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Docjowles posted:Pretty sure I read it was CA, Jersey and Chicago. Not sure why those. I figure such a short shelf lifespan for the beer means they'll focus on sending it to just a few markets at a time. It sounds like it'll spread out across the country gradually though.
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Aug 24, 2012 21:12
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Docjowles posted:Pretty sure I read it was CA, Jersey and Chicago. Not sure why those. Pretty sure it's simply because they move a lot of product there.
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Aug 24, 2012 22:29
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 I would not expect a place on the first floor of an apartment building named "Popeye" to be the best beer joint in Japan but it is. (It's also right down the street from where the Japan Sumo Association holds all the Tokyo tournaments.) Something like 50 taps, plus their happy hour deal is that if you order certain beers (about half the list) you get a tapas-sized dish of karaage or whatever with it, which means you just order a bunch of half-pints and stuff yerself. It helps you deal with the fact that you're going poor drinking this with the current exchange rates. Also I wasn't expecting Japanese beer to be good in particular, but it is. Fujizakura Heights' rauchbeer is up there with Schlenkerla's, no question. I get the idea that craft beer in Japan largely started as something resort hotels and things got into as an "attraction" sort of thing, and only now is it really beginning to catch on in a big way in Tokyo. But as a result of that, there's a lot more beer brewed along "exotic" varieties like that than I thought. SUPER HASSLER fucked around with this message at 00:20 on Aug 25, 2012 |
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Aug 25, 2012 00:16
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Whenever I went to Japan I loving hated every moment of it and all the expensive craft-looking beer I bought sucked. That was years ago, though.
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Aug 25, 2012 00:46
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RiggenBlaque posted:Whenever I went to Japan I loving hated every moment of it and all the expensive craft-looking beer I bought sucked. That was years ago, though. Pretty much exactly my experience as well. I like how a friend of mine describes Japanese lagers: "tastes like efficiency!"
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Aug 25, 2012 02:25
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Sirotan posted:Pretty much exactly my experience as well. I like how a friend of mine describes Japanese lagers: "tastes like efficiency!" Efficiency is a good way to describe Asahi etc. and it's still the case that most people just go to the izakaya and say "Give me a draft" and that's what they get. There are actual small-scale brewers these days in the style of US craft outfits, but you definitely have to seek them out, at least in Tokyo. I can guarantee that they are at least up to average US craft-beer levels though. I was at an izakaya with some buds and ordered a bottle of something called "Hoppy" because I figured hey, with a name like that it must be a beer, right?!! I was completely wrong, but Hoppy + shochu on ice was a pretty OK light-alcohol drink (and a very '70s way to get smashed, according to the Japanese people in the party -- sort of the Tokyo equivalent to bring a sixer of Falstaff home with you I suppose). e: Your family is being held for ransom in Shinjuku  
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Aug 25, 2012 02:59
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The funniest part about popeyes is all the 3 Floyd's stuff on the walls. A six pack holder of gumballhead is super special. I can confirm there is lots of oskar blues around, it's just expensive as hell. Lincoln park binnys has pallets of it.
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Aug 25, 2012 03:05
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Paul Proteus posted:The funniest part about popeyes is all the 3 Floyd's stuff on the walls. A six pack holder of gumballhead is super special. They had Alpha King on tap  Someone likes 'em out here.
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Aug 25, 2012 03:14
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Paul Proteus posted:I can confirm there is lots of oskar blues around, it's just expensive as hell. Lincoln park binnys has pallets of it. If it's any consolation, OB is (relatively) expensive in their home region, too. The year round stuff is fairly average but as soon as you get into the four packs like Ten Fidy or Deviant Dale's you're talking like $15/4. It's worth it, but they are pricey. If you're getting gouged for that much for a 6 pack of Dale's or something, then ouch.
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Aug 25, 2012 03:15
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Ugh, god. Great Divide Rumble. Like drinking wood, and not in the good way either. My girlfriend, upon tasting it, described it as "that taste you get in your mouth when you're little and fall down hard enough in the playground to get wood chips in your mouth." Vile!
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Aug 25, 2012 03:53
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Docjowles posted:If it's any consolation, OB is (relatively) expensive in their home region, too. 10 a sixer and 15 a four pack. The only one that makes me sad is Gordon. It's fantastic, just not sure about that kind of price in a four pack.
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Aug 25, 2012 04:49
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Firestone Walker's DBA finally came in! Along with the Stone Best Before, and 16th anniversary. I also picked up a Sam Adams Harvest Variety Pack with the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp. I'm totally set for camping next month.
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Aug 25, 2012 15:00
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SUPER HASSLER posted:Something like 50 taps, plus their happy hour deal is that if you order certain beers (about half the list) you get a tapas-sized dish of karaage or whatever with it, which means you just order a bunch of half-pints and stuff yerself. It helps you deal with the fact that you're going poor drinking this with the current exchange rates. How much was a pint of beer there? But the izakaya small plates style sounds like it'd still be a fun experience regardless.
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Aug 25, 2012 15:06
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Things of note I've had in the last week: Bruery Provisions Mother Funker - still an absolutely delicious sour with tons of pucker power and lemon to back it up. Still one of my favorite Bruery beers. LumberYard Brewing Fireside Ale - red ale aged in bourbon barrels with a surprising amount of finesse. It's almost like an English barleywine in some ways, but less intensely alcoholic. Very good. Fort George Brewery Vortex IPA - Thoroughly blah. New Holland Blue Sunday Sour - a great blueberry sour. Like most blueberry beers I like, the fruit flavor is from the skins and mostly expressed as tannins. Brasserie de Blaugies Biere Darbyste - beer brewed with fig juice. I'm pretty sure this was a flawed batch; it tasted more like band-aids than anything I've had before. Horrible, absolutely horrible. Bruery Sans Pagaie - Still loving delicious and shows no signs of slowing down. Sam Adams Fat Jack - seasonal pumpkin beer. This stuff tastes like pumpkin ice cream, which I love. I'll be grabbing a couple to make beer floats with vanilla ice cream (or maybe pumpkin ice cream because why not?). Probably not something you'll want more than a few ounces of on its own. Black Butte XX - gently caress me so good, and I'll probably never get to try it again. XXI is still my favorite but XX comes in a very close second. Super smooth, malty/coffee/chocolate with vanilla and woody barrel notes to finish. Black Butte XXIV - Those of you saying it's good, I agree. It's like a big boozy mouthful of cocoa powder. The barrel is maybe a little too aggressive right now, but both that and the alcohol heat should fade in a few months. Will probably peak early - under a year - but should do fine for a couple of years. Stone Enjoy By - a very solid Stone IPA, remarkable only for having an interesting marketing gimmick. It was a pretty good week for beer.
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Aug 25, 2012 16:41
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air- posted:How much was a pint of beer there? But the izakaya small plates style sounds like it'd still be a fun experience regardless. The Bud equivalents start at like 300 yen, but craft beer starts at like 700 yen for a pint along the less expensive styles and goes all the way up to 1000 or so yen for full UK pints of things like imperial IPAs or heavy stouts. (Near everyone sells half pints too and that is sort of the default size for Japanese people.) I'll let you do the google money exchange transfer for it, and it is bad. I'd like to think that between the fact it's a big city and Japan also does not have "tips" for restaurants or bars at all, it's just a little more expensive than beer drinking in like Manhattan. On the plus side my hotel has a beer vending machine on every floor instead of an ice machine, so you can see where people's priorities lie. SUPER HASSLER fucked around with this message at 16:53 on Aug 25, 2012 |
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Aug 25, 2012 16:51
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Headed to Pizza Port C'bad right now, checked the tap cam and they have two versions of Night Rider and Bagby's Last Stand on at the moment. Glad the wife is driving today. Hopefully I'll be a good little beer nerd and take some mental notes.
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Aug 25, 2012 19:31
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bartolimu posted:Things of note I've had in the last week: Totally disagree about the Vortex. Love that stuff. Does the Black Butte XX have much life left ahead of it? I thought the XXI tasted a bit over the hill when I had it last month. Thought the XXIV was like a big mouthful of cocoa-dusted dried figs. It was apparently aged on figs and dates, which, along with a bit of a lighter body than previous Black Butte Reserves, gives it some characteristics I normally associate with aged stouts. I agree that it will peak early, though that's not a bad thing, IMO.
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Aug 26, 2012 00:57
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wattershed posted:Glad the wife is driving today. Wait, isn't that how things should always go? I mean that's why we find someone to date/marry right? So they can drive us while we get drunk. Just kidding. I'm drinking a Stone Enjoy By 9/21/2012, it was bottled 8/17/2012, so 9 days old, well 8, depending on how you count the time zone. The hops are very pungent in aroma, I could smell the beer at arms reach, lots of grapefruit here with some spice coming though. The flavor is a bit bland up-front but hits hard with a lot of grapefruit bitterness and a perfume like taste that ends in a slightly tingling spice down my throat and on my tongue. I prefer the sweeter IIPAs myself, but I like this beer.
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Aug 26, 2012 06:35
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celebrated a friend's b-day by having a small tasting before hitting a show: the best (other than the '10 BCS): hunahpu. this might be the best non-barrel aged stout i've ever had. absolutely lives up to the hype. a very mild pepper on the front gives way to an almost refreshing vanilla on the back. i could drink this forever. the most disappointing: damnation. maybe just not my thing (i very much liked batch 23 though). biggest surprise: BBQ. was not expecting to love this as much as i did. the cherries are very pronounced but unlike some other fruit-aged beers (look at you, bramble!), it didn't come out as a sweet mess. fantastic!
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Aug 26, 2012 14:33
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I don't understand beer's effect on me and it really frustrates me. Loads of beers have a negative effect on me but I don't know why. I can drink a couple of bottles of Duvel and I start to feel tipsy, but otherwise fine. The same is true for Corona, and for Goose Island IPA. However I've got a bottle of Brewdog's Punk IPA here, I've had less than 1/5th of it and I can already feel my face going red and the start of a headache. For years I thought that that was a reaction that I had to all beer until I tried them one by one and found some that agree with me and don't give me that reaction, now I know of a 'whitelist' with which I am fine but I have no idea what links them. Why is it that some beers are fine and others make me red in the face and give me a headache? Hell, this is even comparing one IPA that makes me feel bad with another IPA that doesn't! It isn't alcohol flush syndrome - I can drink loads of whisky and not get red in the face or get a headache, same with gin and cognac. Sir Sidney Poitier fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Aug 26, 2012 |
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Aug 26, 2012 18:35
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Perfectly Cromulent posted:Totally disagree about the Vortex. Love that stuff. quote:Does the Black Butte XX have much life left ahead of it? I thought the XXI tasted a bit over the hill when I had it last month. quote:Thought the XXIV was like a big mouthful of cocoa-dusted dried figs.
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Aug 26, 2012 18:42
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bartolimu posted:Our bottle was probably old. It tasted like a generic, fairly low-hop IPA, kind of thin and not really special in any way. I'd try it again with a fresh bottle to re-evaluate. I liked XX and XXI better than the XIV I had on tap at Deschutes Portland a few weeks back. The XIV had a bigger cocoa presence which was nice, but had a little out-of-place-if-you-ask-me berry presence. Not fig/date, which I would be totally down with, but berries. I talked to one of the people running the bar and they said they did add a small amount of berries to the brew.
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Aug 26, 2012 19:10
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Anjow posted:I don't understand beer's effect on me and it really frustrates me. Loads of beers have a negative effect on me but I don't know why. The red in the face / headache thing is from fusels which are hard alcohols created during fermentation from a variety of factors, but mainly being poor brewing practices which describes Brewdog to a T. Nearly all the beers I've had from them were horrible fusel-ridden messes. Both of their IPAs had fair amounts of fusels but I was able to finish them. Divine Rebel with Mikkeller was so horrible it got dumped after about 2oz One of my buddies bought Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismark and we had small (1/2oz) tastings of them 2 years ago, he has yet to finish them. They were both revolting concoctions that resembled rubbing alcohol or gasoline more than beer. There aren't many breweries that have these kinds of problems because if you are any good at brewing and take decent measures of quality control in your process you don't have problems with fusels. Just avoid Brewdog and you'll be fine.
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Aug 26, 2012 19:24
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bartolimu posted:Our bottle was probably old. It tasted like a generic, fairly low-hop IPA, kind of thin and not really special in any way. I'd try it again with a fresh bottle to re-evaluate. The Vortex was in a bottle? Ft George has gone to cans for nearly all of their regular beers, including Vortex. I haven't seen one in a bottle for a long time. It was probably pretty old. It's not going to blow your mind fresh, but it's one of my favorite everyday Oregon IPAs. The glasses of XXIV I've had have all been from tap at the Deschutes brewpub in Portland. Not many of the tasting notes I've seen have mentioned fig or date flavors. Maybe I heard it was brewed with figs and dates and my brain filled in the blanks with my expectations when I tasted the beer. Or maybe I have had enough beers with dates or figs recently (lots of fruit beer in Portland this summer) that my palate is tuned into those flavors. 
consensual poster fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Aug 26, 2012 |
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Aug 26, 2012 19:47
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rage-saq posted:Just avoid Brewdog and you'll be fine. Unfortunately that is not my experience, I have tried a great many other beers from different breweries and found the same problem with them. It is good to know what is causing this, though it does sound like the only answer is 'try things and if they cause it, don't drink them again' which is pretty much what I was already doing. That said, after reading about fusel alcohols on Wikipedia, it seems to suggest that they are frequently present in in relatively high concentrations in whisky - with which I have no problem.
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Aug 26, 2012 20:16
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wasn't somebody saying this year's batch of Red Poppy was infected or something? had some on an excellent beer night (my brother-in-law's Seattle haul) and it was definitely the standout. kinda funny that my BIL had never had a sour before Friday and started off with that, Cascade Apricot, and Sanctification, all of which he really liked.
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Aug 27, 2012 04:30
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I think there may be something besides fusels going on with Anjow. Maybe sensitivity to certain alpha acids or some other trace flavor compound in some hops? It seems like the kind of thing that would be really difficult to nail down. rage-saq posted:One of my buddies bought Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismark and we had small (1/2oz) tastings of them 2 years ago, he has yet to finish them. funkybottoms posted:wasn't somebody saying this year's batch of Red Poppy was infected or something?
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Aug 27, 2012 06:05
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bartolimu posted:I think there may be something besides fusels going on with Anjow. Maybe sensitivity to certain alpha acids or some other trace flavor compound in some hops? It seems like the kind of thing that would be really difficult to nail down. A friend of mine swears he has an intolerance to hops. A physical one, not just "eww bitter". He does ok drinking something like a hefeweizen or typical American lager, but any kind of pale ale and he starts feeling sick and allergic.
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Aug 27, 2012 06:10
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I kind of really like the Stone 16th Anniversary IIPA, it's a huge change from Stone's usual hop assaults and is actually more sweet than bitter. The lemon is more sweet than tart, in-fact I get no tartness here, and lingers after the sip, the rye contributes hints of spice on the finish while the hop profile provides a slightly fruity/sweet flavor, but dries out on the finish with a moderate bitterness. I actually prefer this to the Enjoy By, by a nice margin.
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Aug 27, 2012 06:56
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bartolimu posted:Not infected, just the bottle I got to try a couple of weeks ago was a huge sulfur bomb. Did you open the bottle well before tasting it? Maybe it blew off. Or maybe the one I tried had been mishandled by the owner at some point. naw, poured and drank it immediately. i didn't look for a date on the bottle, but i assume that this is not a beer that tends to sit on the shelf for a long time and was of the most recent release.
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Aug 27, 2012 10:40
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Got back from Charleston last night. Didn't get to visit many of the breweries, as we stayed on the water pretty much much all day, every day. Drank a huge number of Coors Lights, which are great for hot weather and you don't care when one busts in your cooler because the jet skis are getting the poo poo pounded out of them on the sound, thanks Irene. Only made it out to Holy City, as it was the closest one to where we were staying, and they've got a cool thing going. Just a big warehouse/shed out behind a Kawasaki dealership, you can walk right up to the tanks, lean against the malt next to the bar, and they had a band going Friday afternoon. They had 4 of their beers on tap, a porter, pils, golden/Belgian ale and what they called a dark ale. The dark ale was the only one that stood out, the rest were good but nothing mind-blowing. The dark ale was very reminiscent of Duck-Rabbit's Hoppy Bunny, and I love the direction they took the "black IPA". Very roasty, but also lots of fresh, grassy hop flavors. Their blackboard said $5 for 4/4oz tasters and you kept the pint glass, but in practice they were pouring half-pints and it looked like you could pretty much go back as many times as you wanted. Plus I bought a hat and they only charged me for that and not the taster. So they get high marks for being cool folks in my book. Stayed in town on Sunday specifically to go to the Charleston Beer Exchange and picked up a sixer of Westbrook's White Thai, as well as some bombers of their Ninja Citrus DIPA and Coast's HopArt IPA. Awesome store. Probably gonna hold off a few days on drinking any of them though, because drat, I'm worn out and kinda beer-logged.
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Aug 27, 2012 15:41
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Chicagoans: FoBAB goes on sale this Saturday at...5am? What the hell? http://fobab.brownpapertickets.com/
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Aug 27, 2012 17:38
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Okay, so, Pizza Port Carlsbad on Saturday: BBA Night Rider: Holy gently caress what a beer. Just enormous bourbon on the nose, not overly viscous for a beer of this size, a hint of sourness and some woodsy bits too. Impressively enough though, unlike Angel's Share or Deliverance, it's not muddled at any point and holds its profile throughout. One of the best beers I've ever had. Bagby's Last Stand: A "blend of Bourbon Barrel Aged Farley, Bubonic Chronic, Brandy Barrel Aged Bubonic Chronic, Rye Barrel Aged Bubonic Chronic, Bourbon Barrel Aged Night Rider, Reed's, and Brandy Barrel Aged Reed's." So, needless to say, this had the potential for misadventure. Actually knocked it out of the park. This had the best characteristics of a huge barleywine, old ale, stout, quad, and bba strong ale rolled into one. Wasn't nearly as all over the place as I was afraid it might have been, and the amount of BBA source beers in that list certainly amped up the boozy qualities, but if this is his "last stand" at Pizza Port it's a hell of a way to go out. Coffee Monster: WOW. I'm not huge on porters on the whole, mainly because whenever I'm drinking one I think of how it would be if it were just a little thicker, not to mention that it always seems like flavors in porters are muted and there's an 'essence' of a certain flavor but never the full monty. With this beer, however, it really does taste like a half and half of a strong porter and a cup of coffee. They didn't gently caress around with the amount of coffee in this beer, big on the nose and palate, and extremely bright too when it's in the mouth. I only had a few sips of this from a friend's half pint, but will need to indulge with the full glass next time I'm there. Absolutely the best porter I've had. Dubbelicious: American Dubbels always leave me wanting something a little more traditional in the Belgian style, but the growler I picked up of this is serving me quite well. I was impressed with the strong caramel/grape/fig flavors, and unlike a lot of beers in this style I found myself enjoying it more at colder temperatures. I was pouring very small glasses for myself over the weekend so I wouldn't consume any of it at temps closer to room temp. I don't know dubbels like some other styles but this is fairly easy drinking for 7.0% and should be a great option around the holidays. I think I just happened to randomly hit Pizza Port Carlsbad on a day when they had some awesome stuff on tap - especially Bagby's Last Stand, a one-off, though BBA Night Rider might get me to make that 1-hour drive a little more often.
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Aug 27, 2012 18:08
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Tried Dale's Pale Ale this weekend and was an anticlimactic first Oskar Blues experience. It's not a bad beer, really; just nothing special and I wouldn't go looking for it if I was in the mood for a pale ale. Looks like the other available beers are Mama's Little Yella Pils, Old Chub and Deviant Dale's; which should I try next?
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Aug 27, 2012 19:31
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I went to a wedding-type thing this weekend (very short, very informal, held at a restaurant with only 50 people) and they had a pretty great beer selection for a wedding (since it was just a restaurant). I was able to drink a Ommegang Abbey Ale, 21st Amendment Live Free or Die, and a Delerium Tremens before I realized they had those 11.2 oz bottles of Saison Dupont, which I proceeded to order over and over again all afternoon. Best of all, the 11.2 oz bottles are not green, so there was no skunking, it was great
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Aug 27, 2012 19:48
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mysterious frankie posted:Tried Dale's Pale Ale this weekend and was an anticlimactic first Oskar Blues experience. It's not a bad beer, really; just nothing special and I wouldn't go looking for it if I was in the mood for a pale ale. Looks like the other available beers are Mama's Little Yella Pils, Old Chub and Deviant Dale's; which should I try next? Old Chub is very nice.
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Aug 27, 2012 19:50
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mysterious frankie posted:Tried Dale's Pale Ale this weekend and was an anticlimactic first Oskar Blues experience. It's not a bad beer, really; just nothing special and I wouldn't go looking for it if I was in the mood for a pale ale. Looks like the other available beers are Mama's Little Yella Pils, Old Chub and Deviant Dale's; which should I try next? Deviant Dales is a bit more bold than regular Daves but watch out if you think Summit hops taste like onions
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Aug 27, 2012 19:57
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mysterious frankie posted:Tried Dale's Pale Ale this weekend and was an anticlimactic first Oskar Blues experience. It's not a bad beer, really; just nothing special and I wouldn't go looking for it if I was in the mood for a pale ale. Looks like the other available beers are Mama's Little Yella Pils, Old Chub and Deviant Dale's; which should I try next? Deviant is good. Gubna is great (when available). And when Ten Fidy hits, jump on it. One of the best stouts on the planet.
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Aug 27, 2012 20:21
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Toebone posted:Old Chub is very nice. I wasn't a big fan of this, but I didn't enjoy the other scotch-type ale (Innis & Gunn, etc) either. Also, recently tried Founders Breakfast Stout. 
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Aug 27, 2012 20:27
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Tony was tweeting about the new Lagunitas Daytime IPA going out of the brewery last night and I already found it at Safeway this morning. It's very light and easy to drink while maintaining lots of hops and a good balance. Very good!
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Aug 27, 2012 20:50
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