The Beer Thread

[serum]

just a heads up that beer wars will be available on netflix instant status 2/2

[somethinglikethat]

HAVERHILL JOSHUA NORTON IMPERIAL STOUT

I can't find a picture of this beer, but damn, this was a great surprise. Haverhill continues to impress me, anyone in New England who can get their hands on it should give it a try. A fantastic AMERICAN imperial stout... and the number of words I've misspelled and had to retype in this post proves this is a big, delicious beer.

Troegs is doing it right. A few weeks ago the troegenator made my night, this week, nugget nectar upped the ante again.

[the gogohead]

Troegs is definitely official, had the Mad Elf recently, that was delicious. Some other recent favorites - Scaldis Noel and Urthel Hop It (the last two are not Troegs)

 

Here's a couple from the past week -

 

 

 

 

I'm picking up atleast 2 six packs of Bell's Hop Slam later today and 3 or 4 bars in my city have it on draft, its gonna be a good week.

 

Flying dog has an anniversary Belgian Pale Ale out right now, do yourself a favor and cop that.

[john_gacy]

Think you'll mainly find this in New England. Good drinking beer. Nice for me, there's a benching spot where they serve this, you can have one on tap while watching trains roll by a few feet away.

 

Beer related tangent, I noticed today that the 'new' thing in beer is that a lot of microbrew and independent companies are making their own small batch beers. Good on the one hand to have so many different style brews to choose from. On the other hand, a lot of them seem overpriced and appear trendy at times. Seeing Blue Moon do it was a good clue.

 

Also noticed that now the majority of mass produced American beers, while still made in the U.S., are now all owned by foreign companies. Maybe it doesn't matter as they are all piss water now compared to what they originally were.

[somethinglikethat]

If you can, try the berkshire bourbon barrel aged imperial stout (which certainly falls into the small-batch category you're talking about). I've had many barrel aged beers and usually the porty oak flavor is pretty subtle. This berkshire, on the other hand, tastes more like it's "bourbon-blended" than aged... and it smells more like bourbon than beer. A really interesting brew.

 

And as for what you just said, I can't see anything wrong with small batch or experimental offerings from breweries. As for the elevated price, sometimes you get what you pay for, sometimes you don't... but it goes that way with any beer, be it large, small, common or rare. Trendiness, sure it happens, but there is something to be said when (for instance) a particular imperial IPA stands out in your mind as the best, even when every brewery is doing 15 different versions of the style. How boring would it be if every brewery had their 5 or six regular offerings, and that was it?

And Blue Moon Grand Cru is a blatant attempt to capitalize on a market that appears lucrative to coors. Like michelob craft beers, or budweiser american ale was for their respective companies. Its a sign of the strength and growing size of the craft market... but the target audience for those beers, by and large, probably isn't fooled into actually drinking them. I don't know about you, I'm not about to go out and buy a budweiser or miller "small batch" beer, no matter how many gimmicks they pour into it to make it seem like a craft beer. Real recognize real...

[john_gacy]

It's not that there's necessarily anything wrong with it, I like a variety as long as it's done well. There's some good stuff being made now, but equally there are some good companies making things that aren't that great, which is unfortunate given that their normal line is good.

[ElectricitySucks]

Just tried Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic. Tastes like La Fin Du Monde. Both very good, La Fin a bit spicier and definitely pricier.

[john_gacy]

How did you get that- individual 12oz? 22oz? I don't see it much, maybe in the variety packs.

[john_gacy]

Good shit. Bonus- if you go to the brewery they're in Bar Harbor, ME. Great hiking at the national park there for one. They also do a pretty cool all you can eat barbecue to go w/ their beers. After some beers and some barbecue pork kicking in the itis I was good to go. Don't know if you can get their bragget in stores, but it's definitely worth having there.

[john_gacy]

This now. Not as good as the one above.

[KILZ FILLZ]

boddington all day

[john_gacy]

Out of New Hampshire, it's good.

[KILZ FILLZ]

 

had some pauli girl dark the other night

meh

[somethinglikethat]

Out of New Hampshire, it's good.

NOT FOR LONG! The brewery is going out of business. :(

[john_gacy]

It's ok, I've already finished that & moved on to this:

Good company for brews, but really, how many brown ales use a brown dog on the label?

[ElectricitySucks]

How did you get that- individual 12oz? 22oz? I don't see it much, maybe in the variety packs.

 

yup, got it in a variety pack as an x-mas gift. i would pick it up again if i saw it elsewhere.

[CMF]

Beck's

[MrChupacabra]

In the last few days:

 

[somethinglikethat]

so how was the raging bitch?

[KILZ FILLZ]

Is oatmeal stout any good?

Always see it but never grab it.

[the.crooked]

oatmeal stouts can be pretty good

[MrChupacabra]

The raging bitch ipa was really quite good. I'm starting to drink a lot more pale ales, but i'm still not the best at describing them, so someone else is gonna have to step up to the plate if you want a detailed description. Beer advocate seems to hold my same opinion on it with an A- from 78 reviews. If you like pale ales or belgian ales, give it a whirl.

 

And I definitely enjoy a good oatmeal stout occasionally. The winter warlock wasn't bad, but wasn't great. It didn't really stand out to me as anything unique, but it was still enjoyable to drink.

 

If you want to give one a try, i'd suggest Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout , Southern Tier Oat (Imperial Oatmeal Stout, and a hell of a lot stronger than Sam Smith), or if you can't find either of those, Goose Island Oatmeal Stout. Those 3 are all pretty solid. I'm forgetting about some others that i enjoy, but if i remember them i'll post them up.

[Shittles..TasteTheAsshole]

Beck's

 

 

Good stuff. Pretty expensive but woth it.

[john_gacy]

Having now. My favorite of the anchors, especially since this 'small beer' is found in the large bottle in my parts.

[CMF]

how is that double bastard? biter as fuck and expensive?

[KILZ FILLZ]

i wouldnt really say bitter

but it is expensive

but most of Stones beers are pretty expensive

[somethinglikethat]

IPSWICH OATMEAL STOUT. My favorite oatmeal stout.

[CMF]

that rogue oatmeal stout is good.

this will always be my favorite.

[MrChupacabra]

how is that double bastard? biter as fuck and expensive?

Hoppy as fuck, not too terribly expensive as far as bombers go. I think it was like $6.99, which isn't cheap by any means, but it's also like 10.5% ABV, so you're getting the equivalent of 4 average ABV beers in one bomber. I haven't had Arrogant Bastard in quite some time, so it's tough to compare, but from what i can remember, i prefer the Double Bastard.

 

I'd recommend it. Probably the best beer out of the batch i posted up, though I'm quite partial to Left Hand's milk stout too.

 

I really enjoy everything I've had from Stone, even if you have to drop a little extra loot on them. Most of their bombers run around 5-8, which isn't bad compared to a lot of high end bombers. I highly recommend their Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, Imperial Russian Stout and Ruination IPA. Everything else i've had is worth trying too, but those are the three that pop to mind off the bat. Ruination was probably the first IPA that made me realize pale ales can be delicious.

[asthma al]

corona night.