Live Blog @ The Gold Nugget Tavern & Grille!

Everyone!  Join Dunz and I on Wednesday, Jan 5th (thats tomorrow!) to drink beer and enjoy ourselves during the hump day of this first full week back from the holidays.  We will be live blogging our tasting notes throughout the evening of each beer they have available on tap.  Thats 16 beers total!  Their happy hour is 3-6, Monday through Friday.  You can get $1 off all beers and $2 off all pitchers along with $2 off all appetizers!

9:24 - Thats it everybody.  After 2.5 hours and 15 beer samples later we are ready to go set fire to the nearest building.  Next time you are into the Nugget pull up this page to help you pick out your next brew.  Prost!

9:17 - Last but not least, Odell's 90 Shilling - The brew pours a mahogany brown.  A caramel and toasty aroma.  Dunz claims a baked apple flavor is present.  I think a light roasted caramel is a more appropriate descriptor.  Medium body with a sweeter finish.

9:11 - Guinness Draught - A staple of any bar that wants to have a dark beer option available to its patrons.  A roasty, bittersweet chocolate aroma is prominent.  The nitro gives it a creamy texture and makes the brew flat as it settles.  The flavor is the same as the aroma; roasty with a clean finish.  The mouthfeel is watery and thin but easy to drink.

9:01 - Back to adult related drinking.  Goose Island Winter Mild Ale - The aroma is, well, mild.  Some malt and just a hint of nuttiness fill the glass.  The flavor is much fuller.  Roasty, mildly nutty and smokey.  One of the top brews on tap.  Starts creamy and finishes smooth and clean at 5.6% ABV.  A good candidate for a beer to drink throughout the evening.

8:55 - Now for the children's portion of this live blog... Sprecer Root Beer Soda! - Smells like root beer to me... Next!

8:50 - Two people at the bar are reading books.  Looks like fun...................

8:45 - A Minnesota local brew, Fulton Sweet Child of Vine IPA - For an IPA the hop aroma is a little lacking but present.  I would describe this as a mild IPA as the entire beer is mellow.  The aroma is there, the bitterness is there, but the "BAM knock you on your face" aroma and hops are a little lacking.  Good for those who enjoy a maltier IPA.  Darker in color, slightly zesty flavor and aroma, mild malt backbone.

8:40 - I count 4 people sitting at tables and 11 people sitting at the bar.  Us Minnesotan's have our priorities damnet!

8:35 - Lagunitas Brown Shugga - This 10% ABV malt monster has it all there.  Hops and malt converge on any semblance of residual brown sugar aroma left after fermentation.  The first taste brings some of that alcohol up but the malt sweetness quickly overcomes it.  A toasty, roasty caramel character comes forward in the bitter, alcohol finish.  This one will knock you on your ass if you arent careful.

8:27 - Bells Best Brown - Clear brown with a creamy tan head.  Aroma is malty sweet with hints of brown sugar and maple.  The flavor is similar to the aroma; smooth, creamy, toasty, nutty, malty and sweet.  Very easy to drink.  The finish is sweet but not overly so.  Something I could drink a number of.

8:24 - Second round of Patron shots just ordered.  I feel like their conversations are going to get interesting pretty fast.

8:23 - Great Lakes Christmas Ale - The aroma in this ale is light and malty.   Reminiscent of a pale ale minus the hops.  The flavor takes you by surprise though.  Malty sweet, slightly bitter, a little burnt caramel flavor is present after another sip.  The finish is sweeter but still dry.  If you want a flavorful, sweeter beer, this is for you.

8:17 - We are halfway through!  Incase you were wondering why we arent hammered by now, we are actually drinking samples from the Nuggets tasting glasses they use on their flights.

Painfully small shots of beer.  A necessary evil this evening.

8:15 - Now for a local cult favorite Surly Furious - BAM!  Hops in your face.  A grapefruity aroma pours off of this beer along with a mild malt aroma if you really look for it.  I think Dunz just had an beergazm.  Flavor is full of hops supported by a solid malt backbone.  Grapefruit, pine, hop resin, "sticky delicious bitter hops" - Dunz.  Finish is bitter and clean.  Great balance.  A solid example of an imperial IPA.  I had to keep Dunz from ordering a mug of this.

8:07 - Sam Adams Winter Lager - The Brewers Association just revised what defines a craft brewery from 2 million barrels per year to 6 million barrels per year.  Guess what Sam Adams produced in 2010... just over 2 million.  Who's in who's pocket now?  Back to the beer.... lingering head on the first of our darker brews tonight.  Seasonal aromas of gingerbread dances through my nose.  Up front maltiness combines with the mild spices such as cinnamon and all spice.  The finish is a little sweet with hops playing only a slight bittering role.

8:00 - A shot of Patron was just ordered by the women next to us... must have been a rough Wednesday!

7:56 - Now onto the craft brews!  Humming Ale by Anchor Brewing - Citrus and hoppy!  Cloudy pale gold color.  Slight diacetyl (warning, beer geekery ahead in the link) in the nose.  Flavor is bitter, citrusy, slightly puckering.  Dunz says zesty... I like it.  Dry, clean finish.  Good one for an American Pale Ale.

7:46 - Bartender Terry told me that there is a brewery that just opened up in Maui last year.  Check it out! - http://www.mauibrewingco.com/.  Bartender Terry is going to Maui on Friday... I want to hit him.

7:42 - Coors Light - We review only because we must... The aroma smells like beer.  The flavor is beery.  Did I just drink water?  Honestly, aroma is grainy and hardly there.  Flavor tastes like water mixed with mashed corn.  I feel like I should be tailgating right now.

7:40 - More people have pulled up to the bar!  I wonder if they think we look like crazy people shoving our noses into tiny glasses of Stella Artois.  I would think that...

7:35 - We move on to Stella Artois - The aroma is grainy and sweet.  A little skunky which Stella engineers into this beer.  The flavor reminds me of mashed corn and bread.  The skunky shows up again.  Skunky does not always = bad.  In this case its easy to drink but not something for everybody.

7:25 - Third in the line up is Grain Belt Premium - Grain aromas are present.  A little belt shows up in the flavor.  The premium finishes dry.... Just kidding!  Aroma is grainy, no lie there.  The flavor is a clean, sweet malt.  Body is light to medium.  This beer is so clear you can read the newspaper through your glass.  Dunz says he can drink 50 of these.  Id like to see him try.

7:20 - Quite night at the nugget.  Football on the right, basketball on the left, beer in the middle.  Oh yeah.

7:15 - Summit Pale Ale - A local favorite and standard.  Hoppy nose, almost floral.  Up front malt and biscuit character with a light piney bitterness at the end.  Well balanced and another easy drinker.  Winner of the 2010 GABF Silver Medal for English Pale Ale!

7:07 - First up! Gold Nugget (Schells) Amber - Malty, bready aroma.  Smooth taste.  Clean finish.  Easy to drink.  A good beer with more flavor than your standard domestics.

Nugget Taps!!!

7:00 -
6:58 - The live blog has started!!!!  We are in the middle of the bar.  Perfect spot for eyeing brews and watching the footballs!

Join our event on Facebook or let us know in the comments if you will be stopping by for a round!  Hope to see you there!