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I had the New Belgium / Lost Abbey Brett beer on draft in Denver when I was there a few weeks back and I liked it a lot. Rather funky with an interesting sweet malt base that still finishes fairly dry.
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Jun 28, 2012 18:20
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mysterious frankie posted:Matilda is their Belgian IPA and it was supposedly inspired by Orval, so you know it's got that bretty soul way down inside. I don't think it tastes much like an Orval though; it's much fruitier and more accessible. Matilda is not a Belgian IPA and neither is Orval. Matilda is directly inspired by Orval, though GI's version is a bit maltier. Both are a hoppy (in the Belgian sense, which would be considered barely hoppy by American standards) Belgian Pale Ale's with a big Brett funkiness.
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Jul 19, 2012 00:27
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Whodat Smith-Jones posted:I don't mean to steal any attention from this, but I wouldn't mind some suggestions for San DIego. I've been to Bottlecraft and Super Jr Market, but none other than that except for some liquor stores. Are there any that sort of fly under the radar that have awesome selections or something? I'm staying in Hillcrest for the next 2 months Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, Pizza Port Bottle Shop in Carlsbad are some of the better ones in the country. If you don't mind a bit of a drive up to Orange, The Bruery Provisions is legendary.
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Jul 27, 2012 04:52
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Best thing about late july pumpkin beers: Using 2011 pumpkin... something. The harvest isnt for another month at least.
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Aug 11, 2012 06:49
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Recently I completed a Hair of the Dog Adam trifecta and I've got to say this is one of my favorite beers. Two weeks ago I went to a big tasting and one of my buddies with a crazy collection who always brings his crazy rare beers to tastings brought out this.  Batch 33 (1998) of Adam in whatever bigass bottle format this is, its an older recipe of Adam that was like 8% as opposed to the current 10%. It didn't seem to be too significantly changed by age which was surprising, though it had taken on a bit of a rummy sherry note.  Last weekend I went on a vacation to Portland and hit up Hair of the Dog and they had Cherry Adam from the Wood on tap, which was pretty ridiculously good though the small sampler I got was about all I'd probably be able to drink. They didn't have any regular Adam on tap so I picked up a few bottles and had them at dinner with family members. I love the balance this beer strikes, a little touch of roast and chocolate, some complex malt sweetness but not too much, a little leather and toasted malt character. So good.  Then yesterday at a small beer tasting the same buddy who brought the bigass 1998 Adam popped out a Adam From the Wood 2011. Wow.  Everything I love about Adam, with a big bourbon oak note on the top that blends in very well with the base beer. We had a 2008 GI BCS afterwards and I think I'd give the "Overall Best Dark Barrel Aged Beer" award to the Adam over the BCS. So I brought back a few bottles of Adam from Portland and am on a quest to get some more Adam From The Wood and maybe Cherry Adam. I've also been meaning to brew an Old Ale lately so I think thats next. Also bonus beer from yesterdays tasting  Portsmouth Kate The Great was pretty drat good, but it doesn't live up to the retardedly insane hype surrounding it. Its a rich, smooth, full bodied and well balanced RIS but I think that regular CCB Marshall Zhukov still takes my "Best RIS" vote.
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Aug 20, 2012 16:44
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FreelanceSocialist posted:A few years? Give it three months. I had one the day we got it on the shelves and it was decent, but the flavor was very subdued. I opened my second about a week ago, and it has definitely started to perk up - more funk, more fruitiness, the sour had more of an edge to it. My third I will probably crack in November. Nah, knowing Vinnie (who is a major Orval nut) they probably did the same treatment to it that Orval does, where the initial bottle aging phase isn't fully done for 8 months. I've got a few and I'm saving the opening of my first one for the new year, though it helps that I had one fresh at a tasting so I know where it needs to go.
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Aug 20, 2012 16:46
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bartolimu posted:Our bottle was probably old. It tasted like a generic, fairly low-hop IPA, kind of thin and not really special in any way. I'd try it again with a fresh bottle to re-evaluate. I liked XX and XXI better than the XIV I had on tap at Deschutes Portland a few weeks back. The XIV had a bigger cocoa presence which was nice, but had a little out-of-place-if-you-ask-me berry presence. Not fig/date, which I would be totally down with, but berries. I talked to one of the people running the bar and they said they did add a small amount of berries to the brew.
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Aug 26, 2012 19:10
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Anjow posted:I don't understand beer's effect on me and it really frustrates me. Loads of beers have a negative effect on me but I don't know why. The red in the face / headache thing is from fusels which are hard alcohols created during fermentation from a variety of factors, but mainly being poor brewing practices which describes Brewdog to a T. Nearly all the beers I've had from them were horrible fusel-ridden messes. Both of their IPAs had fair amounts of fusels but I was able to finish them. Divine Rebel with Mikkeller was so horrible it got dumped after about 2oz One of my buddies bought Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismark and we had small (1/2oz) tastings of them 2 years ago, he has yet to finish them. They were both revolting concoctions that resembled rubbing alcohol or gasoline more than beer. There aren't many breweries that have these kinds of problems because if you are any good at brewing and take decent measures of quality control in your process you don't have problems with fusels. Just avoid Brewdog and you'll be fine.
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Aug 26, 2012 19:24
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Midorka posted:What made BC Stout Rare that much more expensive than the others? Exclusively aged in Pappy Van Winkle barrels and for a longer period of time (iirc), which are rare (low volume) and the bourbon they put in them is very expensive. I know that this doesn't translate to a more expensive second hand barrel though.
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Aug 29, 2012 17:51
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Retemnav posted:Said 170 served, so I'm guessing the guy was a little hyperbolic on the 5 minutes thing. I've served at crazy beer fests where a special keg had 200 people lined up before it was tapped and we blew it in 5 minutes. The faucet basically never closed. So short of that it might be a bit of an exaggeration.
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Aug 30, 2012 17:16
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Picture heavy I know, I'm a beer picture taking whore... I just finished my first six pack of TJs Mission St Pale Ale and its pretty drat tasty. Then today at the grocery store I saw a fresh shipment of Lagunitas Daytime IPA, which is remarkably similar but I think I might like it more due to the hop profile. Going to be drinking a lot of this I think...  Did some brewing this weekend which means beer drinking, decided to go at it with gusto and pulled out some good stuff.  Friend brought two Heady Toppers and the Kern River Double Citra IPA. Both were really excellent IPAs, the Kern Rivery Double Citra was a really really amazing beer. Glad the Rye IPA I brewed had a ton of Citra in it.  Next up was The Bruery Filmishmish which was really really good, reminded me of Fou Foune. Nicely sour but balanced, clean mostly lacto, subtle on the apricot. Wish I had a bunch more.  Bruery Trois Poules Francais which is the latest in their "extreme" version of their christmas beers, this being signficiant because its the first one not aged in bourbon barrels. The "regular" Three French Hens was a great quad nicely aged in red wine barrels, it really hit the red wine character perfectly and I really really enjoyed it. This version was aged longer in red wine barrels with their sour bugs and a healthy amount of syrah grapes. Quite fantastic though I was hoping for more acidity. The quad character was a bit in the background but that typically happens when soured.  Lost Abbey The Angels Share 2007, aka the accidentally slightly funky/sour version. Ah the Angels Share. Its a beer that when the first brandy batch hit (2005? I forget) blew everybodys brains out of the back of their head and many still to this day consider That Batch to be one of the best BA beers made. Fast forward to modern times and The Angels Share is distributed in both Bourbon and Brandy versions and while its good, its usually kind of referred to as Not That Good. 2007 went a little tart and funky, 2008 was totally flat, 2009 was pretty much perfect, 2010 (released Jan 2011) had some weird almost acidic character and was also almost flat, 2011 (released late 2011) was kind of back to form and almost as good as the 2009. The Angels Share kind of gets a little unfair hate due to the 2008 initial not-only-at-brewery bottle release that was totally flat. Some of it deserved some of it not, but it is recognized as the start of "Flat Abbey". I look at it like stamps, its the flaws that make it rare and valuable. This is the first time I've had the 2007 vintage and though it is recognized as being "infected" I actually dig on it pretty well. A decent bit of carbonation and funk give an interesting spin on the big brown sugar brandy decadence. One of these days I'll do a vertical if I can ever find someone who will trade me one of the initial 2006 bottled batches since I have 2007-present. Note that in 2010 they released a blend of brandy Angels Share blended in with some sour beer as the Sinners Blend and it is loving fantastic, but thats a story for a different day.  Last beer of the day was The Beer That Is Always The Last Beer Of The Tasting. The Bruery 2011 Black Tuesday, 18.3% ABV. I opened up a bottle of this last December at a party hosted at my place and remember liking it, but not nearly as much as I did this time. There is a little roastiness, a bit of chocolate, oak, caramel and lots of burnt sugar like a good creme brulee. Despite this being such a significant flavor in the beer, it is not a cloyingly sweet mess like many other high ABV beers (anything dogfish head, southern tier, etc). Due in part to the large portion of The Bruery's Special Candi Sugar it actual keeps it medium bodied instead of a grotesquely sweet mess of some kind of boozy sugar bomb. I like it and actually drank a decent amount. I have a 2010 and 2011 bottle left, and I think with a few years of aging I can see it taking a really nice direction.
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Sep 4, 2012 05:12
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Angry Grimace posted:I almost bought a bottle of Oude Tart before I noticed that it was $20. I didn't want it quite that much. Is it always that much or is that some kind of dealer markup? Its $20 normally. Its not the most sour flanders red out there but it has a lot of really good complimentary malt/red wine flavors going on. I like it a lot.
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Sep 4, 2012 08:54
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danbanana posted:This might be the only nice thing I can say about Black Tuesday: maybe if I let it sit for a few years it won't be so... Brewdog. Not even. If brewdog made this it would be used as a paint cleaner. Its quite good right now but I can see it turning into something completely mind blowing with age.
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Sep 4, 2012 16:49
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danbanana posted:Granted the bottle I had was somewhere between 9 and 12 months old, but it came off as everything bad about "extreme beers." Big for big's sake, with no subtlety or secondary flavors past the alcohol. Really, really disappointing to me. Yeah, I hate extreme beers that are just big sugar alcohol bombs with shitloads of fusels and nasty poo poo, like anything DFH makes above 11% ABV, all brewdog beers, etc etc. Stupid gimmick beers are bad. I wouldn't count Black Tuesday in that list because it actually had a pretty good flavor profile, the alcohol was fairly subdued given the extremely high abv and though the burnt sugar flavor (which I liked) was pretty dominant there were other complimentary flavors going on too. I do still say that the beer is too young and needs more time to come into its own. That being said I wouldn't really hold this beer up with Marshall Zhukov as far as the best of the RIS category, but I don't really consider them to live in the same category of beer.
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Sep 4, 2012 17:46
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Modern Automaton posted:Years of drinking craft, now working at a solely craft bar, and I only look for the beer thread now. I have failed, fellow goons. Where in AZ?
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Sep 11, 2012 16:57
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Vertigo posted:So... its been awhile since I posted here, but I'm definitely still in the game.. Lost Abbey premium 375mls are supposed to be $12-18, so you are getting jacked.
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Sep 13, 2012 01:41
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danbanana posted:crazyfish, add this to your list of "awesome" right now: Awesome. Gonna buy a case...
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Sep 13, 2012 18:59
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So we finally got enough people together to drink our group bottle of this. 19.5% means its a lot stronger than last years Black Tuesday (18.3%) but for some reason it was a LOT lighter in color, during the pour it was clear enough you could see through the beer that was pouring. Has a great rich chocolatey aroma with a little bit of burnt sugar and smoke, and lots and lots of alcohol. Unpleasant amounts of alcohol until it sits for 15+ minutes and then it fades a bit. Taste isn't hit quite as hard as the aroma with alcohol, but theres no way around this kind of booze. Impressively smooth given the ABV, its only half as harsh as say DFH Olde School or Lost Abbey Older Viscosity. Its definitely on the sweet side but its not cloying, it has a lot more complexity than Black Tuesday, dark chocolate, biscuit, a bit of vanilla, some roasty/malty character and a surprising lack of burnt sugar/creme brulee that I was expecting from the Black Tuesday. Interesting and somewhat enjoyable, though its definitely too young and hot. We had a FW XV Anniv before it that was much smoother and more enjoyable overall. I have a bottle of my own that I'm probably going to let age for a long time and save for a special occasion.
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Sep 22, 2012 01:29
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wattershed posted:Speaking of Westy, I kind of lost track on their American importation plans, anyone have an update? Its imported but Shelton hasn't done anything yet, I don't know wtf is going on and one of my buddies thats a distributor and does a lot of stuff with Shelton keeps getting noncommital responses about what the plan is and if he can get any.
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Sep 30, 2012 06:32
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Hair of the Dog is just a few blocks down from Cascade and always has awesome taps and awesome food going.
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Sep 30, 2012 19:24
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cryme posted:Get Flanders Fred if they have it! I'm looking forward to cracking open a Flanders Fred, I hear its pretty drat good. When I was at HOTD last I had some Michael which was awesome, and Cherry Adam From The Wood that was on tap was also incredible. Also get their brussel sprouts they are amazing. 
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Sep 30, 2012 20:54
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Arnold of Soissons posted:Fresh Flower Power on tap is so good. Cascazilla is tasty too. The Ithaca Brute series is quite good. I agree with you on Weyerbacher but I can't agree with you on Smuttynose. The Smuttynose Baltic Porter is the bomb. Seriously good beer. Lots of smooth tasty rounded character with subtlety and nuance. Don't know about their other stuff but Baltic Porter is good enough in my books.
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Oct 4, 2012 00:17
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SUPER HASSLER posted:They sell em there but i'm preeeeeeetty sure folks bring em too. You should have asked them why they are such enormous douchebags. Their forums are only half the problem with beeradvocate.com. They are the other half.
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Oct 13, 2012 00:06
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El Jebus posted:Purchasing my Reserve Society membership with a friend today. A decent list of beers are included but I am excited to get to reserve some of their rarer beers, especially those aged in rye barrels. Anyone else joining this year? I was in last year and I'm in the Hoarders Society this coming year, split with 2 friends. Opening a bunch of RS beers at a bday birthday tasting next weekend. Or a FW Anniv 13/14/15/16 vertical. Or a Three Floyds Baller Stout & the gang: Dark Lord, Darkness, Beer Geek Brunch, Black Albert. Or... oh god so many beers to drink.
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Oct 27, 2012 00:44
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Uhh.... Velvet Merlin is a moderate abv oatmeal stout, 5.5% ish with a moderate finishing gravity. FBS is an 8.3% oatmeal stout with chocolate and coffee with a slightly sweet finishing gravity. They aren't really very comparable other than both being oatmeal stouts.
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Oct 29, 2012 00:06
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danbanana posted:So... Pretty much the same style. Yeah because the Stone Pale Ale and Lost Abbey Mongo are totally the same beer.
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Oct 29, 2012 06:28
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Velvet Merkin is still the special 100% bourbon barrel aged version of Velvet Merlin. They don't release many kegs of it but they end up in the wild every now and then. A keg of it made it to my fav bar for the FW 13th anniv special, and I think again for the 15th. They have another keg now but aren't sure when its going on. I wish Velvet Merlin was at least partly blended from Velvet Merkin, the BA version is so so good.
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Oct 29, 2012 23:16
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Munkaboo posted:There are cases upon cases of it at my local Giant... crazy I've been picking up Mission St Pale and IPA lately as daily easy drinkers with dinner and they do have bottling dates that are easily legible on the label. I'm usually seeing bottle dates of about 3-4 weeks prior so its fairly fresh and tastes fresh too.
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Nov 6, 2012 22:23
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bartolimu posted:Avery Anniversary Ale Fifteen - What is it about fig beers that they pick up band-aid flavors? This was one a huge miss for five of the six of us. One guy liked it because it had lots of fruity notes, but I couldn't get past the band-aids. Thats a fantastic all brett beer, which it sounds like something you just aren't into.
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Nov 8, 2012 17:47
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Ubik posted:I doubt it will be in shops yet, but there are lots of smaller shops that are likely to have it first. West Lakeview Liquors on Addison will almost certainly have it, as well as Andersonville Wine and Spirits on Clark and Foster (kitty corner from Hopleaf). There's no way to be certain yet, though. Did BCS go nationwide in the last few months? I read that Arizona was going to be getting some in mid-Nov but I bumped into the GI distributor the other day and he was clueless (not a surprise).
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Nov 8, 2012 18:41
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(Or get the occasional sample from the bright tank 
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Bottoms-Up Wit and Eugene are so loving boss.
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Avery 15th was a 2008-ish beer. I don't think you'll find any more. Its one of my favorite Avery beers of all time.
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Nov 9, 2012 00:00
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So I did a Left Hand Milk Stout vs Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro side by side comparison today. I'm still going with my stance "nitro beers are gimmicks and people who don't know better" because it hasn't been wrong yet. Sure the head/foam is a bit denser due to the nitrogenation but a lot less co2 being present detracts from the full appreciation of the flavors. The nitro tasted a lot more watery and boring, with significantly reduced aromatics from the reduced effervescence. It reminds me a lot of beer after you first take it from the fermenter and into the keg before its carbonated. Flat and limp and about to get a hell of a lot better.
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Nov 21, 2012 05:56
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Milk Stouts or other sweet stouts. I haven't had many that are quite on the same level that the Left Hand Milk Stout is, they really have a pretty magnificent milk stout.
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Nov 26, 2012 05:40
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Beer trip report! So my father in law was visiting from out of town for a few days, and as is typically I reach in my fridge for some good poo poo to drink while he's here. This latest visit I pulled out some stuff that ended up being real winners.  The Bruery Smoking Wood Bourbon Been staring at this bottle in my fridge for a while and figured it was time to see what this was all about and I was really blown away. Imperial Smoked Rye Porter might not exactly be the most accurate description as I find this almost bleeds into the Old Ale territory but its probably as close as any "classification" is going to get. The aroma is huge vanilla, wood, bourbon with a bit of bread crust and dark bakers chocolate that all blend together into this really heavenly aroma. Reminds me a bit of Adam from the Wood or aged Bourbon County Stout. The flavor follows through, though its not too sweet and the bitterness is low/moderate but it definitely keeps the sweetness in balance. As it warms the chocolate really comes out along with the low amount of smoke and a healthy amount of rye which lends a spicy character. Medium dry to dry body keeps this from hitting palate fatigue and a very low amount of astringency keeps it very smooth. Overall the beer has a great complexity, flavor integration and most importantly balance. I had no idea I would enjoy this beer so much or I would have tried for another bottle. The next night...  Alesmith Barrel Aged Wee Heavy "2009" I've had this one once before about a year ago and had two more left so this one seemed like an obvious choice. I thought it was a great beer a year ago and it has evolved into a really stunning beer since. A big bouquet with bourbon, wood, vanillin, fig, port, toffee, rich malt and a touch of smoke. Its like a big warm blanket of delicious barrel aged beer. Flavor is a lot of the same in the aroma but even though this one is definitely on a bigger bodied, sweeter beer its only 9.5% so its not like you are trying to drink maple syrup or something. Rich with complex malt character, bourbon barrel character and low bitterness while not being too sweet or heavy. The flavors are really rich and complex but really tightly integrated, nothing sticks out too much and everything is really complimentary, its just so nicely put together. I sure am glad I have one bottle of this left.
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Dec 5, 2012 20:50
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I totally don't understand the FW XV hate. Its a barleywine heavy blend of their good barrel beers that was good fresh and has aged great.
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Dec 7, 2012 00:03
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Mikey Purp posted:Just received 2 interesting sounding beers through a Rare Beer Club membership that was gifted to me for my birthday: I had the Sans Frontiere last night, pretty tasty. Kind of in the Orval-ish style. Dry, hoppy, belgian, a little funk. I enjoyed it but I should have let it age longer. Haven't opened up the Gotlandsdricka from JK yet.
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Dec 7, 2012 23:34
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crazyfish posted:I knew about the St. Bernardus thing already (and goddamn what a great beer it is) but I didn't know whether Bernardus did their own little touchups or just decided to release a new (though similar) recipe under that name. I've had the Westvleteren 12 at various ages as well as St Bernardus 12 at various ages and I would definitely give the Westy 12 marks as a superior beer. I've brewed my own version of this style heavily modeled off of what is known about the current incarnation of the Westvleteren 12 and have won many homebrew competitions with it as well has brewing it with a professional for a ProAm entry at the GABF. They aren't the same recipe, they aren't even the same yeast (the most important aspect to this style of beer). That being said even if they were the same recipe and yeast there are many ways that the brewers process, equipment and fermenting treatment would yield dramatically different beers. All of that being said they are both excellent Belgian Dark Strong beers and I will be buying myself a pack tomorrow.
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Dec 11, 2012 20:57
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Bag of Sun Chips posted:I'd imagine the water supply isn't the same between the two, correct? That's also another very important aspect that gives many beer a distinct taste that is hard to replicate. What does have a big effect on a beers flavor, but nearly all smart breweries of any significant size filter and/or soften their water and add back some minerals according to what is appropriate to the recipe. Its not really a huge topic of discussion when comparing breweries as all of the ones we have been discussing have known how to manage for that for quite some time.
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Dec 12, 2012 00:44
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Angry Grimace posted:Random brewing question - what yeast is St. Bernardus using now? I know Gordon Strong said St. Sixtus is using the Westmalle yeast (at some totally different fermentation temperature schedule). I don't think the brewers that run the St Bernardus beers have commented, and usually if its a commercially available yeast the brewing world has figured it out, which it hasn't. So the best assumption is that its the old Westvleteren 12 yeast (that they haven't used from when they re-opened brewing in the 90s) from when the head brewer from St Sixtus went to setup the St Bernardus brewery. Stan Hieronymus has written brewing books on Belgian brewers and styles and has covered topics like this in great detail, of which he has a particularly applicable snippet available on the website on this subject. http://www.brewlikeamonk.com/?p=41
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Dec 12, 2012 00:50
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Midorka posted:I've heard that it is the same recipe, only the yeast is different which Westvleteren now uses Westmalle while St. Bernardus uses the original. It makes sense given that St. Bernardus contract brewed for Westvleteren 12 up until 1992. As mentioned in the previous post, Stan Hieronymus is pretty much the credible source as he has written extensively on it and done interviews with the brewers (secular and monastic) to get specific questions like this answered.
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Dec 12, 2012 00:51
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