Beer in the new era

Ready Set Gose tastes like a mildly sour but otherwise flavorless beer with a salty aftertaste that's drowning in bitter hops.

This sounds like an Elysian sour I had on tap earlier this week (can't remember the name), similarly mild and bland.

Had a beer that blew my mind not too long ago:

Barrel-aged Hazelnut by Cycle Brewing (St. Petersburg, FL)

http://i.imgur.com/qMvY8dY.jpg

which is their Rare DOS imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels with hazelnuts, sea salt & cacao nibs.

Normally I'm not the biggest fan of adjunct stouts but this was extremely well crafted, it tasted like ferrero rocher soaked in a soft wheated bourbon.

drinking an Orval, this is the best beer pretty much. you americans and your lack of being near belgium! you're missing out!

We get Orval here, one of my favorite Belgians. I wonder what the price difference is re UK vs California.

bottle for like $7 (equivalent)

Think it's ~$5-6 here (store, not bar). I was wondering if the UK had any large tax on alcohol like Norway does. I remember seeing Norwegian beer here in LA for less than it cost at a market in Stavanger.

store for me too. think the uk (well, london esp) is just a little more expensive. norway is notoriously expensive.

I live like a block away from a Belgian beer hall that has about 250 different imports on hand. Totally spoiled. Most of the big name Belgians are easy to get here thankfully.

Just killed a 2013 Bourbon County. Jeeeeez.

it tasted like ferrero rocher soaked in a soft wheated bourbon.

damn that sounds sexy

have heard very good things about cycle, i guess i should seek that out

isn't euro orval different than us orval? it is very common here in bottles but i hear it's better on tap / closer to the source

i've only ever had it in bottles, but it is still supreme, like a gueuze fighting a porter and me winning

i think it's just rare to find it less than a year old in the states, which is still quite good

lots of chicago beer is now making it to nyc, which has been great. very impressed by pipeworks so far, close encounters is one of the best black ipas i've ever tried. also lizard king >>>>>>>>>>>>>> daisy cutter

Daisy cutter seems to have changed over the years. Used to be one of my go to's, but now just doesn't hit the spot.

one of the cool new things we're getting in boston is wicked weed from nc, i am really loving their stuff

Wicked Weed has a collaboration with AC/DCs Cliff Williams.

lol my local bodega 50 feet from my door has a vertical of Orval from the past 7 years for $6.99 per. Yes, us poor Americans who drink more Belgian beer than any other country in the world including Belgium.

isn't euro orval different than us orval?

there is an ABV drift in shipment (belgian candi sugar and brettanomyces added in secondary/bottle fermentation) and the monastery got in trouble with USA ABC for their label ABV. Euro Orval states 6.2% but US import states 6.9%.

Boston peeps, I heard that Tree House will be moving 30 mins closer to town within a year.

my briney melon report: very melony, refreshing, super drinkable big thumbs up recommendation 👍

Boston peeps, I heard that Tree House will be moving 30 mins closer to town within a year.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, March 9, 2016 9:22 PM (36 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

more like a generous 20 (charlton is just slightly less in the middle of nowhere than monson) but their new spot is going to be sick, the treehouse folks do a first class job with everything.

So this appears to be the year of the pale ale with fruit addition and I am so far just not having it. Best of the bunch so far is the Dark Horse Reign in Blood, but yeah.

Last year was the year of the session ale
Prior year year of the Gose
At some point I'd be curious about building a list of these

Might actually be more of a six month cycle because I need to cram the year of the fresh hop in there somewhere.

Orange seems to be the fruit of choice this year, I'm seeing them everywhere.

Yeah, lots of fruited IPA's coming out.

People keep saying that it's going to be the year of the lager soon, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Excited to try this, picked one up last week: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2391/56266/

Managed to drink one of these last week. http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3282/75109/

Maybe it's just reaching the limits of how long it can stay in the bottle for, but I really didn't think it deserved the reputation it has. Not overly complex and the Armagnac didn't come through all that strongly.

when grapefruit sculpin came out i was like yeah that's cute and then people just kept buying it.

It's still my favorite variation. Pineapple was ok. Habanero still one of the worst beers.

Habanero sculpin is undrinkable. Love Lagunitas' blood orange pale ale, haven't had the pineapple. The Sierra Nevada fruity pale ale that Dan dug upthread was pretty good.

There are all these local (where I live) brewpubs popping up. Three so far, one lager-centric. (Last year a session-centric bar here failed to take off.) I guess you have to start somewhere, but I am wary of folks, qualified or no, just going all-in and opening places before anyone has had a chance to try their beer. I guess out here in Oak Park there aren't a lot of options, though I do like this place that opened a year ago which is Bring Your Own Food. You go for the beer and bring dinner along with you, or have it delivered, from a local place. Kind of a twist on the typical BYOB concept.

That's just like the place a half a block from me where I spend entirely too much time and money. I've made sandwiches/leftovers and carried them over. Carried over my French press to have coffee and beer. Ordered food at home and have it arrive at the bar right when I'm arriving.

Speaking of focused on one thing breweries, had a beer from Central State brewing http://www.centralstatebrewing.com. Their focus is entirely on brett beers.

I believe Gordon Biersch is all lager; some of their beverages are enjoyable. There are a couple Belgian-centric places nearby as well.

Was in Dogfish Head a couple days ago and they had Shelter Pale back in the rotation. I get bored by some of the hoppier-than-thou monotony so I was glad to see it. Also really like their Burton Baton http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/64/18862/ , which is a blend.

There is a World of Beer in my neighborhood, which for a while didn't really have food of its own so they encouraged you to order delivered food from the two or three restaurants surrounding it. They have since expanded their menu and I'm actually a little sad about it, because I kinda liked the communitarian charm of having a takeout burger in a bar.

speaking of habanaro beers tho i had an amazing beer from free will this week that was mango habanero and was actually spicy but still super fruity and, despite 10% alcohol, still very very drinkable + refreshing. i had it on tap and don't know what the canning/bottling situation is like but i highly recommend that one (and i'm generally v picky about spicy beers - except for maybe the mango magnifico which i don't think was as good).

I apparently am the only person here who approaches the Habanero Sculpin as a fun game of Tastebud Russian Roulette. It's totally a stunt beer and not one I would call "refreshing" or anything but I unreservedly enjoy the experience of drinking it.

dan we need to hang out so i can share this: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30581/197774/

Yes, yes we do

when grapefruit sculpin came out i was like yeah that's cute and then people just kept buying it.

― call all destroyer

Even Sam Adams has a grapefruit IPA now.

hoping this year will be the year of the brett ipa, though it seems like most people are not of the same mindset

had a taste of that free will habanero thing over the weekend... well done, but such an intense, slow afterburn

Had a couple beers at Ale Asylum in Madison tonight. Decent, but made better by being close-ish to my hotel.

Of course New Glarus Oud Bruin back at the hotel is v v good too.

Ale asylum has never done much for me

I want to hear about that Cascade sour once you try it Jeff, lots of raves but holy fuck at the price. They just arrived here in MN.

I have a favorite pepper beer but I just realized its from 3 Sheeps so only available in MN and WI. Hoppy Spice. Ghost peppers, but done right. No really.

Yeah a friend told be Ale Asylum was fairly basic and in his words, a weird vibe. But it was close and I can get with that.

Yeah, I think I paid $34 for the cascade?? Typically wouldn't have, but I was drunk. So I guess I typically would have then.

The key to Cascade is going to Portland (or weirdly Honolulu) where the prices are 40% less than anywhere else. They used to ship direct to customers at fair prices but they got in trouble for that.

re honolulu I'm guessing cascade gets distribution through the craft brew alliance: http://craftbrew.com/about/

Bought a Modern Times Fruitlands Apricot Gose yesterday at Trader Joe's after all the fruit/gose talk. Will try it this weekend likely.

I got to try that Briny Melon on tap last night, it was a little strong on the melon flavor for me and a little light on the sour/salty, I might try it again but I think I prefer the standard AVB version.

The key to Cascade is going to Portland

I've been to Portland a lot but have still haven't made it to Cascade though I'm going to have remedy that in the next couple of days.

Bought a Modern Times Fruitlands Apricot Gose yesterday at Trader Joe's after all the fruit/gose talk. Will try it this weekend likely.

― nickn, Friday, March 11, 2016

Finally tried this Sunday night, quite good. On the first sip I thought it might be too apricotty, but just a sip or two later it seemed well balanced. Drank it with Indian food, which was a good match.

that sounds so good. one of my favorite beers is the cascade apricot. it's pricey but i think it's the best one they do and it tastes amazing like apricots.