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fullroundaction
Apr 20, 2007

Drink beer every day
I don't know if it makes a difference, but I was at the one in Maple Shade. My buddy is friendly with their brewmaster and he's won a million awards for his beer in the Philly area, so maybe they're not all serving the same stuff.

I also spent a good bit of time in Monk's Cafe while I was in town :getin:

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Tigren
Oct 3, 2003
I've been trying all of my typical bottle shops for the past few weeks looking for The Abyss with no luck at all. I walk into Safeway tonight and what do I see? A whole case just hanging out on the shelf. It makes no sense at all, but I guess I can't complain. Except why does loving Safeway get stupid limited releases and my local that's expecting Westvleteren can't?

Midorka
Jun 10, 2011

I have a pretty fucking good palate, passed BJCP and level 2 cicerone which is more than half of you dudes can say, so I don't give a hoot anymore about this toxic community.

fullroundaction posted:

I don't know if it makes a difference, but I was at the one in Maple Shade. My buddy is friendly with their brewmaster and he's won a million awards for his beer in the Philly area, so maybe they're not all serving the same stuff.

I also spent a good bit of time in Monk's Cafe while I was in town :getin:

I go to the Maple Shade one the first of every month for the homebrew club meetings, Lappy is a really nice guy and I'm a mug club supporter and love the Pig Iron Porter, but I've never had a beer outside of Om Nom Nom, which was made by a fellow homebrewer from Lappy's wort, that I've thought was great. Quadfather was too thin to enjoy, their RIS is decent but doesn't stand out, their Weizenbock was decent actually pretty darn good, but overall I don't love anything brewed there. All of the beers feel like they're missing something and I certainly would never consider purchasing their bottled reserves for $20 a bottle because of that.

I'm guessing you're in the Maple Shade area? Where at?

Edit: And I appreciate the gently caress out of them for letting us host the homebrew meetings there monthly.

Midorka fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Dec 11, 2012

SUPER HASSLER
Jan 31, 2005

The local bar had pourings of a coupla Cantillon beers tonight. Fou' Foune and Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru. I'm glad I had them and the Bruocsella was one of the best oak aged beers I had in a while.

However, while I liked Fou' Foune, I realized that one local brewery (the Bend Brewing Company, the second oldest in town) has a beer that tastes quite a lot like it and is about a third the price so :ssh:

fullroundaction
Apr 20, 2007

Drink beer every day

I GUESS I'M JUST EASILY IMPRESSED THEN!

Midorka posted:

I'm guessing you're in the Maple Shade area? Where at?

I grew up in Mount Laurel and spent my teens/early 20s in Burlington. I worked at the locally-famous Roger Wilco liquor store for about 6 years.

Now I live in Myrtle Beach (SC) and it's a wasteland until you reach Charleston (south) or Wilmington (north).

swickles
Aug 21, 2006

I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just some QB that I used to know
Any Pittsburgh goons can recommend some places to go? I am staying in Shadyside for a few days and will be without a car, so something walking/cabbing distance would be great. When I do have a car, I plan on going to House of 1000 Beers in New Kensington. I have been there before and highly recommend it, great selection.

But yeah, Shadyside area is what I am requesting now. Thanks!

Kudosx
Jun 6, 2006

it's raining zerglings!
Sierra Nevada is going to be releasing bottles of Barrel Aged Bigfoot, and of course it's 12.2% so OH won't be getting any :(

http://beerpulse.com/2012/12/sierra-nevada-barrel-aged-bigfoot-barleywine-slated-for-late-january/

Kudosx fucked around with this message at 11:17 on Dec 11, 2012

Manky
Mar 20, 2007


Fun Shoe
I just heard of and visited the Railroad Street Bar in Linfield, PA for lunch yesterday. I got a Hill Farmstead Holger Dankse, Pretty Things Fluffy White Rabbits, and topped it off with a Mongo.

Good bar & grill, friendly staff, good burgers. And daaaaamn that beer menu. I loved the Holger Danske.

lifts cats over head
Jan 17, 2003

Antagonist: A bad man who drops things from the windows.

swickles posted:

Any Pittsburgh goons can recommend some places to go? I am staying in Shadyside for a few days and will be without a car, so something walking/cabbing distance would be great. When I do have a car, I plan on going to House of 1000 Beers in New Kensington. I have been there before and highly recommend it, great selection.

But yeah, Shadyside area is what I am requesting now. Thanks!

Bites and Brews on Ellsworth has a good selection of draft beer. Right across the street is the Harris Grill which also favors a diverse collection (and on tuesdays they serve free bacon!).

If you are looking for a bottle shop my preferred location is D's Six Packs which is a few neighborhoods over in Regent Square. Their collection, which they refer to as "The Beer Cave" offers what I've heard is over 1000 different options, all of which are available for drinking in house. They also have a great draft selection. I know that's out of your walking distance but if you feel adventurous I'd recommend it.

air-
Sep 24, 2007

Who will win the greatest battle of them all?

Anyone been to the vertical tastings of Stone Vertical Epic happening around the country? I'm debating whether or not it's too much of a crapshoot, but supposedly the older vintages are still good.

Corb3t
Jun 7, 2003

Just got a call that a local Toledo store is holding a Westy XII gift pack for me. :dance:

For those curious:

-$89.99
-They got 15 cases of it
-One of 6 stores in Ohio to get it
-I called last week to reserve it and the employee who called said they will only be holding it for 24 hours and after that, it will go to the next person on the reserve list

$89.99 is a bit steep but I couldn't pass up the chance to get something that will likely never be distributed in the US again. This is by far my most expensive beer purchase.

Midorka
Jun 10, 2011

I have a pretty fucking good palate, passed BJCP and level 2 cicerone which is more than half of you dudes can say, so I don't give a hoot anymore about this toxic community.
I'm hoping some stores in the area will split up the boxes and sell the bottles singly around here, if it comes. I'd like a glass too, if a store I know does this I can probably get one of those. I just can't spend $90 on that right now.

Mahoning
Feb 3, 2007

swickles posted:

Any Pittsburgh goons can recommend some places to go? I am staying in Shadyside for a few days and will be without a car, so something walking/cabbing distance would be great. When I do have a car, I plan on going to House of 1000 Beers in New Kensington. I have been there before and highly recommend it, great selection.

But yeah, Shadyside area is what I am requesting now. Thanks!

The Fat Head brewpub is on Carson Street on the South Shore. If you've never had some of their beers, they're fantastic and the probably have around 50 brews on tap.

Vertigo
Jul 15, 2002

So.... yeah. Been a long time since I've been a regular poster in here, hoping to get back into it again.

I've recently acquired a bottle of Founders Frangelic Mountain Brown Ale that was cellared as part of a trade. When would the ideal time for opening this beverage be? At 9% it seems perfect to cellar for awhile.... but I don't want to miss out on it now if it's awesome.

I may have missed it in this thread somewhere, but has anyone else really found Sam Adams Merry Mischief to be amazing? I bought a growler full from my local six pack shop and purchased 2 bottles from a store that actually got a case in. It's amazing stuff. Maybe a bit too thin on the mouthfeel, but the aroma and flavors are second to none.

Also had the pleasure of trying Ballast Point's Indra Kunidra India Export Stout the other evening. Upon opening it and pouring, I was assaulted by aromas that belonged in my favorite Indian restaurant, not a beer. I figured it was either going to be the best thing I've ever tasted, or disgusting. I really really enjoyed it. The curry notes were amazing, and each sip got spicier and you started feeling it in your chest... just like a great plate of curry. Its not something I would want an entire case of, but it's something that is worth trying.

And Finally, I wound up down at Victory last night, and was able to try their new brewpub only "Midlands Stout". Was very, very tasty. Lots of good roasted, malty notes, and it really had that "winter warmer" feel to it, even though it was only 5.2% . The roasted flavors really came through in this one.

PHew, that was wordy.

Phanatic
Mar 13, 2007

Please don't forget that I am an extremely racist idiot who also has terrible opinions about the Culture series.

Vertigo posted:

So.... yeah. Been a long time since I've been a regular poster in here, hoping to get back into it again.

I've recently acquired a bottle of Founders Frangelic Mountain Brown Ale that was cellared as part of a trade. When would the ideal time for opening this beverage be? At 9% it seems perfect to cellar for awhile.... but I don't want to miss out on it now if it's awesome.

It is not awesome, unless you really love the hell out of hazelnut coffee. I thinking aging that one could help tone it down; I don't think you're missing anything special if you hold off on it. It's very sweet, very hazelnutty, and very coffee-y.

Vertigo
Jul 15, 2002

Phanatic posted:

It is not awesome, unless you really love the hell out of hazelnut coffee. I thinking aging that one could help tone it down; I don't think you're missing anything special if you hold off on it. It's very sweet, very hazelnutty, and very coffee-y.

Ah, thats semi disappointing.. but thank you . I do like hazelnut coffee, so perhaps I will like this one. I try to get at least one of every Founders limited release(the only one I missed thus far is CBS grr). I guess I'll hold off a bit then.

crazyfish
Sep 19, 2002

Gonna agree that Frangelic was never awesome. I have one more bottle, and I nearly extraed it to someone in a trade but decided not to in the end. I'll probably just drink it on some random night when I don't have anything else laying around.

I'm on the fence about getting up super early to try and get a Westy brick tomorrow. I'll be in Brussels on January and I'll probably be able to find a single or two while I'm there according to reports, but I dunno, maybe it just is so good that I can justify getting 6? Or I could buy a ton of Cantillon at the brewery and if Westy really is that amazing, I'm sure I can trade for it.

Corb3t
Jun 7, 2003

Midorka posted:

I'm hoping some stores in the area will split up the boxes and sell the bottles singly around here, if it comes. I'd like a glass too, if a store I know does this I can probably get one of those. I just can't spend $90 on that right now.

I can almost guarantee that this won't happen. Shelton/Westy have made it clear that the gift packs not be broken up and they must be sold near the $85 price range. Granted, some shops can just as easily ignore their wishes, but I doubt it will be worth the hassle when so many people are willing to drop the $85 for the whole pack.


Vertigo posted:

Ah, thats semi disappointing.. but thank you . I do like hazelnut coffee, so perhaps I will like this one. I try to get at least one of every Founders limited release(the only one I missed thus far is CBS grr). I guess I'll hold off a bit then.

Honestly, try it for yourself and be the judge. A lot of people hated Frangelic and a lot of people absolutely loved it. I liked it for what it was - a coffee brown with a strong artificial hazelnut presence. It's not on the same level of 90% of Founders offerings, but it's definitely unique.

More breweries need to experiment with natural hazelnut. and vanilla. I'd kill to have access to an imperial stout that's a vanilla bomb like Bourbon County Vanilla is/was. Victory at Sea almost foots the bill but the one bottle I had didn't really have a big vanilla presence and I'm not sure if it was fresh or not.

Corb3t fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Dec 11, 2012

Phanatic
Mar 13, 2007

Please don't forget that I am an extremely racist idiot who also has terrible opinions about the Culture series.

crazyfish posted:

Gonna agree that Frangelic was never awesome. I have one more bottle, and I nearly extraed it to someone in a trade but decided not to in the end. I'll probably just drink it on some random night when I don't have anything else laying around.

I'm on the fence about getting up super early to try and get a Westy brick tomorrow. I'll be in Brussels on January and I'll probably be able to find a single or two while I'm there according to reports, but I dunno, maybe it just is so good that I can justify getting 6? Or I could buy a ton of Cantillon at the brewery and if Westy really is that amazing, I'm sure I can trade for it.

I don't want to talk it down, it's really good and it's really special to get some because of the rarity and it's really cool to have the empty bottle up on your shelf, but...

it's the same recipe as St. Bernardus 12. The deal is that, decades ago,the monks at St. Sixtus abbey didn't want to brew commercially anymore, so they signed an agreement with Deconinck. The monks would brew their beer for themselves, and Deconinck would brew it for sale, with the help of the St. Sixtus brewmaster. Same recipe, two different breweriess. But after a few decades of this the Internationale Vereniging Trappist decided that unless your beer's actually brewed in a monastery you can't stick the ATP logo on it, so St. Sixtus and Deconinck didn't renew their arrangement. The St. Sixtus monks resumed some commercial brewing, and DeConinck started putting their beers in bottles that say St. Bernardus instead of St. Sixtus.

So yeah, there are differences, I'm not saying it's the same beer, but they're subtle differences, and, well, for as hard to find and expensive as the Westvleteren 12 is, I'd rather just get Rochefort 10, it's definitely in the same league. I didn't find any Westvleteren 12 in Brussels when I went, so if you really want one you might want to try getting up early tomorrow, but basically I guess I'm saying that even though it is a top-notch quad I think a lot of the buzz about it's the rarity and not because it's the best beer on the planet or anything.

crazyfish
Sep 19, 2002

Phanatic posted:

I don't want to talk it down, it's really good and it's really special to get some because of the rarity and it's really cool to have the empty bottle up on your shelf, but...

it's the same recipe as St. Bernardus 12. The deal is that, decades ago,the monks at St. Sixtus abbey didn't want to brew commercially anymore, so they signed an agreement with Deconinck. The monks would brew their beer for themselves, and Deconinck would brew it for sale, with the help of the St. Sixtus brewmaster. Same recipe, two different breweriess. But after a few decades of this the Internationale Vereniging Trappist decided that unless your beer's actually brewed in a monastery you can't stick the ATP logo on it, so St. Sixtus and Deconinck didn't renew their arrangement. The St. Sixtus monks resumed some commercial brewing, and DeConinck started putting their beers in bottles that say St. Bernardus instead of St. Sixtus.

So yeah, there are differences, I'm not saying it's the same beer, but they're subtle differences, and, well, for as hard to find and expensive as the Westvleteren 12 is, I'd rather just get Rochefort 10, it's definitely in the same league. I didn't find any Westvleteren 12 in Brussels when I went, so if you really want one you might want to try getting up early tomorrow, but basically I guess I'm saying that even though it is a top-notch quad I think a lot of the buzz about it's the rarity and not because it's the best beer on the planet or anything.

I knew about the St. Bernardus thing already (and goddamn what a great beer it is) but I didn't know whether Bernardus did their own little touchups or just decided to release a new (though similar) recipe under that name.

I think I'll stick to getting a single in Brussels or trading for it when I get back.

rage-saq
Mar 21, 2001

Thats so ninja...

crazyfish posted:

I knew about the St. Bernardus thing already (and goddamn what a great beer it is) but I didn't know whether Bernardus did their own little touchups or just decided to release a new (though similar) recipe under that name.

I think I'll stick to getting a single in Brussels or trading for it when I get back.

I've had the Westvleteren 12 at various ages as well as St Bernardus 12 at various ages and I would definitely give the Westy 12 marks as a superior beer. I've brewed my own version of this style heavily modeled off of what is known about the current incarnation of the Westvleteren 12 and have won many homebrew competitions with it as well has brewing it with a professional for a ProAm entry at the GABF.

They aren't the same recipe, they aren't even the same yeast (the most important aspect to this style of beer). That being said even if they were the same recipe and yeast there are many ways that the brewers process, equipment and fermenting treatment would yield dramatically different beers.

All of that being said they are both excellent Belgian Dark Strong beers and I will be buying myself a pack tomorrow.

Corb3t
Jun 7, 2003

rage-saq posted:

I've had the Westvleteren 12 at various ages as well as St Bernardus 12 at various ages and I would definitely give the Westy 12 marks as a superior beer. I've brewed my own version of this style heavily modeled off of what is known about the current incarnation of the Westvleteren 12 and have won many homebrew competitions with it as well has brewing it with a professional for a ProAm entry at the GABF.

They aren't the same recipe, they aren't even the same yeast (the most important aspect to this style of beer). That being said even if they were the same recipe and yeast there are many ways that the brewers process, equipment and fermenting treatment would yield dramatically different beers.

All of that being said they are both excellent Belgian Dark Strong beers and I will be buying myself a pack tomorrow.

I'd imagine the water supply isn't the same between the two, correct? That's also another very important aspect that gives many beer a distinct taste that is hard to replicate.

Angry Grimace
Jul 29, 2010

ACTUALLY IT IS VERY GOOD THAT THE SHOW IS BAD AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T REALIZE WHY THAT'S GOOD IS AN IDIOT. JUST ENJOY THE BAD SHOW INSTEAD OF THINKING.

rage-saq posted:

I've had the Westvleteren 12 at various ages as well as St Bernardus 12 at various ages and I would definitely give the Westy 12 marks as a superior beer. I've brewed my own version of this style heavily modeled off of what is known about the current incarnation of the Westvleteren 12 and have won many homebrew competitions with it as well has brewing it with a professional for a ProAm entry at the GABF.

They aren't the same recipe, they aren't even the same yeast (the most important aspect to this style of beer). That being said even if they were the same recipe and yeast there are many ways that the brewers process, equipment and fermenting treatment would yield dramatically different beers.

All of that being said they are both excellent Belgian Dark Strong beers and I will be buying myself a pack tomorrow.

Random brewing question - what yeast is St. Bernardus using now? I know Gordon Strong said St. Sixtus is using the Westmalle yeast (at some totally different fermentation temperature schedule).

BTW, for anyone wanting to know, the actual allotment of the packs to stores is 36 per store, so you probably won't get one.

Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Dec 11, 2012

Midorka
Jun 10, 2011

I have a pretty fucking good palate, passed BJCP and level 2 cicerone which is more than half of you dudes can say, so I don't give a hoot anymore about this toxic community.

rage-saq posted:

I've had the Westvleteren 12 at various ages as well as St Bernardus 12 at various ages and I would definitely give the Westy 12 marks as a superior beer. I've brewed my own version of this style heavily modeled off of what is known about the current incarnation of the Westvleteren 12 and have won many homebrew competitions with it as well has brewing it with a professional for a ProAm entry at the GABF.

They aren't the same recipe, they aren't even the same yeast (the most important aspect to this style of beer). That being said even if they were the same recipe and yeast there are many ways that the brewers process, equipment and fermenting treatment would yield dramatically different beers.

All of that being said they are both excellent Belgian Dark Strong beers and I will be buying myself a pack tomorrow.

I've heard that it is the same recipe, only the yeast is different which Westvleteren now uses Westmalle while St. Bernardus uses the original. It makes sense given that St. Bernardus contract brewed for Westvleteren 12 up until 1992.

This blog backs that, but then again it's just a blog. I'll try to find a more credible source. There's also this that is a nice write-up.

Midorka fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Dec 11, 2012

SnowDog
Oct 26, 2004
While Winter truly kicks in, it's time for me to seek out more malty rich dark beers.

I don't often like 10% ABV or higher beers; I find boozy flavors kind of distracting in my beer. On the other hand, I am finding I really enjoy a few beers that are known as American Strong Ale, Old Ale, Altbier, etc., that have a higher ABV. I'm trying to seek out new excellent examples, while avoiding boozy flavors.

(And, I'm willing to extend my horizons here -- tastes change and I might find I've modified my taste buds)

There's a delicate balance to walk here, and I come to you guys for help picking candidates to seek out. I'm in MA, if that matters, for local stuff.

Examples of what I've tried and loved:
- Mayflower Thanksgiving Ale (American Strong Ale, 8%)
- Southern Tier Old Man Winter (Winter/Old, 7.7%)
- Ipswich 21st Anniversary Imperial Dark Ale (American Strong, 8%)
- Long Trail Double Bag (Altbier, 7.2%)

Stuff that didn't really do it for me (having trouble remembering examples) :
- Berkshire Brewing Holidale Barleywine
- Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog
- Allagash Black (I could tell it was really good, but also not what I was looking for)

My to-try list includes:
- Lukcy Basartd, Arrogant Bastard

air-
Sep 24, 2007

Who will win the greatest battle of them all?

GI kegs just showed up in Houston. Sightings include Pere Jacques, Matilda, and Sofie, but now it begins...

Another local guy who is very :words: and anti-AB InBev shared this article as part of why it's "against his moral code" to buy anything from GI anymore. Surprised this didn't get linked here.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-25/the-plot-to-destroy-americas-beer

Angry Grimace
Jul 29, 2010

ACTUALLY IT IS VERY GOOD THAT THE SHOW IS BAD AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T REALIZE WHY THAT'S GOOD IS AN IDIOT. JUST ENJOY THE BAD SHOW INSTEAD OF THINKING.

air- posted:

GI kegs just showed up in Houston. Sightings include Pere Jacques, Matilda, and Sofie, but now it begins...

Another local guy who is very :words: and anti-AB InBev shared this article as part of why it's "against his moral code" to buy anything from GI anymore. Surprised this didn't get linked here.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-25/the-plot-to-destroy-americas-beer

Becks has always sucked. I'm not sure what this guy was thinking. The article is kind of funny though. Its not shocking that InBev basically sucks, but some of the stuff is kind of comical, i.e. cutting the cost of producing Budweiser by buying "inferior" rice, even though rice as an adjunct tastes like nothing. Actually, I don't even understand why they use rice at all when they don't care about the flavor the adjunct is adding? Why not just pour table sugar into fermenter?

We get Pere Jacques, Matilda and Sofie (plus Pepe Nero) in Southern California, but that's all we get. Its kind of weird actually, given that my understanding is that many of their non-Belgian, non BCBS stuff is contract brewed.

Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Dec 11, 2012

Hauki
May 11, 2010


Abyss '12 finally came in, so I guess I'll be grabbing a few bottles of that while it's available. Also, local store dug out Stone Vertical Epic '04 - '12 - doing a tasting that I probably can't make, but they also have bottles of each for sale. I can't recall which years were which now - should I look for any in particular?

danbanana
Jun 7, 2008

OG Bell's fanboi

air- posted:

GI kegs just showed up in Houston. Sightings include Pere Jacques, Matilda, and Sofie, but now it begins...

Another local guy who is very :words: and anti-AB InBev shared this article as part of why it's "against his moral code" to buy anything from GI anymore. Surprised this didn't get linked here.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-25/the-plot-to-destroy-americas-beer

This got posted on nerd-blog boingboing.net by the usually very reasonable and likeable Cory Doctorow a few weeks ago. The whole premise is silly. He looks at a small number of farmers who were hurt by InBev business decisions but ignores (or is just plain ignorant of) the growth and diversification of hops farmers that has basically been subsidized by corporate breweries like InBev. There's definitely lovely things they do, but to call them out on material purchasing is plain wrong. This seriously reads like butthurt from someone who's lovely beer is different...

I'm stuck in Orlando for work this week and have just been handed the keys to the rental car. Off I go to find some CCB stuff!

Kudosx
Jun 6, 2006

it's raining zerglings!

air- posted:

Anyone been to the vertical tastings of Stone Vertical Epic happening around the country? I'm debating whether or not it's too much of a crapshoot, but supposedly the older vintages are still good.

Does anyone think it would be worth $110 to get bottles of 03-12 epic?

There's a few stores in Northeast OH that are going to have all of the vintages except 02, and they're selling them as a set. I've only tried 11, and I have a bottle of 10, but I can't decide if I want to drop the cash to try 03-09...

crazyfish
Sep 19, 2002

danbanana posted:

I'm stuck in Orlando for work this week and have just been handed the keys to the rental car. Off I go to find some CCB stuff!

If you wind up at the tasting room in Tampa (about an hour away), I hear BA Big Sound (scotch ale) is really drat good.

air-
Sep 24, 2007

Who will win the greatest battle of them all?

Kudosx posted:

Does anyone think it would be worth $110 to get bottles of 03-12 epic?

There's a few stores in Northeast OH that are going to have all of the vintages except 02, and they're selling them as a set. I've only tried 11, and I have a bottle of 10, but I can't decide if I want to drop the cash to try 03-09...

Right on, the price tag was at the event was one factor that spoke to me. I'd feel even more scared of a bad bottle if I bought all of them at once. The flight of all 10 was $35ish, so splitting that up with a friend sounds good to me.

Angry Grimace
Jul 29, 2010

ACTUALLY IT IS VERY GOOD THAT THE SHOW IS BAD AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T REALIZE WHY THAT'S GOOD IS AN IDIOT. JUST ENJOY THE BAD SHOW INSTEAD OF THINKING.

Hauki posted:

Abyss '12 finally came in, so I guess I'll be grabbing a few bottles of that while it's available. Also, local store dug out Stone Vertical Epic '04 - '12 - doing a tasting that I probably can't make, but they also have bottles of each for sale. I can't recall which years were which now - should I look for any in particular?

Yup, I'm gonna have to do a few trips though to snag a bottle for now and one for later, its bottle limited practically everywhere :( I never ended up seeing Old Rasputin XV this year either, which is odd. I found ORXIV quite good after I gave it an extra 8 months to age.

I decided to skip trying to get a brick of Westy XII too. I don't even really like Belgian Dark Strong Ale that much, so I'd probably be wasting the beer if I bought it for $100 I don't even have.

Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Dec 11, 2012

Arnold of Soissons
Mar 4, 2011

by XyloJW

Midorka posted:

I've heard that it is the same recipe, only the yeast is different which Westvleteren now uses Westmalle while St. Bernardus uses the original. It makes sense given that St. Bernardus contract brewed for Westvleteren 12 up until 1992.

This blog backs that, but then again it's just a blog. I'll try to find a more credible source. There's also this that is a nice write-up.

That's the story I've heard from a number of places, including Brew Like A Monk. The brewers at Bernardus say the same thing, though obviously their information about what is happening at Westvleteren is less perfect than their information about what they're doing in house. Personally I think they're both very fine, but I think Rochefort 10 clearly is the best of class.

e: I should have taken a photo of the empty Westvleteren 12 gift boxes all stacked up in two piles to the ceiling in Kulminator.

Arnold of Soissons fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Dec 12, 2012

blue.eyed.ash
Jul 17, 2006

Winner of the 'How Badly Will A Phone Game Milk Us Idiot Cash Cows?' Contest!

Answer: About $70USD for a bad character that unlocks the grind for another.


extra letters: star-lord star-lord star-lord star-lord star-lord star-lord star-lord star-l

Hauki posted:

Abyss '12 finally came in, so I guess I'll be grabbing a few bottles of that while it's available. Also, local store dug out Stone Vertical Epic '04 - '12 - doing a tasting that I probably can't make, but they also have bottles of each for sale. I can't recall which years were which now - should I look for any in particular?

I only started at '05 (and don't have any of the older ones saved, unfortunately), but remember really liking '09 and '10. Stone actually has a profile of each year on their site, if that helps. '10 was brewed with wine grapes.

blue.eyed.ash fucked around with this message at 00:36 on Dec 12, 2012

rage-saq
Mar 21, 2001

Thats so ninja...

Bag of Sun Chips posted:

I'd imagine the water supply isn't the same between the two, correct? That's also another very important aspect that gives many beer a distinct taste that is hard to replicate.

What does have a big effect on a beers flavor, but nearly all smart breweries of any significant size filter and/or soften their water and add back some minerals according to what is appropriate to the recipe. Its not really a huge topic of discussion when comparing breweries as all of the ones we have been discussing have known how to manage for that for quite some time.

rage-saq
Mar 21, 2001

Thats so ninja...

Angry Grimace posted:

Random brewing question - what yeast is St. Bernardus using now? I know Gordon Strong said St. Sixtus is using the Westmalle yeast (at some totally different fermentation temperature schedule).

BTW, for anyone wanting to know, the actual allotment of the packs to stores is 36 per store, so you probably won't get one.

I don't think the brewers that run the St Bernardus beers have commented, and usually if its a commercially available yeast the brewing world has figured it out, which it hasn't.
So the best assumption is that its the old Westvleteren 12 yeast (that they haven't used from when they re-opened brewing in the 90s) from when the head brewer from St Sixtus went to setup the St Bernardus brewery.

Stan Hieronymus has written brewing books on Belgian brewers and styles and has covered topics like this in great detail, of which he has a particularly applicable snippet available on the website on this subject.
http://www.brewlikeamonk.com/?p=41

rage-saq
Mar 21, 2001

Thats so ninja...

Midorka posted:

I've heard that it is the same recipe, only the yeast is different which Westvleteren now uses Westmalle while St. Bernardus uses the original. It makes sense given that St. Bernardus contract brewed for Westvleteren 12 up until 1992.

This blog backs that, but then again it's just a blog. I'll try to find a more credible source. There's also this that is a nice write-up.

As mentioned in the previous post, Stan Hieronymus is pretty much the credible source as he has written extensively on it and done interviews with the brewers (secular and monastic) to get specific questions like this answered.

Vertigo
Jul 15, 2002

If anyone would be able to snag me some Abyss '12 please PM me.

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wattershed
Dec 27, 2002

Radio got his free iPod, did you get yours???

Angry Grimace posted:

Yup, I'm gonna have to do a few trips though to snag a bottle for now and one for later, its bottle limited practically everywhere :( I never ended up seeing Old Rasputin XV this year either, which is odd. I found ORXIV quite good after I gave it an extra 8 months to age.

I decided to skip trying to get a brick of Westy XII too. I don't even really like Belgian Dark Strong Ale that much, so I'd probably be wasting the beer if I bought it for $100 I don't even have.

Palm Springs liquor and Windy City both are overflowing with OR XV, and Palm's got a few bottles of 14 left too. Nobody looks up in that store...it's where some of the best things go.

BDBS said they have 36 boxes of Westy, but we'll see what that number actually comes out to. Bine & Vine have 10 Westy boxes, Geoi thought he was getting 15 but only 10 came in. They're just sitting on the floor of the shop right now. Abyss is there today, also at Palm as well as Bevmo La Mesa. I'm at 3 bottles in an hour of driving, and should be able to come across a few more tomorrow. I'm trying to get a five-year rolling vertical going and need to do this for the next two years after this year to begin pulling that off.

If the Westy purchase goes well tomorrow I can't imagine buying any more beer for the rest of the year, which I'm sure is music to my wallet's ears.

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