On tap at the brewpub. Pours a clear caramel brown with a tan head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has notes of bread with some roasted malt and a bit toast and toffee. Flavor is smooth with bread nuttiness and toffee backed by a light roasted malt note.

Draft. Hazy amber color, thin off white head, solid lacing. Aroma of lightly spiced caramel. Tast is bitter spiced caramel. Not bad.

A dark brown bock with reddish hues and a thin mocha head. In aroma, a smooth licorice malt with light peppery notes, light burned maple and vanilla. In mouth, a smooth woody sweet maple malt, dark fruits, woody notes, a bit light bodied and thin, but not bad. On tap at FoBAB 2011.

A new keg tapped at Bavarian Lodge, come-n-get-it. Appearance is quite as you’d expect, a cloudy yellow pils color, a comforting sudsy beer head. Smell has the lightness of pilsener malt, and that soapy smell that sometimes comes with a really light beer. I guess it’s partly a consequence of some light beers. Taste is quite all right, though. Light, toasty lager malt with a nose of sweetness, and slightly mineral character from the yeast still present. A bit of crunchy noble hop once the beer flushes the chockies I just had off my palate. Settles into a fine Dortmunder, like DAB or Dog Days, hard water and all.

Carnivale, Chicago bottle ($6): Pours a golden color without much in the way of head. Aroma is very nice for a kolsch. dry German hops are very much present. Taste is very well-balanced. Hops are there in good measure and blend with the bready malts. In short, this is what a kolsch should taste like. Tasted great with the food at Carnivale.

Lou Malnati’s, Chicago tap ($5.50): Pours an amberish color with an off-white head. Aroma is of caramel malts and a little bit of hops. Taste is pretty straightforward and was right what I needed after a very long walk. Obviously, there isn’t much in the way of hops or anything. Caramel malts throughout. Nice and crisp at the same time. Well-balanced.

Bottle shared at freetail release, thanks! Pours a clear golden amber with a white head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma is full of grains and hay with a bit of light fruit underneath. Flavor is full of sweet grains that mellow in to a bread and hay finish.

At Hopleaf, Chicago pours a hazy, copper amber with a creamy, lacing white head. Nose is malty, wet bread, crackers, a little citrus, lightly metallic. Nice malty flavor, caramel, a little cookie dough, bread. Medium bodied, sweet, lightly dry finish. Good malt flavor, very drinkable.

Purchased at Vas Foremost in Chicago, IL where my band played just around the corner; enjoyed that night and also on a cool Thursday night exhausted from weekly running. I’m not a big fan of the style, but I’m liking this one from a fantastic local brewery. Appearance is a very unique amber/orange/ruby with a rich off-white head that laces to the glass. Aroma is very nice, hop notes are subtle and earthy, also malts are present along with an aroma I get as peppery. Taste is rather buttery, a bit nutty, and maybe some other adjective that ends in -ery. At first the malt comes through and gives way to those earthy hops that are somewhat bitter. Carbonation is good, German yeast also prevalent in the mix. I like it, better in a glass than from the bottle (which is how I originally consumed this).

Pint draft, $5 @ Bavarian Lodge. This is poured as Iron Works Alt. Bright brown in a shaker glass, with a thin layer of foam. Caramelish malts with a crisp lager smell. Taste is simple, lightly malty. A brown ale that still has the dryness of a lager. Ticklish effervescence delivers some hop burn to the back of the throat. Also some toast, and just a suggestion of cherry tartness. But the focus is on a nice,malty beer, sweet on the tongue but dry in the finish.