Beer in the new era

Mmmmmm bell's

rinsed the san miguels tonight #realbeer #everyoneinthisthreadisaposerlol

I don't even understand that joke, so it must be true

i miss bell's so much :(

Oracle was good.

So I'm relatively new to Untappd, and I don't always remember to log my beers (or, in the case of last night, my phone died before I had the chance). Do you guys ever check in retroactively, or mostly just do it in the moment (which means it's not necessarily comprehensive)? Personally, I probably don't care about missing the opportunity to log something I've had a million times, but the other stuff, maybe.

I've checked in retroactively, but only a few times. As you said, never when I'm just drinking like a honkers ale or something. But if I'm drinking something awesome I'm not going to let phone problems obscure my glory.

I never retroactively checkin. Checking in is always a priority for me so I make it happen one way or another.

I also log everything, even if I've had it a bunch. Fun to look at the stats and see how much I've had of a particular style/brand/etc.

Bought a couple 6-packs of domestic craft pilsners recently: Lagunitas Pils and Victory Brewing Company Prima Pils. Think I prefer the Lagunitas - the hops flavor isn't as strong, but it seems crisper and more refreshing.

haven't had the lagunitas but prima pils never did it for me.

Yeah, it's probably good if it's really fresh, but somehow it seems to be trying too hard.

it tries to be like an american-hopped pilsner but the hops just really don't work at all

Yes, I agree with that.

The Lagunitas is pretty good though.

Checking in is always a priority for me so I make it happen one way or another.

Ha, well, of course you do. Sometimes I am stoned out of my mind on a dance floor at midnight and drinking Schlitz.

saw a friend I see once in a while who is probably one of the more into beer people I know, and from talking to him something sort of depressed me about how ravenous it seems like a certain segment of the market has become for novelty and checking off boxes (tried x tried y etc.) But then maybe that's just his personality. In any case, we enjoyed a couple of Berkshire Brewing Company Steel Rail Extra Pale Ales that were brought from Massachusetts, and they were very tasty -- maybe the driest pale ale I've ever had.

yeah no he's pretty otm

i love berkshire brewing, though i feel like all of their beers use a similar malt profile and thus have a similar taste despite succeeding as different styles. but they're good though. i also appreciate that they are priced reasonably.

totally agree with you about the ravenous search for novelty. nowadays there is plenty of good beer available that you don't need to hunt down rare shit for your checklist or whatever, or spend $20 on a bomboer or $25 on a 4-pack. i just can't afford that anymore. i totally appreciate the range of lower-priced crafts that are starting to become available.

that said, when friends like yours, hurting, bring by their $20 bombers to share with me, i am grateful for their obsession!

I'm probably firmly in that segment of the market.

I don't know If I do a lot of rare seeking. I don't buy multiples for trading, or really trade any except with CAD. I buy what I know I'll like.

Yeah I'm also just budget conscious so I'm usually more about a very good beer for a reasonable price than an expensive excellent beer.

Like if I had less limited funds, sure, why not make a hobby of rare seeking and lining up tasting flights of $20 bombers and the like.

i had a good $13 bomber of rye double IPA from Uinta last night - Cahoots or something. affordable + delicious!

Uinta is great

I just drink beer. No real tracking of what I've had or much of any extraordinary seeking of specific beers. That smacks of effort, and the last thing I wanna do is make drinking into work.

The tracking appeals to me too because I track so many other things in life. I get a kick out of looking at the data. What time of the year do I drink the most IPA's/Stouts/etc. Favorite styles, breweries, whatever. I love stuff like this as well: http://beergraphs.com/bg/160-a-closer-look-at-distribution-area/

i used to track my beers much closer but as i drank a lot more (and became more familiar w/ styles + breweries) i kinda fell off tracking them. when i went to the cape may brewery a few weeks ago i thought to boot up untapped since i wasn't sure when the next time i'd get beers from that brewery again (distribution only in the cape may area really). but there wasn't wifi and i couldn't get a 3g signal and then i got drunk and didn't bother updating when i got home. i pretty much don't update untapped at all anymore -- but i do think it was helpful in the beginning to force myself to pay attention to styles/breweries + get that initial layer of knowledge that makes drinking very satisfying now.

Where I draw the line is rating and writing reviews. I don't see how anyone could do a simplistic star rating or whatever for a fantastic beer. I don't like having to compare beers against each other. I like good beers and I have no desire to rank them against each other. And I certainly can't put it into words most of the time why I like them. I'm too drunk to do that.

I have no particular interest in tracking and recording my drinking habits; just once in a very long while I wish I could remember the name of a particular beer I drank a particular time but not often enough for me to worry about.

I wil go to some lengths to find interesting beer though. To whit: my stars there's some interesting stuff at Boerefts this year: http://www.brouwerijdemolen.nl/index.php/en/beerfestival/brewers-and-beers.html

I just had a Uinta cahoots on Sunday, it was pretty good and was only $8.

i got overcharged! ack!

was going to post something abt how i've steered clear of a bunch of limited stuff recently but then i just scored a bottle of duck duck gooze somehow

do you american guys drink pints? what's the standard serving in a bar?

Pints, yes.

Although I think that's a modern development.

I know Three Floyds pumped up production recently ... so why am I having so much trouble finding it on the shelves these days? Only one I saw in two Binny's and another local shop today was Moloko.

there was an article recently about how a lot of bars use smaller glasses to skimp you on the "pints"

do you american guys drink pints? what's the standard serving in a bar?

― the Shearer of simulated snowsex etc. (Dwight Yorke), Tuesday, September 10, 2013 12:21 PM (6 minutes ago)

Depends on the ABV, anything <8% is in a pint. doubles/trippels go into tulips. Some sours/wild ales/quads go into even smaller pours.

Also worth noting that US pints are 20% less than an imperial pint.

Yeah, at the good beer bars, you have a wide range of glass sizes.

despite being somewhat of a beer nerd, i really only like my beer in a pint glass. i reaaallllu don't like this trend in beer bars w/ 50+ taps to totally skimp you and serve fucking 8oz of beer for $9 in some tiny tulip glass. fuck that imo. i look at their beer lists and there's always only like 5 beers that served in pint glasses. i love the idea of having huge selections on draft but in practice i find these places frustrating.

actually i find myself preferring a place with a small, rotating, and really solid collection of 10 taps or so. i don't need 100 taps.

totally agree with that--10 well-chosen taps can make for a really special bar.

re: your first point, *most* small pricey pours are for high abv beer, ime. like, its probably a good move not to consume barleywine by the pint, for example.

Right, I don't want a full pint of bourbon county stout.

I prefer about 30ish taps, frequently rotated.

ok yea i get the high abv pours, like some 14% RIS or barleywine might a bit much in a pint glass, for sure. i do feel though that a lot of bars are doing this for any beers that aren't pale ales or lagers, like a 8% IPA in a little tulip, no thanks, i can just have a pint of that.

Splurged a little on a bomber of Evil Twin's Femme Fatale Yuzu Pale Ale, and it's really good -- manages to be smooth and bitter/funky at the same time. Lots of citrusy flavors, which I guess come from the Yuzu.

I know new Belgium lips of faith is like 95% bullshit, but you guys, this le terroir dry hopped sour ale is so so fantastic. Like a sour mixed with a goze?

Costco had another Paulaner thing -- a pack with Oktoberfest Marzen, Oktoberfest Wiesn, and Hefeweizen. Drinking the Wiesn now -- can't really find much information on what the style is, and I'm wondering if it's just another name for their standard Oktoberfest Bier. It's very clean and light tasting, although not to the point of being watery (6% ABV). It's not "interesting" but it's good in the way that a lot of good quality german beers are, like when you taste it you go "Oh, this is what cheap american beer is supposed to taste like but fails at"