A weekly review of Vas Foremost’s craft beer offerings.

Brad Shaffer and Jason Klein have been friends since childhood. They are such good friends that they A) wear half-heart chain necklaces that connect to each other or B) started a brewery together in 2010. In this case, it’s the latter. In this week’s Vas Review, I drink up two beers from another toddler-aged brewery in Chicago, Spiteful Brewing. Cheers!

I lost 5 pounds by switching to the Fat Badger weight loss system!

Fat Badger

Style: Irish Red Ale

ABV: 7.6%

It may not be March, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy what the Irish have to offer. No, I’m not talking about that Irish Dry Stout that starts with a “G” and ends with a “uinness” and that comes to us from Africa (sad, but true). I am talking about the other, lesser known Irish contribution to the beer world – the Irish Red Ale. It’s history is a mystery for the most part but its wonderful taste is undeniable. Leave your gluttony at the door, folks and indulge in Spiteful Brewing’s Fat Badger.

If you quit looking at the wonderful designed label of the literal fat badger, you’ll see a muddily opaque brown ale. Yes, it’s brown and not red. Some beers in this style category will see a red hue, but some won’t.

Before we drink, we take a nose to the aroma. There is a wide range of influence going on here from the west coast of the U.S. to the British Isles. The British brewing influence shows us caramel, toffee, biscuit, and a malty backbone. Unique to this beer, the aroma has a moderately strong hop presence with some pine notes. Typically, you won’t see that in an Irish Red. For the most part in this style, hop aroma and flavors are restrained. (Damn American influence.)

Spoiler alert! The beer tastes nothing like the pizza and hamburger on the label. You find me a man who can make a beer taste like that, and I’ll start signing my paychecks over to him immediately. Fat Badger is a malt party in my mouth. It’s slightly fruity, showing toasted malt notes, toffee, caramel, biscuit, and some breadiness. The hops crash the party and show off a wet pine tree-like flavor. (Wet pine tree…don’t you just love how beer geeks sell the flavors in a beer?) The beer itself is pretty thick and it dries out a little bit on the backend leaving a breaded fruitiness behind.

I lied a little bit in the past paragraph. As it turns out, I don’t want my beer to taste like pizza and hamburgers. I want my beer to taste like this. So let’s all turn a little bit Irish and kiss the first red-head we see.

Nice nose, Marcus.

Jingle Balls

Style: Winter Warmer

ABV: 7.6%

Jingle Balls…enough said. Spiteful Brewing takes aim to warm up our taste buds and tickle our funny bone with their new winter ale. Think the label for Fat Badger was clever? Wait ‘til you see this one. Let the innuendos fly as the holiday cheer lowers our inhibitions. Marcus, show me what you got.

Jingle Balls

Dashing through this beer
Flavors of ginger and nutmeg are clear
Cinnamon bread on the nose
Fruitiness and caramel impose

Some woodiness from the hops
and a cherry put right on top
what fun is it to laugh and drink
a beer from Spiteful Brewing

O!

Jingle Balls
Jingle Balls
A thick mouthfeel that finishes dry
No need to try
the jokes are implied
and better than I could provide

Jingle Balls
Jingle Balls
raise your glasses with a toast
just take a peak
if you want to see
what’s underneath Marcus’s mistletoe.

See you next week!