they might just know people around here? who knows. they seem to be expanding like crazy right now
xps - bummer about the 10 barrel ISA! if i see an old bottle i'll have to pick one up
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Thursday, 5 June 2014 17:36 (ten years ago) link
http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-economy/solutions-bank/would-you-pay-1-000-once-to-get-free-beer-for-life-20140529
I'm guessing jjusten and any other Minneapolitans are familiar with this place, it's right around the corner from my brother-in-law's house. I've been a few times and it's a good neighborhood spot, though a tad pedestrian in their beer offerings. I wasn't aware of the beer for life promo, though.
― dan m, Thursday, 5 June 2014 20:51 (ten years ago) link
I would take that deal in a heartbeat.
― Prince Kajuku (Bill Magill), Thursday, 5 June 2014 21:15 (ten years ago) link
yea it's a pretty good deal! beer is expensive
― marcos, Thursday, 5 June 2014 21:27 (ten years ago) link
wonder what kind of beer costs them 40 cents a serving
― polyamanita (sleeve), Thursday, 5 June 2014 21:42 (ten years ago) link
Maybe if I lived in a smaller town without many options.
― Jeff, Thursday, 5 June 2014 21:44 (ten years ago) link
San Diego report:
Ended up not renting a car (not much free time) for the week but was still able to chase some whales.
Tasted:Mother Earth - Big Mother 3IPAModern Times - Black House w/ Bourbon Barrel Aged Coffee oatmeal stoutOskar Blues/St. Archer - Saint Oskar black IPACoronado - Sock Knocker 2IPACoronado - Idiot 2IPAStone - Stochasticity Project: Quadrotriticale belgian quadStone - Enjoy By 07.04.14 2IPAStone - Collective Distortion 2IPABallast Point - Habañero Sculpin APABallast Point - Grapefruit Sculpin APAMikkeller - Yeast Series 2.0 Brettanomyces Bruxellensis APAAlmanac - Dogpatch Strawberry wild aleAlpine - Keene Idea 2IPAAlpine - San Francisco Surprise IPAAlpine - Hoppy Birthday APARough Draft - Toronado IPAAlmanac - Farmer's Reserve No. 2 wild aleThe Lost Abbey - 2008 Cable Car wild aleRussian River Brewing Company - Toronado 25th Anniversary wild aleSociete - The Butcher bourbon barrel aged imperial stoutSociete - The Roustabout 2IPABells - Two Hearted Ale IPAGoose Island - Bourbon County Brand Stout imperial stout
Purchased:Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout bourbon barrel aged stoutThe Bruery / 3 Floyds - Floyd D'Rue imperial porter aged in rum barrelsCascade - 2012 Strawberry wild aleCascade - 2012 Kriek wild aleEvil Twin - Imperial Biscotti Break Natale imperial porter with cherries variantMikkeller - Beer Geek Brunch Weasel imperial stout made with civet coffee from VietnamThe Lost Abbey - Framboise de Amorosa wild aleThe Lost Abbey - Track #8 (666 the Number Of The Beast) belgian quadBrouwerij Fonteinen - Golden Doesjel old lambic aged in oakBrouwerij Fonteinen - Oude Kriek lambic with sour cherries aged in oakBelching Beaver - Peanut Butter milk stout Mother Earth - Boo Koo IPA
The beer shops I hit were pretty amazing (one had BCBS on tap just because?), pretty deep selections and knowledgable staff.The bars I hit were all pretty amazing and honestly, I passed on a lot of places just due to the fact there were craft beer bars on every damn corner of most neighborhoods near downtown (outer gaslamp, little italy, hillcrest, south park, north park). Even the airport and baseball stadium bars had taplists that many bars in big cities would be excited to tap kegs of.
Probably the biggest disappoint was not being able to find Alpine bottles anywhere in SD proper, was told that as of 7 months ago, the bottles became much harder to come by in SD retail locations. Biggest surprise was finding some Lost Abbey whales and then a beer made from civet poop coffee.
I hit exactly ZERO breweries which is probably the opposite of what I planned, but everything worked out pretty well. Great beer town, the birthplace of the 2IPA and there is certainly no shortage of great ones.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 5 June 2014 22:33 (ten years ago) link
how did you like the new enjoy by? for some reason i didn't like it as much as the may and april versions
all these san diego beer pilgrimage reports are making me consider visiting some friends in the area
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Thursday, 5 June 2014 23:21 (ten years ago) link
xp sounds like a rad trip
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 5 June 2014 23:38 (ten years ago) link
I had the Enjoy By at a Stone Brewery location on the day of the release so it was as fresh as possible and had a bit of the southern hemisphere influence so lots of Nelson hops and J-17-63 experimental hop strain flavor. No idea what the bottled off site version tastes like yet but out of a fresh keg I can officially decree the flavor to be rather delicious (I like the southern hemi hop flavors fyi).
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 6 June 2014 06:55 (ten years ago) link
cool, i should give it another shot. i usually like those type of hops too, i probably just let it warm up too much beforehand
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Friday, 6 June 2014 15:58 (ten years ago) link
latest Enjoy By is great! sipping one right now.
― circa1916, Saturday, 7 June 2014 01:19 (ten years ago) link
like this a lot more than the 4/20
― circa1916, Saturday, 7 June 2014 01:20 (ten years ago) link
i agree w/al on the new enjoy by, this is one of the best of the series from what i've tried at least
― call all destroyer, Monday, 9 June 2014 00:38 (ten years ago) link
Went down to Philly for beer week festivities this weekend, some serious whale hunting for an east coaster -- Pliny, Blind Pig, BCBS, §ucaba/Abacus, and scored some RR sours in bottles.
Main takeaway: §ucaba is ridiculously good, procure whenever possible
― franklin, Monday, 9 June 2014 17:35 (ten years ago) link
^ picked up a couple sucaba last week! haven't tasted yet though, there's a place in town that will have it on tap this friday but i have to miss it unfortunately
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Monday, 9 June 2014 18:19 (ten years ago) link
Awesome! You're in for a serious treat.
― franklin, Monday, 9 June 2014 18:22 (ten years ago) link
curious about that stickee monkee stuff too
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Tuesday, 10 June 2014 21:56 (ten years ago) link
I found a couple bottles of stickee monkee and bought one in spite of the name.
― joygoat, Wednesday, 11 June 2014 02:36 (ten years ago) link
Ok, zero hyperbole here - the Stillwater Artisanal Gose Gone Wild is literally the sourest beer I have ever had, and it is incredible and amazing. It's the closest thing I've had to the one glass of the cuvée mother lambic I had two years ago.
― Everyone is awful except you. Wait, no, you are also awful. (jjjusten), Saturday, 14 June 2014 03:34 (ten years ago) link
The Stone Summer Chipotle Pepper Porter I had tonight is making the end of the school year feel realllllll good.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 14 June 2014 04:03 (ten years ago) link
mmm that sounds good!
― polyamanita (sleeve), Saturday, 14 June 2014 04:06 (ten years ago) link
I just bought one of those! (TJ's on the way home from work.) Glad to hear it's good.
― nickn, Saturday, 14 June 2014 06:27 (ten years ago) link
Making a trip to Vermont in a few weeks -- anything I should be keeping an eye out for? We're timed right for a Lawson Finest's Farmers' Market, and may be able to squeeze in a trip to Hill Farmstead, both of which I'm pretty excited about. I hear getting Heady Topper can be a chore, even if you time it right with distribution...
― franklin, Sunday, 15 June 2014 02:35 (nine years ago) link
the best method for getting heady is showing up at the hunger mtn coop in montpelier a bit before 3:00 on friday and buying up to a case. anything else is gonna be a crapshoot.
if you do hill farmstead be prepared for a 1-2 hour wait for growlers, it's been real bad on my last couple visits.
― call all destroyer, Sunday, 15 June 2014 04:04 (nine years ago) link
The Friday we're there is July 4, and it looks like Hunger Mountain was closed last July 4. Pulling into Burlington on Thurs so may give it a go there, and if we strike out will call the coop to see if they're getting a Saturday shipment (don't have high hopes, though).
Is it easy to get at bars, at least?
― franklin, Sunday, 15 June 2014 04:37 (nine years ago) link
Also damn, did not expect such lines -- HF is way out there! Hopefully my partner will still be on board with that, though drive and wait for still more beer may try the patience...
― franklin, Sunday, 15 June 2014 04:39 (nine years ago) link
they only get a shipment on friday. you can check the alchemist site for other stores that get it that might work for you, but you'll run into limits on what you can buy.
both heady and hf stuff are easy to get in bars in waterbury and montpelier, not sure about burlington but i think you'll be able to find something.
― call all destroyer, Sunday, 15 June 2014 04:45 (nine years ago) link
Awesome, thanks for the pointers!
― franklin, Sunday, 15 June 2014 05:05 (nine years ago) link
Any of you beer geeks live in SC? Or elsewhere in the westbrook distro area?
― Everyone is awful except you. Wait, no, you are also awful. (jjjusten), Sunday, 15 June 2014 05:19 (nine years ago) link
And as a general proposition to Vermonters on this thread: if there's anything distributed in DC/Phila that's hard for you to locate up there -- Victory, Troegs, Weyerbacher, Stoudt's, Sly Fox, DC Brau -- I'd be glad to bring it along and arrange a swap. I'm not looking for anything in particular (looks like I'll have a shot to try a lot of awesome stuff), and would be down to trade anything from four-packs to cases; just happy to help ease the bummer of beer being out of reach. PM me if you're looking for anything!
xp this lived in here for a while before I hit submit, whoops
― franklin, Sunday, 15 June 2014 05:26 (nine years ago) link
No Westbrook here. But someone needs to send me some gose.
― Jeff, Sunday, 15 June 2014 09:30 (nine years ago) link
Some thoughts on a few beers provided by ilxors Al Broccoli and psychgawsple:
Blend Love - Upright: Very nice fruity wild ale, was afraid it might be too sweet based on color but it wasn't at all. Was good on a humid evening though a full 750 of just about any sour beer is too much for me, luckily my wife had a glass.
Pliny the Elder - Russian River: Very good, but a victim of hype like so many other beers. I mean, GOOD. Good IPA, balanced and tasty and all that. But (and I expected this) the hype takes away from it in the end, I'm afraid. Just as good as Two Hearted, Abrasive, HT, etc. The unobtainability factor must be the thing that puts it over the edge. Still, I'll happily drink more, and I'm looking forward to sharing a second bottle with friends. Got a sweet keyring bottle opener with the bottle design on it, too!
Red Swingline - Trinity: As I said before this was tasty and very interesting. Sour beer with a hoppy IPA finish is about the only way I can describe it. Definitely worth trying if you have a chance because it's so unlike anything else out there, anything I've had at least.
Still have Peche & Brett, some triple IPAs, and a handful of other bottles to get through. I love trading bottles but it might be time for a break, I have an excessive amount of beer in my possession.
― dan m, Tuesday, 17 June 2014 17:28 (nine years ago) link
Jeff -- next time we get a shipment of Gose in I'll try to get some for you.. it's very popular tho and usually sells out and then we have to wait to get more.
also facebook msged JJUSTEN about westbrook.
― ian, Tuesday, 17 June 2014 17:32 (nine years ago) link
That would be awesome.
― Jeff, Tuesday, 17 June 2014 17:45 (nine years ago) link
I think there's something about shipping hopforward double+ ipas across the country without refrigeration that always leaves me tempering my expectations a bit...
which leads me to ask if there are any budget friendly refrigerated shippers?
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 17 June 2014 18:26 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, that was part of my line of thinking too. Just gonna have to get them to distribute here! Kinda curious how they send beer to the Philly area but not Chicagoland.
― dan m, Tuesday, 17 June 2014 18:36 (nine years ago) link
Does anyone have any recommendations for sour type beers? I had my first American Wild Ale (Surly Pentagram) recently and really liked it.
― monster_xero, Wednesday, 18 June 2014 03:35 (nine years ago) link
Cuvée des jacobins x 1000000
― Everyone is awful except you. Wait, no, you are also awful. (jjjusten), Wednesday, 18 June 2014 04:08 (nine years ago) link
Agree, and Bruery's Sour in the Rye is good too.
― nickn, Wednesday, 18 June 2014 04:56 (nine years ago) link
la folie's lips of faith is a good place to start and easy to find.
once you dig deeper, you'll start seeking outbelgian stuff (west flanders red): rodenbach, cuvee des jacobins rouge, duchessebelgian stuff (flanders oud bruin): monks cafe, petrus, goudenbandbelgian stuff (lambic/geuze): cantillon, 3 fonteinen, tilquin american stuff: any wild ales from russian river, lost abbey, cascade, and the bruery
there's also berliner weisse and gose and probably a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 18 June 2014 05:29 (nine years ago) link
I'm going to Baltimore next week - any local/regional breweries I should be looking out for? Other general beer tips also welcome.
― dem bow dem bow need calcium (seandalai), Wednesday, 18 June 2014 11:14 (nine years ago) link
Baltimore's not really gonna blow your socks off as far as local breweries are concerned, but I would recommend a trip up to the Hampden/Woodberry area to hit up a) Union Brewery b) De Kleine Duivel (Belgian beer bar, amazing if that's your thing) and c) The Wine Source which is a solid (by Baltimore City standards) beer/wine store. All these are within walking distance of each other in a not-bad part of the city.
Brewer’s Art in Mt. Vernon is a good stop too. Max’s Taphouse in Fells Point should probably be mentioned. Huge selection.
― circa1916, Wednesday, 18 June 2014 13:42 (nine years ago) link
re sours, tart of darkness is a pretty unique style (sour stout) and is, afaik, the only widely available beer in that style
― Mordy, Wednesday, 18 June 2014 15:15 (nine years ago) link
Thanks! xp
― dem bow dem bow need calcium (seandalai), Wednesday, 18 June 2014 16:45 (nine years ago) link
Thanks guys xxp
― monster_xero, Wednesday, 18 June 2014 18:01 (nine years ago) link
many xps to dan - glad you liked the blend love! for whatever reason 750 mls are pretty common around here, far more common than other sizes, but they're generally not priced too high
i think there is definitely something to say about shipping ipas across the country through warm climes but i think for the most part you got the normal pliny experience. a few places around here have it available p much year round for $5/bottle, and i def find once the hype/unobtainability/exclusivity is taken away it tastes far more delicious.
still have to say heady topper is my #1 by quite a lot, though i still haven't tried two hearted or abrasive. fresh notorious might be my current #2 but i don't wanna oversell it for you and mordy!
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Wednesday, 18 June 2014 19:29 (nine years ago) link
and this is not in the same league of beer-nerdism at all but the laurelwood green mammoth is a damnnn fine 2IPA, i think they really stepped up their game this year. i was surprised to see lukewarm reactions on BA (it's a 2IPA ffs) but those seem to be based on the 2012 release
re: sours, tried a glass of cascade sang noir recently and !!! i need to get a bottle before this goes away, such a great use of bourbon + wine + sour
oh, also had a chance to try the arctic saison that cad sent my way... great stuff! a lot of awesome stuff going on, funk + tartness + some herbal/citrus too. i didn't seem to notice any of the problems w/the bottle (noted upthread) at all
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Wednesday, 18 June 2014 19:46 (nine years ago) link
the only sour in a can i had before tnite was the alchemist's petit mutant but i got a 6-pack of anderson valley's holy gose and holy shit it's delicious. i highly recommend.
― Mordy, Saturday, 21 June 2014 00:19 (nine years ago) link
I like it.
― Jeff, Saturday, 21 June 2014 01:35 (nine years ago) link