Beer in the new era

yeah those sound cool! here's a primer on beer packaging: http://alewatcher.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-trader-tips.html

ignore the stuff abt ba trading culture, the packaging tips are good. only other thing you need is a fedex account.

Alchemy Hour is basically the only GL brew I've really liked. Much better than anything in their reg lineup.

Nosferatu's pretty tight.

i also greatly enjoyed an alchemy hour recently

Get it before its name changes:
http://www.ohio.com/blogs/the-beer-blog/the-beer-blog-1.273124/widmer-bars-great-lakes-from-using-alchemy-name-1.384628

just a bit of a stray thought here --
i am a fan of a bunch of breweries on facebook. cuz i like beer, i am mildly interested in beer etc.
BUT does anyone besides me get a bit creeped out when you see, for instance, a little baby in a STONE ARROGANT BASTARD onesie? i seem to see this a lot.

i have not noticed that myself but yeah, not in the best taste.

Bourbon County Baby.

hey CAD I'll trade beer with you oh wait a second

Tried a bunch of beer over the weekend:

Furthermore Knot Stock
Pipeworks Double IPA
Bruery Mischief
Ska Mint Chocolate Stout
Ska ESB
Boulevard Tank 7

Highlights were the Furthermore, Bruery, and Boulevard. Mint Chocolate Stout was just weird, the Pipeworks was good but nothing very new.

The Ska stuff was brought to a party by a dude who does promotional work for them and some other western breweries, v interesting guy to talk to.

lol xp you are welcome to come over and drink beer; much easier on my fedex account tbh

http://beerstreetjournal.com/images/Cigar-City-Forgotten-Island.jpg

This dark complex style of ale originated in the Trappist monasteries of Belgium. It was sipped by monks during fasting and winter months. Forgotten Island adds a tropical twist via agin in Jamaican rum barrels. The barrel lends notes of vanilla, molasses, orange peel, cocoa, brown sugar, nutmeg, hazelnut, apricot and peach.This plethora of flavors and aromas from the rum barrel intermingles with banana, clove, cinnamon,fig, plum and brown sugar aromatics and flavors from the quadruple, creating a contemplative ale perfect for introspective moments far from the cares of the world.

brought home some Revolution Eugene's Porter from Chicago, pretty good!

oooh forgotten island sounds rad

^^^ sounds ah-ma-zing, but what, no notes of wintergreen? Or fenugreek?

Still sad I missed out on Rev's Bean Gene and Mean Gene. Was hoping some bottles show up in stores.

i'm going to start an escrow fund now in preparation for whenever Goose Island comes out with the Bourbon County Stout/Coffee Stout again.

Usually in the fall.

I got back from Chicago - on our first day there we would up driving to the Binneys near North / Clybourn and it blew my mind, just in terms of the variety available. Of course I forgot to make a note of what I drank, but amazingly I lucked out and they had put out a bottle of the Bourbon County Coffee Stout, in honour of Stout Week or somesuch. I hadn't expected to see a bottle for sale. I haven't tried it yet, it's safe here in London with me, waiting for the correct moment. It's sitting next to a bottle of Half Acre Baume hopped Rye Stout, no idea how that will go but the Half Acre beers I've tried so far have been pretty good.

I also brought home a bottle of the New Belgium Beer Barrel Bourbon, which is probably something of a stunt but which I like a great deal. That's another thread, of course.

The beer guy at the N/C Binnys is awesome. They have the best selection of all the Binnys.

i was at Andersonville Wine & Spirits, the beer selection was pretty decent but not as good as here :)

The BC Coffee is my fave.

15% off member sale at Binny's this Saturday!

can anyone recommend a good place to buy bottles in san jose?

this week's haul!

http://i50.tinypic.com/34xqm81.jpg

the heady topper + hill farmstead on the left are from my first trade! the rest of it is: maine lunch IPA, black racer IPA, ballast point dorado DIPA, arcadia ales cocoa loco, evolution sprung, bell's two hearted ale, bell's consecrator doppelbock, abita strawberry lager and abita spring IPA (NOLA brewery i have warm feelings towards), and the cans on the far right are bc beer-bellied mordy has joined his synagogue's baseball team and i need something inconspicuous to drink during games so i picked up a sixpoint bengali tiger, outlaw IPA, sly fox odyssey IPA and caldera IPA.

if u couldn't otherwise tell i went overboard this week - what 8 days of no beer drinking will do to a person i guess.

Didn't know that Two Brothers distributed out east. I like a couple of their beers, but Outlaw is just a so-so IPA, IMO.

yeah, i wasn't sure what cans to get. i only knew that i wanted something IPA-esque/light (there were some heavier canned stouts + stuff) and in a can

obv i'm super stoked about drinking lunch

For a hot second I thought that Outlaw can was actually a can of Frank Thomas' BIG HURT BEER

http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs196/1108848433660/img/128.jpg

(shit's terrible, obv)

I like the Caldera IPA, one of the better canned IPAs.

The last two times I went by Pleasant House Bakery here there was a Big Hurt Beer truck parked outside. Image the above visage, watching you while you eat ...

so that lunch is really an exceptionally delicious beer

have you had any other maine beers?

the mean old tom

lunch is great but imo their other hoppy beers (peeper, zoe, and mo) are on par and easier to come by. their dark beers kinda suck by comparison.

tried any ht yet?

not yet! tmmrw i think i'll bring a can to baseball practice

nice!

OK, surprise work trip to Boston next week. Best beer bars? Staying at the Westin Boston Waterfront.

the consensus best beer bar here is called lord hobo, it's in cambridge, not an awful trip from where you're staying. it's in the same neighborhood as cambridge brewing company, which is basically the best brewpub we have.

other places--stoddard's and jm curley's are downtown, a little closer to where you're staying (15 min walk lets say) and have decent stuff at times. green st. is in another part of cambridge and is sort of a personal favorite--small but very well-done tap list. the publick house in brookline is out of your way and has some good stuff (pretty serious belgians, for example), but i'm not a huge fan of the vibe there. the best overall beverage program in town is at eastern standard/the hawthorne in kenmore square, but both places are pricey and watch out for sox fans.

you're staying right near an unbelievable cocktail beer (drink, in fort point). there's also a brand-new brewery down there called trillium but they can only do growler fills on premises right now.

if you have any interest in meeting up for a beer at any of these places shoot me an email.

Definite possibility. Ill let you know.

http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=71084

Anyone get any Founders KBS? I was able to luck into 4 bottles. This is actually only the second time I've had it. Last year I overpaid for a 4 year vertical at a bar. I don't think I was able to gain a real appreciate of the beer in that way. This year being able to savor a whole bottle, I like it much more. All the flavors are balanced so well.

nope, getting it was awful this year. every store got one case or less, tweeted about it, and sold them all in the middle of the day.

my store didn't get any

i will console myself with my cellar full of bourbon county stout :(

Top 50 U.S. Craft Brewing Companies
(Based on 2012 beer sales volume)

Rank - Brewing Company / City State
1 - Boston Beer Co. Boston MA
2 - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico CA
3 - New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO
4 - The Gambrinus Co. San Antonio TX
5 - Deschutes Brewery Bend OR
6 - Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA
7 - Bell's Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI
8 - Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY
9 - Harpoon Brewery Boston MA
10 - Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA
11 - Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY
12 - Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO
13 - Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE
14 - Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA
15 - Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland ME
16 - Alaskan Brewing Co. Juneau AK
17 - New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI
18 - Long Trail Brewing Co. Bridgewater Corners VT
19 - Great Lakes Brewing Co. Cleveland OH
20 - Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA
21 - Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA
22 - Rogue Ales Newport OR
23 - Summit Brewing Co. St. Paul MN
t. 24 - Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR
t. 24 - SweetWater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA
26 - Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA
27 - Oskar Blues Brewery Longmont CO
28 - Cold Spring Brewing Co./Third Street Brewhouse Cold Spring MN
29 - Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD
30 - Founders Brewing Co. Grand Rapids MI
31 - Ninkasi Brewing Co. Eugene OR
32 - CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, Inc. Chattanooga & Louisville TN/CO
33 - Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO
34 - Bear Republic Brewing Co. Cloverdale CA
35 - Stevens Point Brewery Stevens Point WI
36 - Blue Point Brewing Co. Patchogue NY
37 - Southern Tier Brewing Co. Lakewood NY
38 - Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe Eureka CA
39 - Karl Strauss Brewing Co. San Diego CA
40 - BJ's Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc. Huntington Beach CA
41 - Breckenridge Brewery Denver CO
42 - North Coast Brewing Co. Fort Bragg CA
43 - Left Hand Brewing Co. Longmont CO
44 - St. Louis Brewery, Inc./Schlafly Beers St. Louis MO
45 - Saint Arnold Brewing Co. Houston TX
46 - Ballast Point Brewing Co. San Diego CA
47 - Big Sky Brewing Co. Missoula MT
48 - Allagash Brewing Co. Portland ME
49 - Uinta Brewing Co. Salt Lake City UT
50 - Tröegs Brewing Co. Hershey PA

who the hell is the gambrinus company

also that list is really surprising in a lot of ways, did not expect to see deschutes, lagunitas and stone in the top ten, or new glarus to be bigger than summit. crazy

gambrinus is evidently the umbrella company for shiner bock and some other stuff?