I find myself in Bloomington tonight with an hour to spare…. You know I am going to hit a brewery! It would be especially nice if I could hit one that I have not tasted before!

I yelped it…. Keg Grove is two miles away. Through a torrential downpour…. I head across town to try some of the young breweries flavors. I pull in and sit in my car as rain dumps by the gallons.

Looks pretty dead inside…. I check Yelp. They are closed. Argh! It’s cool. There are other breweries in town. I look up Little Beaver. CLOSED! How about White Oak? CLOSED! Well, I know Destihl is open, but by now, I am down to about 60 minutes.

HyVee! It’s like angels called down with the suggestion. It’s close and won’t take much time to get served. Oh and they have an Electric car charging station I can use for my Prius Plugin.

It’s still dumping rain btw. I head to HyVee and park in the electric parking. I hop out of the car in the rain and discover that these charging stations are a new variety that I do not have in my google wallet. I’m properly damp when I jump into the car to download the correct ap and secure my paypal account to it. I leap out with a quickness and smash my phone up against the interface, hoping that physical brutality will assist in making this charge port work more quickly. Nope. After it goes through the faux authorization animations…. it finally makes the distinctive click that comes when a charging station has released its charge “fill nozzle”. We are live and charging.

To say that I am wet after this side adventure in an understatement! I’m soaked!

I step inside to HyVee and drip up to bar. Look at that…. They have the local brews! Destihl, Little Beaver, White Oak and Keg Grove! Why…. Why was this not my first stop?

I start with a Keg Grove, Any Direction you Choose. It’s an IPA that satisfies for a cold beer on a crappy night. Unfortunately though it’s small brewery blandness underwhelms and I am not sure I would order it again.

Next up, Little Beaver, Puh Puh Puh. It’s an American Porter. If you advertise American Porter… I expect some hops. I am hoping for for Revolution “Eugene”. Instead.. I am getting something akin to Bent River Stout. To it’s credit, for a small batch porter, it’s pretty flavorful. The more I drink it, the more I appreciate its complexity. Not a bad brew.

Let’s take stock of the night. If it’s early in the week, skip the small breweries in town. They are working their day jobs! If it’s dumping rain, skip the charging station. You won’t get enough juice out of that charger to make a soaking wet shirt worth your while. If you find yourself in need of the local flavors, get to HyVee! They have a beer selection that is completely centered on the local guys. That is pretty cool and it’s obvious that someone is doing their job at the grocery store!

Cheers,

Groucho