Tonight starts the Urbana Sweetcorn Festival. It'll go from 5 to 11 pm tonight. Tomorrow is runs from11am to 11 pm. Headliner tonight is the Feudin' Hillbillies tomorrow night is Soul Asylum (the Runaway Train people).
Seven Saints
Bells Poolside Two Brother's Hop Juice
Wednesday: Whiskey Wednesday Scotch
Beer class again returns Sept. 9 at 10pm, $10
Radio Maria
1. Founders Cerise $4 2. Jolly Pumpkin Calablaza Blanca $8 3. Anchor Liberty $4 4. Bells HopSlam IPA $5 5. Arcadia HopMouth $5 6. New Holland Mole Ocho $6 7. Founders Breakfast Stout $5 8. Dark Horse Pam's Kitchen $4.5 9. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout $8 10.Ommegang 3 Philosophers $6 11.Avery Seventeen Anniversary $5 12.Founders Old Curmudgeon $5 13.Delirium Dark Brown $6 14.Mikkeller Centennial IPA $6 15.Brasserie Blanche de Bruxelles $5 16.North Coast Old No. 38 $4 17.North Coast Old Rasputin $6 18.Two Brothers Hoppy Public Domaine $4.5 19.Victory Storm King $5 20.Brewdog Bashah $6 21.Victory Hop Devil $4 22.Great Divide Hercules IIPA $6 23.North Coast Scrimshaw Pils $4 24.Dark Horse Perkulator Coffee Dopplebock $5 25.New Holland Night Tripper $6 26.Kapuziner Weissbeir $5 27.PBR $2.25
Friday: Happy Hour with free appetizers 4:30 - 5:30; beer special, tbd; DJ at 10pm Saturday: $6 John Daly's, Salsa Night at 10. Sunday: $2 wells, $1.25 PBR Monday: 25% off bottles of wine; Board Game Monday; Softball Beer Specials Tuesday: 1/2 price wine by the glass Wednesday: $1 off all beers on draft; Frankly Wednesdays: All Frank Sinatra and Rat Pack every Wednesday late night Thursday:$5 Mojitos, Caipirinhas, and Brazilian Cosmos; Open Decks: local dj's perform.
September 20: Goose Island Beer Dinner, 6pm, $50, 4 courses 5 beers including a vertical of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
October 3: German Wine Dinner, 6pm
Blind Pig
Port Brewing Summer Pale Ale; San Marcos, California, American Pale Ale, 5.2% abv Anderson Valley Anniversary Imp. IPA; Boonville, CA, Imperial IPA, 8.7% abv North Coast Old Rasputin; Fort Bragg, California, Imperial Stout, 9% abv Founder’s Reds Rye; Grand Rapids, Michigan, Specialty Grain, 6.6% abv Southern Tier Crème Brulee; Lakewood, New York, Imperial Stout, 9.2% abv Unibroue Blanche de Chambly; Canada, Belgian White, 5% abv Two Brother’s Resistance IPA; Warrenville, Illinois, India Pale Ale, 6.9% abv Duchesse de Bourgogne; Belgium, Sour Ale, 6.2% abv Fuller’s London Pride; England, Premium Bitter, 4.7% abv Delirium Tremens; Belgium, Belgian Strong Ale, 8.5% abv Blue Moon; Golden, Colorado, Belgian White, 5.4% abv Kostritzer; Germany, Schwarzbier, 4.8% abv Stella Artois; Belgium, Pale Lager, 5.2% abv Pabst Blue Ribbon; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Pale Lager, 5% abv Rogue Dead Guy; Newport, Oregon, Heller Bock, 6.6% Celis White; Belgium, Belgian White, 5% abv Bells Oberon; Kalamazoo, Michigan, Wheat Ale, 6% Lagunitas IPA; Petaluma, California, India Pale Ale, 5.7% abv Left Hand Polestar Pilsner; Longmont, Colorado, Pilsener, 5.5% Affligem Tripel; Belgium, Abbey Tripel, 8.5% abv Original Sin Hard Cider; New York, New York, Cider, 6% abv St. Louis Framboise; Belgium, Lambic, 4.5% abv Belhaven Scottish; Scotland, Bitter, 3.9% Guinness; Dublin, Ireland, Dry Stout, 4.1% abv
Blind Pig Brewery (the Piglet)
Blind Pig Hard Cider Blind Pig Porter Blind Pig Belgian Tripel Blind Pig Belgian Pale Ale Schlafly Pilsner; Maplewood, Missouri, Pilsener, 4.9% abv Dark Horse Amber; Marshall, Michigan, Amber Ale, 5.5% abv Rogue Chipotle; Newport, Oregon, Spice Ale, 5.5% abv Founder's Porter; Grand Rapids, Michigan, Porter, 6.5% abv Arcadia Cereal City; Battle Creek, Michigan, Bitter, 4.2% abv Two Brother’s Ebel’s Weiss; Warrenville, IL, German Hefeweizen, 4.9% abv Petrus Aged Pale; Belgium, Sour Ale, 7.3% abv Green Flash Hop Head Red; Vista, California, Amber Ale, 6.4% New Belgium Ranger IPA; Fort Collins, Colorado, India Pale Ale, 6.5% abv Guinness; Ireland, Dry Stout, 4.1% abv
Sunday: Trivia Night; 7-9pm, win gift cards
Crane Alley
PBR 4.7% Guinness 4.2% Port Brewing Hop-15 9.7% Boulder Mojo IPA 6.8% Erdinger Hefe Weizen 5.3% Great Divide Oak Aged Chocolate Yeti 9.5% Founders Old Curmudgeon 9.8% North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner 4.4% Great Divide St Bridgets Porter 5.9% Bells Poolside Cherry Wheat 5.1% Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Ale 5.5% Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale 6.7% Unibroue Ephemere Apple 5.5% Southern Tier Pale Ale 6.0% Jolly Pumpkin Lucienarga 6.5% Victory Golden Monkey 9.5%
Weekend Specials for August 27th
Ossetra Caviar - Black River Caviar’s “Wild Raised” Ossetra Sturgeon roe, crème fraiche, chive and new potato. $18.95
Hanger Steak - Grilled hanger steak, thin sliced and served on toasted Mirabelle batard with gorgonzola cheese, carmelized onions and oven roasted portabella mushrooms. Served with fries or your choice of side. $9.95
Vegetable Lasagna - Roasted squash, zucchini, red onions and portabella mushrooms layered in pasta with melted mozzarella cheese and hearty marinara. With romano, fresh herbs and garlic toast. $12.95
Black Dog Smoke and Ale House
Tommyknocker Hop Strike Scrimshaw Pilsner Port Brewing Hop 15 New Holland imperial Hatter Summit India Rye Ale Left Hand Milk Stout
Mike N' Molly's
Founders Breakfast Stout Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree JollyPumpkinCalabaza Blanca Port Brewing Summer Pale Ale Rogue John's Locker Stock Glen Ale Blanche de Bruxelles
Mark your calendars
Friday, Saturday: Bruegala, Interstate Center, Bloomington
Centennial is an aroma-type cultivar, bred in 1974 and released in 1990. The genetic composition is 3/4 Brewers Gold, 3/32 Fuggle, 1/16 East Kent Golding, 1/32 Bavarian and 1/16 unknown.
A relatively new hop on the market, this hop used to be called CFJ90. Described by some as a "Super Cascade" and we tend to agree, but it's not nearly as "citrusy". Some even use it for aroma as well as bittering. Bitterness is quite clean and can have floral notes depending on the boil time. (alpha acid: 9.5-11.5% / beta acid: 4.0-5.0%)
At Radio it's served in a chalice for $6. It's a dark brown, with a quickly dissipating head. However the remaining foam clings well to the glass (both a function of the beer and of a clean glass). It's opaque. It also appears to have some things in it that add to the opacity, it doesn't look like yeast, or anything that would be wrong, it just looks like it's unfiltered.
It smells woody and sweet. I didn't get a citrus or pine aroma. I got wood. It wasn't completely an industrial arts class in highschool smell, but there was wood.
It felt thick, almost a wee bit syrupy. Additionally, it seemed too cold. (A function of the cooler). I allowed the beer to warm up a bit, and that produced even more of a woody smell.
It tasted oaky, sweet, and then bitter. It wasn't piney or citrusy. The hops provided... bitter. If you were going to make a homebrew and wanted something to provide bitterness, this would be a good one for it. As you see from the hops guide, it does have a large amount of alpha acids, that contribute to the bitterness.
It was a damn fine beer. It was both mouth watering from the initial sweetness, then drying from the bitterness.
I'm going to need to try it again (probably at Crane Alley) to see if it's always this woody. I expected more pine, although citrus should be more evident (after reading more about the hops).
But despite the advantages of a campus bar’s out-and-out collegiate atmosphere, downtown is the better place for drinking. The selection of draft beers is far more varied and enticing downtown. Foreign and craft brews, or even a house brew, can be had. Of campus bars, only Murphy’s approaches the same kind of wide selection.
...
The cash-strapped college student may be wary of the more expensive drinks, but this is nothing to fret about. The final tab often comes out the same, as downtown is a place to enjoy fewer, but better, drinks. To use the over-used idiom, quality over quantity.
You will get more flavor from a $5 Founders Breakfast Stout (at Radio Maria) than you will get from $5 worth of Bud Light. You will probably also get drunk quicker. Since the intended audience for this piece is the college student, they probably don't know that even though it's a pint, it's a sipping (not a chugging) beer. Chug two of those for $10 and you will have a long walk back to campus.
Downtown’s biggest advantage is its character. Though small, downtown is a cozy area that manages to be at once urban and small-town. With the assorted brick buildings and the few streets of cafes, music shops and bars, downtown feels more like a genuine social environment. It is in downtown that an inkling occurs — just an inkling — of the idea that Champaign just might be a city after all.
This opinion was written by Charles Tabb. (oddly, there seem to be two Charles Tabb's on facebook at U of I, one is a law professor, the other is a student. This was probably written by the student). I dislike like the end of the previous paragraph.
In this opinion piece, Mr. Tabb, propagates the myth of Ben Franklin.
Maybe Benjamin Franklin had 2010 college students in mind (maybe) when he famously said, “Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
Ben Franklin never said that. Benjamin Franklin liked wine.
Dr. Franklin was, however, a wine drinker, and he wrote--
We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy. The miracle in question was only performed to hasten the operation, under circumstances of present necessity, which required it. --Letter to Abbé Morellet (1779)
Ultimately, students choose campus bars or downtown bars based on what they’re looking for. This much is obvious. We can get the excess and the easy socialization on campus. But for those of us seeking a better aura and setting, as well as happier taste buds, downtown is the ideal way to booze for an evening.
This he gets right.
So, students, if you want good beer and good mixed drinks, come downtown. When you finish spending your parents money, you might come looking for a job there.
Buvons, the wine bar adjacent to the Corkscrew Wine Emporium in Urbana, is now open.
For the last few weekends, the Corkscrew has been holding its wine tastings in the new space and it officially opened the wine bar last weekend.
I was in there a couple of weeks ago, right before it opened, and the place looks really cool. Well, it did before it was open.
At Buvons, patrons can order wine by the glass or the bottle. Fourteen wines will be available, including six whites, six reds, a sparkler and a sweet. Every six weeks, staff members will change the offerings, but they'll always have the best-selling white and red available, said Nick Bland, manager and co-owner of the Corkscrew.
There are signs for it around town now, including a large one on University Avenue.
The name Buvons, which means "Let's drink" or "We drink" in French, was suggested by a French friend of the owner, Geoff Bland.
...
Buvons, at 203 N. Vine St., can be reached at 337-7704. It's open from 4 to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Two Brother's Hop Juice (will go on after the Rogue is gone)
Radio Maria
1. Founders Cerise $4 2. Jolly Pumpkin Calablaza Blanca $8 3. Anchor Liberty $4 4. Bells HopSlam IPA $5 5. Arcadia HopMouth $5 6. New Holland Mole Ocho $6 7. Founders Breakfast Stout $5 8. Dark Horse Pam's Kitchen $4.5 9. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout $8 10.Ommegang 3 Philosophers $6 11.Avery Seventeen Anniversary $5 12.Founders Old Curmudgeon $5 13.Delirium Dark Brown $6 14.Mikkeller Centennial IPA $6 15.Brasserie Blanche de Bruxelles $5 16.North Coast Old No. 38 $4 17.North Coast Old Rasputin $6 18.Two Brothers Hoppy Public Domaine $4.5 19.Victory Storm King $5 20.Brewdog Bashah $6 21.Victory Hop Devil $4 22.Great Divide Hercules IIPA $6 23.North Coast Scrimshaw Pils $4 24.Dark Horse Perkulator Coffee Dopplebock $5 25.New Holland Night Tripper $6 26.Kapuziner Weissbeir $5 27.PBR $2.25
Friday: Happy Hour with free appetizers 4:30 - 5:30; beer special, tbd; DJ at 10pm Saturday: $6 John Daly's, Salsa Night at 10. Sunday: $2 wells, $1.25 PBR Monday: 25% off bottles of wine; Board Game Monday; Softball Beer Specials Tuesday: 1/2 price wine by the glass Wednesday: $1 off all beers on draft; Frankly Wednesdays: All Frank Sinatra and Rat Pack every Wednesday late night Thursday:$5 Mojitos, Caipirinhas, and Brazilian Cosmos; Open Decks: local dj's perform.
Saturday: Radio Maria Art Fair, 10am, showcasing local artists, running the same as the Downtown Festival of the Arts.
September 20: Goose Island Beer Dinner, 6pm, $50, 4 courses 5 beers including a vertical of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
October 3: German Wine Dinner, 6pm
Blind Pig
Cask: Summit Oatmeal Stout
Moylan’s Hopgarten Pilsner; Novato, California, Pilsener, 4.5% abv Anderson Valley Brother David’s Double; Boonville, CA, Abbey Dubbel, 9% abv Monk’s Cafe; Belgium, Sour Ale, 5.5% abv Avery Anniversary 17; Boulder, Colorado, Schwarzbier, 8.69% abv Southern Tier Mokah; Lakewood, New York, Imperial Stout, 10.9% abv Unibroue Maudite; Canada, Belgian Strong Ale, 8% abv Victory HopDevil; Downington, Pennsylvania, India Pale Ale, 6.7% abv Tommyknocker Hop Strike Black IPA; Idaho Springs, CO, Black IPA, 7% abv Fuller’s London Pride; England, Premium Bitter, 4.7% abv Delirium Tremens; Belgium, Belgian Strong Ale, 8.5% abv Blue Moon; Golden, Colorado, Belgian White, 5.4% abv Lagunitas A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’; Petaluma, CA, India Pale Ale, 7.3% abv Stella Artois; Belgium, Pale Lager, 5.2% abv Pabst Blue Ribbon; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Pale Lager, 5% abv Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar; Newport, Oregon, Brown Ale, 6.22% Celis White; Belgium, Belgian White, 5% abv Bells Oberon; Kalamazoo, Michigan, Wheat Ale, 6% Lagunitas IPA; Petaluma, California, India Pale Ale, 5.7% abv Breckenridge Regal Pilsner; Denver, Colorado, Pilsener, 7.7% Affligem Tripel; Belgium, Abbey Tripel, 8.5% abv Original Sin Hard Cider; New York, New York, Cider, 6% abv St. Louis Framboise; Belgium, Lambic, 4.5% abv Belhaven Scottish; Scotland, Bitter, 3.9% Guinness; Dublin, Ireland, Dry Stout, 4.1% abv
Blind Pig Brewery (the Piglet)
Blind Pig Hard Cider Blind Pig Belgian Tripel Blind Pig Belgian Pale Ale Schlafly Pilsner; Maplewood, Missouri, Pilsener, 4.9% abv Bell’s Amber; Kalamazoo, Michigan, Amber Ale, 6% abv Rogue Chipotle; Newport, Oregon, Spice Ale, 5.5% abv Founder's Porter; Grand Rapids, Michigan, Porter, 6.5% abv Arcadia Cereal City; Battle Creek, Michigan, Bitter, 4.2% abv Two Brother’s Ebel’s Weiss; Warrenville, IL, German Hefeweizen, 4.9% abv St. Bernardus Abt. 12; Belgium, Quadrupel, 10.5% abv Moylan’s Hopsickle; Novato, California, Imperial IPA, 9.2% Sierra Nevada Pale Ale; Chico, California, American Pale Ale, 5% abv Guinness; Ireland, Dry Stout, 4.1% abv
Sunday: Trivia Night; 7-9pm, win gift cards
Crane Alley
PBR 4.7% Guinness 4.2% Two Brothers Hop Juice IPA 9.9% Mikkeller Centennial Single Hop IPA 6.9% Erdinger Hefe Weizen 5.3% Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast Stout 7.5% Founders Old Curmudgeon 9.8% North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner 4.4% Nogne O Porter 7.0% Bells Poolside Cherry Wheat 5.1% Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Ale 5.5% Green Flash IPA 7.3% Westons Stowfford Press Cider 4.5% Green Flash 30th St Pale Ale 6.0% Affligem Abbey Blonde 6.8% Victory Golden Monkey 9.5%
Weekend Specials for August 20th
Tonight’s Specials
Shrimp Romesco Crostini - Two pieces of garlic toast served with jumbo tiger shrimp, housemade sauce Romesco and mesculin mixed field greens $8.95
Chicken Satay - Marinated strips of boneless chicken breasts grilled and served with spicy peanut sauce, jasmine rice and a curried cucumber salad. $8.95
Peach Cream Pork Chop - 10oz marinated porkchop, pan seared and served with sweet potato puree, sautéed yellow squash and fresh mint with a peach and honey cream sauce. $20.95
Black Dog Smoke and Ale House
Founders Centennial IPA Two Brother's Cane & Ebel Summit India Rye St Bernardus Abt 12 Darkhorse Special Reserve Black Ale Lefthand Milk Stout
Mark your calendars
August 27,28: Bruegala, Interstate Center, Bloomington
August 27,28: Urbana Sweetcorn Festival , downtown Urbana (go to Crane or Black Dog and get a plastic cup for your good beer) Headliner on Saturday is Soul Asylum (the guys who did Runaway Train)
Last Saturday, August 14 was one of the greatest beer dates in the country. What, you weren't one of the (roughly) 5,000 people there?
This year was pretty great. Normally I park at Ale Asylum and take a bus to the festival, but this year we were near Middleton, so we went to Capital. We got off the bus and walked up towards the line. Jacob didn't have a ticket, so he was kind of worried about what he'd have to pay for the ticket (especially after his Philadelphia incident). Luckily he got his ticket for $40 (face value), which made Kelly a bit upset since she paid a traveling fee of $10 for hers. We got our programs and moved up to the end of the line. Which wasn't too far from the entrance to the fest.
This year the glasses were little mugs with a handle, which was convenient. I didn't mind the previous year's glasses, but the mug was nice. You may not have gotten more beer, but the glass was neat.
Our first stop, once we got in, was at the Three Floyds booth. Roo Goop was a rye wine they put on tap at 1, so we hustled over to get a glass. Being a rye, it held the hops flavors well. It was almost IPA-ish, but had a peppery flavor that comes with rye's.
We then worked our way over to O'Fallon's booth because according to the schedule, they were going to be offering bourbon barrel smoked porter at 1:30. We got there at 1:30 and they were out of it. This puzzled me, so I asked and they said there was a misprint on the program, and we should check their board for serving times. So, I rinsed my glass and cleansed my palate with Wheach. I followed that up with their oak aged wee heavy. It was good, but it wasn't barrel aged smoke porter.
I had most of the day planned out, to be in line for special pours, and got to most of them. I was at Founders for Canadian Breakfast Stout, which I've had before, but it was there, so I got it. The beer I was most looking forward to was Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Brand Vanilla Bean. Sadly, that wasn't my favorite beer of the day. My expectations weren't met. Others really enjoyed it, but I guess I wanted more vanilla flavor. It was good, but it wasn't what I hoped... I probably wanted it to be vanilla bean Dark Lord, but it wasn't.
My favorite beer on the day came from a brewery I've never heard of, Old Hat Brewery. They had a peanut butter stout (or porter) that was awesome. My next favorite was probably Flossmoor Station's Collaborative Evil. It seems Collaborative Evil will be on sale in mid-September, watch their blog to find out when. This years is a baltic porter. It was excellent, Jacob and I were the first two to get the pours.
What else did I have that day...
Um...
I had some ciders, I had some meads. One of the great things about this festival, is there are no tickets for beers. If you could do it, you could have a taste of everything there. Instead of getting 10 or 20 tickets for your money, you get a bottomless glass. Another great thing, is if you are walking to get to a specific brewery for a tapping, if your glass is empty, you can just turn into the nearest tent and have something that you didn't plan on having.
After about 3 or 4 hours of drinking samples of beer, I was pretty trashed, tired, and ready to leave. So we got on the bus and headed back to Capital. I had to work at Radio Maria later that night, so we had to go. I then fell asleep in the car, and woke up at the halfway point of Mendota, Il. I was still tipsy after getting to work at 10:30, and wasn't fully clear until about 1:30.
Sunday, I went into Radio for a beer before softball, and Jacob informed me that I was tipsy because someone bought us a beer at Capital, and it was the Eisphyre, and I downed it in a couple of chugs.
Tolono, IL- An investigator for the Champaign County Sheriff's Office has been placed on administrative leave after being arrested for DUI.
Deputies were called around 6:00 p.m. Saturday to a three vehicle accident south of Tolono. When they arrived, the deputies learned that an off-duty deputy with the Champaign County Sheriff's Office was involved in the accident.
Travis Burr of Sidney, who is an investigator with the Sheriff's Office, was arrested on charges of DUI and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. He was booked in and processed at the jail and then bonded out.
The Sheriff's Office has requested copies of the State Police reports and the matter is under investigation.
Champaign County - An investigator with the Champaign County Sheriff's office is on administrative leave after an accident in which he is accused of drunk driving.
According to Sheriff Dan Walsh, Travis Burr of Sidney was off duty when he was involved in a three-vehicle property-damage accident at about 6:00 p.m. Saturday south of Tolono.
Burr was arrested for DUI and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
He is on paid administrative leave while the matter is investigated.
The former Malibu Bay Lounge at 3106 N. Cunningham Ave. in rural Urbana, closed last spring.
Later this month the property will be auctioned at a sheriff's sale, and a state law prevents it from reopening as a strip club, according to Champaign County planning and zoning director John Hall.
I was wondering why I didn't see any cars there.
"A new owner cannot do what Mr. (Ike) Mapson did at that location," Hall said, referring to the late owner of the Malibu Bay.
"It's within 3,000 feet of a dwelling. It is a state law. We couldn't approve something there that state law doesn't allow," he said. "So hopefully anybody who buys that is aware of it and hopefully has a business plan for something other than adult entertainment."
Well, darn.
I was in the Malibu Bay once... once... I still have nightmares.
I believe it's an appropriately named establishment.
Mal (meaning bad, wrong, evil) and Boobie
Mala-boobie /Malibu Bay
More than a decade ago, under former Champaign County State's Attorney John Piland, the county considered a liquor ordinance revision that would have banned alcohol sales on days when an establishment offered adult entertainment. But the revisions were never adopted.
That would be a horrible liquor ordinance. I'd expect that more from the city of Champaign, than from the county.
The Malibu Bay property will be sold at 9 a.m. Aug. 27 at the Champaign County Courthouse. Mapson and his estate defaulted on a $192,473 mortgage taken in 2002, according to court records. The amount owed now totals $241,467, the records show.
So, if you are looking for a horrible building, on the outskirts of town, that probably has seen it's share of diseases... the Malibu Bay is being auctioned next Friday.