Beer Discussion Thread

What!? I've never even seen that

Huh. I've had the double chocolate and that was pretty good. I'll have to look out for this.

Today, MBC's plans for a brewpub in nearby Fenton were nixed by the county. When it rains, it pours, I guess.

Don't worry, it's probably about three months from bottling right now since my store got it in two months ago.

Had the Williamsburg Aleworks Bitter Valentine. No doubt the best IPA in Virginia, and up there with the best on the east coast. If i had to compare it to something, think Double Trouble but a little darker. Also Levitation is in stock at Total Wine, hells yes.

I rather enjoyed three Rogue Dead Guy Ales this evening.

Best tasting brews I've had in a couple of weeks of messing around with different brands of crap.

Man I had Guinness tonight for the first time in months and it felt pretty damn good.

Also I bought a new car #BeerThreadTopics

A - Appearance. Everything else, you got it.

Appearance.

Shiner's another one of those in-between macro and micro brewers, but it probably makes a good stepping stone. Their beers aren't always going to be accurate representations of the style, but you'll see what is and what isn't if you look through a couple reviews. I'm not personally familiar with their stuff though.

The Double Plat is definitely top notch as well. The Bitter Valentine goes more in the Hopslam/Double Trouble direction with a crazy citrusy/fruity aroma. Double Plat i would say is more akin to Hop Wallop. Two different approaches i think. A duel between the two would be appropriate. You tried any Hardywood stuff Prae? I feel like they could become something great in the future, and the premier Richmond brewery. Although if your only competition is Legend that's not too hard.

So the local craft beer bar released their tap list for DFH night next week.

1) Black & Blue

2) Red & White

3) Immort Ale

4) My Antonia

5) Tweason Ale (gluten-free)

6) Aprihop Pale

7) 90 Minute IPA

8) Namaste

9) Palo Santo Marron

10) 120- Minute IPA

11) Worldwide Stout

12) Olde School BarleyWine

13) Fort

14) Noble Rot

15) Midas Touch

16) Theobroma

17) Ta Henket

18) Sah'Tea

19) Chateau Jiahu

20) Pangaea

21) Indian Brown Ale

MY BODY IS READY

Black & Blue and Worldwide are exceptional.

Gonna give some love to DFH Immort Ale, love that beer.

I've had almost everything on that list already, but I've only had like one or two on tap before.

Just had a bottle of Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen, a BBQ beer. So tasty.

Just got in my first order from letspour.com. For a hair under 42 bucks shipped from Washington state to Florida for these bad boys, I'm super happy.

I've had the Vienna Lager an 8 Point, wasn't horribly impressed with either, although the lager was no doubt a high quality session beer. I'll give the stout a try though when i see it. Wild Wolf is pretty good, i had a double ipa by them at a beer bar and enjoyed it, i'll look out for the scotch ale, they seem to have a regular place in the taps at my local Capital Ale House. If you see any Hardywood be sure to pick it up, their Belgian Single is their flagship beer and comes in 750 ml bottles only(as do all their beers), but they seem to always have a seasonal out of some sort.

Just got back from Beertopia. I think I tried like 18 beers. I wrote them down. The main ones I remember.

Jap stuff:
Hitachino Red Rice Pale Ale- Good stuff
Hitachino Sweet Stout- Eh, tasted weird, asian breweries never get stout right

Oceana/Asia stuff:
Tui East India Pale Ale- Not an IPA, lest the name confuse you. Nice, and cheap.
Typoon Eastern- Holy Fuck this was freaking terrible the people at the stand were nice but everyone knew how bad their beer was and they seemed really embarrassed

Merika (fuck yeah):
Rogue Dead Guy, Shakespeare, Chocolate and Hazelnut: All good, esp Dead Guy. Hazelnut was nice too but I dunno how I'd feel about drinking a whole bottle of it. Pretty much the same thing goes for Chocolate.
Ballast IPA and Pale Ale: Both fantastic.

"Moose Drool" brown ale, 8-Ball stout, and Big Sky IPA from Big Sky brewing company: Moose drool was fucking awesome. 8-ball was better than the Rogue Shakespeare thing. The IPA was also nice. On par with Ballast IMO. I def will be looking more into this brewery.

There was also a really average cider and a typical german dunkelweizen in there somewhere, plus a British Ale which I liked alot. 1864 I think.

Bear Republic's Red Rocket Ale is so good. I might have some today at Whole Foods Sports Bar.

You like Big Sky stuff? I'll send it to you when you get back to the states and if they aren't in your area. They're four miles down the road and easy to get. I'm not huge on any of their regular lineup. That said, we had a one-off Dortmunder Lager and Wheatwine from them today that were both very, very good. So they do know how to make great beer, they just usually choose not to.


This was the beginning of our day today:



The BLiS bottle is the bourbon-barrel aged maple syrup that Founders uses to make CBS.

Founders Breakfast Stout is absolutely awful. We had 2010 and 2011 bottles today and they both had a weird vegetal off flavor. Every time I have that beer I like it less, and I'm about done with it.

Imperial Stout was very good, as usual. I've had quite a bit of it lately and it's very good.

KBS and CBS were different sorts of awesome. CBS is a little creamier and the chocolate is a bit more pronounced. KBS is a little more heated and the balance is slightly different. Both are great. Glad I have two more KBS.

The BLiS syrup was really good. We had both a Belgian waffle bar with fruits and also chicken and waffles to go with it. We also made Idaho Surprise, hashbrowns, cheese, egg, and bacon in muffin form.

So I was stuffed from all that. Then we drank for another five hours. Three local growlers, a couple of random bottles, and lots and lots of yard games. One of the guys got hammered and started mowing the lawn while we were playing bocce ball. All in all, a great way to spend my first day off in two weeks.

I'm under the impression that Founders Breakfast Stout isn't a good aging candidate at all because of how highly it relies on it's coffee flavor, which is always one of the first things to fade.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. I'd been "tasting" for like 4 hours by the time I found the Big Sky area, so it'd be nice to get a taste of it with a cleaner palate and with my pheromones as of yet unreleased, which I'm sure influenced my opinion of it in some way. That said, I did still really like it.

On the way back I picked up a Seirra Nevada Torpedo as I was getting some things from the grocery store anyway. I found it pretty terrible once again, and much worse than any of the IPA's I'd had early that day. As far as being "done" with things I'm gonna have to say that's where I am with Seirra Nevada stuff.

Breakfast Stout is good. You crazy for this one, Cioe!

That's true. But we had a 2010 bottle, so what the hell? Vegetal flavors always turn me off. It had nothing to do with the coffee fading and the oatmeal and chocolate coming further forward. They were just not good.

Used to be one of my favorites, but the four pack I traded for this year was merely pretty good, and these bottles were not good. The 2010 was okay, but the 2011 was infected or otherwise ruined.

But we drank a shitload of good beer today. KBS, CBS, and FIS are all great. Then we had good local stuff: a new Wheatwine from Big Sky, a growler of one-off Dortmunder from Big Sky, growlers of a ginger beer and a really good trippel from Flathead Lake here in town, Cascade Kriek, plus other good stuff.

What is it that you don't like about Big Sky Eric? Like I said, little could have ruined my mood when I was tasting it, but I thought they were pretty good, especially the Moose Drool thing.

Just boring and bland. Also if I'm going to drink local, there are breweries who need my money more and who make better beer anyway.

I had an Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout the other day. I was told drinking it is a religious experience. It was good, but I don't know that it was quite that good. Any of you guys had it before?

Recenlty I've been getting into Trappist beers. Tried the Rochefort 8 and 10. Thought the 10 had a bit more depth to it and some hazelnut that was nice. Next on the list to try is an Orval.

Part of the appeal of Rasputin is that it's readily available for the most part, and it just so happens to be pretty goddamn great. Many stouts are better, but most of them are harder to find.

Old Ras is real great.

It's pretty decent. I'd rather drink Deschutes Obsidian Stout, which isn't imperial but cheaper out here and more available than Rasputin anyway.

KBS is the shit, and I don't even like stouts.

My weekend Whole Foods haul.

Deviant Dale's IPA
Schlafly's IPA
Founders Double Trouble IPA
Evolution Lot 3 IPA

Kicking back tonight with Paulaner Hefe-Weisbier.

Fuck I love Heffeweizens.

I had a Weihenstephaner Brown Beer on the weekend. Pretty good, that and the Korbinian are pretty killer. Probably my two favorites from them.

Old Ras is probably the best year-round stout, as far as I'm concerned. Foreign Extra is one of those that will hit the spot just right on occasion and when it does, THAT's the best thing ever. But usually Old Ras is tops. I love the flavor progression.

Grilled for the first time all year last night, and Goose Island Summertime never left my hand. Nothing about that beer is phenomenal but it goes down just right and it's exceptionally drinkable. It's the only Goose Island I can tolerate.

I tried a Goose Island beer this weekend....312 Urban Wheat Ale. It was...not good. Not spill-out worthy but close.

I haven't had the wheat, but I have had Honkers, the IPA, Matilda, Sofie, and obv Summertime. None of them are a must-grab.

Just make your normal fridge your beer fridge. This is how I roll. timg'd for huge




Yeah buddy, living the thug life.

Also notice the strategically located Bud Lights located on the far bottom of the first picture in case of surprise visitors. Keeps them away from the good stuff. I'll share if they want to, but most of the time people are just happier with the Bud Light. I'm alright with that.

Not pictured: the beer/liquor cabinet and the beer pantry.