-2X/year I'm in MO I don't really focus on what's on the beer menu that I know, I look for the stuff I don't know and can't get at home.

[JL21]

JL, you meet the New Zealand chap that hangs out there?

That guy is awesome. He's one of the few regulars that I like.

Next time I'm down that way I'll check it out. I'd rather eat somewhere with ok food and good beer and a good bartender to talk to than somewhere with fancy food. My wife and I are usually eat-at-the-bar kinda people anyway.

Freed nailed it. They have Bud and Stella to appease the masses. Then six slots almost always dedicated to local options, chosen by a dude who knows his stuff. Right now, I know they have the Perennial Aria, the 4 Hands Chocolate Milk Stout, the Perennial Peace Offering, they just had the Abraxas... Not sure what else.

To be blunt, I hate the atmosphere there and I generally don't want to hang out in Brentwood. But the food is ok (the smoked wings are particularly good), the beer selection is very good, and the service at the bar is good.