Beer in the new era

not even sure that coffee IPA is anywhere near a decent idea; give anything a try once tho

mmmm beer

kernel IPA is so delicious

it is amazing. there is so much great uk beer now.

so the brew tour was great. not much of a tour tho - they gave us glasses when we came in (which we got to keep!) and then we basically drank w/ a bunch of ppl for a while. everything i tried was great. the brown ale had the lowest apv but was pretty complex despite that and flavorful. the mechahopzilla was, as you could expect from the name, super hoppy (the tap that poured it was sorta-broken so i got a ton of head) and super boozy, that one laid me out and i stayed drunk for hours after drinking it -- also drank this flambeau red ale which i thought was the best of the bunch. it's pretty awesome trying local brews in a new city -- maybe the best thing about going somewhere new.

i've been using this untapp'd app, which is like foursquare but you check in with beers. if anyone else uses it, my username is the same as my ilx dn -- when i remember i've been snapping photos w/ it to remember what i drank for later.

mechahopzilla tap was ridic cool too

http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_full_width_scaled/hash/6b/6a/6b6a7cd257f316d4fabce72e6cdfbb67.jpg

I'm on Untapp'd, but I stopped using it b/c I don't have a smartphone, so I can't log beers when I'm out, and I never remember at home. I know that other ILXors use it, tho.

i just started it so i'm not totally attached yet (esp since i've got a separate spreadsheet w/ like ~90 beers reviewed that i'm loathe to jettison) but it's cool. the badges are pretty lame unfortunately - drink the 3 biggest market lite beers? i'll pass on that one, thx.

I added you.

For anyone else, my username is "Jeff"

I'll add you Mordy!

Pliny The Younger kegs have shipped and should be arriving at destinations this weekend. My local got their's last night (and we drained it).

Mechahopzilla tap is amazing!

Yeah, if it doesn't glow in the dark, it should.

I've also added you mordy! My username on untappd is lapsarian.

Or roar. (xpost0)

Gonna drink me some Bell's tonight, my local has Captain Spontaneous and Smitten on draft alongside Hopslam and Two-Hearted.

I have a friend who keeps dropping off bottles of intense stout. This afternoon he left me a Bell's Black Note bourbon barrel aged stout in my umbrella basket.

Great friend. Haven't been able to get any black note this year.

xp
There may be an umbrella in your fridge.

ay chicago, you get Furthermore now:

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=05e21709acaec839fd0ea833a&id=af3d486198&e=202625b560

good beer + really nice folks. it's too bad they're not shipping Oscura yet, that's my fav.

Drank one Palo Santo Marron per night for the last four nights, didn't really change my mind about it, although it's nice to be able to drink one beer and have a buzz. Surprised by how high the ratings are at Ratebeer and the other sites -- people seem to find all this "complexity" in it where most of what I taste is just sweet and heavy. I think people underestimate how much something being sweet affects their judgment.

http://beerpulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Founders-Brewing-Co.-Doom-Label.png

looks delicious, but i gotta be honest i'm getting a little burnt out on all the bourbon barrel aged stuff. it all has a similar sickly sweet taste that is good in small sipping amounts but can be overwhelming. i drank a barrel aged old rasputin last week and it didn't blow me away.

I second that emotion, I just drink bourbon if I want that flavor. New Holland is making a "beer barrel bourbon" that I saw on the whiskey shelf during my last trip to the store. Thought about trying it but the price was too high for taking a chance. I hear their gin is good, though.

Give it all to me. I got a lot of drinking to do.

founder's has been doing a lot of stuff i like lately but idk about that

bourbon barrel seems like the big 2k13 craft beer trend and i'm all for it.

really not sure about this mikkeler coffee IPA
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13307/65674

supporting local w/ http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16206/48375

i love IPAs and coffee beers, but...

Maybe because I've been drinking bourbon county stout for so long but it seems less like a trend but breweries finally catching up to the awesome. Granted, some are doing it much better than others.

Popped open the Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence Stout -- this is REALLY good. Tastes of actual chocolate, not chocolate flavoring, and yet is surprisingly unsweet and not heavy or syrupy. The chocolate is borderline savory, like in mole, and there is a hint of spice to it. I hate the name, but it doesn't taste like the name.

also the ommegang adoration is really great

Wow, that sounds good.

xpost

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671838/dogfish-head-and-sierra-nevada-design-a-beer-glass-just-for-ipas

That might sound like a bunch of beer-geek mumbo jumbo, but it’s backed by two years of research and product development.

Ok, so it's a bunch of beer-geek mumbo jumbo backed by mumbo jumbo research

so i went to get some of that ommegang adoration i enjoyed so much and the tap kicked halfway through filling my tiny whole foods growler! apparently they only got like a 1/4th of a keg to begin w/ and they aren't getting any more this year so if you see it on tap anywhere i highly recommend filling a glass before it's all gone bc it is super delish.

I was in Tampa yesterday and stopped by Cigar City Brewing. I'd never heard of it -- I don't even know how far they distribute (not in Chicago, at least), but it gets a lot of love on BeerAdvocate and RateBeer. I had a pretty good, if not particularly noteworthy, IPA (Jai Alai) that's one of their year-round brews, as well as a few other samples. The Cucumber Lager seems like something that could've gone very wrong, but it was actually really well balanced. Ditto a guanabana-flavored ale (inspired by aguas frescas) and a cardamon-spiced wit. Best, however, was the Wood-Aged Rollin' Dirty, an Irish red ale aged on Spanish cedar that had some interesting tobacco notes. Worth checking out if you're in the area -- seems like they experiment fairly regularly.

cigar city rules so hard

like w/ movies i'd much prefer a beer that tries something totally insane (cucumber lager??) and fails than something mediocre + unmemorable

except for double bacon maple syrup nonsense that shit looks nasty

my buddy ended up with 3 saisons they did aged on different woods (cedar, lemon, and something else) that were super cool to drink side-by-side. and their imperial stouts are some of the best i've had.

Yeah, I loved drinking a beer aged on a wood other than oak. I haven't seen that too often.

On a less esoteric note, I ordered a Bootlegger "Black Phoenix" (chipotle coffe stout) at a restaurant and like it so much I ordered two more. WF carries it in bombers at $6.29, and I may check BevMo on the way home tonight. The chipotle is only really detectable as a mild smokiness with maybe a bit of bite, but the coffee is very present.

i love cigar city. weirdly the only place they seem to distribute outside of FL is the immediate NYC area as far as i know (you can usually find six-packs and bombers at decicco's in westchester county)

peg's cantina in gulfport fl, near st petersburg, also does great stuff - their head brewer used to be involved with cigar city in the early days, and they're right up there quality-wise. worth checking out if you're in the tampa area again

Only had a couple cigar city brews. One of the reasons I wanted to try letspour.com

that sierra nevada ipa glass is way too embarrassing to have in my house

My neighbor just brought me a variety of New Glarus: Moon Man No Coast Pale Ale, Black Top, Wisconsin Bock, Cabin Fever Honey Bock and a Coffee Stout. Psyched!

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

― o. nate, Tuesday, November 18, 2008 11:50 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, just opened this one, last of my ommegang set, and I think it's my least favorite of the three. Definitely get the cough syrup thing, although it's not completely overwhelming considering the near 10% alcohol content. Would buy the hennepin and probably chocolate stout again, but not the three philosophers.

tonight ive tofino brewing hoppin cretin and driftwood fat tug ipa.the latter the best ipa in b.c. imo.

looking forward to spring/ summer,four new breweries opening in east van,lots of new beer to try,lots of growler fills.