Saturdays Suds: Baseball & Beer #86 Lawson’s Triple Play

Another baseball-ish beer!  This one I had very recently!

Brewery: Lawson’s Finest Liquids in Waitsfield, VT

Beer: Triple Play IPA

Description:  “A trifecta of hop varieties (Citra, Simcoe & Amarillo) which delivers a symphony of juicy fruit-forward hop flavors and a delightful bouquet of aromas. Winner of Brewing News National IPA Championship (2011), there is simply ‘no batter beer’!”

I’m huge into beer these days, and this “traditional” (meaning it ain’t hazy) IPA was pretty much amazing.

Medium:  16 ounce cans – I assume it’s on draft around Vermont when they brew it as well (in normal times).

How it’s related to baseball:  It’s got a baseball motif on the can design and the name is obviously a reference to a pretty rare play in the game!

Saturdays Suds: Baseball & Beer #85 Tree House Fall Classic

One more beer I’ve got to catch up on for this series!  I had this back in November and forgot to take a pic when I had the beer!

Brewery: Tree House Brewing in Charlton, MA

Beer: Fall Classic

Description:  “Fall Classic was constructed as the ideal beverage to enjoy while watching major league baseball during the autumn season. It is also simply an homage to an incredible game. Nothing else elicits such a strongly nostalgic, all-American response quite like the crack of a bat on a cool autumn day. Or, experiencing the sights and sounds of a ballgame in the flesh. Brewed with clean American ale yeast and hopped with Strata, El Dorado, and Citra, Fall Classic pours a lovely orange color in the glass and puts forward potent flavors and aromas of tropical fruit, citrus, and earthy pine. It is dry, thirst-quenching, and incredibly easy to drink. It’s hard to believe this is the first classic American IPA we have brewed, but when you drink fall classic you will have the same thought that we did – better late than never!”

Medium:  16 ounce cans – 2020 was the first year Tree House released this.

How it’s related to baseball:  It’s got a baseball motif on the can design and the name is a reference to the World Series.

Saturdays Suds: Baseball & Beer #84 Solemn Oath Warning Track Power

I always love doing this series.  I was super excited when I saw this beer was coming from Solemn Oath, a fairly well-known and established brewery in the Chicagoland area.
Brewery: Solemn Oath Brewery in Naperville, IL

Beer: Warning Track Power

Description:  “Hazy Pale Ale featuring Citra, Sultana, and Azacca hops brewing in collaboration with The World Wiffle Ball Championship.”

This is a hoppy hazy beer on the lighter side of the ABV spectrum. Was a tasty crusher with an awesome can design.

Medium:  4 packs of 16 oz stickered cans, and I’m sure there was some draft available.

How it’s related to baseball:  This is about as good as it gets for this blog.  They have copied the 1987 Topps design (my all-time fave) and it’s a collaboration with the World Wiffle Ball Championship.  There’s also some sneaky Guaranteed Rate Field (U.S. Cellular?  New Comiskey?) stuff going on in the background.  This came out when nobody was allowed in baseball parks, but it would do well at the craft section of the Sox ballpark!

Saturdays Suds: Baseball & Beer #82 Sketchbook Night Game

This summer I did a post about Sketchbook Day Game – I also had their other baseball themed beer a couple months after that. It’s called – Night Game!

Brewery: Sketchbook Brewing Co. in Evanston, IL

Beer: Night Game

Description:  “Double IPA with Mosaic Hop and honey.  Huge tropical fruit, citrus and floral flavors and aromas.  The malt is simple and lends a drier and refreshing IPA.”

This is basically their Day Game beer – a “Midwest” IPA with honey – but as an imperial IPA.  So 8% plus ABV instead of 6%.  It was a bit sweeter than the regular and obviously packed a bit more punch.  I enjoyed this one – but actually liked the Day game better.

The Day Game beer I enjoyed when baseball was on COVID hiatus and during a Field of Dreams viewing in our house.  Conveniently, I had the Night Game version in September when baseball was back and I was able to watch a night game!

Medium:  I had it from a 16 oz can, I’m sure they also put it out on draft.

How it’s related to baseball:  It’s named after a baseball term!  This is one of 2 beers with this theme.  This one, as the nighttime version, is meant to be drank at night when you don’t need to worry about staying as sober!

Saturdays Suds: Baseball & Beer #81 Sketchbook Day Game

It’s been about a year since I did one of these posts.  I actually timed having this beer with watching Field of Dreams a few weeks ago.

Brewery: Sketchbook Brewing Co. in Evanston, IL

Beer: Day Game

Description:  “Day Game is brewed with Mosaic Hops for bright pineapple and grapefruit flavors and just a touch of Honey for a smooth body and soft honey finish.”

This is a “Midwest” IPA with honey.  It’s got a great balance of bitterness rounded off by that touch of honey – was very enjoyable beer to put down while watching Field of Dreams.

Medium:  I had it from a 16 oz can, I’m sure they also put it out on draft.

How it’s related to baseball:  It’s named after a baseball term!  This is one of 2 beers with this theme.  This one, as the lighter version, is meant to be drank during the day time so you stay a bit sober!

Saturdays Suds: Baseball & Beer #80 Hop Butcher Stealing Signs

It’s been quite a while since I did one of these posts.  And I had this beer so long ago, I kind of forgot I wanted to post about it!  But here we are!

Brewery: Hop Butcher for the World in Chicago, IL

Beer: Stealing Signs

Description:  “Galaxy, Moutere & Simcoe-hopped Double India Pale Ale”

This is a New England Style IPA that is Hop Butcher’s main squeeze for the past ~2 years.  It’s got a creamy mouthfeel and is hoppy without the bitterness.

Medium:  I had it from a 16 oz can, which is about the only way you could get it.  And in the Chicago beer scene, that means it didn’t last long.

How it’s related to baseball:  It’s got a baseball on the logo.  That’s about it!  I think stealing signs has to do with the Moutere hop – they say they were really on top of finding that newer hop to play around with.  And this is the beer they came up with.  It’s a collaboration with Aslin Brewing from Virginia / DC Area.

Saturdays Suds: Baseball & Beer #79 Paw Paw Mr. Sunday

It’s been a long time since I did one of these posts, which is funny because I’d attribute my abandonment of this blog to beer becoming my hobby (and just having kids in general).  But when I see a brew that could fit – well, I’ll buy it, wait a little while to drink it.  And then wait even longer to post about it!

Brewery:  Paw Paw Brewing in Paw Paw, MI

(yes there is a place called Paw Paw Michigan)

Beer:  Mr. Sunday

Description:  “Hopped up amber ale.  Named after Paw hometown hero: Charlie Maxwell.”

It pours an amber color – as you’d expect, though sometimes amber beers are more red than anything – and is more malt than they seem to say.

Medium:  I had it from a 12 oz bottle, but I’m sure you can get it on draft at the brewery or elsewhere locally.

How it’s related to baseball:  Charlie Maxwell is the namesake of the brew.  He was a local to the town of this brewery – he grew up in Paw Paw, Michigan, which is a little west of Kalamazoo.  Charlie eventually made it to the big leagues with the Red Sox, but – you’ve got to love a true homecoming story – made his way home and had his best years in Detroit from 1955-1962.  He made the All-Star team twice (’56 and ’57) and got MVP votes 3 times while with the Tigers.  Maxwell was primarily a Left Fielder and finished his career with 148 homers and 432 RBI in 14 seasons (basically 5 full seasons, 5 half seasons and 4 cups of coffee).

I love stuff life this where a local place pays tribute to a guy who isn’t gonna be in the hall of fame, but for sure is a local legend.  For my hometown that would be Jeff Russell, the former reliever known best for his years with the Rangers.  The beer wasn’t my favorite style, but it was well made and if I ever found myself 20 miles of Kalamazoo I’d be sure to stop by and order a pint.

Saturdays Suds: Baseball & Beer #78 – Goose Island Goatbusters

More Chicago baseball beers.  I kind of forgot about this beer, but Goose Island came out with a beer when the Cubs officially “broke the curse”.  If you know anything about the curse of the Billy Goat – it wasn’t exorcised when the Cubs won the World Series.  That happened when the team made it to the Series.  This beer came out at that point – when the Cubs were playing the Indians.

Brewery: Goose Island Beer Co. in Chicago, IL

The brewery has been 100% owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev since 2011.

Beer:  Goatbusters

Description:  This stout was brewed at the brewpub on Clybourn, which is actually closed right now.  It’s described as having an onyx color, pine and coffee aroma, chocolate and hop resin flavor, toasty finish.  From what I remember, that’s about right.  My wife and I brought the kids down to Wrigley on the Saturday morning before game 4 to get some nice pictures.  We hit the brewpub up for lunch, and I tried this beer.

Medium:  This was only available on draft at the Clybourn brewpub.

How it’s related to baseball:  It’s brewed in honor of the Cubs ending the “Curse of the Billy Goat” when they beat the Dodgers to make the club’s first World Series in 72 years.  It’s also a reference to celebrity fan Billy Murray, who was one of the stars of Ghostbusters.

Saturdays Suds: Baseball & Beer #77 – Hop Butcher Good Ryes Wear Black

Chicago seems to have a lot of baseball specific beers.  I think it’s that Chicago just has a ton of breweries and in the craft beer desire to find as many different themes and logos as you can, you’re bound to have some baseball overlap.  There aren’t nearly as many football beers, though.

Hop Butcher is a pretty small craft brewer.  They don’t even have their own brewery (yet) – they contract brew out of a local place.

Brewery:  Hop Butcher for the World in Chicago, IL

Beer:  Good Ryes Wear Black

Description:  “In Chicago, the good guys wear black, so we dedicated our darkest beer to them. This one is scandalously spicy, built on a foundation of the finest malts and unscrupulously hopped with Chinook, Cascade and Citra. It’s so good you’d think your tongue was on the take.”

Unlike some beers you might expect to find at the ballpark, this one isn’t brewed with corn to be a golden color and filter right through you.  This is a nice, solid, roasty, malty batch of goodness!  Hop Butcher for the World is formerly known as South Loop Brewing; they changed their name about a year ago to have an even cooler Chicago-related brewery name.  This one pays homage to the poem by Carl Sandburg from the early 1900’s (“Hog Butcher of the World).

Medium:  When they were South Loop brewing, I think it was available in 22-ounce “bombers”.  Now they release them in 16-oz cans which I think is a better medium.  I got a 4-pack this summer and just finished my last one.

How it’s related to baseball:  It’s sold at U.S. Cellular Field and has a bunch of old-school baseball players on the logo.  I’m a Reds fan whose kids root for the Cubs, but I appreciate some South-siders staying true to their team!

Saturdays Suds: Baseball & Beer #76 – Pipeworks Goat Collector

Almost 6 years later – this is post #1700 for me.  I used to do something sepcial for these posts, but now only do it every 500 or so.  But I try to point them out if I remember!

Living in Chicago, there was a bunch of celebration surrounding the first win in 100 years.  There were a lot of beers made in that celebration.  Pipeworks, the relatively young craft brewery that has become incredibly popular around these part, joined in.

 

Brewery:  Pipeworks Brewing Co. in Chicago, IL

Beer:  Goat Collector

Description:  “Goat collector doppelbock is getting brewed this Saturday!  We’re taking tomorrow off to go to the Cubs parade!!”  This beer is quite different from the standard beer I’ll do for one of these baseball + beer posts.  It’s a doppelbock, which is a double version of a bock beer.  Which means it’s malty and dark, not hoppy whatsoever.

It’s not a beer you drink at a baseball game.  But it is a beer you can drink in revelry after 108 years of no titles!

I had it; it’s a very nice doppel.  Was a good beer I shared with my wife over dinner.

Medium:  This beer was available in 22-ounce “bombers” throughout Chicago.  You could also find in on tap at certain locations.  I got the bomber.

How it’s related to baseball:  It’s a beer brewed in honor of the Cubs winning the World Series.  And breaking the curse of the billy-goat.  It has goat skulls on the label.