Beer in the new era

i wouldn't say that you can taste the brown sugar, but there is a nice sweetness that is definitely unique.

Trader Joe's has their anniversary ale again. It is really just a Unibroue dark ale in a 750ml bottle for 5 bucks. This is a damn good deal. Belgian style of course.

I bought that a couple weeks ago. Think I'm going to save it for NYE.

bummed i bought a four pack of the Dogfish Head Midas Touch. tastes too grape-y, really off-putting. :(

Deal alert: Trader Joe's Vintage Ale 2009, 9% ABV, tasty, sweet & spicy dark ale, 750 ml bottles for $5. The cork says Unibroue so I'm guess that's who makes it. Quite good.

Oh, lol xpost

I splurged for a Chouffe "Dobbelen IPA Tripel" last night that had just monster head on it and was not nearly as hoppy as an American Double IPA would have been, but still quite fucking awesome.

oh, and btw, go EASY on it. Whoa.

two hearted ale can be found nowhere in the northeast :(

have been enjoying the hell out of this however:

http://blogs.eveningsun.com/troublebrewing/full.jpg

^^^total classic.

i picked up some sierra nevada celebration which imo does the "sweet, hoppy beer you only want one of" thing correctly

had some dieu de ciel route des epices. rye beer brewed with peppercorns. maybe a little too peppery and weird.
also, the dieu de ciel solstice d'hiver which is a darker barleywine. this is a totally great brew.

some things that I bought that i am going to "cellar" in my closet:
dogfish head olde school barleywine
dogfish head raison d'extra
two brothers why winter oak-aged barleywine (this came in a 3L bottle, and i guess only 100 were made)

also have a 1.5L bottle of Chimay Blue and a few of bottles of dogfish head 120 minute IPA sitting in the closet that i have had for about 6 months now.

c'mon, I can't be the only one drinking beer in this holiday season!

I had a couple of Delirium Noels at a bar out in the suburbs.
Now I am drinking some Rogue Dead Guy.

Is anyone else confused about why Rogue calls Dead Guy an ale when the Maibock style it is considered is a definite german lager style?

yuletide beer run

--sixer of third coast (never had it)
--sixer of two-hearted
--750ml of duchesse de bourgogne (SO FUCKING GOOD)

Got a growler of IPA from the newly opened brewery tonight, it's really good but the other beers are kind of lackluster.

Going to drink a Dogfish Sah'tea at some point in the next day or two - the wife spotted it and saw it was based on a Finnish beer so we needed to try it out. Apparently it has juniper in it and the wort was boiled with sauna rocks?

Goddamnit that Trader Joe's Vintage Ale was good. Even the non-beer-drinker lady liked it. I'm going to try to pick up some more tomorrow if they haven't run out.

Going to drink a Dogfish Sah'tea at some point in the next day or two - the wife spotted it and saw it was based on a Finnish beer so we needed to try it out. Apparently it has juniper in it and the wort was boiled with sauna rocks?

whawhawhawhaaaaa?

xmas beer gifts for others:

4-pack of Goose Island Matilda
La Chouffe Golden Ale
Hitachino Weisse

would those sauna rocks be used or new?

I think they should make beer with rocks boiled from Rehobeth Bay.

i picked up some sierra nevada celebration which imo does the "sweet, hoppy beer you only want one of" thing correctly

Really, you get sweet from the Celebration? I find it quite citrus-y. Def. my beer of choice this holiday season; I always want more than one!

Celebrating Christmas Eve tonight with Two Brothers Heavier Handed IPA.

They've got video of it, not really sauna rocks at all. Plus he says sauna wrong, but everyone does that:

http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/occassional-rarities/sahtea-0.htm

I heard something crazy that a 120 Minute IPA and World Wide Stout make a deadly delicious Black & Tan. I may have to try this.

hmmmmm, that's compelling! pls. post results if you do that.

has anyone tried the southern tier KRAMPUS imperial lager?!?!?!
http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut/files/2009/01/body_krampus2022oz20bottle_low.jpg

no! but i saw it in the store yesterday and really want to.

I have a 12 pack of the Racer 5 IPA from Bear Republic. I give 5 of them a chance at survival until tomorrow. Maybe only 4.

had a big bottle of the Goose Island Sofie this last weekend and it was goddamn incredible.

http://www.gooseisland.com/pages/sofie/28.php

i'm liking allllll of goose island's fake belgians: sophie matilda and uh the other one

The Pere Jacques is my favorite of the Goose Island fake Belgians.

I was over at Two Brothers for lunch today and had the Northwind stout, which was better last year and a Cane & Ebel red rye which is fantastic always.

I bought all sorts of stuff today for Christmas day drinking. I will surely report back!

back to the brooklyn black chocolate stout. such a delicious beer imo. can you get this nationwide?

My gf almost ordered the Sofie at a restaurant the other night until she noticed that it was $26.

That's nuts. I got a bottle for 7.99 tonight at Binny's

Also picked up more 3F's dreadnaught. So tasty. And a dogfish head old school barley wine. Not usually a fan of barley wines, but will give this one a try.

i just picked up that dfh too--real curious just because it sounds weird

hate to say it, but most of the dfh seasonals kinda let me down. i love the 60 minute, enjoy the 90 on occasion and quite like the brown ale, but most of the others don't do it for me at all. their pumpkin was real good though; glad i tried it. i think my fave barley wine is the Stone Old Guardian but that might be half nostalgia..

i love the dfh olde school barleywine... definitely one of the best interpretations of the style imo

Any Australians or NZ's that can suggest what I need to hit while here?

I been mostly w/Coopers and James Squire so far.

also, bought the brooklyn monster barleywine. I have only ever had the 2003 edition (earlier this year) so i am curious to see how good it is not aged.

The Lagunitas Imperial Red is now out of season, but if you find any six packs lingering around, I think it is a worthy beer to pick up. A nice hoppy, strong red.

Have I talked about St. Bernardus here? If you see the gift pack with 4 different beers and a goblet, it is a nice purchase. All of the beers in the pack are fantastic. The Bernardus Tripel may be my favorite of the style. It has a great yeasty character that I dig. I wouldn't recommend their Wit though, way overpriced and totally mediocre.

Also, I love drinking Brooklyn Lager from cans.
Speaking of cans, the Ska Modus Hoperandi is really wonderful. I may have mentioned this in another beer thread here on ILX.

Woah, have never seen/had Brooklyn Lager in can

I had only seen it at the whole foods in the Chicago South Loop (they haven't had it in weeks) but when I went home to the suburbs, I saw it at the most well-known chicagoland liquor superstore chain in my hometown.

huh, weird

a few years ago a friend of mine bought a half-keg of st bernardus and we almost died, but we would have died happy.

Had the DFH Worldwide stout on tap tonight. It has a nice savory touch to it. My friend said it had a balsamic vinegar element and I agree.

Also had a 2 oz. pour of the Sam Adams Utopias. This is basically a really nice, alcoholic dessert wine. It was fun to drink, but absolutely not a beer.

Any Australians or NZ's that can suggest what I need to hit while here?

― "I get through more mojitos.." (bear, bear, bear), Tuesday, 29 December 2009 16:49 (Yesterday)

no more coopers for starters!!

i recommend and enjoy the following:
- barons lemon myrtle witbier and black wattle ale
- montieths radler, summer ale, winter ale, celtic ale (they have a nice cider too)
- otway estate red ale & pilsner
- little creatures bright ale
- white rabbit dark ale
- mountain goat hightail ale

off the top of my head. the barons beers are the best bang-for-buck in terms of quality (rather than booze content) of any beer i've ever had.

another couple that i dig but are acquired tastes:
- 3 ravens dark smoke
- carlton black

Had a Surly Smoke the other day as an accompaniment beer for a bloody mary. Pretty good, would try again.

Awesome. Thanks for the heads up ElecSound. I'll get around to a good handful of those fr sure.

My wife needed some Guinness to bake a cake, so I bought a 4-pack of those Guinness draught cans. The little nitrogen gizmo works pretty well at foaming up the head, and I like that you get about 14.5 ounces from each can.

I drink a lot of Guinness and Beamish from cans. Not bad at all.

I am really enjoying the output of Shipyard at the moment in particular their licensed, Ringwood Old Thumper and the Export.