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Beer Releases: February 14 - 21, 2021

EDITORS NOTE: If you are seeing this on 2/26 or later ... it means that I screwed up on our email newsletter and sent you to last week's beer releases. CLICK HERE to see the releses from 2/21 to 2/28.

New Releases - Coming Soon

Tangled Roots Turns Five, a Super Fun Time awaits at Pollyanna, we welcome Two Pints Lounge in Bolingbrook to the Ale Trail, and I Can't Wait to Watch WandaVision. (I know that last part really isn't relevant to craft beer ... I just really am hooked on the show).

Sunday, February 14

No New Beers Scheduled

Monday, February 15
No New Beers Scheduled

Tuesday, February 16

Tall glass of Woolly Harbor from Ike & Oak, surrounded by blueberries

Check Out Woolly Harbor

Check out the color on this one! Woolly Harbor is a blueberry and vanilla milkshake IPA in Ike & Oak Brewing's Woolly series. Weighs in at 6.6% ABV - it's hard not to just stare at it ... but believe me when I say --- it's much better to drink beer than look at beer.

Wednesday, February 17

Glass of Plan for Everything from Skeleton Key Brewery next to the Golden Rancor trophy

A Smooth Winter Beer to Wish Away the Winter

The Golden Rancor, the trophy for winning Skeleton Key's internal Fantasy Football league. To win the trophy, you have to keep on top of NFL players, draft backups in case of bye weeks, and in essence, Plan for Everything. That's also the name of their latest mocha milk stout - hence me capitalizing it. This one is brewed with Ugandan Cacao bins, and has notes of espresso and dark chocolate. You'll get a smooth finish with just a hint of vanilla.

Bottle of Strewn Field

A Stout by Committee

The latest bottle release from Whiskey Hill involved their Barrel-Aged Membership Club. The members got to vote on the adjuncts for the newest, non-bottle aged stout release. The brew is called Strawn Field, which is a Russian Imperial Stout with cassia bark, toasted coconut, and Ghana cocao bins. Intensely creamy and dark chocolate forward base, laying the groundwork for the adjunct additions that give notes of fudge brownies, spicy and sweet cinnamon, and light nuttiness. Bottle limit of 2 per person, starting at 4pm.

Thursday, February 18

Italian Plumbo

A Truly Unique Brew

Now, this is a combination I haven't heard of before in beer. Flapjack Brewery has released Sour Plumbo, a Italian Plum Vanilla Sour. I don't know much about the Italian Plum, but this combined with vanilla beans are combined to give that perfect sour and soft balance. It weighs in at 6.5% ABV.

Glass of Don't Blink in the foreground from Skeleton Key Brewery, with two guys in skull head costumes in the blurry background

SKB's Scottish-Syle Ale

Skeleton Key Brewery's Don't Blink is back! This one is awesome, with light malty notes of caramel and toffee. It has a beautiful copper-red color as well. Don't be distracted by the two in the back of the photo here ... they could be the evil entities from WandaVision. Maybe not ...

Friday, February 19

Two beers, in glasses, sitting on a table from Rt66 Old School Brewing in Wilmington, IL.

A Double Dose of New Release Friday at Rt66 Old School Brewing

The Wilmington-based brewery has two new beers for us this Friday:

Shoewag: A light lager at 4% ABV. Light, smooth, and refreshing.
Sax Solo: A spicey, floral, and fruity Saison that weighs in at 7% ABV.

It's Nor'Easter Season

That familiar weather patten is back at Garage Band Brewing - it's the popular Nor'easter. A triple-hopped New England IPA with artwork that reminds me of Curtis Joseph's old goalie mask when he played for the Maple Leafs. El Dorado, Ekuanot, Mosaic and Citra in this haze bomb.

AWkward Farewell West Coast IPA from Skeleton Key Brewery - Woodridge, IL

Awkward Farewell

This West Coast IPA takes us back to a time when crisp & bitter was all the rage, when IPAs were crushable, when we had to walk to school, up hill both ways through three feet of snow ... (last week?). Awkward Farewell from Skeleton Key contains Chinook, Cascade, Columbus, Centennial, and Amarillo hops in this beer. Dankified, resinous, piney with some citrus notes as well.

Two glasses of beer with text DOUBLE RELEASE from Mad Hatchet Brewery

A Double Feature from Mad Hatchet Brewing

Advice: never choose, get one of each. Mad Hatchet in Shorewood has two great ones dropping today.

Never Die - A blueberry cheesecake milkshake IPA. Blueberry, cream cheese, vanilla, and graham cracker. 5.6% on the ABV.
The JNCO Experiement - A record breaker at Mad Hatchet, this beer was their fastest ever sellout. It's an Hazy IPA at 6.7%, hopped with Citra and Ekuanot.

Saturday, February 20

Three photos, left - vanilla dobroy nochi 2021, top right - german chocolate dobroy nochi, bottom right - tropical yum with chopped up pineapple

Tangled Roots Celebrating Their Fifth Anniversary with NINE Beers

Tangled Roots its celebrating their anniversary, but it almost feels more like a celebration for us - especially with these three beers that they will be releasing at both their Ottawa and Lockport locations. Here's the details directly from Tangled Roots:

Dobroy Nochi - Russian Imerial Stout
Bourbon Barrel Aged Vanilla Dobroy Nochi - To celebrate our fifth anniversary we took our BBA Dobroy Nochi and added an absurd amount of vanilla beans to create a silky and luscious take on one of our favorite beers of the year. Whiskey Acres Bourbon Barrels were used for the aging.
German Chocolate Cake Dobroy Nochi - The German Chocolate Cake version of our imperial stout was aged on cacao nibs, toasted coconut, and toasted pecans to create a decadent dessert in your glass. This beer is a rich and sweet treat for beer drinkers everywhere.
Tropical YUM - Sick of the cold weather? Wee, we're bringing the tropics to you with our New England IPA. Pack with pineapple, strawberry, and peach puree! Life's a beach, chill out and sip on our Tropical YUM this Saturday.
Coconut YUM - This NEIPA is packed with coconut.
Bourbon Barrel Aged Cinnamon Twist - This was back from their Ottawa Bakery collab a year ago - which they aged for over a year in Bourbon Barrels. It's an Imperial Amber Ale with Peach Puree and finishes with a hint of cinnamon.
Black Cherry Vibes - This one is only at The Lone Buffalo in Ottawa. It's a kettle sour with the addition of black cherry puree.
Blueberry YUM - This blueberry scone-inspired NEIPA is a collab with The Ottawa Bakery. The blueberry is accentuated by Bravo, Comet, and New Zealand Rakau hops. The hints of totasted pastry bread come from a slection of Munich, white wheat, and pilsner malts.

Left - glass and can of Double Zoned sitting in snow, right - four pack of Helles --- both from Pollyanna Brewing Company

Another Super Fun Time at Pollyanna

Pollyanna always brings the fun, but this Saturday, it's Super Fun once again. You're going to get to enjoy a couple new releases, as well as food, music, fire pits, heaters, and super fun times! Indoor seating now available too! Here are the beer details from Pollyanna

Double Zoned - Coming in a 8.0% ABV, this Hazy Double IPA is loaded with Citra, Mosaic, Centennial, and Idaho 7, which is a hop we've really been digging lately.
Helles - A classic German-style lager, our Helles is brewed with Pils malt and a kiss of Hallertau hops making this an easy drinking 5.1% ABV bier.