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TenaciousTomato posted:A basement, eBay and Hellvis: how police tracked $30,000 in stolen beer to Fort Collins For added hilarity, Black Bottle (the place he was working when arrested) has hung up his mug shot in the mens room.
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Mar 21, 2013 16:06
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My neighbor works at a pretty decent bar in the neighborhood. I was in there two weeks ago shooting the poo poo about beer. So last night I'm walking out of my house and he hollers over saying he's got something for me. Goes back into his house and hands me a bottle of Old Rasputin XIV Anniversary. Life is good.
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Mar 21, 2013 17:01
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funkybottoms posted:dude, they're gonna have fifty.  Carytown's gettin' crazy. Can't wait for that!In other news, picked up a bottle of Uinta Birthday Suit. Really wanna drink it now, but my birthday's in a month (though I'm delaying any celebration by a day since my thesis defense is the next loving morning, naturally) so I suppose that will have to wait. Any goon opinions yet? I'm somewhat of an Uinta fanboy, so I'll probably be singing its hyperbolic praises regardless.
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Mar 21, 2013 17:37
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Kraven Moorhed posted:
It tastes like cherry flavored Sprite. Edit: That's not entirely true. It tastes like a cherry spritzer. It's mildly tart, but not far off from what a Lindemann's lambic would taste like. Edit 2: Unless you're talking about the new 20th Anniversary one, not the 19th.
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Mar 21, 2013 17:42
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HatfulOfHollow posted:My neighbor works at a pretty decent bar in the neighborhood. I was in there two weeks ago shooting the poo poo about beer. So last night I'm walking out of my house and he hollers over saying he's got something for me. Goes back into his house and hands me a bottle of Old Rasputin XIV Anniversary. Life is good. I held a bottle of XIV for a year and it was drinking loving excellent.
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Mar 21, 2013 18:51
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I took a trip down to Northwest Indiana a few days ago to visit some of my childhood friends (and to remind myself why I left the region  ), and it ended up being a decent beer trip. First stop was at Three Floyds for a snack and a few beers. The most interesting of the bunch was Space Station Middle Finger, a pale ale made with an experimental hop varietal that doesn't even have a name yet. It's every bit as good as Zombie Dust, with great citrus and resinous flavors, and a distinctive honeydew melon character that makes me almost certain that the hops are the 7272 strain that I tried at a Goose Island hop rub. Not that Three Floyds needs Yet Another Hop Bomb in their inventory, but this is one that I hope gets bottled eventually.We then moved on to Beer Geeks in Highland, located in an unassuming strip mall location but boasting a pretty fun interior with lots of custom painting on the walls. They also had a pretty excellent tap list, including stuff from Sun King, One Trick Pony (from Lansing), North Coast, Founders, Figure 8 (from Valporaiso), and others. Plus De Struise Black Albert.  Sure, $7 for a 6 oz. pour is bloody expensive, but it's worth it for something you see on tap so rarely.Oh, and at Three Floyds I ran into some friends who gave me a bottle of Kuhnhenn Raspberry Eisbock in exchange for some homebrew. 
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Mar 21, 2013 19:12
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Angry Grimace posted:It's Rogue. It's probably decent to good, but nothing special and certainly not enough to overcome the fact that they cultured yeast from the head brewer's loving face. Can someone please explain the dislike for Rogue that seems to come up in this thread and elsewhere? Is it the beer, the fans, or the business that seems to get on people's nerves?
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Mar 21, 2013 19:16
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Noni posted:Can someone please explain the dislike for Rogue that seems to come up in this thread and elsewhere? Is it the beer, the fans, or the business that seems to get on people's nerves? It's just one of the lower tier craft breweries in every way, chillin' out with Flying Dog, Abita, Harpoon, Magic Hat, Saranac, Red Hook, Breckenridge, Atwater, etc... Their absurd variety of gimmick-y and mostly crappy beers doesn't help, either.
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Mar 21, 2013 19:20
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ShaneB posted:It's just one of the lower tier craft breweries in every way, chillin' out with Flying Dog, Abita, Harpoon, Magic Hat, Saranac, Red Hook, Breckenridge, Atwater, etc... Yep. I can't remember when I've had a beer from any of those companies. Edit: Actually, I had a Breckenridge Agave Wheat when my local taqueria ran out of Avery IPA a week ago.  Before that though....maybe 4 years? If you have a moderately decent distribution you have no reason to drink them.
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Mar 21, 2013 19:23
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Noni posted:Can someone please explain the dislike for Rogue that seems to come up in this thread and elsewhere? Is it the beer, the fans, or the business that seems to get on people's nerves? They flaunt being terrible employers, the beer is average and they put out/are making Maple Voodoo Doughnut, the Moby Dick Beer and Maier's beard yeast beer.
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Mar 21, 2013 19:27
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ShaneB posted:It's just one of the lower tier craft breweries in every way, chillin' out with Flying Dog, Abita, Harpoon, Magic Hat, Saranac, Red Hook, Breckenridge, Atwater, etc... This seems like some absurd level of beer hipsterism right here. I'm not going to pretend a lot of those beers are revolutionary (and Red Hook is downright disappointing most of the time), but I have not run into other craft breweries that didn't crank out gallons of overpriced gimmicks that were maybe drinkable once or twice, but were not really that enjoyable otherwise, and was still costing $5 a bottle. I have an OK place near me with an absolutely massive amount of beers. Every time I get something I have never had it's ranged from being undrinkable to unmemorable and has always been expensive. Maybe I am just getting the wrong ones. Maybe I'm just an idiot and when I drink a beer I want it to taste like I'm drinking a beer, not a peach infused paprika spiced experiment. I just think that getting super harsh on those breweries (unless it's a specific product that did NOT come out well) is kind of snobby. I don't know, I'll reread the thread, see if I can grab things I've never had, maybe I have just had the worst luck. Adult Sword Owner fucked around with this message at 19:32 on Mar 21, 2013 |
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Mar 21, 2013 19:29
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Saint Darwin posted:Maybe I am just getting the wrong ones. Maybe I'm just an idiot and when I drink a beer I want it to taste like I'm drinking a beer, not a peach infused paprika spiced experiment. Yeah, you might just be getting styles of beer you don't like. A spiced peach beer sounds like it could actually be pretty good. I don't think Flying Dog is a bad brewery at all. They don't churn out 100% world class beers, but they definitely have a few beers in their lineup which I find to be pretty drinkable... Raging Bitch, and Gonzo Imperial Porter come to mind.
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Mar 21, 2013 19:32
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Saint Darwin posted:This seems like some absurd level of beer hipsterism right here. If pointing out breweries that make mostly not good beer is beer hipsterism, I'm fine with that. It's not like the only option for not drinking those breweries is weird, obscure, or hard to get.
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Mar 21, 2013 19:33
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You know, you can't grow large as a business strictly because you have a lot of money and force it down people. It may have something to do with...I don't know...making good beer that people like? I don't drink very much of anything that Shane listed because there is so much good local, but they still have my respect. In other news, Breckenridge is great so shutup 
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Mar 21, 2013 19:36
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ShaneB posted:If pointing out breweries that make mostly not good beer is beer hipsterism, I'm fine with that. It's not like the only option for not drinking those breweries is weird, obscure, or hard to get. It's just that you listed ones I can find at any store that's got better stock than a case of Coors, and sometimes in places that even have that and a few 6 packs of "better" beers. Are there places that release more consistently good beers? Probably! I want to find them! What is an as-easy-to-find-but-better brewery to you, personally? edit: What do you think of Stone? They seem to be as easy to find as those. Or Dogfish Head? Or Heavy Seas if it even makes it out to wherever you are? Guess where I live 
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Mar 21, 2013 19:37
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SUPER HASSLER posted:You know, you can't grow large as a business strictly because you have a lot of money and force it down people. This happens all the time, though. Saint Darwin posted:It's just that you listed ones I can find at any store that's got better stock than a case of Coors, and sometimes in places that even have that and a few 6 packs of "better" beers. Sierra Nevada. Even much of what Sam Adams puts out. Deschutes. Bells. Great Lakes. Firestone Walker. North Coast. Victory. All of these breweries have big distribution in various parts of the country.
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Mar 21, 2013 19:38
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Saint Darwin posted:but I have not run into other craft breweries that didn't crank out gallons of overpriced gimmicks that were maybe drinkable once or twice, but were not really that enjoyable otherwise, and was still costing $5 a bottle. So you haven't had anything/everything from Bells? Or Founders? Or Boulevard? Or Cigar City? Or... Man, this list can go on. ShaneB's comment isn't hipster-ism, it's the truth: there's lots of mediocre craft breweries that apparently have massive sales/distribution. And there's some truly great breweries that put out truly great beer that aren't gimmicks that aren't $5 a bottle sitting right next to those mediocre beers. It's a personal adventure trying to find the difference. And ShaneB's list is right on, in my opinion. Most of those breweries I won't touch even though they're always staring back at me from the shelf. It's bizarre to me, since I don't know anyone who considers craft beer an interest who ever says, "Man, I'm excited that Flying Dog has a new beer out!" So I really don't know who the hell is buying this stuff, but it's always around.
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Mar 21, 2013 19:40
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Saint Darwin posted:It's just that you listed ones I can find at any store that's got better stock than a case of Coors, and sometimes in places that even have that and a few 6 packs of "better" beers. The problem is that Stone and Sierra Nevada are pretty much ubiquitous and everything they make is several times better than what I've had from the breweries Shane listed. Its not an availability issue because those two breweries are bigger than all of the ones that Shane listed. Sam Adams is huge and I think they're still a higher tier brewery than those, if not only on the merits of Boston Lager alone (Boston Lager rules )
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Mar 21, 2013 19:41
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Rogue makes some good beers, they make lots of OK beers, and a few awful beers. That's enough for a neutral to somewhat good reputation as a craft brewery. The added part about them being dicks as employers and the over-the-top gimmicks on some beers bring them down a tad below that level. For me they aren't so bad because I have my local crappy brewery to compare to them, Hermitage. The reviews are accurate. I once bought this because they cleverly hid the "Hermitage" brand on the label, ugh.
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Mar 21, 2013 19:46
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Saint Darwin posted:
Ah. I think I found your problem: Dogfish Head may be the epitome of overpriced gimmick beers. Not that there haven't been good ones to come out of their- ahem- experimenting, but for the most part I've moved away from them because the cost-to-enjoyment ratio is just too far off. I don't think Stone does anything poorly (though only their Russian Imperial Stout is world-class to me). I think I've only had Heavy Seas' imperial stout and it was sub-par.
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Mar 21, 2013 19:47
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Glottis posted:For me they aren't so bad because I have my local crappy brewery to compare to them, Hermitage. The reviews are accurate. I once bought this because they cleverly hid the "Hermitage" brand on the label, ugh. This explains a lot. Like how I rarely see things on RB below the 75th percentile. Turns out Hermitage throws off ALL THE SCALES. (That said, it looks like they brew the Almanac stuff. I liked Honey Saison well enough and have high hopes for the bottle of Barrel Noir I brought back from CA. Maybe those hopes are too high?) Edit! Also: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/hermitage-ale-of-the-2-tun/134693/ This is absolute proof that people love (over-love?) stouts: 91 overall; 34 in style. You can make a stout that ranks near the bottom third of all stouts on the planet and still have it one of the 10% best beers in the world. Odd.. danbanana fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Mar 21, 2013 |
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Mar 21, 2013 19:50
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danbanana posted:This explains a lot. Like how I rarely see things on RB below the 75th percentile. Turns out Hermitage throws off ALL THE SCALES. I'm willing to bet that Almanac just uses their facilities, unless they are just keeping that brand separate so that they can put all the lovely beers under Hermitage.
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Mar 21, 2013 19:53
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Chicago: On Tuesday, March 26th the Aviary will be unveiling a collaboration more than 2 years in the making. We sought out one of the most innovative, respected and maniacal beer minds on the planet- Belgian gypsy brewer, Evil Twin. The exercise: Step 1) Start with a truly amazing brew. One that beer fanatics would wrestle each other over. We landed on a Belgian Blonde that plays equally well on its own and as a rock solid foundation for this project. Step 2) Scour the globe for 9 of the most well crafted, rare & delicious spirits. Step 3) Procure used barrels from said spirit producers.* Step 4) Ship barrels to Belgium. Step 5) Place amazing beer in barrels. Wait. Step 6) Continue waiting....and waiting...and waiting. Over 1 year. Step 7) Come to the Aviary to taste through the entire flight. Save room for the unveiling of Beer #10 in the series. Step 8) Redefine the word "Epic". 1 year + Belgian Ale aged in barrels that held: Pierre Ferrand Selection des Anges Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy Elijah Craig 12yr George T. Stagg 2011 Parker's Heritage Collection Plantation Rum Casa Noble Extra Anejo Clynelish Laphroaig And next Tuesday we will unveil the tenth beer in the series as well. And don't forget that Jeppe will be joining us that night as well! Tickets will be released this afternoon, they are limited to around 100. More details to follow.
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Mar 21, 2013 20:13
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BoredByThis posted:Chicago: And here we were in the middle of talking about beer hipsterism! quote:Step 8) Redefine the word "Epic".
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Mar 21, 2013 20:19
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I feel like I'm doing something wrong that I live in Chicago and that post didn't excite me in any way, shape, or form. 
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Mar 21, 2013 20:20
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Speaking of Evil Twin. What should I try by them (him?)?
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Mar 21, 2013 20:26
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ChiTownEddie posted:Speaking of Evil Twin. What should I try by them (him?)? Imperial Biscotti Break, if you can find it. I also liked Freudian Slip, but that's a pretty divisive beer. Everything else has been over-priced and- back to the earlier topic- gimmicky.
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Mar 21, 2013 20:35
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ChiTownEddie posted:Speaking of Evil Twin. What should I try by them (him?)? as indicated above, Evil Twin is not necessarily anything to get excited about; many of the beers are solid, but few are worth the price. personally, i'm a big fan of his stouts and porters and i enjoyed the various Ryan/Beaster beers, but i've rarely bought any of his stuff more than once. if Imperial Biscotti Break was around more frequently or something like Lil B or Blackout were priced comparably to US beers, i would get them often.
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Mar 21, 2013 20:39
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danbanana posted:(That said, it looks like they brew the Almanac stuff. I liked Honey Saison well enough and have high hopes for the bottle of Barrel Noir I brought back from CA. Maybe those hopes are too high?) As mentioned by Glottis, Almanac only uses the facility and their Farm to Barrel Series is excellent.
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Mar 21, 2013 20:48
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danbanana posted:This explains a lot. Like how I rarely see things on RB below the 75th percentile. Turns out Hermitage throws off ALL THE SCALES. I thought that the Barrel Noir was alright, but the Barrel-Aged Sours turned out quite nicely.
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Mar 21, 2013 20:57
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ShaneB posted:It's just one of the lower tier craft breweries in every way, chillin' out with Flying Dog, Abita, Harpoon, Magic Hat, Saranac, Red Hook, Breckenridge, Atwater, etc.. You should really try more Flying Dog stuff. I hate a few of their beers (their Hefe is awful), but they make some pretty excellent stuff. They even did a good Gose. It seems like they just fund the better beers by selling a bunch of mediocre/introductory crafty beers. I'll take the average Flying Dog over the Average Sam Adams, but most of that is my complete disgust for the Sam Adam fruit garbage. They make a bunch of good stuff, too. And, as above, Breckenridge does some fine beers, but their wide-distribution stuff isn't for the beer geeks. Magic Hat, iirc, was good until they changed ownership or something. Harpoon confounds me because I can really get into some of their bigger beers on tap, but most of their bottled stuff is awful. For a real 'treat' of a bad beer, get your hands on some http://www.ratebeer.com/brewers/baying-hound-aleworks/12138/ (every bottle I've had was a classic example of a bad infection)
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Mar 21, 2013 21:08
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What do you guys think about the Cigar City/Green Flash Candela Rye Barleywine? I missed out on it previously, but another local bar here's tapping it as part of their anniversary week coming up. Perfect Crime might be good too, haven't had that either. Here's the other taps (so far. It'll be something like 40 barrel aged offerings for a whole week): quote:Rahr Whiskey Warmer
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Mar 21, 2013 21:10
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Candela is very big and has a lot of cedar in it so I hope you like that. I'm not a huge fan of it. On a related note, I'm going to be brewing my first recipe at CCB next Friday as part of the Torcedores Series  It'll be a 5% hoppy Amber ale. My idea is to make a mini-Tocobaga of sorts.
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Mar 21, 2013 21:25
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ChickenArise posted:For a real 'treat' of a bad beer, get your hands on some http://www.ratebeer.com/brewers/baying-hound-aleworks/12138/ (every bottle I've had was a classic example of a bad infection) http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/baying-hound-sarvara-black-ipa/152130/ NICE. quote:Chlorine smell. Cola brown, thick tan head, good lace. Flavor is charcoal, but again with chlorine. Not good.
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Mar 21, 2013 21:28
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danbanana posted:Imperial Biscotti Break, if you can find it. I still see Imperial Biscotti Break on a few shelves (most notably at Beer Temple and West Lakeview). I've got a couple extra bottles I'm sitting on as well. Pretty much everything else from Evil Twin is priced too high for me to take a gamble. Also Ubik, we were talking about this beer one day a few weeks ago, but West Lakeview has Kama Citra in bottles.
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Mar 21, 2013 21:29
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ChiTownEddie posted:Speaking of Evil Twin. What should I try by them (him?)? I really like Evil Twin and I pick up bottles of new stuff whenever I see them, but I've pretty much come to the conclusion that everyone else has: they make some other decent beer, but you can get the same quality elsewhere for lower prices. In my opinion the best are Lil' B and Imperial Biscotti Break. If you haven't had those it's probably worth it to go seek them out and give them a try, especially Imperial Biscotti Break. I'm also a huge fan of Freudian Slip, but as was stated earlier: it can be polarizing (I love it).
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Mar 21, 2013 21:30
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danbanana posted:Ah. I think I found your problem: Dogfish Head may be the epitome of overpriced gimmick beers. Not that there haven't been good ones to come out of their- ahem- experimenting, but for the most part I've moved away from them because the cost-to-enjoyment ratio is just too far off. I absolutely agree that DFH does some weird stuff and sometimes it's not worth it, but they have some good stuff. I was just wondering your opinion of them. I guess you're an imperial stout fan since you've mentioned two? I sometimes enjoy them but they fall under my "once or twice and I'm good for a few years" category. This might be a residual effect of doing Beerfest up in Boston on an empty stomach. I mostly like pretty not-weird beers. I really don't like stouts with flavorings like chocolate, coffee, etc (even though I'm bottling an oatmeal stout tomorrow). I'd say my favorite harder to find beers are Arrogant Bastard, Back in Black (21 Amendment), Old Speckled Hen, Saranac IPA. If I'm drinking on the cheap, Guinness and Yuengling. I just don't know where to go from here. I think my big problem is I haven't found a beer-with-additions that I've really liked. I'm always up for it and since I'm starting the homebrew thing I've been thinking about it.
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Mar 21, 2013 21:40
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Coolio. I'll see if I can find the Imperial Biscotti Break. Maybe fiiiinally go to the Beer Temple.
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Mar 21, 2013 21:40
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air- posted:What do you guys think about the Cigar City/Green Flash Candela Rye Barleywine? I missed out on it previously, but another local bar here's tapping it as part of their anniversary week coming up. Perfect Crime might be good too, haven't had that either. You're near me, I think? What bar is this? I am especially curious about the Aged Red. Also Rye-on-Rye is great.
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Mar 21, 2013 21:42
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Saint Darwin posted:I mostly like pretty not-weird beers. I really don't like stouts with flavorings like chocolate, coffee, etc (even though I'm bottling an oatmeal stout tomorrow). I'd say my favorite harder to find beers are Arrogant Bastard, Back in Black (21 Amendment), Old Speckled Hen, Saranac IPA. If I'm drinking on the cheap, Guinness and Yuengling. Arrogant Bastard is hard to find in some places? I literally saw some in the cooler this morning as I was getting coffee at 7-11. Own backyard, locally ubiquitous, etc etc etc, but still...
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Mar 21, 2013 21:43
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