Beer in the new era

as a MPLS/STPL native, i am so confused by how people can happily choke down surly brews. they are swill.

probably already expressed this sentiment upthread somewhere but it bears repeating.

two-hearted is one of my favorite beers, period. prob my favorite IPA

I've enjoyed Surly Bender and Coffee Bender. I was actually trying to find if there's anywhere in Chicago that sells Surly in six-packs, since I am going to a (don't ask) Minnesota-themed party on Saturday. Guess I'll have to settle for Summit.

Peak was a little too ... earthy or something.

there's a peak organic IPA and a peak organic pale ale, I've never had teh IPA but pale ale is delish

gonna keep an eye out for two hearted

I actually had surly bender for the first time this past weekend and I definitely enjoyed it. Wasn't superlative or nothing, but a good solid dark beer.

probably already expressed this sentiment upthread somewhere but it bears repeating.

Ah, yes. I now see your sentiment upthread. I also see your rec for the Summit Red Ale -- which I also remember enjoying very much on the same trip.

surly brews. they are swill.

Polite disagreement. When I'm in the mood for a HUGE blast (lol energy drink can) of piney, citrusy hops, Furious fills the bill for me perfectly. Not much of fan of their other styles though, tbh.

Liking the Summit Red Ale a lot too.

i've been in a rut w/ beer lately. need something new, i think. tend to be 4 types of beer:

1. beers i love but that i've tried hundreds of times already. could always go w/ these but i like variety
2. beers i have tried that aren't very good
3. beers i have not tried but don't look very good or come from breweries that i've been burned on before
4. beers that look awesome but are only sold for >$9 for a 22 oz bottle. i could go w/ these i suppose but it doesn't help my weeknights when i only want to have one glass of beer (and don't want to drop $$ just for that)

what i really want are beers that a.) look great b.) are sold in six-packs c.) are not more than say, $10/six (which is even a bit much)

d.) that i have not tried before

yeah dudes, ive tried to get into the surly stuff (friend of a friend is part owner, which makes me even more of a dick i suppose) but they just all have some weird overpowering something going on that gets in the way of what is in there that i might appreciate i guess. feel the same way about laguinitas, some parallel there that i cant quite put my finger on, but i think its whatever gives stuff that grass clipping vibe i get sometimes. to each their own tho.

jaymc, it might be worth trying to track down the red ale if you want to dodge the boring old (although still awesome to be fair) pale ale summit.

Oh yeah, Peak Organic Pale Ale is great great great. I was really surprised since it looked like such a generic yuppie-appeal beer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/tracerhand/Realaletwats.jpg

Well, I don't drink a lot of Summit (it's not quite as ubiquitous down here), so I don't think of any of their beers as "boring old" -- but it looks like one of the big booze emporiums has the red ale, so maybe I'll give it a shot.

Two especially embarrassingly marketed but very good beers I've had lately -- Blue Point's Hoptical Illusion and Rastafar-rye Ale.

Best new-to-me beer I've had recently was from Tyranena (small brewery in Lake Mills, Wisconsin I don't think has been mentioned upthread.)

They do limited edition seasonals called "Brewers Gone Wild" (again with the CA-RAY-ZY!!! marketing) and the one I had was called Scurvy IPA. Brewed with orange zest, although it's not at all fruity; it just added to the citrusy zing of the hops.

oh hey ive had that! pretty good, i think they had it at the muddy pig in Saint Paul. (btw if out of towners are looking to do some quality beer drinking in the twin cities, the muddy pig is where its at.)

When I'm in the mood for a HUGE blast (lol energy drink can) of piney, citrusy hops, Furious fills the bill for me perfectly.

Hmm. That's exactly what disappointed me about it -- to me, it had no fresh, citrusy hop flavor at all. Piney like a car scent thingy, yes. Piney like a pine forest, no. I just wonder whether the perversity of the idea of drinking good beer/ale out of a can is what turns some people on to Surly.

Two especially embarrassingly marketed but very good beers I've had lately -- Blue Point's Hoptical Illusion and Rastafar-rye Ale.

I had the Hoptical Illusion recently too but wasn't a huge fan. I remember it being on the heavy side for an IPA...

Hoptical Illusion has a really atrocious label, yes, but I remember it being totally drinkable.

btw had a few more newport storm hurricane amber ale's last night, and i decided that the scent is v v similar to this stuff:
http://www.flexpack.org/images/Public/juicy.jpg

i got a six pack of those hop wallops tonight; pretty nice beer. not syrupy like a lot of other high abv ales.

Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA tonight -- loving it.

Not sure if I've had that -- I always get Burning River for some reason.

Had a Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse last night - yummo. Best weissbier I've had - just the right amount of tartness. Will be drinking loads more of it, I think.

just noticed that my local, favorite bar/restaurant, beachwood bbq, has moinette on tap. had it when i was up in portland and was definitely a stand out in a trip that involved many a beer tasting. might have to go and revisit.

xp - yea franziskaner weisse is one the best wheats ever imo

does anyone actually like Carlsberg or is it just cheap?

i have a friend that drinks it pretty regularly but it seems to be residual from his time in scotland. since it's not cheap in america there is no reason at all to drink it.

i've only ever seen it in british-style pubs like this place.

... I got 24 cans for $9.99

ha getting any full strength beer for that price in australia is impossible. they brew carlsberg and tuborg here locally now so it's affordable at about au$45.

and it's kind of bad.

This on sale was 3 weeks before the "best before" date though.

I like Carlsberg Elephant.

today:
Sam Smith's Taddy Porter with lunch (excellent beer, will drink more of A++)
Rogue Dead Guy Ale
Long Hammer IPA

Lately I feel a little fatigued by the variety of available beer.

in your neighborhood or in life or what?

Like last night I went to a bar and there was an Ommegang I had never had, a Six Points I had never had, a Blue Point I had never had, etc.

Aside from that though, I am loving Lagunitas IPA lately.

Had Bear Republic Racer 5 for the first time tonight. Great stuff. An explosion of hops but with a nice caramel undertone.

This was also very good:

http://www.ericronning.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/img_2534-480x320.jpg

Maybe the closest a beer's come to matching my beloved Two Brothers Cain and Ebel (both hoppy red ales).

I bought a 22 of Racer 5 yesterday, pretty good but not overwhelming. It may have had something to do with the 22 of Beck's I had first.

There was also a dark but hoppy-for-a-dark-beer somethingorother from Southern Tier that I had the other night and can't dredge up the name of.

Jaymc, have you tried the Green Flash Hop Head Red? You may like it.

Had an Allagash Hugh Malone tonight, really really liked it. According to Beeradvocate it is a "Belgian IPA" -- I had no clue that such a style existed, but I am glad it does. And the name does pretty accurately convey the taste.

last night i had a Speakeasy double IPA which I was actually pretty disappointed with. An exceedingly bitter beer--and I can take my hops, but this was way OTT. A sort of caustic boozy finish. I also had some kind of Norwegian porter which was v v excellent, but I don't remember the brewery.

Today I have had a brooklyn IPA and a few of the Green Flash Hop Head Red.

john, you'd also probably like this: Stone 13th anniversary ale, although i doubt you're going to be able to find it or anything. but, it is a hoppy, big red with some nice dried fruit flavors, too.

oh yeah, and craftsman's triple white sage is also awesome, way more herb flavor than i was expecting, but in a good way.

Thanks for the tips. It looks like Green Flash just started distributing to Chicago recently, so I'll keep an eye out for it.

DFH raison d'etre --- i've tried this a bunch of times over the past 5 years or so but damn i am very happy that i have this right now. style's a belgian strong ale but fucked if that's what it tastes like. if you think of it as a brown ale, it's prob one of the most well-rounded, complex browns i've ever tried. caramel, very soft notes of coffee, malty, little bit earth, very slightest bitternes, everything you'd want in to a good brown ale

^^^ love this stuff. probably the only dfh i can drink more than a few of in a sitting. (not that i should, given apv and calorie count.)

i said caramel but it's really like HUGE fucking caramel. with raisins and dried fruit or something. tbh tho this is like one of the first craft beers i've bought since drinking no other beer but pabst for like a month. i just moved so all the moving expenses + being in between jobs for a couple weeks made for cheap 30 packs.

prob anything would taste delicious after cleaning out that pbr 30 pack tho, but still, i think this is a really good beer

but yea the abv is big on this one

also i bought some budweiser american ale 'out of curiosity'

it's not that good, but not bad. totally what you'd expect i guess - bit more flavor, super mild hop bitterness but still recognizable, bit more malty than the regular bod. gorgeous color tho i have to say