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Tonight I tried drie fonteinen oude geuze, and Rochefort 10. I thought both of them were absolutely spectacular, although I will say once again, sours aren't something I could drink regularly. I had both beers with a friend, and let me tell you, watching somebody drink a sour who doesn't completely enjoy it is absolutely hysterical. My friend didn't hate the beer, but he had a hard time putting down 5-6 ounces of it. I think I personally enjoyed it more than any other sour I had tried, which includes 2 different JP beers, an anchorage brewing, and 2 different Russian Rivers. The Rochefort 10 was unbelievably complex, and a real treat to drink. It was so smooth I felt like I was drinking a beer that was about 4% abv lower than it actually was. I really want to try St. Bernardus now that I've tried Rochefort 10, although I do feel like I was a bit spoiled by having my first Quad be such a great example of the style. I really felt like I enjoyed the 10 more as it got closer to room temperature. Great beer, thanks for all the suggestions before I picked these up, I really enjoyed both!
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Apr 23, 2012 08:51
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SUPER HASSLER posted:It seems like there're two breweries that are trying to go all Belgian-style in Austin now. One is Jester King, which has BA street cred out the rear end and has been going all Brett in the past half year-ish. The other is Adelbert's Brewery, which has a homepage right out of 1998 (and labels from about 1978) but do some seriously awesome poo poo -- I had the Naked Nun witbier of theirs and it was among the best American versions I've had. I'm past the honeymoon period with Jester King after experiencing infected bottles/gushers on a few of their more recent releases. Le Petit Prince was pretty disappointing. The "farmhouse" variants of Black Metal and Commercial Suicide are both a far cry from the original releases, and to me, using this new yeast is not a positive thing. I'm pretty hesitant on buying their beer nowadays since I just figure, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Out of the two Texan tripels I've tried, I do prefer Adelbert's to Real Ale Devil's Backbone. Since you were at Hay Merchant, I figure these had to be on draft? I haven't seen any of their beers on tap in North Texas. In other TX news, Deep Ellum Brewing has started up their barrel aging program and the first release will be a barleywine aged in rye barrels. Doesn't sound like Peticolas has released anything lately, and their beers thus far have been underwhelming (especially after having Karbach in Houston- IMO they are doing the best German styles in TX now. Weisse Versa and their doppelbock are both killer). The Belgian-style brewer in the metroplex area is Lakewood Brewing, and they have put out the most impressive beers of the three within Dallas city limits.
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Apr 23, 2012 12:56
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Kudosx posted:Hoppin Frog stuff is only available in bombers. I don't think some of them are worth the price they charge, but I think all of their beers are good for the most part. I've tried every single beer they've produced, and there are few which I would never think about buying again. What do you recommend by Hoppin' Frog? I recently went to a grocery store (the largest grocery store in the world, sq/ft wise) that seems to have pretty much every Hoppin' Frog offering (at least 8 to 10 if I remember correctly). I saw that their Triple IPA is like $15.99, eff that. How are their other IPAs? Any interesting maybe more malt/hop balanced offerings?
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Apr 23, 2012 14:27
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Went to the Hickory Hops festival this weekend. Crazy how many really good breweries are in NC now. I knew that there were a lot more now, but this was an entire festival made up of just NC breweries (with like 2 exceptions). Triangle Brewing continues to be one of my favorite brewers. They had a very good lambic on, one of the few NC brewers experimenting with sours. Also got to try their Habanero Pale Ale, and that's a fantastic use of pepper in beer. I've had several pepper beers, and they tend to err on the side of too much heat for me (and I make habanero salsa on a regular basis). Triangle's has this perfect little hint of habanero flavor, with a tiny bit of heat on the backend. Refreshing, and I'd love to sit down to some grilled chicken with a pint of it. I hope they start canning it along with their belgian golden and IPA. I could go on and on, but I doubt there's many breweries that have been heard of far outside of NC yet, but I think that'll change a lot in the next 5 to 10 years.
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Apr 23, 2012 15:17
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Mahoning posted:What do you recommend by Hoppin' Frog? I recently went to a grocery store (the largest grocery store in the world, sq/ft wise) that seems to have pretty much every Hoppin' Frog offering (at least 8 to 10 if I remember correctly). BORIS is their best beer. I haven't had the barrel aged version, but from what I've heard in this thread it isn't worth the extra money. edit: Denver people, are there any good bottle shops around 21st and Champa? I'm going to be in Denver on Friday and I was hoping to pick up some Colorado stuff I can't get in Chicago (Oskar Blues, Odell, etc.)
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Apr 23, 2012 15:20
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crazyfish posted:
Best shop near downtown is probably Argonaut, at Colfax and Clarkson. If you care to drive or take the light rail, you can check out Total Beverage at 92nd and Sheridan, or Lukas Liquor at County Line and Yosemite. Total Bev is about 15 minutes from downtown by car, and you can take the train 30 minutes south to the Park Meadows Mall and walk to Lukas. Of course, if you're without a car in downtown Denver, you really needn't drive anywhere to drink great beer. I definitely recommend hitting up some of the breweries and bars near downtown. Denver's reputation as a beer mecca doesn't just come from the local breweries. For your own good, get a burger and beers at Vine St Pub (17th and Vine). CalvinDooglas fucked around with this message at 15:43 on Apr 23, 2012 |
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Apr 23, 2012 15:38
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Mahoning posted:What do you recommend by Hoppin' Frog? I recently went to a grocery store (the largest grocery store in the world, sq/ft wise) that seems to have pretty much every Hoppin' Frog offering (at least 8 to 10 if I remember correctly). Jungle Jim's? Man I miss that place. Want to go back and see their beer collection again now that I know my poo poo more.
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Apr 23, 2012 15:49
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Mahoning posted:What do you recommend by Hoppin' Frog? I recently went to a grocery store (the largest grocery store in the world, sq/ft wise) that seems to have pretty much every Hoppin' Frog offering (at least 8 to 10 if I remember correctly). BORIS and DORIS definitely. Last night I had a Chouffe IPA Tripel or something and thought it was terrible. The clash of pine/grapefruit with the Belgian spices was a huge turn off to me, smelling like it was skunked to me. The beer said best before the end of 2012 but there was heavy sediment so it could have been a bad bottle.
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Apr 23, 2012 16:22
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Had a Brouwerij Bockor Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge at the excellent Vincent in Chicago yesterday. It was my first sour and I really had no idea what to expect barring some sort of 'sour' taste but it was really amazing, if completely unlike what I usually think of as beer. It had a very sweet-and-sour apple taste going on and almost seemed more like a hard cider than a beer. Really good though, I'll definitely have to try some more sours. Also, highly recommend Vincent (in the Andersonville neighborhood), the lamb burger and fries were wonderful, and the chocolate chip and homemade marshmallow pancakes they had one special (which my family split for dessert) was incredible.
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Apr 23, 2012 17:00
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Midorka posted:Last night I had a Chouffe IPA Tripel or something and thought it was terrible. The clash of pine/grapefruit with the Belgian spices was a huge turn off to me, smelling like it was skunked to me. The beer said best before the end of 2012 but there was heavy sediment so it could have been a bad bottle. La Chouffe's IPA Tripel is one of my favorite beers, personally, and one of the few beers under the "Belgian IPA" aegis that's truly excellent. But given that it's packaged in green bottles (  ) and is often found hibernating on Trader Joe's shelves for long periods of time, you may have gotten a bottle that's skunked or otherwise off.The sediment shouldn't be an indicator of bad quality - if it's bottle-conditioned, that sediment will always be there. And as far as I know, the IPA Tripel isn't made with any spices, but Belgian yeast often gives that impression. Yesterday I tried a relatively new craft beer bar in Rogers Park (far north side of Chicago) called Norse, and it's a pretty solid hangout. Very laid-back, with twelve well-maintained taps and a decent bottle selection. Not an AMAZING BEER DESTINATION or anything, but it's nice to see my old neighborhood getting more craft beer places.
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Apr 23, 2012 17:23
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Probably partially skunked then because it smelled like skunk partially, as for the spices, the Belgian yeast is what I meant as it tends to give off a cloves scent/taste to me.
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Apr 23, 2012 17:34
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CalvinDooglas posted:Best shop near downtown is probably Argonaut, at Colfax and Clarkson. Thanks for the recommendations. I'm probably not going to have the time to do much more than hit a bottle shop as I'm playing a music festival near the aforementioned intersection and so my time in Denver is pretty much already booked solid.
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Apr 23, 2012 17:34
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Had a pretty nice beer vacation in San Diego this weekend. I met some neat people and had a lot of really good things to drink. We got in Friday and headed straight for Churchill's. They had a lot of great stuff on tap, including Pliny the Elder, a sour wheat beer from Craftsman that rocked, Ballast Point Sextant on nitro (good but not outstanding) and cask-conditioned Karl Strauss Wreck Alley, which is a stellar coffee stout. I'd never even heard of Leavenworth Brewery, but their Hibiscus Hefewiezen tasted like hibiscus and wheat beer, so I'd say they did pretty well. Cold Spring John Henry 3 Lick Spiker was the only loser of the night - it tasted like diabetes and diacetyl. The bottle list had good stuff on it too. They had Unibroue Quatre-Centieme, which I'd never heard of before. Apparently it was released in 2008. It has aged very nicely - most Unibroue beers, if aged, turn into a similar-tasting delicious beer; this one was no exception. First stop Saturday morning was Lost Abbey for the Track 4/Framboise de Amarosa release. Framboise is very good fresh - significantly better than Poppy this year - and has always aged spectacularly. If you find yourself in the area, pick some up. It's only sold at Lost Abbey. Track 4 is the best track I've tried (I missed 2) - really smooth, tons of barrel character, some definite cherry background and a decent sour/funk mix. I wouldn't mind it being more sour, but that may happen over the next few months. Alpine Beer Company was next. The drive up to Alpine is nice, it's a beautiful area and the roads are good. Alpine the town kind of sucks; most of the roads have been torn up and left that way due to delayed construction, so finding parking as a bit of a problem. That said, the brewery makes it all worthwhile. My buddy and I sat down at the bar next to an old couple who turned out to be Pat McIlhenny (the owner/head brewer)'s wife's grandparents. I had a nice chat with grandma about the history of the place (what is now Alpine's restaurant used to be a soda fountain, then sat vacant for years before Alpine came back in and opened it up), had an excellent beef brisket sandwich, and she introduced me to Pat. He seemed like a nice guy, distaste for seeing his beer eBayed notwithstanding, and overall I had a thoroughly small-town kind of experience. I'd like to note for the record that Alpine Beer Company does not make beers that suck. They had Nelson on cask; it was hoppier than usual and still perfectly balanced. Chez Mognieux, their cherry kriek, can hang with any American-produced sour and a large percentage of Belgian ones as well. Willy Vanilly is still an odd duck of a beer but paired really well with the barbeque sauce. It's a bit of a haul from San Diego proper to get to Alpine, but with beers of this quality it's definitely worth the trip. We went down to explore San Diego proper for a while and checked out Downtown Johnny Browns, which is right next to the SD opera house. They had a Sour and Bitter Festival on Friday that we missed out on, but a lot of stuff - Sanctification, Consecration, Red Poppy - was still on tap from that. Next we went to a newly-opened place near the airport called The Regal Beagle. It may become a regular stop. They have a decent, constantly-rotating taplist (three things kicked and were replaced with new while we were there), non-objectionable music that isn't too loud, and a their kitchen produces a great selection of sausages ranging from German to Hungarian to more exotic stuff like portabella mushroom/red wine. The crew was pretty cool, too, and knew a decent amount about beer. I tried Firestone Walker Pale 31 there. It smelled like Humulus Light and was a very balanced, very tasty pale. You just can't go wrong with Firestone. We headed to Anaheim on Sunday with the plan of having a few at Bruery Provisions, but it was packed. We just picked up our latest Reserve Society stuff and left. I planned on buying one case of beer this trip but somehow managed to bring home three. I'm terminally out of storage space but can't stop buying beer. Someone help me. 
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Apr 23, 2012 17:58
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CalvinDooglas posted:Victory Whirlwind Wit is pretty good. Compared to these Weihenstephanern being discussed, it's definitely a clean American style wit. A little thinner/lighter than, say, Allagash White, but still very refreshing. Light spices, Belgian sweetness and yeast; quenching. Extreeeemely refreshing. Saturday I was packing up stuff for our move, breaking down old furniture, and when I was done I pulled one from the fridge and took an incredibly satisfying pull. I was working all morning and afternoon and it hit all the right spots, totally reinvigorating me. I could see it being a terrific summer chore beer. After packing, we went with some friends from the suburbs to GI's brewpub on Clybourn. Started off with the Summer School which is, I think, the first Hefeweizen I've seen come out of Goose Island since October? At any rate, it was extremely satisfying. Hefeweizens are probably my favorite sessionable style and GI makes the best Hefes in the area. There was nothing groundbreaking about it; just a drat solid, pleasant drink. The Rotweizen was my first experience with Red German Wheat style and I liked it. I'm assuming it has a lot in common with hefes? The taste was similar, but the Rotweizen was dark and more rich. Still pretty drat refreshing. Finished with Shine On, which was nice, but I feel a little Belgianed out at this point, so while I enjoyed it I was pining for another Summer School in the back of my mind. The friends, who usually just want to hang out around our apartment when they come up, had a great time and want to go back, which is badass.
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Apr 23, 2012 18:03
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crazyfish posted:Thanks for the recommendations. I'm probably not going to have the time to do much more than hit a bottle shop as I'm playing a music festival near the aforementioned intersection and so my time in Denver is pretty much already booked solid. Which venue? I played out at most of the Downtown live music bars when I lived there. Downtown is pretty compact and easy to get around on foot; you can get to Argonaut and any of the bars within 20 minutes.
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Apr 23, 2012 18:05
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Awesome post Bartolimu, my friend will be going to San Diego this summer, how far is Alpine from it? Also what are some breweries to see in San Diego for someone who may or may not be able to travel too far (not sure his car situation). Isn't Stone and Ballast Point there?
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Apr 23, 2012 18:06
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CalvinDooglas posted:Which venue? I played out at most of the Downtown live music bars when I lived there. Downtown is pretty compact and easy to get around on foot; you can get to Argonaut and any of the bars within 20 minutes. I'm playing http://www.denvernoisefest.com/ at Old Curtis Street. Since I'm driving from Chicago I will have a car, but space is gonna be tight so my purchases are going to be limited. Also, is Ten Fidy findable at this time of year or is my timing wrong?
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Apr 23, 2012 18:19
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Midorka posted:Awesome post Bartolimu, my friend will be going to San Diego this summer, how far is Alpine from it? Also what are some breweries to see in San Diego for someone who may or may not be able to travel too far (not sure his car situation). Isn't Stone and Ballast Point there? http://www.sandiegobrewersguild.org/visitors-guide/ http://www.sandiegobrewersguild.org/pdf/SDBG_Brochure_2011.pdf Here you go, a handy map and lots of info on public transport. The Sprinter is a great way of getting up and down the 78, which is basically the Beer Highway. The Coaster will get you up and down the I-5, which runs along the coast. bartolimu: Ha, I was there that night too. The Craftsman Sour Blonde was pretty good.
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Apr 23, 2012 18:20
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crazyfish posted:Also, is Ten Fidy findable at this time of year or is my timing wrong? It's a late fall/early winter to spring seasonal, but I've spotted it in Texas earlier this month, NC, and in NOVA. I think you should be ok.
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Apr 23, 2012 18:35
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crazyfish posted:I'm playing http://www.denvernoisefest.com/ at Old Curtis Street. Since I'm driving from Chicago I will have a car, but space is gonna be tight so my purchases are going to be limited. Oh yes, I have played at Curtis Street. Hope you're accustomed to a tight stage fit and minimal sound-guy services. Ten Fidy is on shelves pretty much year round.
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Apr 23, 2012 18:38
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Midorka posted:I don't think I've ever seen Karmeliet, but I'll look for it! It's way better than Hoegaarden. Hoegaarden used to be really good, back when Pierre Celis was making it. Then his brewery caught fire, and he had to sell 55% of the brewery to InBev (then Stella Artois, which merged with Piedboeuf to become Interbrew), which instantly started cutting costs and the beer started falling off. It's not terrible by any means, but it's not exceptional, not anymore. Better than Blue Moon, but not by a whole lot. Pierre bailed and started making Celis White in Texas, which was awesome, but the investors sold their shares to Miller, which completely hosed up the distribution of Celis White, and eventually sold the brand to Michigan Brewing Company which still makes Celis White, but which is somehow very different than the Celis White produced in Austin. Might be the water, I don't know, but it's also nowhere near as good as it was when Pierre Celis was making it. About the last thing Pierre Celis ever did was to work for St. Bernardus to develop their whitebeer. It's basically what Hoegaarden used to be before Inbev screwed it up, and basically what Celis White was before Miller screwed it up: Really, really loving good.
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Apr 23, 2012 18:42
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intangir posted:Had a Brouwerij Bockor Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge that's a really good one, maybe my favorite of the style. anybody close to central VA who's got nothing to do this weekend might do well to check out Hardywood Park's terribly-named Spring Frolics, a celebration for the release of their first in a series of barrel-aged beers. i had the base quad and thought it was quite good, so i'm excited about the aged version. their pilot batches are generally pretty decent, too.
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Apr 23, 2012 19:07
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Midorka posted:Awesome post Bartolimu, my friend will be going to San Diego this summer, how far is Alpine from it? Also what are some breweries to see in San Diego for someone who may or may not be able to travel too far (not sure his car situation). Isn't Stone and Ballast Point there? Alpine's about a half hour each way from anything else San Diego-flavored, so it takes up a good portion of the day by the time you try a few beers and have lunch. Chill_Bebop covered it pretty well with those links, but I'll say my favorite brewery to visit is Lost Abbey. Everyone on staff is really cool, and the head bar guy, Jason, is full of useful trivia and one of the most knowledgeable people about beer (Lost Abbey and otherwise) around. Protip: bring a bottle or two of stuff from wherever you live as a gift, they look kindly on that kind of thing. Lost Abbey is also very close to Stone - their brewery was actually Stone's original one before they expanded to the new location - which is worth a visit to wander around the Beer Nerd Backyard. Stone's taplist isn't great compared to the better bars, and the food's a bit expensive, but there are worse ways to spend an afternoon. I'd say if your friend likes certain breweries that's where he should go. All tasting rooms are awesome if you're sufficiently into the products. For bars I'd recommend Churchill's in San Marcos from personal experience. Neighborhood in the Gaslamp District sounds nice, but between parking being expensive as gently caress and how crowded it looked I didn't stop to try it. Bottle shops: Beverages 4 Less in Santee has ludicrous selection but you'll definitely pay for it. Holiday Wine Cellar is close to Lost Abbey and has become my default spot to visit. Other than that, maybe locals can suggest some other places.
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Apr 23, 2012 19:13
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bartolimu posted:Bottle shops: Beverages 4 Less in Santee has ludicrous selection but you'll definitely pay for it. Holiday Wine Cellar is close to Lost Abbey and has become my default spot to visit. Other than that, maybe locals can suggest some other places. Bev 4 Less is great if you don't know where else to go...and their service can leave a bad taste in some folks' mouths. Though, if you love to ogle rare/retired beers from all over the world that aren't for sale, they have a shitload up on a pair of shelves that line the beer side of the store. Given other options though, despite it being a little closer to my home than some of the others below, it's not a place I frequent. My top 3, and I say this not having been to Holiday Wine Cellar or Bottlecraft, two places I've heard positive things about... KnB Wine Cellars in Del Cerro (by SDSU). Probably my favorite shop in SD. Great selection, turnover is what you'd want for IPAs and the like, and they have a bar/restaurant IN the store that's got a fantastic tap list. Bonus points for consistently stocking Pliny without bottle limits. Also, the neighborhood's safe, centrally located, parking is never an issue, and I don't feel like I'm going to turn my body and knock over a display, like I do when I go to... Palm Springs Liquor (La Mesa). I hesitantly tell people about this place, as it's always loaded with the latest releases and keeps finding more and more places to cram beer on shelves. Eventually they need to drop the pretense of being a full-service market, clear off the food shelves (think 7-11's canned/prepackaged food selection), and spread the beer out. Also, they get Cantillon here, something I can't say I see anywhere else in town. Alpine's fond of them, and they tend to get a decent load of Alpine's bottles, especially in contrast to some of the other shops. Downsides are that it's in a mediocre neighborhood, so you're bound to get crackheads/dudes out on parole/hobos rolling through with you in there. Another place that's got hobos abound is... Best drat Beer Shop (downtown). I can set my watch to being accosted by bums on the way in and out of the store, and when these guys want money for booze and you're walking out with $50 of beer the equation turns against your favor. That said, the selection here is pretty outstanding, another place which gets the latest and greatest, and prices are perhaps the best in town. I think they have the best selection of singles too, especially 12oz bottles, compared to Palm Springs Liquor which is all about bombers. Of the three I like to visit, I'd estimate they have the most beer in coolers. Places I find slightly overrated/overhyped (aside from Bev 4 Less)... Pizza Port bottle shop (Carlsbad, next to the C'bad Pizza Port restaurant) - great if you're going to the PP restaurant, and their employees know their stuff, but it's definitely on the small side and the hours suck. That said, they seem to stock things which nobody else does, though whether that beer is good or not is a roll of the dice. Olive Tree Market - I made it over there and after a few minutes thought to myself 'really? hrm, okay." The second best saison selection in town (more on that in a moment), and while they may only have 3-5 bottles of each beer, so lots of empty shelves, they have a lot of different bottles. This equals out in the end, where you might theoretically go in there looking for 5 things, they'll be out of 3 of them, and you see 2 other things you didn't know you were looking for. Really, really nice service at this place, and from my little interaction with their stockers they seem to know their stuff. New place I haven't been in enough to make a judgment call on... Bine & Vine (South Park) - close to the Stone retail store, close to some of the better beer bars on the west coast, close to all the hip new restaurants, etc...good location overall. Geoi (pronounced Joey), the owner, is almost always at the register and is good for recommendations or new arrivals. Best saison selection, likely because it's Geoi's favorite beer type, which gets bonus points from me. Plenty of cooler stock, and they tend to stock some of the smaller breweries that I haven't seen in stores before. This place used to be South Bay Drugs, which was one of the preeminent online beer sellers before they got kicked out of their long-time home and had to relocate. I think their online store is officially up and running now (bineandvine.com), unlike a month ago when I posted about them and nobody could buy anything they tried to order. Next time someone posts about their upcoming beer trip to SD, just link them to this post as a jumping-off point, god knows I rambled long enough...
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Apr 23, 2012 19:44
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Looks like Stone is going to make a 10th anniversary Ruination which will be 10% abv vs the standard 7.7% Sounds delicious, I hope I get the chance to try some! http://beerpulse.com/2012/04/stone-ruination-tenth-anniversary-ipa-coming-to-bottles/
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Apr 23, 2012 20:21
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bartolimu posted:
We did the Brewhop tour and included Lost Abbey as part of it. My god fresh Wipeout is amazing. I thought Hop-15 was a little too abrasive, but I enjoyed my stay, as they let me try some 2010 Angel's Share. I missed the Framobois opening by two days I wish I had known about the local beer thing, I couldve filled my beer suitcase with stuff to give my tour guide and lost abbey guys. Tomme the head brewer/owner seemed like a cool guy. I never did get to try any Alpine, every bar I tried was out of it all.
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Apr 23, 2012 21:01
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CalvinDooglas posted:Oh yes, I have played at Curtis Street. Hope you're accustomed to a tight stage fit and minimal sound-guy services. Sounds fine with me re: Curtis Street. My band is a duo and our setup only needs a single 1/4" into a DI. And thanks for the happy news about Ten Fidy. Been meaning to get my hands on it.
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Apr 23, 2012 21:06
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Regarding San Diego Beer Busses and getting on a San Diego Beer tour: It sounds like a great idea to take a tour by using one of the many beer tour company, but do your research on who is reputable and who isn't. A large majority of beer tours here are basically just party busses emptying out a whole bus of drunk clubbers into what should be a peaceful, positive energy brewery. Also, most aren't even welcome at the breweries they are visiting. Lots of times customers are promised tours of the facilities, then just dumped off unceremoniously because they have no communication with brewery staff. Brewhop is pretty good and Scavenger Beer Tours is the best is you are an actual beer fan/nerd. Getting taken around the breweries in a surplus Pinzgauer is awesome.
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Apr 23, 2012 21:22
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Chill_Bebop posted:
Summer from Brewhop knows her poo poo, I was impressed. She also knew everyone at every place we went to which was nice. Also nice I wasnt on a bus, it was just me and the wife. Not a fan of Bus tours. Munkaboo fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Apr 23, 2012 |
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Apr 23, 2012 22:09
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There was a Scavenger Beer Tour there when we went back Sunday to pick up another case of Framboise, and yeah, that looked like a really fun way of touring. I was also surprised there was a tour there at all - the crowd was smaller and more relaxed/less drunk than I've come to expect when a tourbus rolls up. I've been in Lost Abbey before tour arrival and everyone's nice and happy, then a bigass bus dumps off a hundred or so frat boys and the whole place gets tense, angry, and less enjoyable.
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Apr 23, 2012 22:12
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air- posted:Out of the two Texan tripels I've tried, I do prefer Adelbert's to Real Ale Devil's Backbone. Since you were at Hay Merchant, I figure these had to be on draft? I haven't seen any of their beers on tap in North Texas. Adelbert's doesn't go out of Austin much quite yet apart from the occasional keg, judging by what I hear. Devil's Backbone has always been a favorite of mine. The Hay Merchant is a place I want to like a lot, since it's at the same street I live on and their selection is spectacular by TX standards; also the dudes I talked to there knew their poo poo and were massively enthusiastic. But man o man are they expensive. $6 seems to be the base price for most beers. Part of that is due to their being in the BTW Lazy Magnolia in MS now distributes in Houston.  , I guess? I like their base amber as a session beer a lot, at least.
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Apr 23, 2012 22:57
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SUPER HASSLER posted:BTW Lazy Magnolia in MS now distributes in Houston. i dug Southern Pecan quite a bit, but found the Jefferson impressively bland considering that it's brewed with both sweet potatoes and lactose- glad i only tried a sample. if any Nola stuff makes it over there, the Channel Stout is really good (thanks to the goon that gave me the heads-up on that). speaking of samples, went to Mekong, a Vietnamese place with an excellent tap selection, after work. ordered a Ten Fidy, eventually got some spring rolls, and was gonna order one more when the owner sets a full glass in front of me and the one other dude at the bar. "here's a Duvel; i just change keg!" he says (in a thick accent). a few minutes later, i ask if they're having some sort of event this evening. "east coast versus west coast ipa challenge!" he says, shortly returning with full glasses of Nugget Nectar and Sculpin for me and the other guy. the owner has a bit of a reputation for getting people shitfaced, but three full beers in ten minutes at four on a Monday afternoon? oh, and ten minutes later, he sets glasses of a new local DIPA in front of us, too.... gently caress, i am going to bed early tonight.
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Apr 23, 2012 23:52
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I am amazed you can type.
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Apr 23, 2012 23:55
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Headed over to the local bar tonight.. Had an ithaca flower power(always good) and , I guess they are now going east coast wide , Goose Island Pere Jacques. Was very impressed with the GI... tasted better than I expected it to. Now I'm having the Oak Aged Chocolate Yeti. Not that impressed with it. I love the Belgian and Espresso ones... not really digging this one. Edit : Scratch that. The Yeti is awesome. Maybe I still had Flower power on my palate... wow.
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Apr 24, 2012 00:12
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Vertigo posted:Headed over to the local bar tonight.. How's that cayenne treating ya?
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Apr 24, 2012 00:19
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funkybottoms posted:I need to hit up Mekong next time I'm home... That said, I had a what must have been less than week old Sculpin in San Diego... holy gently caress duck that poo poo was amazing. It was like putting my nose in a glass of fresh hops.
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Apr 24, 2012 00:30
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Darth Goku Jr posted:Jungle Jim's? Man I miss that place. Want to go back and see their beer collection again now that I know my poo poo more. Yep. I've been going there for about the past 3 years and I think their selection has gotten better just in that time. But of course, I think more breweries have expanded to Ohio so thats probably part of it. Still, I can find stuff at Kroger, like White Rajah, that for some reason Jungle Jim's doesn't have. They're actually building another Jungle Jim's on the east side of Cincinnati that's supposed to be bigger than the original. Opening in June if I remember correctly. Next month at Jungle Jim's is an evening tasting with The Brew Kettle, with the owner/operator in attendance. Pretty sure I'm going to go to that.
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Apr 24, 2012 01:00
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Munkaboo posted:I need to hit up Mekong next time I'm home... i got five beers for the price of one! if you go late in the afternoon, but before they get busy and sit at the bar, An, the owner, will hook you up for real. the other servers are always really cool about giving you samples, too, though- all you have to do is say "what's ___/in the randall?" and you'll get a few ounces. oh, except it's the Andall, which is always one of their twenty taps (and four or five are always sour). so, yeah, you do need to go there next time you're down.
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Apr 24, 2012 01:00
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So having my second Orval and, while great, it's not quite the synesthesia-inducing orgy for the senses I made it out to be first go 'round. So, either the batch was really off, or I was waaaaay more drunk that I thought I was. I'm guessing it was the latter.
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Apr 24, 2012 01:04
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| # ? May 10, 2024 00:28 |
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The more beers you drink, the better the beers become. If I do tasting notes on a new beer, it's the first beer of the night.
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Apr 24, 2012 01:05
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