Effing Brew Company, Effingham IL

Summer Trip 2022, Day 4

I stopped at Effing Brew four years ago and I still love all their beer. Plus, who can resist a stop at a brewery with the kind of chutzpah to pick that name?

The bartender, or “Beer Fairy” as her shirt proclaimed, loved that I was doing this trip and was delighted to help pick out a flight of four beers.

Granville Davis is a 7.2% APA and even though it’s listed as 51 IBU, it’s incredibly well balanced and doesn’t really taste at all bitter. Were it not for the alcohol content, this would make a wonderful session beer!

Amber Waves is a 5.1% American Lager and was an instant favorite.

Melodious Monk was the bartender’s … er, Beer Fairy’s … favorite and was 7.2% but sadly, I can’t find the style listed anywhere. It was very smooth, but while I did enjoy it, it wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped.

Tyrant’s Blood was one I added to the flight just because of the name and in spite of the “rye” in the description. It was also 7.2% and I did like it even though it showed the alcohol more clearly than the other three high ABV brews.

While I was still working through this flight, my Brewben showed up:

I’d had this sandwich here four years ago and loved it EXCEPT that it was made with THREE slices of bread and that was just too much. Their menu has changed substantially since then, but they’ve brought this back as a Saturday special. I asked the Beer Fair whether I could order it without the third slice of bread and she said absolutely! That’s how she always gets it herself 🙂 It was right up there in the top 10% of all the Reubens I’ve ever had.

After finishing with all that, I asked her to surprise me with a second flight of beers of her choice. She loved the idea in spite of being a bit nervous whether I’d actually enjoy them. (I did.)

Lil Blue Eyes surprised me – it’s a Blueberry beer, but in the Effing style, with just the right hint of fruitiness balanced by the rest of the ingredients. This would be a great beer for a very hot summer day.

Effin Heffen should have been better than it was, but it was still good. It’s a German-style Hefeweizen but without the character of their other brews. (And I have to apologize that I didn’t capture the ABV for these last four.)

Teutonic Knight was a strong Belgian Blonde ale, enjoyable but definitely not one I’d do a pint of.

And finally, Railsplitter is a mild Wheat beer that had a more malty flavor than I would have preferred after everything else I’d had.

Overall, the visit was very enjoyable. I was also surprised to learn that their Mug Club is only $40 for membership – and that’s a Lifetime fee, not annual – and the mugs hold a minimum of 4oz and up to 8oz more than a pint! Wow.

Tomorrow, Blind Tiger Brewing in Topeka, another revisit from four years ago.