Beer Revolution and #beerclub

Have you noticed that bars are finally getting on board with offering quality tap beers and not just Bud and Miller products? Sure some bars have been ahead of this curve, but in Waukesha alone, there are many bars that offer microbrews and having 8+ specialty taps behind the bar. House of Guinness and Nice Ash have offered them for a while, but now we can add Magellan's, Bernie's Tap Room, Bosco's and Mainstream to that list.

I have really switched to be more of a wine and beer girl and rarely have specialty cocktails anymore. Beer has really been hitting the spot lately and the thought of enjoying something flavorful and malty really makes me have relaxing thoughts. My friend Jacob hosted a beer tasting for his birthday party and I really found some great beers that I like. I can really appreciate the malty hops and work it takes to create that flavor. 

I can't remember when I exactly "joined" the Milwaukee area #beerclub on Twitter nor do I remember how I stumbled across the group, but since I have started, I have been able to enjoy some beers I might not have ventured too, and learn some interesting beer facts about the industry.

Beerclub meets on Twitter (search #beerclub) on Monday nights at 8 pm CST. It's a group of Milwaukee-area beer lovers that drink the Bottle of the Week (#BOTW) in the comfort of where ever they choose and discuss their thoughts on the beer and some other beer-related topics. The conversation usually lasts about an hour in length and the following week's selection is chosen by the group. Anyone can offer up a bottle to try for the next week and if selections aren't chosen, the group leaders will chose by the next morning. We don't pick things that can't be found in typical liquor stores, but sometimes you have to go above a basic grocery store to find the selection.

This next week's selection is Wisconsin's very own, Capital Brewery Winter Skal. I know that I have had this, but it's been a while. I was able to find the beer at Muskego Beer and Liquor. Discount Liquor in Waukesha has some of the weekly selections, but the Discount location in Milwaukee as well as Ray's Liquor in Wauwatosa always have them. I'm not sure why both Discount's don't carry the same product at the same time, but I guess different areas pull for different clientele.

I also have upped my usage of the Untappd app on my iPhone. This is an app that you can let your friends via Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare know what you are drinking, where you are drinking it and what are your thoughts on it. I have been able to see what others are drinking, their thoughts and possibly pick up the beer based on their review. There are websites out there for those that don't have smartphones that rate beers as well. RateBeer.com and BeerAdvocate.com are two that I have used in the past.

So consider joining us this week for #beerclub and if the notice is too short, join us next week, the week after or whenever you have time. Cheers!