Beer in the new era

everyone i know is firmly love or firmly hate (i am the latter). other harpoons (ipa, ufo, summer) are drinkable but there's almost always something better around

In Queens, I never found anything better around than the IPA. I miss it now. And I was definitely a winter hater. The Polish/Russian stores in Sunnyside had plenty of Zwyiec and all its cousins; they were okay, but I never found one I loved.

And Harpoon's Celtic and Octoberfest never killed me either, fwiw. (Not a Hefeweizen fan; never tried the UFO.)

yeah i gotta revisit the ipa as i haven't had it in ages. had the celtic maybe a month ago and it def continued w/my impression of harpoon as a shop producing solid but unexciting brews.

zwyiec is a whole different story--if it were cheap or readily available (or i lived near the polish grocery store in dorchester) i would drink it probably all the time. definitely one of my fav lagers ever.

i actually went pretty nuts at my local fancy beer joint tonite. drank something called port brewing hot rocks which was a dark lager brewed the traditional way--by heating rocks over open flames and tossing them into the brew.

also cisco grey lady which was a really nice witbier from nantucket.

to top it off i went to the nearby retail story and stumbled upon some jever, as mentioned by ice cr?m upthread. will report on that soon.

I live right near the local (state i think it is actually) Polish Club, they sell zwyiec really cheaply .

I'm going there tomorrow night <3<3

Dr. Johnson, three floyds is going to have their dark lord day on like april 26 i think and its the only time and place you can get their acclaimed imperial stout. I heard that there was some sort of ticket system this year, but i have no idea how it works. Last year a buddy and I went, but we got there too late and missed out.

Ska brewing is kind of obnoxious, but i do love their modus hoperandi (sp?). It comes in cans in Illinois and has been hitting the spot lately.

iirc i've got some bros in chicago that have already got tickets for the dark lord day. when surly released Darkness here this fall, ppl fucken camped out like two days in advance to secure their spot, no joke. friend of mine bought six bottles (the max) and has been trading/selling them online---it's got a real rep

Yeah, sadly, you can only get Surly on tap in the Chicago area. They had a release party out in Lisle (the same place that had the oak aged Rasputin) and was lucky enough to at least drink some. The place in Lisle is also having a release party for this year's Founders Kentucky Bourbon Breakfast Stout soon.

And to think, I used to get excited about album releases...

http://www.nilsoscar.se/_upload/se/produktbilder/God-Lager_72.jpg

I know, not "beer" but surprisingly "beer" like. I really liked it. I think it may be the first Swedish beer I've drunk too.

http://www.nilsoscar.se/_upload/se/produktbilder/God-Lager_72.jpg

I mean it is a "beer" but obviously it's called a lager...oh you know what I mean.

Tonight I'm drinking the Raven's Eye Imperial Stout by Eel River BRewing Co. It's a bit boozy tasting, but it's nicely warming and I don't mind. I chose it over the other fancy schmancy brews at the yuppie supermarket because of the very nice label design:

http://www.simplybeer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/img_7274.jpg

I'd definitely drink it again. It's significantly sweeter & less bitter than other imperial stouts I've tasted.

yum. right now i'm drinking anchor bock, it's pretty good. really dark in color but not thick or viscous or anything like an imperial stout. ha, it tastes like dried fruit in so many ways. like dried apricots. guess it's a spring seasonal. it's pretty perfect right now for the early spring's cool nights

http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/bockbeer.htm

there's a restaurant in l.a. that pours an insanely good pint of old rasputin

hmmm, in Oregon it is illegal to pour pints of beer over 9% I think, you have to get a 12 oz glass.

liking that new strong Sierra Nevada Torpedo extra IPA.

when I was in NYC in August, there was a bar that was pouring pints of DFH 120 minute IPA... and only charging like 5 dollars. It was ridiculous.

That Torpedo IPA is darn good.

victory prima pils is awesome. not really a fan of the surly stuff, but that might be due to its current omnipresence in MPLS - speaking of which, the new summit horizon red ale is surprisingly good (this is coming from a dude that has 100% hateraded on all non EPA summit across the board)

the pervasiveness of surly is a little off-putting, it's true, but at least it's decent beer, you know? there are worse home-town brands to rep for. i just wish it wasn't so expensive

and i'm with you on non-EPA summit. i also wanted to like finnegan's, but man i just couldn't

I really liked the Surly Coffee Bender when I had it a few months ago. I've had beers with coffee notes (you know, beers described as "dark, toasted"), but this was like a delicious blend of beer and coffee and surprisingly smooth and light-tasting.

Curious if any Minneapolitans have tried Flat Earth. Not as ubiquitous as Surly (and not as good, IMHO) but...

http://flatearthbrewing.com/beer.html

there's a restaurant in l.a. that pours an insanely good pint of old rasputin, and i believe also serves up allagash curieux (which is still one of the best beers i've ever had.) most recent discovery

where's this

take a left at ur butt

Could be Lucky Baldwin's in either Pasadena or Sierra Madre. I know they pour both the Allagash Curieux and the Kwak in question.

theres a bar five blocks from my work that has ol raspy on tap right now ian! if u hurry u can make it in time

flying out to sf with tax refund money is not the worst idea.

toronado?

oh and the one in l.a. is golden state on fairfax. really good burgers too.

curieux is also on tap at bottle rock in culver city, which is predominantly a wine bar but has a very good beer selection too.

the old rasp is not a pint actually (my bad), but it's great.

Golden State is pretty great.

Bro, I'm thinking of SF for Memorial Day weekend. You down?

btw that raven's eye & few bowls of the good green stuff put me into the heaviness zone last night.

xp yes i am totally down. ill be in DC june 5-7, but here for memday!

omar -- i work in oakland, very near the trappist

Curious if any Minneapolitans have tried Flat Earth. Not as ubiquitous as Surly (and not as good, IMHO) but...

yeah actually i like it more than surly, the best i've had is the Element 115 lager.

if beer drinking types ever make it to the MN, i would be glad to do a beers of MN tasting booze-em-up frenzy - another current favorite is the Brau Brothers Scotch Ale, which has kind of a peaty talisker vibe to it. Tiny brewery out of Lucan MN (pop 220).

Tiny brewery out of Lucan MN (pop 220).

awesome!

yea i feel like MN's got a lot going on wrt beer. it's really too bad that a lot of midwest breweries don't distribute that far. i can get whatever west coast seasonal/specialty whatever out here in MA but there's just so much else that i can't find at all

yeah they seem pretty excited on the website to have finally started distributing beer all the way to...iowa.

http://www.braubrothersbrewing.com/Default.aspx

oh yeah and in case you didnt read that far, they grow their own hops o_O

drinking tonight--
arcadia ales IPA; pretty good, not overwhelmingly floral but there's a definite hop taste. Decent, not outstanding, would be worth drinking for fans of the brooklyn IPA, or other american IPAs that have a fairly mellow, crisp taste.

when i get home i will be drinking HOPTICAL ILLUSION again.

J***** M********* become a fan of Old Rasputin Stout
<3

really disappointed with the Keegan Ales "Mother's Milk" stout. Too carbonated for me, and the taste is kind of thin--a one-dimensional burnt coffee flavor. I don't know. I'm bummed I bought a six pack of it. My roommate likes it so I guess she'll enjoy it, but since I killed the growler of Long Trail Tripe Bag Ale, I have nothing else for tonight.

TRIPLE bag, not TRIPE bag. eeeeek.

tripe bag does not sound like a beer one would fuck with

CAD - you've been to the Publick House, right? Just making sure.

oh god, many many times. i was just there last week--the person i was meeting blew me off after an hour to watch lost (in fairness we both figured other ppl would come) so i drank something that was made by superheating rocks and throwing them into the brewing vat by myself :(

awwwww

We were there last night and someone in our group had an amazing ale that had been aged in chardonnay casks or something wacky like that. It was pretty special.

We should arrange a Boston FAP at some point. That might be a good place to do it too.

arrange for a boston fap sometime when i'm visiting family in providence & i will tape the t up.

That's a really good idea. You could bring Elmo!

He could bring me!

Yes!

Ok, this has to happen. Do you have any Providence visits planned?