just picked up a bottle of the de garde imperial hop bu weisse last weekend, which is another great berliner weisse. all their bu weisse varieties have really impressed me actually. will seek out the new glarus if i get access!
have yet to try that gigantic smoked hef, but it looks interesting. i have also thought many times that drinking smoked beer is like "drinking a sausage", but i'm pretty open to the style regardless (sausage is delicious!). gigantic just put out an imperial ipa - ginormous - that looks interesting too, but it's really hard to separate the high ratings from everyone loving imperial ipas so damn much that i really don't know what to expect.
definitely getting spoiled around here lately. got to try one of the 6 total kegs of peche n brett last weekend, and it tasted very very fresh. also i think boneyard just put out this year's batches of notorious and hop venom and they taste much different than last year, so much less bitterness and more sweetness / hop character in a general sense. again i think this probably has more to do with it being super fresh than any tangible difference in quality from last year, but who knows?
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Monday, 2 June 2014 20:12 (nine years ago) link
waiting impatiently for 10 Barrel to start making their ISA again, I drank that all last summer
― sleeve, Monday, 2 June 2014 20:24 (nine years ago) link
definitely getting spoiled around here lately. got to try one of the 6 total kegs of peche n brett last weekend, and it tasted very very fresh.
jealous. just cracked the seizoen bretta you sent on sunday and it was tasting great.
― call all destroyer, Monday, 2 June 2014 21:20 (nine years ago) link
glad you dug it! it's always less than $10/bottle, available at most grocery stores, and way better than it has to be. those guys sure know their way around some yeast.
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Monday, 2 June 2014 21:46 (nine years ago) link
guy at the bottle shop told me today that 10 Barrel ISA was discontinued in bottles :(
― sleeve, Tuesday, 3 June 2014 05:25 (nine years ago) link
Everyone needs to trade w/ psychgawsple and get a bottle of Trinity Red Swingline IPA Primitif. So good!
― dan m, Thursday, 5 June 2014 03:25 (nine years ago) link
glad you liked it! it really is one of the strangest beers i can remember tasting and enjoying, so much weird funkiness going on. i actually did not send that one to any other ilxors, sorry dudes! you'll have to make do with bourbonic plague ;)
so trinity hasn't showed up yet in chicago? what i can find online seems to indicate that they don't usually even distribute outside of colorado, but for some reason literally every bottle shop i've been to lately in pdx seems to have at least 5 of their beers
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Thursday, 5 June 2014 16:35 (nine years ago) link
I've never seen Trinity in Chicago, but I mostly patronize only two different beer stores.
― dan m, Thursday, 5 June 2014 16:54 (nine years ago) link
they might just know people around here? who knows. they seem to be expanding like crazy right now
xps - bummer about the 10 barrel ISA! if i see an old bottle i'll have to pick one up
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Thursday, 5 June 2014 17:36 (nine years ago) link
http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-economy/solutions-bank/would-you-pay-1-000-once-to-get-free-beer-for-life-20140529
I'm guessing jjusten and any other Minneapolitans are familiar with this place, it's right around the corner from my brother-in-law's house. I've been a few times and it's a good neighborhood spot, though a tad pedestrian in their beer offerings. I wasn't aware of the beer for life promo, though.
― dan m, Thursday, 5 June 2014 20:51 (nine years ago) link
I would take that deal in a heartbeat.
― Prince Kajuku (Bill Magill), Thursday, 5 June 2014 21:15 (nine years ago) link
yea it's a pretty good deal! beer is expensive
― marcos, Thursday, 5 June 2014 21:27 (nine years ago) link
wonder what kind of beer costs them 40 cents a serving
― polyamanita (sleeve), Thursday, 5 June 2014 21:42 (nine years ago) link
Maybe if I lived in a smaller town without many options.
― Jeff, Thursday, 5 June 2014 21:44 (nine years ago) link
San Diego report:
Ended up not renting a car (not much free time) for the week but was still able to chase some whales.
Tasted:Mother Earth - Big Mother 3IPAModern Times - Black House w/ Bourbon Barrel Aged Coffee oatmeal stoutOskar Blues/St. Archer - Saint Oskar black IPACoronado - Sock Knocker 2IPACoronado - Idiot 2IPAStone - Stochasticity Project: Quadrotriticale belgian quadStone - Enjoy By 07.04.14 2IPAStone - Collective Distortion 2IPABallast Point - Habañero Sculpin APABallast Point - Grapefruit Sculpin APAMikkeller - Yeast Series 2.0 Brettanomyces Bruxellensis APAAlmanac - Dogpatch Strawberry wild aleAlpine - Keene Idea 2IPAAlpine - San Francisco Surprise IPAAlpine - Hoppy Birthday APARough Draft - Toronado IPAAlmanac - Farmer's Reserve No. 2 wild aleThe Lost Abbey - 2008 Cable Car wild aleRussian River Brewing Company - Toronado 25th Anniversary wild aleSociete - The Butcher bourbon barrel aged imperial stoutSociete - The Roustabout 2IPABells - Two Hearted Ale IPAGoose Island - Bourbon County Brand Stout imperial stout
Purchased:Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout bourbon barrel aged stoutThe Bruery / 3 Floyds - Floyd D'Rue imperial porter aged in rum barrelsCascade - 2012 Strawberry wild aleCascade - 2012 Kriek wild aleEvil Twin - Imperial Biscotti Break Natale imperial porter with cherries variantMikkeller - Beer Geek Brunch Weasel imperial stout made with civet coffee from VietnamThe Lost Abbey - Framboise de Amorosa wild aleThe Lost Abbey - Track #8 (666 the Number Of The Beast) belgian quadBrouwerij Fonteinen - Golden Doesjel old lambic aged in oakBrouwerij Fonteinen - Oude Kriek lambic with sour cherries aged in oakBelching Beaver - Peanut Butter milk stout Mother Earth - Boo Koo IPA
The beer shops I hit were pretty amazing (one had BCBS on tap just because?), pretty deep selections and knowledgable staff.The bars I hit were all pretty amazing and honestly, I passed on a lot of places just due to the fact there were craft beer bars on every damn corner of most neighborhoods near downtown (outer gaslamp, little italy, hillcrest, south park, north park). Even the airport and baseball stadium bars had taplists that many bars in big cities would be excited to tap kegs of.
Probably the biggest disappoint was not being able to find Alpine bottles anywhere in SD proper, was told that as of 7 months ago, the bottles became much harder to come by in SD retail locations. Biggest surprise was finding some Lost Abbey whales and then a beer made from civet poop coffee.
I hit exactly ZERO breweries which is probably the opposite of what I planned, but everything worked out pretty well. Great beer town, the birthplace of the 2IPA and there is certainly no shortage of great ones.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 5 June 2014 22:33 (nine years ago) link
how did you like the new enjoy by? for some reason i didn't like it as much as the may and april versions
all these san diego beer pilgrimage reports are making me consider visiting some friends in the area
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Thursday, 5 June 2014 23:21 (nine years ago) link
xp sounds like a rad trip
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 5 June 2014 23:38 (nine years ago) link
I had the Enjoy By at a Stone Brewery location on the day of the release so it was as fresh as possible and had a bit of the southern hemisphere influence so lots of Nelson hops and J-17-63 experimental hop strain flavor. No idea what the bottled off site version tastes like yet but out of a fresh keg I can officially decree the flavor to be rather delicious (I like the southern hemi hop flavors fyi).
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 6 June 2014 06:55 (nine years ago) link
cool, i should give it another shot. i usually like those type of hops too, i probably just let it warm up too much beforehand
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Friday, 6 June 2014 15:58 (nine years ago) link
latest Enjoy By is great! sipping one right now.
― circa1916, Saturday, 7 June 2014 01:19 (nine years ago) link
like this a lot more than the 4/20
― circa1916, Saturday, 7 June 2014 01:20 (nine years ago) link
i agree w/al on the new enjoy by, this is one of the best of the series from what i've tried at least
― call all destroyer, Monday, 9 June 2014 00:38 (nine years ago) link
Went down to Philly for beer week festivities this weekend, some serious whale hunting for an east coaster -- Pliny, Blind Pig, BCBS, §ucaba/Abacus, and scored some RR sours in bottles.
Main takeaway: §ucaba is ridiculously good, procure whenever possible
― franklin, Monday, 9 June 2014 17:35 (nine years ago) link
^ picked up a couple sucaba last week! haven't tasted yet though, there's a place in town that will have it on tap this friday but i have to miss it unfortunately
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Monday, 9 June 2014 18:19 (nine years ago) link
Awesome! You're in for a serious treat.
― franklin, Monday, 9 June 2014 18:22 (nine years ago) link
curious about that stickee monkee stuff too
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Tuesday, 10 June 2014 21:56 (nine years ago) link
I found a couple bottles of stickee monkee and bought one in spite of the name.
― joygoat, Wednesday, 11 June 2014 02:36 (nine years ago) link
Ok, zero hyperbole here - the Stillwater Artisanal Gose Gone Wild is literally the sourest beer I have ever had, and it is incredible and amazing. It's the closest thing I've had to the one glass of the cuvée mother lambic I had two years ago.
― Everyone is awful except you. Wait, no, you are also awful. (jjjusten), Saturday, 14 June 2014 03:34 (nine years ago) link
The Stone Summer Chipotle Pepper Porter I had tonight is making the end of the school year feel realllllll good.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 14 June 2014 04:03 (nine years ago) link
mmm that sounds good!
― polyamanita (sleeve), Saturday, 14 June 2014 04:06 (nine years ago) link
I just bought one of those! (TJ's on the way home from work.) Glad to hear it's good.
― nickn, Saturday, 14 June 2014 06:27 (nine years ago) link
Making a trip to Vermont in a few weeks -- anything I should be keeping an eye out for? We're timed right for a Lawson Finest's Farmers' Market, and may be able to squeeze in a trip to Hill Farmstead, both of which I'm pretty excited about. I hear getting Heady Topper can be a chore, even if you time it right with distribution...
― franklin, Sunday, 15 June 2014 02:35 (nine years ago) link
the best method for getting heady is showing up at the hunger mtn coop in montpelier a bit before 3:00 on friday and buying up to a case. anything else is gonna be a crapshoot.
if you do hill farmstead be prepared for a 1-2 hour wait for growlers, it's been real bad on my last couple visits.
― call all destroyer, Sunday, 15 June 2014 04:04 (nine years ago) link
The Friday we're there is July 4, and it looks like Hunger Mountain was closed last July 4. Pulling into Burlington on Thurs so may give it a go there, and if we strike out will call the coop to see if they're getting a Saturday shipment (don't have high hopes, though).
Is it easy to get at bars, at least?
― franklin, Sunday, 15 June 2014 04:37 (nine years ago) link
Also damn, did not expect such lines -- HF is way out there! Hopefully my partner will still be on board with that, though drive and wait for still more beer may try the patience...
― franklin, Sunday, 15 June 2014 04:39 (nine years ago) link
they only get a shipment on friday. you can check the alchemist site for other stores that get it that might work for you, but you'll run into limits on what you can buy.
both heady and hf stuff are easy to get in bars in waterbury and montpelier, not sure about burlington but i think you'll be able to find something.
― call all destroyer, Sunday, 15 June 2014 04:45 (nine years ago) link
Awesome, thanks for the pointers!
― franklin, Sunday, 15 June 2014 05:05 (nine years ago) link
Any of you beer geeks live in SC? Or elsewhere in the westbrook distro area?
― Everyone is awful except you. Wait, no, you are also awful. (jjjusten), Sunday, 15 June 2014 05:19 (nine years ago) link
And as a general proposition to Vermonters on this thread: if there's anything distributed in DC/Phila that's hard for you to locate up there -- Victory, Troegs, Weyerbacher, Stoudt's, Sly Fox, DC Brau -- I'd be glad to bring it along and arrange a swap. I'm not looking for anything in particular (looks like I'll have a shot to try a lot of awesome stuff), and would be down to trade anything from four-packs to cases; just happy to help ease the bummer of beer being out of reach. PM me if you're looking for anything!
xp this lived in here for a while before I hit submit, whoops
― franklin, Sunday, 15 June 2014 05:26 (nine years ago) link
No Westbrook here. But someone needs to send me some gose.
― Jeff, Sunday, 15 June 2014 09:30 (nine years ago) link
Some thoughts on a few beers provided by ilxors Al Broccoli and psychgawsple:
Blend Love - Upright: Very nice fruity wild ale, was afraid it might be too sweet based on color but it wasn't at all. Was good on a humid evening though a full 750 of just about any sour beer is too much for me, luckily my wife had a glass.
Pliny the Elder - Russian River: Very good, but a victim of hype like so many other beers. I mean, GOOD. Good IPA, balanced and tasty and all that. But (and I expected this) the hype takes away from it in the end, I'm afraid. Just as good as Two Hearted, Abrasive, HT, etc. The unobtainability factor must be the thing that puts it over the edge. Still, I'll happily drink more, and I'm looking forward to sharing a second bottle with friends. Got a sweet keyring bottle opener with the bottle design on it, too!
Red Swingline - Trinity: As I said before this was tasty and very interesting. Sour beer with a hoppy IPA finish is about the only way I can describe it. Definitely worth trying if you have a chance because it's so unlike anything else out there, anything I've had at least.
Still have Peche & Brett, some triple IPAs, and a handful of other bottles to get through. I love trading bottles but it might be time for a break, I have an excessive amount of beer in my possession.
― dan m, Tuesday, 17 June 2014 17:28 (nine years ago) link
Jeff -- next time we get a shipment of Gose in I'll try to get some for you.. it's very popular tho and usually sells out and then we have to wait to get more.
also facebook msged JJUSTEN about westbrook.
― ian, Tuesday, 17 June 2014 17:32 (nine years ago) link
That would be awesome.
― Jeff, Tuesday, 17 June 2014 17:45 (nine years ago) link
I think there's something about shipping hopforward double+ ipas across the country without refrigeration that always leaves me tempering my expectations a bit...
which leads me to ask if there are any budget friendly refrigerated shippers?
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 17 June 2014 18:26 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, that was part of my line of thinking too. Just gonna have to get them to distribute here! Kinda curious how they send beer to the Philly area but not Chicagoland.
― dan m, Tuesday, 17 June 2014 18:36 (nine years ago) link
Does anyone have any recommendations for sour type beers? I had my first American Wild Ale (Surly Pentagram) recently and really liked it.
― monster_xero, Wednesday, 18 June 2014 03:35 (nine years ago) link
Cuvée des jacobins x 1000000
― Everyone is awful except you. Wait, no, you are also awful. (jjjusten), Wednesday, 18 June 2014 04:08 (nine years ago) link
Agree, and Bruery's Sour in the Rye is good too.
― nickn, Wednesday, 18 June 2014 04:56 (nine years ago) link
la folie's lips of faith is a good place to start and easy to find.
once you dig deeper, you'll start seeking outbelgian stuff (west flanders red): rodenbach, cuvee des jacobins rouge, duchessebelgian stuff (flanders oud bruin): monks cafe, petrus, goudenbandbelgian stuff (lambic/geuze): cantillon, 3 fonteinen, tilquin american stuff: any wild ales from russian river, lost abbey, cascade, and the bruery
there's also berliner weisse and gose and probably a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 18 June 2014 05:29 (nine years ago) link
I'm going to Baltimore next week - any local/regional breweries I should be looking out for? Other general beer tips also welcome.
― dem bow dem bow need calcium (seandalai), Wednesday, 18 June 2014 11:14 (nine years ago) link