You've got red on you

When I think of the Red Eye brewing company in Wausau, my second thought beyond great beer is...nutella calzone.

Back up. My first intro to this place was beer served at the Old Fashioned. The Bloom and Scarlett 7 (a wit and dubbel) were exceptional, and when I found out the brewery was within 3 hours and near a good hike- off we went.



Everything tastes a little better after exercise, its a bit like beer goggles except you don't wake up next to someone you feel the need to gnaw off your own arm to escape. Pizza and beer are my two big post-exercise cravings, and I'm a sucker for wood-fired pizza. The bbq chicken, red onion, smoked gouda, and cilantro pizza was our selection. Red onions added that bit of sweetness, the cheese and toasty crust offered up the extra smoke, and of course the bbq did both- not exactly super complex flavors but they were exactly what we expected and wanted. The crust was perfect (go wood ovens) and the ingredients fresh. We also split the lobster cakes with avocado remoulade. Not impressive, but not horrible. The sweet delicate lobster was a bit overshadowed by the oil leftover from frying, and the remoulade was bland.

On to the beer: between the two of us we tried almost all of them. The Thrust is a US IPA that is very crisp, refreshing, and if course full of citrusy/piney US hops but still has a discernable malt backbone. Very nicely done, but its not a standout. The Bloom is a Wit with considerable wheat in the aroma and taste, along with the coriander/orange/perfumy spiciness to be expected. A great summer quencher, I could drink this one all day. A seasonal nut brown was on tap which excited the beer geek in me because the brewer specified it was a Southern Brown. A Southern Brown is not brewed with fried chicken or cornbread- imagine a Newcastle, with a less bitter finish, less hop flavor and aroma, with slightly more caramel/toffee/and sweetness. It was creamy and smooth with hints of fruits. Very nice, and we took some home in a growler. The Scarlett 7 was also a favorite of mine- dubbel style with full on dark fruits (plums, raisins, currants), molasses, bready/biscuity malts, almost chewy texture but still smooth enough to drink way too much. Sneaky alcohol and no the prettiest to look at, but a damn good beer.

Last but not least: the calzone of evil with chocolate and nutella. I mean, there's really no way to screw this up. It was so good Drew tried to steal my portion and I almost stabbed him with my fork. Do. Not. Steal. My chocolate evil.