Beer in the new era

i'm still feeling this out but i think i like amarillo hops best. is there a consensus favorite hop for beer geeks

Never had Zombie Dust, you guys are pretty connected!

Bell's is great in the sense that I got a mixed sixer in the mail, and while HopSlam was very good, it was also the least interesting and enjoyable beer of the bunch.

Well, I've never had Pliny, so... ;)

I've been thinking about Bell's a lot in the past year or two in relation to all the craft beer available in the midwest right now. 10-12 years ago it was pretty much the only game in town, at least where I am from, beyond like Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, those sorts of outfits. I think CAD is right that they don't really make a bad beer (tho Oarsman was disappointing imo) but they also don't really go out on a limb that often, at least in their distributed offerings. To my knowledge they've never done large format beers or even 4-packs really (Black Note aside?). They're just sort of... there, with consistent quality but never pushing the envelope too much anymore. Of course, there are some exceptions, like their "Batch" series, Eccentric Ale, and their taproom stuff which can be pretty crazy.

damn you guys are really making me want to try three floyds

i think when american brewers try it, it usually results in a really over the top belgian yeastiness that is not enjoyable to drink

i've had pretty good experiences with these lately, but i guess there are only a few instances where they were from american brewers. pfriem's belgian pales are great fwiw

I've had a few pints of Zombie Dust, at Trenchermen and at the Hopleaf, both in Chicago. Was really nicely balanced without being overwhelmingly wow--though I'm not a serious beer studier.

Zombie dust is a drug cocktail composed of Triazolam and Cocaine.

?!?!

I mean I know that's not in the beer, but still!

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Well, I've never had Pliny, so... ;)

Oeuf (that's French for egg, like a bird's egg) feather (like a feather, like a bird has) bird (like a bird) oeuf (like I said, French for egg, like a hen's egg I HATE HENS) tit (like the bird, the tit, not what you were thinking, but who is the real sick man, and then I got off the bus, 28 ysars old ladies and gentlemen, ah)

Saw 3Floyds War Mullet last night -- there really is no end to different versions of double ipa things for them, is there?

It wasn't as good to me. I'm ok with them keeping churning then out as long as I get the occasional permanent funeral/good life.

FWIW, Black Note Stout has hit, at least to some extent. Maybe it is still hitting. Maybe it has hit and run.

I got no hookups for Black Note. My little local shop has no idea if they are getting any. Beer distribution/allocation is so weird sometimes.

Yeah, it seems even weirder than usual in 2014 so far. The shops I go to that always used to have solid answers (even if I don't like 'em), seem to have absolutely nothing to go on lately. Every question on limited release seems to be, "we don't know, we have no idea what we'll get, when we'll get it, or even if we'll get it".

I got a bottle of the Bell's, but man, was it hard this year. Harder than KBS, in a way, and certainly harder than Parabola or BCBS. I had a guy at a Binny's who was going to give me a call about it coming in - no one knew, because Bell's was in blackout mode - but a friend texted me late last night that a different Binny's, in River Grove, got it in. So first I called my closer Binny's at 8:30 this morning. They told me to call back at 9am when the beer guy was in. Then I called the River Grove Binny's, and the manager told me they had a few bottles left. It turns out while I was on the phone with them, the first Binny's, my erstwhile hook-up, left me a message to say they were out. So I hustled to River Grove, where things linger a tad longer, and by the time I got there, five minutes after opening, they had already sold most of what little they had. The funny thing is - and they apologized for this - they had been telling everyone (including me) the day before that they had no idea if and when it was coming. Sometimes that's a bit disingenuous, but when it arrived it was apparently a total surprise. One bottle per customer. This was more or less far more severe than everything else, both in terms of quantity and availability.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140418/ukrainian-village/three-floyds-expand-production-distill-dark-lord-whiskey

Had a pretty solid beer weekend, can't complain. Found that I do, after all, have a ticket for Dark Lord Day, so I'm pretty excited about that.

Was visiting my dad in Wisconsin over the weekend and we stopped at the Mars Cheese Castle, mainly to stock up on some New Glarus stuff, but they've added a pretty decent craft beer selection over the past few years. Ended up picking up a 4-pack of that Tyranena Devil Made Me Do It mentioned upthread, as well as Central Waters Brewhouse Coffee Stout.

Oh and Friday, I got to meet Josh in Chicago, definitely a beer weekend highlight! Thanks again Josh. Oh, also picked up a Mikkeller Brunch Weasel and a Three Floyds Backmasking from one of my local stops.

so i mentioned upthread that i've been on the lookout for bocks to enjoy during the spring. picked up anchor's bock which is really good, lots of caramelized malts and dried fruit tastes, dark but really not heavy at all. i don't drink a lot of anchor in general, i feel like i always overlook them, but i've always liked this beer. sadly they are phasing it out:

“Anchor Bock has been a beloved seasonal not only by craft beer fans, but by the folks here at Anchor,” said Mark Carpenter, Brewmaster at Anchor Brewing Company. “In an effort to expand and innovate, as we have done for decades, Anchor will be retiring Bock after the 2014 season to allow room for several all-new American craft brews, which we will be sharing with the world very soon.”

My tired eyes kept reading "books" for a second and I was all trying to figure out why you'd want to be reading about caramelized malts and dried fruit tastes.

I'm heading to Wisconsin this weekend, will be keeping an eye peeled for the New Glarus Dubbel & Black Top. We'll be in/around Sheboygan and will have to swing by this place, too: http://3sheepsbrewing.com/

mmm Habanero Sculpin on tap at my local!

Not big on bourbon beers but finally tracked down some of Sixpoint Imperial Otis and liked it a lot, hope it sticks around

jon, have you had the central waters brewhouse before? it's stellar for a cheap bomber, like outrageously good

^otm

so i tried to take a better picture of this but eventually i gave up

http://postimg.org/image/acad4iyb9/

thanks cad! i am so stoked to try all of this new england beer you have no idea

umm let's try this

http://s10.postimg.org/7i77r2w55/10154417_10152391408069577_5492726656843998143_n.jpg

yeah! it made it! special thanks to your community center, special non-thanks to fedex.

Nice, I see a few similar bottles in there to the box I just got!

Shared the Grassroots saison with Jeff and some other friends on Sunday. It was good for a brunchy party situation but I thought it was a little flat? Seemed pretty popular overall though.

I've also tried the Peak Organic, Be Hoppy, and the Citizen Cider so far. Be Hoppy was quite tasty (especially loved the unfiltered quality), Peak was crisp if a little basic, and the cider very nice and appley, especially yesterday when the temperature touched 80.

Looking at the Notch Session Saison tonight and maybe cracking open the growler as well...

unrelated, but I can't see this being at least slightly disturbing

http://philly.thedrinknation.com/articles/read/12742-Craft-Brewed-and-Nude-No-Clothes-Allowed-at-This-Beer-Fest

*not* being

xp - lol, i really wanted to just crack something open and start playing ping pong but not sure they would have been into that

i have been collecting a LOT lately btw, both for trades and for myself... over the weekend i found some pannepot, capitalized upon a limited bottle release at the commons, and discovered the largest and most unorganized beer store in portland (best belgian selection i have ever seen! and decent prices too). i have gone from having a couple special bottles in the basement to having several cases in just a few weeks lol

dan i owe you a treehouse growler in the future! that's the one that they overfilled and i was scared it might be leaking. interesting about the arctic, i haven't cracked one yet but carb issues would kinda suck. be hoppy is sort of a sleeper around here, no one goes crazy for it but it's so solid.

jon, have you had the central waters brewhouse before? it's stellar for a cheap bomber, like outrageously good

Nope, but I've heard this before. Which is why I immediately grabbed. My only regret was that they only had one bomber.

more xps - i want to try the growlers first, but i'll have a really hard time waiting to crack into this stuff! only a few should be aged anyhopw right?

yeah definitely do the growlers soon, they're just over a week old at this point. i really should take my own advice and not let 99% of beers age much at all. of the hoppier beers i sent, citra mantra is a little older at this point but i had one the other day and it's holding up fine.

that nude beer fest is like some fresh hell i have never imagined

I finally tried the Anderson Valley Huge Arker I bought a month ago. It's a stronger (and longer in the barrel) version of their regular BA that I liked but wasn't blown away by. This one is 13.5% abv and it's very apparent on the first sips, but became less noticeable as I continued drinking. Very good flavor, which improved by the end of the bottle (22oz).

Also tried a Black Market "Embargo" which is a BA brown stout at a bar and thought it was great. Found it in bombers at WF for $10, hope it's as good that way. They're from Temecula, a town in the larger LA area toward San Diego. Wouldn't have expected much from there, but was really impressed.

yeah definitely do the growlers soon, they're just over a week old at this point. i really should take my own advice and not let 99% of beers age much at all. of the hoppier beers i sent, citra mantra is a little older at this point but i had one the other day and it's holding up fine.

That settles it, that sucker is going down tonight.

On the aging note, I was kind of wondering what to do with some of the stuff I've been holding onto. Most of it is barrel-aged stouts/barleywines so it should be OK, but I have a couple sours and some other stuff I've just sort of been hanging on to, waiting for the right occasion.

DRINK IT ALL NOW

Here's everything I got saved. I think it's mostly up to date.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnzCKvN4-MMgdEpaUmFhVXU4MUV3S3h4TDZja3lBTkE&usp=sharing

Not a huge fan of these guys with a couple of exceptions, so this was kind of affirming of my doubts:
http://bruery.blogspot.com/2013/12/beer-issues-cacaonut-barrel-aged-autumn-maple-praecocia.html

(But I'm sure I've let it known I'm not a fan of big syrupy, candy/soda/dessert flavored crap to begin with, so bear that in mind)

waiting for the Jeff episode of HOARDERS /jokes

i tried to keep a list but i gave up. basically i really need to drink down my cellar because i am not moving all that shit and i've never had a beer that got much better with age.

never?

xps - that is an impressive collection! how does any one human manage to acquire like 25 bourbon county stouts without having their own distro or smthg

do people just store their stuff in boxes usually? i had a couple bottles break recently when a shelf collapsed somehow :( obviously the answer is "don't put it on a shitty shelf" but now i am hella concerned about storage lol (esp considering recent investments)

I just store everything in a closet with a red construction paper sign on the door that has "do not enter" scrawled on it in crayon, a remnant from when a bunch of kids were playing hide and seek in my liquor and beer collection. A bad idea that will not get better as they age.

i got a case of bcbs this year! cases were sitting around at one store here as of a few weeks ago. my stuff is partially in boxes and partially in some cardboard trays on some chairs in our cellar.

re: aging, it tends to mellow out whatever flavors were present when the beer was fresh. bcbs at 1-2 years old develops more of a milk chocolate quality which is nice enough. sierra nevada barleywine gets less boozey, which some people like. wild ales just seem to kind of fade ime. basically, for me, if i don't buy beers that have problems when they're fresh, i have no reason to age them.

xp jeff

Noticed the westvleteren on that list -- assuming you go that through a trade, how hard was it to get? I assume that's the only real option for those of us not going to Belgium any time soon

i have very little experience with aging but i found that it added a LOT of complexity and weird-but-desirable flavors to deschutes abyss, though this is a beer with a "drink after" date so it was definitely designed to sit for a while