Beer in the new era

Found a couple of bottles of Pipeworks barrel aged Jones Dog milk stout. Stoked.

I moved on to the Allagash FV13 that CAD sent a few weeks ago. Solid sour with a nice balance of flavors so nothing really dominates. Good amount of barrel to it, good carbonation. This was just over 2 years in the bottle and I guess 4 years in the barrel prior to that? I'm not sure we get any of their barrel-aged products in Chicago but I'd definitely try some more.

We do, don't we? Bourbon barrel black Belgian, Curieux ...

We do, and I'm always too cheap to buy them.

Ah okay, can't recall ever seeing any.

you guys prob get the large-format aged allagash things but not fv13 and the other stuff they've put out in 375s.

Right

finally got a chance to open that heady topper last friday and DAMN. exactly what i want from a double ipa, so jealous of people who have easy access to that stuff, thanks so much CAD

picked up a can of BLAKKR the other day, not bad. every time i see it i think of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFY2kJ96jNY

xp no prob! it's certainly worth the semi-annual trip to me, but from the vermont locals i've talked to even they don't get tired of it.

not sure i would either. i love that the beer is fairly "unbalanced" in terms it being a major hop overload (especially compared to pliny the younger or smthg), but within all that hop flavor there's a perfect balance between sweet and bitter

just last week i started to see a ton of trinity bottles popping up in shops across town, is this happening anywhere else?

the bottles are not cheap at $9 for 375 ml but i had to buy a bottle of red swingline, because if it's as delicious as i remember then it's worth the $$$. i know they are really going crazy with bottle production there (compared to last year at least) but i don't know where they're distributing to besides colorado and oregon right now

so the "aged" beer I had lying around was Eel Creek Triple Exultation Old Ale, it was freaking delicious but I'm glad we split it five ways.

Sadly the peanut butter porter is slightly disappointing. It's good, but I was hoping for a bigger, sweeter, creamier peanut butter taste. It's there, but very subdued.

Drinkin' Orval.
Pretty good! Very drinkable.

new england/east coast folks - what are your thoughts on newburyport green head ipa? i'm really digging it. murky brown-colored ipa, malty and floral at the same time.

Years ago, in the dark days before microbreweries, I was in an import beer club at a local pub, and drank 108 beers from around the world. One of the imo undrinkable beers (at that time) was Orval. I believe it was the first Belgian I ever tasted. I would probably like it much better now. (xpost)

orval is nice. a little tart but not truly sour, a little bit of brett funkiness, but still manages to be crisp & refreshing, especially as it warms up a little bit. not my fave trappist beer, but one i like to sip on a nice afternoon -- helps that it's a manageable ABV.

xxp i haven't had green head since probably late last summer but i remember liking it well enough, i think they made a conscious choice to brew a very "balanced" ipa and as a result it's more malty than i'm often in the mood for. i should try it again soon tho, basically any decent local ipa in cans is good in my book.

Anyone had Widmer's Upheaval? Really BAD name, but it's an unfiltered IPA containing wheat. I'm always up for reasonably priced, mass market IPAs to try, and I liked this one a lot.

I think it's pretty new - Widmer is almost at like a Henry Weinhard level of "meh" mass production (are they owned by a major?, but it's nice to hear a positive report. See also Pyramid's IPA.

I'm heading to Los Angeles for the weekend. Is stuff like Pliny easy to find there, or just easier? Or am I out of luck on that front? Any other must-seeks?

was just there a week or two ago and picked up a bottle of Sucaba, in case that's hard to find where you are

That wasn't that hard, actually. Weirdly, Sucaba lingers where I live. (Parabola, less so.)

I saw Lagunitas Sucks in quart bottles just last week at the Santa Monica and La Brea Bevmo ($7). Was surprised to see them in that form, and around this late.

got to try some cool stuff tonight--

funky buddha last snow - coffee/coconut/white chocolate porter. surprisingly dry, outstanding flavor integration, quite drinkable. someone i was with thought it added up to french toast, to me it was like an almond joy made with unsweetened chocolate.

revolution straightjacket - barrel-aged barelywine. absolutely huge flavors, vanilla, oak, booze. all you could want from the style.

Yeah, Straightjacket! Sits on shelves here, as do a lot of the rev seasonal
releases.

that's insane, it's as good a barleywine as i've ever had

It's a little too pricy IMO. I bought it once and would again if it were 5 bucks or so cheaper.

(It's $17ish for a bomber everywhere I've seen it.)

that's sucaba pricing more or less and it's better than sucaba

You think so? I think they're close, maybe I was giving Sucaba the edge because of distance/relative scarcity here.

yeah sucaba has a lot of cache and deservedly so but the beer i drank tonight had more going on

Yeah, Straightjacket is everywhere. They even have it at Trader Joe's, where it also sits around.

I've seen the big bottles of Sucks around lately, too. Must be a new thing.

The big bottles of sucks are interesting. Not sure they fit my drinking habits though. I'd probably try and polish a whole one off.

Two Hearted is now available in 16oz cans. Ho boy.

(Oberon too)

woo! won the upland lottery. 2 peaches and a persimmon!

OK, so what should I be drinking out here in Los Angeles?

ithaca brewing company's flower power is a good ipa but wtf is with the graphic design on the packaging? comic sans is even involved!

russian river is one of the 10 best breweries in america and they use fucktons of comic sans

ithaca's graphic design is not great but i've come to love it.
green trail looks like 1998 to me, but it's s delicious beer.

Where specifically are you, Josh?

If you're at a bar and Craftsman 1903 is on tap try it, it always reminds me of how good a simple lager can be.

I like Golden Road in Atwater/South Glendale, none of their beers are world beaters, but it's a nice place, with pretty good food.

Likewise but even more so for the Eagle Rock brewery beer-wise, and the facility is about as minimal as you can get (no food, no decor, very small).

The Stone outlet in Pasadena is starting some special offerings next Monday.

Angel City brewery downtown has a whiskey barrel aged dark rye lager I like, and it's in the "Arts District" so it's a fun place to wander around in.

West of downtown you're on your own.

I'm currently in ... Atwater Village? But I've been getting around. Went to a burger place called I think Father's Office and they had good beer. Culver city location?

Yes, I've heard of them.

As for restaurants, Lemon Poppy on Verdugo is supposed to be good and close to where you are now. Don't know their alcohol situation.

Mohawk Bend in Echo Park is good, and they have a good beer menu.

Favorite beers of the last 8 or so months for no reason at all:

+ Victory Prima Pils - Crisp floral beauty.
+ Lagunitas Sucks - First time I've had a (D)IPA where I first thought "this smells exactly like ripe mango" rather than "this smells vaguely citrusy."
+ St. Bernardus Prior 8 - This stuff is just delicious, I want to try their quad, too, but I'm a super lightweight and quads are heavy.
+ Ommegang Glimmerglass - Truly the most refreshing beer I think I've ever had. If it were cheaper, I'd drink it all the time.
+ Sierra Nevada Tumbler (RIP) - It bums me out that SN discontinued this to make more seasonal IPAs, this beer was awesome.

I've heard that the new Yuengling summer seasonal is actually pretty good, which is exciting news for a broke beer fan. Anybody here tried that one?

Golden Road out here perfectly OK. Food crappy but lager and IPA not bad.

You must have ordered wrong (ha ha). I like the pretzel with the reddish dipping sauce (red pepper?) And the burgers aren't bad. Sometimes I think their brown ale (Get Up Offa That Brown) is excellent, sometimes it strikes me as a little off.

Get Up Offa That Brown

This might be the most terrible beer name ever.