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crazyfish posted:Yeah, way too many BA reviews are spergy as gently caress. I would rather read someone's tweet-length assessment (like on untappd) than some attempt to name every citrus fruit they taste in their Citra hopbombs. I really like untappd. I don't even check in everything I drink, only the noteworthy stuff. And there's just enough room to write a few words about the flavor. That's all I need. Here's my review of Palate Wrecker: "resin resin resin resin resin resin resin resin resin resin resin resin resin resin resin" I also really like that I get to rate it before I can see the consensus opinion. I feel like on a site like BA you get a lot of groupthink ratings where people just parrot everyone else, or they purposefully throw up a review that's way out of the norm just for attention. I really wish I could find the review I saw the other day where someone talked about drain pouring a decent beer with a good consensus rating because it was "ordinary". Sometimes you just don't like something but seriously some of these people. deedee megadoodoo fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Apr 5, 2013 |
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Apr 5, 2013 00:44
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Holy poo poo that BA review. Thanks for telling me the price of the bottle, where you got it from, what you poured it into, that it was a "live review," and that you drank it at 44 degrees. I imagine the dude saves his receipts for every beer purchase and takes a picture of a thermometer every time he reviews in-case someone questions it. Actually that would be a fun troll.
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Apr 5, 2013 01:56
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At my local bar, who two weeks later still have Cuvee Delphine on tap. Still awesome. Also had a Perennial Aria, which was okay. Heavy with the sweet Belgian yeast, mild wood later, very little Brett. Now I'm onto Dragon's Milk... On cask. In a pint glass. Thankfully it's 2 blocks home. This is one of the creamiest beers I've ever had. Tastes and feels like a warm chocolate shake with a shot of bourbon in it.
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Apr 5, 2013 02:12
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Midorka posted:Holy poo poo that BA review. Thanks for telling me the price of the bottle, where you got it from, what you poured it into, that it was a "live review," and that you drank it at 44 degrees. I imagine the dude saves his receipts for every beer purchase and takes a picture of a thermometer every time he reviews in-case someone questions it. Actually that would be a fun troll. I like knowing the price at the very least - that way I know whether or not I'm getting ripped off while I'm shopping. Granted, I usually read the first few lines of a review and skip right to the "tasting" portion of them. Angry Grimace posted:The BA forums don't appear to be any better either. For example, http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/san-diego-late-april.80442/ This happens on SA all the time.
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Apr 5, 2013 02:16
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Stone's Oak-Smoked Barleywine tastes exactly like a boozy version of the dipping sauce you get with cold soba. I almost want to get another bottle so I can sit on it for a few years and see if that mellows out a bit.
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Apr 5, 2013 02:22
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Bag of Sun Chips posted:This happens on SA all the time. That's why we made the wiki! So I just watched a guy order a bottle of Imperial Biscotti Break which would be totally awesome in most places because that's a good beer. Except for some reason Phils priced this at $32, which is $2 more than they had loving Cherry Rye for and $7 more than the usual price for higher end bombers. This guy could have bought 3 Delphines (12 oz pours) or 2.5 bottles of BCBS or a couple Cantillon Gueuzes or nearly one of each of those for that price. I like IBB, but jesus... Oh, or four (4!) pours of Peruvian Morning... danbanana fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Apr 5, 2013 |
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Apr 5, 2013 02:28
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Trying a beer from Yellowhammer brewing, which I've never heard of before. It's called Saison de Detente, a barrel-aged saison in chardonnay barrels. I hadn't thought of it before, but the chardonnay mixes well with the flavor of the saison yeast. Tasty and smooth, I'm really enjoying it.
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Apr 5, 2013 02:29
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danbanana posted:That's why we made the wiki! Not to mention that Beer Temple still has IBB on the shelf.
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Apr 5, 2013 03:11
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crazyfish posted:Not to mention that Beer Temple still has IBB on the shelf. Phil's is usually on the higher end of pricing. But "higher end" usually means a dollar extra for a pour or a bottle of something really good compared to what you might find in the city IF you can find it in the city. So considering they're so close, I really don't mind supporting them. But I have no idea what the hell they were thinking when they put IBB at $32. My rule of thumb is 40%-%50 markup on bottles; A little more for something on draft. $32 is over 100% on IBB. Crazy.
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Apr 5, 2013 03:18
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IBB is $22 in south Philly and even that is more expensive than the $16 I paid in Maryland
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Apr 5, 2013 04:02
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Tonight I had a treat -- Jack's Abby Barrel-Aged Framinghammer Baltic Porter. As far as I remember, this is my first barrel-aged beer. Also my first baltic porter. As someone who has a love/hate relationship with imperial stouts, this was a risky experiment, but it came up Aces. Highly recommend for MA folks.
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Apr 5, 2013 04:09
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So, two of my most visited bottle shops in the area are getting in KBS, but apparently they're saving them for events because they got in such a low quantity. I might be able to get a bottle from the place I work, but my boss hasn't really given me any details about how we're doing our release, so I'm not sure. It looks like I could go another year without the chance to try KBS, kinda disappointing, as I absolutely love FBS.
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Apr 5, 2013 04:16
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HatfulOfHollow posted:IBB is $22 in south Philly and even that is more expensive than the $16 I paid in Maryland Every place I've been to in Philly marks up their prices way beyond the normal 20%. If I buy something in Philly I expect I'm getting gouged. I bought Imperial Biscotti Break in Ohio when visiting for a concert and I remember it being no more than $15. This was in Columbus at a small liquor store inside of a food market too, so it's not like they're ordering a lot to get super great prices. Even so, I wouldn't pay $15 for it again let alone $32. I just did not care for it, which it seems I'm in the minority. I was very excited to try B. Nektar's Necromangocon but after opening it I can not get over the pepper on the finish and prominent on the nose. The pepper mellows out on the finish by a few sips but it still lingers in the back of the throat for a little. I also have an Avery Samaels oak aged barleywine. It's sweet with lots of toffee/brown sugar sweetness, vanilla and oak. Booze is present, but it's more of a warming sensation, that's not surprising though considering it's over 15%. Not a bad beer at all.
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Apr 5, 2013 04:22
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danbanana posted:Now I'm onto Dragon's Milk... On cask. In a pint glass. Thankfully it's 2 blocks home. This is one of the creamiest beers I've ever had. Tastes and feels like a warm chocolate shake with a shot of bourbon in it. Yeah, I really like the creamy factor. It reminds me a lot of an Irish carbomb in beer form, but with added chocolate. Considering the number of carbomb nights I sort of remember from college, it's a fond trip down memory lane with beers like that. Pikes Peak Brewing in Monument, CO makes a BA'd version of their Summit House Stout on and off that is insanely excellent and reminds me a good degree of Dragon's Milk on cask since it manages to hit some background chocolate notes, except I think I actually like PPBC's beer better because the scotchy, slightly woody taste comes out more and the creamy factor is a little lower and thus easier to drink than Dragon's Milk. Maybe it's comparing apples and oranges because SHS isn't a cream stout. Still, DM on cask is wonderful. Man, speaking of milk stouts Odell's Lugene was really good. It's a milk chocolate stout brewed with milk sugar as well, clocks in at 8.5%, and goes down smooth. What I felt was unique about the beer is that the chocolate flavor seemed to float on top of a standard stout profile. It was like I was taking a bite of a bar of milk chocolate and then taking a swig of stout. It wasn't discordant or fault-worthy for the flavors not being completely married, I actually really enjoyed that they were able to make the malty bitterness of a stout and the milk chocolate flavors stand out separately, but since they are complementary flavors it's really all the joy of doing something dumb like dropping Hersheys into a glass of stout. Also this KBS obsession is really crazy. I had it back in '11 and I thought it was a great beer, but the dare I say hysteria around the beer is like 14 year old girls melting down when Justin Bieber is 45 minutes late to start his set. It's good but not world shattering. Maybe I just haven't had enough whales to catch the hysteria surrounding the BA top 25 or whatever, but for me beer is a get it if I can mentality.
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Apr 5, 2013 04:53
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Had some pretty good stuff the last few nights. We randomly found Port Brewing Board Meeting imperial brown on tap tonight (I think Bart mentioned this the other day when we were trying to figure out what the gently caress Port makes?) It was complex and extremely tasty. Coffee, dark toast, chocolate, big full body but not over the top. Owns. For my obligatory New Belgium  I had their newish Hoppy Bock lager and very new Rolle Bolle summer seasonal. Hoppy Bock wasn't what I expected, but in a good way. It's more of a Maibock/Helles Bock where I was expecting something like Ayinger Celebrator (hadn't read anything about it before ordering). Pretty light but still a solid amount of malt flavor, followed by a big punch of European hops. Pretty nice beer. Apparently Rolle Bolle (roll-e bowl-e) is replacing Somersault? Fine by me, Somersault sucked bad and so did whatever came before it. I think this one's pretty solid. Makes me think of a blend of Sunshine Wheat and a hoppy pilsner. Citrusy and crisp, pretty mild. Definitely designed to be something you can drink a bunch of on a hot day. I still prefer Victory Summer Love but this is the best summer beer New Belgium has had in years. crazyfish posted:Well, I also have a soft spot for the dontdrinkbeers guy: http://dontdrinkbeer.com/ He's basically the Maddox of beer reviews but every now and then he says something that slays me. Usually after I've... drunk beer 
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Apr 5, 2013 05:12
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I called my local bottle store to see if they got their KBS... it turns out every place in the city that ordered it got it two days ago, and they weren't one of them. Even the person who I spoke to was confused as to why they didn't order any.  Until next time.My local beer bar has an Ithaca night coming up this coming Tuesday. You can usually get some rarer beers on those events- they had a Wild Turkey-Aged Ten Fiddy for a Colorado-themed event that was excellent. I missed their Goose Island one last week. In the meantime, I went there and had Newburgh Conspiracy Imperial Stout (not the best of its kind that I've had, but it was still very good), Geary's IPA (mild but serviceable), and Sam Adams Cherry Chocolate Bock (it was like a milder version of Cherry Wheat, so come to your own conclusions on that one). Ten minutes after I ordered the Sam Adams, they tapped a 2011 Brooklyn Monster Barleywine, which I heard was very good. I need to learn some patience.
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Apr 5, 2013 10:34
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bartolimu posted:Westbrook Brewing Shane's Big DIPA - Piney as gently caress on the nose, tons of orange zest when tasting. This is a huge DIPA and a drat good one. That's the second time I've seen you mention Westbrook. I thought their distribution was pretty limited. I might have to pick up one of these though. I live in charleston and most people seem moderately lukewarm on eds beer, but I've had a couple lately that would give pause. Their vanilla tree dubbel is really good, but the one I would keep an eye out for is the Udderly Milk Stout. I've only seen it on tap, not packaged, but I'd be surprised if it wasnt around. Edit: Fixing iphone autocorrect fuckery. LeeMajors fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Apr 5, 2013 |
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Apr 5, 2013 13:40
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Beer Advocate / Ratebeer reviews aren't completely useless if you want to know tasting notes on aged beer. I was going to try and convince my brother to give me one of his Vanilla BCBS but from the looks of it, most of the vanilla notes have faded and it's practically like drinking BCBS  .
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Apr 5, 2013 14:32
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Compusaurus posted:Beer Advocate / Ratebeer reviews aren't completely useless if you want to know tasting notes on aged beer. I was going to try and convince my brother to give me one of his Vanilla BCBS but from the looks of it, most of the vanilla notes have faded and it's practically like drinking BCBS I had it fresh, about a year ago, and 4 months ago and rumors of it's death have been greatly exaggerated. While it's no longer the vanilla-ice-cream-beer that it was fresh (so good) or the slightly milder version at a year (even better), it's certainly not standard BCBS. I'm not sure where it will be at in another year but it's still worth getting.
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Apr 5, 2013 14:43
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I got bashed on BA for only giving braindump-level aroma/flavor/texture in my reviews (and sometimes comments on unique things for appearance). I ditched that site and migrated to RateBeer. Much friendlier. I think I described Devil Dancer as being "punched in the face with a hop bine" and got a warning on the forums. gently caress BA. That's exactly what Dancer is - violence and bitterness and anger, bottled (but in a good way).
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Apr 5, 2013 15:15
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LeeMajors posted:That's the second time I've seen you mention Westbrook. I thought their distribution was pretty limited.
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Apr 5, 2013 16:38
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One last word on KBS for now - New Jersey apparently got 95 cases in all, one for each of the distributor's 'top 95' accounts. Predictably people are calling around and trying to snap up as many bottles as possible - my store's beer guy chewed someone out for continuing to call around even after he had 4 bottles. Beer hoarders! What does a single bottle of KBS even cost, anyhow?
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Apr 5, 2013 18:51
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Podima posted:One last word on KBS for now - New Jersey apparently got 95 cases in all, one for each of the distributor's 'top 95' accounts. Predictably people are calling around and trying to snap up as many bottles as possible - my store's beer guy chewed someone out for continuing to call around even after he had 4 bottles. Beer hoarders! Mine was $8.
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Apr 5, 2013 18:53
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bartolimu posted:It probably is. The bottle share I go to most weeks has a lot of guys who trade, and they bring stuff of all quality levels to try. I don't trade, but I get to California often enough and wander weird little liquor stores to find stuff we've never heard of. It usually works out to some degree. I was commenting more on that I thought you may be local. I'm going to try to grab the Big DIPA though.
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Apr 5, 2013 19:10
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the yellow dart posted:Mine was $8. Got mine for $5.99, but was only allowed 2 bottles. 
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Apr 5, 2013 19:16
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The KBS hype is a pretty crazy contrast to how Green Flash put out Silva Stout a couple of months ago. Green Flash released two limited barrel releases at the same time - that highly acclaimed stout that had 17 months (!) in the barrels and a 4 year in the barrel (!) Barleywine, Silva Stout and Sleepin' with Shaggy respectively. They had a one-day release party at the brewery (which I wasn't even aware of since it was mid-Bar studies) for it in which it cost money to attend and there was a "free" four-pack of one of the beers plus the chance to buy one four-pack of the other type of beer. However, it turned out that was a bluff, they weren't sending the beer to much, if any wide distribution and the attendees were allowed to just four separate four-packs of both beers. Apparently pretty much everyone left with a case of barrel aged beer.
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Apr 5, 2013 19:26
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I didn't know Silva was barrel-aged. I nearly got a pour of it earlier this week, but I opted for Founder's Dry-Hopped pale on nitro because I mixed up Silva with their normal stout I guess (also good, but I'd never had that particular beer on nitro). I guess I'll be seeing if it's still around this weekend.
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Apr 5, 2013 19:40
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Podima posted:One last word on KBS for now - New Jersey apparently got 95 cases in all, one for each of the distributor's 'top 95' accounts. Predictably people are calling around and trying to snap up as many bottles as possible - my store's beer guy chewed someone out for continuing to call around even after he had 4 bottles. Beer hoarders! I picked up a bottle from 4 different stores this week, and the price was around 5-8 bucks a pop. Chicago sales tax is loving ridiculous though, so YMMV.
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Apr 5, 2013 20:20
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ChickenArise posted:I didn't know Silva was barrel-aged. I nearly got a pour of it earlier this week, but I opted for Founder's Dry-Hopped pale on nitro because I mixed up Silva with their normal stout I guess (also good, but I'd never had that particular beer on nitro). Green Flash's barrel program seems quite a bit smaller than Founders's program is, hence why Silva Stout never was distributed outside a few local bottle shops and at the release party. Of course, its not nearly as hyped as KBS, either, so the demand isn't really close. It's really, really good though.
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Apr 5, 2013 20:28
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Holy poo poo. Alchemy Hour. Holy poo poo. This is the most well balanced DIPA I've ever had. So good. So so good.
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Apr 5, 2013 20:51
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HatfulOfHollow posted:Holy poo poo. Alchemy Hour. Holy poo poo. Great Lakes has been on fire recently. As if their regular lineup wasn't good enough, Alchemy Hour and Rye of the Tiger are both awesome beers.
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Apr 5, 2013 21:08
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Recently? They've been ablaze since they started bottling, I think.
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Apr 5, 2013 21:24
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FreelanceSocialist posted:Recently? They've been ablaze since they started bottling, I think. Yeah, I can't think of one thing I've ever had from them that wasn't nearly ideal for the style. Maybe Blackout, which isn't exactly a top tier imperial stout. Alchemy Hour (I read they're going to have to change the name) is pretty much a perfect DIPA and pushes Abrasive-level-awesomeness. And everyone knows Edmund Fitz is the be-all end-all of porters...
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Apr 5, 2013 21:32
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The only iffy beer that I have had from them was the Hail Ale. Or Hale Ale. Or whatever it was called. The chamomile one. That just didn't mesh well. I'd love to score a sixer of Moondog or Nosferatu, but I'm now living way outside their distribution area. I had a Smuttynose Baltic Porter (out of NH) last night, on tap. I am pretty sure I just found the best, truest-to-style baltic porter, ever. It was literally perfect in every way (BJCP faggotry and general deliciousness). The beer FreelanceSocialist fucked around with this message at 22:01 on Apr 5, 2013 |
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Apr 5, 2013 21:58
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FreelanceSocialist posted:I had a Smuttynose Baltic Porter (out of NH) last night, on tap. I am pretty sure I just found the best, truest-to-style baltic porter, ever. It was literally perfect in every way (BJCP faggotry and general deliciousness). The beer How does it compare to Victory's Baltic Thunder? I found that really true-to-style.
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Apr 5, 2013 22:04
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I was a little bored and had a Jai Alai in the fridge. After seeing the Dogfish Head mini-Randall is just a strainer, I took a tea ball I have and a scotch bonnet pepper. I diced up the pepper, put it in the strainer and poured the Jai Alai over it. I then steeped it once because I was doubtful how well it would work. Holy gently caress I just had Scotch Bonnet Jai Alai. Its spicy as gently caress. I think there is something about Jai Alai that allows it to hold on to heat really well, because the Chipotle version has a good amount of heat. It has the nice flavor up front, but then turns to heat real fast. Maybe next time, try half a pepper and only pour it over it, don't steep. Next experiment later tonight is dropping a vanilla bean into a bottle of FBS that will be brought to its near freezing temp to avoid loss of carbonation, then re-capping. Plan on aging it either until Thursday, or Sunday since I will be out of town next weekend.
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Apr 5, 2013 22:09
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LeeMajors posted:How does it compare to Victory's Baltic Thunder? I haven't had Baltic Thunder in awhile. My old, lovely notes say it was "thinner/lighter than expected" and that the alcohol was noticeable along with "sour" written for the finish/aftertaste. The Smuttynose lacked the heat of the Victory and I thought the body was perfect on it. The finish lacked any major sour notes. It was very rich, overall. I honestly thought it was better than Duck Rabbit and Harpoon's Leviathan-series offering, which were the two that I had enjoyed previously. edit: I didn't write down any really negative stuff for Victory, and my palate has definitely improved since, so they are honestly probably pretty comparable. FreelanceSocialist fucked around with this message at 22:22 on Apr 5, 2013 |
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Apr 5, 2013 22:19
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Smuttynose's big beers and limited releases are seriously underrated.
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Apr 5, 2013 22:33
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They really do an excellent job. The brewery has moved and is expanding. I hope this means more awesome beers and better distribution. Actually, I don't care about distribution since I am in their backyard. I'll miss the old brewery. The tours there were legit stepping-in-puddles-of-sparge-water tours. None of this commercially sterile technology showcase stuff that so many larger breweries have these days (Redhook, for one). That's cool and all, but it's way less personal. And I learn less. I know what a loving lauter tun looks like, now tell me about the time you accidentally dry-hopped the wrong beer or blew up the casks during conditioning or that one time you had some contamination during transfer and inadvertently made a terrific Berliner Weisse out of a batch of hefe.
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Apr 5, 2013 22:39
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FreelanceSocialist posted:Recently? They've been ablaze since they started bottling, I think. Yeah, I really meant with their recent new offerings. I think Great Lakes borders on having the best year-round lineup of any US brewery. Three beers that are at the absolute top of their styles (Dortmunder Gold, Eliot Ness, Edmund Fitzgerald), and two that I haven't heard any bad things about but I haven't had recently enough (or fresh enough, for that matter) to make a judgement.
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Apr 5, 2013 22:58
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