Beer in the new era

Agree it's worth it (but also think the novelty-driven way is not the only way and am looking forward to seeing how things settle down, if I live that long.)

And it's funny but after going to that beer festival in the Netherlands I was on about the other month, full of experimental things, many of which were US-inspired, I was absolutely gagging for a nice balanced pint of Ordinary.

I think when I was talking about gimmicks above I was really more talking about the branding/label than the flavor or style. I'm all for experimentation in flavor, and I guess it's only a "gimmick" if it's not good right?

maybe that's where my comment about stone got ppl confused--i don't really read "good" or "bad" into gimmick, it's just any method of grabbing attention

Yeah, all IPAs are best consumed sooner the better; Stone just made the sell by date the name of the beer. Maybe a bit gimmicky, but damn tasty.

Also mentioned upthread, but new to me (not gimmicky, just good) - Green Flash. Their West Coast IPA is excellent; really well-balanced for a hopbomb.

Try the Green Flash Palate Wrecker too, a DIPA.

if "Enjoy By ..." is a gimmick, well fuck, I'm all for gimmicky beers. That's one of the best beers on the market IMHO.

Stone is perhaps the most IMPORTANT brewery in the history of craft IPAs. What they began doing in the early 90s with their hopping bills/recipes laid the groundwork for all these excellent world class IPAs like Blind Pig, Pliny The Elder, Heady Topper, etc. Had Stone not existed, we might still be drinking Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or worse, Dogfish Head.

Goddamn I get a flash of jealousy every time I even see Pliny the Elder. Imho that is one of those beers absolutely justified wrt the hype, at least this far outside its range. I've only had a taste at Dark Lord Day two years ago and have been pining for another ever since. Still haven't had Heady Topper.

http://www.redeyechicago.com/entertainment/restaurants-bars/ct-red-barrel-aged-beers-20131114,0,3975768.story

Pretty much sums up the current beer culture in Chicago. Lots of brewers doing good stuff, but also lots of crazy beer nerds that make things unpleasant.

This made me IA:

Taste a bourbon barrel-aged beer, said Quinn, and it's not difficult to find the reason for their popularity. "You don't have to sit there and pick out the subtle nuances," he said. "It kind of smacks you in the face with flavor."

that's true with....bad barrel-aged beers

didn't get a chance to check out a ton of beer in Seattle/Portland, but it seems like IPAs are plentiful and i had some solid ones. i bought a bottle of Iron Horse Mocha Death and drank it out of a coffee mug, that was perfect. and i had some homebrewed 'smoky spicy pale ale with pineapple'...and it was pretty good!

i forgot that rogue dead guy is actually a pretty solid beer, if your choices are limited.

just polishing off the annual 6 pack of Anchor Steam OSA

sierra nevada narwal
dark horse one oatmeal stout
cisco whales tale pale ale
schlafly oatmeal stout

I'm happy that Hovels Original is now available at my local beer store. Nicely balanced and crisp with a hint of malty sweetness which is nice as the weather turns colder.

new belgium seems like the worst combination of aggressive marketing/distribution and terrible, gimmicky seasonals - second to blue moon at least. i enjoy a lot of their year-round lineup but i went to the touring fest-thing this year and... ugh. a pluot ale (not actually terrible iirc, but definitely gimmicky), a coconut curry-hefeweizen (actually, really terrible), a pineapple guava trippel (this could have been ok, but no), a sour beer that tasted like bile (i love sours but do not buy la folie this year!), and other disgusting combinations of fruit and belgian styles. i usually have no qualms with experimental or gimmicky beer concepts - in portland most brewers do this "beers made by walking" recurring event where they brew things using foraged local ingredients and the results are usually pretty good - but i think taking what are essentially failed experiments and trying to get $12 a bomber for them is pretty unforgivable

a friend in the biz has been working on the new tanks for coney island/schmaltz, it seems like they are both expanding and upping their quality significantly. i don't remember the brand fondly but i guess it's one of his favorites

i remember when they first opened they were definitely a 1-gimmick brewery ('jewish beer!') but over the last few years they've become really impressive. i had the new jewbulation 17 sat night (17 hops, 17 malts, 17% APV) and it's as potent + drinkable as the sweet 16, only moreso.

Had a Birra Del Borgo sour in Proletariat in NY on Thursday, it was really amazing, really different.

a sour beer that tasted like bile (i love sours but do not buy la folie this year!)

ummm no. lips of faith is great this year, they cut down on the sweetness.

i guess it could have been a bad keg, but it wasn't that it was too bitter/not sweet enough. it was that... it tasted like bile? not sure how else to describe it. there was none of the dry/crisp/tart flavors i associate with a good kriek or other more-sour sours

tho tbf my palette was probably destroyed by that coconut-curry hefeweizen

haha, that indeed sounds atrocious.

i was very pleasantly surprised by hebrew's "death of a contract brewer" black ipa - i've had a lot of bad examples of that style, but i thought it was really well balanced overall

i like that westbrook ipa mentioned upthread a whole lot too, and i'm stoked to see sculpin in cans finally - ian, do you work at e4stern distr1ct by any chance?

There are people on my facebook feed already planning to line up at noon on Thanksgiving for the Black Friday Goose Island BCBS release. I mean, c'mon.

I hope it's really, really cold. I plan on going out that black Friday morning, that's crazy enough.

Unfortunately I'll be traveling that day so I'll just miss out on it this year.

i had my first Speedway Stout last night, that was serious business.

i like that westbrook ipa mentioned upthread a whole lot too, and i'm stoked to see sculpin in cans finally - ian, do you work at e4stern distr1ct by any chance?

― the portentous pepper (govern yourself accordingly), Tuesday, November 19, 2013 8:24 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes i do!

crazy, i live like a block away! i buy beer there pretty regularly; i'll say hi sometime

you should say hi! i love meeting ILXors. especially when it involves beer.
i don't live in greenpoint, but i also work at the record grouch on wednesdays now!

http://studygroupcomics.com/main/eat-eat-eat-part-3-by-tom-van-deusen/

i'm going to try to go to this:
http://www.phillytapfinder.com/event/capones/

amazing tap list. i wonder if they'll do growler fills, bc there's way more that i want to drink than i can + safely drive home

Be sure to try the Firestone Walker Parabola. If I had to pick the single best beer I've ever had, that would be it (2011 version).

sick list

Don't skip the Black Albert!

That's a really good list, a few of my faves are on there.

seems like there's too much to try everything + they're not doing growler fills. i'll have to draw up a plan of attack before going.

I would ask about growler fills if you are there late (like closing) but yeah, doing a growler fill when many of these beers are pretty hard to get on the east coast is probably not going to win you many friends (also would probably cost a fortune for a few of these).

i won't be there around closing - i can only get there earlier in the day. maybe they'll do flights? or i'm going w/ ppl, so maybe we'll share glasses

yeah, I'd be shocked if you could get growlers of many of those.

http://img.ffffound.com/static-data/assets/6/430aa5afe46c93352a8f689bd4e274d0034b2e82_m.gif

Although just had a friend in DC and said a place was doing 32oz bourbon county growler fills. I don't remember the price, but it was an outrageous amount.

anyone who can drink a 32oz growler of bourbon county before it goes flat.. has my respect.
or they just like to share w friends.

Yeah, I drank a 750ml of Three Philosophers (9.7% ABV) the other night and I was SICK the next day. 32 oz of a thick 15% beer like that would be disgusting honestly. I'd almost rather just take a bunch of shots of tequila.

It took me like an hour to drink a snifter of bourbon county this summer and I was kind of trashed afterwards. A growler would be a fatal amount.

Don't skip the Black Albert!

― Jeff, Wednesday, November 20, 2013 2:08 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

pro tip

i'd kill a 32 of BCS. just saying

believe it when i see it.

Had a growler keep beer from going flat for a week once (i was ill).

xp idk i finished off a 12oz regular and a coffee in one sitting and i would have been down for a cherry rye on top of that.