Beer in the new era

I'll be the first to admit I lack beer tasting finesse, but I just had an Allagash Saison, and I can barely taste how it differs from an Allagash White. What should I be looking/tasting for?

i dunno, but i want to give a shout out to oakham ales in peterborough for supplying a very affordable citra hops ale to waitrose and thereby allowing me to drink it in large quantities

Pro tip to saps like me that live in non-westbrook distro areas - guess who contract brewed the Evil Twin Nomader Weisse?

It is slightly different but 100% just as awesome. Like perfect awesome if you want sour sour gose/berliner weisse.

jjusten i've been meaning to well you we have not had any westbrook gose for like 2 mos. now or more :( very sad. but i've been able to have the anderson valley gose and it is also super delicious.

i think i like allagash white more than the saison? i almost always prefer saisons when i'm looking for a refreshing warm weather beer, but the allagash wasn't my favorite. think i prefer the murky cloudy yeasty saisons to the clear and crisp ones

jjusten i've been meaning to well you we have not had any westbrook gose for like 2 mos. now or more :( very sad. but i've been able to have the anderson valley gose and it is also super delicious.

― ian, Tuesday, August 19, 2014 11:18 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I found the Westbrook Gose really a rough experience.

Gose—I think this is the thing, right? Sour beer?—is the only beer I've poured down the sink (other than ones someone has put a cigarette into by accident, or that I've been too shitfaced to drink so have left on the table overnight). It tasted like white wine vinegar, predominately, but with a stale sort of flavour, like when it's raining out and a heavy-smoking alcoholic sits down next to you on the bus.

But nice to see saisons getting some appreciation on this thread.

Gose is a light sour (think Berlinerweisse) generally brewed with salt and coriander as adjuncts. Westbrook/Stillwater Gose Gone Wild is one of the best examples of the style. Almanac's Golden Gate Gose is really solid as well. The Anderson Valley one was pretty awful, at least to my palette. You nailed that weird acrid taste that hits right after the salty/sourness.

Oh yeah the salty, I think I PTSD-blocked that part. Beer should not be salty.

Wha?????

Gose is awesome.

Westbrook/Stillwater Gose Gone Wild is one of the best examples of the style.

heh, Leipziger imho.

has anyone here had the Claudiator? https://untappd.com/b/weissbrau-andorfer-claudiator/703491

it's like, the best thing ever. i think you might only be able to get it at brauaus schmitz on south street and, i guess, germany.

Tried some crazy stuff that I normally wouldn't have access to at a tasting yesterday:

Nonna's Blend #5 by Sante Adairius Rustic Ales
Surette Provision Saison by Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Brainless on Peaches by Epic Brewing Co.
pseudo Sue by Toppling Goliath Brewing

All were fantastic, especially the Nonna's and Surette Provision.

wow nice selection

I like all of those very much, nice score.

FOBAB tickets on sale today!!! The greatest beer festival.

J/V/C, are you going? If so, what session will you go for?

How big is a "tasting?'

Like pour size? About 4 oz.

I'm going to certainly try for tickets! I've been debating which session myself, I like the sound of the 1-5 session on Saturday, but I'm imagining that's probably the most popular one. I'm trying to decide whether to go for the one I want to go or the one that will be least likely to sell out first.

I'm going to go for the sat 1-5. It will be the easiest to get childcare for. There should be more spots per session available this year due to the new venue. I think you're on the site right at 10, you should be ok.

I actually think the Fridays session is going to be popular. Then you'll have all weekend to recover from your hangover.

Fair point, cool, I think I'm going to shoot for Sat 1-5. I totally forgot about the move to the new venue factor!

Got them! That was painless.

I'll be the first to admit I lack beer tasting finesse, but I just had an Allagash Saison, and I can barely taste how it differs from an Allagash White. What should I be looking/tasting for?

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, August 19, 2014 8:16 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

White is 5.1% abv, Saison is 6.1. Gimme the Saison.

Ha, I'm so used to double IPAs and the like lately that 6.1 seems light!

allagash saison has a significantly different finish from allagash white.

I guess? They seemed pretty similar to me, but I;m sure you're right.

I'm aiming for Friday night for barrel-aged beer fest, btw. Do these things sell out?

Typically within minutes, but more sessions and bigger venue seems to have made things better.

Not sold out yet! Waiting until tomorrow so that I'm not the only of my friends to get tickets for Friday.

I know, I'm kind of surprised. Also they raised the price this year so I'm sure that helped too.

Actually, it looks like Friday and Saturday night are both sold out and may have been for some time, there's just been no formal announcement, and the site makes it seems like there are still tix. However, I did check to see about Saturday afternoon, and there did seem to be tickets for that. But it was ringing up as $65 + fees (fuck Ticketmaster), so screw that. For $65+ of drinking I know I can have a much better time elsewhere, on my own schedule.

Huh. I tried for Saturday afternoon late yesterday afternoon and couldn't find anything available. It was telling me there was nothing available for all three sessions. Anyway, looks like I'll be passing on FOBAB again this year.

I kinda wish these things would go on sale on a weekend, when I can guarantee that I'll be able to access my computer. Work days make it really tough, like getting called into a 3-hour conference call yesterday that started at 9:45.

I have no beef with the $65, this is one of the few festivals that is worth it for me. You get tons of one-offs and special releases, not breweries just bringing their normal regular lineup beers.

$65 plus fees. How much were the TM fees, btw?

$5.20 order processing fee
$2.50 print at home fee

I'll spot you $7.70! Join me!

Can't! Got stuff going on that afternoon, the only time there are/were tix left.

PRINT AT HOME FEE?!??!?!?!

I just don't have the time, nor really the $, for fobab. Josh otm re: drinking beer on your own schedule.

Speaking of drinking beer on your own schedule, how about a 99 pack for $99?

http://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/peacemaker-anytime-ale-99-beer-pack-for-99

I've just moved to the US from the UK, and I'm struck by the number of craft brewers that don't put the alcohol content anywhere on the packaging. It might well be a legal requirement in the UK that's the primary reason for making it clear, but at the same time, it's one of the first clues you look for when faced with a completely unknown beer. I'm just curious what the reasons for not showing it might be. Beyond cultivating an air of mysteriousness, why hide it? Particularly when it can usually be found on the internet anyway.

Huh, where are you living? I believe it's state jurisdiction rather than federal.

here's a good post on the topic

http://www.notchsession.com/2010/11/label-fun/

aha - thanks for that. someone did suggest that the alcohol content of big name 'lite' beers might have something to do with it, and the mention of Coors in that story adds credence to that theory.

i'm in Houston, TX for a three year stretch. very much enjoying the beer at the moment. couldn't resist picking up some of these...
http://cdn.beeradvocate.com/im/c_beer_image.gif

sorry - sneaky beer advocate html coding

http://cdn.beeradvocate.com/im/beers/123416.jpg

so maybe I'm perverting the purpose of this thread, but sometimes eight pints of Guinness is the most satisfying experience you can have

i don't see anything wrong with that.

I'd have to get up and pee a lot.

Some fun news -- a new brewery is opening literally a block and a half, if that, from where I live. Full site isn't up yet but they've been posting on FB etc.

https://www.facebook.com/barleyforge

General preview by a friend:

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2014/08/barley_forge_brewing_costa_mesa.php

Annnd listing of their initial offerings. I'm not expecting the world to suddenly change but it's going to be nice to have somewhere I can just literally walk to and back in five minutes.

http://www.brewbound.com/news/barley-forge-announces-opening-beer-lineup

Remind me why I buy anything from Evil Twin that's not an Imperial Porter/Stout again?