Last week in Chicagoland the weather was amazing. We started the day at Pet-A-Palooza where I had a Tastefully Simple booth. BMO who is crazy about dogs came with to check out all the pups on parade. Literally, there was a Pet Parade and prizes! Later in the day, I dragged the hubs along to check out a local brewery's Imperial Oak Brewing Oktoberfest.
For the event they had food trucks, a German Band and about 40 different beers on tap. Tom was a real peach, he doesn't like beer but he still posed for a picture.
Tom is holding a Sour Beer called Straw. It was my first time trying a Sour Beer and turns out, I don't really think it's my thing. I wanted to give this a try because it is a Wild (Brett) Saison) and I like Saisons from time to time. They have a flowery essence that I find appealing during Spring. A couple of years ago I fell in love with IPAs and all their citrus punch, but a few months ago, one day out of the blue, I was done. I'm over IPA and Sours fall a bit into that category. Now if I'm going to enjoy a beer I'm looking at Lagers, Stouts and Porters.
For my Pumpkin Ale, I tried the Bourbon Barrel aged Dark Gourd- Pumpkin Ale. It was a pretty dry beer, and I didn't taste pumpkin or seasonal spices coming through. A bit of a bummer. Lucky for me third time is the charm. The Kolsch was great! Kaiser-Kolsch- 5.4 ABV, 19 IBU. What is a Kolsch? Its a nice sunny beer that is made with mostly Pilsner Malt. ( paraphrasing from Wikipedia). It would be spectacular paired with a big bowl of German Potato Salad. When I make my German Potato Salad I wing it, but here is a recipe that looks like the real deal should you want to try your hand at a great side dish.
