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Angry Grimace posted:Victory at Sea isn't in season right now, though. It's a winter seasonal, although they make a lot of it so its not hard to get. However, pretty much any old stock sold out months ago, so you'll have to wait on that one. I bought like 2 cases of it last year and still have about 7 of them in my refrigerator. I might crack one one of these days. I quite literally just came home from the liquor store today with a bottle of this. The only numbering on the bottle is on the neck: code:
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Jul 27, 2012 04:20
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Whodat Smith-Jones posted:I don't mean to steal any attention from this, but I wouldn't mind some suggestions for San DIego. I've been to Bottlecraft and Super Jr Market, but none other than that except for some liquor stores. Are there any that sort of fly under the radar that have awesome selections or something? I'm staying in Hillcrest for the next 2 months Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, Pizza Port Bottle Shop in Carlsbad are some of the better ones in the country. If you don't mind a bit of a drive up to Orange, The Bruery Provisions is legendary.
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Jul 27, 2012 04:52
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For some insane reason, Crazy Mountain is distributing kegs to Houston bars  I have no idea why here of all places, considering Crazy Mountain is literally a rear garage in the basement of a stripmall off the interstate and I'm pretty sure they have a lot more fans in CO; I've seen their stuff on tape maybe 2 or 3 times in the course of a year there.
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Jul 27, 2012 05:03
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SUPER HASSLER posted:For some insane reason, Crazy Mountain is distributing kegs to Houston bars We get Crazy Mountain cans in Florida. 
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Jul 27, 2012 05:12
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deadwing posted:We get Crazy Mountain cans in Florida. They must be crazy!
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Jul 27, 2012 05:18
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Whodat Smith-Jones posted:I don't mean to steal any attention from this, but I wouldn't mind some suggestions for San DIego. I've been to Bottlecraft and Super Jr Market, but none other than that except for some liquor stores. Are there any that sort of fly under the radar that have awesome selections or something? I'm staying in Hillcrest for the next 2 months Bine & Vine in Normal Heights is good, as is KnB Wine Cellars in Del Cerro. For the latter, they're a small chain around here, but that location is the only one that focuses on craft beer. They also have an in-house bar with a solid tap list. A bit further east is Palm Springs liquor in La Mesa, and there's always Beverages For Less in Santee, but they don't have anything you can't get at KnB or B&V.
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Jul 27, 2012 05:23
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cryme posted:Gonna be staying in Cherry Hill NJ this weekend, anyone have bottle shop recommendations? Looking for sleeper suggestions outside of Philly. As much as I love Philly, it's so wildly expensive that I rarely buy bottles there. Just an update, I was at Wine Works on Route 70 today and the stock is as good as ever, but nothing impressive. There is still a huge import craft beer selection with 2010, and 2011 JW Lees Harvest Ales as well as many aged versions. Nothing really caught my eye otherwise. The Canal's right around the corner on Route 73 though had Brux on the shelf, Angel's Share, and Mo Betta Bretta on the shelf. They also have Weyerbacher and Fegley Breworks pumpkin beers as singles so you don't have to buy a 4 pack to try them out. Oh they also have the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp. That was all that caught my eye today. I would have walked out with an Angel's Share and a Mo Betta Bretta, but my girlfriend saw the prices and I couldn't convince her why it was so special, yet...I'll be back on the next day off.
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Jul 27, 2012 05:52
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Angry Grimace posted:We get Craftsman in San Diego. Cool... I guess. I just know that Mark really has no plans for real expansion. Went to a brewers night at Beer Belly with them and they barely plan on bottling a seasonal, but even then, not many. They don't do growler fills (I've asked plenty of times) and they haven't pushed out past L.A. county on their own. So if you're seeing it further south, it's probably cause of how good it is and on the push of whomever has it on tap cause they sure as hell wouldn't have pushed for the growth. Their 1903 is really good and their poppyfield pale ale is great. On to Ballast - I'm glad they're putting out Indra Kunindra in their own new logo design bottle. I wonder how last year's bottle holds up in term of taste. If any of the spices mellowed out. It was like drinking a bowl of curry.
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Jul 27, 2012 06:29
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Deschutes released Black Butte XXIV yesterday. To celebrate, the Portland and Bend brewpubs were pouring verticals of XXI through XXIV. Unfortunately, I missed the vertical tasting, but they were still pouring both the XXI and the XXIV in the Portland brewpub tonight. Black Butte XXI is still going strong and has developed into something that is both incredibly delicious and quite drinkable. If you have any bottles, I suggest that you drink them soon as I don't see this getting any better. In fact, I think it has faded a bit since I drank some about 6 months ago. Black Butte XXIV was shockingly drinkable and delicious for such a big beer at such a young age. By comparison, I had a 12 ounce glass of the XXIII on release a year ago and it was difficult to finish the last half of the glass because the beer was so intense. This year's version is less over-the-top and much more drinkable. Deschutes brewed this batch with dates and figs and those fruit notes come through very clearly, which I love. Also, the coffee and chocolate notes are quite a bit more subdued than in previous versions. My overall impression is that the beer is not going to be as ageable as previous releases, but is delicious from the start unlike some of the others.
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Jul 27, 2012 07:30
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If anybody is having trouble getting Brux let me know. I saw a shitload of it at multiple stores today. Purchase price and shipping plus whatever gratuity you feel, and I will gladly pick it up for you.
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Jul 27, 2012 08:43
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Victory's Wild Devil. Bought a bottle a couple nights ago and just noticed it had a bottled on date of April 2009. Recent BA reviews mention the same thing. I'm curious if this is intentional (as in, Victory held these for release 3 years later) or was a distribution SNAFU. Anyone have an idea? Haven't tried it yet, by the way.
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Jul 27, 2012 14:50
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Perfectly Cromulent posted:Deschutes released Black Butte XXIV yesterday. To celebrate, the Portland and Bend brewpubs were pouring verticals of XXI through XXIV. Unfortunately, I missed the vertical tasting, but they were still pouring both the XXI and the XXIV in the Portland brewpub tonight. Why did I move out of the northwest  I think I have a couple of bottles of XXI left from before I moved, though. I should probably drink those.
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Jul 27, 2012 14:52
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Woo. I finally get to try Dark Lord this weekend. My buddies and I are going to do a mini-tasting with that and probably some lighter, less insane beers. Weirdly I am excited to try it, but I fully expect to not really like it. I feel like the excitement comes from the hype and the novelty rather than the actual BEER part of it. Shrug, gotta try and keep an open mind.
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Jul 27, 2012 16:47
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ChiTownEddie posted:Woo. I finally get to try Dark Lord this weekend. My buddies and I are going to do a mini-tasting with that and probably some lighter, less insane beers. This year's? It's the only "vintage" I've had and while I thought it was very good, I don't believe any beer can live up to it's hype and it came off very sweet to me. I generally hear 2012 is sweeter than most, though.
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Jul 27, 2012 17:11
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Let's Pour just listed Barrel-Aged Church on a Hill. This is one of those things I would have pulled the trigger on ordering with them... But it sold out pretty much instantaneously. gently caress.
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Jul 27, 2012 17:13
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Midorka posted:I think Firestone's Porter is their weakest beer they brew, I would take Founders Porter or Edmund Fitzgerald over it 10 out of 10 times. This was a while ago, but I just wanted to say that you were right. Founder's Porter was just about as perfect a Porter as I've had. Easily drinkable and just all around delightful. Now to try to source some Edmund Fitz.
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Jul 27, 2012 17:15
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I know I've been talking about Houston like it's some kind of great beer destination as of late but I just wanted to note that my favorite place here, Petrol Station, has just won Stone's Most Bitter Bar competition for the second year in a row. It's a really fancy place  and it really is pretty much every stereotype about "nerdy beer bar" rolled into one -- it just kinda-sorta meets building codes, the food menu has ridiculous street-food type stuff on it like rabbit-meat sliders, and everyone on the staff has a scraggly beard (it was exciting news when it was announced they hired a woman for the first time ever). But I wouldn't trade it for very much else, because despite all that it's still a very friendly neighborhood place where people bring their families to have burgers and it's the same pleasant crowd every day. There are fancier/trendier beer joints in this city these days but I am unsure I'll ever like them as much as I like this one.
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Jul 27, 2012 17:24
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danbanana posted:This year's? It's the only "vintage" I've had and while I thought it was very good, I don't believe any beer can live up to it's hype and it came off very sweet to me. I generally hear 2012 is sweeter than most, though. Yes, it is this years, and I agree I don't think it could live up to the hype either. The sweetness that I hear about is partly why I don't think that I'll like it because...honestly I can't handle a lot of sweet in my beers. I hope that all the other flavors in it can make up for being too sweet for me haha.
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Jul 27, 2012 17:25
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Captain Shortbus posted:
Do it. I think it's better than Founders (which is great) and probably the best porter in the country.
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Jul 27, 2012 17:26
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Podima posted:I quite literally just came home from the liquor store today with a bottle of this. The only numbering on the bottle is on the neck: It means batch 16. That is the last batch they did, bottled sometime around December/January. Jack Skeleton posted:Cool... I guess. I am not a fan of Indra Kunindra at all. In fact I thought it was rather objectionable. Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 17:44 on Jul 27, 2012 |
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Jul 27, 2012 17:41
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ChiTownEddie posted:Yes, it is this years, and I agree I don't think it could live up to the hype either. The sweetness that I hear about is partly why I don't think that I'll like it because...honestly I can't handle a lot of sweet in my beers. I hope that all the other flavors in it can make up for being too sweet for me haha. The first Dark Lord I had was 2009, and it was a year old at that point. It was really really good. I had 2012 DL three weeks ago and thought it was disgustingly sweet. If you're anything like me, you'll probably hate it too. Give it at least a year and it will probably be amazing.
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Jul 27, 2012 17:44
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Sirotan posted:The first Dark Lord I had was 2009, and it was a year old at that point. It was really really good. I had 2012 DL three weeks ago and thought it was disgustingly sweet. If you're anything like me, you'll probably hate it too. Gotcha. Yeah, my buddy who went to DLD hasn't tried any of them yet and really wants to. It was very much a "Oh, suuuuuure I guess I could 'help' you out with that." type of thing hahaha. He does expect to hold on to at least two of them for a year+.
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Jul 27, 2012 18:02
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Sirotan posted:The first Dark Lord I had was 2009, and it was a year old at that point. It was really really good. I had 2012 DL three weeks ago and thought it was disgustingly sweet. If you're anything like me, you'll probably hate it too. I had an '08 at about a year and change of age, and it was one of the best beers I've ever had. My friends who opened a bottle of '12 (and have had every vintage from '07 onward) all said that '12 was disgustingly sweet, and much preferred the '12 Parabola they opened over either the '11 or '12 Dark Lords that particular weekend.
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Jul 27, 2012 18:39
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Is Dark Lord bottle conditioned? I thought sweetness was something that got more enhanced over the years as other flavors faded.
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Jul 27, 2012 18:56
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crazyfish posted:much preferred the '12 Parabola they opened over either the '11 or '12 Dark Lords that particular weekend. It's not a perfect comparison (Parabola is barrel-aged; DL isn't) but I absolutely agree: we opened a '12 Parabola right after the '12 DL and very much preferred the Parabola.
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Jul 27, 2012 19:02
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Midorka posted:Is Dark Lord bottle conditioned? I thought sweetness was something that got more enhanced over the years as other flavors faded. Usually with high-ABV, the flavors "mellow" with time (including the booze heat). I'd expect the sweetness to drop considerably with time. The brewers can correct me, but "bottle conditioned" means adding yeast after bottling and is something completely different, right?
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Jul 27, 2012 19:09
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I would agree with this, Dark Lord has been getting increasingly sweeter every year. I don't know if that's due to intentionally incomplete fermentation, or cramped brew schedules, or what, but the end product is no where near as good as 08 DL was fresh, or 08 was at my wedding this past May.
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Jul 27, 2012 19:09
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danbanana posted:Usually with high-ABV, the flavors "mellow" with time (including the booze heat). I'd expect the sweetness to drop considerably with time. I thought that the sweetness was one thing that never mellowed as the sweetness is caused by residual sugars mainly, which don't go away with time. The reason why I ask if it's bottle conditioned because, if I'm not mistaken, that should eat some of the sugars making it a tad less sweet. Then again I could be wrong. In other news Stone is releasing a 16th anniversary IPA with rye, lemon verbena, and just a touch of lemon oil.
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Jul 27, 2012 19:41
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Angry Grimace posted:It means batch 16. That is the last batch they did, bottled sometime around December/January. Thanks for the help! I'll have to see how it held up.  I'm guessing this was just a case of 'had a bottle leftover in the back of a deep shelf.' This particular liquor store (Super Saver Liquor on Route 22, for any central Jersey beergoons) is kind of notorious for having that happen - their beer aisle is crammed FULL and very deep, often with cases of beer hiding parts of the shelves. Kind of a pain in the rear end, but they're one of the better stores in the area that isn't a hassle to get to.
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Jul 27, 2012 19:48
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Midorka posted:I thought that the sweetness was one thing that never mellowed as the sweetness is caused by residual sugars mainly, which don't go away with time. The reason why I ask if it's bottle conditioned because, if I'm not mistaken, that should eat some of the sugars making it a tad less sweet. Then again I could be wrong. There are some sugars that are unfermentable, and even if some of the stuff in the bottle was fermentable, it's hard to find a yeast that will stay active in the bottle when it has little oxygen and 15% alcohol to contend with.
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Jul 27, 2012 19:49
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Podima posted:Thanks for the help! I'll have to see how it held up. I downed one of Batch 15 yesterday and it aged pretty gracefully, although I kinda felt like poo poo this morning after downing a bomber of 10% beer. Aging the beer is kind of cool, aging myself kind of sucks.
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Jul 27, 2012 20:20
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Having a beer tasting at my house today with some of the Danish RB guys. I will try to take some photos of the event =)
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Jul 28, 2012 08:05
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Kosher man posted:Having a beer tasting at my house today with some of the Danish RB guys. I will try to take some photos of the event =) I suggest you create a complex game that will take all the fun out of this.
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Jul 28, 2012 14:43
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danbanana posted:I suggest you create a complex game that will take all the fun out of this. I tried to make a tasting as miserable as possible while doing this. Here is the aftermath.  2011 Utopias Frangelic Mountain Brown 2009 Nemesis 2011 BCS 2011 Samael's 2012 Decadence Love Child #2 2010 Enigma 2009 Third Coast Ale Sobrehumano 2010 Bommen & Granaten 2004 Pere Jacques 2009 Paradox Port Dundas 2010 KBS High point for me was either the Bommen or the Decadence. I love me some barleywines. Pere Jacques was surprisingly good after all this time. Low point was the paradox, that beer fell off completely and was almost tasteless. Paul Proteus fucked around with this message at 15:05 on Jul 28, 2012 |
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Jul 28, 2012 14:56
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I discovered that my local shop has Lost Abby. I've never tried any of their stuff and the pricing is a bit steep; any highlights I should look for? I'm really excited about Boston's Belgian Beer Festival in September. Night of the Funk is going to be amazing.
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Jul 28, 2012 18:03
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Cracking the Utopias so soon? Does Sam Adams pre-age them?
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Jul 28, 2012 18:46
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Jenkin posted:I discovered that my local shop has Lost Abby. I've never tried any of their stuff and the pricing is a bit steep; any highlights I should look for? I thought Devotion Ale was good and so was Serpent's Stout, but overall I haven't been very impressed with their offerings. Judgment Day wasn't that great of a quad, especially when Rochefort 10 is easily available as is ABT 12, and I would take either of St. Bernadus' dubbels or Pere Jacques over Lost and Found. I also wasn't too keen on Avante Garde, but I'm not familiar with the style to judge it. I do have all of their limited beers that have come through NJ though, so I'll see how they are soon. If you get Lost Abbey though you should get Port Brewing since it's the same company. Port is the stronger half from my experiences. I really liked their Anniversary Ale (which is probably too old to bother with by now), Hot Rocks Lager, Midnight Expression, Mongo IPA, Old Viscosity, Wipeout IPA, and Santa's Little Helper all range from great to excellent. Mongo is a must try as is Santa's Little Helper. I wasn't too huge on Shark Attack though. Edit: Is Utopias carbonated? Everything I've read makes it sound like a brandy which makes me think you could open it and close it and let it age longer if you wanted, I guess that would allow a lot of oxygen in, but would it really effect a beer of that high alcohol?
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Jul 28, 2012 18:55
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Some of the blend of Utopias has been aging for 18 years in barrels. It's flat as a pancake. I opened the Utopias weeks ago for my bachelor party / wedding, so we were just finishing it up with some other people yesterday. That said, I don't see the point in letting it sit around. It's not hoppy and is remarkably smooth for 28%. It's very much like a cordial; nothing like regular beer.
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Jul 28, 2012 23:06
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Went to our annual beer thing, Beer on the Bay. Really the best part was getting to try DFH My Antonia, Weyerbacher Rauchbier, and the two offerings from Goose Island cause you can't get those in the Erie area. Sierra Nevada at least had some free swag, otherwise I tried some of the most offensive saisons and some heath bar stout that had been really talked up but reminded me of the time I'd tried a deep-fried Reese's cup. There was a VIP section there but I talked to the one Founders rep, who I think was actually working the New Holland tent, and he said VIP got you Centennial, Red's Rye, Porter, and some other year-round release. Regardless, had fun, got to see more of the people that make up Erie's smallish craft beer scene. My Antonia was really great but it was maybe because it was the coldest beer they were serving.
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Jul 29, 2012 02:25
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Tried to do the brewery tour at Stone today, but I forgot the minor detail of having to get there 2 hours ahead of time so you can get a tour ticket or whatever. Thanks to an accident on the highway that looked like someone probably died in, I didn't get there until 2:00, and the 4:00 tour was already full. I ended up touring Port/Lost Abbey instead. It was pretty interesting and was probably one of the better tours I've been on in terms of information about their brewing process. They were still aging barrels of beer they brewed in 2008. I definitely want to make another trip back up to Stone in the next few weeks, but is there any easier way of going about getting a ticket that doesn't involve going there and having to hang out for 2 hours?
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Jul 29, 2012 03:12
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