Beer in the new era

And the parabola was the one I traded for with you Josh. Finally drank it and it was as delightful as expected.

Always nice when Plead the 5th pops back into stores.

mikkeller american ipa (denmark?)

Either Alesmith (SD, CA) or Faction (Oakland, CA) depending on the batch. Their main brewery is now in SD.

...which was the former Alesmith brewery until they relocated for exopansion.

i have such mixed feelings about bottle shares. yes you get to try a zillion amazing things at once but inevitably only the most sour/bold/boozy beers end up standing out and you lose a lot of the subtleties. also kind of a shame to go through such a large stash in one night, and usually you're too drunk to remember much of anything anyway.

it is definitely nice tho to enjoy delicious beers with other enthusiasts (in other words please disregard what i said above and invite me to your bottle shares ;)

was lucky enough to be in the area and make it to kuhnhenn shortly after the solstice festival so i picked up bottles of bourbon barrel 4th dementia, bb barleywine, tripa, and dark heathen. kinda scared to crack open the old ales until like 12 years from now but i am curious

This afternoon

Pliny
Jai Alai
Blackrocks 51k

Tallgrass BBA Buffalo Sweat

New Glarus Belgian Red
New Glarus Strawberry Rhubarb

(at bar: Surly Furious)

I mostly agree re: bottle shares. I've always been a binary judger of beer (good/bad), not too concerned about the subtleties. But honestly for me, I'm drunk enough after two beers usually that I can't appreciate the subtleties anyway.

And it's a good excuse to open those beers, I'd keep them in the closet forever otherwise. I'm not (and most people at this bottle share) struggling for rare/out of market beer, we have closets/cellars full of it.

Goose Island Brewing is offering refunds to customers who bought two 2015 Bourbon County Brand Stout variants after bottles “developed flavors that are not consistent with our expectation of how these beers should taste,” the Chicago brewery said today.

Goose's 2015 Bourbon County Coffee Stout and Bourbon County Barleywine don't “meet our standards for the taste profile of these beers,” leading the brewery to offer refunds to customers unsatisfied with them, head brewer Jared Jankoski wrote today in a blog post on Goose Island's website. Other versions of the high-gravity stout, including its flagship Bourbon County Brand Stout, Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout, Proprietor's Bourbon County Brand Stout and Bourbon County Brand Regal Rye Stout, are not affected.

“That's not to say the beer doesn't taste good, in fact some drinkers may enjoy it very much,” Jankoski wrote. But the two versions of the 2015 Bourbon County “have drifted out of their target character.”

A Goose Island spokeswoman said neither of the beers, which were released in Chicago and other cities in late November, is infected with bacteria or any other contaminant and remain safe to drink. Further, she said, the problem applies only to bottled versions of the beers, not kegs.

Megan Lagesse, the spokeswoman, said the brewery dug into the issue after seeing discussions in online beer forums and through social media, and brewers eventually determined that the two beers developed off flavors after they were bottled.

"We're still doing our best to get to the bottom of it," Lagesse said. "We just thought it was the right thing to do" to offer the refund.

The Anheuser-Busch/InBev-owned brewer, a pioneer in barrel-aged beers, said it intends to continue producing its line of barrel-aged beers, including its decorated and highly sought line of Bourbon County Brand stouts.

Goose Island urged customers seeking a refund to call 800-466-7363. The brewery will accept both full and empty bottles of the beer, and require a proof of purchase, including a receipt, a credit card statement, or a photo of a bottle, for the refund.

Has anyone tried the Anochor Winter Wheat? It's fucking 7%, not that unlike a lighter barleywine.

Sorry, Anchor.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/01/35-of-the-best-barleywines-blind-tasted-and-ranked.html?a=1

Otm

I'm a craft-beer dilettante compared to you guys, but I did have the Oskar Blues Death by Coconut by the pint last night at Hopleaf and loved it. Super-strong smell of coconut on the nose, and at first it smelled almost like suntan oil. But loved the whole thing in the end. Mounds-bar-like.

got some glasses of the stone xocoveza last night on draft and damn what a beer that is.

that sounds great, I had their latest "drink by" stout on Monday and it was similarly fabulous

i had mixed feelings about xocoveza, though i did not have it on draft. i'm not too crazy about stouts/porters that feel obligated throw fucking everything into the mix, COFFEE COCOA VANILLA CHILI CINNAMON it is just a little too much. vanilla especially is not really a presence i want in beer

oh i forgot NUTMEG

i would try it again though

got some glasses of the stone xocoveza last night on draft and damn what a beer that is.

― Mordy

Almost bought one at Trader Joe's last night, but couldn't pull the trigger ($17 for 500 ml). They had the Super Anejo and the Charred. Which did you try? I likely will at some point.

this one i think: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/128500/

Sounds good if not overdone. Both the ones at TJs I saw were barrel aged, the Anejo in red wine and tequila, the Charred in bourbon (I think).

I did buy a bottle of the Stone BA rye a few weeks ago, but haven't opened it yet.

Been really cutting back on my beer intake lately but I had a pint of Revolution's Jukebox Hero last night and it was so good I ordered a second.

I haven't had a beer in... 24 days. Miss u beer.

Short's to start distributing in Illinois. And Pennsylvania.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-shorts-brewing-to-start-distribution-in-chicago-20160128-story.html

I've only had Short's once. It was after I ran the Grand Rapids marathon and was so hammered by that time I almost passed out at the bar. No recollection of if I enjoyed the beer.

there have been a couple of random short's drops here over the years. nothing i remember being too notable.

I tend to end up buying Short's when I'm visiting my parents back home, but aside from the first couple times I had Huma Lupa Licious (which is such an awful name) nothing has ever really stood out. Some of my friends who live in MI still say they only ever buy Short's on draft, never in bottles.

Also my ex-roommate in Chicago got in a fist fight with Joe Short once.

this year's hop ranch is on point

Man omnipollo is def one of those breweries with the highest highs and the lowest lows huh.

what have you tried? one of my buddies has been going nuts about them but all i've had was one very polite ipa.

Shilkmake and Res today - Res smelled great but was maybe a little faded, Shilkmake was way more interesting than expected. I had a thing that they brewed to taste like milk and it tasted like gross milk. So I guess they nailed that one? Idk.

res was the one i had...i think between polite and faded we're saying the same thing. shilkmake is still in my fridge.

This is the milk one. It filled me with hate.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/omnipollo-table-beer-milk-pale/321416/

On the other hand if you see any Boulevard Love Child #5 anywhere (and you like sours) buy buy buy buy buy.

w/r/t Omnipollo: They've made a few great stouts, this is one that you can currently find around and (speaking as an American) has unusual uh... packaging:

http://scontent-a.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xfp1/t51.2885-15/10666252_607730416010659_1976767088_a.jpg

I take that back, I meant this one:

http://www.omnipollo.com/beer/omnipollobuxton-yellow-belly-sundae/

I had it on draft this past weekend and it's a collab between Buxton and them utilizing Yellow Belly as the base beer.

I had the Boulevard Smokestack series Rye on Rye barrel aged ale that I bought a couple months ago tonight. Not bad but decidedly unimpressive. I can't remember what I paid for it, but there are better ones out there for the price, I'm sure.

Love Childs always good.

the Sierra Nevada Brew Camp Tropical IPA is fucking incredible and I want to buy about 20 cases of it and stockpile them in my basement

ooh I saw that the other day and was curious, thanks!

it is SUPER hoppy but the hoppiness is almost completely offset by the tropical notes and it ends up feeling super balanced in a way that I never find hoppy beers to be; that super bitter aftertaste is almost completely smoothed out by the fruitiness while still leaving that hoppy aftertaste (note: I categorically REFUSE to ever use the word "mouthfeel" because that sounds like something your predator says to you right before tightening your blindfold)

I've been meaning to try that. I didn't really like last year's Beer Camp, also a super hoppy one so I was hesitant.

as a fan of hoppy beers who is beginning to become tired of them, this one reminded me of why I liked them in the first place

Just bought a 6-pack at Trader Joe's, as I've been intrigued anyway, and Sierra Nevada is often taken for granted. Description does seem a bit ... springy, like the grapefruit sculpin, but good is good any time of year.

i had the sculpin for the first time ever the other night

absolutely loved it, perhaps my platonic ideal ipa

it's 12 Canadian bucks at my local store for a bomber of it :/

Speaking of Sierra Nevada, has anyone tried the new Otra Vez? It's a prickly pear/grapefruit gose.

http://www.sierranevada.com/beer/year-round/otra-vez

jjjusten told me I should trade my children for a case of it

I mean, I like beer and all but those are my kids, man

Is anyone actually offering the exchange?

not investigating, cutting off the temptation at the source