Beer in the new era

well it's more like a single shelf in the pantry, but the door closes in a closetlike manner

oh, what's the smoke like? i need some more wet (brought some surly back from mpls a few weeks ago).

so i've been hanging out with the lupulin maximux from o'so, it is intense. there's a hop cone floating in every bottle!

maximus rather. it sounds like a harry potter spell.

they seem to be out of the wet everywhere i go so uh oh maybe on that one.

i would also like to know about the smoke - bottle looks cool, but i am 50/50 on surly stuff in general.

it's....smokey. i liked it! wasn't totally sensational, and probably not worth the $15 i spent on it, but is good.

also, the wet is v good, too, but again: not worth $16 for a four pack. it's just furious++ imo, save your money and spend the difference on a bomber of something else.

cuz, like, if i'm gonna spend wine money on a bottle of beer, it'd better be something as memorable as duchesse de bourgogne or w/e

my gf is from MN, she brought back a 4 pack of some kind of Surly and a 12er of Primo after t-giving

<3

yeah PoppaSkull was really good, if it hadn't been $8 I would have ordered another :/

I got a big one of these from Binny's last night, will probably crack it open tonight. Also got some Grand Teton beers that I've read are pretty good: Lost Continent Double IPA and Trout Hop Black IPA.

Drank a San Diego County Session Ale last night and it was pretty good. It's one of those wacky collaborations, this one from Ballast Point/Kelsey McNair/Stone.

Six Point has an amazing seasonal beer now called Mad Scientist, and they have it on tap at Mission Dolores on 4th Ave in Brooklyn.

Sixpoint Mad Scientist Release. Batch 1 is a Spelt Wine at 9.4% ABV. Some free glassware. Righteous Rye also on tap.

The Spelt Wine is a twist on the more traditional barleywine beer style and features 51% spelt malt - an ancient cereal grain rarely found in the brewing process.

"Evolutionarily speaking," explains brewmaster Shane Welch, "spelt is an old cousin to wheat, similar in its composition and flavor profile, but less hybridized. The extra-large grain bill coupled with an abbey yeast allowed this beer to ferment very dry, further emphasizing the tart and spicy notes of the brew. It was seasoned with two different types of noble hops."

Thing is I didn't realize it was 9.4% when I had a few last night, and I think I almost fell onto the subway tracks afterward.

sam adams chocolate bock...fucking awesome.

Man, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale -- it's like drinking Christmas.

Cannot big up Stone's Levitation Ale enough. I've never had this much flavor and body in a 4.4% abv beer. REALLY good.

had this last night for the first time -- pretty great
http://frugalmacdoogal.com/high_proof_beer/small/avery_reverend_belgian_style_quadrupel_ale.jpg
also looking forward to a six pack of celebration ale...

Today's haul:
http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg614/scaled.php?tn=0&server=614&filename=6a3v.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640

starting to see blue moon about the place in glasgow. i much prefer it to hoegarden, which i have heard it compared to, though i am a bit skeeved out that it's made by coors since that's my platonic ideal of crap beer. not alt enough.

had brooklyn lager on tap for the first time, really enjoyed it.

Wow, Brooklyn Brewery beers in Glasgow. That's sort of mind-boggling.

Believe it or not, Brooklyn is no longer even the best brewery in Brooklyn -- Six Points is miles better and I've heard people say the same about Kelso but have not tried it.

this latitude 48 ipa by sam is pretty damn tasty

I've started drinking a new list. This one has 50 beers I have to drink. I love achievement based drinking.

Starting with Böckor, Cuvée de Jacobins Rouge. I love this beer and it's good with breakfast. Flemish sour. Tarty tart tart.

i got one of those smuttynose boxes too jeff, i liked it all v much

I've only made it to the Shoals pale ale and the IPA, both were enjoyable. The pale ale seemed very.. pale alish. As much as I love hoppy hop hop bitter Mcbit pants, it's nice to have a mellow pale ale sometimes.

Some of Six Point's beers can be a bit too syrupy or sweet, after a pint or two. The rye and 'sweet action' are the ones in particular i'm talking about. Great beers but not ones i'd wantto drink all night. the brooklyn IPA, i could drink all day. Kelso has a good pilsner and also a good brown ale.

I tried this last night and was shocked at how much I liked it:
http://thebeersessions.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/back-in-black-1.jpg

Perhaps the first "Cascadian Dark Ale" / "Black IPA" I've ever had. Started hoppy like an IPA and finished malty and rich like a stout. Quite delicious.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/735/46070

I've had the Grand Teton Trout Hop Black IPA. it was good.

I had a bomber of Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale last night, which is a black ipa / cascadian dark ale. It was good. I guess this is a happening new beer style?

Yeah, I've enjoyed that one. When I was in Portland earlier this year, I had the Widmer W'10 Pitch Black IPA, which was great, too.

Not sure if I like the black IPAs or not but I've seen a lot of them around lately. I've got one of the Stone Self-Righteous 22s in my fridge right now but I haven't tasted it yet.

yeah it is definitely a new happening style - I like 'em cuz they have a lot of the dark notes but not the heavy maltiness and body of stouts. think of an overhopped version of 1554, New Belgium's "Black Ale" (and the only beer of theirs I like).

just scored some Norwegian Beers from O brewery over the weekend. Haven't tried them yet as I am taking them to my Norwegian in-laws for Christmas.

Every year I go on the hunt for norwegian beer for them for Christmas, this is the first time in 16 years i've found any. Not high on the import list in massachusetts.

http://www.nogne-o.com/

Dan M might remember the name of the Norwegian beer he had at Long Room in Chicago a few months ago. I want to say the brewery was HaandBryggeriet, but I could be wrong.

yes, i've also got one from there as well the hesjeol to try out. $12.99 for a bottle....

That was the stuff, J. Another I've had is Aass: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aass_Brewery

Tastes like...

had a session at the Southampton Arms on Saturday evening. was able to dry my socks in front of the fire whilst necking several pints of Tring's Mansion Mild and an obligatory Darkstar Hophead. both are great sessionable beers.

i also convinced my friends who were over from New York to sample a pickled egg. down in one!

yes i've has aass before, father in laws favorite.

so youve tasted your father in laws aass

hard.

IIRC I had Aass CLASSIC

is norwegian beer readily available in other states?

Minnesota, yo

well figured as much.

Wow, Brewdog Hardcore IPA (Explicit Imperial Ale) REALLY did not work for me. I love Imperial IPA's, double IPA's and the like, but this is much closer to a barleywine IMO, with a very malty sweetness and almost syrupy mouthfeel. (And I like barleywine a lot, too, but I found this unpleasant; it left a really bizarre aroma in my pint glass.)

beers i drank over the holidays
sierra nevada celebration / torpedo
st bernardus trippel
green flash barleywine ale
Alesmith Anvil ESB

Celebration is really a beer where I can only have one though.

i had more than one, but i know what you mean

Oh man, I've been trapped in Philly for two days due to snowshitstorm, but I turned it into a beercation. So many good beers from Monks Cafe that I won't even attempt to spell at this time.

drank a lot of harpoon over the past weekend. Munich Style Dark and Winter Warmers.

yeah i would be happy to get snowed in at monks. philly is about the best beer town ever, as long as you arent stuck buying it in their fucked up liquor stores. try the yards brawler if you get a chance xpost

Kind of curious to see how this bar fares:
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/11/kalamazoo_beer_exchange_main_s.html

"Kalamazoo Beer Exchange allows the prices of beer to fluctuate based on patrons' buying trends."

The prices will change every 15 minutes and there will be, at random, a “stock market crash” — signified by air horns — when all 28 beers are sold at a low rate for five minutes.

Haha, awesome!

For a sec I was thinking that was actually in the wall street area, which led to me doing a near spittake at the "base" price for a beer being three dollars.

ps love this idea

don't know how available it is outside of new england but "our finest regards" by pretty things is the best barleywine i've ever had. that style usually gets kind of sick with malty sweetness to me; this is more like a steroidal brown ale or something.