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Welch · Fri Mar 16, 2012 5:18 am

Ethyriel wrote:
Thanks Welch, you're making me not dread the hefeweizen days of summer quite so much.

Matilda and Gulden Draak tonight. Eventually I'll get to this Ommegang Dubbel and Alaskan Barley Wine in my fridge.

No problem

, i enjoy hefeweizens year round. For me they work no matter what temperature it is outside

Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:36 am

I have the same attitude towards heavier/stronger beers -- they're not just for winter anymore!

Ethyriel · Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:25 pm

I do enjoy hefeweizens year round, it just gets kind of boring when you see mostly just wheats and pales everywhere.

Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:30 pm

Pales I have no issue with; they're year-rounders for me. I'll admit to never getting/understanding wheats/hefes. As with JBI, I don't slot brews into seasons. If you find it tasty, drink it and calendar be damned.

Ethyriel · Fri Mar 16, 2012 9:25 pm

I'm all for breaking away from some of the seasonal preconceptions. My problem is that it can be tough to do that when most places are shaping their availability to seasonal demand. We have a couple really awesome sources in Tucson, but not much beyond that, so we can be kind of limited at times.

That said, I stopped off on my way home from work and had a Blanche De Bruxelles and Smoked and Oaked. Both were kind of disappointing. The Bruxelles was a pretty good wheat, but I was expecting more Belgian yeast and bitter orange. It ended up being pretty generic, but very good for what it was. Similarly the Smoked and Oaked was too heavy on the smoke and oak, I wanted a lot more Belgian yeast, especially when they were talking about dried fruit character from the yeast. It was good, but pretty much purely American Strong, and didn't much resemble a Belgian Strong like they claimed.

Now I'll finally get around to either the Alaskan Barleywine or Ommegang Dubbel while I sit here setting up a print server deployment.

LoneWolf15 · Fri Mar 16, 2012 10:15 pm

axeman wrote:
Drinking some Fin Du Monde right now. The only problem is I have only one 750ml bottle, and after that the only grain based alcoholic beverage I have around is rye whiskey. I don't get along with him.

If you like Fin Du Monde (don't we all?

) you should try this. I guarantee you'll enjoy it.

(broken image, so I'll put a link)

Dragonmead Final Absolution
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2085/5426

Fri Mar 16, 2012 10:35 pm

Killian's Irish Red.

Ethyriel · Sat Mar 17, 2012 1:58 am

LoneWolf15 wrote:
axeman wrote:
Drinking some Fin Du Monde right now. The only problem is I have only one 750ml bottle, and after that the only grain based alcoholic beverage I have around is rye whiskey. I don't get along with him.

If you like Fin Du Monde (don't we all? ) you should try this. I guarantee you'll enjoy it.

Tell them to get on the phone with Michigan Brewing and send some of that out to Tucson with the next batch of Celis, will ya?

thegleek · Sat Mar 17, 2012 2:11 am

Ethyriel wrote:
LoneWolf15 wrote:
axeman wrote:
Drinking some Fin Du Monde right now. The only problem is I have only one 750ml bottle, and after that the only grain based alcoholic beverage I have around is rye whiskey. I don't get along with him.

If you like Fin Du Monde (don't we all? ) you should try this. I guarantee you'll enjoy it.

Tell them to get on the phone with Michigan Brewing and send some of that out to Tucson with the next batch of Celis, will ya?

Some of us (myself) live less then 10-15 minutes from Dragonmead. yum! If you plan on showing up to the TRBBQ on August 11th, 2012, I can take orders and purchase them prior to arriving that day. Just gotta speak up for those who are coming in out-of-state and can't obtain our finest of brews.

With that said, I hope some of you can offer the same gratitude. JBI or whomever lives in a state that sells NEW GLARUS beer. OMFG I WOULD DIE FOR THAT... and 3 FLOYDS... and maybe some New Belgium ales (not distributed to MI yet, but in 2013 they will - woo hoo!). I'm all up for some beer swapping over the traditional tech geek parts garage sale.

Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:41 am

thegleek wrote:
With that said, I hope some of you can offer the same gratitude. JBI or whomever lives in a state that sells NEW GLARUS beer. OMFG I WOULD DIE FOR THAT... and 3 FLOYDS... and maybe some New Belgium ales (not distributed to MI yet, but in 2013 they will - woo hoo!). I'm all up for some beer swapping over the traditional tech geek parts garage sale.

Can't get New Glarus here any more; have to drive up to WI to get it. Three Floyds and New Belgium are pretty easy to find though.

Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:43 am

Di-hydrogen monoxide.

BIF · Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:55 am

Orange juice. It's breakfast time here.

Good morning!

thegleek · Sat Mar 17, 2012 11:02 am

Captain Ned wrote:
Di-hydrogen monoxide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax

Sat Mar 17, 2012 8:37 pm

Sam Adams Latitude 48 IPA.

ordskiweicz · Sat Mar 17, 2012 8:56 pm

Drinking Chocolate - Rivoli Dark - from Cacao in Portland, OR. Nothing you have had is like it. Worth the trip!

thegleek · Sun Mar 18, 2012 1:03 pm

ordskiweicz wrote:
Drinking Chocolate - Rivoli Dark - from Cacao in Portland, OR. Nothing you have had is like it. Worth the trip!

Never been out to Portland yet, or Seattle for that matter... I want to go bad!

For those who want to know more about this cacao place, I always provide a website so it makes it easier for others to just click on the linky:

http://cacaodrinkchocolate.com/shop

SPOOFE · Sun Mar 18, 2012 3:51 pm

Last night saw me drinking some George T. Stagg, some Jean Marc XO, some Jewel of Russia, some Whipped Cream-flavored Pinnacle, and topped it all off with a shot of Big Peat scotch.

Welch · Sun Mar 18, 2012 7:24 pm

MMMMMMM MMMMMM!

This is the Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dark that I had on the wife's birthday. Served with Orange and Lemon.

drsauced · Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:13 pm

I've heard that lemon is used to cover up a musty old beer (from the 'tender at my local biergarten). Speaking of Fin Du Monde, I brought one and a Our Finest Regards (Pretty Things Brewing) to my buddies daughters' third birthday. You know, to congratulate him. Uh. Anyway, Finest Regards was pretty spectacular. All the dads there flocked to the beer table and enjoyed it very much.

Now drinking a Philz Coffee Silken Splendor. Not bad. I'm wide awake!

Ethyriel · Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:03 pm

American wheats are often served with orange or lemon, but you'd probably get laughed out of the bar if you asked for that in Germany. It's kind of like Mexican lagers being served with lime, which are basically German lagers.

Sun Mar 18, 2012 11:37 pm

Sam Adams Irish Red. It's ok. I bought a variety pack of Sam Adams to try. I'm not noticing much difference between this and the Alpine Spring, but maybe I don't have a very refined palate.

Mon Mar 19, 2012 12:27 am

David wrote:
Sam Adams Irish Red. It's ok. I bought a variety pack of Sam Adams to try. I'm not noticing much difference between this and the Alpine Spring, but maybe I don't have a very refined palate.

Many of their ales tend to have a "house yeast" character as one of the primary flavors, which does indeed make them kind of similar. I've always felt that they do a better job on their lagers...

Welch · Mon Mar 19, 2012 7:48 pm

Maybe its just me, but I don't find any of the Samuel Adams beers to be inspiring AT ALL. I've also tried one of their variety packs with I think 6 different kinds (12 pack) and all seemed very similar, nothing exciting.

Ethyriel · Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:29 pm

I aim to try everything Sam Adams does that's not fruity, because those tend to be pretty medicinal. But they do every style they attempt well. They don't push the boundaries, or do anything exceptional, but they brew honest beers that are accessible. I think it's a good thing, because they're a good avenue for people to get into craft beers, and they've done a lot of good for the community/industry.

That said, it was an IPA night with Delta 9 and Sculpin. The Sculpin seemed to have an odd toasted malt character I'm not used to from it, I'm not sure if it was me or the beer. Maybe the Delta 9 leading into it brought out some toastiness I don't normally catch under the grapefruit.

Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:23 am

Welch wrote:
Maybe its just me, but I don't find any of the Samuel Adams beers to be inspiring AT ALL. I've also tried one of their variety packs with I think 6 different kinds (12 pack) and all seemed very similar, nothing exciting.

The Boston Lager is good if it is decently fresh. The Noble Pils is nice. The Oktoberfest can be very good... again, if fresh; last fall I did encounter one bar where the keg had obviously gone badly off -- tasted like liquid butterscotch, we got them to change the keg! The Winter Lager is generally solid. They've also been doing some interesting stuff lately; I recently had their Smoked Bock and it was decent. They also promote homebrewing through their annual Longshot competition.

So while their beers may not be the most exciting, they do know how to make good beer, and also do a decent job of raising public awareness that there is more to life than "Lite".

Ethyriel wrote:
I aim to try everything Sam Adams does that's not fruity, because those tend to be pretty medicinal. But they do every style they attempt well. They don't push the boundaries, or do anything exceptional, but they brew honest beers that are accessible. I think it's a good thing, because they're a good avenue for people to get into craft beers, and they've done a lot of good for the community/industry.

I mostly agree with all of that but would probably qualify "every style" as "every lager style". To me their ales seem rather hit-or-miss, though the misses are at least drinkable.

Ethyriel · Wed Mar 21, 2012 11:56 pm

It was Shipyard night tonight, which is pretty interesting out here in the west. Apparently there was a bit of a road trip involved for the reps, carrying some kegs personally out for our special enjoyment. I was hoping for a barleywine, or something that's generally well done on the east coast but that we struggle with out here. I was even excited when an ESB and an English IPA showed up on the menu. Instead we ended up with an ESB and winter warmer which both seemed odd, and I'll have to try again later to get it all straight. The English IPA ended up being the XXXX double IPA instead, and they mislabeled that and the imperial porter. So when I ordered the XXXX I ended up with the porter, and then a free pint of the XXXX after we figured it out a few sips in.

The imperial porter was a really good english brown ale. It had a bit of toastiness of a porter, some licoricy stout flavors, but overall it was a nice, dark brown but far from black english ale with just a hint of bitter. I liked it, but hell if it was a porter much less an imperial. The XXXX seemed to have a nice malt character, and it was strong, but we're used to super fresh IPA's out here, and this had lost all it's hop character into bitterness. I'd really like to try this one fresher when I'm out east, but in this case it just wasn't worth it.

The highlights of the night (aside from glassware and free beer!) ended up being samples of Ryedenity Crysis from Knee Deep (new brewery for me), and a strong Belgian pale from a Belgian brewer I can't remember the name of, and who isn't on the menu yet for me to reference. There will probably be more on those in the next couple days, since I held out and only had a couple ounces of each.

Jambe · Thu Mar 22, 2012 6:00 am

I had Swiss clear absinthe last night (La Clandestine) which was good. Thin and velvety, not overly bitter. Two glasses louched 3:1, one with a sugar cube and one without. Better without sugar.

All this talk of hearty ales makes me wish I knew more beer people.

Ethyriel · Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:41 am

So like most nights, I went back to 1702 tonight. I started off with the strong Belgian pale I mentioned yesterday, which is Rince Cachon from Brouwerij Roman. I swear it's relabeled Delirium Tremens. Maybe I could tell them apart if I tasted them side by side, but it has the same awesome yeast and malt character. If it isn't just a relabel, there must be some tie between the two.

Then I had a Knee Deep Citra. It must be the night for dead ringers, because even though this is said to be an American pale ale at 6%, it tastes mostly like Sculpin. With Sculpin at 7%, I wonder if Knee Deep's goal was to make a slightly more sessionable Sculpin. Either way, it was well done, and I can't wait to try some of their IPA and IIPA. Hopefully tomorrow my head cold will have subsided enough to properly taste their Ryedentity Crysis saison.

todd · Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:01 pm

I'm drinking New Belgium's Ranger IPA right now. It is outstanding if you like your IPA hoppy. They also make two other IPA's, Dig, and my personal fave Belgo. I think New Belgium really fleshes out the IPA range like no other brewery.
The Ranger I'm drinking tonight has a best buy before date of July, 2012, so this 12 pack is extremely fresh.
I got a sampler last week from New Belgium. Ranger, Dig, Fat Tire, and 1554. That is a pretty great sampler pack.

Last fall I was into Sam Adams. They have some great tasting beers. The octoberfest, bonfire, several others are very tasty when fresh.

Around here, though, a guy really has to check the dates.

thegleek · Fri Mar 23, 2012 10:37 pm

todd wrote:
I'm drinking New Belgium's --- I got a sampler last week from New Belgium. Ranger, Dig, Fat Tire, and 1554. That is a pretty great sampler pack.

Out of every (and all) NB beers I've tried, the only one I would die for would be the 1554. The rest can die in a fire.

And i'm behind on my beer updates, so the past 1-2 weeks I've drank this stuff:

Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown Ale (organic)
Sierra Nevada Hoptinum
Dark Horse Bourbon Barrel Plead the 5th Imperial Stout 2011 (rare as holy hell)
Dogfish Head Tweason'ale (gluten-free crap beer for the celiac folk) - "beer" made with OUT grains? feh. it's NOT beer, it's ZIMA then. sorghum & buckwheat honey DON'T DO IT!
Dogfish Head Immort Ale 2011
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Gulden Draak
Short's Publican Porter
Hoppin' Frog Mean Manalishi Double IPA
Dieu Du Ciel's Route Des Épices (rye pepper ale)

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