I haven't brewed any beer in quite a while now, but of course I've still been drinking it.  Matt's Burning Rosids from Stone is a high alcohol Saison.  This is definitely a beer worth trying, there was a bit more complexity to it as it warmed up.  As far as Saisons go, it was middle of the road for me.

Not shown is my Hoodang Fresh Hop IPA.  If you read my last entry, you know I used 4 pounds of home grown nugget hops to brew this.  It was a lot of fun to make, and has turned out to be quite tasty.  The first 2 months or so there was a lot of "green" flavor to it, almost vegetable like from all the fresh hops, now that flavor has dissipated, and it has turned into a really good IPA.  It will be a perfect spring/summer beer for me to enjoy.

One of my favorite non local breweries has to be Deschutes. http://www.deschutesbrewery.com//  If you haven't tried their beers yet, you need to.  One of their latest beer I've tried is their Fresh Squeezed IPA.  This is truly a thing of beauty if you like hops.  I can't tell you how glad I am that they're available in Iowa now.

A few months ago, I went to Beers to You in Waterloo with my 2 brother in-laws and father in-law.  The night was a bit of a blur, but there definitely were a few stand out beers of the night.  Keeping with IPA's was Annabelle's IPA from Galena Brewing.  http://www.galenabrewery.com/  So far this is the only beer I've had from them, but it was fantastic.  I thought it was similar to Schlafly's Tasmanian IPA.  I will absolutely be trying more of their brews in the future.

Another big hit from that night was Jobu from Capital Brewing.  http://www.capital-brewery.com/Default.aspx  This 8% abv brown ale aged in rum barrels was my favorite beer of the night, and I can't wait to get my hands on some more.

A local favorite for me was SingleSpeed Brewery.  http://www.singlespeedbrewing.com/  I'm never dissappointed having one of their brews, and they brought 2 fantastic beers to the event.  Brewed X 2 and IPA Blanco.  I couldn't tell you which one was better, because they were both fantastic.

We are lucky to have a booming craft beer industry here in Iowa with greats like SingleSpeed, Toppling Golliath, Court Avenue, Millstream, and now gold medal winning (from GABF) Peace Tree Brewing.  http://www.peacetreebrewing.com/landing.php?return=/&x=-1  Next time you're in Iowa take a look around, and I bet you can find a great, locally brewed beer near you.