Beer Review: Rounding Third via MadTree Brewing ��

Brewed to celebrate the start of our favorite pastime. Rounding Third
has a slight caramel semisweet malt backbone balanced by a strong hop
profile. Dry hopped with Falconers Flight and Simcoe that will have your
pallet rounding third and heading for home.

Beer Review: Crankshaft IPA Revs

A more approachable version of the typical American IPA, hop aroma and
flavor forward. Notes of citrus, mangoes, and tropical fruit dominate.
The bitterness is more rounded than most, due to primarily late hop
additions, as well as dry hopping. The use of 3 different types of malts
give this brew a more balanced body and slight amber/light Caramel
color. 

Beer Review: Sunshine Daydream Session IPA

As
refreshing as wading in a cold stream in the morning sunshine or a walk
among the tall trees, this beer has big hop aromas and flavors of
citrus, peach, orange and tropical fruit with a nice light malt
backbone. Like a sweet coming, never fade away dream... because it's
deliciously real. This is a very drinkable session ale. (Our fans call
it an obsession.) Peace, Love & Hoppiness!

Food Pairings: Spicy Foods. Chicken Wings, Crab Cakes.

ALCOHOL CONTENT: 4.9% ABV  IBU: 60

BEGINNING GRAVITY: 12.5 Plato

ENDING GRAVITY: 3.4 Plato   COLOR: Golden

YEAST: American Ale   MALT: Pale, C-15, Cara-Pils

HOPS: HBC 342, Simcoe, Centennial, Citra

Rod J and Krunch Show: Krunch Visits Jamesport

So, we decided to let Krunch hit the road and he took us on a visit to Jamesport Brewing Company, which is located in Ludington, Michigan. Let's take a look to see what he has found.

Beer Review: Thinking I Mean Drinking ESB 5.8% ABV

Schlafly Brewing is located in St. Louis, Missouri, and today I decided to check out one of their beers for a beer review. This one is called ESB and it is one of their Winter Ales. Described as an extra special or strong bitter, it comes in with an ABV of 5.8% and an IBU of 30. Let's give it a go!

Give Me Five with MadTree Brewing

Cincinnati boasts at least 25 breweries throughout the region, and one of the ones really making some noise is MadTree Brewing. Sitting off the I-71 highway in between downtown Cincinnati and Kenwood is this spacious brewery where beer styles are never short of being found. Recently, I had the chance to catch-up with Mike Stuart of MadTree Brewing to discuss the brewery and conduct another "Give Me Five."

1. When did the brewery become established?

"The first batch was brewed January 22, 2013."

2. How did you come about starting the brewery?

"The three co-founders (Kenny, Brady, and Jeff) were friends working normal corporate day jobs in engineering and marketing that began homebrewing with a very scientific and meticulous approach. They began to realize they could this passion could be much more and then spent more than a year working on their business plan, raising capital, and planning out the physical brewery."

 3. What makes the brewery unique?

"The approach where we start the idea for a beer from a particular flavor profile, color, and mouthfeel. Then you work backwards to make the ingredients fit the vision. It's also about constant exploration; different styles of beers, different ways of brewing, becoming more efficient, and a methodic approach to continuous improvement."

4. Where do you envision the brewery heading in the future?

"Since the beginning, the vision for MadTree has always been to be the most respected brewery in the region. The $18M expansion into MadTree 2.0 is under construction now and should be open by the end of 2016 in Oakley."

5. How many offerings does the brewery provide?

"We have four core canned beers available year-round (PsycHOPathy IPA, Lift Kolsch, Happy Amber Amber, and PSA Pale Ale) and regular rotating seasonals (right now, Rounding Third and soon Sol Drifter) along with some limited can releases (recently, Identity Crisis and Galaxy High coming in a couple of weeks). Of course, we also have some special releases like the Funk Series of sour and funky beers that we released last Sunday (six different beers) and other fun stuff like the Cincinnati Flower Show collaboration beer, Hortense. We also regularly produce draft only seasonals. The taproom always has 17 different beers on tap that rotate regularly -- often beers that never make it out to distribution. We are constantly brewing new styles and new beers."

Thirsty yet? MadTree definitely has a lot of good things going on and I must extend a big thank you to Michael Stuart for taking the time to provide these answers. Also, I want to thank Dan Shatto, who serves as the Director of Hoppyness at MadTree. It was through him that this interview was possible. MadTree is definitely one of the breweries in Cincinnati that any beer drinker needs to visit. So, if you find yourself out cruising I-71 going toward or away from Kenwood then why not make a visit. Just jump off at exit 8 and c'mon around, they'll be glad to see you.