This weekend, Wifey and I were on the Illinois side of the Mighty Mississippi. We had lunch at Eckert's (which is awesome). We then went over to Randall's liquor store to check out some beers that we can not get in Missouri (Ballast Point Victory at Sea is awesome). We decided to head over to one of the newer breweries in the area, Recess Brewing. They are located in Edwardsville, IL. I love their tag line: "Helping fight Prohibition one beer at a time!"
Recess Brewing is a nice, casual microbrewery. They had seven of their beers on tap. They do not serve food but you can bring food in or have it delivered there. The beers they had on tap varied from an IPA to a porter. When we go to a new place, we usually order flights. Those that do not know, a flight is a number of small glasses that allow you to sample the bar/brewery's beers. They are usually 4-5 ounces. They usually range from 4 to 5 glasses. When we order a flight, we start from the top down. We tasted all seven of their beers. Some were better than others.
My two favorite beers from Recess were Traitor and Four Square. Traitor is 5.8% ABV and is an ESB. An ESB is an Extra Special Bitter. An ESB usually has a bitter hop aroma with some malt or a fruity sweetness. The taste will have that hop bitterness along with that malty sweetness. The other one that I liked a lot was the Four Square which is an American Nut Brown and is 6.1% ABV. A nut brown ale is called that because of the color. An American brown ale is similar to the English brown ale but it uses American ingredients. It is a darker brown color and has a bit of a malty aroma and taste. They will usually have a malty sweetness to them. Both of these beers were really nice.
The two guys behind the bar were friendly and knowledgeable. I apologize but I forgot their names. They were pretty helpful to the customers. When people that seemed to be new to Recess, they were asked what they normally drink and tried to match beers to their tastes. Recess Brewing is a great place to go. I enjoyed it and will definitely go back.
I just wanted to add something else to this post. There is a group of women in St. Louis who call themselves The OG. What is The OG? They are the "St. Louis women's craft beer collective." From their Facebook page: "We are a group of women from the St. Louis region that promote women's involvement in the craft beer movement both locally and globally through craft beer education, support of women in the craft beer industry, homebrew education and general involvement in St. Louis to better our community." I am totally jealous.
Why am I mentioning The OG? My wonderful wife is a member of The OG and Sunday, they just brewed some beer with Six Row Brewing. The beer is called Fraise Casée. It is a strawberry saison. A saison is also called a farmhouse ale because in the 19th century, it was brewed in the winter months and given to the farm hands during the summer months. Saisons are a little spicy and fruity with a little tartness. Anyway, the beer should be available for purchase in a month or so. Good luck ladies!
