Why we don't have a thread dedicated to the elixir of the gods (that we can buy in stores instead of making ourselves), I'll never know. So here. Post of beers and joys and whatnot.
I just finished a case of this last night:
I was pleasantly surprised how bitter this was. I mean, it was an IPA and a dark one at that but whew. Bitter. Super, super good.
Nice.. I love the new Cascadian Dark Ales/Black IPA's.
It's sort of old but this isn't the first time we've dedicated a thread to beer. ;) My go to IPA for the last year or so has been Flying Dog's Raging Female Doggo. Deliciously hoppy and well balanced.
The 21st Amendment stuff is surprisingly drinkable considering it's brewing in Cold Springs, MN, at Cold Springs Brewing. They used to call themselves Gluek, and they were the worst brewery on the planet. This is not hyperbole. They made a wide variety of beers in many different styles, and they were awful. They managed to be bad in so many ways, that I can say with complete confidence that they were the worst brewery on the planet, simply because of the width and depth of their awfulness. They're now doing lots of contract brewing, and some of it's not bad (I've bought Back in Black multiple times), but every time I see the words "Cold Springs" on a beer I die a little inside.
We're having my wife's annual winter "Island Party" this weekend and, while everyone else is drinking froofy drinks, I'll be enjoying one of my all-time favorites, the glorious Bell's Kalamazoo Stout.
My current favorite is Victory Brewing's Moonglow which is a weizenbock. It's a local brew but it is delicious. Too bad they only make it in the fall. I need to stock up.
A buddy of mine bought a pack of Sierra Nevada Glissade Golden Bock this week and it was pretty tasty. It was a crisp bock with a nice hoppy layer to it.
I don't drink much commercial beer anymore.. my homebrew is tastier and cheaper... but, currently loving:
Am in Maastricht right now. Look on the map and notice that that is in The Netherlands, with on the left Belgium and on the right Germany.
Love the beer here!
Favorites: Palm, Tripple Leffe, Duvel & La Chouffe
I just finished a case of this last night:
I was pleasantly surprised how bitter this was. I mean, it was an IPA and a dark one at that but whew. Bitter. Super, super good.
The store in Mentor I posted about has it on draft right now.
Cross-posted from the Love thread:
Grimbergen, a great Belgian brand that gets imported into Rhode Island.
I like my Grimbergen like I like my women: Great Body, Great Flavor, Served in a Chalice.
I like beer, but not that WWII watered down crap. But we're not talking about that.
That Stone IPA is killer. I'm not huge on hops, but I love the stuff Stone puts out. It's gotta be COLD though.
I used to be a big Stone drinker when I lived in the D.C. area, but haven't had much of it in years since I moved to Minnesota. In a few weeks, they start distributing here, so I can get back on my Ruination kick--was always one of my favorite IIPAs. I used to utterly love Victory, but they opened a new bottling line back in 2004 and it really changed some things in their beer. Old Horizontal and Storm King were two beers I looked forward to every year, and I just stopped buying them after the big change.
Oh, and for "I like my XXX like I like my women" jokes, here is an incredibly NSFW and rude one and if you are at all easily offended you should probably stay away.
I deal with two specific groups a lot - college students and transients.
I therefore have a question for you guys - has anybody here ever tried Steel Reserve?
I assume it must taste absolutely HORRIBLE. My reasoning is as follows: Virtually every transient I have ever contacted has Steel Reserve on them. Usually a couple unopened cans in the backpack, a couple empties lying around.
According to Wikipedia, it's 8.1% alcohol, and it's obviously dirt cheap if every homeless guy I've met can afford it.
How atrociously bad must it taste that college students don't drink it? The parking lots are littered with Keystone Light 30 pack boxes on Sundays all over campus, but I have only found one can of that stuff with a college student.
If you've tried this stuff, you have to let me know what it's like - I really don't drink much (just Guinness when I do drink) so I can't do much of a taste test, but I'm sure a more normal drinker here has tried this...errr....fine brew.
I like Miller Light and my own Piss!
The last beer I drank ^^^^
My preferences are usually for Belgian trappist ales and lambics or German Weizens. My absolute favorite beers are:
I deal with two specific groups a lot - college students and transients.
I therefore have a question for you guys - has anybody here ever tried Steel Reserve?
As a college student, holy hell it tastes like a can of slow roasted dog's asshole fermented over maggoty corn.
InspectorFowler wrote:I deal with two specific groups a lot - college students and transients.
I therefore have a question for you guys - has anybody here ever tried Steel Reserve?
As a college student, holy hell it tastes like a can of slow roasted dog's asshole fermented over maggoty corn.
In college we use to offer up the Steel Reserve challenge. The challenge was to drink two 40's of Steel Reserve in a row. The results were always the same: 1) They puked because it was nasty. 2) They turned into a violent asshole after the second. This was considered winning.
@InspectorFowler - re: Steel Reserve - that ish is malt liquor along the lines of St. Ides, Olde English, etc etc. It's cheap and gets you drunk quick, so yeah, transients and college students would be a target demographic for them. I usually only see it in the 'hood bodegas around here, and almost exclusively in the tall can 32oz variety.
@Tanglebones - we may have different tastes in movies, but damn if we don't share them in beer (the cause of - and solution to - all of life's problems!). As a California native, I am required by law to love any Anchor Brewing or Sierra Nevada variety; while I like Chimay I am partial to its cousin: Duvel; and living in Brooklyn for the past 10 years has hipped me to the wonders of the Brooklyn Brewery. Speaking of which:
If any of youse can find the Local 1 or 2 from Brooklyn, go for it. It may be hard to find (it's actually pretty hard to find here in Brooklyn!) but it's worth it.
Which reminds me that I have been here for almost 11 years and still haven't taken advantage of the weekly tours they do of the brewery.
Westvleteren 12 - Best beer I've ever had. Rated the best beer in the world by ratebeer.com, and #2 at Beer advocate. You can only get it at the trappist monastery itself - they don't sell it commercially, and you have to sign an agreement promising not to resell it. Of course, people do resell it - at a huge markup. I found it at a little beer bistro in Rome, aged 5 years, for 30 euros a bottle.
Worth every penny. A perfectly complex and balanced trappist beer with dark fruit flavours.
Westvleteren 12 - Best beer I've ever had. Rated the best beer in the world by ratebeer.com, and #2 at Beer advocate. You can only get it at the trappist monastery itself - they don't sell it commercially, and you have to sign an agreement promising not to resell it. Of course, people do resell it - at a huge markup. I found it at a little beer bistro in Rome, aged 5 years, for 30 euros a bottle.Worth every penny. A perfectly complex and balanced trappist beer with dark fruit flavours.
*weeping*
I used to be able to buy that on the shelves of beer stores here in the U.S. before it became so popular that the monks stopped selling it to distributors. It's utterly, completely, and totally spectacular in every sense of the word, and I can't get it anymore. I once bought it at a drive-through liquor store near my folks' house in Tampa, which is probably the oddest beer-related transaction of my life.
Anyone know someplace on the East side I could find this:
Went to the Mentor store at lunch to stock up for tonight, they had Milk Stout, 400 Pound Monkey, Black Jack Porter and another Left Hand brew that I can't remember.
I can't get a link and since I am in the big sandbox right now and won't be back until about April I can't get a pic, but the best beer other than my good ole trusty Guinness is a local micro brew that turned public in Alaska. It is an oatmeal stout that the place restricts to only 2 glasses of 10 oz each per visit. Reason being the stout is 10% alcohol by volume. I would love to get more of it, it is just so smooth, but I understand why they do that.
Try the Chimay red label. Not as strong as the blue, but better tasting IMO.
I've yet to find a beer made by the Brooklyn brewery that is good. And that is to say, all of their beers are so excellent, that not a single one ranks below an A- for me. I don't think even dogfish head can compete with Brooklyn for its consistency in making amazing stuff. Their Local #1 and #2, and their Sorachi Ace are three of the best things humanity has created.
This is what kept me company most of the winter:
Thoughts listed here.
Dry Hopped brown ales are the unsung heroes of our generation.
I really, really love beer from a microbrewery in California, the Anderson Valley Brewing Company. Everything they make is good. I particularly liked their Oatmeal Stout. Can't get it out here on the East Coast, which is a bummer.
Just picked up a 12-pack of Sam Adams "Noble Pils". Don't care for it that much -- the selling point is that it uses all five kinds of 'noble hops', whatever the heck those are, but I don't think it actually tastes very good.
Anchor Steam is excellent, and I'm very fond of Gordon Biersch's Marzen.
And my current favorite; Stone Brewing Ruination IPA
eta: And to follow on from Grubber788's comment: I like beer that reminds me of my wife; cold and bitter. ;)
This is making my mouth water. And the beer, too.
I love almost all of Stone's beers, but the Ruination is my favorite. It seems a bit unrefined in a way, which makes it all the better. I actually found a homebrew recipe that was supposedly a clone of the Ruination. It was *exceptional*. I easily drank that brew over anything I could find at the stores. It went away pretty quickly.
Aside from Stone, Bells makes a very good couple of IPAs in their Two Hearted and Hopslam beers. I'm also a big fan of the Three Floyds Alpha King. Three Floyds is in Munster, IN, just over near the Illinois border from here.
The Steel Reserve now makes more sense. Well, at least I can know that college students have that much common sense, which is a good thing.
There used to be an Irish pub here (they lost their liquor license serving to under 21) and they had vintage Guinness ads on the wall advertising its health benefits. Pretty awesome. I wish somebody would open a neighborhood pub within walking or biking distance of me.
I was just at the store earlier today and looked to pick up some ruination. Is is supposed to be $18 for 6? Perhaps it was simply the wrong label.
I did pick up some left hand milk stout, though. So overall, the trip was a win.
Ruination isn't and IPA, it's an imperial IPA. More hops, more malt, more stuff. Always costs more. That looks like a standard price to me.
As for SA Noble Pils, I really like it. Great hop bite for a pils, but it is a bit thick for me. Not quite as crisp as I'd prefer, but I've bought a fair amount of it in between drinking Bigfoot and Bell's Expedition Stout.
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