Beer reviews and blog posts by Taylor Birkey
Taylor co-founded The Beerly in 2009. He and his wife and three children live in the west suburbs of Chicago, where Taylor currently works as a creative director, marketing strategist, storyteller/writer in the non-profit sector. He loves community and serves as a pastor at a local church, coaches soccer, works on cars, plays the drums, and dreams of the great outdoors.
Magic Hat #9
More like Love Potion #9. Magic Hat, you stole my heart with this beer. I just wanted to say that up front. I first had this beer this past year. I had no idea what it was. They just poured it and brought it to me. It was a pivotal moment in my personal beer history....
Flying Dog Raging Bitch Belgian IPA
From the start, Flying Dog Brewery’s Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA has a lot of hype. It’s Flying Dog’s 20th Anniversary brew, so you at least know that one well-known American craft brewery chose to focus the significance of 20 years into this...
Lagunitas IPA
In my trek to find the perfect IPA, I’ve decided to take on the Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, California. They’re a fairly big name in American Craft beer, carried pretty much across the nation. This India Pale Ale is their self-proclaimed...
Three Floyds Dreadnaught IPA
Buying this beer was confirmation that I have fully committed myself to IPAs. Not so long ago, they were the style I avoided most: the bitter hop taste really made me cringe. But now, as I’m sipping an IPA made by Three Floyds, I know that it’s for real....What We Learned about Beer in 2009
Here at The Perfectly Happy Man, we often like to take a look at what’s ahead of us: new beers, new horizons. To commemorate 2009, however, we thought we’d share with you some of the different things we learned this year about beer. Some of us have been...
Wells Banana Bread Beer
I saw this bottle at the local Binny’s and had to buy it. Banana Bread Beer? Come on now. And people say that wine has a wider spectrum. Yeah, and Grizzly Adams didn’t have a beard. Wells Banana Bread Beer is what they call a Fruit Beer: usually this means...
Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
Chocolate and beer? Not only do these two comestibles stand proudly on their own, but My! how they deliver when combined. Young’s Double Chocolate Stout is probably the most globally revered of its kind (along with an American counterpart brewed by Rogue Brewery...
Guinness Draught
So, Guinness. This beer, if you can call it that, seems like it stands in a category all on its own. It originated in the brewery of Arther Guinness in Dublin (St. James’ Gate), Ireland in the late 18th century. While it is an Irish Dry Stout, the very...A Visit to Two Brothers Brewery
One of the gifts I received this year was a trip to Two Brothers Brewery in Warrenville, Illinois, home of some absolutely excellent beers. My brothers and I made the drive out in a quasi-blizzard, pulling up to the Two Brothers Tap House for lunch. The brewery and...
Bell’s Best Brown Ale
I was in the local liquor store, roaming the aisles in search of something new and exciting. We were having some people over for a little holiday shindig. while it was ice storming outside, I wanted something that would warm [our] bellies. This bright purple cask of...
Metropolitan Dynamo Copper Lager
I was going to wait to review a beer until later this evening, but the Chicago Bears, namely Public Enemy #1 Jay Cutler, have caused me to hit the bottle to drown out my sorrows. I turn now to my good friends at Metropolitan Brewing in Chicago, Illinois. The...
Three Floyds Alpha King Pale Ale
For the record, I am not into super hoppy beers. However, I am even more committed to broadening my own horizons. Therefore, I’m sitting down with a glass of Three Floyds’ Alpha King Pale Ale. I spent the morning out in the slosh, mucking it up with fellow...Why Review Beer?
Of all the possible things to do in life, why would anyone decide to devote free time to reviewing beer? Obviously, this is a question we at The Perfectly Happy Man must have an answer for. I think it’s pretty obvious that beer has been around a long time. It is...
Metropolitan Krankshaft Kölsch
So, it’s cold outside in the western burbs, and I’ve spent a good hour of my day walking in it. I come in from the freeze looking for something intriguing. I’ve got the apartment to myself for the moment. Time to kick back and listen to some tunes...
Redhook Double Black Stout
Today, instead of a piping hot cup of coffee, I decided to get a little adventurous and try Redhook Brewery’s ominous Limited Release Double Black Stout: 650ml of pure black attack. Comes in a tall brown bottle with a mediocre-ly designed label on it. Average...
Shiner Kosmos Reserve
Halfway through the box of Spoetzl Brewery’s Family Reunion, I’m on to the Shiner Kosmos Reserve. Here is an American Pale Lager for my beer belt. Definitely a beer I’ll drink again, unlike the unimpressive Shiner Blonde. The Kosmos Reserve is a...
Shiner Blonde Lager
It’s a winter wonderland out there, and I’m inside, gazing at the Fraser fir, sipping a glass of Shiner Blonde Lager. Another standard offering from the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas, the Blonde Lager is pretty simple … and blonde. Here’s...
Schneider Weisse Original
The hefeweizen. An excellent beer style, one I’m enjoying Tonight I’m enjoying a Schneider Weisse, “The Original” to be precise. Brewed by G. Schneider & Sohn, Bavaria’s “Oldest Weizen brewery.” I think it’s fair to...