i like velvet merkin but it's def one you have to adjust your expectations for
― call all destroyer, Monday, 9 November 2015 19:57 (eight years ago) link
it's backwoods bastard time again, gonna see if I can resist the temptation to open my last 2014 bottle to try it against this year's version
― pratt truss it (dan m), Monday, 9 November 2015 22:18 (eight years ago) link
I think I have bottles going back to 2011?? I'll have to check. and then find a reason to drink them.
― Jeff, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 01:21 (eight years ago) link
Just had a bomber of Lagunitas Imperial Pils, not bad for under $4.
― nickn, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 04:37 (eight years ago) link
Victory's got a new (ish?) IPA in cans, VITAL it says. The cans are a very pretty green that reminds me a little bit of Surge soda. It's good, even when it gets a little warm. It's no Hop Devil though.
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 05:30 (eight years ago) link
Their Hop Devil has more maltiness to it which balances the I-just-ate-a-basket-of-flowers problem, and their Dirt Wolf has more greasy imperialness to it which balances everything out by just getting you more drunk. I feel like this falls in between. IPAs in cans are the friends-with-benefits of beers. They don't want to meet your parents. They really don't want to come to your work thing. But.
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 05:34 (eight years ago) link
Was just reading a couple of beer nerd sites that came to the conclusion that Backwoods Bastard is better fresh than aged, though I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference. Anyone pick up the latest Deth's Tar? As usual, not a bad deal compared to all these $25 bottles. Though nothing is a better deal than those Lagunitas barrel aged coffee stouts last year.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 14:58 (eight years ago) link
backwoods bastard is ime one of the easiest beers to detect aging in
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 15:42 (eight years ago) link
these guys didn't like it aged http://www.guysdrinkingbeer.com/founders-backwoods-bastard-2-year-vertical
this guy did http://allthesamebeer.com/2013/11/24/redux-review-0013-founders-backwoods-bastard-2012/
― pratt truss it (dan m), Tuesday, 10 November 2015 18:09 (eight years ago) link
lol "it's more boozy!" "it's less boozy!"
second review rings very true to me tho.
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 18:15 (eight years ago) link
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/10/yes-the-future-of-craft-beer-is-in-question-dont-p.html
― pratt truss it (dan m), Thursday, 12 November 2015 15:33 (eight years ago) link
I really liked the Death By Coconut. Good dessert beer.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 November 2015 16:34 (eight years ago) link
Happy Rare Day! Check out eBay and your trading spots if you want to overpay/compensate for some beer!
― Jeff, Friday, 13 November 2015 17:50 (eight years ago) link
no thanks
― sleeve, Friday, 13 November 2015 17:53 (eight years ago) link
So used to stupid hoops that it was nice to walk into a store yesterday (Tabb's - any locals been? Just down the street from the equally great/low-key Puerto Rico Food & Liquors) just as he was unloading Double Daisy Cutter and the new Firestone Walker anniversary beer. In fact, he brought them to my attention.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 November 2015 18:41 (eight years ago) link
My places doesn't get the FSW anniversary beers. Or any of the barrel releases.
― Jeff, Friday, 13 November 2015 19:16 (eight years ago) link
Hey! Got a surprise bottle of BCBS Rare 2015 today. Random local Twitter follower went to rare day and felt bad about buying $180 worth of beer so she DM'ed me offering to sell me one bottle of her allotment at face value. YOLO.
― Jeff, Sunday, 15 November 2015 02:22 (eight years ago) link
whoa nice.
― call all destroyer, Sunday, 15 November 2015 04:01 (eight years ago) link
Sell it on eBay to fun your child's education
― pratt truss it (dan m), Sunday, 15 November 2015 06:17 (eight years ago) link
Tempting, but I'll probably just drink it.
― Jeff, Sunday, 15 November 2015 15:03 (eight years ago) link
We've had a new bottle shop and tap room open up in Hereford and today I had a lovely lemon & pepper gueze and a coffee milk stout. Then I bought some bottles to take home.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/603/23038711235_d346998c67_z.jpg
― suffeeciant attreebution (aldo), Sunday, 15 November 2015 16:03 (eight years ago) link
You're a brave man.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 15 November 2015 16:05 (eight years ago) link
I'll force myself.
― suffeeciant attreebution (aldo), Sunday, 15 November 2015 16:17 (eight years ago) link
For reference l-r
Rogue Voodoo Donut IV Thornbridge/Really Wild Beer Bakewell Tart Gueze Alaskan Brewery Smoked PorterRogue Sriracha StoutWeird Beard Black Christmas Cranberry StoutReally Wild Beer Cucumber Saison
― suffeeciant attreebution (aldo), Sunday, 15 November 2015 16:27 (eight years ago) link
I was filling up a buy-4-get-20%-off order a while ago and settled on a Rogue Blueberry against my initial judgement. But I noticed it had honey as well as malt, and I've made mead a few times with fruit, so I picked it up. Was actually pretty decent - would drink again.
― nickn, Sunday, 15 November 2015 21:18 (eight years ago) link
Just had the latest Stone collaboration, Sorry Not Sorry, a great IPA with peach in there somewhere.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 16 November 2015 01:23 (eight years ago) link
I hadn't heard of the third in the Stone collab, but the second, Bale Breaker in Yakima, has been on my road-trip visit list for a while. Their Topcutter IPA is fantastic - on my personal top 10 along with Alesmith's IPA.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Monday, 16 November 2015 14:39 (eight years ago) link
Constellation Brands just bought Ballast Point for $1 billion (I can't imagine anyone would turn down that many zeroes). So just this last year or so, Firestone Walker, Elysian, Lagunitas, Dogfish Head, and Ballast Point all took the cash, plus a few more. But factor in Goose Island a couple of years ago, or Stone's CEO stepping down, let alone AB InBev bidding for SabMiller, and the times they are a-changin'. More beer more places for everyone, I guess.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 16 November 2015 15:32 (eight years ago) link
seconding the topcutter recommendation, they should distribute that more
these grimm 2xipas are AMAZING btw, if you can get your hands on them you should. afterimage was the best possible version of the juicy/fruity/citrus hop-candy flavor profile i've ever tasted, light in color and nearly perfect (if you like that type of thing). pulse wave was an excellent counterpoint too, probably the most cannabis flavor from a 2xipa that i can remember. excited for cans of tesseract to drop this week, the hype for these has been massive but they're all pretty special
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Wednesday, 18 November 2015 00:42 (eight years ago) link
Constellation Brands just bought Ballast Point for $1 billion
whaaaaat
― Treeship, Wednesday, 18 November 2015 00:46 (eight years ago) link
i love the grapefruit sculpin as much as the next poster on this thread but how could that brand possibly be worth that much
― Treeship, Wednesday, 18 November 2015 00:48 (eight years ago) link
my thoughts exactly
― sleeve, Wednesday, 18 November 2015 01:04 (eight years ago) link
(except I think the grapefruit is over-flavored, prefer regular Sculpin)
As much as I hate to link a gbh article, this was an interesting read. http://goodbeerhunting.com/blog/2015/11/17/sightlines-feature
― Jeff, Wednesday, 18 November 2015 01:13 (eight years ago) link
Anyone going to FOBAB?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 20 November 2015 16:17 (eight years ago) link
costs too much
― pratt truss it (dan m), Friday, 20 November 2015 16:26 (eight years ago) link
been enjoying mikkeller's peter pale and mary lately - become a go-to at my local bottle shop/bar.
― doing my Objectives, handling some intense stuff (LocalGarda), Friday, 20 November 2015 16:28 (eight years ago) link
What Dan said.
― Jeff, Friday, 20 November 2015 17:36 (eight years ago) link
I thought FOBAB was really well run, and literally not a single of the people pouring checked my passport/tickets. I'm a total lightweight and not even sure I could have gotten a full 20 2-3 oz. pours, which were pretty generous, but even if I could have I probably could have gotten twice that, easy. Apparently a few of the more coveted things kicked early (18th St.?), but there was so much, and so much good stuff. I'd basically shuttle around trying things, dumping the rest, then moving on. Every once in a while I'd get some BA cider or BA fruit beer or BA sour to cleanse the pallette. Best of all, the dreaded Goose Island line moved fast (no more than 5 minutes, max) and didn't seem to be running out of anything. Had Rare, couple of Props, Vanilla Rye, Regal Rye, etc, all ample pours. Interesting to have them all at once, to compare years/recipes.
I have a sweet tooth, so other faves included a Haymarket Imperial Stout Aged on Cherries and a Moody Tongue Chocolate Barleywine but also Bell's BA Expedition Stout, which was sort of light but weirdly refreshing compared to all the viscous stuff. Also, nice to try all the weird things aged in gin barrels, cognac barrels, etc. Not always successful, but always distinctive/different. Only bummer was the food, which seems like a missed opportunity. Just the usual Connie's pizza, hot dogs and pretzel convention BS. If I ran the zoo there would be a room with tables and some local spots selling burgers and tacos, just to have a place to chill and eat.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 21 November 2015 14:30 (eight years ago) link
Oh hey, we get Sixpoint in MN now. Digging what I've had so far quite a lot.
― a strawman stuffed with their collection of 12 cds (jjjusten), Saturday, 21 November 2015 15:46 (eight years ago) link
Weirdly my favorite at this point is Sweet Action, which is way outside my normal beer zone, flavor wise.
― a strawman stuffed with their collection of 12 cds (jjjusten), Saturday, 21 November 2015 15:47 (eight years ago) link
https://www.barrelbackers.com/
― Jeff, Monday, 23 November 2015 20:34 (eight years ago) link
so....they will ship you a 12-pack of founders porter for 50 bucks?
― call all destroyer, Monday, 23 November 2015 20:54 (eight years ago) link
I had Sixpoint Sensi Harvest 2015 recently which was pretty good but definitely on that heavy-handed, fresh hop, "we dumped a pile of moldy wet leaves into this beer" tip, which is not my favorite style of beer.
I also just picked up a Stone variety pack at Costco, which was a pretty nice deal. It has the Cali-Belgique IPA, Ruination Double IPA, the Coffee Milk Stout, and the Pale Ale. I like the Cali-Belgique and the Ruination a lot. Stone beers are always nicely to the drier side. Unfortunately coffee stouts kind of give me nightmares and/or insomnia.
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Monday, 23 November 2015 21:01 (eight years ago) link
Cad, seems like it. Kind of dumb.
― Jeff, Monday, 23 November 2015 22:05 (eight years ago) link
so this thread is kind of the conversant internet peoples' untapp'd, should I post here on the creeping draft choice conservatism observed in establishments which only a year ago prided themselves on having many, many tap handles representing many diverse types of beer? Or should that be another thread?
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 24 November 2015 01:06 (eight years ago) link
I don't drink enough in such establishments to notice, but I have to imagine it's economics, i.e. over saturation plus novelty wearing off = no one is ordering the Montanan lambic-saison hybrid and everyone is getting the famous microbre name ipa, and it doesn't make sense to stock kegs of 20 beers 15 of which no one orders.
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Tuesday, 24 November 2015 01:27 (eight years ago) link
but they're still stocking 20 kegs - it's just that 5 of them are session IPAs, 3 are pilsners or "vienna lagers," 2 are ambers, 2 are unremarkable wheats or witbiers, 2 are belgian (chimay and something else), 1 stout, 1 porter, and the remainder are local seasonals, 3 of which are not actually seasonal.
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 24 November 2015 01:46 (eight years ago) link
I'm sure it's economics - they're just avoiding carrying stuff that either doesn't have the right price / margin (I've noticed Boulevard's beers have all either gone up in price quite a bit or just plain disappeared from the tap) and the nerdy stuff that takes forever to kick (imperials, sours, nitros, hard-to-describe saisons). So you end up with a very limited range which is highly annoying when you look at the entire list and there's nary a double IPA in sight.
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 24 November 2015 01:52 (eight years ago) link
going into places where I used to be able to order a Small Craft Warning or a Wookey Jack on tap and discovering basically the same range of options that you can now get on many airplane rides is just a tad disappointing. It also points to the tremendous improvement in airplane beer options since AB InBev bought Goose Island and Sam Adams starting canning, but that's not the point!!
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 24 November 2015 01:54 (eight years ago) link