Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works

Destihl is a self described gastrobrewery opened 2007 in Normal, IL. I've only known them to serve excellent food and beer (all brewed on site). My most recent visit was April 23, when my wife, son and I were in Bloomington for Easter.

Beers come in 4, 12, and 16 oz. sizes. I opted for a 12 oz. of the current cask ale, their Jacob's Ladder American Brown, plus a number of 4 oz. samples. Keep in mind that the beers here are in order of consumption; my senses were probably getting strained by the end, not to mention the effects of alcohol.

Von Linne Apricot Wheat--A super tart beer. Very little to no malt or hop flavor, but tons of apricot. Almost less a beer than a very light, slightly carbonated, apricot liqueur.

Jacob's Ladder American Brown--Had this one on cask. Pine and earthy hop notes up front, with caramel malt behind. Light in carbonation and super smooth.

St. Dekkera Single Barrle Reserve--This was actually my first taste of a sour ale. It hardly seemed like beer at all. Very sour, no carbonation. There is a little malt there to balance the sour, but it's definitely in the background. And then there's this savory, almost cheesy note that comes through under the tongue. Very intriguing. Can't say I'm a true believer in sour ale, but this makes me curious for more.

Antiquity Rye Wine--This one is super peppery on the nose and palate; hard to believe that's all from the rye and not straight up black pepper. Otherwise, a fine barleywine.

Cerise Stout Imperial--The server brought me a little sample of this one after I opted for the first sour ale. A sour stout with cherries. There's an aroma of hot tub water. The super tart cherry flavor comes through with the sour. It has the smoothness of a stout.

Bamberger Rauchbier--Lighter (in color) than I was expecting. Very smokey. This was the last beer of the night and it was hard to get much out of it besides the smoke.