Beer in the new era

I had a bomber of Arcadia Sky High Rye last night, very good. I'm starting to get a taste for ryes, they might break me from the IPA habit yet.

i don't want to break my IPA habit; I'm still on the Deuchars big time. had a few bottles of Brew Dog IPA which was maybe a bit too strong for me, in terms of alcohol -i prefer a lighter IPA and find it more refreshing-, but still palatable.

Beers I drank in Portland that were new to me:

Double Mountain India Red Ale
Widmer W'10 Pitch Black IPA
Firestone Walker Union Jack
Amnesia Copacetic IPA
Upright Farmhouse Rye
Fearless IPA
Roots Burghead Heather Ale
Ninkasi Total Domination IPA
plus about a dozen 4 oz. samples (shared with my gf) of various Rogue beers

Notes:
The IRA may have been my favorite -- no real surprise there, since I really love that style. The Copacetic had a strong but very pleasing weed aroma, though it was a bit undercarbonated (may have just been the keg). The Farmhouse Rye was subtly flavorful. I didn't love the Burghead Heather, but it was fairly drinkable (and I liked trying a beer made with heather tips instead of hops). The other IPAs were all stellar, though none in particular stood above the rest.

I found the Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA to be quite good, and well-priced when on sale ($8 / 6-pak). Doesn't hit you over the head with its IPA-ness.

I also bought a sixer of Samual Adams Longshot, which is actually 2 bottles each of 3 different style beers developed by their employees. One is a lemon pepper Saison, which wasn't as weird as it may sound, neither lemon nor pepper flavors were detectable to me. Another is a Scottish Ale type that I haven't tried yet, and the third is an Ale with 9% abv that was very good. Dunno how long this will be in the stores or if there's even a chance any of it will make it to regular production.

I need a good punch me in the face IPA.

The wife, a friend and I all split one of the 21st Amendment watermelon wheat beers this weekend just to see what it was like. Holy shit was that vile, four ounces was way too much.

Lagunita's Wilco Tango Foxtrot - our visiting friend apparently knows one of the guys who helped brew this so she had to check it out. I liked it a lot, one of the big malty / hoppy beers that I generally go for but it was a little much post bike ride.

Oskar Blues Gubna Imperial IPA - this was pretty good but kind of exceeded my tolerance. Strong but way too sweet for me, at least in 12 ouce format. I could have gone for a smaller amount of this.

21st amendment watermelon is seriously maybe the worst bullshit foisted on beer drinkers ever.

Three new big bottles at boozemart this week from the BarrelHouse brewing company in Cincinatti. Trying the Cumberland Pale Ale first - pretty good, a little too much caramel for my tastes but def not a bad beer at all, esp for the LOW INTRODUCTORY PRICE of $2.99 for a 22 oz. Spends a lot of time lingering in the sides of the tongue, with some sort of sweet/bitter aftertaste going on.

Jaymc, did you have the Copacetic at Amnesia itself? I've always found it a bit flat there. Feel like maybe that's just how they do that one. Also, a little too floral for me, but I like their other beers plenty.

Oh beers.

Recently I have enjoyed:
Half Acre Double Daisy Cutter
Three Floyds Blackheart IPA
Lost Abbey Serpent's Stout
Goose Island Coffee Bourbon County Stout
Two Brothers Coffee Domaine Dupage
Goose Island CBC Belgian IPA
(holy chicago-area brewers)

It seems like everyone under the sun is now brewing an IPA with Belgian yeast. The first one I ever had was the Allagash Hugh Malone a few years back, but now Stone, Flying Dog, Goose Island, and Great Divide all have versions out. I have enjoyed every beer in this style, but Hugh Malone may be the finest of all.

I tried the Stone/Dogfish/Victory Saison made with herbs, it was solid, but not special.

That reminds me. The Stone Russian Imperial Stout is really good. 22 oz bottles of it are only $7, which is an unbelievable deal in my book. I picked up a few extra to age in my "beer closet."

There are bottles of the Schneider Aventinus brewed in 2003 and 2005 out there. I had the 2003 last night and it was really fantastic. If you aren't familiar with the beer, grab a bottle of the current year and a bottle of 2003 to compare.

One final note: I had an IPA from a brewery in Florida called Cigar City. It was aged in cedar and tasted like a cigar. It was interesting, but I definitely didn't need 25 oz of it!

xp Yeah, it was at Amnesia. I did like the ambiance there. Wasn't hungry at the time, but I could see it being a pretty sweet spot to hang out during a summer afternoon and have a brat and a couple beers.

Gulden Draak has been mentioned on this thread, though only in passing really, tried it for the first time tonight and it is amazing. A lot of alcohol on the nose but sweet and fruity to the taste, far too quaff-able than 10.5% has any right to be.

nice and hoppy too.

I should have documented what the heck I drank in Montreal, because I had a few local brands and they were pretty good. Am I right in thinking the the majority of Quebec beers aren't available in the US, Unibroue aside?

re: barrelhouse beers i mentioned a few posts up, they were pretty unremarkable.

ive been consuming new beers at a rapid clip (consolation for non-smoking) but nothing really all that noteworthy as of late.

When I was in Montreal in 2006, I'm pretty sure I just drank Griffon Blonde and Griffon Rousse the whole time. They seemed to be everywhere.

not sure if this is cool or ... not cool: http://www.milesdavis.com/us/brew

Yeah, I saw that on facebook (I "liked" Davis at one point). It seems pretty crass, but as they say, "If it brings more people to his music, it must be a good thing."

I never tried any of those Frank Zappa beers, but since i'm usually at least curious what new DFH beers taste like, i'll probably check this out if/when i see it.

it sort of seems like a beer trying to capture the essence of Bitches Brew should be kinda nasty.

Amazing beers nowhere to be found on this thread: Mothership Wit from New Belgium, thought this one was pretty common? Perfect summer brew IMO, light Belgian-style white.

And from North Coast, Pranqster is a belgian golden, Brother Thelonious is a dubbel, both have a sweetness and really full flavor despite high ABV, they're served in 10.5-oz goblets in bars.

Dope-looking taps too:
http://www.coloredhorse.com/FineArts/Images-Commerical/Thelonious/Thelonious-Taphandle-Final-1-med.jpg

ha, that is a cool tap. jazz beers!
on the new belgium tip, their Trippel is pretty tasty.

welcome to the future, have a powdered beer beer-flavoured drink

http://www.gizmag.com/powdered-beer-to-wash-down-canned-cheeseburger-12656/12656/

picked up some lagunitas Undercover. i've never seen it before, slightly hoppy ale with almost too much sweetness. it's okay but not exceptional.

that daisy cutter is my shit

whats a good saranac

I am going on a road trip out west starting Friday and I am hoping to try some great beers.

If anyone in the western states wants to meet up for beer, let me know via this thread.

I had Duchesse De Bourgogne for the first time in a long time and it was right up my alley.

Lost Abbey Amazing Grace and Allagash My Brother Daryl were guest taps at Two Brothers on Saturday and they were both great.

Recently found out that my homeboy's old man was the "he4d br3w3r" at this major brewery in Bris., Australia --> http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200712/r213685_825266.jpg

for 20 yrs!

Now in retirement he is a 'consultant' and goes around to beer shows being a judge ! <3!

The NY BrewFest yesterday was kind of ridiculously crowded - not to mention the obnoxious people with 4 or 5 glasses who would camp out at the front of the lines and bogart the beer. So I didn't really get to try too much that was new and exciting. I did like the Hitachino Nest, and the Crispin Cider.

that daisy cutter is my shit

Yeah, I have to say, I bought a growler last weekend and I liked it a lot more than I did the first few times I tried it. I think they've figured out how to balance it better.

World Beer Cup® 2010

Tried my first Dogfish, the 60-minute IPA. I wanted to give one of their IPAs a shot, but I just can't get behind really hoppy beers. I want the malt! I want balance! I'll finish this sixer, but you'd have to pay me to try the 90 or 120.

Completely understandable, I am kinda getting 'over' the hoppy beers. 60m IPA (and in a way the 90 too) are pretty much the platonic ideal of the IPA and I like that but I am not so interested anymore.

Even though I live about a 2h drive from Burlington VT I finally had some of the Magic Hats for the first time lately (I had had the #9 a couple years ago, but I've now had Wacko, one of their summer beers and their new IPA as well) and I rue Quebec's beer importing/distributing laws or wahtever because goddamn it I can't buy this stuff even though it's so close. If I had a car... you best believe I'd be running this shit prohib-style.

Any other VT (or nearby) brewers I need to try? I wanna try the Long Trail (if that's the name?) Alt/Sticke Alt varieties. I had Allagash lately as well which was nice.

AND MORE IMPORTANTLY: How fucking good is sour brown ale? Seriously. The MTL Beerfest had a few varieties and I could ahve died of bliss.

I tried a Williams Brothers Red Ale yesterday that was absolutely lovely - I don't think I'd knowingly drunk a red ale before.

god i drank so much Long Trail in college. i remember it fondly, but i'm not really sure how it would stand up today.

fun to make a trip to the brewery tho!

bluepoint toasted lager is just abt the only microbrew i fuck w/regularly these days.

Found Goose Island in SoCal a couple weeks ago, Sophie and Pere Jacques. Both good, and would drink again, but at $7/22 oz bottle won't be drinking often.

but I just can't get behind really hoppy beers.

― Grisly Addams (WmC), Tuesday, July 20, 2010 6:57 PM (1 week ago)

wait i thought you liked Sierra Nevada?

I mean REALLY hoppy beers. I think SN pale ale is well-balanced!

wowzers. i need to try dogfish 90min again then. i thought the same thing but reversed (btw the two).

I have so much to write, but I will keep it short.

Beers that have absolutely floored me since the beginning of my road trip:

New Glarus Enigma
Snake River Pako's Eye-P-A
Brooklyn Sorachi Ace Saison
Three Floyds Apocalypse Cow Lacto Double IPA
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Centennial Double? IPA
Port Big Black Poochie Double Black IPA
Port Poor Man's Double IPA
Everything at Russian River
Mikkeller Yeast Series: Brettanomyces

For anyone who is in the distribution area of Three Floyds and enjoy big IPAs, I would suggest seeking out the Apocalypse Cow. It is really big, but the lactose adds a smooth creaminess. It is one of the best beers I have ever had.

Sorachi Ace, a Japanese hop variety, seems to be a hot hop. Three Floyds made a nice lager with it and now Brooklyn has made an even better Saison with the it. It has a nice spicy bite and is really a unique hop. I love it.

The Mikkeller yeast series is a nice little experiment. They start with the same wort and then use 5 different yeasts to ferment the wort to give an idea how each yeast creates different flavors. The Brettanomyces yeast is used most often in Wild Ales and this is an exceptional example.

Ok. I am going to bed.

For the Chicago folks.

Binny's has 2008 and 2009 Stone Russian Imperial Stout and Old Guardian Barleywine in bottles for sale.

These beers age well and it is a great opportunity to get aged beer without aging it yourself. It is also great to compare the different vintages!

BINNY'S

found some moinette blond at binny's after not really ever seeing it in CA stores. so crisp and layered.

i miss binny's

had sierra nevada's pale ale and porter and really enjoyed them both. think the pale ale was the first american pale ale i'd tried, though i've tried plenty american influenced pale ales. perhaps a bit too hoppy but more or less just what i'm looking for. not really the weather for porter, but as it's my favourite style of beer i thought i'd give it a try. something about the nose that i'm not quite happy with, but nice and deep taste and nice mouthfeel.

anyone try the sierra nevada summer?

summertime for me is all about sam adams summer ale, wachusett summer...basically any summer ale. give me some reco's on some others to try...oh and i also love miller high life after mowing the lawn.

i've had it--it's nice but won't blow you away. it's no sam which is the gold standard for the genre.

i've been drinking some goose island 312 recently which isn't specifically summer but feels seasonal to me

anyone had the super fancy goose islands? like pere jacques and matilda (I think)? (apologies if they've come up itt before.) always been curious but kind of irritated at how expensive they are from a local brewery

Yeah, they're pretty good. Sofie is the other fancy Belgian one they do. I don't go out of my way for them, though. By "local brewery" do you mean you live in Chicago?