Mug Club draft at RBY. Not quite the banana bomb the name leads one to believe, thankfully. Pour shows a cloudy yellow beer under a white head, just a bit more bubbly than a German hefeweizen. The nose is simply toasty wheat malts, with just a hint of pitted fruit and clove. Taste emphasizes wheat malts without extremes, even Amarillos are mild here. There’s finally some banana taste after I got halfway through the mug. Goes very nicely with a bowl of RB chili. Quite zesty.

Mug club draft. Cloudy wit-like appearance, but brewmaster Tim says he used American ale yeast, this the choice of style. Spices make for a unique nose; I think of ginger ale over a wheat beer, plus a slight ale fruitiness. Taste is of a better wheat beer (as in not diluted for commercial popularity). A slightly creamy mouthfeel. The wheat malts are smooth, with a little hop and spice edge. Ginger finally shows up again near the bottom of my mug. Nicely filling.

Taster, then Mug Club draft @ RBY. Dark brown like a porter, with a full head of foam that clings for a while to the sides of a glass like an old lover who can’t say goodbye. I came into RBY at lunch hoping they’d a nice citrussy IPA handy, and this called out to me. Aroma offers whiffs of orange hop, then deep beer malts. Taste-wise, the malts are not bitter, they’re even smoother than some commercial schwartzbiers I’ve had. The hops are gentler on the palate than in the nose: still some orange, but more of a zest than the occasional sour or bitter of citrus fruit. The hops keep any coffee flavor claimed for the malts back, but the net effect is a dark beer with a warm roasty character, that I enjoyed more as I swigged the rest of the mug. They have had this on cask, but I missed it. It may come back later.

Cask pour at RBY. For a cask draw, it has a nicely thick and creamy white head. This covers a golden ale body with a tinge of red in the center. A spicy smell. Just tasting the foam, and then first sips of the beer, offer the expected slightly thin mouthfeel of a cask beer. Drinks very clean with that well-established rye spiciness. Dry with minimal hops. A few fruity ale esters show up deep in the glass, but I suspect that had a longer, cool ferment.

Mug Club Draft at RBY. Banana and bubble gum esters can be smelled from a distance here. A cloudy yellow color under a white head that stands tall, but only for a short while. Taste has more banana than anything, giving it a ripe hefeweizen flavor. Plenty of light malt taste too, to carry it along. Coriander and other spicy notes finally come in halfway through. Pretty good, but a basic standard for a wit.

Mug Club draft @ RBY. Nice reddish brown, with a thin layer of foam. Good caramel malt nose with equal hop bitterness. Taste is like a nut brown ale, but the smoother lager finish is apparent. Gotta call it "crisp." Easy-going, but with a nice edge of English hops. Gets a little drier toward the finish. Ends with a nice "burb" to it.

Draft taster at RBY. My 500th Illinois Beer! Cloudy dark yellow with a sort of cherry center. Darned if it doesn’t smell like roses after all, with a touch of wine in the nose, too. Taste is a little tart, but not sour. Some apricot in the taste too, but subtle. What you notice is the wine notes, but largely because it’s not often found in a beer. Main focus is still on a nice, slightly spice saison, and it’s carried off well.