Beer in the new era

Is anyone Boston-based going to the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp on June 18?

so i think i've asked this before but my in-laws are coming to visit in a few weeks from buffalo grove and they wanted to know what local beers they can bring with them and i was hoping chicago ppl could give me some names / breweries to pass along. i think they'd prefer to go to whatever local binny's they have but they did indicate that they'd go to a brewery if there was one not too far away (and obv worth going to).

Costco by me now has Stone and Ballast Point variety packs. I picked up the Ballast Point today. Solid brewery imo. Sculpin is v good.

xp

Any Binny's will have piles of local/regional stuff. I was at one in the city today and there were cases and cases of Half Acre, Revolution, Pipeworks, and smaller Chicago breweries like Arcade, Ale Syndicate etc etc... oh and Lagunitas. There will also be lots of regional offerings: 3 Floyds, Two Brothers, Bell's, Founder's, and the like.

All the Chicago places (as well as 3F and TB) have breweries that sell stuff except for Pipeworks and Arcade afaik. There is more, of course, because there's always more, but those are the ones I drink a lot.

I got a six of Bell's Hopsolution today fwiw.

The Revolution "Deep Wood" barrel aged beers are all very good and really easy to find at most stores like Binny's.

Yeah, they have them at Whole Foods and stuff, too. Mordy, you're in Philly, right? (I'm from West Chester). There's so much here you can't get there, and most of it will be pretty good, but going for the "big" (in every sense) beers might be the most efficient way to go, like those Rev Deep Wood beers, specifically (if you can find it) something like Deth's Tar. Pipeworks makes lots of really good big beers, too, and as far as cans go Ninja Vs. Unicorn is excellent.. Half Acre is great, but I want to say more for cans of solid everyday stuff. I've been enjoying their Vallejo APA lately, not least because the cans are pretty and for once don't look like something a high school kid scribbled on a Trapper Keeper.

But yeah: Revolution, Lagunitas, Off Color, Half Acre, Pipeworks, ... Regionally, you've got Three Floyds, Bell's, New Glarus in WI, Founder's, Dark Horse ...

thx guys - we actually get a lot of stuff here in pa now - lagunitas, half acre, bell's, new glarus, founder's + dark horse. but i'm going to mention the others to them.

You sure you get New Glarus there? That's WI exclusive.

St. Louis has lots of great beers, dunno where they go. Schlafly, 4 Hands, Perennial ...

If you like sours Penrose is a good Chicago area option, too.

oh, yeah, you're right about new glarus. idk what i'm confusing it with.

Surly is distroed in Chicago now right?

Yes

Not exactly the type of beer to usually get hyped in this thread, but... Stroh's is returning to Detroit, and with a higher alcohol content:

http://www.dailydetroit.com/2016/06/12/strohs-coming-home-detroit-going-stronger/

My Michigan pride has gotten all swole up because of this. Now if they'd only bring back Stroh's Dark...

Chicago dudes... tell me about Kentuckley from Transient.

Good question! I know Transient has usually got the goods. I got a couple of bottles of their collaborative Neckbeard Nectar last winter, and it was great.

I tried a very nice red lager from William Bros brewery in Scotland and started looking at online ale sellers to get some more. I couldn't help notice what a bunch of ripoffs they are, everything marked up way too high. So I went directly to the William Bros site and found I could get a dozen 330ml bottles for £21, including delivery. Well impressed with that.

My inlaws are in Decorah, Iowa, so my 4th of July weekend included a trip to Toppling Goliath Tap Room. Incredible beers from a small (but soon to expand) brewery in a small town.

Pseudo Sue is fantastic. I've never had their BA stouts (only Morning Delight, their coffee & maple stout) but they are probably the hardest beers to obtain in the USA, maybe the world?

There are a few places in Minneapolis that carry Pseudo Sue, but they're often backordered, so I brought some back. It's great you can just pick it up at the grocery store in IA.

I had Pompeii IPA at the taproom, 5.5% but not billed as a session IPA; super-tasty single hop Mosaic. (Rated 100/100 on Ratebeer.)

I am in Toronto. What should I be drinking?

When I was there couple years ago it seemed light on breweries. There was one on Ossington called Bellwoods that I seemed to remember being good,plus I just liked that general area.

I have a friend who gets Bellwoods extras in beer trades and they have all been good to very good when he's shared them with me.

Is there a scene in Bristol, England?

Sitting at Bellwoods now and really enjoying it! Good looking out, Jim. Got a barrel aged stout with cocoa and berries that's very good, plus an IPA, and ciders for my wife. A damn sight better than the stuff on offer near our hotel.

http://www.gooseisland.com/bcsrefund.html

not even sure I want to bother with this. I should just drink them and pretend it's a different beer.

Been following this for what seems like a few months now. Who the fuck keeps receipts from beer purchases, let alone from back in November? Thanks for nothing, GI. Actually, I haven't cracked open any of my bottles from my fall haul, so maybe I dodged a bullet. Has GI been at all specific about which bottling/batches are problematic?

Oh, I see, they just need photos of the date, more or less. I have five affected.

Drinking Magic Rock's sour beer 'Contortionist' on tap. It's so good. Not face-meltingly sour, but not mild either.

Finally found a sour that was kinda meh instead of really good or better: New Belgium's Tart Lychee.

Have you tried Uinta Brewing's Ready, Set, Gose? It is bordering on undrinkable.

No, haven't seen that one. Sours are still trying to get a market foothold down here.

Lindeman's Kriek, Amuse Gooseberry, Sourdough. The second one was amazing!

Checked my remaining bourbon counties, 1 infected prop, 2 infected reg. Annoying, especially with the prop because I never got a chance to try it.

Also, the buyback price of the prop is $10 under list, right?

I only have one and it's on the list :(

I take it the barleywine is safe? Have one of those, too.

Green Flash Sea to Sea lager. Good stuff for the summer.

Xpost I think barleywine and coffee were determined to be infected months ago, with refund.

Fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu

http://www.gooseisland.com/blog.html/blog.html?id=post_11

(re: coffee and barleywine)

Yeah I still have a barleywine. Wish they would still take it in this recall. It's not like it has gotten any less infected.

Many xps but I think that every gose is undrinkable

(otra vez is the worst thing I've ever tasted, anyway. Never again.)

So maybe this is a dumb question, but just because a BCS was within the range of dates for possible infection doesn't mean it WILL develop the flavor issues that the brewers describe, right? I mean, the bottles I've tasted were fine (regular and prop)...

Just trying to convince myself there's hope for my remaining bottles.

No expert, but I think there is hope. But FWIW, just opened my prop and it's bourbon county sour. Not horrible but it tasted like a stout with tart cherries.

I think beer nerds add baking soda or baking powder or something to put the pH back in balance?

My one bottle of BC (the regular) is one of the dates in question. I'm just gonna drink it, but am wondering if drinking sooner rather than later would be advised.

I traded for 15 Prop and now am scared to open it. Even early on people said it was sickly sweet with hints of guajillo.

Over/under on Regal Rye & Prop developing issues?

i guess i should crack all these soon and never buy bottled bcbs again

Funny enough, GI just revealed that 2016 Prop adjuncts will be maple cacao chipotle... :-/