Doo, Doo, Doo, Lookin Out My Backdoor: Papillion, NE

When you get right down to it, this blog is about my adventures to find wonderful beer, wines and spirits.  When you take on a mission like this, sometimes you find yourself in exactly the same place that you started from.  Sometimes it's because you come to a point when you realize that the thing you were searching for was always nearby, waiting.  Sometimes it's because you find a greater appreciation for the people and the places that create a home.  Sometimes it's because your boss doesn't need you to travel at the moment so you find yourself at home and slightly bored.  I will leave it to you to figure out which applies today  Anyway, our travels take us back across the Great Plains and into Omaha, Nebraska and Nebraska Brewing Company.

Something about this place is quintessentially Midwest.  The staff is welcoming and friendly and there is a feeling of simplicity in the atmosphere and the beer selection itself.  This thing that makes this place special is the fact that it is located in Nebraska and serves craft beer.  The Midwest is slightly behind on the learning curve when it comes to craft beer; and by that I mean that the region drank a lot of Budweiser the night before and was too drunk to show up for the test at all.

One of the things that I dearly love about this place is the fact that, when you sit down, they bring you a bowl of homemade potato chips.  These are awesome and almost worth the visit for these alone, salty with a hint of garlic and herbs. 

I stopped in and had a taster platter to start.  Their selection includes two wheat beers, two IPAs a pale, nut brown, blonde and seasonal selection that was a rye beer for the summer months.   All of the above were very good, the pale and the IPA's were my favorite; hoppy but not so much that they were undrinkable. They have two wheat beers on tap, a Belgian wit ale and a German Hefeweizen which was an interesting opportunity to compare and contrast the two styles.  

Their seasonal fell a bit short of my expectations.   Since I moved out to the Midwest I have acquired a taste for rye ales.  This particular rye tasted more like an IPA.  I was assured that they did use rye malt, but it was overpowered by the hops.  It was still good, but redundant given that they already have two IPA's on tap.

The clear standout here was a rare example of a Belgian IPA.  Nebraska Brewing Company's Hop God IPA is like a traditional Belgian Abby ale loaded with Pacific Northwest hops.  It started with lots of malt, tropical fruit, dark fruit and nut flavors, but slowly gives way to the hop profile of an American IPA.  At nearly 10% alcohol, it will surprise you, but it is an extremely drinkable beer.

So I'm stuck in town for the next few weeks, so posting will probably be a less than weekly for a while.  I'm going to try and hit all the local breweries and wineries while I wait, but posting may still be a little slow. 
Jones out-----

Beware, Falling Rocks: Denver, CO

Up until now, this blog has mostly been an excuse for me to bounce around the wineries and breweries I come across.  Now it's going to be an excuse to go to the bar.   


The Falling Rock Tap Room is truly a beer lovers bar.  Their on tap selection is pretty massive (Over 70 if I remember correctly) with a selection of bottled beer to match.   This is one of those places that has beer on tap that you can't get at any other bar in this country.  In addition, they move enough beer though this bar that running into a keg that has been on tap since the last presidential election is extremely unlikely.  The beer menu even comes with a warning that it was accurate at the time of printing and could change at a moment's notice.  If you run into an old beer, it is there on purpose, but I touch on that little nugget later.  Then there is the staff...

While sitting at the bar enjoying one of their fine brews, I noticed a young man and woman approach the bar.  I can't be sure, but from the way they were acting and the way they were talking I think they were on a date; if not their first date, than a pretty early one in the relationship.  As the girl scanned the seemingly endless row of taps, she had a look on her face that suggested that, to put it mildly, she was not prepared to render a decision at this time.  The bartender came by and the man ordered a dark beer of some kind.  Then he turned to the woman who paused for a while and then said, "Do you have anything like bud light?"  Now, like I said before, this is a true beer bar.  It's one of a few places you will see a lot of patrons sniffing their drinks before they start drinking.  So when that poor girl uttered the words, 'Bud Light' you could actually feel the room get a bit colder.  The bartender, however, simply looked behind him for a moment, found the lightest thing they had on tap and poured a small taster glass for her to see if she enjoyed it.  She drank it, decided that it was not at all like Bud Light, but was worth ordering a glass of anyway.  My point is the staff is friendly and approachable, so it's a good place for those new to the craft beer world.

Their offerings include beers from all over the world and often include multiple vintages of beer.  I first found this place about six months ago around Christmas time.  Then they had three years of an Danish Strong Ale called 'Santa's Little Helper."

The beer menu: Changes frequently without warning

I stopped in and had a few random selections:

The Avery White Rascal:
Nice Belgian white ale out of Colorado.  They use that infernal Belgian wheat yeast, but it is really well balanced with bitter hops and citrus overtones.  More beer like this and I will be forced to re-evaluate my stance on this particular strain of yeast.

Sierra Nevada Southern Harvest Fresh IPA ale:
This is like the Sierra Nevada pale ale's big hoppy brother.  Light sweetness off the top that moves quickly into bitter citrus and floral hops that lingers long on the palate.

Finally they had an apricot mead on tap from another local brewery.  Very good, slightly sweet for my tastes, but lots of fruit and a heavy honey nose.

Well that's all for now.  Jones out.