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i don't think there's anything wrong with using BA as a source of information- like it or not, it is kind of the default beer website for many people- so long as you don't dive too deeply into the forums and become a "beer advocate." aw, crap, new page and the first post is actually somewhat pro-BA. oh, well...
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Jan 10, 2013 22:42
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bartolimu posted:Bell's Oarsman Ale - Even for a Berliner, this is thin-bodied and low on flavor. It's not particularly sour, either. Might be okay as babby's first sour or something, but I won't seek this out. I think this is actually a very good beer for it's context. This is a beer I'd buy a 6 pack or 2 of to bring to the lake/beach/whatever. It's refreshing without having a ton of flavor, and it's easy and cheap enough to have one-after-another. There are not nearly enough beers [available in my area] that fit this bill.
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Jan 10, 2013 22:44
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funkybottoms posted:i don't think there's anything wrong with using BA as a source of information- like it or not, it is kind of the default beer website for many people- so long as you don't dive too deeply into the forums and become a "beer advocate." I've met both good and terrible people on BA. There are good ones - you have people that will just open bottles and share without expecting anything with return, generous people who help mule for those who can't attend releases (even for people they've never met), and others on that level. Then there's the truck chasers, people who are scared of 'breaking up their collection', people asking how to 'win at trading' and others like that.
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Jan 10, 2013 22:50
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Saw and passed on the Black Note four packs last night. I hope that Bell's adopts the 4 pack format for some of their big beers though. I'd way rather pay 10-11 bucks for four bottles of Expo, Hopslam or Third Coast than 18 for six. I apparently can't decide if I like typing out numbers or not.
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Jan 10, 2013 22:56
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crazyfish posted:I've met both good and terrible people on BA. There are good ones - you have people that will just open bottles and share without expecting anything with return, generous people who help mule for those who can't attend releases (even for people they've never met), and others on that level. Then there's the truck chasers, people who are scared of 'breaking up their collection', people asking how to 'win at trading' and others like that. Yeah, there's so many variables that come into play. I've met both the good (and continue to hang out with them), while there are people who only care about chasing whales and aren't afraid to just use you as a mule. RE: Oarsman - I'm not aware of another widely-produced American Berliner besides that one (maybe Hottenroth?). Picked up multiple sixers back when I had access to it last summer.
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Jan 10, 2013 23:01
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So do you guys who hang on to beers for extended periods of time buy 2 so you can drink 1 and then hold on to 1? (or split 4 and 6 packs up?) I buy a decent amount of beer but only have a very tiny few that I hold on to because I am usually too curious to try stuff. I'm trying to think of what I have and its last two Bourbon County Coffees, last 3 normal BCS, the last 2 BCS Ryes, and I think a random barley wine from 2010. Basically low effort 'cellaring' hah.
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Jan 10, 2013 23:05
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So I talked to some girl at the beer shop across the river in Kentucky and she said there isn't going to be a ton of Barrel Aged Bigfoot available, that they are only getting maybe one case in. That probably eliminates my chances of getting it since its not coming to Ohio at all. Oh well.
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Jan 10, 2013 23:15
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Cambridge Brewing Co has a Belgian DIPA called "The Audacity of Hops". I think this may be my new favorite punny IPA name.
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Jan 11, 2013 00:05
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SUPER HASSLER posted:Cambridge Brewing Co has a Belgian DIPA called "The Audacity of Hops". Perfect beer to go with my favorite Smuttynose shirt. 
FreelanceSocialist fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Jan 11, 2013 |
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Jan 11, 2013 00:35
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definitely have that shirt. haha
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Jan 11, 2013 01:13
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crazyfish posted:I've met both good and terrible people on BA. There are good ones - you have people that will just open bottles and share without expecting anything with return, generous people who help mule for those who can't attend releases (even for people they've never met), and others on that level. Then there's the truck chasers, people who are scared of 'breaking up their collection', people asking how to 'win at trading' and others like that. Ditto. I've been to quite a few local tastings that have a lot of BA members attending and I've had very few negative experiences. Most people within the local community are very friendly and willing to crack open rare beers with nothing in return. Hell, there are many beers I never thought I'd get a chance to try like Ann, Bourbon County Rare, Cantillon and Bullfrog sours. Hell, if you've ever been to a bottle release, you've probably talked to people on BA. I'm not saying everybody you meet at bottle releases are good people, but I haven't had a bad experience hanging out in line with random beer nerds. Edit: The people buying up cases of Black Note are either getting some for friends or for trade bait. If you're into trading, it's hard to pass up something like Black Note, which can help you land something you're looking to track down. Corb3t fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Jan 11, 2013 |
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Jan 11, 2013 01:55
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I think the bottom line is that the terrible BA people are a very loud and obnoxious minority compared to the much wider range of perfectly nice BA folks who are exactly as Bag of Sun Chips described - willing to share and discuss good beer with cool people who like good beer.
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Jan 11, 2013 02:05
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akeidolon posted:I saw this in the beer chiller at Whole Foods. It called to me... Speaking of Whole Foods, I have a question for you goons who buy their beer from there. Tomorrow I'm heading to the one that's closest to me, about a half hour away, and I heard that they let you make your own six packs? Is this true or am I going to waste my time and gas driving over there? If they do, how much does it usually cost?
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Jan 11, 2013 02:43
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screenwritersblues posted:Speaking of Whole Foods, I have a question for you goons who buy their beer from there. Tomorrow I'm heading to the one that's closest to me, about a half hour away, and I heard that they let you make your own six packs? Is this true or am I going to waste my time and gas driving over there? If they do, how much does it usually cost? pretty sure every WF i've been in (since i became a beer drinker, anyway) has had a small section of 12oz singles for making a mixed six-pack, but i also can't say i remember the selection being particularly good in any of them. i try not to visit Total Wine too often, but they generally have a far better single selection and, at least in the case of my area, a few of the independent shops do a better job of it, too. you try calling them? as for pricing, it's generally a sixth or fourth of the six- or four-pack price with an additional $.25-50 per bottle, so it shouldn't cost you too much more.
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Jan 11, 2013 03:02
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Whisker Biscuit posted:Saw and passed on the Black Note four packs last night. I hope that Bell's adopts the 4 pack format for some of their big beers though. I'd way rather pay 10-11 bucks for four bottles of Expo, Hopslam or Third Coast than 18 for six. Are you local to Kalamazoo? If you, or any other Michigoons would be willing to pick me up a four pack (or two preferably) of Black Note, I can pay-pal you the money, and I would be willing to come pick it up, or pay for shipping if you'd be willing to do that. I'd also be willing to trade a four pack of Barrel Aged Blackout Stout for a four pack of Black Note, if anyone would be interested. I really want to drive to Kalamazoo to pick it up myself, but I'm afraid of making the four hour drive there, and having it be sold out.
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Jan 11, 2013 03:19
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Kudosx posted:Are you local to Kalamazoo? If you, or any other Michigoons would be willing to pick me up a four pack (or two preferably) of Black Note, I can pay-pal you the money, and I would be willing to come pick it up, or pay for shipping if you'd be willing to do that. I'd also be willing to trade a four pack of Barrel Aged Blackout Stout for a four pack of Black Note, if anyone would be interested. It sounds like they are out completely.
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Jan 11, 2013 03:21
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I had Victory at Sea for the first time tonight and its the first beer I've had that truly smelled/tasted like coffee, and I've had a ton of coffee porters/stouts. It is really fantastic.
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Jan 11, 2013 04:16
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I finally caved in and dropped the twenty bucks on a Tart of Darkness today. I figured I'd eventually regret it if I let them all slip away. This beer had better poo poo delicious sour rainbows directly into my mouth hole.
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Jan 11, 2013 04:55
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Mahoning posted:I had Victory at Sea for the first time tonight and its the first beer I've had that truly smelled/tasted like coffee, and I've had a ton of coffee porters/stouts. It is really fantastic. Victory at Sea is fantastic, definitely one of my all time favorite coffee beers. Are you going to be picking up BA Blackout on Tuesday, or are you going to one of the release parties on Monday night? If so, which one?
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Jan 11, 2013 05:26
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OK am having my Heady now. Am super unimpressed. What's the big draw here? It seems like, well, a lot of other eh kinda IPA's I've had. Is this just uh "too un-fresh"?
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Jan 11, 2013 06:03
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SUPER HASSLER posted:OK am having my Heady now. I had a half ounce or so sample of Heady today at a local shop. This video pretty much sums up my reaction: http://vimeo.com/38866544 If you don't feel like watching, it's a really good beer but not worth the hype, but at least it's not THAT hard to trade for. edit: The only beer I can think of that has ever lived up to its insane hype levels for me is King Henry. Goddamn.
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Jan 11, 2013 06:20
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NC guys: If you get the chance to try Mystery's Six Impossible Things, you should definitely drop everything and go for it. I had one the other night at the Village Draft House and loved it so much I jumped at the chance to have another at the Saucer tonight. It's an oatmeal/chocolate/coffee stout that is perfectly balanced, none of the flavors completely overpower the others. The mouthfeel is surprisingly light for how flavorful it is, but it somehow feels just right. If they put this in growlers I think I may have found my go-to beer for the rest of the winter. I've really liked everything I've tried from Mystery so far but this is far and away their best yet. Also had Big Boss' The Countess tonight and that was just a hot mess. It's like they couldn't decide if they wanted to make a fruit ale or a proper sour and just gave up halfway through. Wasn't terrible but wasn't great either, however it was only $3 on fire sale so it was worth the try.
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Jan 11, 2013 07:22
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Kudosx posted:Victory at Sea is fantastic, definitely one of my all time favorite coffee beers. I'm not sure yet which one. A friend of mine is planning on going directly there when he flies back from Tampa (with Cigar City!) so I will probably just head there whenever he does. I'll keep you posted.
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Jan 11, 2013 09:23
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Valencia posted:
They had 6IT growlers last time I was at Bottle Revolution.
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Jan 11, 2013 12:33
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SUPER HASSLER posted:OK am having my Heady now. That's disappointing. Heady was the last IPA I was interested in going out of my way to try. Based on other experiences, though, I can't say I'm surprised by this. Hype oversold PtE and Sculpin for me.
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Jan 11, 2013 14:26
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danbanana posted:That's disappointing. Heady was the last IPA I was interested in going out of my way to try. Based on other experiences, though, I can't say I'm surprised by this. Hype oversold PtE and Sculpin for me. people in my neck of the woods have a really high opinion of Heady Topper, but nobody around here produces a seriously top-notch IPA (except maybe the so far one-off Bitter Valentine). i wonder if Mr HASSLER has been somewhat spoiled by living in one of the country's best IPA-producing regions? tasted like any other big, hoppy IIPA to me, but i'm a poor judge as i'm not a fan of the style.
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Jan 11, 2013 14:46
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I've only had Heady fresh on tap, but it was seriously great in that context. People say it falls off pretty quickly.
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Jan 11, 2013 14:54
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It does. Friends picked me up some the day it was canned, I drank some the next day and it was easily the best IPA I ever had. Two weeks later, it was really good. Three weeks later, it was pretty good. Also I hope you ignored the can and poured it into a glass because the can is Wrong. For me, it's the best IPA, because I just love the hop profile, it's so citrusy and mango-y it's like drinking a glass of grapefruit juice, it's loving delicious. Out of curiosity, how have you only had it fresh on tap? I thought they only canned it and at the brewery there's only little tasting glasses. Did you go there and taste it and then not get any? Edit: Beer slapfight. Apparently Steelhead Brewing in Oregon (never heard of them) makes a beer called Hopasaurus Rex. They heard that Freetail Brewing in Texas (never heard of them) also made a beer called Hopasaurus Rex, and got a lawyer to fire off a C&D letter. Freetail's response is pretty good:  
Phanatic fucked around with this message at 15:26 on Jan 11, 2013 |
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Jan 11, 2013 15:22
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deadwing posted:I finally caved in and dropped the twenty bucks on a Tart of Darkness today. It will. It's nearly as sour as Mother Funker and just as delicious in its own way.
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Jan 11, 2013 15:28
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That Steelhead/Freetail C&D thing happened almost exactly a year ago you know  Freetail is a brewpub in San Antonio and their La Muerta comes out every November. The Dia De La Muerta (get it?) is the next best thing we have to something like Dark Lord/Darkness Day, but imo the brewpub as a whole has been on a downhill slide. The owner seems to have spread himself too thin between teaching, personal stuff (his new ladyfriend who lives in San Diego), and working to change Texas legislation. Speaking of a slapfight, this exchange between Lindsey (former beer manager at the Smith Street Spec's in Houston) and Jester King was just too loving good: http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/what-is-the-beer-that-could-finally-put-us-on-the-map-texas.60688/page-2#post-824113
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Jan 11, 2013 16:31
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I like JK a lot but Jeff talks way too much on BA for his company's own good.
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Jan 11, 2013 17:03
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Phanatic posted:Out of curiosity, how have you only had it fresh on tap? I thought they only canned it and at the brewery there's only little tasting glasses. Did you go there and taste it and then not get any? Misconduct in Philly had a Keg during PBW last year.
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Jan 11, 2013 17:26
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Mahoning posted:I had Victory at Sea for the first time tonight and its the first beer I've had that truly smelled/tasted like coffee, and I've had a ton of coffee porters/stouts. It is really fantastic. Ballast Point actually blends real coffee into the beer from what I understand, not coffee beans or grounds, actual coffee! I know this chat is usually for more higher-end beers, but I bought a Butternuts variety 12 pack and while the pale ale, IPA, and hefeweizen were bland, the Moo Thunder milk stout was pretty drat good. It has a nice cocoa and creamer on the nose with a slightly meaty and smokey backing that translates into the flavor really nicely with a good roasted backing. I can find this for $6.99 for a 6 pack in cans, I see no reason not to buy this often.
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Jan 11, 2013 17:29
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Valencia posted:NC guys: If you get the chance to try Mystery's Six Impossible Things, you should definitely drop everything and go for it. I had one the other night at the Village Draft House and loved it so much I jumped at the chance to have another at the Saucer tonight. It's an oatmeal/chocolate/coffee stout that is perfectly balanced, none of the flavors completely overpower the others. The mouthfeel is surprisingly light for how flavorful it is, but it somehow feels just right. I tried some of SIT back when Mystery was just opening; he brought a cask to City Bev in Winston. I was unimpressed with it out of the cask, but I think it's light body plus the low carbonation just did not work together, it was thin and a little bland . We're finally starting to see some of their stuff on draft up here, so maybe I'll get a chance to try it on draft soon. Recently had their IPA, Lockwood's Retreat, and it's really drat good fresh. Went back to the same place a week later and it had dropped off noticeably. Another place just announced they have their scottish ale on, so I'll probably stop by there over the weekend.
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Jan 11, 2013 17:43
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I feel like the pair of jeans on the Levi's patch today. Work lunch here, but it's only from 11:30-1:30 so I need to be in some sort of functional state to either a) go back to work and, like, work or something or b) drive 25 minutes home and start the weekend early. Not fair. Of the 111(!) beers on tap I think I've narrowed it down to five local choices + Bruery's Humulus Lager, as the one time I had it it totally rocked my world. Perhaps I can convince my coworkers to pick the other stuff I want to try and we can split the glasses. Ugh. In other news, local SD wine bar 57 Degrees is going to split their building in half, with the other half becoming a beer bar that will exclusively serve local beer. Not exactly a triumph in and of itself, except their approach is interesting. They're only going to have one tap per brewery, so the nanobreweries in town are more inclined to send their one or two kegs a week out to this place over some other bars to put them on an even competitive keel (choice-wise) with the Stones/Green Flashes of the area. Given how it's a real pain in the dick to try what the area's got to offer without burning a ton of fuel to span the county, the concept should work very well.
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Jan 11, 2013 18:48
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Midorka posted:I know this chat is usually for more higher-end beers, wattershed posted:In other news, local SD wine bar 57 Degrees is going to split their building in half, with the other half becoming a beer bar that will exclusively serve local beer. Not exactly a triumph in and of itself, except their approach is interesting. They're only going to have one tap per brewery, so the nanobreweries in town are more inclined to send their one or two kegs a week out to this place over some other bars to put them on an even competitive keel (choice-wise) with the Stones/Green Flashes of the area. Given how it's a real pain in the dick to try what the area's got to offer without burning a ton of fuel to span the county, the concept should work very well.
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Jan 11, 2013 19:18
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bartolimu posted:That sounds loving fantastic. Any idea what their timeline is for the improvements? I usually spend a few hours at the Regal Beagle when I'm in town, and it looks like 57 Degrees is close enough to be an easy side trip. I saw "mid 2013" as a rough goal - given they already have the building and are just halving it I imagine the ramp-up time would be a little less than the average new business, but it's a bar downtown so who knows what delays they'll run into.
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Jan 11, 2013 19:45
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Phanatic posted:Edit: Beer slapfight. Apparently Steelhead Brewing in Oregon (never heard of them) makes a beer called Hopasaurus Rex. They heard that Freetail Brewing in Texas (never heard of them) also made a beer called Hopasaurus Rex, and got a lawyer to fire off a C&D letter. Freetail's response is pretty good:
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Jan 11, 2013 20:27
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So I went to Whole Foods today and was kind of let down. This one doesn't do make your own six packs, which was kind of a surprise to me. But I did manage to get a sampler of Smuttynose. So it all worked out in the end.
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Jan 11, 2013 22:25
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Valencia posted:NC guys: If you get the chance to try Mystery's Six Impossible Things, you should definitely drop everything and go for it. I had one the other night at the Village Draft House and loved it so much I jumped at the chance to have another at the Saucer tonight. It's an oatmeal/chocolate/coffee stout that is perfectly balanced, none of the flavors completely overpower the others. The mouthfeel is surprisingly light for how flavorful it is, but it somehow feels just right. It was the only Mystery that they had at BR when I was in town, so I've been sitting on a growler of this for a week+ waiting for people to be around to help me drink it. Glad to hear that you liked it, some of the reviews across the net had me concerned. I'm making a concerted effort to get to it tonight, but we just got all this scotch, you see... Also to follow up on an old post - I didn't really care for the Window Pane Peach from Mother Earth. I may age it, or I may try and trade it. I think it was the chardonnay that I didn't jive with.
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Jan 11, 2013 22:35
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