|
Well, after talking last week about how the Mikkeller tasting was underwhelming and how his beer's were all overpriced...I of course found 1 bottle of Beer Geek Brunch Weasel sitting on the shelf of a shop this weekend. So I had to pick that up. Looking forward to drinking fermented weasel shits this week!
|
#
¿
Mar 5, 2012 17:26
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 16:59 |
|
|
Yea, everything I'd heard about it was that it is one of his better beers. Also, got to go to the Olde Hickory brewery and taproom this weekend, and I've got to say, they're putting out some pretty good beers. Both their Weizen Bock and their Irish Walker barley wine were awesome. I was hoping they'd have their Seven Devils on tap because it was really good in the bottle, but they had a barrel aged Imperial Brown on instead. It was a little too thin to hold up against the bourbon, for my tastes.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 5, 2012 18:16
|
|
|
I'll be in NY next week, for 4 days (including St. Patrick's Day). I'm planning on going to the Brooklyn Brewery, but is there any place else I should definitely hit? I'll be there with friends that like beer but aren't as into it as me, so doing nothing but touring breweries or going a really long way out of our way for something is probably out. We're staying basically at 24th St and Park Ave, and doing a full day in Brooklyn. Looking on Brewerymap.com, Ruckus Brewing is nearby, and I've had their Hoptimus Prime before. Is the brewery worth going to? Any suggestions on bars and bottle shops? We'd like to find someplace cool to celebrate St. Patty's, but not really interested in a crowded mess (that may be impossible, I guess).
|
|
#
¿
Mar 8, 2012 17:29
|
|
|
NYC for St. Paddy's weekend was nuts, but a lot of fun. Only made it to midnight on Sat. night, hung out at the Blind Tiger, which was crowded as hell but we still managed to snag seats at the bar. Was really disappointed because they had Ommegang's Aphrodite on tap, but the keg kicked just before we got there. Rattle'n'Hum on Friday night was my favorite stop, they were busy but not packed, we got a table, the waitresses were quick and the beer was great. Had Southampton's Biere de Mars, which was just loving fantastic with some food, like drinking a glass of fresh baked bread. Wanted to make it to Ginger Man, but we just ran out of energy at the end of the night. Brooklyn Brewery was cool, the tour was quick, but better than most. Their history and how they got started in Williamsburg (including run ins with the mafia) is interesting as hell, and the tour guy was entertaining. Had their Irish Stout on cask, which was really, really good. The rest of the stuff they had on that I tried was good, but nothing that stood out as outstanding. Josh Wow posted:Southhampton makes an awesome biere de garde, it's a seasonal though it should be out now. They call it a Biere de Mars but it's the same thing. Haha, wow, speak of the devil...
|
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2012 17:39
|
|
|
two_beer_bishes posted:Blind Tiger and R&H are two of my favorite places to go in NYC. If you have a chance, try The Stag's Head. They have a great beer selection and the best burgers I can find in NYC! Probably won't make it back up there this year, but I'll definitely try and remember it. Docjowles posted:I'm on a bit of a quest to find a great everyday pilsner (a real one, not lovely American adjunct lager). Today's entry is Great Divide's Nomad. It's almost really awesome but I find it too bitter. Very nice aroma of floral, grassy hops and sweet, bready malt. There's good body and some malt sweetness, but the finish is pure IPA bitterness and it hangs around on your tongue. If they dialed that back a bit it would be quite awesome. It's also like $10 for a sixer which seems excessive. What about Prima Pils?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2012 02:48
|
|
|
Anyone had the DFH Saison du Buff?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 23, 2012 20:43
|
|
|
Tried the DFH Saison de Buff this weekend, and while the beer solidly hits the DFH "interesting, wouldn't buy it again" range for me, the loving aftertaste lingered for 30 minutes. Felt like I'd eaten some potpourri. Drink it by itself or as your last beer of the night, because I think that aftertaste would gently caress with whatever you tried to drink next. Also had a Weihenstephaner Korbinian which was great and pretty cheap. How do they make a 7.4% beer in Germany, ship it to the States, and still sell it for >$4 for nearly a liter?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 26, 2012 16:27
|
|
|
The local bottle shop has a shelf of 5-6 (or maybe more, I forget) different Weihenstephaner beers, guess I'm just gonna go buy one of each now.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 26, 2012 20:51
|
|
|
Laughing Dog's Sneaky Pete DIPA just showed up in NC, and that's a really solid beer. I'd passed over their stuff before, honestly because of the corny labels (The Dogfather??), but I ended up having a barrel-aged Dogfather on draft and liking it, so I thought I'd give the DIPA a chance. Glad I did. Also got 2 bottles of Weihenstephaner hefeweizen, one regular and one dark. If it's nice tomorrow, planning on sitting on my balcony and drinking one in the sun. Lots of NC chat! I like it. We have 13 new breweries/brewpubs in the planning/opening stages right now. The NC brewer's guild just announced that their new shirts wouldn't feature the member breweries on the back any more because the list was changing too often. Pretty awesome time to be a beer drinker here. If you're in NC, you owe it to yourself to get some of Olde Hickory's stuff. Irish Walker, Weizen-Bock, Death by Hops, Seven Devils -- they are making some seriously good stuff.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 30, 2012 16:30
|
|
|
air- posted:It's official- I'm moving to D.C.! So I will be roadtripping from Dallas sometime next week and I think I'll sidetrack to spend a day in Asheville, NC. If you had one day there, where would you go, what would you do? Josh's recommendations are spot on. Go get the oyster stout at The Lobster Trap. They usually have it on a beer engine and it's great. If you like indian food at all, go eat at Chai Pani and get their take on fried green tomatoes...they are one of the best things I've ever eaten.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 1, 2012 20:42
|
|
|
air- posted:Thanks for all the suggestions! I had it in my mind that Asheville has all these breweries within walking distance but Pisgah and Wedge require driving, so I'll have to try and find a bar that serves their beer. I was hoping to just take it easy and have that stop for unwinding a little, and was planning on staying at this hostel right by LAB, then walk to a few places. Possibly get a cab for Appalachian Vintner. But if they're really worth a drive I'll adjust plans. If you're looking to relax and have a good selection of NC beer available, walk down to the Thirsty Monk. Plus, they've just started brewing recently, although I haven't gotten to try their stuff, so I don't know how good it is. Still, they usually have plenty of local stuff on tap, and their downstairs Belgian bar is fantastic. And Jack of the Woods, Green Man's brewpub, is just down the road from them. Upstairs tap list Downstairs tap list Retemnav fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Apr 2, 2012 |
|
#
¿
Apr 2, 2012 03:50
|
|
|
Got to try my first KBS tonight. And while that is an AMAZING loving beer, it's not worlds away from other stuff I've had. Very happy to have had it, would not expend a ton of energy to try and get it again. Also had Dragon's Milk on draft, and that's a good beer, although not worth the premium it commands (at least around here).
|
|
#
¿
Apr 4, 2012 02:23
|
|
|
Looks like New Belgium is probably coming to Asheville! Pretty awesome, suck it Philly. The Buzz
|
|
#
¿
Apr 4, 2012 23:55
|
|
|
You might find Sexual Chocolate on tap somewhere, maybe. Greensboro had a keg of it on tap last weekend. No bottles left.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 6, 2012 14:41
|
|
|
cymbalrush posted:Picked up a 6-pack of Hopslam a couple weeks ago on a whim. Just had my first one and HOLY poo poo it's so good. I don't really know a whole lot about beer, but are there similar ones to this that I can get all year (near Asheville, NC)? I'm not totally ignorant-have tried plenty of IPAs-but the slight honey sweetness and balance is really, really special. It's not year round, but Laughing Dog's Sneaky Pete is out now and is probably the closest thing I've had to Hopslam. It's not the same, but it is really, really good and it has a little bit of sweetness to it. You should be able to get it in Asheville.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 10, 2012 15:32
|
|
|
Vertigo posted:Troegs stuff drat, sign me up.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 11, 2012 04:47
|
|
|
LeeMajors posted:Hopefully with the renewed interest in sessionable beers, we will see more Berliner Weisse. Between Oarsman and Howling Wolf I've really grown to appreciate that crispness. Amen! I need to find a place that has some 1809 in stock, for summer drinking.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 18, 2012 15:02
|
|
|
Went to the Hickory Hops festival this weekend. Crazy how many really good breweries are in NC now. I knew that there were a lot more now, but this was an entire festival made up of just NC breweries (with like 2 exceptions). Triangle Brewing continues to be one of my favorite brewers. They had a very good lambic on, one of the few NC brewers experimenting with sours. Also got to try their Habanero Pale Ale, and that's a fantastic use of pepper in beer. I've had several pepper beers, and they tend to err on the side of too much heat for me (and I make habanero salsa on a regular basis). Triangle's has this perfect little hint of habanero flavor, with a tiny bit of heat on the backend. Refreshing, and I'd love to sit down to some grilled chicken with a pint of it. I hope they start canning it along with their belgian golden and IPA. I could go on and on, but I doubt there's many breweries that have been heard of far outside of NC yet, but I think that'll change a lot in the next 5 to 10 years.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 23, 2012 15:17
|
|
|
Beer Wars is pretty interesting, and it's on Netflix Instant. Tried watching the History Channel's How Beer Saved the World the other day, and it was so, so bad. Should have been titled "People Guess About Stuff that Might or Might Not Have Happened that May Have Involved Beer or Not".
|
|
#
¿
Apr 24, 2012 18:29
|
|
|
danbanana posted:You really think so? Her beer and business plan were pretty funny. It's been a while since I saw it, but I wasn't put off by it as a whole, gave it 3 stars on Netflix apparently. It's really slim pickings for beer documentaries, suprisingly. I would have thought someone would have at least explored the history of the monastic brewers, or something.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 24, 2012 19:40
|
|
|
bartolimu posted:passionfruit Berlinerweiss drat, that just sounds really good.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 25, 2012 15:26
|
|
|
wattershed posted:Moving on, on my around-the-world beerventure tonight, to the Doppelbock (Korbinian) from Weihenstephaner. Never had a doppelbock before, actually. LOVE Korbinian. I only wish the local Total Wine got it as well as the hefe, because the only place I can get it now has it marked up several dollars (same as all their beers...but they've got such a great selection...). I'd buy a case of that stuff in a heartbeat if I could get it for the same price as the hefe. My boss is visiting family in WI and promised to bring some New Glarus back for me. So excited!
|
|
#
¿
Apr 27, 2012 15:53
|
|
|
I love their Chicory Stout. It's not overpowering, it just adds a nice, pleasent background flavor to the beer.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 27, 2012 16:30
|
|
|
FreelanceSocialist posted:All-in-all, talked nearly non-stop for eight hours, poured probably four hundred samples. Lots of fun. Coming up soon is American Craft Beer Week (May 14-20). If you're around the Triangle in NC - hit me up. PM or my username @gmail.com Cool, I'm up in Winston and I might be down for some of that week. I went to Raleigh yesterday for the Brewgaloo thing, and really wish I had skipped it. A loving mess...lines were 20-30 minutes long, everyone was running out of beer (at FIVE o'clock...this was supposed to last until 9 pm), two lines I was in had to break up because the tent we were waiting on tapped their kegs. Ended up getting 2 beers over 2 hours, and giving the rest of my tickets to some people coming in. Hope they had better luck. However, I did end up eating at the Busy Bee Cafe, and it was fantastic. Started with a Kasteel Rouge, which was pretty tasty, although it sort of reminded me of a Lindeman's cherry cough drop. Then had a '10 JW Lee's Harvest barleywine (from a cask) paired with a flank steak and blue cheese butter...loving perfect together. I'm not very experienced with barleywines, but most that I've had were sweeter than this. It was light, and sort of dry. A lot of whiskey/bourbon character to it, and it matched up so well against the blue cheese. I'd like to do a pairing with just the two, but I've never noticed a bottle of JW's around here.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 29, 2012 18:16
|
|
|
funkybottoms posted:for those of you familiar with Duck Rabbit, is Rabid Duck supposed to taste like a mouthful of bitter, astringent char? No, it shouldn't! It's not a great RIS, but it's a pretty good one. At least all the bottles I've had. I have 4 in the fridge right now, and another 6-pack in my closet. DR usually makes really good beer.
|
|
#
¿
May 3, 2012 16:23
|
|
|
funkybottoms posted:i'm familiar with the porter, baltic porter, milk stout, schwarz, wee heavy, and barleywine and found them all solid to excellent, so i was pretty surprised at how awful this was. had a cap/seal go bad on one of theirs a while back, so maybe something happened to my bottle? there was a touch of bitter chocolate, but my whole mouth felt dried out after a few swallows and i couldn't finish even half the glass. astringent as a motherfucker. I'd guess something went bad with the bottle. It's been a month or so since I drank one, but I don't remember any astringency at all, it was just a bit heavier on the dark fruit side than I normally like. Liked it enough to pick up a six pack to age, though.
|
|
#
¿
May 3, 2012 17:48
|
|
|
Quebec breweries - anyone know anything about any of them besides Unibroue and Dieu Du Ciel? Saw a few from this year's world beer cup winner's list: Le Brasseurs du Nord - gold for their honey beer Microbrasserie Hopfenstark - silver for their saison Brasseurs RJ - bronze for their Vienna lager Going up there in the fall, Montreal and Quebec City and some time to drive around. Figured I'd try and hit some of their microbreweries. There seem to be a ton of them. Had the newest Duck Rabbit brew last night, their Hoppy Bunny ABA. It's unique and delicious. Lots and lots of hop aroma, it was like tearing open a packet of hop pellets. Grassy hop flavor matched with some coffee undertones...was a little weird at first, but I really started to dig it after the first sip or two. Not super bitter, they must dry hop the hell out of it. They just launched last Friday, so I know the sixer I got is super fresh. It'll be interesting to see how it changes with some age and that aroma starts to drop off. Although I don't think the 5 I have left will last long enough to age much.
|
|
#
¿
May 16, 2012 15:45
|
|
|
air- posted:Check out Le Bilboquet too. They have an interesting non traditional take on a wee heavy as it doesn't have that peaty character. The sweetness from the honey/caramel makes it more like a really complex old ale. The oatmeal stout is supposed to be good too. Awesome, added it to my list. Read some more on the Hopfenstark place, and they sound pretty cool. Actually, the microbrew culture in general in Quebec sounds cool.
|
|
#
¿
May 17, 2012 14:55
|
|
|
Wamsutta posted:Brothers,, let me tell you about the time my friends and I were comped a pitcher of Ten Fidy, If you stare into the darkness, the darkness will stare into you.
|
|
#
¿
May 17, 2012 20:15
|
|
|
Did Rogue mean to pick the exact shade of Pepto-Bismol pink, or is that just a prescient coincidence?
|
|
#
¿
May 19, 2012 19:02
|
|
|
Opened a Fort Collin's Wheat Wine Ale last night. I'm not sure what I think about it. The elements were almost like a really thin quad. The flavors were there, but muted behind the wheat. It's amazingly easy drinking for 9.3%...not just easy, it was actually pretty refreshing. It was just weird having those intense flavors of a quad lurking, but never breaking through. It was enjoyable though, and I might pick up another one just to try it again.
|
|
#
¿
May 21, 2012 14:57
|
|
|
Mahoning posted:I'm going to Michigan next month, then North Carolina in July. Can anyone throw out some good beers that are available in either state that might not be available in other places? I want to start making a list. NC effort post! Statewide - you should be able to find any of these beers at pretty much any decent bottleshop or bigbox beer (Total Wine) in the state. Foothills - People's Porter is available in bombers widely. 6 packs of their Endo IPA are too. Both are good. Olde Hickory - distribute pretty much in bombers only. Hickory Stick Stout and their Imperial Stout are both very good. I'm also partial to their Irish Walker barleywine and their Weizen-Bock. Death by Hops lives up to it's name. Mother Earth - six packs widely available. Their Dark Cloud dunkel is probably one of my favorite easy drinking beers, Sisters of the Moon is a drat good IPA. Duck Rabbit - the dark beer specialists. Six packs. The RIS may be getting scarce by July, and I know the Baltic Porter is now. The Milk Stout is available pretty much any time. I think the RIS and Baltic Porter are their best stuff, but all their beers are pretty good. Hoppy Bunny ABA is their new one and may still be available in July. Lonerider - six packs widely available, Peacemaker Pale Ale is great. Their other stuff is just ok. Natty Greene's - six packs, but their bottled stuff has never wowed me, their best stuff is at their pubs. Big Boss - Bad Penny is pretty good. Red Oak - their lager is everywhere, but normally only in 12 packs. They are widely available on tap, though. Very traditional lager, reminds me of Czech beers. Regional Western NC/Asheville This is where all the cool kids from CO and CA are setting up their East Coast shops. Asheville's a fantastic town to visit if you're in the area, and there are a couple of bottle shops that have a great supply of NC beer: Bruisin' Ales and Hops & Vines. A lot of NC breweries don't bottle much yet, however. Nantahala and Pisgah breweries are both outside of Asheville, but VERY much worth a visit if you can swing it. In Asheville: Visit: Wedge, Asheville Pizza, The Oyster House, French Broad, Green Man, Highland Skip: LaB Maybe: Craggie (this is a polarizing place) French Broad Rye Hopper, Oyster House Oyster Stout, Green Man Porter and Highland St. Teresa's are all great. The Thirsty Monk pub keeps a lot of NC beer on tap, and recently started making their own beer too. Hickory Olde Hickory and Loe's Brewery. Olde Hickory is established and awesome, Loe's is brand new and interesting. Last time I was there, Olde Hickory's sampler was 14 beers. Winston/Greensboro/High Point Foothills (WS) Really don't do a lot of pub only beer that's better than what they bottle. Natty Greenes (GSO) they also have a pub in Raleigh. ALL of their really good stuff is pub only, and they have a ton of it (8-12 taps of pub only). Liberty Steakhouse (HP) Don't bottle at all, the place feels like a chain restaurant, but their brewer knows his poo poo. Consistently win gold in NC competitions. Deep River Wit and their Kellerbier are fantastic. 1st Street Draught House in WS keeps a lot of NC stuff on tap. Triangle (Raleigh/Durham) RD gets less attention, but I think their brewers are actually better than Asheville's. Triangle Brewing - they can their Golden and White Ales, but limited distro. Habanero pale ale is the best pepper beer I've ever had. One of the few NC breweries doing sours, they sometimes have on a soured Abbey beer, and they did a lambic this year. Bull City Burgers & Brewery - beer is good, burgers are UNGODLY. Roth - Consecration and Sex Viking are both good. Fullsteam - awesome place to hang out, normally have interesting stuff on cask. Working Man's Lunch is tasty as all hell. Top of the Hill - only worth going when the Back Bar is open, they have the good stuff on tap there. Boylan Bridge - nothing that stood out to me, just solid across the board, they have a great view of downtown Raleigh. Aviator - Hop Rod Red and HogWyld IPA are the only two I've had, but they are really good. The Flying Saucer and the Pour House keep lots of NC beer on tap. Busy Bee Cafe keeps great stuff on tap and has awesome food. Charlotte NoDa - Ghost Hop and NodaRyez'd are good. Have not been to their pub yet, but hear good things. Olde Mecklenburg - Capt. Jack pilsner is EXCELLENT, I'd seriously compare it to Prima Pils. Another pub I haven't visited, but heard really good things about. rear end Clown - north of the city, very new, I haven't gotten any of their stuff yet. Flying Saucer also has a location in Charlotte. Outer Banks Weeping Radish - solid enough if you're in the area. Outer Banks Brewing Station - Vitis Reductus Sour Ale. Yummy. Okay...I think that's a pretty definitive tour of NC beer!
|
|
#
¿
May 24, 2012 02:33
|
|
|
escape artist posted:^^ So does Highland brewery basically suck? Honest question. I don't know much about NC breweries. No, they are pretty good, but they are a bit more focused on making more widely accessible beer, I think. Their brewery is pretty cool though, and they give you a TON of beer on the tour. I drink their Oatmeal Stout on a regular basis.
|
|
#
¿
May 24, 2012 02:39
|
|
|
Ubik posted:Retemnav, when you mentioned Ashville Pizza, is that the same place as Asheville Brewing Company? I visited ABC when I passed through the area in January and enjoyed their stuff a lot, especially the Moog Filtered Ale and the amber ale with jalapeño. Their kölsch, unfortunately, was underattenuated and riddled with diacetyl, so I'd steer clear of it, but the rest of the beer was good and the food's not too shabby. Yea, same place. I think the official name is Asheville Pizza & Brewing, or it may just be I'm old and remember when they were still only in their old building, which was just pizza and beer. Their new place downtown may actually be called Asheville Brewing Company. Same folks though. It's a good lunch place to start a tour of Asheville. It's beer week this week in Asheville. 11 days of awesome beer stuff, and I'm not going to be able to make it up for any of it. Very sad.
|
|
#
¿
May 24, 2012 16:25
|
|
|
Weihenstephaner Original is just a lager, I think? It's also really drat good. Had one of their Korbinian doppelbocks on Memorial Day, which I like better than Celebrator. Also had a St. Feuillien Saison, and holy poo poo is that a good saison. So crisp and dry, and perfectly balanced. I could drink that all day long.
|
|
#
¿
May 30, 2012 14:32
|
|
|
Flying Fish Farmhouse Summer Ale. Anyone else had it? I'm not sure if I got a bad bottle or what, but that beer had the worst drat aftertaste I've ever experienced. Plastic and aspirin, and it lingered for hours. I tried about 4 or 5 sips and finally had to pour it. It was also an odd, unappealing color. I'd describe it as maybe a grayed out yellow-brown? Just looked...unhealthy. Definitely the worst beer I've had in years in that it wasn't just a flavor I didn't like, it was straight up disgusting after I'd swallowed.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 1, 2012 14:36
|
|
|
Kosher man posted:Awesome cruise Holy poo poo, that is a hell of a cruise. Don't fall overboard. Opened a bottle of Sam Smith's Yorkshire Stingo this weekend, and that is how a loving barrel-aged beer should taste. Nothing forward or harsh, no alcohol burn, just a super smooth, toffee-rich easy drinker. Nice dry finish with just a tiny bit of vanilla. Such a great mouthfeel too. The whole thing was just a pleasure to drink, as in I found myself just sitting there taking small sips and appreciating every single thing about the experience. Glad I picked up 2 bottles, but really wishing I'd picked up more now!
|
|
#
¿
Jun 11, 2012 14:56
|
|
|
FreelanceSocialist posted:edit: We can't keep the KBS - we don't have it in our inventory system (so we can't sell it), and a local beer bar called dibs FS, you're in NC, right? Can you share what bar called dibs.....
|
|
#
¿
Jun 15, 2012 14:31
|
|
|
FreelanceSocialist posted:It was a logical deduction - I only saw the memo field on the manifest, the account number (basically like a unique ID that each of the distributor's customers has) wasn't one of ours, and the company doesn't typically deliver to stores like Sam's in Durham or Tasty Bev/Bottle Rev in Raleigh. I bet you it was World of Beer since they sometimes snipe kegs when Tyler's and Flying Saucer aren't looking, it seems. Duckworth's Park had a KBS breakfast tapping this morning, so I'm guessing it was them. Actually down here in Charlotte visiting some breweries, so I might give them a call to see if they have any left for lunch.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 16, 2012 16:00
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 16:59 |
|
|
FreelanceSocialist posted:Oh, wow. I totally forgot that our "market" includes Charlotte. That's actually a pretty good possibility. Did you make it down for a pint? Made it just in time. The 2 people that ordered right after me got one and a half glasses. drat that stuff is good! Duckworth's did have a rule of one KBS per person with the breakfast thing they were doing, or it never would have lasted as long as it did.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 17, 2012 16:05
|
|