They took a festival that ran for decades under one name and hit reset. We head to La Crosse's newly branded Beverages and Bites Fest (formerly Between the Bluffs Beer, Wine and Cheese Fest) with our usual mission: get into VIP early, talk to the brewers, and hunt for the beers that actually deliver big flavor instead of big promises.

The day starts with real-world festival problems you only understand once you’re there: a loud tent “hum” that kills on-site recording plans, bigger tasting glasses that can sneak up on you fast, and the constant pressure to choose between “something new” and “something safe.” We share what we noticed about the event’s setup, the crowd, and why VIP time matters if you care about tasting notes and brewery conversations more than just standing in lines.

Then we get into the pours. From 608 Brewing’s barrel-aged barleywine to the curveball of Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale, we talk aroma, finish, and what makes a beer actually drinkable. We also call out the misses, including a sour so tart it overwhelmed everything else and a “rum barrel” imperial stout that didn’t taste like rum at all. The highlights include Third Space Mystic Knot and a surprise win from Avery Maharaja, before we crown our Best Of Fest: Untitled Art’s Mexican style pot de creme double pastry stout made with a stacked ingredient list and serious dessert-stout payoff.

Subscribe for more craft beer reviews, barrel-aged stout talk, and festival recaps, then share this with a friend and leave a review. What beer would you have chased first at this festival?

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Six Russian Imperial stouts. Double-digit ABV across the board. And one simple question: can a huge, dark beer still feel balanced instead of boozy, bitter, or flat? We put that to the test with a Minneapolis-heavy lineup, including multiple Surly Darkness variants and a final curveball stout that looked so much like a Surly box we accidentally grabbed it.

We start with the Surly Darkness “base model” and use it to talk through what makes a Russian Imperial Stout taste like a Russian Imperial Stout: deep roast, hop bitterness, warming alcohol, and that lingering dryness that can either hook you or chase you off. Then the fun begins. Blueberry Crumble aged in rum barrels brings a real blueberry aroma that actually follows through on the sip. Raspberry Chocolate Torte in rye whiskey barrels sparks a balance debate around sweetness, cacao, and how fruit can overpower everything else. Lumberjack Breakfast stacks maple, coffee, cinnamon, and vanilla into a surprisingly drinkable pour that has us rethinking what “breakfast stout” should taste like.

The top pour of the night is the Surly Darkness special edition matured in Elijah Craig 12-year bourbon barrels, and the named barrel makes a difference. We dig into bourbon character, why barrel details matter, and how three different palates can pull three different “first flavors” from the same glass. To close it out, we review Lost Moon from Pryes Brewing and talk about packaging, marketing, and why some barrel-aged stouts land loud while others feel muted. Subscribe, share the episode with your stout-loving friend, and leave a review, then tell us which Darkness variant you’d hunt down first.

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Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northwoodsbeerguy@gmail.com.

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Imported beer has a certain promise baked into it: old recipes, proud traditions, maybe a flavor you can’t get at home. Then we grabbed a build-your-own six-pack from the imported shelf and learned a humbling lesson. With Jim riding shotgun and our guest Matt helping us decode labels and brewery blurbs, we taste beers from Ukraine, Iceland, Germany, Thailand, and England, and we keep asking the same question: is this “subtle and classic,” or is it just… missing something?

Along the way, we get nerdy in the best way. We talk about Asia holding roughly 30% of the global beer market, what rice does to beer (lighter body, less malt complexity, a crisper and drier finish), and why Japan created a separate low-malt classification called happoshu. We also dig into Citra Cryo hops and why a beer labeled “lager” can drink surprisingly hop-forward, plus a refresher on the German purity law ingredients and what that tradition aims to protect.

Tasting-wise, there’s a funky-start pale lager from Ukraine, an Icelandic “Arctic Lager” with hops that cling, a German Pilsner that doesn’t meet our expectations, a Thai lager that’s weirdly impressive for tasting like almost nothing, and an organic English lager that sneaks into the top tier by simply being pleasant. We wrap by ranking our favorites and admitting we might put imported beers on the shelf for a while, unless you point us to the ones that actually bring the flavor.

If you like honest beer reviews, lager tasting notes, and quick beer trivia you can use at the bar, hit subscribe, share this with a beer friend, and leave a review. What imported beer should we try next?

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Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northwoodsbeerguy@gmail.com.

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Most lagers promise the same thing: crisp, clean, crushable. So we decided to test that promise the only way that matters, by lining up six different craft lagers in one sitting and tasting them side by side. We build our own six-pack haul from Total Wine and More and go can to can, calling out what we can actually smell and taste, and admitting when the flavor is so subtle it turns into a guessing game.

The lineup runs from Drecker’s Super Mega Lager and a certified gluten-free lager from Holidaily to a style we honestly did not expect to like as much as we did: Modist’s Supra Black, a premium Japanese-style black lager with rice, black malt, and Sorachi Ace hops. When the color gets darker, the conversation gets easier, because the flavor finally shows up. We also dig into what’s happening in beer trends for 2025: overall beer sales sliding, craft and seltzer softening, and non-alcoholic beer exploding upward, including the top-selling NA brands like Heineken 0.0 and Athletic’s Run Wild IPA.

We wrap with HeadFlyer’s two lagers that taste surprisingly close, then finish strong with Schell’s Bock Dark Lager, a smooth, bready, malt-forward dark lager that reminds us why certain lager styles stand out. If you’re searching for craft lager reviews, gluten-free beer options, Japanese black lager notes, or a real-world take on non-alcoholic beer market growth, this one is a fun listen with practical takeaways for your next six-pack.

Subscribe for more style-by-style tastings, share this with your favorite lager drinker, and leave a review if you like these comparison episodes. What lager should we hunt down next for a side-by-side test?

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Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northwoodsbeerguy@gmail.com.

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Six pilsners should be predictable, right? We thought we were about to drink six cans of the same crisp lager and politely nod our way through it. Instead, we got a full spread of flavors, finishes, and surprises that made us rethink what a craft pilsner can be, especially when you’re looking for lower ABV beer that still has personality.

We bring home a craft-only lineup from Total Wine and taste through it one by one, including Inbound Brewing’s Laser Loon Pilsner, Sierra Nevada Premium Pils in that tiny 8.4 oz “proper pilsner can,” Millstream’s Oom Pah Pah German Pilsner from Amana, Iowa, Oliphant Brewing’s no-frills Wisconsin pilsner, Modest Brewing’s Last Of The Best Strata Czech Style Pilsner with double dry hopping, and Venn Brewing’s Pills with its bold Czech-inspired promise. Along the way we score each beer, talk clarity and aroma, and keep coming back to one theme: subtle does not mean boring when the malt and noble hops are in balance.

We also dig into pilsner history and the different pilsner styles, then wrestle with the question that always pops up once hops enter the chat: what really separates a hoppy pilsner from an IPA? If you think craft beer equals hazy IPA or high-test stout, this tasting is a clean, cold reminder that lagers can still be interesting. If you enjoy the show, subscribe, share it with a fellow pilsner drinker, and leave a review so more people can find us.

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Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northwoodsbeerguy@gmail.com.

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A berry label can mean anything from “tastes like fruit” to “tastes like carbonated regret” and we put that to the test with a full lineup of hard seltzers and canned cocktails. Cal is back with me to taste and score six berry-driven drinks, starting light and bubbly and ending with a creamy curveball that clocks in at 13% ABV. If you’ve ever stood in front of a variety pack wondering what’s actually worth your money, we do the guessing for you and tell you exactly what we taste.

We get into Vizzy Black Cherry Lime and why “hint of” can be both honest and disappointing, then jump to White Claw Clawtails Blackberry Mojito and the big challenge of getting mint to taste fresh in a can. Nutral’s vodka seltzer lemonades bring tartness and that lemonade bite, while Fresca’s Mixed Berry Citrus lands as the sweeter surprise that feels made for a hot day. We also talk drinkability, heartburn risk, and why carbonation level can make or break a can even when the flavor is decent.

Between pours, Cal shares some of the best Missouri stories, including watching the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout from a packed line of boats, the Freedom One Racing video that looks fake until you realize it’s real, plus concert nights near the Ozarks and a Kansas City weekend with comedy and casino reality checks. We wrap with what we’d recommend to different palates, how to approach high-ABV canned cocktails like Cutwater’s Strawberry White Russian, and which drinks are “try once” versus “buy again.”

If you like honest reviews of hard seltzer, berry canned cocktails, and ready-to-drink alcohol, hit subscribe, share this with a friend who always brings the weird variety pack, and leave a review with the next drink you want us to score.

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Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northwoodsbeerguy@gmail.com.

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Pineapple in a can can be either the perfect summer shortcut or a one-sip regret, so we put it to a real-world test. Mike is battling a cold, Callie is back in the Northwoods after her Missouri chapter, and we line up six ready-to-drink canned cocktails to see which ones taste clean, which ones lean too acidic, and which ones disappear into that weird “fridge funk” zone.

We start with Fresca Mixed Spirits, including the Signature Grapefruit Citrus vodka spritz and the Pineapple Citrus version, talking aroma, sweetness, aftertaste, and how quickly some flavors can lead to fatigue or heartburn. Then we hit a curveball with Shaken Pineapple Lime, a non-carbonated hard refresher that proves how much bubbles affect what you think you’re tasting. From there, Carbliss Pineapple shows why it keeps climbing in the RTD cocktail world: smoother finish, clear pineapple flavor, and the kind of drink that actually makes sense on a hot pontoon day.

The back half gets even more fun with Simply Spiked Mango Pineapple and a Good Boy Vodka Cranberry Pineapple pour from John Daly’s line, plus a quick note on why the Good Boy mission to support veterans and service dogs is worth cheering for. Along the way we detour into March Madness brackets, a shoutout to Halle Poock and the Murray State Racers, and a few Wisconsin versus Missouri observations that somehow fit perfectly with a pineapple-themed drink flight.

Subscribe for more Northwoods tastings, share this with a friend who always shows up with a new variety pack, and leave a review telling us your top canned cocktail pick and your biggest flavor letdown.

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Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northwoodsbeerguy@gmail.com.

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Eight heavy hitters. One long table. We lined up barrel-aged stouts from Central Waters, Epic, Founders, Surly, Dragon’s Milk, Destihl, Goose Island, and 3 Sheeps, then chased down the truth about single barrel vs blends, French oak finishes, and why some 12–15% beers drink smooth while others feel like syrup. With two returning guests, we put experienced palates next to a self-declared “Bush Light guy” to pressure test hype, labels, and expectations.

We start strong with Central Waters’ Single Barrel imperial stout—velvety and shockingly drinkable for 11.8%—and revisit Epic’s Big Bad Baptist Double Barrel, smooth after years in bottle but lighter on coffee than promised. Founders KBS Caramel divides the room: caramel-forward and dessert-like for some, faintly tangy for others who wanted more roast. Surly Darkness brings Elijah Craig barrels and French oak complexity, yet shows how wood can add both sweetness up front and a drying finish. Dragon’s Milk Double Barrel Coconut is polished and easy at 12.5%, though we wished for bigger coconut. Destihl’s Dosvidanya earns nods for depth and balance. Then the small-format 2025 Bourbon County Original sparks a real debate—legendary barrel list on paper, but a sweeter, heavier profile in the glass that masks distinct bourbon signatures. 3 Sheeps Dark Matter closes the main card at 15.4% with warmth, minimal burn, and a sweetness some love and others resist.

The curveballs steal a scene: Lexington’s Bourbon Barrel Tart Cherry Wheat drinks clean, cherry-kissed, and summer-ready—so much so our “non-craft” guest nominates it for beer of the year. New Holland’s Dragon’s Milk Coffee Chocolate ends with a clear point: if you want coffee, you’ll get coffee, nose to finish.

You’ll hear straight talk on balance vs bigness, how to read “single barrel,” why French oak changes the finish, and when adjuncts actually show up. If you love barrel-aged stouts, bourbon barrel programs, and side-by-side tasting drama, this is your flight.

Enjoyed the showdown? Follow, rate, and share the podcast with a friend who loves big stouts—or send us your own barrel-aged picks for a future face-off.

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Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northwoodsbeerguy@gmail.com.

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If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.

Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well.