Beer in the new era

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"

Had a showdown with Surly Wet, Ballast Point Sculpin, and Ballast Point Big Eye and honestly, they were all amazing, but Sculpin wins.

Also surly, I luv u and all but gtfo with your pricing dudes. $16 for a 4 pack of tallboys is some bullshit.

srsly, surly

is that only the price for wet or the price for all their 4packs?

I haven't had Surly in forever.

just the wet, but still. fest was 14 iirc, furious is usually around 10

today i had my first day of my new part-time job at a craft beer and artisanal cheese shop!

brought home some things i have had before, some i have not --
2x sculpin ipa (not many places in brooklyn cary this so i am stoked to finally try it after reading the raves itt)
1x flower power ipa
1x founders breakfast stout (had this before but love it)
1x founders dity bastard (had this before, i just like it)
1x southern tier harvest ale which i have never had.

also we have six taps for growlers and i tasted the stillwater why can't I.B.U? which is an ipa/saison hybrid and DELICIOUS and the carton brunch/lunch/grub 'hoppy brown ale' which was okay i thought but did not grab me by the balls ora anything

anyway, i look forward to posting on this thread with more regularity!

very cool!

sculpin started appearing all over the place in six-packs a month or two ago. it's pricey and i'm watching the bottle dating but it's nice to have. did not know breakfast stout was already coming out, but i suppose it's that time.

i want to try that sculpin.

i stopped by 3 floyd's on the way back from a wedding in michigan, there were people lined up outside for when they opened at noon. good food, i got the arctic panzer wolf, which was great except that i didn't expect it to be a 1/2 pint. there are some bars in madison that are pretty generous with some of their higher ABV beers. also they were dicks but in a way didn't bother me too much, they're doing their thing out in that industrial park in munster.

Finally getting around to trying 21st Amendment Back in Black, which is billed as a "Black IPA". I'm kind of a stan of black lagers and I'm kind of meh on IPAs. This is a very well balanced beer and it "works" and I'm enjoying it, but it's probably not something I'd reach for again.

On second try it kind of reminds me of a hoppier version of Butternuts Moo Stout

Really enjoyed 21st Amendment's "American Bitter". Nice, delicate sock of hops that's easy to drink and refreshing.

"Bitter American" that is.

Picked up two four packs of Founders Breakfast Stout on the way up to a wedding the other weekend. Never had it before, but I'm aware of the reputation. Had one after an Oskar Blues Ten Fidy and... was a little let down? Solid, but not really the legend I was expecting. Might've been a bad bottle. Zero head or lacing, looked like a totally flat coke. Is that typical? Have 7 more, we'll see.

Ten Fidy rules though. Goddamn. Shame that they're so expensive. Might be my favorite stout.

i'm working off memory but i don't *think* bfast stout has much head. no head at all is kind of weird tho.

i think the appeal of it is how it sits in between a normal dry stout and a big imperial stout in terms of flavor and intensity.

yeah, the breakfast stout does not have a ton of head or carbonation -- pouring vigorously will give you more of that, rather than the carefully angled pour, you an just dump it into the pint glass..

Looking back at the beers I had in Maine this past week, the best were Smuttynose Rhye IPA (not actually a Maine beer, but still regional) and Oxbow Farmhouse Pale Ale. Both just really solid hybrids (rye/IPA, saison/pale).

Worst was probably Shipyard Pumpkinhead, which my wife and I bought only because the only liquor store open past 6 PM in the town where we were staying on Wed. night was a gas station, and that was the most "interesting" local beer available there. Watery and artificial-tasting.

I also realized how good Allagash White is. I see it fairly often in Chicago, but since I don't usually gravitate toward witbiers, I've rarely ordered it. But it's quality stuff -- and was an especially nice pairing for some Thai noodles I had.

Mentioned it upthread, but Three Floyds fans ... what the hell is up?

Hmm, I rarely seek out specific beers, so I hadn't noticed.

lazy hands brewery is the shit