Brews and Reviews: James Page Brewing Company's Yabba Dhaba Chai Tea Porter

Any "beer snob" worth his or her weight in hops is always on a never ending quest to seek out new beers they haven't tried before. A combination of curiosity of that of a feline and the Untappd app, has me on a constant mission to discover new brews, like some sort of barley pop obsessed Indiana Jones.

This particular brew struck me for a couple of reasons. First, I found it interesting that the pairing of a catchphrase from The Flintstones and a typical 20's safari explorer were used to denote the Chai Tea flavoring. The second reason was that this was from James Page Brewery (now owned and operated by Stevens Point Brewery), a former staple of NorthEast Minneapolis' Warehouse area.  Anyone who has journeyed over to Uppercut Gym, probably for one of the beer expos hosted over there, may find themselves passing the brewery's former location, their entrance still adorned with vines of hops.

Photo courtesy of javaprop.com

The Chai Tea Porter is a delightful explosion of taste for the right person. It is packed full of the Chai Tea aroma and taste you'd expect if you were to order one of these trendy beverages from your local coffee establishment.  The mouth-feel of this beer even tricks your senses into believing the consistency of this brew is much thicker than it actually is, due to the flavor.  Heck, even the smell of this beer gives an illusion of sitting in a coffee house, rather than on my couch.

However, as wonderful as this beer tastes, it may not be a brew for everyone. For one, it struggles to truly taste of feel like a Porter. It's body is a bit thin to be considered a Porter, instead being more consistent with a lager. When drinking this beer, without prior knowledge, you'd never associate this brew with having any hint of the typical british style of beer, instead mistaking it for something more of a typical Adjunct. 

The full line of James Page branded beers

This beverage also has a powerful taste with flavors of nutmeg and cinnamon, as well as other spices synonymous with infamous teas of India. This taste may be overwhelming to some folks, especially those who may appreciate more subtle tastes found in other flavored craft beers. It's not quite a "punch you in the mouth with flavor" found in most soft drinks, but it is certainly more than the average beer geek will more than likely enjoy.

Yabba Dhaba isn't a bad beer at all; it's quite enjoyable in fact.  But this is a beer best suited for a stormy spring day, and not likely something the regular beer consumer will want to drink more than one or two of.  If nothing else, Yabba Dhaba is an interesting experimental brew great for giving a try, but not something that will become a staple in any aficionado's beer cellar. Point Brewery has presented us with a good beer for tasting, but not necessarily a good beer for drinking.

Milwaukee Ale House; A Brew City Bright Spot!

Recently I had the opportunity to head to Milwaukee to perform a show with my band, Marked 4 Deletion. Milwaukee is one of my absolute favorite cities. The water, the architecture, the festivals, and of course the BEERS!

(The taps!)

This time I decided to hit up The Milwaukee Ale House with my drummer and our beautiful wives for lunch. I had read the menu online a bit earlier, and honestly I will have to admit that what sold me was how great the food sounded!

(Brewery at MKE Ale House)

To set the stage, let me tell you about the place itself. Milwaukee Ale House is a restaurant/taproom/brewpub in Downtown Milwaukee along the river. Inside the Ale House there are tons of taps, lots of wood, and tons of space. There is even a nice sized stage for entertainment. This is a really nice clean place perfectly decorated that tiptoes the lines between taproom, restaurant, and night club.

(MKE Stage)

We sat outside on their beautiful second story deck overlooking the Milwaukee River. I have had a lot of beers at a lot of places in Milwaukee, but this patio has to be one of the best spots to enjoy a cold one and a bite to eat. You can even go straight from the patio down to the river walk and work off your extra calories after dinner. Heck, they even have a few boat slips if you are on the river and want to stop in for a beer or some food.

For my first beer I tried a Sonne Weisse, while Vicky had the Columbian Siason. The Sonne Wiesse is a hazy berliner style weisse beer that had a nice tartness to it from the lactobacillus that was balanced by a sweetness that was achieved by the use of strawberries during this beer’s cellaring, which interestingly came across only as sweetness, not actual strawberry taste. I will say, this beer had significantly less bubbly carbonation than I am used to a berliner weisse having. This was a great tasting, refreshing, easy drinking beer. As is I would drink it again for sure, with a touch more sparkling carbonation I would drink it by the bucket!

(Columian Saison on the left, Sonne Weisse on the right)

Next, the food came. I ordered the Duck Sliders. Hot damn these were good! BBQ duck confit using Louie’s Demise BBQ sauce on local mini pretzel buns with apple slaw and goat cheese. First off, I am a sucker for anything on a pretzel bun. I’ve never even seen mini pretzel buns. They were dynamite! Kudos, Milwaukee Pretzel Co. The duck was perfect, the apple slaw worked with the BBQ sauce awesomely, and goat cheese was the absolute correct cheese pick for these mini pieces of heaven!

(Duck Sliders and Sweet Potato Fries)

I washed down my sliders with a Pull Chain. Pull Chain is a citrusy, hoppy IPA. It wasn’t a bitey hoppy, but instead had a nice smoothness to it. Carbonated perfectly. This was a really good IPA and my favorite beer of the visit.... Not just the visit to Milwaukee Ale House, but my favorite from the whole trip to Milwaukee!

(Increased Wheat on the left, Pull Chain on the right)

Vicky opted to stay on the healthy side of things and had a hummus wrap, which she said was really good. Hummus just ain’t my thing, but she loved it! She had the increased wheat with it, which is a berliner weisse with gooseberries. I didn’t try this one, but it sounds great. Wheaty, tart, sweet... What’s not to like?

(Hummus Wrap)

Great view, great place, great food, and great tasting beer all in an awesome city! Milwaukee Ale House; come for the food, stay for the beer... wait... come for the beer, stay for the food... wait... ummm...  Either way just go there and you will love it!