Thirsty Thursday | Anniversary 2 Imperial IPA, Tribute Brewing

I talk about it often but my favorite beer is probably ones that I can get locally. I have a huge passion for locally produced beer so when two years ago our home town finally got it's own brewery I couldn't have been more excited! Tribute Brewing Company has been an amazing addition to our community but also makes AMAZING beer!!

What I love is that not only does Tribute have several of their great beer to sample from but they include a few other select Wisconsin only breweries that they rotate into their selection as well. (And even have some craft sodas for those not drinking either!) Though I work in the beer/bar business we really aren't huge fans of going out to the bars and staying till bar time. Tribute is the perfect place for us to have a great beer, great conversation and even spin our vinyl on Turntable Tuesday and not be out all hours of the night.

When the brewery isn't open we can still get our Tribute fix at a few locations in the area in the form of growlers (which we own as well) but for the very special occasion of their 2nd anniversary they bottled some of the their FANTASTIC Anniversary 2 Imperial IPA in 22oz bombers so I am really happy that I can share it here with you! This is probably one of my favorite Imperial IPAs right now, since it has been released I think I have had it on just about every visit (which is pretty rare for me considering I always like to try something new). It is hoppy, smooth and packs a 10.5% ABV punch!

If you are ever in Eagle River, Wisconsin and looking for a great place with great beer or something that is a bit different than the traditional Wisconsin bar atmosphere please be sure to check out our favorite place in town... Tribute Brewing!

Credits | Author: Krista & Photography: Fornear Photo

Turntable Tuesday | White Stripes, Under the Great Northern Lights

We are HUGE Jack White / White Stripes fans in our house... there really isn't anything else quite like Jack White's music and we truly believe he is one of the most unique and creative artists of our time. I have always loved his fondness for getting to the purity of the music and putting down the damn cell phones for an hour or two and enjoying his show if you are there to witness his performances live. 

On the live topic, there are few and far between any really "good" live records out there anymore and it is quite rare for us to purchase one because of the sound quality to be honest. Thankfully this post is about the opposite... one of our favorite live albums of all time, The White Stripes Under the Great Northern Lights!

The concept for the Under the Great Northern Lights came from the idea that The White Stripes wanted to tour every providence in Canada back in 2007, something they had not done until that time. It was inspired by the idea that Jack White had relatives in the Nova Scotia area before they moved to Detroit to work in the auto industry and was purely a personal endeavor not a financial one for the band. With a bit of urging from their manager they also filmed the entire experience as well and if you haven't had the chance to watch the documentary of the making of this album it is quite awesome as well!

Many of the White Stripes most well known hits are featured on this album like Blue Orchid, Seven Nation Army, We Are Going to be Friends, Little Ghost, Icky Thump just to name a few and so many more. Plus it includes some awesome bagpipers and the most amazing Jolene cover you will ever hear! 

On a bit of a sad side note, after this tour the rest of the White Stripes upcoming tour dates were canceled due to Meg White's extreme shyness (clearly visible in the film) and acute anxiety. Shortly there after their brake up was announced and this was the last time Meg performed on stage.

If you love the White Stripes though and haven't heard this I HIGHLY recommend it!

Credits | Author: Krista & Photography: Fornear Photo

Thirsty Thursday | My 1000th Beer on Untappd, Labyrinth by Unita Brewing

Finally it's here.... my 1000th beer on Untappd! Lots of people kept asking me if I was planning a special beer or if I had one picked out already. I think in the back of my mind I always knew that Labyrinth by Unita Brewing located near Salt Lake City, Utah that we had been cellaring would be the beer.

Oddly enough I first learned about this beer close to 8yrs ago when I was a beer packaging designer and fell in love with it's unique artwork by Utah artist Trent Call. At that time I almost didn't care what was in the bottle! After doing a bit of research and finally finding it we just sort of "held onto it for a special occasion"... funny that occasion happened about 6yrs after we found it! 

This week's experiment in aging was MUCH better than last week's... by a TON! Being corked rather than crowned probably had much to do with it as when we opened it, it made the "pop" sound it should and created the foam it should on the head of the beer as well. We've been holding onto this baby since a trip to Central Illinois in 2011 (hence the photo of the bottle date to prove it, ha!) 

The last "1" from "11" got a little smudged but you get the idea.

Part of Unita's Crooked Line of beers Labyrinth is a Black Ale. Now I know compared to others this might sound rather plain but that's far from the case. Rather it is a black ale brewed with licorice sticks aged in oak barrels. Without having to even look at the tasting notes (but later doing so) I got out of this beer EXACTLY what I should have! A nice chocolate, licorice flavor with a hint of toasted oak.... it was A-MAZ-ING! At a an ABV of a whopping 13.2% this couldn't have been a better beer to age and I am sure that age added to that ABV a bit as well.

Needless to say the husband and I shared a bottle and I felt prettttttty good after that one glass. Oh the joys of high ABV beer! I am really excited to finally have reached the 1000th beer milestone on Untappd... now I can stop stressing about what I am going to enjoy next and simply have a beer again! Cheers!

Credits | Author: Krista & Photography: Fornear Photo

Turntable Tuesday | Pink Floyd, Meddle

Record lovers and Pink Floyd fanatics alike know this album well but some of you may not. To be perfectly honest I am not as familiar with it as I would like and as familiar with it as many of the later Pink Floyd albums, so shooting this gave me the opportunity to revisit the unique sound that is Meddle. 

Unlike most Pink Floyd albums Meddle released in 1971 really didn't have a true "theme" if you will. Due to this the album itself is largely an experimental piece of work that really laid the groundwork for their later sound, from attempting to capture unique tone of music from every day life to making music from household items.

Though as a full length album it is clearly very "Pink Floyd" the standout song from the album is Echoes the 20min+ song that takes up the entire side 2. What is also especially unique about this album is the collaborative production effort put forth by the entire band. Going forward much of the band direction was lead by in most part by Roger Waters, Meddle was not. Another icon element of this album is the cover, which happens to be a macro of an ear underwater... which later the band itself did not like and did not feel represented the work well. It is also only the second album with a gatefold photo of the band (something they would not do again until 1987's A Momentary Lapse of Reason.) 

If you are a Pink Floyd fan this album is a must check out!

Credits | Author: Krista & Photography: Fornear Photo

Thirsty Thursday | Chicory Stout, Dogfish Head

So I am not sure if those of you who read the blog are familiar with the app Untappd or not, but in the beer world it's kind of a big deal! I was a bit of a later comer to the app but got on the bandwagon very quickly and never looked back. Basically it serves as a way to track and rate the beers you drink. Clearly I have been drinking beer for years so I had a lot of catching up to do but I am near a VERY big milestone on the app... which is having my 1000th unique beer. In fact, I have been doing a top 10 countdown and I only have 2 left to achieve this goal!

Since I have been doing a countdown and planning what my 1000th beer will be I have been trying to choose some unique beers in the process. Dogfish Head Chicory Stout might not be the most unique beer BUT this is actually one of the first beers we cellared in 2011 so it seemed very fitting to throw it into the mix and finally drink it!

Aging beer can have some amazing and poor results alike. You would never do this with a plain old beer (aka Miller Lite) but with dark or high alcohol content beer kept in a relatively dry, cool and light free environment they can be a really great experience!  

The Chicory Stout was quite tasty but lacked a bit on the carbonation (a result of the aging). This beer has a nice dry roast and chocolatey flavor and is one of the first beers ever brewed by Dogfish Head and in fact is no longer in production for bottling (available draft only now). I am so glad we got to enjoy it and am really excited for my 1000th beer, cheers!

Credits | Author: Krista & Photography: Fornear Photo

Turntable Tuesday | Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell

I am not sure about you but we are HUGE Sufjan Stevens fans in our house! We just love his unique, soothing, quirky and a bit melancholy style there is no doubt. We already own his Michigan and always popular Illinoise so when we heard he was coming out with a new album that was really getting back to his roots were were slightly hesitant but nevertheless excited. In fact our record purchases (of new albums) has slowed a bit recently due to trying to save for some home remodeling projects (that I hope to possibly show once they get a bit further along). That said when we heard that Carrie & Lowell was coming out last week and I happened to be out in the market in a town with a great record store (shout out to Revival Records you're awesome!) they day it released I knew I had to stop in and pick it up.

Carrie & Lowell really does get back to Stevens' roots, it's exactly the type of sound you would expect from him. We had already been listening to some of the first songs released leading up to the album and already knew we were going to like it including the title song Carrie & Lowell as well as Should Have Known Better and Fourth of July.

It's very well known this album is a self reflection album of Carrie & Lowell themselves, Stevens' mother (who was bipolar, schizophrenic and suffered from drug addiction and substance abuse issues that abandoned their family when he was a small child) and his step father of the time Lowell. It documents the time that he spent in Oregon with them as a child as well as his feelings about her after she passed away in 2012 of stomach cancer. 

It's exactly what you would expect both sad, a little funny and beautiful. With the VERY slow transition of the seasons in the Northwoods with Spring trying to arrive and Winter fighting her tooth and nail I just can't get enough of this album, it seems so fitting right now. If you have the chance to pick this one up I highly recommend it!

Credits | Author: Krista & Photography: Fornear Photo

Fornear Photo Friday | Brian & Leslie's Wedding with Superhero Touches

I'm not sure about you, but are really starting to long for spring to arrive here in Wisconsin. That said, it was really fun to look back on the beautiful day that Brian & Leslie had last June! Their wedding took place in Decatur, Illinois near Matt's home town which is always great when we can make a trip down for great clients and we can sneak in some family and friends time too.

Aren't these Batman cufflinks awesome?!

Oh June, it's such a great time to have a wedding in the Midwest. The weather on this day was literally perfect, the grass is green, it's not too hot, not too cold and no rain... it was great! The day began with the ceremony at a beautiful Catholic cathedral and then we went onto shoot at a really great park in the area.

It's great when we click with our clients and we really enjoyed hanging out with Brian & Leslie because of their fun and awesome personalities but especially their love for superhero movies that they incorporated into their wedding! 

Aren't these shirts under the guy's tuxes awesome too!? I especially love Leslie's nephew the Batman ring bearer, he had no problems getting into character too! 

Thanks for letting us capture your day!

Credits | Author: Krista & Photography: Fornear Photo

Thirsty Thursday | War & Peace, Fulton Beer

Last night when we shot (and drank) this very delicious beer that had been aging in our basement for about a year because why not!? Especially after some of the crazy April Fools Day beer pranks out there that New Glarus, Lakefront & Sixpoint Breweries all pulled... we needed no more tricks! When I went to "check in" War & Peace by Fulton Beer I realized I only have 10 more beers until I reach the crazy achievement of 1000th unique beers on Untappd as well. Needless to say I am really excited to have this beer to start off my countdown to 1000 with!

Fulton Beer is a small brewery out of Minneapolis basically starting off with four guys in a garage and a great dream that became a (hard working) reality... that we get to enjoy right along with them! We get over to the Twin Cities from time to time and whenever we do we stock up on craft beer and when we picked this one up last year we knew it was going to be a keeper for awhile and I am glad we did.

This 2014 War & Peace is a Russian Imperial Stout conditioned with whole bean Peace Coffee and packs a 9% ABV punch too. Not only does it have amazing coffee notes like you would imagine but a fantastic touch of chocolate making it smooth and a bit boozy. We even detected a touch of spice (as in heat) which was a really great flavor too.

If you have the chance to try this one it really needs to be on your short list to get and thats no joke! Cheers!

Credits | Author: Krista & Photography: Fornear Photo