Finch's - Cut Throat Pale Ale

Alright gang, time to shine the spotlight on a local craft brewer that seems to be making big strides every time I hear about them.  I am, of course, referring to Finch's Beer Company located in sunny Chicago.  Now I like this company already for the following reasons:
1.  Umm, hello?  They're out of Chicago.
2.  They involve birds in their labels and I'm sort of a bird watching nerd.
3.  They have a great festival presence and were at both MWBF & SCBF in 2011.
4.  They can their beers.
4.  Their latest can design was in collaboration with another local business, Chicago clothier Threadless (@threadless), and is super cool.

Plus, if you head over to http://www.threadless.com/ right now, they'll give you 50% on purchases $25 or more (through 10am CST, March 30, 2012).  No, I am not being compensated in any way to say this.  I just simply enjoy both companies and wish them a lot of success.

However, I'll try to put these biases aside and give this beer a fair review.  For those curious, this brewer is widening its distribution area every day.  I've seen it in WI & all over IL.  It's worth looking for.  Let's pour!

Aroma 11/12
It begins with a strong piney hop, but isn't afraid to show more.  The malt is a hearty version of a typical pale ale cracker/biscuit variety.  It's a toasted, bready malt with a touch of sweetness that shows enough grain aroma to make you think it might be one of the nice, seed-laden breads in the super market.  Citrus is there right along with it, provided a interesting citrus that I described once as "lymon" and I stand by that call.  It has the bright lemony citrus and is not hard to imagine, but it also has the darker, almost bitter citrus as when one bites into a wedge of lime after a gin & tonic.  It is definitely a different citrus bitter than a grapefruit.  As the beer warms, grassier hop notes arrive, but do not take anything away from the existing bouquet.  They only add to it.

Appearance 3/3
This has the bright, pumpkin-flesh colors that we expect in a pale ale and also a light haze.  The haze is well done as it is present enough to provide some color differentiations, but also light enough to provide a clarity that compliments the colors.  The head was a light rust pastel, almost two fingers worth, leaves little lacing, and had adequate, but not stellar, retention.

Flavor 19/20
There is a brief, but intense, flash of grain and then the palate is awash in bitter grapefruit citrus, which makes up the vast majority of the beer's backbone.  To be fair, the grain doesn't go away completely, but it does take a back seat to the hops and transitions to more of a crackery, traditional pale ale malt.  The hops are not only of grapefruits, but are also somewhat peppery and lend just a slight sour note.  This is a very nice myriad of flavors that all come together wonderfully!  The finish is a return to its grain and grapefruit origins, is remarkably clean, and leaves the mouth very dry.  Usually, that sort of drying is only achieved through a combination of hops and high ABV, but at 5.6% they appear to have done it through hops alone.  I'm hesitant to mention the orange peel notes in this beer (and on its label) because this is not a "orange" beer.  The only telltale sign of the orange is a rather generic citrus note and a definite bitter from the peel.  A quick slurp brings the citrus and what warmth there is rapidly to the surface.

Mouthfeel 5/5
Nothing wrong here.  The mouthfeel is incredibly smooth and substantial, especially for the style.  This is definitely one robust pale ale.  The carbonation is tiny, ample, and does not prick the tongue, again lending to this brew's smooth nature.  A light swish in the mouth yields some additional creaminess.  As mentioned earlier, a quick slurp does bring out some alcohol warmth.  Strange in a 5.6% ABV brew.

Overall Impression 10/10
This is a bruiser of a pale ale.  In its hop content, its hearty grains, its body, and its aroma.  Everything about this makes it a grandiose version of the style.  If you're drinking pale ales for their light, rice cracker malts and hints of citrus, then stay away from this one.  It'll make your eyeballs shoot directly into the bottom of your glass and because you couldn't see that you'd probably end up drinking your own eyeballs.  No one wants that.

Total 48/50
I really tried.  I did.  I went back and looked hard to see if there was anywhere I could deduct points that perhaps my bias had given them unfairly.  Then I realized, I'm biased because I've had this beer before and it was damn tasty.  Guess what?  Still is.  It's a great, big version of the style and if you're looking for subtlety go elsewhere.  If it weren't for the strong, grainy malts this could probably pass as an full-bodied IPA.  As it stands, this instead offers more balance due to its malts and still manages to be very refreshing.  It might be a bit much on a summer scorcher, but cookouts/picnics/4th of July/National Panini Month/Duct Tape Days or whatever it's bound to be a success.  As I've recommended before: buy this, share this, drink this.  It won't let you down and it's gonna be GREAT this summer.  Cheers Finch's!  This is fine work.

Screw City Beer Festival 2011

This is the second of three festivals that I will have attended in under a month.  Needless to say, my wife is a very patient person.  There was a lot going on with this festival and I’ll just start right from the beginning.

A higher quality ticket.  Nice touch.

The Grounds

The grounds were basically a city block in downtown Rockford, IL.  While this does allow for plenty of parking of varying distances, it unfortunately places us in the midst of the asphalt jungle.  We were surrounded by tall older buildings with some pretty neat architectural features which eventually provided great shade as the festival continued into the afternoon.

Since this was held on a city block, the seating was extremely limited.  There were a few bunches of metal patio furniture set up, but I’m not sure of those were courtesy of the festival or if they were the regular offering of the restaurants they were placed in front of.  A handful of circular city benches were also available, but fell far short of accommodating all those needing seating.

As you can see from the photos, tents ran down the center of the street with areas for traffic on the sidewalk and gutter areas.  This didn’t leave a lot of room for moving around.  Or seating.  Or porta potties.  Or shade through the midday hours.  I feel bad mentioning this early and putting a bad spin on the festival, since as a whole I really enjoyed myself, however this was one of my main gripes with the fest.

The Facilities

Bathrooms were 5 porta potties, with one hand sanitizing station located at only one end of the fenced in festival area.  Not really impressive, but the lines were never too long and everybody got along fine.  

This was it.  Less that 15' from the Goose Island booth.

I found ONLY ONE glass/mouth rinsing station which was a kegerator (the type of which one could find online with a crudely taped sign stuck to the front of it.  I found it one hour into the festival and it was already empty.  Boo.

Who thought this was a good idea?  Not up to par.

The tents were large enough to accommodate the featured brewers, and maybe the fest-goers who were immediately being served – that was about it.  Anybody looking for shade was forced to wait until the surrounding tall buildings naturally provided it as the sun set.

The Food

To their credit the food tent was not a tent at all, in fact, it was a half city block adjacent to one end of the festival.  That means plenty of room to browse the different offerings and plenty of room to stand around eating it because there was no seating other than the curb that wasn't taken up by food tents.  Lots of local food vendors were selling their wares from small individual tents/booths.  The selection was good: ribs, a chocolatier (!), brick oven pizza, sausages, cheese curds and a few other local restaurants including the Olympic Tavern.  The only food I had during the fest was from said pizza tent (Woodfire Brick Oven Pizza) and it was fantastic.  They were actually using their hands to mold the dough to the pan, "painting" it with what appeared to be butter on the outer edge, and adding fresh ingredients.  It was extremely tasty.  They also were offering free water and root beer for designated drivers.

Water/root beer table on the right.  Food "pavillion" behind it.

These guys came to play.

The Beer

No complaints here!  For a fest of this size they certainly came to represent and so did their brewers.  Before I even get into the beer, some of the vendors had some pretty cool "accessories" for their booths (notably Left Hand).  Check it out!

A bar light, beers to pour, and tons of merch!  T-shirts, hats,
free temp tattoos, and probably glassware.  I don't recall.

They even brought the cavalry.

Appropriately placed on my left hand.

To the Rogue-mobile!!

In no particular order, here are the vast majority of the beers I sampled and their 2 second review.

1.  Southern Tier - Cuvee Series One:  I had to taste this one twice even if it was extra tickets.  There was so much going on in this big, big, mouth-filling, well-bodied beer that you can't taste it all in one go.  My notes read, "smells AMAZBALLS!  Flavors of oak, cherry.  Perfect warmth, vanilla, brown sugar, syrupy, and carmelized. Wow!"

2.  Stone - 15th Anniversary:  An Imperial BIPA that does the Stone name proud.  I had this at the MWBF and it again did not disapoint.  It smells of earth and pinecones or as I exclaimed in an overly-exicted state perhaps brought on by trace amounts of alcohol, "It smells like the forest floor!"  The taste is earth, pine, toffee, and coffee.  What a brew!

3.  Smuttynose - Older Brown Dog:  Wow did this pour thick and with the color of a burnt honey or a light caramel hue.  An aroma of warmth, vanilla, and oak.  Body and overall tone of a quad or tripel, but without the Belgian leanings.  This beer was earth, molasses, dark fruits, and moderate alcohol.  A BIG beer.

4.  Capital - Autumnal Fire: A very round flavor.  Bigger than a traditional Oktoberfest.  Amazing color, just as the name implies.  I was only disappointed that I don't believe I got the full experience of this beer.  It had Belgian notes in it, but I assume ONLY because I had just had a Goose Island and there were, as aforementioned, a distinct lack of rinsing stations.  I'll have to look around for this on again.

5.  Carlyle Brewing Co. - Vanilla Creme Ale:  This is a local brewer from Rockford and I was excited to try any and/or all of their beers because of the amount of local buzz it generates.  It also has a pretty good look (aka marketing) to it.  Check it out below.  This beer's aroma was ridiculous!  It smelled of cake batter and vanilla.  Wow!  No strong alcohol like Southern Tier's Creme Brulee, just sugary sweet goodness.  The flavor had a hard time living up to such an amazing introduction, though still pretty tasty.  The flavor was much more cream-based and was complimented by a lighter body and low carbonation.

6.  Carlyle Brewing Co. - The New IPA:  A great wet, soapy head on this and a great ocher color.  Lots of resin flavor and bitter.  Light body, low carbonation, crisp, drying, refreshing, and awesome lacing.  Carlyle also earns extra brownie points for being the ONLY brewer at the entire. friggin' festival. to have a tap of just water to rinse out your tasting glass.  Kudos folks.  Thanks for thinking of us.

7.  Carlyle Brewing Co. - Black Walnut Stout:  Doesn't that sound delcious?  It did to me too!  Unfortunately I was let down.  With no real aroma, a light body, light flavor, clean finish, and light bitter this beer could have weighed in as an OK brown, but not a stout.  It was their only beer I was disappointed in.  However, knowing the festival environment can often be less than ideal for a true tasting, I'm more than willing to give this beer a second chance.  The name just sounds too good not too.

8.  Crispin Cider - Fox Barrel Blackberry Pear:  It is everything that its name implies.  An uber-light body and high carbonation make it less of a substantial cider offering.  Its flavor was tasty, straightforward, and sweet but could be quite enjoyable if in the mood for such a thing (and not seeking out whatever imperials the fest had to offer).  I had some sips of their other offerings (Honey Crisp!) procured by my wife that were much better and excellent ciders in general.

My wife disapproves of my observation of how many women
are in line for the cider booth.

9.  Founders - Centennial IPA:  Very citrusy aroma and a great bitter.

10.  Founders - Breakfast Stout: Thick, heavy, with a dark brown head.  Flavors of raw sugar, coffee, and light chocolate.  Wow!  A excellent, sharp, bitter finish.

11.  Galena Brewing Co. - West Coast IPA:  Starts out like a red by being very malty and creamy.  In fact, it has a very complex malt, a light hop finish, and a balanced clean aftertaste.  Not what I would call a West Coast IPA (at all), but that doesn't make it a bad beer.  Just grossly mislabeled.

The folks from Galena educating the masses.

12.  Galena Brewing Co. - Old Uly Oatmeal Stout:  Named after Ulysses S. Grant and his history with the area of Galena, IL, this is a beer of which the general would be proud.  Very earthy, with light chocolate and coffee notes.  This is very tasty and I lament missing this brewery at MWBF all the more.

13.  Gray's Brewing Co. - Oatmeal Stout:  This is a microbrewery out of Janesville, WI.  It's probably no further than 25 minutes from where I was born, so I had to give this hometown brewer a try.  Aroma was light, but smelled like a nutty oatmeal stout.  Nice, even if I do like my stouts a bit more robust.  The flavor was very creamy and not very bitter.  Good body.  Lots of oatmeal in this one, but not so much stout.  I wish I had the opportunity to try more of their beers.

14.  Goose Island - Pere Jacques:  Dupel.  More dark fruit than I remembered or expected, but it is pierced with a bright, but not sour, citrus and caramel.  A very nice blend.

Goose Island was one of VERY few pouring from taps.

15.  Left Hand - Black Jack Porter:  To be honest, this was the first beer I had and it went down waaaaay to quickly.  I remember it being good.  I remember coffee.  That is all.

16.  Metropolitan Brewing Co. - : Krankshaft Kolsch:  Big aroma, a bit drier, but it smells of apples and is crisp and bright.  Not cidery at all.  The flavor is of mellow malt, not sweet, fairly grainy with an ever light citrus.  Well carbonated and with a clean, dry finish.

On a side note, this is a brewery from Chicago and I absolutely love their look.  It is a very industrial theme, allows from some great labels, and well... oh look for yourself!  They have their taps flowing through a robot for Pete' sake!

17. Potosi – Black IPA: Aroma is piney and light citrus. Flavor is char, resin, and a light, nice bitter finish that is slightly drying.

18. Samuel Adams – Imperial Stout: Lots of chocolate, vanilla/caramel, and a little alcohol with an authentic coffee finish and THEN a pronounced bitter. This was very good and one of the reasons that all the people who pooh-pooh Samuel Adams for being too big are ridiculous. It’s not about the size of the brewer, people. It’s all about the beer.

I'd easily recommend this to a friend.  Craft beer drinker or not.

19. Samuel Adams – Cream Stout: Not creamy like an oatmeal stout, it is more cream-as-in-a-cream-ale type cream. This makes it sweeter than expected and with an odd bite for a stout. This is one of the beers that I wish I had a better environment to give it a true, in-depth tasting. 

20. Smuttynose - Pumpkin: Spiced, delicate pumpkin. In that order. Far from overdone with a nice bitter. 

21. Southern Tier – Pumking: Smells MUCH sweeter and creamier than other pumpkin seasonals. It is also less spicy, but offers more pumpkin flavors. Not pumpkin sweetness, just actual pumpkin flavor.

22. Lost Abbey – Inferno: This is their Golden Ale and it is a duzey! It has lighter Belgian tones than expected in a golden strong ale, but THEN comes a flavor like a banana crème. It is accompanied by a great carbonation, a little sour, and a little warmth. There is an unusual, awesome, balancing bitter. Almost hints of champagne! Very neat and I need to find this one again.

22. Finch’s – Cut Throat IPA: Aroma of crisp citrus. Flavor? Fresh. Wow! Lots of pine and “lymon.” For those of you unfamiliar with lymon, I strongly suggest that you go watch some old Sprite commercials (not that this beer tastes like Sprite at all).  Go find this and drink it.

And they distribute in cans!  Awesome.

23. Founders – Kentucky Breakfast Stout: I saved this one for last for a reason. This is the first time that I have had KBS. The worst part is I don’t even live that far from Michigan (relatively)! It was served in bottles and after all its hub-bub, rarity, clamor, and high rankings on various lists I was very ready to get my hands on some.

The line for KBS.

It stretched alongside the fence for a ways as well.

I finally found it.

Luckily, I was in front of the line as I got there 20 minutes before the pour time, and my wait time was not in vain. This beer is ridiculous delicious! A strong aroma of coffee and cocoa are only a hint of what is to come. The flavor is incredibly complex. It is also a very big beer without being overwhelming. It was sip after sip of cocoa, molasses, raw sugar, warmth, and toffee. My note reads, “AMAZballs blend.” Each flavor flowing into and complimenting the next. The finish is coffee, boozy, walnuts, and an espresso bitter. As it lingers in the mouth it becomes more nutty, but still shows its coffee roots and a moderate bitter. I can finally check this off of my list of “beers I must try” and I couldn’t be happier about that.

I was a little excited.

Ready to snatch it.

Miscellaneous

These observations don't really fit into any other category, but I felt they were worth mentioning.  Some the fest had control over, some it didn't.

1.  "The Line"  This was one of the things the fest should've had control over, but didn't.  When entering the fest at almost the exact start time, the line was already stretched back 2 city blocks.  Check it out.

See the awnings in this photo?  They're important later.

Now do you see the awnings?  Yeah, it went on even further.

Not only was the line huge, but there were TWO of them, with the one on the left being much shorter.  Why weren't more people in that line?  No one really knew.  It's because there weren't any signs.  No line knew exactly what they were waiting for unless, like me, you walked to the front to ask what the heck was going on.  Some people waiting in one line, only to be told that upon reaching the front that they needed to be in the other line.  They waited in line twice.  Long lines.  People were not happy.  This lack of signage was also notable when trying to find fest designated parking or the fest itself in downtown Rockford.  Sure, most people have lived there their whole lives, but I haven't been back to the downtown Rockford area in quite some time and some signage would have been appreciated.

This was the "shorter" line.

2.  The people.  This is one of the things that the fest had no say over.  While in Rockford I did happen to catch some old friends from high school and my wife found a friend from college.  How cool!?  It's just little surprises like that that help make things a little more... fun.  I struck up conversations with lots of folks there and was very pleased with all of the interactions.  There's a reason they say that "Craft beer people are good people."  I even got to meet Matt from BeerDownload.com, though like a mythical Sasquatch, I was not able to snap a photo quickly enough.

Impromptu Hononegah High School Reunion

Impromptu Chi Alpha Pi reunion

3.  The Homebrewing Tent.  This thing had quite the extensive spread of beer ingredients for people to smell, sample, and learn about.  They also had plenty of books and education pamphlets - they're not just for the school nurse anymore.

4.  The middle of a great day.  This is definitely not something that the festival could not have controlled.  In full disclosure, this festival fell right in the middle of a perfect day.  In the morning I went early season goose hunting with my dad and an old friend, I then went to a beer festival with my wife (not every guy has a wife that wants to go), and then I visited with my parents, had an amazing dinner, and then fell asleep in front of a bonfire with a New Glarus beer on an brisk fall night with a bright, full moon.  Perfect.

Suggestions

1. Commandeer the waterfront park. Perhaps I don’t understand the logistics of holding a festival (a distinct possibility as I have never thrown one), or maybe it just was reserved already, but Rockford has a waterfront park where they regularly hold festivals including their “On the Waterfront” summer music fest and it would have been, from what I remember, a much more preferable location. I’m not sure how it would be easier to get a city to cordon off several city blocks, but not have a festival in a park. Parking for either would be ample, but holding the fest in the waterfront park would have remedied many of the issues that, while not the utter downfall of the fest, made it less pleasant: space, seating (even grass), shade from occasional trees.

2. The Lines.  Fix 'em.  More people manning the gates during the opening time and....

3. The signage.  How about some parking signs?  Signs to designate which line I need to stand in?  Those would be helpful

4. Better facilities. This should read, "more porta-potties, a hand-washing station, more trash cans, and more than one depleted, hastily labeled rinsing station," but that wouldn't be a nice concise bullet point, now would it?

All in all, this was a pretty awesome fest and the gripes that I have don't take away from the fact that there were more beers there than I could try, the brewers that came brought their game faces, the food was tasty and unique, the weather was pretty perfect, and the price was low for general admission tickets ($25).  I'd definitely go back next year (it HAS already been scheduled) and with their open solicitation of patron feedback, I'm sure next year will be even better!  Cheers SCBF folks! 

Find it on Facebook!

Midwest Brewers Fest 2011

Quality ticket!  Even moreso than most minor league sports teams.
This is like NFL-grade tickets!

I don't how else to start out except saying that this beer fest was amazing.  It seems like everything was planned for, thought of, and somehow miraculously executed.  The devil is in the details after all...  Since it has been almost a week  since this happened all my short term memories have worn off as has the exact order of the day. All I have to go on are pictures, impressions, and notes from my complimentary beer tasting book.  It should be more than enough.

The first thing you see when you walk in are tents.  Huge, white, nicer-looking tents and they're lined up probably a good quarter mile.  These are not just tents that the brewers are under, these are tents that the brewers are centered underneath and that the samplers also get to go under to escape the ridiculously gorgeous weather.

The flow from the entrance puts you right into the tents and the day starts immediately.  My day happened to start with Stone 15th Anniversary Imperial BIPA.  It was a sign of things to come.

I had to stop and try it (despite my best judgement about not stopping at the first tent) and it did not let me down.  However, I could not dawdle.  There were amazing craft beers to be drank and I was just the man for the job.  Before I go into a ton of different beers though, allow me to talk about the different aspects of the festival and how fantastic they were.

The Grounds
This was basically set in a forest preserve.  I know it wasn't really, but you could've fooled me if it were not for its close proximity to some train tracks and the rest of the Chicago burbs.  It was a massive grassy clearing with the aforementioned white tents down the middle.

This looks toward the entrance. VIP tent on the right.  Could this
weather have been any more gorgeous?!

Enjoying the grounds with accessorized hops.

Lining the right hand border of the grounds were porta-potties about every 40 yards, each "station" even had its own hand washing station.  Sure, that seems like common sense, but I have been to events/concerts/etc that do not have them and I always appreciate them when they are there.  The left border of the grounds is a river with picnic tables stationed here and there.  Not only did they have seating, but I didn't have to bring it myself, nor pay extra for it, it was scenic and (except during midday) shaded!  I am pleased beyond words at this.

Taking full advantage of the free seating.

The Facilities
I have already discussed the abundance of porta-potties, hand-washing stations, and shade-giving white tents so I won't rehash them here even if it would have been more appropriate to list them in this section.  On thing I have not mentioned are the kegs of water.  Yes, that's what I said.  There were four kegs of water located near the corners of each tent for rinsing of tasting glasses, palates, and for hydrating on this sunny day (jokes about Miller Lite kegs were abundant).  The food tent also had plenty of room for seating and navigating.  Halfway down the river side of the festival was also a cigar tent/area manned by Burning Leaf Cigars (www.burningleafcigarsonline.com).  They were selling some really good cigars, providing all the classic cigar stores services (cuts, lights, etc), and had roped off seating for the smoking the cigars you just purchased.  Even though you were only supposed to smoke cigars in that area, people were walking around with them outside of the disgnated area (its outside, so no big deal), but the smokers never seemed to wander in the tents where others might be effected.  This theme of common courtesy and mutual amicability seemed to rule the day.  I smoked a Pinar del Rio on their recommendation and did not regret it.

There was even had a Homebrewers tent which featured tutorials on brewing and some people's actual homebrews.  This tent was packed throughout the day and it was only toward the end of the day that I fought through the crowd so I wouldn't miss out on this neat opportunity for homebrewers and future homebrewers alike.

Remember how I mentioned the tents were plenty spacious inside, so as to give shade to the brewers AND the fest-goers?  Check it out.

Stone Brewing was in one of the very first tents.

Limestone was in a tent with TONS of other local
Chicago microbrewers.  An awesome tent!!

Some folks from Mendocino.  Frank (white polo) of Mendocino was one
of the friendliest folks manning a booth that day.

Chi-town folks were plenty chatty too!  Good work.

This booth got a TONS of buzz (pun not intended) as the
fest went continued.  They had some amazing varieties of
mead and it was EXTREMELY well made.

5 Rabbit, another Chicago microbrewer, had a very neat
passionfruit beer.  Trust me.

Head Brewer of Big Muddy Chuck Stuhrenberg manning
his own booth.  They had $10 shirts and free temporary tattoos!

Yet another Chicago microbrewery.  Awesome.

Headbrewer Pete/Pedro (beard) at the Haymarket Brewing
table.  Probably my favorite brewery at the fest!

Food
The food tent was just as spacious as the rest of the fest and had more than enough seating both in the shade of the tent itself or by the river.  Whole Foods showed up and donated a bunch of food!  They were handing it out to everyone that entered the food tent.  What were they handing out?

Just chocolate covered bacon is all.  Eventually, the chocolate must have been running low and they started just drizzling it.  Also, eventually they ran out of bacon and switched to hot dogs.  I know it sounds gross, but keep in mind the following 1) This is Whole Foods.  They don't have $0.99 hotdogs.  These are like big ol' ballpark hot dogs.  2)  How is it that different from bacon?  Either way it is sweet and salty and smoky meat.  Needless to say, we walked past a few times.  Overall, food was not expensive by any stretch but was amazing.  My vote for best food booth goes to the folks at Gilbert's Craft Sausages who were serving up sausages with clever names like "Oui-sconsin" (beef smoked sausage with bleu cheese), the Shebeergan (beer brat), and the Catalana (pork, mozzarella,chipotle, & lime).  I know the last one doesn't have a clever name, but look at all that stuff in the brat.  Not "on the brat" or "served on the side."  All those flavors were inside the sausage and it was fantastic.

The Beer
What a friggin' lineup!  For an established beer festival this would have been a great selection.  As a first-year foray into the burgeoning world of festivals, this was nothing short of spectacular.  56 different brewers and many were from the Chicago area and its surrounding suburbs.  Here is what I can testify to:

1.  5 Rabbit Cerveceria - 5 Lizard:  Aroma like a pink starburst.  Flavor is sour passionfruit with a bit of citrus.  Lots of carbonation and a sweet finish

2.  5 Rabbit Cereveceria - Golden Ale:  About as I expected.  Light.  Though I did try it much later in the day.  After a lot of bigger beers, its subtleties may have been lost on me.

3. Brickstone Brewery - Hop Sinner:  Aroma of caramel & citrus hop.  Flavor is complex and has brown sugar, rye, and a pine citrus hop.  This is nicely balanced, has a defined hop profile, a moderate bitter, and is a bit on the sweet side.  Very nice!  This beer was so tasty I felt compelled to buy one of their moderately priced glasswares.

4.  Big Muddy Brewing - Big Muddy Monster:  According to Head Brewer Chuck Stuhrenberg this beer sells so well that they're not able to distribute it like they are their other beers.  Lots of red malts and a sudden, almost coffee-ish bitter.  India Brown Ale?  Good work IL craft brewer!

5.  Chicago Beer Company - Windy City Wheat:  A lighter version of the style.  It's plenty crisp, coriander notes, and a little banana in the finish.

6.  Clown Shoes - Clementine Witbier:  Light, crisp, not overly done or syrupy in the least.  A wonderful blend of a bright tangerine and the creaminess of the witbier.

7.  Finch's Beer Co. - Sapsucker:  Another up and coming Chicago microbrewery!  This was red with a nice hop bitter.  There was no real distinct rye flavors, but this was another bright, crisp, refreshing beer on a day that suited it perfectly.

8.  Flossmoor Station - Hopfenweizen:  Aroma of banana and pine (wow!).  Flavors of dark banana, bitter notes.  Great head retention!  Really need blend of flavors that don't usually get put together.  Well done!  Of course, they're from IL.

9.  Emmett's Brewing Co. - Pale Ale:  Classic.  Bitter.  Refreshing.  Flavorful. Representing IL.

10.  Goose Island - Marisol:  Previously only available at the Frontera Grill (despite rumors of future bottling).  This smells of Belgian yeast, strong florals, and vanilla.  Body is lighter than expected and beer is well-carbonated.  Flavor is citrus, apples, and Belgian yeast with a finish of lemon and oak.

11.  Haymarket - Mathias Imperial IPA:  This brewery has been open 7-8 months after their Brewmaster Pete started his own brewery after working at another.  If these beers are any indication, these guys are going to be huge.  This beer was argued by many to be the "Best of Show."  This beer was amazingly rich, with caramel malt and a hoppy pine that flowed seamlessly back and forth between each other.  They were perfect compliments and this was a superior beer. IL owned and operated

12.  Haymarket - BUK:  This is a black rye bock full of dark cocoa, dark roast malt (with a slightly lighter body than expected for the color), and a lite rye that wasn't tangy, but a neat bitter/sweet blend.

13. Limestone Brewing Co. - Springbrook Honey Heather Ale: Honey & floral flavors (duh), but with woody notes and fairly crisp.  A heavier body contrasting the lighter flavors, but not in an unpleasant way.  More IL goodness.

14.  Mendocino Brewing - Imperial IPA:  Not too big with a nice balance.

Frank broke this out for us from behind the table.
I was glad that he did.

15.  Mendocino Brewing - White Hawk IPA:  Apples, soapy head, cracker malt, and citrus.

16.  Brewery Ommegang - BPA:  Very interesting.  Maybe not my cup of tea, but classic elements of each are easily discernible.

17.  Revolution Brewing Co. - Eugene:  Helluva porter.  Not a heavy version of the style, but lots of muddy chocolate and a drying finish.  Extra brownie points for bad ass tap handles and being from Chicago.

18.  Stone Brewing Co. - 15th Anniversary BIPA:  Grapefruit, bitter, coffee, and a delicious dark brown head.  This was easily a top 5 beer of the fest.  These guys were also cool enough to take out a growler of BPA from underneath the table, but I neglected to take notes on it because I was geeking out with some fellow bloggers about it.

19.  Two Brothers Brewing Co. - Robust Porter:  Chocolate, smokey, and smooth.  A suburban favorite brewer.

20.  Uinta Brewing Co. - Punk'n:  Not as sweet as other pumpkin varieties.  Lots of balance and carbonation.  Lightly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.

21.  Wild Onion Brewing Co. - Jack Stout:  Brownie points for being distributed in cans.  Lots of sweet malt, chocolate, toffee with a molasses finish and a lighter bitter for the style.  Finally distributing on the west side of IL.

22.  B. Nektar Meadery - Barrel Aged Dry Cyser:  I don't get much experience with meads, but after this I may have to seriously rethink that.  This drink was mature, honey, light tannins, and a finish of vanilla oak.  My brief notes, literally say "WOW!"  Plus the selection that they brough along was ridiculous!  He had no less than 8 varieties of his wares.  Please see the picture of this guy pouring it up in the "Facilities" section of this post.  He was talking it up, educating drinkers (including myself), and I'm pretty sure soaking up the excitement that his product was generating.  Toward the end you could barely approach this table because of the crowd!

The People
I saved the best for last.  Thankfully, I was able to attend with good friends and fortunate to make some new ones.  In an impromptu fashion, a meeting was arranged in the Twitterverse between several bloggers.  Around 3:30 we all agreed to meet up with Jason of TGBOAT at the Craft Beer 101 tent to meet in real life for the first time.  What a cool sensation to finally meet some of the people behind the avatars and website banners!  Lots of warm greetings, introductions, hand shaking, and laughs were shared.  It was like meeting old friends despite them being only the newest kind.  I don't know how I didn't cross paths with some (I'm looking at you theperfectlyhappyman, and Lance!), but the ones I did have the pleasure of meeting made the last half the fest truly memorable.  Nik of Chicago Beer Geeks,Wes from TGBOAT, and I definitely made the most of the last few hours of the fest laughing like idiots, trying to use up copious amounts of drink tickets, sharing beer opinions, and soaking up the last few drops of a beautiful day.

My l337 craft beer drinking crew for the day.

Craft Beer 101 tent

People meeting more people IRL.

Wes from TGBOAT manning the tent.

More of the l33t crew and the one who has to tolerate
me the most.

Having a great time toward the end of the day with
friends and extraneous hand gestures.

These two random dudes came up and gave me all their
tickets as they were leaving.  Their exact words, "Well, you're
smoking a cigar and wearing a New Glarus shirt.  We
figure they're in good hands."

In case you couldn't tell, I enjoyed myself immensely at this fest and cannot wait to return in any number of subsequent years.  The organizers put on one helluva good time and if you missed it, be ready for next year.  This thing can only get bigger and better.

I'd like to make a joke about blurry vision and leaving
a beer festival, but I in no way like to joke about drunk
driving.  Sorry to pee on your corn flakes.