Beer in the new era

I tried several pilsners recently and they all tasted poisonous to me. (It's possible, though, that I had a bad selection; it was a variety pack from Oskar Blues)

Re: fresh beer -- it was great to sample the breadth of currently-available Upper Hand beers while visiting family last month, all of which were bottled within two weeks of opening.

I can't imagine IPA not being my favorite style. Followed closely by stout.

I'm no longer intrigued by every new IPA I see, but I still like the style. I do still check out every barrel-aged or sour beer I see (check out = look at the bottle to see if there's anything interesting there, not necessarily buy).

I like IPAs but it's probably something like my 9th fav style. My love of them has probably been hurt by their ubiquity.

still love a good IPA, but stouts have definitely surpassed them for variety & interest in my case.

Whenever I investigate a new brewery, I usually start with their ipa. If they have one.

there are better ipa breweries than there are malt-forward beer makers in the us imho

which is weird because the number one complaint of people who dont like beer is that its too bitter

i always suggest a low ibu or a malt-forward beer and theyre like 'oh this is actually p good!'

I'm in Portland, OR this weekend and this is beer heaven. Outside of Brussels, it's hard to imagine a better beer scene in the world.

I tried several pilsners recently and they all tasted poisonous to me. (It's possible, though, that I had a bad selection; it was a variety pack from Oskar Blues)

― Don't boo, vote (DJP), Friday, August 5, 2016 3:57 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wait was this a variety pack of pilsners?

No, there was other stuff in there. None of it was particularly memorable beyond the pilsner, which I REALLY REALLY hated.

Flying Fish Farmhouse Summer Ale is quite nice. I never would have guessed it was 7% wheat without reading the label. Just tastes like a refreshing, balanced summer ale.

Even post refund Goose Island let you keep the bottles of hypothetically infected beer, so today I cracked one open, curious. I'd never had an infected beer before, so was unsure what to look for. It tasted like BCBS, but was I guess ... thinner? And after I looked it up what tastes to expect, yeah, maybe got some hints of cherry or even butter. But while it was a little extra fizzy it wasn't bad, per se. So for the sake of comparison I opened up a bottle that should have been good, and it was better, though not radically so. But it did give me a better base line to establish that the first bottle was indeed a little off. Maybe it was just on its way and not totally there yet?

Which one did you open?

And I still haven't got my refund check yet.....

Regular.

Tonight I'm saying fuckit and opening my remaining stock of BC beers: 2013-2015 of regular and barleywine. I'm going to drink them with some non-super-beer-nerdy friends -- how should I prepare for/explain the inevitable infected bottle(s)?

(Basically I just shoved these bottles in a dark corner of my closet and kept them there; they haven't been in a cellar/basement or fridge.)

BC = british columbia?

was super impressed w/the beers there & in seattle when I was there last month

like most, I totally burnt out on IPAs through 14/15. must be getting old because more often than not I reach for the humble session

Tonight I'm saying fuckit and opening my remaining stock of BC beers: 2013-2015 of regular and barleywine. I'm going to drink them with some non-super-beer-nerdy friends -- how should I prepare for/explain the inevitable infected bottle(s)?

(Basically I just shoved these bottles in a dark corner of my closet and kept them there; they haven't been in a cellar/basement or fridge.)

― I want to change my display name (dan m), Saturday, August 20, 2016 10:20 AM (23 minutes ago)

make sure you start with the 2013s or rather end with the 2015s!!!! Can't stress this enough. Also someone should be brave and test the 2015s before pouring out to the entire group.

Oh yeah, definitely going oldest-newest! Good call about trying the new ones first, although the idea of all of us sharing in the taste of infection simultaneously is funny.

BC = shorthand for "Bourbon County"

You should have someone video tape you tasting the 15s like those jelly belly "bean-boozled" gross or weird tasting challenges.

or malort face

haha

A small nagging part of me wonders if the "bad" vintage BC that I had a couple weeks ago, and found no fault with, actually was infected and I have such a dead palate that I couldn't taste it. May as well go back to macro beer. :(

^^^been wondering about this too

I haven't had the infected BC stout but the barleywine I had was extremely sour and viscous. It was distinctly repulsive upon first sip, there was no question it had turned/soured/curdled.

I still have a Prop that I'm scared to open because I heard there's a 50/50 chance it could be okay.

five out of six were good -- 2015 barleywine was sour

2013 barleywine was the best

Bloomberg somewhat inexplicably has an article about an amazing brewery near me:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-31/oec-brewing-is-the-most-exciting-craft-establishment-in-the-us

I've only been there a couple of times, but obviously I need to make it back soon to try out all this crazy stuff.

Attn Minnesotans itt: http://www.upperhandbrewery.com/upper-hand-brewery-to-expand-distribution-into-minnesota/

xpost: I've had an OEC wild ale, it was pretty spruce-y and may have been gin barrel aged. Pretty interesting!

Modern Times dude going hard at Golden Road and "selling out". mostly interesting for the waves it's supposedly making in the socal craft beer scene.

http://moderntimesbeer.com/blog/what-selling-out?cc

(ftr i enjoy most of what i've had from modern times and think golden road is mostly really well-advertised garbage, which i've basically said a few times upthread)

that's a great post

got a cool 60 bucks from goose island in the mail yesterday

I just got a "suggested post" from Michelob Ultra, and the 276 comments are kinda fascinating; some marketing-bot (or probably an intern) responds to every one:

Alma R: A cold Michelob Ultra after a day in the pool...

Michelob ULTRA: Sounds like a great day to us, Alma.

Sylvia D: My favorite beer nice an cold! Love it when Publix was buy 2 12pk get 1 free!!

Michelob ULTRA: That's a great deal. Hope you can enjoy it soon.

Drank my 2014 BCBS vanilla rye last night and holy hell it was tasty.

lol xp

lagunitas is one of the best west coast breweries that distribute widely imo, the stoopid wit was outstanding i thought, and i've been buying the aunt sally dry-hopped sour all the time this summer. my dad's favorite beer (he likes craft beer but is not really an aficionado or anything) is the little sumpin sumpin and that one is great twoo, there are few beers from them that i haven't liked and i'm not even a huge fan of super hoppy west coast styles

lagunitas & campari 👌🏽

oh wow tell me more about this

http://www.thekitchn.com/summer-cocktail-recipe-campari-ipa-spritzer-150343

had a pretty ridic colombian coffee porter called Pablo Escobeer from Beachwood at a bar in koreatown called Southland. lots of good bottles there, too. picked up some Evil Twin, which is pretty hard to come by out here.

I hate beer cocktails.

Been drinking some Smuttynose Wunderbar that comes in a can. One of the better domestic pilsners.

Drank my 2014 BCBS vanilla rye last night and holy hell it was tasty.

― Jeff, Friday, September 23, 2016 10:29 AM (eight hours ago)

I'm down to my last one, I'm waiting for the right occasion to crack it, great to hear that it's still banging.

lagunitas is one of the best west coast breweries that distribute widely

They currently produce the majority of their beer in their massive Chicago facility, and they're distributed via Miller/Yuengling/SamAdams/Sierra.

"... not that there's anything *wrong* with that."

I don't think I've bought any Sucks since their buyout, but I have noticed it sticks around in the stores longer than it used to.

Four Winds Nectarous
Driftwood Raised by Wolves
Driftwood 2015 Singularity
Phillips Amnesiac
4 Mile Thunder Bomber
Central City Red Racer Pumpkin Ale

I had an Arrogant Bastard + Campari at home the other night and it was delicious and refreshing.