Beer in the new era

creme brulee smells great but tastes unimpressive. grabbed another six-pack of sucks instead

Had a Haven (local brewpub) Russian Imperial Stout today at lunch that was very nice. 14% abv and at $7 for what I'm guessing was 8 oz, a good deal. They do growlers, so I may return.

Just cracked open a barrel-aged Bigfoot barley wine from Sierra Nevada... much smoother than the last time I had a Bigfoot tbqh.

Caveat: might be too strong and not sweet enough for you guys who are into this whole fruity & flavored beer trend in the midwest.

That's a trend???

i wasn't really even going to dignify that but yeah what trend.

also v. interested in trying this un-sweet barelywine you seem to have!

I've been looking for it but any new BA'ed release will get swiped off the shelves quickly

last night got super drunk off a growler of amazingly tasty Ramstein Winter Wheat, so-so Rogue Double Chocolate Stout, some founders porter, founders pale ale, troegs troegenator double boch, and more but this breckenridge vanilla porter was still too disgusting for me to even finish one glass of it

Fruity beers are totally a thing. At the least it's related to lambics. But also I think because the midwest produces a lot of stone fruit, which lends itself to beer (esp. cherries). But I'd say it's more of a parallel trend to hearty brews (stouts in particular) with vanilla/chocolate/coffee.

So, flavored? I guess it's splitting hairs a tad, but given the selling point of many of these beers is its non-beer flavor - fruit, chocolate, coffee, et al. - then I can see why someone could consider flavored beers a trend, even if technically they're not flavored, just brewed with those ingredients.

Local (suburban) beer place has several bottles left of the BA Rasputin.

Caveat: might be too strong and not sweet enough for you guys who are into this whole fruity & flavored beer trend in the midwest.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Saturday, January 26, 2013 12:14 AM (15 hours ago)

i will cut you

currently mourning the end of the sierra nevada celebration season, got a 6 pack of the 2013 SN ruthless rye and blah

I tried a fruit-flavored beer once, and it tasted absolutely nothing like beer. It was like drinking a loaf of wine coolers.

lol this reminds me that the first beer I ever ordered in a bar in the U.S. after turning 21 was Sam Adams Cherry Wheat.

ruthless rye is *ok* i guess i just don't think rye beers are that exciting

ive had some rye pas that i have been down with, i think this beer just kinda sucks. it was def better last year.

i need to give it another try, drank most of the ones i had during a slightly blurry nfl sunday

I really like a lot of rye beers but the Ruthless is not particularly exciting

Rye on rye is my fav rye beer.

i love the design but cosign that ruthless rye is pretty bleh, tho bigfoot barleywine is delish (and of course celebration is awesome)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jJzNKv9zfow/Tvr_w8rnu8I/AAAAAAAAHBw/5MZdqJPq-SE/s1600/Sierra-Nevada-Ruthless-Rye-570x426.jpg

I liked the Ruthless the last time I had it. I just got a six pack. I will report back.

Stone just opened a filling station in Pasadena - growlers, pints, and kegs. No food, no waiters. Lots of Stone merch.

Got a growler of the Ruination for like 7.50, which is a good price compared to bars or even at Von's/Ralph's.

everything tastes better in a growler

Thought the Lagunitas Sucks was good, but nothing special. NIce overtones of citrus and floor cleaner.

I had two big bottles last night, both Boulevard. Doublewide IPA and Tank 7 farmhouse ale. Delish.

I liked Ruthless this year. Seemed a bit more mellow than the 2012 release.

nugget nectar super overrated

it's probably the best amber beer on the planet, make of that what you will

that might be legitimate. i liked the yulesmith i had in december more, but this was better than any other amber ales i can think i've tried recently. compares well to an average IPA but considering its reputation (98 on BA?) idgi

actually i had the hopback amber ale this afternoon + i think i liked that more (also troegs)

i have another nugget nectar in the fridge so i'll give it another try later this week. maybe i'll like it more (i am enjoying the hoppy aftertaste as i sit here - it's tasting better finished than it did while i was drinking it)

yeah i don't think it's a bowl-you-over type of beer but it's really nicely done in terms of balancing the malty amber style with piney hops. ba score are frequently wacky imo; to me nugg nectar is a spring seasonal that i'll buy like a six-pack of a year and be quite happy with.

i'm going to be two blocks from this bar in two weeks. i don't think i can drink everything (but i can try???):

http://theavenuepub.com/beer-spirits/big-beer-list

That's a really good bottle list. Any of the BFM's if you like sours. There's a Cantillion on there, but I've never tried it. Almost bought the Iris this weekend in a bar but didn't want to drink the whole thing myself. Imperial Biscotti Break is great.

fritz briem berliner weisse on draft!!

keep the recommendations coming. i'll drink them all.

I second the fritz. I recall really liking the Soft Dookie too. Soft Dookie.

yeah idk there's tons of stuff worth getting--if you don't mind spending the money this would be a good place to get exposed to geuzes and sours and stuff. if you get a cantillon don't get bruocsella, it's not really a good representation (in that it's basically flat). the drie fonteinen oude geuze 12 oz. for 15 bucks is nicely priced and great to start with.

I haven't had many of those drafts, many breweries that aren't available here. I'd try the Green Flash / cigar city barleywine.

yeah id check out a lot of those locals on ba; might be something interesting in there

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130128/BLOGS09/130129808/first-look-at-howells-hood-in-tribune-tower

The restaurant will have three separate bars with 120 taps each that will flow from a glassed-in beer cooler in the center of the restaurant. Mr. Bisaillon says he believes the 360 taps will be the most of any restaurant in the world. Offerings will range from local craft brews to beer from around the globe.

Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130128/BLOGS09/130129808/first-look-at-howells-hood-in-tribune-tower#ixzz2JIULGoed
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I can't imagine this is going to be well done. We've had a few places that tried to do tons of taps, but most of them were run of the mill selections that are the most likely representations of a style, region, or brand.

360 taps is crazy. It would seem impossible to do it well, unless you have several staff members who do nothing but order beer? Maybe there will be some overlap among the three bars?

The thing about that many taps is don't you have to have massive turnover to keep stuff from going flat. Not to mention all the maintenance to keep the lines clean.

There's a place called World of Beer or something similar that is supposed to open up in downtown Evanston, they're claiming some such crazy number of beers on tap (not THAT crazy, but a lot). I'm curious to see how it pans out. For a Big Ten college town, Evanston really have very few bars, thanks to the draconian anti-alcohol dating back to Prohibition, so I'll be glad to have a new place with a decent selection. Though, I'm doubtful that it will last long.

thx to this thread for the lagunitas sucks recommendations -- that is a nice beer.

I keep seeing recently that people have been picking up the BCBS variations, but I've come up empty still. Any Chicago area brewxors found any lately?

I've heard of coffee popping up in some stores from the beer advocate bcs sightings thread.

And the one miraculous cherry rye that I found.

Thanks. I tend to avoid those BA forums, mostly due to the fine folks like that guy you linked to on FB.

That is probably a good idea! I find I hate myself for reading them sometimes.

You can also follow a few guys on twitter that work at the various binnys and other stores around the city. They'll usually tweet out when they get something like that on the shelf and then it's off to the races.

I had a lagunitas sucks last night and it was definitely a fine beer. I wonder what kind of hops they used?

And apparently that World of Beer place is already open in Evanston? Draft list seems pretty good, if not mind-blowing. http://wobusa.com/Locations/Evanston/Menus/Drafts.aspx. Apparently it is a growing chain, partly from ex-Outback Steakhouse executives. I know it was only a matter of time before craft beer bars became a corporate trend, but it's still pretty hilarious.

I heard end of January for an opening date, maybe it just opened. It wasn't yet open when I was down there a week ago. Lol I had no idea it was a chain thing.

But, chain or not, a nearby place that I can get some decent beer on tap? Sure.