Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Fixed Gear Beer (Milwaukee, WI)

Took the wife to Summerfest in Milwaukee last night. Really draggin' ass this morning because of it, but the good news was that we hit a brewpub (Stonefly) with some friends beforehand, and besides sampling some of the tasty house brews - I also sampled quite a few bottles of this deliciously hoppy red ale...

Some might see it as an attempt to cash in on the sw8 fixay "craze". Others might see it as more of a local brewery paying homage to the scene. Me, I just think it's a really tasty beer. Thoughts?

http://www.lakefrontbrewery.com/fixed-gear.html

http://www.cogmag.com/news/images/fixedgearbeer.jpg

I enjoy Fixed Gear. My friends are getting married at Lakefront Brewery next year.

New Belgium also has a lager called Shift that's pretty decent.

http://www.newbelgium.com/images/scenes/beer_prodshot_shift.png

http://dumfukr.tumblr.com/post/5685707827/lakefront-brewery-fixed-gear-american-red-ale

@misskaz - haven't tried that one yet. I have a hard time ponying up the cash for "fancy" lagers, unless they have something special going for them. like THIS (http://www.portbrewing.com/our-beers/midnight-expression/) one I had recently that really did me good. a roasty black lager.
that's sure to be an awesome wedding! my wife works at Revolution (bartender), and we're both fairly big craft beer nerds. actually the wife has surpassed me in that realm now that she's been slangin' suds at Rev for a couple years.

@jdgesus - is that you? good god man. i probably wouldn't like that beer very much either if THAT happened to me on my way to go buy it. it's not the greatest beer on earth, but it is a very good example of the style. a nice hoppy american red. the dryhopping gives it a real nice aroma, and I dig the cloudiness. i can't think of another red ale that I prefer over this one.
*important to note, I had mine in Milwaukee last night and the bottled date was 1st week of June. so it was quite fresh.

Word, super beer nerd here. For example, last night we cracked open a bottle of Brasserie Fantôme Blanche that we brought back from Belgium a few months ago.

I don't mind paying a little extra for beer that doesn't taste like cat piss, even if it's "just" a lager. Not that I'm above a PBR or what have you - we pretty much always have a case of PBR cans in the house for parties or those days when you just finished mowing the lawn in 90 degree heat. Plus, gotta fill my hipster quota.

My husband homebrews too, and we just bottled a saison this weekend, and kegged a pale ale and a brown ale. The brown is a Half Acre Over Ale clone, and the hope if it turns out is to make a double batch and barrel it in a bourbon barrel we got from Few Spirits.

jdgesus, I'm gonna follow your tumblr but all it's gonna do is make me want yummy west coast brews we can't get here, LOL.

How was Sunday Summerfest? My wife and I went Saturday, and did the Water Street Brewery tour/tasting yesterday. Lakefront makes some ok beers. Fixed Gear is alright, but Riverwest Stein is my favorite of theirs. Try it sometime. I think the FG beer is an homage because Lakefront Brewery had a ****load of bikes locked in front when we went past it.

damn misskaz! :thumb: i'm liking you more and more with every post haha. your hubby too. you guys sound like good people.
1. I've never been to Belgium - super jealous! never heard of that one you just cracked open but my favorite belgian at the moment is probably the St. Bernardus ABT 12
2. As far as Saison's go, Saison DuPont has always been my favorite. And that's super cool that your husband brews. I've always wanted to try homebrewing but I've been holding out until we get a house or apt with more space and preferably a dishwasher lol.
3. I LOVE that you said you like a PBR if it's 90F out and you just cut the lawn - I always give that same exact example when people start talking about lagers. There's a beer for every occassion, and yes, like you said, I've been known to smash a few PBR's or Miller Lites if the moment calls for it (tailgating, lawn mowing, sweating to death, etc). Good to have "guest beers" around too for your friend's that don't do craft beer.
4. You guys are going all out over there! Barrel aging?! I like it!! Although I must say I'm not keen on the whole sour beer thing that's been going on for a bit now. Not that it has anything to do with barrel aged beers, other than maybe one would say both barrel aging and sour beers are both pretty hot trends right now with craft beer.

I usually like my bourbon neat. Seperate from my beer. Although I did recently have an Allagash barrel aged beer that was fantastic. So maybe I'm coming around.

Anyhow, glad to hear you guys are brewing beer and fans of craft beer. It's so cool how that scene has grown over the past decade. Used to be at most bars you'd be lucky if they even had a Sierra Nevada. Now almost every bar in town has a multi-page beer list.

How was Sunday Summerfest? My wife and I went Saturday, and did the Water Street Brewery tour/tasting yesterday. Lakefront makes some ok beers. Fixed Gear is alright, but Riverwest Stein is my favorite of theirs. Try it sometime. I think the FG beer is an homage because Lakefront Brewery had a ****load of bikes locked in front when we went past it.

Sunday was nice, the ol' lady wanted to check out the Beach Boys. Date night, lol. We had lawn seats and threw down a blanket (after throwing down a bunch of local brews), and chillaxed a bit. Beach Boys sounded great and it was great weather too. Just wish I didn't have to work this morning... paying for it.
Was hoping to go Saturday like you did because the Heartless Bastards were playing and so were the Roots. But it didn't work out.

We were going to hit up Water St but I think they're closed Sundays (EDIT: oops just re-read your post, obviously they're not closed on Sundays then), and since Lakefront doesn't do food, we went to Stonefly which was actually pretty cool. Beers were better than expected and the food was real good with plenty of veggie options.

And yeah Milwaukee has a pretty good bike scene apparently. So I agree, I think Fixed Gear is homage to that.

Although I must say I'm not keen on the whole sour beer thing that's been going on for a bit now.

Yeah, we can't be friends. (Also, don't bother with the Fantome, if you could even find it here. It's a sour.)

j/k on the friends thing, but sours/lambics and saisons and farmhouse ales and anything with that complex funk to it makes me very, very happy. But they gotta be real lambics, not that cough syrup Lindeman's ****. Real spontaneous wild yeast and bacteria or GTFO.

yeah thats me. and i beer nerd hard

jdgesus, I'm gonna follow your tumblr but all it's gonna do is make me want yummy west coast brews we can't get here, LOL.

we cannot get 3 floyds.

but can pliny.. done many mail trades with you chicago ppl before ;)

Yeah I don't know why but I don't dig the sour beers. I dig farmhouse ales and saisons and I do dig some nice funky yeast but no lambic and no sour stuff. I actually have a bottle of New Glarus thumbprint series Cherry Stout in my fridge right now that is only still there because it tastes like a sour/tart brown ale. Not "bad" but not what I was expecting.

PS- I'm now reminded that I forgot to stock up on New Glarus while I was up in WI. Damnit.

LessonLearned: Kaz and her husband are great people. Some of my favorites. Stonefly is one that I didn't get to try. Next time I'm up there I will be sure to check them out. The Roots were awesome. They played 100 feet from ZZ Top so, since my wife and I are big fans of both, we bounced back and forth. A friend was working the Miller Lite Oasis bar that was right between them, so that worked out well too, haha. I have a Bottle of New Glarus Raspberry Tart floating around somewhere...

Kaz: Agreed about "Real spontaneous wild yeast and bacteria or GTFO." Have you had this year's Founder's Cerise yet? Sweeter than usual, but still good. We have it on tap at work right now.

JD: I think that you and I need to get one another's addresses and start doing some trades.

PS- I'm now reminded that I forgot to stock up on New Glarus while I was up in WI. Damnit.

There's your century! Ride to Mars Cheese Castle or somewhere in Kenosha or whatever, buy New Glarus, and ride back. Bam, 100 miles.

/offers to take the cherry stout off your hands

There's your century! Ride to Mars Cheese Castle or somewhere in Kenosha or whatever, buy New Glarus, and ride back. Bam, 100 miles.

/offers to take the cherry stout off your hands

Yes but then I have to ride back with all that beer :cry:
haha
Oh and yeah, that cherry stout is all yours if you're serious. I bought a 4-pack a few months ago but still have this one lone soldier leftover. You gonna be in Logan anytime soon? Maybe boiler room? I can flip you my cell# and you can text me and I'll run it over to you.

Bah! I was totally going to make a move on that cherry stout! Damn. Kaz, we could split it.

Just ride to Kenosha, grab the beer, and take Metra back. Half-century for training purposes.

There's your century! Ride to Mars Cheese Castle or somewhere in Kenosha or whatever, buy New Glarus, and ride back. Bam, 100 miles.

Brilliant!

Hey, I've gotten into sour beers lately, but don't have much experience beyond the NB La Folie and Le Terroir. Got any kewl recommendations?

Brilliant!

Hey, I've gotten into sour beers lately, but don't have much experience beyond the NB La Folie and Le Terroir. Got any kewl recommendations?

NB Tart Lychee, Pretty much anything from Cantillon or 3Fontinein, Beersel Oud Gueze, Hanssens Gueze, Bockor's Bellegems Bruin, Surly Five (AKA Pentagram), St Louis Gueze Fond Tradition, Stumptown Tart... The list is endless.

Edit: Almost for got Without You I'm Nothing from Evil Twin. ****ing killer.

Brilliant!

Hey, I've gotten into sour beers lately, but don't have much experience beyond the NB La Folie and Le Terroir. Got any kewl recommendations?

Some favorites lately:
Cuvée Des Jacobins Rouge (Brouwerij Bockor)
anything by Jolly Pumpkin (http://www.jollypumpkin.com/artisanales/beers.htm)
anything you can find by Cantillon (http://www.cantillon.be/)
Gueuze by Brouwerij Mort Subite
St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition by Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck (Castle Brewery)
The Woods Monomoy Kriek by Cisco Brewers (https://sites.google.com/site/ciscobeers/beer/the-woods)

The New Belgium tart lychee one is pretty decent.

Some favorites lately:
Cuvée Des Jacobins Rouge (Brouwerij Bockor)
anything by Jolly Pumpkin (http://www.jollypumpkin.com/artisanales/beers.htm)
anything you can find by Cantillon (http://www.cantillon.be/)
Gueuze by Brouwerij Mort Subite
St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition by Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck (Castle Brewery)
The Woods Monomoy Kriek by Cisco Brewers (https://sites.google.com/site/ciscobeers/beer/the-woods)

The New Belgium tart lychee one is pretty decent.

Forgot about Jolly Pumpkin and Jacobin Rouge. Have you had JP's Luciernaga? Amazing. Haven't had the Cisco one. Good?

The New Belgium tart lychee one is pretty effing AMAZING.

ftfm

I have a bottle of Russian River Consecration waiting for my consumption. I heard it's good.

My husband homebrews too, and we just bottled a saison this weekend

<3 saison

@jdg, you shoulda told me to cart over some 3 floyds when i came. coulda filled like half a trunk!

<3 saison

@jdg, you shoulda told me to cart over some 3 floyds when i came. coulda filled like half a trunk!


when you move out here next year ;)

@jimmy
@misskaz
if you haven't already done so, bike on over to Piece for some of thier Dark & Curvy Dunkelweizen. It's quite good and the glassware is nice too. :p

Not a fan of Dunkelweisens, but Piece makes some decent beer. You know that Rick Neilsen from Cheap Trick is an owner there?

Not a fan of Dunkelweisens, but Piece makes some decent beer. You know that Rick Neilsen from Cheap Trick is an owner there?

That explains the crazy orange 5 necked guitar hanging on the wall haha. Didn't know that though. Crazy.
I like their beers but that place is too sportsbar-ish for my taste. And their pizza hates my guts. Or vice versa.

when you move out here next year ;)

;)

Also, apparently Lagunitas is opening a facility and taproom here in Chicago. This November.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-05-22/entertainment/chi-lagunitas-chicago-taproom-lagunitas-chicago-taproom-opening-expected-for-november-20120522_1_lagunitas-brewery-taproom

Next year. In Pilsen. Tony from Lagunitas is a friend of a friend. I got the downlow brah.

jdg when we get chargin hippos???

he's having BBQ at his house, and clearing out all his kegs on 4th of july.
toobadyouwillnotbehere.jpg

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

Fuuuuuuuu so hard.

im not going either, so, theres that too

The Hour Nears for Sour Beers (http://aleheads.com/2012/07/03/the-hour-nears-for-sour-beers/), featuring a top ten list (according to the author) of American sour beers to try.

I bought the wrong Russian River. :(

didn't you get the supplication?

pretty sure Consecration

it'll be plenty sour, don't worry, weirdo

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSFVWpbc11FtAvYR4XeEPvOKlGKaLXZ80BmnXiDSqwr_Ge5BpeQz-Y-eZEEIQ

^^^ thats me

some ppl can't take spicy.. i can't take sour. I'm super sensitive to it

I loooooove sour.

I like it in candy form. Sour Patch Kids Watermelons all damn day baby.
But I haven't developed that part of my palete yet when it comes to beer. I like roasty, or hoppy, or malty, or funky, etc. Sour beer just seems weird to me.
But then again, I like spicy candy, and lots of folks might find that weird.

i can't even eat sour candy.

I just discovered sour skittles, and I love them.

When I worked in a kitchen in college, I used to suck on the lemon wedges that were always around (for garnishing plates). Probably why I have sensitive teeth now, heh.

I do think that the sour of candy/lemons is different from the sour of sour beers. I personally can't imagine not liking, for example, 3Fonteinen Gueuze, but if you don't, you don't. #moreforme

sour beer tastes like juice.

yeah, butt juice. (I kid, I kid)

Sour Skittles are one of the sourest candies out there. I will eat them if I want sugar and they're around but I never buy them on purpose.

Misskaz, your love for sour is only trumped by your love for Tweeting. :p

Not all sours are fruity! Straight lambic and gueuze, which is a blend of lambics, don't have fruit. Add cherries to gueuze and you get kriek. A good kriek will taste more like sour cherry pierogi filling (IMO) than sweet cough syrup. Which is why Lindeman's Kriek, Framboise, Peche, Cassis, etc. are so terrible. I don't mind that they exist, but they shouldn't be allowed to be called lambics, because they use extracts and flavor additives and don't actually have wild yeast/bacteria. The guys at Cantillon in Brussels are so adamant about it that they refuse to participate in beer events that also have Lindeman's.

Sorry, I can geek out about this stuff for ages, especially with our Belgium 'Drink All The Beer' Trip that we just took this spring.

ETA: Sorry LL, I'm a social media manager. It's my job to be on twitter all day so yeah, I tweet a lot.

So which readily available beers DO use wild yeast and bacteria? I'm guessing they're imports? Seems like the FDA would have a problem with "unknowns" like that, no? It would also make consistancy a difficult thing to ensure, no?

Wild yeast? Ew (http://www.thekitchn.com/bizarre-beer-rogue-ales-developing-beer-made-with-yeast-found-in-brewmasters-beard-173542).