Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

Expected to see more club members there. Only me and Tom (He still doesn't look right without his hair!)

Sampled 15 beers from Anchor (4), New Holland (6), Arcadia (1) and Abita (4) breweries.

I found the New Hollands to be "average" beers compared to the high standards set by Abita and Anchor. The only one that I could say was good was their IPA (Mad Hatter Ale).

The single Arcadia was a dry hopped IPA, so of course I liked it.

I've always been a big fan of Abita Turbo Dog. The Restoration Ale was a new one for me. It's a golden ale, with a nice hoppy bite (dry hopped).

The Anchor beers were the "stars of the show". I've been a junkie ever since I discovered "steam beer" in CA back in the late 70's. The new beer (at least for me) was their "Small Beer", which they package in a large format bottle, for irony I suppose. This is a "second pressing" in wine parlance, of their Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale. I took home a few bottles, so I obviously liked it.

Thanks for the review of the beer tasting!

I also enjoyed the tasting. It was a smallish crowd, which makes for a more relaxed sampling. I didn't find any of the samples extraordinary, though it's always fun to try something new. I did get some Great Lakes Brewing Co. beer that may be a limited offering. It sounds like they are going to try and do a tasting the last Wednesday every month.

I wanted to go, but they were throwing a farewell party for me that night. While none of the beer at my party was good, the quantity more than made up for it.

I'll have to look for the Small Beer. Sounds right up my alley.

-Jim