OldChicagoBeerTable

Bill Wilkinson's

Beer Page

Beer #	Brand	Date	Price	Comments
0001	Budweiser	03/05/99	2.50	King of Beers (price/draft pint). My first choice after I burn out my taste buds. Don't get me wrong. I like Bud. I just use it to mellow-out on after I do some international taste testing.
0002	Budweiser Light	11/24/99	2.50	Well, every brewer must sell a light beer to stay competitive (price/draft pint).
0005	Anchor Steam	01/19/00	3.95	Good-tasting Californian beer.
0007	Sam Adams Boston Lager	03/21/02	3.25	Good, rich-tasting craft beer.
0008	LaBatt's Blue	03/27/01	3.25	I didn't note the taste, but it probably tasted good.
0009	Molson Goldon	02/14/02	3.25	Canada.
0010	Harp Lager	03/04/02	3.95	A mild lager from Ireland.
0011	Heineken	05/13/99	3.50	A fine, full-bodied Dutch beer.
0012	O'Dell's 90 Shilling	08/22/01	2.97	Pint. Smooth, rich dark beer from Colorado.
0013	Miller Lite	1999	2.00	Half the calories, so you can drink twice as much!
0014	Staff's Choice	08/22/01	2.75	Mystery beer. May have been Pete's Summer Brew (#30) for $2.75. That's handwritten on the receipt, but isn't recorded in their database.
0015	Singletrack Copper Ale	04/22/99	2.95	Tasted strange, but not bad.
0019	Black and Tan	12/23/99	3.50	Tasteful beer from the United Kingdom
0021	Sierra Nevada Pale Ale	06/20/01	2.75	From California. A rich pale ale flavor.
0023	Moosehead	03/27/01	3.50	Canada. 12 oz. I didn't note the taste, but it probably tasted good.
0024	Coors Lite	1999	2.50	Coors isn't beer. It's yellow water.
0026	Paulaner Salvator	06/28/02	3.95	Dopple bock. 12 oz. A rich, good-tasting beer from Munich, Germany. They've been in business since 1634. You can't say that for WorldCom.
0027	Pete's Wicked Ale	03/25/99	2.95	It is wicked ale. I later had to ask someone if I actually drank one because I couldn't remember.
0029	Pacifico Clara	11/29/01	3.25	Mexican beer. No other information in my notes. Probably tasted good.
0031	Dos Equis Amber Lager	01/12/01	3.25	Mexican beer. I can't find my notes on how it tasts, but it probably tasted good.
0033	Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout	04/18/02	3.50	A semi-dry stout from Colorado. It's balanced with oatmeal, roasted and chocolate malts. Or at least that's what the label says. 12 oz.
0037	Red Hook ESB	02/14/02	3.50	A rich beer from the Washington state area. C.J.'s favorite. Don't mess with C.J., she drives a Harley.
0038	Fosters	07/23/99	2.95	A great-tasting Australian beer. However, my Aussie friend Bucketmouth says that it's considered rather ordinary over there. Bah! What does he know?
0041	Paulaner Hefe-Weizen	11/07/02	3.50	German beer. Served with a slice of lemon for some reason. Maybe it tastes bad without it.
0042	Pilsner Urquell	11/09/99	4.25	A fine pilsner beer from the city of Plzen in the Czech Republic. I tasted this on my 51st birthday.
0051	Corona Extra	11/09/00	2.95	Not the first time I've drank this fine Mexican beer; but it's the first time with a slice of lime. Not bad, but I don't see the point to it. Maybe it's some kind of ritual like where you pour salt on your hand, eat the lime, drink the beer, and spit out the rind.
0053	Old Peculier	11/09/99	4.75	An English ale. Dark.
0055	McEwin's Scotch Ale	06/05/01	4.95	Scotch ale. 12 oz 8% ale (whatever that means). Imported from Scotland. Tastes good. Doesn't taste like scotch, though. Established 1856.
0056	Paulaner Octoberfest Marzen Amber	11/07/02	0	German beer. 12 oz. Amber flavored.
0058	Tsing Tao	01/12/01	3.95	From China. I don't have much information on it. It probably tasted good, though.
0059	Sierra Nevada Porter	12/14/01	3.50	A beer from California with a dry, dusty flavor.
0061	Buffalo Gold Premium Ale	05/08/01	3.25	Not bad. 12 oz.
0062	Red Stripe	11/14/02	3.75	From Jamaica. Dry. Not bad.
0065	Beck's Oktoberfest	10/05/99	0	A dark German beer. Good.
0066	New Castle Brown Ale	07/18/01	3.95	Pint.
0067	Celebrator Dopplebock	10/25/01	5.25	Germany.
0071	Microbrew of the Month	06/27/01	0	Mystery beer.
0074	Negra Modelo	09/03/02	3.50	12 oz. Dark ale. Not bad.
0077	Asahi Dry	09/01/00	3.50	Another fine beer from Japan (12 oz). The Old Chicago people in the Old Market seems to have confused it with Kirin (#136), since the number for Asahi on their menu is also 136. (But maybe they're DBO's.)
0081	Sam Smith's Nut Brown Ale	11/14/02	6.95	English beer. Tastes nutty, and brown. Pretty good, actually. This was the last and 110^th beer I drank on the Old Chicago Beer Tour.
0086	Coors Original	01/16/02	2.50	It's a 12 oz. Coors. Coors used to have this big following of counter-culture types who worshipped the beer but didn't realize that the Coors family were arch conservatives that would just as soon shoot a counter-culture type as look at him. There was also this big myth that Coors somehow had a great flavor because the company wouldn't sell it east of Colorado. In the '70s they finally introduced it to Nebraska. Big news media fanfare. I tried it while anticipating great things. Then I said to myself, "Self, this isn't nothing but water with some beer flavoring added."
0092	Utenos Alus	03/30/00	3.50	A light beer from Utena, Lithuania. "People need beer just as they need bread." Served in a 17-ounce bottle. It's what I spent my Anchor Steam Beer Buck on.
0093	Grolsch	10/04/01	5.50	16 oz. beer from the Netherlands. Probably tasted good.
0103	(mystery beer)	Apr-Jun 2002	0	Unknown; but it's listed. Might have tasted good, too.
0104	Michelob	07/18/01	0	This was Dad's favorite beer.
0107	Rolling Rock	12/23/99	2.50	Good beer from Pennsylvania, USA.
0112	Birra Moretti	06/05/01	3.75	A fine Pilsner from Italy.
0114	(non alcoholic; probably O'Douls Amber)	06/27/01	2.50	All non-alcoholic beers are listed under this number. Drinking an alcohol-free beer is like kissing your sister.
0120	Sierra Nevada Stout	06/06/02	3.50	California stout beer. 12 oz.
0122	Boulder Porter	06/28/02	3.25	A Porter beer from Colorado. 12 oz.
0134	Michelob Light	07/18/01	0	Michelob's obligatory light beer.
0136	Kirin	05/25/00	3.50	A fine beer from Japan.
0146	Fuller's London Pride Pale Ale	08/01/02	4.50	12 oz bottle from England. Tastes dry, but good.
0147	Genny Cream Ale	10/22/02	2.95	12 oz bottle from New York. Hard to say; my taste buds were burnt out from eating a Black & Blue burger (black pepper and blue cheese).
0161	Old Style	12/14/01	2.25	Beer from Wisconsin that tastes slightly sweet. 12 oz.
0175	Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager	01/19/00	3.95	I expected it to have a peppery taste, but it didn't. Still good, though.
0183			0	Record incomplete.
0214	Boulder Amber Ale	11/24/99	3.25	From Boulder, CO, USA. Tastes good.
0219	Sapporo	05/13/99	3.50	One of my three favorite beers from Japan.
0231	Leinenkogel Red Lager	11/29/01	2.95	Good beer from Wisconsin.
0239	Heileman's Special Export Light	10/22/02	2.50	From Wisconsin. 12 oz. So so.
0243	Peroni	12/20/00	3.50	From Italy. Okay.
0250	Ice House	03/25/99	2.50	Well, it's Ice House. Beer.
0259	Mamba	04/22/99	7.95	1 pt., 6.3 oz. bottle of malt liquor from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Africa. Nothing unusual about the flavor.
0268	J.W. Dundee Honey Brown Lager	02/14/02	2.50	Good. Tasted like honey brown lager. I wouldn't want to drink more than one, though.
0276	Mexican Bohemia	12/20/00	3.50	By Cemceria(sp?). Somewhat dry.
0283	Flying Dog Doggie Style Ale	05/08/01	3.50	From Colorado. Strange taste. Also strange label.
0294	Corona Light	09/03/02	3.25	12 oz. Same as Corona Heavy.
0363	New Belgium Blue Paddle Pilsner	04/18/02	3.95	A lager from Colorado. 12 oz. Good.
0366	Breckenridge IPA	04/18/02	3.50	An Indian Pale Ale from Colorado. 12 oz. Good.
0374	Boddingtons	07/11/02	4.75	A beer from Manchester, England. Has a slight creamy flavor. I understand that their advertisements are really annoying.
0381	Breckenridge Avalanche	09/01/00	3.50	From Colorado. Not bad, but a little sweet. (12 oz)
0383	Boulevard Pale Ale	11/24/99	2.50	1 pt. draft. Imported from Missouri. Good.
0389			0
0390	Boulevard Bully Porter	03/04/02	3.50	Black beer (real dark). Brown foam. Strong. Smooth.
0392	Breckenridge Mountain Wheat	01/19/00	3.50	I ordered Breckenridge Avalanche, but they were out. so I tried this. It was good.
0395	Molson Ice	07/11/02	0	Like regular Molson's. Only on steroids.
0396	Sam Adams Boston Ale	06/30/99	3.25	Tastes good. When mixed with friends, it is a good way to break free from a grouchy day at work. (Worked for me.)
0418	Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve	10/22/02	2.95	12 oz bottle from Oregon. Tastes okay. Fancy label on the bottle.
0423	Grolsch Amber	11/09/00	3.55	Nice taste. I forgot to consult my wetware database to see if there was any comparisons to be made between it and Heineken. More research is needed.
0425	Sam Adams Cherry Wheat	05/12/02	3.15	A beer from Massachusetts that tastes like cherries. Candy-flavored beer is for beginners.
0426	Pyramid Hefe-Weizen	06/12/02	3.15	A tangy ale with a lemon slice from Seattle, Washington.
0450	Murphy's Irish Cream Stout	03/25/99	4.95	Dark Beer. Stout.
0473	Dixie Crimson Voodoo	12/14/01	3.95	Rusty flavor. Hard water. 12 oz.
0500	New Belgium Trippel Ale	12/14/01	3.95	This stuff is awful. 12 oz.
0511	Erdinger Specialty	06/28/02	6.95	A fine German wheat beer. 16 oz.
0528	Emperian Third Stone Brown	08/01/02	3.00	Weird, slightly tangy, black beer. Drink only once. Price/draft.
0540	Shiner Blonde Ale	09/01/00	3.25	From Texas. 12 oz. Compared to Asahi and Avalanche, it was okay. But maybe my tastebuds were starting to burn out.
0568	Luna Sea	05/25/00	3.25	Empyrean Extra Special Beer (ESB) from Nebraska, USA. (The label on the bottle is kind of neat.)
0585	Empyrean Chaco Canyon Honey-Gold	04/18/02	3.25	Honey-flavored beer from Nebraska. 12 oz.
0590	Palisades Lager	06/08/00	4.25	From India. A nice, robust flavor.
0641	Fuller's IPA	02/15/01	0	India Pale Ale. NOT FROM INDIA (more research needed).
0680	Phil's Pils	06/08/00	3.25	From the Barley Boys Brewery. A German-style Pilsner. The small print on the label asks, "Did you buy this to read it or to drink it?"
0689	Pete's Strawberry Blonde	10/22/02	3.25	12 oz from California. Strawberry flavor. Not bad. RB sounded disappointed because she's just a standard-issue redhead.
0710	Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel	03/21/02	4.95	Dark beer from Munich, Germany. 1 pt, 9 oz. According to their Web page, they've been in business since 1363.
0730	Kingfisher	04/22/99	4.95	Imported from India. Unique flavor, tastes good.
0742	Taj Maha	04/10/01	7.75	Sightly tangy. 22 oz. Good. First for E.
0753	Big Rock Warthog Ale	02/14/02	3.50	I ordered a New Belgium Fat Tire ale (#178), but they credited me with this instead for some reason.
0764	Shiner Bock	08/02/01	2.95	From Texas.
0796			0
0850	Zebra Lager	?/?/99	0	(check)
0877	Nebraska's Own Brew	05/13/99	2.95	Never heard of it before. A dark beer. Tastes slightly sweet.
0912			0
0923	New Belgium Brussels Black Ale	02/14/02	3.50	From Colorado. Good standard black ale flavor.
0926			0	Record incomplete.
0938	Caffrey's Irish Ale	03/04/02	3.95	A smooth dark beer from Ireland.
0951	Athenian	03/27/01	4.25	Greek Lager Beer. 11.2 oz. Brewed in Athens, Greece. I didn't note the the taste, but it probably tasted good.
0962	Guinness and Cider	03/04/02	3.50	Guinness stout (black) on top of cider. There was a clear dividing line and the 50-50 ratio seemed to maintain itself all the way down.
1075	Smirnoff Ice	08/22/01	3.75	High-octane lemonade from Canada.
1554	Budweiser	07/11/02	2.50	It was renumbered for one of their Mini-Tours and somehow I got credit.
	Total		$346.52

This beer tour is over. It began on 5 March 1999 and lasted until 14 November 2002. I got my share of freebies, but paid over $337.85 for 110 beers. I received and Old Chicago sweatshirt (extra large) and will get my name engraved on a plaque on the Hall of Foam. Woopie!

The first beer was Budweiser and the Inner Circle members who were present were B, D, and R (whose idea it was). The 110^th beer was Sam Smith's Nut Brown Ale and the Inner Circle Members present were B, D, D, and R.

The above database is not complete, but it's time to move on. The next beer tour began on 14 November 2002 and can be viewed at ..\Beer2\BeerTable2-01.xml. (Note: Requires XML compatible browser. For some reason, however, it may not work with the Netscape browser (7.02, even). As much as I hate to say it, you'll probably have to use Internet Exploder 5.5 or above.)

Why is it that some of the cells are blank? That's a deep, dark secret known only to the Inner Circle.

My VERY FIRST birthday card from Old Chicago (1999)! The Other Side is an understatement about the amount of food enjoyed by the Inner Circle that evening.

Anchor Steam beer was the 25th beer I'd sampled, so I was given a $5 Beer Buck, which the Inner Circle quickly consumed.

My Second birthday card (2000)! The Other Side shows what the Inner Circle—along with Mary, Paul, and Siddharth—enjoyed in abundance. (The waitress was most generous.)

The logo on the front of the T-shirt they gave me for drinking 55 beers in the World Tour. Considering their prices, I figure I'd spent about $150 dollars for that shirt.

My Third birthday card (2001)! It's exactly like the one in 2000--including the Other Side. Apparently, they had an excess inventory of birthday cards to use up. We ended up ordering two pizzas because I'd insisted upon a topping of mushrooms on mine and nobody else liked mushrooms. The waitress sang happy birthday.

Beer #528, Emperian Third Stone Brown, was the 100^th Beer I'd sampled at Old Chicago. I almost missed it, because they first entered it as #877 Nebraska Brew (which I'd done previously). After grinding through the database, we (the Inner Circle) proved that we were correct and thus I received the $10 one-hundredth beer buck. Speaking of Inner Circle; on this date, E (Denver outpost) became the second (after me) to join the World Beer Tour. Congratulations, E!

My Fourth birthday card (2002)! The O.C. picture isn't very flattering, however. Looks like a proto derelict beginning his down hill slide. The earlier cards showing a man somewhat remindful of Phileas Fogg in Vern's Around the World in 80 Days was much more pleasing. Here is the Backside.

Definitions

(These are stolen from the Web. Use Google if you want more information.)

ABV: Alcohol By Volume. Expressed as a percentage.

Ale: A beer brewed from a top-fermenting technique that gives a beer a fruity taste (such as Pale Ale or India Pale Ale). Ales usually have a stronger, sharper taste than lager, with a more pronounced flavor of hops. Usually tastes better if served a little warmer than ice cold.

Bock: A lager that originated in Einbeck, Germany. It was originally "beck" but evolved to "bock," which translates to "goat." Thus, some Bock beer labels will show a picture of a goat. Rich, strong, sweet, malty, and with a low hop bite. Amber brown or golden. 6.7% ABV. (Hop Culture <URL: https://www.hopculture.com/bock-beer/> provides some interesting information.)

Dopplebock: "Double-bock" isn't actually double the alcohol content. About 7% ABV. I've personally noticed that they tend to be a very dark beer.

ESB: Extra Special Beer (Brew).

Hefe-Weizen: German for "yeast-wheat." A wheat beer containing yeast sediment and occasionally shows a natural cloudiness.

IPA: India Pale Ale. A beer brewed in Britain (6.7% ABV) and shipped to British colonists in India in the 19^th century. Contained extra hops to survive the trip.

Lager: A type of beer that uses a bottom yeast fermentation technique rather than a top fermenting technique as is used in ales. Generally, a lager is crisp, clean, refreshing, and usually lower in character than an ale.

Pilsner: A type of lager that was named after the city of Plzen in the Czech Republic. It's a light-colored crisp thirst-quenching beer, well-balanced, but noted for its hoppy finish.

Porter: First noted in London in the 1700's. A blend of three ales: Old (stale or soured), new (brown or pale), and weak (mild ale). Popular with transportation workers in London, hence the name. To find out how this brew destroyed two houses and killed eight people, see the Wikipedia article on the London Beer Flood.

This page was updated 16 October 2025 and is brought to you by the letters B, D, D, E, R, and W of the Inner Circle.