RSVP Here!  Tuesday April 19, 6:30pm-9:00pm, 5500 S. Woodlawn Avenue

Homebrewers and craft-beer aficionados are attracted to big, flavorful beers - snappy Pilsners, roasty stouts, citrusy IPAs, malty Bocks.  But, as we approach the summer, its good to be reminded of easy drinking beers, lawnmower beers good for a hot summer day, sometimes defined by the flavors they lack.  The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) calls them Category 1 Standard American Beers, including American Lager, Cream Ale, and American Wheat Beer.  

You are invited to join us at a two-part exploration of these styles.  The first is a workshop, on Tuesday April 19th, 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm at Augustana Lutheran Church, 5500 S. Woodlawn, Avenue (ten-minute drive from downtown, Red or Green Line to 55th bus).  As this is the third of these two-part style explorations we've done, we're refining the program, especially the first part, the workshop.   We'll discuss the styles, how they relate to each other and other styles, their history, and their flavor profiles.  We will work on our palates, to taste and identify the key aroma and flavor elements of these subtle, nuanced beers, building taste memory.  We'll taste commercial examples of these styles and have at least one commercial brewer with us to discuss brewing these styles.  

As a follow-up to the workshop, the second part of this exploration will be a bottle share of homebrewed examples of these styles, at a hoppy hour organized by CHAOS homebrew club and held at a local taproom (tbd).  Everyone will get to sample the beers shared and hear any insights or info the brewers want to share.  This is a more social event than the workshop portion.   It is tentatively scheduled for Thursday June 9 at a location tbd.  

The workshop on April 19th is an in-depth, focused program and the bottle-share and hoppy hour on June 9th is more social.  

For the workshop, we have a tentative lineup of beers.  As examples of American Lager, we will sample Budweiser, Hailstorm's Hotel Life, and Half Acre's Fader.  As examples of Cream Ale, we will taste Genesee's Cream Ale and Empirical Brewery's Cold Fusion.  For the American Wheat, we will sample Goose's Urban 312, Revolution's Sun Crusher and Lo Rez's Flavor of the Wheat.  

There is no cost for the workshop, except for sharing in the cost in the beers. The workshop is presented by Jim Vondracek (BJCP National Judge) and Jeff Whelpley (Certified Cicerone, BJCP Certified Judge).  Please RSVP for the workshop here.