Beer Discussion Thread

But, in the 90% chance it doesn't taste like soda water, it will taste like the awful skunky shit that it actually is. (weeeee)

Bough some Bells Amber for the first time in a couple of years, forgot how much I like that stuff.

I think my local might have some in stock. I'm about to head over there now to get some boxes to pack up stuff, so I'll go check it out.

Yeah, I never really enjoy it as much as some other people. It is better on draft. Then again, all beer usually is.

Well needless to say, my local stores are all out of 120. The store across the street still has their price tag out for it on the shelves, but it's occupied by Sah'tea bottles.

Anyways, bout to have some Ruination in a snifter. Haters gonna hate.

I love Ruination, but usually I drink it out of a regular tumbler. I save snifters for heavy stouts and tripels.

Finishing off my Dark Horse Reserve tonight.

Eric: Have you had the 2008 Arcadia Shipwreck?

I don't think so. I haven't had regular Shipwreck, just the BA version from 2009 or 2010.

I could do Ruination in a regular pint, but I'm really feeling a snifter tonight. Wanna smell dem hops.

Like, I just burped and it smells like I just ate a bag of hops. I love this beer.

I'll still keep an eye out and grab one if I see it. It always seems to show up at random times around here.

That's almost my favorite part about big IPAs. The burps taste fantastic.

One of my locals has a 2008 Shipwreck and a 2012 Bourbon Barrel Aged. The 2008 is $12 for a bomber and the 2012 is $6/12oz bottle, but I'm not sold enough on either to plunk down ridiculous cash.

Why don't you go ahead and teleport me some Dark Horse over here, hoss?

I drink everything out of my stemless wine glass now, except for skunky macros that smell too pissy to handle being in it.

So after many years of being a heavy belgian fanatic, I have started to dislike their sweetness, like many of you. My palate has transformed slowly as my exposure to belgians has diminished (since I am not in Belgium) and I far prefer a good stout or a bitter of sorts. I love the lighter belgians, even the lighter tasting big triples (9%), but the big quads and full bodied tripels don't do it for me.

I think I'm starting to have this problem. Bottles of Rochefort and St Bernardus just aren't tasting right lately, and I don't know if it's cause of all the IPA I'm drinking or if it's because the bottles are bad. Also having kind of the same problem with Ayinger Celebrator, but not as bad. Whatever it is it's quite vexing.

Clear answer: AMERICA, FUCK YEA!

Srs answer: The big Belgians have always interested me but you're right about the depth of flavor being lacking. There's so much to look forward to in opening a new IPA, but with Celebrator/Bernardus/etc there's little variance among the flavor.

It's because Belgian beers are awful. Sweet, fruity, spicy... ugh. ish.

Hey guys let's go drink Hoegaarden out of big brandy snifters and jerk each other off as we pour La Fin Du Monde all over over each other.

Haha.

Look at these faggots hating on Belgians.

How to drink like a douche: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Duvel_and_glass_sunday.jpg

Well yeah, Duvel sucks.

Because it's Belgian

No, because it's one of those beers that is on some inexplicable pedestal and people fawn over it when it's nothing more than incredibly average (see also: Chimay.)

I also get that you're just fucking retarded when comes to beer, so I'm not really sure why I'm bothering to even make these posts.

If not drinking beer from stemmed glasses & hating spicy fruity Belgian beers makes me "fucking retarded" then by all means, call me Corky.

I don't really think we need your permission, Corky.

Wow chill the fuck out guys

I'M SO SERIOUS

We have Abita everywhere around here.

I think their beer is pretty meh.

Edit: Wow that post was like a year ago. Work being busy has been keeping me trying new beers as often. I had Allagash HLT the other week though and it was so fucking baller. Also, my cousin did a beer trade and I finally got to try a bunch of Russian River stuff.

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/...e-location?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

The only thing that rivals this company's beer in terms of shittiness is their customer service. I was genuinely happy to see this.

I like Belgians but don't reach for them often. The yeast is what turns me off.

If I'm looking for a Belgian beer, it's usually a saison or a lambic / gueuze.

Man, Belgian yeast rules. 8-) I even made my BSPA with extra yeast because I wanted to get those sort of flavors going.

The BSPA has taken its sweet time carbing up in the bottles, but it's been like 3 or so weeks since I tried one, so I might break one open tonight and see where we're at.

I love Belgian beer, but agree with Cog about the sweetness with some. That said there are plenty of dryer Belgian Styles out there. I've got a decent triple bottled as we speak and it is quite tasty and very dry. Fermented down to 1.008. I'd probably lean toward the light colored ones, Triples, Saisons, Golden Ales, rather than the dubbels and quads on just about all occasions. So drinkeable and pleasant, with the hard to put your finger on flavor, and demonstrates how much yeast can affect the flavor of beer.

Oh fuck I used way too much Belgian candi sugar in this beer.

::ain't even mad::

Just a lot sweeter than I wanted. Oh well, live and learn. Still new to the homebrew game.

What was your FG? I put a pound in mine but it is highly fermentable. Pretty much zero residual sweetness there. Usually the addition of sugar actually results in a dryer beer, although it depends on the type of sugar.

This. Seriously. It's like in one page this thread has gone from snobbish in a good way to snobbish in a bad one.

Founders beer brunch this Saturday. Menu:

Founders Breakfast Stout
Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout
Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout
Chicken and waffles
Idaho surprise (some folks call it Idaho sunrise, I call it Idaho surprise)
Bacon
Bocce ball

And a pipe to aid digestion.

Ok, I've been breaking out of adjuncts and macro's steadily for the past like 8 months or so, and I figured I'd do a short run-down of some of my favorite things I tried:

Classiest Beer for when I'm feeling literary: St. Bernardus 12. Only had it twice, but it still sticks with me and I can't wait to try it again. Few beers really stick with me like that after a first try.

For when I don't want to spend too much but still get a good buzz and want flavor: Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. It's only $18 gangbi here for a 670 ml bottle (or somethign like that), which is like $2 dollars, at at 7% alcohol volume polishing the bottle off in one night will get me a good buzz. Plus, the roasted flavor makes it go great with pretzels or peanuts, which makes it ideal for when I'm just chilling with some snacks and a videogame or movie or something.

Favorite beer for those summer nights: Probably Lowen-Weisse Heffweisbeir. It's a really decent and affordable heffweizen with lots of flower and a strong banana-clove smell going on. Where I get it, it's like $1 for a pint can, which easily makes it the most affordable heffweizen I've come across and perfect for topping off a summer night where I want a good beer but don't necessarily want to get a buzz. It kinda sucks out of the can because it takes on this annoying metallic taste, but is fine once you pour it out.

Favorite go-to boring beer: Is probably still Yuengling. It's not special, but it's easily the best in its price-range in my opinion and perfect for barbecues or when guests are over and you want to give them something decent.

Favorite cheap-ass beer: Tsingtao. I'd never pay $8 US for it, but here in Hong Kong it's cheaper that bottled water (I'm being serious). And it doesn't have that annoying skuny corny smell that lots of US macros have (I think the rice as a main ingredient has something to do with that). It's crisp and refreshing, and great with thai or indian food which I eat all the time. It's also really just great with any food. Sometimes I eat oranges with it. It's fine.

Biggest disappointment: Probably Sierra Nevada anything. I've tried like four or five of their beers now, and while it's nice being able to get a different idea of what every thing is, none of their beers have managed to impress me in anyway at all. The Kellerweis and Torpedo were OK, but I hated the Barleywine and the Pale Ale. I tried a few others too which I forget, which says about all I want to say about it.

And special runner-up goes to Hop Rod. I love that beer, it's so intense that rarely do I find an excuse to drink it.

Also, going to a beer festival in Hong Kong this weekend. Here's the menu. Anyone have any suggestions of what to look out for? The oatmeal stout is a definite for me. I only have 10 tasting tokens or so but I may buy more http://www.beertopiahk.com/beers.html

North Coast Pranqster is one of my favorites. So. That.

I also like Hitachino Espresso and the White Ale.

I hear Big Sky is good, but I haven't had anything from them.

I'd be hitting up the Ballast Point booth. Their "pale ale" is actually a Kolsch you'd probably enjoy, the Big Eye IPA would probably be the best IPA you've had, and their amber is solid. Rouge Hazelnut Brown is one of my favourite beers as well.

Oh yeah. Related note. What Rogue beers are good? Never had anything from them, but I've always heard they are pretty forgettable. Want to try the juniper ale though because fuck yeah gin and fuck yeah Sah'tea.

The Juniper ale was mediocre. And this coming from a dude who's got a bottle of Martin Miller Westbourne Strength right behind him. That said, the John John version aged in gin barrels was pretty good. Not fantastic, but still a worthy drink. The Hazelnut Brown is awesome, and their Brutal IPA is actually quite good if you can find it fresh/on tap. If you're into that kind of thing, I really liked their Chipotle Ale as well. I was able to finish all 22 ounces, so it had to be good.

I would try anything Hitachino. All their beers seem to pretty unique. Their white ale is as if someone explained the flavors of a witbier to them, and they created their interpretation of the verbal description without ever having tasted one. It's delicious though. Try the Big Eye and Indica for good examples of west coast IPAs. I'd definitely be trying the Weston's reserve. I really am not crazy about any of Rogue's stuff, and the best North Coast stuff there is their Belgian-style beers, but you might as well get the originals with the Chimays and Duvel. The Brooklyn beers are decent but boring. Great brewery, but they aren't bringing any of their more fun festival-type stuff. Kwak is another classic Belgian I'd try.

That's all I'm familiar with, although I'd definitely be interested to try some of those British beers, as well as the other Asian and Oceana beers.

I pretty much agree with this. My main problem with most of the Sierra Nevada I've had is how dry they are. Their IPA for example, it's not a good sign when most "extra hopped" Ales are about 4 times as easy to get down. I have some of their Rye Ale at home and while it's pretty good it still has some of the same problems.

Yup, that's it exactly. I should be delighted when I'm trying a new beer out. With SN, it's like I got back to having that "this is disgusting, I have to get used to this" feeling I had the first time I ever tried beer. Which makes no sense, considering when I try those other brands versions I usually enjoy it more more.