Beer in the new era

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2287/2149728296_cc4a538f23.jpg

To start, and then later on I will move on to Rogue Dead Guy Ale.

^^ black chocolate's one of the best buys for big-tasting stouts right now. 8.99/six, that's pretty awesome compared to most. what's old rasputin, like 9.99/four?

i was so happy to see that beer show up on the shelves a few weeks ago

i think it might be even more here, like $12/four.

http://www.villevallapub.se/sortiment/image_file/22

Disappointingly sour tasting. Could have been sitting on that HEB shelf for no telling how long, though.

this one's great........

http://ontap.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/storm.jpg

Gulden Draak is one of my favorite Belgians, maybe you're right on the storage.

And this is what I had tonight...

http://static.flickr.com/108/298326506_17a0546bbd.jpg

my current fave quality but not $$$ beer, frequently on sale for $7/6-pack.

i can imagine smoked would be gross, possibly grosser than fruity

one thing i like a lot though: winter warmer! any spicy fall/winter-type beer. like harpoon ww or great lakes xmas ale.

― ketchup dood (harbl), Monday, November 17, 2008 11:30 PM (Yesterday)

otm x 6000 re fall/winter beer. though i did have a winter beer at a local brewery (the elysian in capitol hill) and it was just too much. to the point where i couldn't finish it because it was just too much spiciness, and it was making me nauseated.

here is an example of a good smoked porter:
http://www.stonebrew.com/porter/porterleft.jpg

For winter spiced beer I like Anchor Steam's version ("Christmas Ale" I think it's called). Haven't had any yet this year.

And I had a smoke beer once from Germany. Can't remember the brewery but it had a yellow label. I liked it well enough but at ~$4 bottle probably wouldn't buy another one.

re: Gulden Draak & storage

Live beers are more sensitive to those issues, right? Also, I got a big one that was corked rather than capped - dunno how that might effect freshness.

I had this Ommegang Three Philosophers Belgian Style Blend the other day. I didn't care for it very much. The cherry flavor made it a bit cough-syrupy to my palate:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42/3457

OTOH, I bought a six-pack of this the other week, and found it quite drinkable - like a pilsner but a shade darker. Mind you it's not going to displace Pilsner Urquell as my Czech beer of choice:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/308/3263

(That last one was BrouCzech Lager - for those who don't want to click on the link.)

no link to the current new yorker article about "extreme beer"?

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/24/081124fa_fact_bilger

money quote:

“When a brewer says, ‘This has more hops in it than anything you’ve had in your life—are you man enough to drink it?,’ it’s sort of like a chef saying, ‘This stew has more salt in it than anything you’ve ever had—are you man enough to eat it?’ ”

Fuck over hopping, fuck this stupidity really hard.

Quote very much OTM.

yeah i'm glad to see there is some pushback on this hop thing.

this is my new favorite beer, very tasty and smooth!

http://soheil.callage.com/photo%20Galleries/Beers/images/Netherlands-Tilburg%20Brown%20Ale.jpg

the new New Yorker hasn't arrived in my mail yet but the podcast teaser about the beer article is worth listening too (probable obvious overlap with article)
http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/11/24/081124on_audio_bilger

dude, Ed, some people like really hoppy beers. I like them once in a while. Nobody is forcing you to drink them. What's the big deal?

I like some hoppy beers - but I think that those IPA-style beers have become almost synonymous with American micro-brew, to the point that if you go to a beer store with a "good" selection, you will find dozens of variations on a single theme, but not much variety outside of that. But hey, if that's what people want... I guess the IPA-style beers are sort of the equivalent of Starbucks coffee. The typical Starbucks dark roast flavor signifies "gourmet" in coffee much the same way as hoppiness signifies "gourmet" in beer - to the point that people who style themselves as connoisseurs forget that good coffee can also be medium roast, or that good beer doesn't have to be loaded with hops.

^real talk

Thanks for that New Yorker link. Good article if only for understanding how the personalities of the brewers drive their companies. Everything Brooklyn produces is consistently pro but not revelatory, while Dogfish is wildly hit-or-miss.

x-post oh yeah and there are a couple good American IPAs and a ton of really bad ones.

I don't know, there are plenty of great pilsners and stouts and wheat beets and whatnot being produced. Most of the brewers that make the super-IPAs also make other quality beers too.

ha i feel like im living on a different planet from you guys--the stores i go to have as many IPAs and other hoppy beers as they do stouts & whatever else--then again i like hoppy beer so finding it in a fridge doesnt fill me with insane rage

stores I go to in DC are usually like IPA SECTION, IPA SECTION, IPA SECTION,
BELGIAN SECTION, CORONA ET AL SECTION, HEINEKEN ET AL SECTION OTHER AMERICAN CRAFT BEERS SECTION (YUENGLING GOES HERE)

I know what m@tt means--it's like if you're going to "make it" as an American craft brewer you are obligated to share your vision of the IPA with the world. My local store has a ton of these random-ass breweries with obnoxious labels telling you how much ass their IPA kicks.

Nevertheless this thread has inspired me to go there tonight and pick up some silly American craft beer.

http://www.dogfish.com/brewings/video/palosanto.htm

wow this stuff!!

did we havea thread already talking about burkhard bilger's piece in the nyer food issue? my corner store bro says they've been moving quite a bit more DH product since. "who reads the new yorker?" internet, dogg.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/24/081124fa_fact_bilger?currentPage=all

+ budweiser american ale. I tried this (like, the free sample tumbler they give you at the bar, because it was on draft at one of our locals) and it's really not that far a stretch from a regular sam adams. I see two outcomes for this:

1. when I go to ballgames, there is an outside chance that one of the roaming hawkers will have something in his or her tub that I might deign to drink, since everything's $7 anyway and really fuck roaming around the tunnels to find the one or two kiosks selling IPA in plastic cups

2. bud drinkers in the boonies might try it, like it, and then end up moving on to drinking anheuser-busch's competition - real sam, or whatever other stronger stuff than the weaksauce american pilsner that's everywhere.

I really don't see anybody who's already drinking sierra nevada or whatever deciding that all of a sudden this stuff is their preferred adult beverage. the distribution oligopoly and consistency of output are the pillars of busch-inbev/millercoors' dominance - trying to get a wedge in against craft brews (cf michelob's new wide range of stuff nobody cares about) is a rather ridiculous misunderstanding of your role in the marketplace

(the best point in the bilger article, which I think is made by Garrett Oliver from Brooklyn, is how this is all the fault of Prohibition - I'm personally biased in favor of any argument that blames stuff that sucks on bad legislation made by stuck-up churck dickheads, but it seems quite valide - that a whole generation of Americans grew up not knowing what a real drink could taste like, and therefore the wussiest of frothy pisswater beers around became the common denominator)

(apparently a single serving of palo santo marron is plenty enough to fuck up yours truly's typing)

the (now award winning! etc etc) barons black wattle ale comes highly recommended from me

what is the preferred cooper's offering for winter months? I realize it is brewed in opposite country but I'm looking for something a little more amenable during these terrible, awful, no good very bad months

i don't really drink coopers much so hard to say - their stout and brown ale are both very nice though and would be winter-appropriate

that article is terrific--there is/was a big storm brewin over on the beeradvocate forums cause oliver felt like he was misquoted (or not properly contextualized) w/r/t his quote about hops and salt. the writer shows up to defend himself, and so does calagione, just to bask in the glory i guess.

its funny because i dont think oliver was particularly poorly represented--he sort of comes off like a pompous ass, but like a smart, and basically right, pompous ass. calagione just looks like a fun bro to hang around with which is probably why the article is about him (also wacky beers are way more fun to write about)

http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/1632647

awesome link thanks max!!

It's true, I do find the term "extreme beer" to be irredeemably pejorative. That's my opinion. You are welcome to yours. We won't be discussing it here yet again - that would be boring.

garrett oliver rules

fingers xd that bilger decides to make a book out of brewery stories

is it hard to find dogfish in places that arent near delaware

I am drinking beer in the new era

grolsch weizen is my shit recently. not as tart as erdinger, not as banana-ry as franziskaner, just so crisp and rich and endlessly drinkable. the best wheat beer i think.

I live 2,636 miles from the Dogfish Head brewery and can always get the basic ones.

Dogfish is in Delaware? I'm picturing this brewery in between of a bunch of fake nominal bank offices.

is it hard to find dogfish in places that arent near delaware

― eman cipation s1ocklamation (max), Wednesday, December 24, 2008 4:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

no its all over

I finally had a chance to try Leinie's Fireside Nut Brown the other night at a party, and I am not feeling it. Way too sweet for my taste. I think Leinie's is doing this with all their "boutique" beers, though, upping the HFCS content and making them almost an alcopop to increase sales among the masses. Original is still unfadeable, though, imo.

I had a Boulder Brewing Co. "Hazed and Infused" dry-hopped ale at the same party, and it was pretty good. Horrible hippy-dippy tie-dyed label design, though.

dogfishhead is some srsly ghastly shit and epitomize everything thats wrong w/the world pretty much

guys no one sells dogfish anywhere in minnesota :(

i asked the beer store guy about it and he said that dogfish head had some beef with their MN distributor (since gone out of business) and has basically refused to do business with anyone in the state ever since

what the hell

u r so rong, jho, i am questioning our relationship