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i have to share my experience of tasting the worst "beer" I've ever had the misfortune of encountering. I'm in Helsinki for a little while, meaning I have to put up with high prices and a mostly terrible selection of beer. It's heightened at venues for gigs which jack up the prices and have shitter selections than regular bars. This one I went to a few days ago was doing a special (only €5.30!) on Copen*Hagen. It's some Carlsberg product brewed by license in a Lithuanian brewery or something.  And whoah boy was it terrible. It's a clear bottle that shows the translucent white wine-color product inside. Alarm bells were ringing by this time but hey, I was at the gig, it was about to start and alcohol was needed. Jesus christ, they claim it's "extra-ordinarily refreshing. Crisp, easy and smooth. Without bitter aftertaste. Brewed with nothing but natural ingredients and cold filtered for purity. Copen*hagen is like an open invitation. Scandinavian minimalism. Being beautifully stylish and refreshingly approachable, it allows you to enjoy beer in a discerning, stylish and modern way." Screw all of that. "Without bitter aftertaste" more like without any taste except for sewer-conditioned vomit. There was a hint of something like citrus like you might get in a Cabernet Sauvignon but without the crispness of the wine. It was not beer, it wasn't wine... I don't know what the hell it was. I think the ingredient list is the most telling: "Wheat malt, rice, malted barley, carbon dioxide and 'hop flavour'." No mention of yeast. I'll be charitable and assume hop flavor means hop oil or extract or something. But genuinely, I think they're trying to attract a new market for this "beer" by making it appeal to women. It's a sad thing, because I know so many non-beer drinking women who have been genuinely positive surprised by dry-hopped (but not overly bitter) stylish craft beers. This isn't doing any favors for beer culture. Carlsberg have truly scraped the bottom of the barrel with this one. It took a good few glasses of water and other drinks to get the taste away from my mouth. Avoid.
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Jul 1, 2012 12:04
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 23:35 |
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"Sadly" I'm Europe-based but will keep it in mind.  Has any one of you ever tried Copen Hagen? Because goddamn, I wasn't even aware of its existence.
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Jul 1, 2012 16:55
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Kosher man posted:Helsinki actually has 2 down right amazing bars. http://www.onepintpub.com/?page_id=6 Oh I'm aware, I've been. This was, like I said in that post, desperation of a sort mixed with morbid curiosity.
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Jul 1, 2012 18:08
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It's looking a little like we'll be taking another US sojourn this coming fall. The past two years, we've travelled down the East Coast from NYC to Atlanta (2010) and West Coast from Seattle to San Francisco (2011) and beer has figured into the sightseeing heavily. I would quite happily do Southern California (Stone Brewing, driving through Death Valley to Vegas, etc) but the girlfriend said we should do the middle of the country instead. We'd be flying from London so are pretty flexible with destinations. The idea would probably be to land somewhere, do a road trip loop taking in breweries and natural beauty and then fly out to save on drop-off charges. The currently-floated idea is to explore the Colorado craft beer scene. Obviously, New Belgium and Odell would be on the list but I have to admit being kind of ignorant about the other quality brewers of the state that claims so many craft breweries. Would this be feasible? Would it make sense to drive out of state? Somehow Wyoming and Utah don't strike me as the most crafty beer states. I guess I'm looking for feedback on the plan. It's still up in the air so very malleable. We'd probably have a couple of weeks for this beer and national park pilgrimage.
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Jul 2, 2012 19:43
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So there's this.BrewDog posted:
drat it, Brewdog, I liked the previous stuff but find this just genuinely pretty gimmicky. I know they're the WACKY GIMMICK BROTHERS to Dogfish Head in style and Stone in bottle labels but seriously? I mean, it could be a good beer, I wouldn't know. (Thanks for the tips about Colorado from, what, 500 posts back by the way. They were an incredible help in shaping up this holiday-to-be)
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Jul 25, 2012 18:54
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Does anyone know what hops go into Mikkeller's American Dream? It has the most amazing hoppy nose that works beautifully in a crisp beer (it is a pale lager after all), but I'll be damned if I can place all the aromas/flavors. This is mostly because I want to brew it myself in some way or another.
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May 21, 2013 17:26
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Anderron Shi posted:My first sour beer, Lindeman's Peche Lambic. I paid $5.99 for this 12 oz bottle. It's pretty good, just really low abv (2.5). Seriously not attempting to stir poo poo here, but I (as a European) find this approach confusing. If it tastes good, why would you amp up the alcohol? [Lindeman's Peche doesn't taste that good I admit]
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May 22, 2013 15:08
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ChickenArise posted:Working on my palate has led me to almost 100% stop drinking soda or sweet drinks, and I now drink even lovely coffee black (usually). This has been the case for me too. An appreciation of dry stouts and black coffee came hand in hand with a conscious investment to try and understand flavors. Randy Mosher's Tasting Beer is the reference text used for Cicerone's Certified Beer Server, for what it's worth.
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May 23, 2013 19:39
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Kudosx posted:
Being in the UK means being caught in the middle of extortionately-priced import stuff from USA on one hand, and generally extortionate Mikkeller and friends on the other.  I really, really envy you USians your prices for six-packs.Loonytoad Quack posted:Cracked open the Stone's Imperial Stout and this is really drat good drinking. Best American beer I've had so far and I'm lead to believe the others are as good or better. Can't wait to work through the rest. Which shop did you end up getting your haul from? I'm a big fan of a load of the beers in your picture. And a general question: How do you guys deal with lupulin threshold shift? After brewing some ridiculously hoppy/bitter beers, and drinking a lot of fresh American and American-inspired ones, I'm finding drinking something like Ruination a pleasant and hardly extreme experience. While I wouldn't like to go back to spitting out Hop Stoopid for being so bitter, I'd like to have a refreshed sense of hop aroma and bitterness. If I stayed away from beer for a while, how long should I abstain to reset my palate? Or is the damage done and I am stuck searching for more and more IBU and hops per gallon?
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May 28, 2013 15:47
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swickles posted:Which one did you have? Ha, a lot of us drinking it on release at BrewDog in Camden thought that the Flying Dog one was better and the BrewDog one was way sweet with crystal malts. They had us tasting blind and I knew the BrewDog one was theirs because of that heavy-handed crystal. (They seem to have dialed that down since, Jackhammer is a brilliant beer)
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May 29, 2013 23:10
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Spuckuk posted:I didn't really think I liked berliner weisse, the ones in Berlin were loaded wih ruit syrup and prety much Alcopops Far Skyline is loving banging, as is Brew By Numbers 04/01 Berliner. edit: I run a beer shop in London, UK. I have a good relationship with a guy who travels for business out of Raleigh, NC quite often. We trade beer. What are locally-available beers I should get him to bring me? I've managed to score Heady Topper and Prairie BOMB off him, which I thought were quite good finds, but I'm starting to flag a little on my knowledge of what to ask for. I've really loved all the Wicked Weed stuff he's brought over too.
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Aug 26, 2014 12:47
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funkybottoms posted:uh-oh, the floodgates have been opened... I mentioned the Heady as an indicator that he does get stuff from further afield. I also tried the Prairie BOMB! the other day from him. That was nice. He's brought me some Allagash stuff (eh, didn't grab me) and we can get a load of Jolly Pumpkin here in the UK. Good shout on Boulevard though! As far as style goes, anything really. I'm trying to be omnivorous with my beers (given that it's a career) but getting fresh-as-a-daisy IPA is always nice though UK breweries are turning out stuff to rival any American ones these days. One thing we don't get nearly enough of here is the ridiculous American stouts a la BORIS/DORIS... Spuckuk posted:Where is this shop / What is it called? I dont live in London any more, but I know a bunch of thirsty gits who do.. I'm a bit leery about posting exact details online given anonymous hahaha but it's run as part of a young but rapidly-expanding brewery with a load of bars across the UK and some internationally. Make of that what you will. Or check my post history. air- posted:As far as Wicked Weed, Oblivion and Black Angel are the only sours I've found better than mediocre. I still like Wicked Weed in general, but unless something dramatic changes, I'll stick to drinking their sours if I see them at a beer festival. Not saying they are bad, it's more that I personally wouldn't trade anything extravagant for their sours. Westbrook Gose is loving fantastic and I would drink it all day err day if I could. That said, it gets sporadic UK distribution and Westbrook stuff other than that is a bit stretched as far as I understand given Evil Twin brewing there like every day. I've heard good things about Nugget Nectar (and have drunk a homebrew clone that was enjoyable) so might ask for something like that. Retemnav posted:RE: Raleigh - if you want really local stuff, ask for some growlers/howlers of Fullsteam, Raleigh Brewing and Trophy. Or just a bunch of bombers of Fullsteam's Summer Basil, the best summer beer. Thanks a lot for the names, this was exactly what I was looking for - a list of things I can drop the next time he's over and see if he can source any of them.
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Aug 26, 2014 16:28
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air- posted:Prairie/Evil Twin made Bible Belt as well, so I'd try and get that if you liked Bomb. It's distributed under Prairie, though I'm not sure if Evil Twin areas (but not Prairie) had it distributed. Just heard we've got a few cases of that with our address on it, so I'll grab one then
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Aug 26, 2014 16:48
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funkybottoms posted:not true at all, i'm afraid. There's a bottle of Blaecorn in my fridge, and I've still got stock of Yeti. Great minds, eh.Avery would be cool, I'll see if he's able to get anything from them. Do Cascade actually distribute well? I've asked my guy for Crooked Stave stuff and so far nothing.
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Aug 26, 2014 23:19
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a worthy uhh posted:Evil Twin makes half good, half mediocre beer that's super overpriced, and Jeppe is an rear end in a top hat. Don't buy Evil Twin. Eh, Jeppe over Mikkel imo
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Aug 27, 2014 17:41
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Ubik posted:In Lagunitas news, the first quart bottles of Lagunitas Sucks rolled off the line in Chicago today.
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Aug 28, 2014 19:30
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I'm so happy we got to brew this one.
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Hi guys, I realize I could ask this in the travel and tourism bit, but I'm travelling for the beer. I have a month off in November, and am going to take a trip, first to see family and friends, and then for the beer. I'll be stopping in Prague, where I haven't been for something like 13 years, and then Brussels, where I last was a few years ago but on a conference so didn't have as much of a chance to explore as I'd have liked to. What are the do-not-miss beer destinations in either? I'm obviously aware of Cantillon and Moeder Lambic in Brussels, and pilsner from the wood in Prague, but am looking for something a bit more under the surface. Any suggestions appreciated.
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Oct 15, 2014 12:38
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toenut posted:Jeff Alworth recently made a trip to Prague, and these are his suggestions http://allaboutbeer.com/prague-beer/ bartolimu posted:That's a very decent start and mentioned two places I hadn't heard of (and I've been to Prague half a dozen times). U Fleků is an absolute must - the beer is unique and worth tolerating the touristy surroundings. I'll recommend a couple of other places that are Old School and well worth extended visits. Thaaaanks, this is great. I've actually been to tu U Zlateho tygra (I think) but that was years ago. It's exactly what I'm after though, a place where a solo traveller can strike up conversations with random people over great beer. And holy poo poo, the prices have gone up. I remember when it was like Ł0.25 for a beer. Argh, will have to budget accordingly.
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Oct 16, 2014 09:26
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Spuckuk posted:Blame the stag parties for bumping the prices up, but Wenceslas square and the immediate surrounds have always been hugely overpriced relative to the rest of the city. Yesssss. Dumplings and polotmavy ahoy. Suggestions for Brussels places in a similar vein, anyone? I'm aiming to come back to the UK several pounds heavier and with a suitcase full of weird beer.
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Oct 16, 2014 16:38
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http://t.co/8v5264trP3 Brewing legend Prof Narziß slams German beer quote:Professor Ludwig Narziss wrote the book on German brewing. Literally. His two-volume work (with Werner Back) titled simply Die Bierbrauerei is one of the standard textbooks for brewers, so much so that it is referred to just as “der Narziss”. He was already teaching brewing science at Weihenstephan in 1964.
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Nov 9, 2014 12:39
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I'm going to do a bit of a road trip in the states in a month or so. It'll include Colorado, and the other half is more than happy to accompany me for some great beers. Which breweries/brewpubs are not to miss? I haven't got an itinerary yet so can plan accordingly. Or alternatively, which bars have awesome beers and good service, not a ratebeer-tickers type atmosphere? Also, given I am in Europe and work for a brewery, should I bring some bottles? Is that a thing that people do? When I worked in bars, I would massively appreciate people doing something like that but I know we might be more lax about these things... But nobody is going to turn their nose up at some cantillon or silly BrewDog, right? Kaiho fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Jul 19, 2015 |
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Jul 19, 2015 22:11
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funkybottoms posted:goons made a beer-related wiki that includes a regional breakdown of Colorado: legionofawesomebeer.com Thanks for the link! I understand that opening unbought bottles would be a violation and wouldn't expect anyone to do so at my behest. In terms of BrewDog I was thinking of early anniversary stouts (Dog A/B) and depending on if anything cool seasonal comes out in the next few weeks maybe something like that - it doesn't usually get out of the country. That said, any other UK breweries that people would like to see in the states? Something you may have heard of but aren't able to get? I get asked the question all the time the other direction. I'll be seeing friends in San Francisco as well. It's still entirely open how we cover SF-Denver, whether we drive or fly (but we like road trips so would like to do some driving). I've driven down the west coast so am familiar with the beer there (and looking forward to it and In-n-Out) danbanana posted:Out of curiosity... what brewery? I think it might be clear from my posts above. It's not Cantillon. The reason I asked is we get very positively surprised if someone walks in and goes "hey I heard you guys were a cool place, here's something from where I'm from, maybe you'd like to try it with your colleagues".
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Jul 19, 2015 23:39
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FYAD SECRETARY posted:When was the last time you were in SF? If it's been longer than a few years, you'll definitely have new stuff to try. I'm sure your SF friends know what's up though It's been a couple of years, yeah. I'd be interested in hearing what you recommend though, as no doubt some/a lot of my time there will be spent catching up and not necessarily nerding about beer.
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Jul 20, 2015 09:59
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Eejit posted:Bring bottles to breweries, they will be appreciated and you will instantly make friends. Do not bring bottles to bars unless you already know someone there. Cheers dude. Aim is to use Denver as a base, but do various jaunts. National Parks stuff, mostly.
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Jul 20, 2015 16:41
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Eejit posted:Okay then, tops for Denver are Crooked Stave, Denver Beer Co, Great Divide, River North, and Epic. Other good spots but not must-visits are Black Shirt, Our Mutual Friend, TRVE, Renegade, Strange, Beryl's, and Diebolt. Avoid: Breckenridge, Wynkoop, and big chain places like Rock Bottom, Yard House, Gordon Biersch, etc. Thank you for this. I may well come back to the thread to ask about specific areas once my plans have clarified a little bit (currently they are: get a car in Denver airport. See what happens.) FYAD SECRETARY posted:Cellarmaker and The Rare Barrel are both only 2 to 3 years old and are both awesome. Those two also don't get a ton of distribution so visiting the brewery is recommended for those. as far as breweries just to be on the lookout for on draft at random bars: Faction, Fieldwork, Altamont, Berryessa, and maybe Knee Deep. Cellarmaker were at CBC this year, weren't they? That's a pretty quick rise. Also hell yes Rare Barrel - I love specialist breweries like that. Might have to go by myself rather than drag friends but I'm looking forward to it! Also excited about going to the wonderful dive that is Toronado again.
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Jul 21, 2015 17:34
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There were a few cases of Knee Deep that made their (possibly grey market) way into the UK last year. They sure were... big C hop big. Possibly more exciting when fresher, but honestly can't everyone brew a massive CCCC IPA these days?
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Jul 23, 2015 00:14
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Maybe they liquored back with it?
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Jul 23, 2015 21:33
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the yellow dart posted:So I went to Greece, and literally the only beer worth drinking was called Crazy Donkey from the Santorini Brewing Company, Greece's first (and maybe only) IPA. It cost 20 euros for a 750ml bottle and was kind of good. Greece is pretty freaking awesome but just drink wine or be ok with drinking more Alpha and Mythos than you thought your palate could take. I've seen it for cheaper than that but I guess YMMV. Anyway, Santorini Brewing Company is the Greek arm of a ramshackle brewery called Rocky Head in London. The guy divides his time between London and Santorini, and does a wine distro business on the side so ... yeah.
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Jul 26, 2015 13:50
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I had an American customer mention yesterday that he'd buy a lot more beer if it wasn't so expensive in the UK. That led me to thinking, what (aside from the obvious things, like US beer incurring transport and customs costs here in the UK, and UK craft breweries being tiny compared to US ones) makes US craft beer so cheap? As in, what's the taxation regime like on a federal/state level? Is the price of a Lagunitas six-pack the same the country over where they have distribution, or does it vary? I know sales tax gets added on to the sticker price but I'm talking before that.
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Jul 30, 2015 08:57
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funkybottoms posted:maybe it's from last year? that's the sort of beer that gathers plenty of dust where i live. of course, we're getting pumpkin beers already, so... Kosher Man? Is that what people are calling Ryan? Why's that? I have a feeling he wanted to return to the States for a while now. He'll be staying on with SIren as a recipe consultant or similar, leaving trusted people to brew for him.
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Jul 31, 2015 18:04
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Oh man that makes sense that Ryan was a goon. I wish I'd followed the thread closer....! I know what you mean about industry folk not wanting to read about WHALEZ etc. They're (we're) working day to day (not in production in my case) just to have beer for people. It seems extraordinarily competitive/cut-throat when viewed through the beer geek's eyes.
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Jul 31, 2015 21:30
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funkybottoms posted:
The UK beer scene is really small, so while we don't hang out I've met him and shot the poo poo with him on multiple occasions at industry events etc. And no, I don't work for siren, I'm doing stuff for Brewdog in London at the moment.
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Aug 1, 2015 14:05
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Josh Wow posted:That's me, been at Wicked Weed for about 6 weeks now. We bottled our first clean beer that no one will ever see today and it went pretty well so life is good. Starting sellable clean production on Tuesday, hope everyone that wants clean Wicked Weed beers likes IPAs cause we're starting with 3 different ones haha. I'm sure I know you from the homebrew thread, that's awesome you're at WW. I've managed to have a few of your beers, they're wonderful. I only just heard about a new brewery you guys opened - is that clean only?
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Aug 1, 2015 22:24
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dphi posted:What was the consensus on oak aged St. Bernardus again? Worth $28? I'm tempted every time I see it but I've been trying to cut back on $30 bottles. Really wish it had been a smaller format. Is that the magnum? I think it's pretty nice personally, but not too far above regular abt 12. That said, last time I drank it I got a good chunk of barrel in my glass. Chewy!
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Aug 7, 2015 03:52
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air- posted:Aw I'm kinda bummed about how berliner weisse isn't really a thing in Berlin at all, though unfiltered pilsners in Prague will make up for that when I hop a train over there on Sunday. You really should take a look at the ossuary in Kutna Hora. It's a pretty  place.Unfiltered pilsner is the tits. Go to u Zlateho Tygra, get there early, get to know the locals. And by early I mean 2-3pm. Is your euro tour taking you to the UK at all?
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Aug 7, 2015 21:25
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Spanish Manlove posted:I had a homebrew brett berliner that reminded me of bile I get that with a lot of Jolly Pumpkin beers. Their souring just seems biley to me.
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Aug 12, 2015 19:18
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As long as you have some brewing experience, this is great: http://www.amazon.co.uk/American-Sour-Beers-Michael-Tonsmeire/dp/1938469119 That said, sour beer brewing is hard to get right, so make sure you have the chops beforehand. I mean, berliner weisse is easy-ish, but hard to nail.
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Aug 13, 2015 00:06
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RocketMermaid posted:Also hi, I still exist kinda (I used to be Ubik but I got better) Are you still at Lag in Chicago?
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Aug 14, 2015 08:12
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RocketMermaid posted:Sure am! I work in filtration now. Have had a couple of quart bottles of Sucks carted over to me to London by friendly folks. Jebus, what an easy-to-drink beer. We get it on draft too occasionally, but they intentionally keep the volumes quite low to keep it fresh.
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Aug 14, 2015 11:23
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 23:35 |
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danbanana posted:I had Agamemnon at Beer Temple's anniversary party this year. It was good but definitely not $20/12oz good. I find a lot of European imperial stouts come off as overly bitter, and this had that aspect as well. There definitely is a trend in European craft beer to make super dry styles. I'd argue that a specific style of IPA is emerging, where brewers, knowing that US-style IPAs were sweet and weird by the time they reached to Europe, would brew the driest, crispest IPAs they could to emulate fresh US-made IPAs. Ditch the crystal malt, dry it out with sugar additions even in sub-7% beers, etc. Stouts are from that same tree. While I prefer the insanely sweet, chocolatey thing you get in US impy stouts (mmm, BORIS the Crusher) for an after dinner thing, that dry, raw cacao nib bitterness is definitely a thing in the stuff we make over here. Perfectly Cromulent posted:Mikkeller/Evil Twin Yep, I find both are hugely expensive, especially considering that I can get amazing To Ol beers, also brewed at de Proef, for half to two-thirds of the price Mikkel charges for his stuff.
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Aug 16, 2015 16:37
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