xp Might be possible. I think I've mentioned this itt or on one of the MN threads, but my BiL & his fam live in s mpls between that place called Busters and Northbound Brewpub. Either of those hold any appeal? We have plans for Saturday night but Sunday is pretty open.
― ive reddit all your posts and I want a crowdfund (dan m), Wednesday, 7 October 2015 17:02 (eight years ago) link
xp:
Dates are TBD, have never done a proper New England autumn though so probably pretty soon, 3-5 days?
Thoughts are: Burlington > Montpelier > HF > Ebenezer's > Portland,ME
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 7 October 2015 17:13 (eight years ago) link
If you like cider, Citizen in Burlington is totally worth a visit.
Prohibition Pig in Waterbury is also very good, with a great bottle shop across the street.
― ive reddit all your posts and I want a crowdfund (dan m), Wednesday, 7 October 2015 17:19 (eight years ago) link
hopefully the leaves have started to turn up there. it's still almost all green down in mass. here's general beer stuff in all those places.
burlington: winooski beverage warehouse has great resources for plannning to get local stuff: http://beveragewarehousevt.com/home/beer-hit-list/
you can also check out fiddlehead brewing in shelburne which some people like. downtown burlington has tons of bars/restaurants, farmhouse tap & grill had an excellent beer selection when i was there.
montpelier has three penny taproom which i love, and hunger mountain coop which i think gets heady topper and sip of sunshine both on thursdays. but there's not much else there, you could go to waterbury instead for a bigger selection of bars and restaurants. either place leaves you with about the same drive over to HF.
hf apparently just opened their new retail space today and got rid of growler limits, so i have no idea what it's going to be like. my understanding is they no longer have a giant line and it's more like placing an order and waiting for it. hopefully they're doing a bit better with the customer service. parker pie in west glover (~15 mins away, in the direction you're going in) is probably the best place in vermont to eat pizza and drink cantillon.
never been to ebenzer's but i've heard it's a little weird. the drive from that part of vt to that part of maine will also be a little weird. if you happen to need a break between lovell and portland stop at standard gastropub in bridgton, which is kind of a personal favorite since we're in bridgton a couple times a year.
if you're in portland on saturday bissell bros, foundation, and allagash will all be open and are on the same street. the allagash tour and tasting room is great. downtown has novare res, which is a must-go, and various other places. if you're tired of beer grab a cocktail at portland hunt & alpine club.
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 7 October 2015 17:31 (eight years ago) link
Any beer / beer bar recommendations for New Orleans, or am I doomed to wander the streets drinking a giant Hurricane?
― joygoat, Wednesday, 7 October 2015 17:46 (eight years ago) link
wow... ask for pro-tips and get them! thanks CAD.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 7 October 2015 17:52 (eight years ago) link
np, have fun! vermont is the best.
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 7 October 2015 17:57 (eight years ago) link
xp New Orleans/LA beer sucks ime, but the Avenue Pub is A+
― ive reddit all your posts and I want a crowdfund (dan m), Wednesday, 7 October 2015 18:07 (eight years ago) link
Also yes, get a giant hurricane just for lolz
― ive reddit all your posts and I want a crowdfund (dan m), Wednesday, 7 October 2015 18:08 (eight years ago) link
+ for Portland, ME, I highly recommend the Oxbow tasting room! Great beer and an amazing space.
― BRAAAAAAMETHEUS (El Tomboto), Wednesday, 7 October 2015 18:16 (eight years ago) link
Vapricot - Cigar city + Terrapin colab is a tasty offcenter DIPA
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Wednesday, 7 October 2015 18:35 (eight years ago) link
I found Surly Wet, kind of disappointing IMHO.
― ive reddit all your posts and I want a crowdfund (dan m), Sunday, 11 October 2015 04:52 (eight years ago) link
Agreed, this years wet is bunk.
― a strawman stuffed with their collection of 12 cds (jjjusten), Sunday, 11 October 2015 05:17 (eight years ago) link
Oh also, did you get my email?
Yes, will respond
― ive reddit all your posts and I want a crowdfund (dan m), Sunday, 11 October 2015 14:12 (eight years ago) link
So I guess SABMiller and AB-InBev are planning to merge? Seems like a bad scene to me, but I guess the DOJ is going to force them to sell a bunch of their US properties.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/14/business/dealbook/anheuser-busch-inbev-sabmiller-beer-merger.html
― Modern French Music from Failure to Boulez (askance johnson), Wednesday, 14 October 2015 15:44 (eight years ago) link
So much shitty beer ...
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 14 October 2015 21:30 (eight years ago) link
https://twitter.com/joshbnoel/status/654707755744296961
― Jeff, Thursday, 15 October 2015 17:31 (eight years ago) link
I didn't even enter the Rare Day lottery. Didn't want to feel obligated to spend $40 on a ticket to the event and $180 on three bottles of beer. Out of my beer budget.
― Jeff, Thursday, 15 October 2015 17:32 (eight years ago) link
Rare will get distro'd from what I've heard. What's crazy is that Prop won't.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 15 October 2015 17:38 (eight years ago) link
yea $60 for a bottle of beer is ........ not for me
i would maybe, like for a very very special event, spend $60 on a bottle of whiskey, which for as much as i drink whiskey would probably last me at least a year
― marcos, Thursday, 15 October 2015 18:04 (eight years ago) link
Prop has always been billed as being a Chicagoland exclusive as a way for GI to show their immense gratitude to the city and the loyal GI beer drinkers of Chicago. Their words, not mine.
― Jeff, Thursday, 15 October 2015 18:04 (eight years ago) link
there are these cascade brewing sour ales in bombers selling for like $30 a piece and even those i have never bought the most i've spent on single beer is prob $25 and it was for one of these allagash wild ale things (interlude maybe? something from that series)
― marcos, Thursday, 15 October 2015 18:06 (eight years ago) link
Prop has always been billed as being a Chicagoland exclusive as a way for GI to show their immense gratitude to the city and the loyal GI beer drinkers of Chicago. Their words, not mine.― Jeff, Thursday, October 15, 2015 11:04 AM (12 minutes ago)
― Jeff, Thursday, October 15, 2015 11:04 AM (12 minutes ago)
ah yes those intensely loyal GI beer traders...
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 15 October 2015 18:19 (eight years ago) link
cascade beers are delicious but way overpriced
― Mordy, Thursday, 15 October 2015 18:24 (eight years ago) link
I looked yesterday at Almanac's Farmhouse Citrus sour, which I love, and if it were 500 ml (which I was thinking) I would have shelled out the $11, but the bottles are 375 ml, and I just couldn't bring myself to go for it.
― nickn, Thursday, 15 October 2015 18:48 (eight years ago) link
$60 for bourbon isn't bad, and keep in mind, unlike beer it lasts a long, long time! At least in theory.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 15 October 2015 18:52 (eight years ago) link
http://gearpatrol.com/2015/10/15/best-russian-imperial-stouts-buying-guide
Had about half of these, and this reminded me that I need to get some more Expedition for aging. The one I posted about upthread that had sat around for like a year was seriously fantastic.
― ive reddit all your posts and I want a crowdfund (dan m), Thursday, 15 October 2015 21:32 (eight years ago) link
Got the Petrus Sour Pack recently and am starting with this great Aged Pale.3x Aged Pale1x Oud Bruin1x Aged Red1x 50/50 (Aged Pale & Aged Red, limited edition only available in the Sour Pack)
― Exit, pursued by Yogi Berra (WilliamC), Saturday, 17 October 2015 22:12 (eight years ago) link
love that aged pale, curious to hear how the 50/50 is. think the aged red is backsweetened a little too much, but mixing it with the pale sounds great.
― franklin, Saturday, 17 October 2015 22:19 (eight years ago) link
I was in the same store yesterday and that sour box had sold out almost immediately. They have singles available of the other 3. Talking to the guy who is the beer buyer there, I think he spends most of his paycheck on his own stock.
― Exit, pursued by Yogi Berra (WilliamC), Saturday, 17 October 2015 22:22 (eight years ago) link
there's an artisanal cider thread, but since I come at this as a beer guy: really recommend basque cider if you're into sour beers. still, hazy, low ABV, bright apple flavors and a ton of notes similar to a great gueuze: hay, grass, pleasant mustiness, a bit of tang but not puckering. i really don't like most ciders (even craft ones); too sweet and not a fan of malic sour, but it's my understanding that basque cider goes through a malo-lactic conversion so you get a lacto kick instead of the norm for cider.
there's not much on the internet about this stuff (at least in English), but the liquor store around the corner from me has like 30 bottles of Txopinondo Sagarnoa which is delicious, and like $11/750ml. compared to $25/750ml and rushing to grab a bottle before the shipment moves, I'm feeling spoiled.
― franklin, Saturday, 17 October 2015 22:30 (eight years ago) link
I love ciders, especially those that have the dankest barnyard essence. But I can never remember which ones they are, since I rarely drink them.
― Jeff, Saturday, 17 October 2015 22:34 (eight years ago) link
I like a good cider maybe once every three years, but usually when I see so many hogging the shelves or taking up space at the bar I'm all gtfo where's the beer.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 17 October 2015 22:39 (eight years ago) link
xp didn't even realize barnyard was a thing in the cider world, this really pleases me.
anyone ever manage to try Aaron Burr cider? was driving upstate last week and popped into a store they list as selling their stuff, guy chuckled at my expectation that it was just sitting on the shelf. didn't realize the cider scene was so buzzing.
― franklin, Saturday, 17 October 2015 22:42 (eight years ago) link
<3 ciders, mostly drink Vandermill, Seattle, & Citizen. Zeffer from NZ is really good too but a bit too much $ to buy regularly.
― ive reddit all your posts and I want a crowdfund (dan m), Saturday, 17 October 2015 23:42 (eight years ago) link
very interested in ciders, and your description of basque ciders is very intriguing to me franklin. I think the reason I haven't bought more is that the commercial ones are terrible and the craft ones are pricey and I don't know enough to venture in to th cider world.I should prob just read a couple reviews of the craft ones at my local store, or maybe talk to the staff or something
― marcos, Sunday, 18 October 2015 00:18 (eight years ago) link
my favorite beers this year have all been cloudy musty sours with strong lacto or brett flavors so I imagine i would really dig ciders with similar profiles
― marcos, Sunday, 18 October 2015 00:20 (eight years ago) link
Most Basque ciders (and some Breton/Brittany ones) are spontaneously fermented with wild yeast which is a technique shared with belgian lambics and geuzes. Also some natural wines but those are so over the top trendy I feel weird talking about them.
Some American cideries are starting to pitch wild yeast/spontaneously ferment with varying degrees of success, many centered around the Gravenstein orchards of Sonoma County, CA.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 18 October 2015 00:21 (eight years ago) link
would love to hear about natural spontaneously fermented wines too tbh, I am so clueless about wine in general that any trendiness factor would be lost on me anyways
― marcos, Sunday, 18 October 2015 00:32 (eight years ago) link
don't want to cloud the beer thread up with this too much, but def into idea of spontaneously fermented wines/brittany ciders.
actually "naturally fermenting" some cider right now. bought five gallons of unpasteurized cider from an orchard in PA, dumped it in a fermenting bucket and let the naturally-occuring yeast/bacteria do their thing (added some oak i have for homebrewing and dregs of basque cider because why not). made my living room reek of rotten eggs for two weeks, but a month later this is getting nice. word is they let it sit for 6 months in the basque tradition, so i'll give it until the spring to comment on it much. but cheap/easy as hell, $30 and little effort to get two cases of (hopefully) tasty stuff.
― franklin, Sunday, 18 October 2015 06:06 (eight years ago) link
and fwiw my understanding of the difference b/w belgian lambics and "natural fermentation": belgian lambics "catch" the right bugs; you make your wort and let it sit exposed in a manner that the yeast/bacteria in the air will do work and make it tasty (the yeast/bacteria of the Zenne valley appear uniquely suited to do the job -- the yeast/bacteria of the DC area, per my few homebrew fuckups, do not). "natural fermentation" in cider (and presumably wine) is about the yeast/bacteria on the fruit/press doing work on their own. that can also end up pretty gross, depending on the fruit/press, but there's a distinction between the two processes afaict.
― franklin, Sunday, 18 October 2015 06:14 (eight years ago) link
Just loaded the whole thread and did a grep and no mention of cicerones? http://cicerone.org/
Seriously I would love to become a sommelier of beers. Except it probably requires learning to appreciate shit like peanut butter stouts, so fuck it.
― BRAAAAAAMETHEUS (El Tomboto), Sunday, 18 October 2015 18:25 (eight years ago) link
What do folks think about Habenero Sculpin? I've seen some takes that were like, whoa, my mouth is on fire, I can't drink this! But I have also seen people say certain barrel stouts were as strong as bourbon, which of course is crazy talk.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 19 October 2015 20:21 (eight years ago) link
I don't like it. It's hot enough to seem like a gimmick rather than a serious beer variation.
― nickn, Monday, 19 October 2015 20:46 (eight years ago) link
i'm not a fan tbh, i'm okay w/ some chili peppers in beer if it's done right but really i just don't like any of the ballast point ipas
― marcos, Monday, 19 October 2015 20:48 (eight years ago) link
i didn't think the heat was that intense (but i'm pretty tolerant of spicy foods), i just don't like the sculpin base so adding habaneros wasn't going to do much for the beer imo anways
― marcos, Monday, 19 October 2015 20:49 (eight years ago) link
I do like Sculpin, btw.
― nickn, Monday, 19 October 2015 20:52 (eight years ago) link
I haven't had it. I liked the grapefruit version.
I did taste another flavored Ballast Point the other day, Ginger Big Eye, and it was not good.
― ive reddit all your posts and I want a crowdfund (dan m), Monday, 19 October 2015 20:55 (eight years ago) link
had another grimm beer recently, "super symmetry", a "dry-hopped gose brewed with lemon zest", very different from other goses i've had, the sourness was out of control, it was only 4.8% but i was blown away by the complexity. overall it was a fabulous beer. grimm is 2/2 for me on their wild ale/sour trip, i've been very impressed. i have "rainbow dome" in my fridge and will try it this weekend.
― marcos, Monday, 19 October 2015 21:06 (eight years ago) link