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air- posted:Looks like you don't have PM's - would you be able to help out with getting 2 bottles of #2? Please let me know; I'll just meet up with you next time I visit Houston! I'll bring you a growler or something you can't get down there like Victory at Sea. I got to have the first at Cottonwood but never saw anyone willing to sell off-premise in Dallas unfortunately. I would love to have one to try now and one to age. Sure, if I can. I'm pretty sure the only reason I ended up with any #1 is because I was on vacation at the time. I'll be on the hunt though, so I'll let you know
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Feb 17, 2013 20:24
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global tetrahedron posted:If they're parcelling out servings in increments of ounces, how are they storing it? Or was this at a special event of some sort? Yeah, a vintage bottle event. Some pretty crazy stuff. Alas, we missed out on the Courage Imperial Stout from 1975... Just snagged two BA'd Bigfoot. Yeah for me.
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Feb 17, 2013 22:37
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danbanana posted:I'm not a big Belgian strong dark guy, so crazyfish will probably be better at describing it. But... This is pretty much it. The 'gift pack' bottle I had a taste from earlier in the day had lots of plum and a couple of rough edges. The 1998 on the other hand was perfectly balanced and all of those rough edges from the fresh bottle were gone. Everything just came together amazingly. It's a bit hard to describe really, but it was definitely one of the best things I tasted that day.
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Feb 17, 2013 22:56
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crazyfish posted:This is pretty much it. The 'gift pack' bottle I had a taste from earlier in the day had lots of plum and a couple of rough edges. The 1998 on the other hand was perfectly balanced and all of those rough edges from the fresh bottle were gone. Everything just came together amazingly. It's a bit hard to describe really, but it was definitely one of the best things I tasted that day. Agreed on the rough edges with the gift pack. I haven't opened any of mine but I had a sample yesterday with some friends and it seemed a bit harsh, I can definitely see it smoothing out over time and turning into an awesome beer.
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Feb 17, 2013 23:16
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Bag of Sun Chips posted:Agreed on the rough edges with the gift pack. I haven't opened any of mine but I had a sample yesterday with some friends and it seemed a bit harsh, I can definitely see it smoothing out over time and turning into an awesome beer. To be honest, it tasted pretty much just like St. Bernardus to me.
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Feb 17, 2013 23:40
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The North American distribution of Westy 12 will prove a few things to people, and one of them is that it's a drat good quad, one of the best, but it's not exactly life-changing compared to the other excellent ones.
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Feb 17, 2013 23:45
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ShaneB posted:The North American distribution of Westy 12 will prove a few things to people, and one of them is that it's a drat good quad, one of the best, but it's not exactly life-changing compared to the other excellent ones. I've heard more than a few people say this tastes a bit different, even comparing to unaged bottles. One brewer I know flat out declared it jsut wasn't the same, and they did something to the recipe for the mass release.
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Feb 18, 2013 00:10
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swickles posted:I've heard more than a few people say this tastes a bit different, even comparing to unaged bottles. One brewer I know flat out declared it jsut wasn't the same, and they did something to the recipe for the mass release. I've had aged Westy 12 (an unfortunately flat bottling), fresh-ish Westy 12, and fresh NA-release Westy 12. I don't think there was any distinguishable difference between the fresh Belgian version and the fresh NA version.
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Feb 18, 2013 00:12
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swickles posted:I've heard more than a few people say this tastes a bit different, even comparing to unaged bottles. One brewer I know flat out declared it jsut wasn't the same, and they did something to the recipe for the mass release. There's pretty much no incentive at all for a group of Benedictine monks who don't typically sell more than a limited amount of beer for entirely religious reasons to randomly decide to commit a fraud on the public and brew a completely different beer. I have an alternate theory these people who think it tastes totally different are tasting the difference in availability. Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Feb 18, 2013 |
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Feb 18, 2013 01:00
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Angry Grimace posted:There's pretty much no incentive at all for a group of Benedictine monks who don't typically sell more than a limited amount of beer for entirely religious reasons to randomly decide to commit a fraud on the public and brew a completely different beer. I have an alternate theory these people who think it tastes totally different are tasting the difference in availability. This times a thousand. You see people saying this stuff all the time (see: Hopslam this year) and it only tastes different most of the time if you think it will taste different.
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Feb 18, 2013 03:02
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There's a good chance the people who are saying they taste the difference between brewery bought Westy 12 and NA labeled Westy 12 are doing so to preserve the trade value of their brewery Westy 12s. Not saying this is always the case, but it only takes a few squeaky wheels on BA to say this and get the ball rolling. I realize this may sound pretty crazy, but there are some real losers with no life other than their AWESOME BEERS out there in the beer community. This my theory. Thoughts?
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Feb 18, 2013 03:04
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^^^ believable. i keep checking to see who posts positive reviews of a sub-par recently-released local beer in order to inflate its trade value.Angry Grimace posted:There's pretty much no incentive at all for a group of Benedictine monks who don't typically sell more than a limited amount of beer for entirely religious reasons to randomly decide to commit a fraud on the public and brew a completely different beer. I have an alternate theory these people who think it tastes totally different are tasting the difference in availability. i agree with this, but to play devil's advocate, scaling up a recipe isn't totally linear, so if they brewed much bigger batches (as opposed to simply more batches), it's possible that it tasted a little different. regardless, i doubt they "did something" to it, and people i know who've had it multiple times didn't notice any significant difference. funkybottoms fucked around with this message at 03:17 on Feb 18, 2013 |
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Feb 18, 2013 03:15
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funkybottoms posted:^^^ believable. i keep checking to see who posts positive reviews of a sub-par recently-released local beer in order to inflate its trade value. It wasn't bigger batches, it was more batches (bigger of course would need new equipment, and why buy new brewing equipment when you've got other more important repairs to do?). I heard an interview with brother Joris, and from what I remember (it was a couple months ago), he said that the reason they were able to make so much extra beer for the overseas release was that they were able to store it offsite. I think this is the interview I heard, please let me know if I'm wrong because time could have hosed my brain: http://beerpulse.com/2012/12/the-abbey-of-saint-sixtus-of-westvleterens-brother-joris-speaks/ In any case, the freshish Westy, despite any perceived "rough edges" I mentioned, is still a phenomenal quad and is at least equally as good as St. Bernardus 12 and Rochefort 10, but not worth the extreme hassle and expense to acquire. The 1998 Westy on the other hand, is the best quad I've ever tasted.
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Feb 18, 2013 03:27
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SnowDog posted:Picked up a bottle of Boulevard's Grainstorm today at my local store. I hope it's good Oh, it is. Gonna be looking to pick up another bottle of this one. It all works together really well.
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Feb 18, 2013 03:58
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Poor Baying Hound. Even my local beer guy who can't say anything bad about anyone (to the point of  ) had to comment on their issues.quote:Better than last time. Still not loving it. — Drinking a Lord Wimsey's by Baying Hound Aleworks quote:Bretty; disjointed. Not a fan. — Drinking a HopShot IPA quote:Best of the bunch, if you like uncontrollable gushing foam and astringency. — Drinking a Long Snout Stout It sounds like not much has changed in the ~2yrs since I tried it.
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Feb 18, 2013 04:04
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I gotta say, as much as I love craft beer, I can't always take the ironic facial hair that comes with it. On the plus side, I went to Live Wire today and got a glass of Cuvee des Jacobins and a full pint of Damnation for 8 bucks. That's a good deal right there.
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Feb 18, 2013 07:07
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This whole Palate Wrecker discussion is now hilarious to me since we in northwest Florida just received our first shipment ever. Thanks San Diego!
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Feb 18, 2013 11:57
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crazyfish posted:It wasn't bigger batches, it was more batches (bigger of course would need new equipment, and why buy new brewing equipment when you've got other more important repairs to do?). I heard an interview with brother Joris, and from what I remember (it was a couple months ago), he said that the reason they were able to make so much extra beer for the overseas release was that they were able to store it offsite. and there you have it. shared some goon-provided Fat Head's Head Hunter and BA Blackout with the homebrew crew and they were both big hits. HH's label art is loving atrocious, but even my non-IPA-loving rear end was kinda digging the beer (yes, i trade for IPAs for my friends and girlfriend). i wouldn't call the BA Blackout my favorite stout ever, but it's a fantastic display of barrel aging done properly- you taste everything you're supposed without any one element dominating and it's super-drinkable only a few weeks out from being bottled. drat good beer, glad i have some more.
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Feb 18, 2013 15:18
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I finally got my hands on fresh Ithaca Flower Power and it's pretty drat great. According to Fresh Beer Only this is less than a month old. That's fantastic because most Ithaca stuff I get around here is near expired. Anyway this is an excellent IPA, tropical and floral aroma with a spice to it, oranges and pineapple comes to mind. The bitterness is interesting because the bitterness is only there on the mid-taste it's like a spike in bitterness that goes away by the finish with lingering pineapple, banana, and spice. I enjoy this a lot.
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Feb 18, 2013 19:05
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Lost Abbey's Board Meeting, their new year-round brown/porter with coffee, is actually very good. It's called a brown ale, but has a bigger body than most browns and the coffee in there really makes it feel more like a porter. That said, it doesn't have the sweetness of a porter. A bit of a hybrid beer, but I had a few over the weekend and was pleasantly surprised. The other thing I got a chance to try was Hopslam. I suppose that if you like your IPAs more in the midwest/east coast vein where there's a focus on balance over the hop punch of the usual west coast IPAs, this is your favorite beer. Also, this is actually the first beer I've ever noticed the Simcoe cat pee smell. Despite drinking and brewing Simcoe-heavy beers for a while now, I'd never picked it up until now. So, kudos to Bell's for that I guess. On the whole, it was a bit too caramel-y and buttery for me to have with any frequency (like Maharaja in a way), not to mention putting down multiples of these at one time will put you on your rear end. Glad I got to try it, and I can see why it's lauded so much, but there's really a bifurcation happening with IPAs in this country and it's creating two different types of beer, almost. Neither bad, and it's great we all get to have something we love, but comparing Hopslam to, say, Heady Topper? They're miles apart from one another in a number of ways.
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Feb 18, 2013 19:51
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wattershed posted:Hopslam Drank my last one last night. Some of the honey had come out of solution, which I had never seen before with this beer. First drink came off awfully sweet but it settled down after. I love it and think it's definitely worth the high price for one sixer a year. I'll be in SF this weekend and while it's not going to be a beer-focused trip, I plan on making sure I hit City Beer Store and probably Toronado at some point. Besides the obvious things (RR sours), any hidden gems I should be looking to try and/or bring back with me?
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Feb 18, 2013 20:03
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danbanana posted:Drank my last one last night. Some of the honey had come out of solution, which I had never seen before with this beer. First drink came off awfully sweet but it settled down after. I love it and think it's definitely worth the high price for one sixer a year. I'm not sure if you get it where you are, but Sucaba should be floating around right now.
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Feb 18, 2013 20:06
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Tigren posted:I'm not sure if you get it where you are, but Sucaba should be floating around right now. Can get all FW stuff by me (Chicago). RR, Alesmith, and Ballast Point are the big CA breweries we don't get. I've had most of the RR (though am hoping to bring back some sours) and Alesmith stuff and if I want BP, I can take a drive and find it around Illinois outside the city. I'm looking for is any smaller NoCal or NW stuff that might be available that isn't so obvious.
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Feb 18, 2013 20:24
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wattershed posted:The other thing I got a chance to try was Hopslam. I suppose that if you like your IPAs more in the midwest/east coast vein where there's a focus on balance over the hop punch of the usual west coast IPAs, this is your favorite beer. Also, this is actually the first beer I've ever noticed the Simcoe cat pee smell. Despite drinking and brewing Simcoe-heavy beers for a while now, I'd never picked it up until now. So, kudos to Bell's for that I guess. On the whole, it was a bit too caramel-y and buttery for me to have with any frequency (like Maharaja in a way), not to mention putting down multiples of these at one time will put you on your rear end. Glad I got to try it, and I can see why it's lauded so much, but there's really a bifurcation happening with IPAs in this country and it's creating two different types of beer, almost. Neither bad, and it's great we all get to have something we love, but comparing Hopslam to, say, Heady Topper? They're miles apart from one another in a number of ways. There are plenty of DIPAs that balance hops and malt and Hopslam isn't one of them, IMO. Like Maharaja, it is heavily on the malty sweet side of the spectrum. That's not a criticism; it's a good beer. Honestly though, it's absurd how often Hopslam is described as balanced given how far to one end of the style spectrum it lies. FW Double Jack, Boneyard HopVenom, Ninkasi Tricerahops, and DFH 90 Minute (though that's pushing the sweetness a bit) are all much better examples of balanced DIPAs, IMO. Also, I'm really not seeing this bifurcation with IPAs that you are talking about. The range is pretty extreme, but I've been seeing a lot of stuff in the middle.
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Feb 18, 2013 20:31
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Any Michigan folks been to Kuhnhenn Brewery in Warren? I'm there right now and this place has some fantastic brews, headlined by their DRIPA. The owner gave us tastes of their raspberry and blueberry Eisbock which were very high ABV and fantastic. I loved this place.
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Feb 18, 2013 21:19
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Perfectly Cromulent posted:Also, I'm really not seeing this bifurcation with IPAs that you are talking about. The range is pretty extreme, but I've been seeing a lot of stuff in the middle. Perhaps it's because I seek out the unbalanced types that it seems like it to me. I guess the truly balanced IPAs just seem a tad boring?
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Feb 18, 2013 21:20
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If anyone's in Litchfield County (CT), The Cork in Torrington got in two bottles of BA Bigfoot today. I just happened to ask their beer guy about it and he went into the back and grabbed one of them for me. The other one will probably be there until someone else asks. Not sure how long I'm going to sit on it, but it'll be at least a year. Has anyone tried it fresh? What did you think?
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Feb 18, 2013 21:23
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Perfectly Cromulent posted:There are plenty of DIPAs that balance hops and malt and Hopslam isn't one of them, IMO. Like Maharaja, it is heavily on the malty sweet side of the spectrum. That's not a criticism; it's a good beer. Honestly though, it's absurd how often Hopslam is described as balanced given how far to one end of the style spectrum it lies. FW Double Jack, Boneyard HopVenom, Ninkasi Tricerahops, and DFH 90 Minute (though that's pushing the sweetness a bit) are all much better examples of balanced DIPAs, IMO. One thing this thread has taught me is the crazy divergence of palettes. For my money, 90 minute is way, way sweeter than Hopslam, and comparing Hopslam to Maharaja is just crazy.
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Feb 18, 2013 21:34
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Mahoning posted:Any Michigan folks been to Kuhnhenn Brewery in Warren? I'm there right now and this place has some fantastic brews, headlined by their DRIPA. The owner gave us tastes of their raspberry and blueberry Eisbock which were very high ABV and fantastic. I loved this place. no Eisbock was actually available for purchase, though, right? looks like calls for them are currently lighting up the BA trade board.
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Feb 18, 2013 21:34
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funkybottoms posted:no Eisbock was actually available for purchase, though, right? looks like calls for them are currently lighting up the BA trade board. They released it on Saturday, not sure if they sold out in one day. I'll probably try to grab a taste of the raspberry and bluebeery at the Michigan Winter Beer Fest this weekend but buying a bottle of that stuff ($30 for 12oz) is crayzeeee.
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Feb 18, 2013 21:42
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Whisker Biscuit posted:One thing this thread has taught me is the crazy divergence of palettes. For my money, 90 minute is way, way sweeter than Hopslam, and comparing Hopslam to Maharaja is just crazy. You are right that some of the beers I mentioned are just as sweet (at least in terms of final gravity) as Hopslam. 90 Minute doesn't have an OG measurement on the DFH page, but I suspect you feel that it is sweeter because 90 Minute has a less pronounced bitterness than Hopslam in my experience. I think it may be the caramel malt flavors that wattershed was talking about along with the honey notes that give more of an impression of sweetness to me than actual final sugar content. They really stand out to me in Hopslam in a way that they don't in almost any other IPA. Palate differences are a crazy thing.
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Feb 18, 2013 22:34
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Mahoning posted:Any Michigan folks been to Kuhnhenn Brewery in Warren? I'm there right now and this place has some fantastic brews, headlined by their DRIPA. The owner gave us tastes of their raspberry and blueberry Eisbock which were very high ABV and fantastic. I loved this place. Sirotan posted:They released it on Saturday, not sure if they sold out in one day. I'll probably try to grab a taste of the raspberry and bluebeery at the Michigan Winter Beer Fest this weekend but buying a bottle of that stuff ($30 for 12oz) is crayzeeee. I believe they still have bottles of Raspberry, Blueberry sold out on Saturday. I preferred the Raspberry but opinions seemed to be split on which one was better. Here's what's even crazier about the Eisbocks - apparently they'll never do Blueberry again. According to one of the Kuhnhenn brothers, they barely broke even on the cost of brewing it, even at $30 a bottle. They used Wild Blueberry juice concentrate from Maine, which is really expensive, and because it's iced, they didn't have a huge yield. Normally their Eisbocks and Meads are sold in 187 ml bottles, which make the price a little more reasonable at $8-$15 per bottle, but the company they purchased bottles from stopped making them and they were forced to sell them in 375 ml bottles. The switch really hurts them - every March, they release a new mead every day for "March Meadness", and I have a feeling it's going to be a lot harder for people to pull the trigger on $18-$22 bottles of mead instead of $8-$13. I only see myself getting their Creme Brulee Bourbon Barrel Mead and the Banana French Toast Bourbon Barrel Mead at that price point.
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Feb 18, 2013 22:48
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danbanana posted:Drank my last one last night. Some of the honey had come out of solution, which I had never seen before with this beer. First drink came off awfully sweet but it settled down after. I love it and think it's definitely worth the high price for one sixer a year. You should put Healthy Spirits on your store list if you have the time - fantastic selection. I adore Almanac's 12 oz. beers - especially the Pale Ale. They just released Biere de Chocolat and it's been getting pretty favorable reviews. 50/50's Barrel-Aged Eclipse is pretty great, although pricey at $26-30 per bomber. I've been enjoying Knee Deep's beers, particularly the Imperial Tanilla; the packaging looks a bit amateurish, but the beer is not. Also might be worth grabbing a bite at Magnolia Brewery & Gastropub, which is a little up the street from Toronado - they've got Strong Beer Month collabs with 21st Amendment going on in February, and the Californial Kolsch is a mainstay.
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Feb 18, 2013 23:13
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blue.eyed.ash posted:You should put Healthy Spirits on your store list if you have the time - fantastic selection. Thanks, this is exactly the type of stuff I was looking for (minus 50/50, which is sitting on every store shelf in Chicago right now).
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Feb 18, 2013 23:20
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danbanana posted:Thanks, this is exactly the type of stuff I was looking for (minus 50/50, which is sitting on every store shelf in Chicago right now). I had no idea 50/50's distribution was that good, but glad to help! I'll follow up if I can think of any others. Also, to whoever mentioned Sucaba upthread - where are you finding it? I haven't seen it here in San Francisco yet...
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Feb 18, 2013 23:21
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Bag of Sun Chips posted:I only see myself getting their Creme Brulee Bourbon Barrel Mead and the Banana French Toast Bourbon Barrel Mead at that price point. What the french toast? Just the names of them cause me to want to buy them. Are they hard to get?
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Feb 18, 2013 23:25
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Midorka posted:What the french toast? Just the names of them cause me to want to buy them. Are they hard to get? Most Kuhnhenn releases are brewery only and the French Toast sold out within minutes last year - this year is sure to be a clusterfuck. They release it on St. Patrick's Day, when they have free breakfast and cereal inspired beers on tap (Count Chocula Stout, Lucky Charms, Fruit Pebbles, etc) Nevermind the fact that it's one of the highest rated meads in the US: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/kuhnhenn-bourbon-barrel-banana-french-toast-mead/120401/ The thing about Kuhnhenn is they make amazing beer but they're terrible business owners: Their pub is always busy and there are never enough employees working They "forget" to brew beers that are normally available and announced at events beforehand, only to announce that it won't be available a day before Their labels always have misspellings ("Bourban") They've accidentally given the wrong bottle limits to the wrong beers (Their meads at winter solstice were extremely limited and had a 6 bottle limit, yet some of their other beers that were more readily available had 2 bottle limits) Corb3t fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Feb 19, 2013 |
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Feb 19, 2013 00:05
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blue.eyed.ash posted:I had no idea 50/50's distribution was that good Either we got much less last year or the price point on stuff like that has finally started to push people away. Every shop and liquor store I've stopped in in the last 2 months has had at least 2 versions and frankly, it doesn't appear to be moving very well. I've had a couple versions from last year (EC 12 and... I forget) and thought both were decent, but definitely not on par with the better BA'd stouts on the market, most of which run 2/3 the price or less.
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Feb 19, 2013 01:36
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blue.eyed.ash posted:I had no idea 50/50's distribution was that good, but glad to help! I'll follow up if I can think of any others. I'm in San Jose, which has completely different distribution as far as I know. It dropped here a couple weeks ago and you can still find it at some places. I figured it had made it up to the City, but apparently not. danbanana posted:Thanks, this is exactly the type of stuff I was looking for (minus 50/50, which is sitting on every store shelf in Chicago right now). Cascade makes its way down here so be on the lookout.
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Feb 19, 2013 01:37
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I also don't understand why 50/50 BA stouts are $30. I'm not exactly familiar with the brewery and there's tons and tons of the stuff sitting around. Supply and demand alone dictate that price is too high.
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Feb 19, 2013 01:39
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