TR Forums

Wine: Chateau Latour 1998
Liquor: 18y Bowmore
Beer: St. Bernardus Abt 12
Not exactly champagne but... Bründlmayer brut (sekt) is probably the best sparkling wine I have tasted.

just brew it! wrote:

BuddhistFish wrote:

Stone's Arrogant Bastard Ale - If you find this one on tap, avoid the Aged In Bourbon Barrels version. I found it to be too heavy on the spruce and pine flavors.

Yes, it is pretty intense; but occasionally I am in the mood for an "extreme" beer!

It was definitely extreme. The wood flavors were almost astringent in the glass I had.

Stone's beers have only recently started becoming available in my area of Georgia, and the local beer stores have been pushing them hard to try and get the word out. As a result, I'm always finding it on sale, and thus have like 8 or 9 bottles of the regular Arrogant Bastard sitting around.

I am not a wine drinker, but I've found I really like the Italian wine Amarone della Valpolicella. It's usually fairly expensive though, so it's not something I drink all that often.

thegleek wrote:

BuddhistFish wrote:

Rochefort 10 - I can't find this locally, unfortunately. Picked it up when I was in Tennessee a while back. Best Quadrupel I've ever had.

I left this one out (probably left out 20+ awesome beers)... But we can constantly get this locally (until supplies all run out), and worth every penny! SO GOOD!

Georgia only recently (2005 I think) started allowing high gravity beers to be sold in the state. It's taken a while for the stores in my area to start expanding the varieties they stock. Some beers I just can't find locally. Rochefort is one of them. Also some small run batches, like Dogfish's 120 minute IPA, are impossible to find. I think it's because these small run beers tend to be such extreme representations of their styles, that the liquor stores are worried about how many they'd actually sell.

BuddhistFish wrote:

Georgia only recently (2005 I think) started allowing high gravity beers to be sold in the state. It's taken a while for the stores in my area to start expanding the varieties they stock. Some beers I just can't find locally. Rochefort is one of them. Also some small run batches, like Dogfish's 120 minute IPA, are impossible to find. I think it's because these small run beers tend to be such extreme representations of their styles, that the liquor stores are worried about how many they'd actually sell.

A personal photo I took myself recently:



GO MICHIGAN!

Wine: Peju Merlot from Napa valley back around 1999. Best bottle ever. Otherwise since I live in the finger lakes region I like all sorts of the local whites. Notably:
http://www.fingerlakeswinecountry.com/P ... spx?id=629
http://www.fingerlakeswinecountry.com/P ... spx?id=649
http://www.fingerlakeswinecountry.com/P ... spx?id=646
Dr Konstatin Frank!
http://www.fingerlakeswinecountry.com/D ... llars.aspx

There are several unique wine varieties in our area. Rather than go into detail, hit up your local liquor stores and look for some Finger Lakes whites and let me know what you think!

Beer: Kind of a fan of Pale ales and not picky about custom brews made locally. Genesee Cream Ale mostly for nostalgia.
Liquor: Maybe an occasional shot of good scotch, but blech.
Champagne? Never met a one I liked.

-Mark

BuddhistFish wrote:

Also some small run batches, like Dogfish's 120 minute IPA, are impossible to find.

120 has been hard to find *everywhere*. They apparently ran into some production problems with it, and even had to dump a batch or two. IIRC it disappeared from the shelves/taps around a year ago (maybe longer), and only recently (last month) started showing up again. One of the local pubs here celebrated its return by doing a version of the Black and Tan that they called a "Heaven and Hell" -- instead of Bass and Guinness, it was Dogfish Head 120 Minute and Dogfish Head World Wide Stout. That's an ~18% ABV Black and Tan!

thegleek wrote:

BuddhistFish wrote:

Georgia only recently (2005 I think) started allowing high gravity beers to be sold in the state. It's taken a while for the stores in my area to start expanding the varieties they stock. Some beers I just can't find locally. Rochefort is one of them. Also some small run batches, like Dogfish's 120 minute IPA, are impossible to find. I think it's because these small run beers tend to be such extreme representations of their styles, that the liquor stores are worried about how many they'd actually sell.

A personal photo I took myself recently:



GO MICHIGAN!

I've had this beer myself and it is very good. I've also had the 8 version in addition to the 10. I still have the empty bottles. Here in Edmonton, we have a place called the Sherbrooke Liquor Store which carries beers from around the world. Until last year, I lived within a few blocks of it. They even have a website:
http://www.sherbrookeliquor.com/

I'm not a big boozer by any stretch of the imagination, but I appreciate a good beer. For hard liquor I like rum the most, my current favorites are either Captain Morgan's Private Stock, or the 15-year-old Tanduay Rum. For wine, I like Royal Red because it is very sweet.

I stick mostly with beer.

Over the years, I have developed a taste for Saison beers. The best is Saison DuPont. Ommegang makes a great one too, I would put it second. There are others that are all fine examples, many of which are American, but those are the absolute best.

I also enjoy Chimay Rouge quite a bit. I like it more than Bleu because it has less of an alcohol taste. Bleu tastes a bit like rouge with an extrad bit of grain alcohol in it.

As for a session beer, one you can sit down and knock back without getting too blitzed or getting tired of the taste, I prefer Kolsch. Specifically I like Reissdorf, but Gaffel's is good too.

I've also developed a taste for Weiss and Wit beers. Both of them are just fantastic during the summers when it's really hot outside. I like Ommegang's Witte and of course Hoegaarden. Not a huge fan of Blue Moon. As for Weiss, my favorite is Weihenstephaner.

Other than Ommegang, not much in the way of American beers on here. I realize that and it doesn't mean America doesn't make great beers. I just usually prefer the original, Ur-beer example to the imitations. We have a few original styles here, like DIPA, American IPA, and American PA. Even Steam Beer is an American original style. But for the styles I like, the originals all come from Europe (and largely from Belgium).

Thresher wrote:

Over the years, I have developed a taste for Saison beers. The best is Saison DuPont. Ommegang makes a great one too, I would put it second. There are others that are all fine examples, many of which are American, but those are the absolute best.

I've been disappointed in the last couple of bottles of Saison Dupont I've had; both were noticeably light-struck (skunky). I agree that when fresh, it is excellent.

North Coast Le Merle is another really good one.

Mojo IPA by Boulder Beer Company. I always seems to include one when I build my own 6 pack at the liquor store. I also like Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel and the occasional Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. I find that i'm not much of a fan of wheat, light, and summer ales.

druidcent wrote:

bthylafh wrote:

Liquor? Bowmore 12 when it's out of a fresh bottle. Call me crazy but there's something about the mix of band-aids and smoke. Laphroaig 10 would be my next pick.

Don't really care for beer or wine, though.

You've got to try Smokehead... absolutely amazing.. smoky and smooth...

I thought Smokehead was a 'gimmick' scotch until having it - it is absolutely outstanding
On a similar note, avoid "The Peat Monster" - it's horrible.

This reminds me of how I can't drink anymore but
Beer would have to be Unibroue Maudite... except that one time when it was 39 degrees in my room and a Corona was just the most perfect thing to have.
Liquor would certainly be Lagavulin 16.

thegleek wrote:

wirerogue wrote:

Lucky Lager is by far the world's best beer. You guys are all wasting your money if you buy anything else. Plus, there are little puzzles on the bottle caps. How much fun is that?

Somehow I don't believe you. It's piss beer like that budweiser/miller crap they call beer.

Even Beeradvocate rates it a D ( http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/478/16247 ). If you like water and corn over a real beer, then by all means - go for it.

oh how i love throwing those tid bits out there. i catch one every time.

Beer? This is very hard, depending on what category you go. I probably have a favorite stout, a favorite brown ale, a favorite Belgian Trippel, a favorite Witbier, a favorite Hefeweizen....I can only tell you that I'm not a fan of IPAs, or any hoppy beers (possible exception of Dogfish Head's IPAs, which aren't as harsh to my palate).

Liquor --Once again, depends on the type of spirit. I used to like Stolichnaya vodka in my younger days, but I'll acknowledge there is likely better out there.

Wine --I'm pretty simple there. I enjoy a good Chateau St. Michelle Riesling, which is relatively easy to find, not too expensive, and tastes good.

Champagne --I haven't had expensive enough champagne to be the judge; most of mine has been in the inexpensive category. There's a bottle of Korbel Brut on the fridge that wasn't opened last New Year's, and will probably be saved for this one, but I don't think it's expensive stuff either (brought by a friend, we already had wine available).

Add Harviestoun Ola Dubh (40 year old) to the my beer list!

OMFG SO GOOD! NOM NOM NOM!

thegleek wrote:

Add Harviestoun Ola Dubh (40 year old) to the my beer list!

OMFG SO GOOD! NOM NOM NOM!

Ahh... OK. I was trying to figure out who was crazy enough to have brewed a beer 40 years ago to release today, and how they'd managed to keep it from being oxidized to hell and back 5 times by now. After reading the ratebeer page, It's not 40 year old *beer*... it is beer aged in 40 year old *Scotch* casks.

I will definitely keep an eye out for this one!

just brew it! wrote:

Ahh... OK. I was trying to figure out who was crazy enough to have brewed a beer 40 years ago to release today, and how they'd managed to keep it from being oxidized to hell and back 5 times by now. After reading the ratebeer page, It's not 40 year old *beer*... it is beer aged in 40 year old *Scotch* casks.

I will definitely keep an eye out for this one!

Correct you are, and the price for just ONE of those bottles is a mere $16.99 if you are LUCKY enough to FIND one!

It's hard to narrow down to just one, so I'll list a couple:

I know there are some amazing beers out there, but these are my favorite ones that I can find and afford to drink regularly:
Celebrator Doppelbock
Paulaner Salvator
Unibroue La Fin Du Monde
Sam Adams Imperial White

I just started drinking liquor, but this is what I like the best so far:
Maker's 46 bourbon
Kraken rum is pretty good, but I haven't tasted any high end rums yet

I don't drink wine that often, but if I do it's probably either a shiraz or a German Riesling.

astrotech66 wrote:

It's hard to narrow down to just one, so I'll list a couple:

I know there are some amazing beers out there, but these are my favorite ones that I can find and afford to drink regularly:
Celebrator Doppelbock
Paulaner Salvator
Unibroue La Fin Du Monde
Sam Adams Imperial White

Celebrator is amazing when you can get it reasonably fresh; but I've had enough lightstruck (skunky) six-packs to make me leery. I'll generally go for it if I see it on draft at a place I know moves a fair amount of craft/import beers (so I know the keg hasn't been sitting around for a year).

Salvator used to be one of my "short list" beers, but they changed the recipe a few years ago and it isn't what it used to be. These days, I'll take Celebrator (if it hasn't been mis-handled...) over Salvator hands down.

Fin Du Monde was already mentioned as one of my favorites.

SA Imperial White is one I don't think I've tried. I generally feel that SA does a much better job on their lagers than their ales, so I had more or less dismissed the Imperial White. I guess I should give it a chance next time I see it...

just brew it wrote:

Celebrator is amazing when you can get it reasonably fresh; but I've had enough lightstruck (skunky) six-packs to make me leery. I'll generally go for it if I see it on draft at a place I know moves a fair amount of craft/import beers (so I know the keg hasn't been sitting around for a year).

Salvator used to be one of my "short list" beers, but they changed the recipe a few years ago and it isn't what it used to be. These days, I'll take Celebrator (if it hasn't been mis-handled...) over Salvator hands down.

Fin Du Monde was already mentioned as one of my favorites.

SA Imperial White is one I don't think I've tried. I generally feel that SA does a much better job on their lagers than their ales, so I had more or less dismissed the Imperial White. I guess I should give it a chance next time I see it...

I saw you list Fin du Monde earlier, which reminded me how much I like it. I don't know if they sell it in four-packs, but I can only find it in large single bottles, so I don't actually buy it that often.

If you don't like the Imperial White, you might try their Imperial Stout or Double Bock. I know they've had a Double Bock out for awhile, but it now comes in a four-pack and is part of their "Imperial" series along with the white and the stout. Not sure if the recipe changed with the packaging, though. It's not a seasonal anymore - I can find it year round now. The Imperial White has a pretty strong fruit flavor to it, so it's not for everyone, as the reviews on Beer Advocate show. Apparently there's a fourth member of the series called "Wee Heavy," but I haven't seen that in the store yet.

The Celebrator is about $12 for a four-pack where I live, so I don't buy it that often, since I can get the Salvator for $9 for a six-pack, but I'll spring for it occasionally. I haven't had any bad experiences with it. I didn't know that the recipe for Salvator had changed. Maybe that's why it didn't seem quite as good as it did many years ago. There was a long time where I couldn't find it locally, so I just started drinking it again a few years ago when we moved to Texas. My third choice in this category is Spaten Optimator, which isn't bad either.

astrotech66 wrote:

I saw you list Fin du Monde earlier, which reminded me how much I like it. I don't know if they sell it in four-packs, but I can only find it in large single bottles, so I don't actually buy it that often.

It is available in four-packs here (Chicago area). The big bottles are what I would call a "sharing beer," so find a friend who likes it too, and split the big bottle!

astrotech66 wrote:

The Celebrator is about $12 for a four-pack where I live, so I don't buy it that often, since I can get the Salvator for $9 for a six-pack, but I'll spring for it occasionally. I haven't had any bad experiences with it. I didn't know that the recipe for Salvator had changed. Maybe that's why it didn't seem quite as good as it did many years ago. There was a long time where I couldn't find it locally, so I just started drinking it again a few years ago when we moved to Texas. My third choice in this category is Spaten Optimator, which isn't bad either.

Spaten is another one of those "kick-a** if it isn't skunked" beers.

Maybe I just need to start buying German Doppelbocks by the case, so I don't need to worry about light exposure! (Or acquire some decent lagering equipment so I can make my own knock-offs...)

just brew it! wrote:

Maybe I just need to start buying German Doppelbocks by the case, so I don't need to worry about light exposure! (Or acquire some decent lagering equipment so I can make my own knock-offs...)

I'd actually like to start making my own beer, but I'm not sure where to start. I've seen some kits (Mr. Beer?), but I don't know if they actually make good beer. Any suggestions?

just brew it! wrote:

(Or acquire some decent lagering equipment so I can make my own knock-offs...)

My dirt-floor cellar hits the low 40s every winter and I'd gladly rent space. Given the way it smells when moist & warm I'm surprised that a bunch of Belgian monks aren't squatting down there every summer.

astrotech66 wrote:

I'd actually like to start making my own beer, but I'm not sure where to start. I've seen some kits (Mr. Beer?), but I don't know if they actually make good beer. Any suggestions?

Bushwah on those cheapo catalog kits.

Can you boil water? Can you keep things clean? If the answer to both is yes you can make beer and there's probably a local homebrew shop that would love to teach you. Cultivate your local homebrew supplier and you'll soon find yourself hooked up with a crowd that you never knew existed. The parties are great and the crowd is always willing to help people into the craft.

Yeah, skip the Mr. Beer. Find a local shop that specializes in homebrewing and/or a local homebrewing club. If there are none, research what you need by asking here and doing Google searches, then buy any gear or ingredients you can't find locally online. How To Brew is a good online introductory text, and Northern Brewer is a good place to start for buying supplies online.

Thanks for the suggestions. Now that I think about it, I think I do remember driving past a homebrew supply store one time. I'm sure there has to be something in a city as big as San Antonio.

just brew it! wrote:

Celebrator is amazing when you can get it reasonably fresh; but I've had enough lightstruck (skunky) six-packs to make me leery. I'll generally go for it if I see it on draft at a place I know moves a fair amount of craft/import beers (so I know the keg hasn't been sitting around for a year).

I just had my first Celebrator the other night. It was excellent, and made me wish I hadn't had two other brews first, I'd have gotten more enjoyment yet from it -it puts my previously liked Dark Horse Perkulator to shame.. Samischlaus isn't a bad doppelbock, either, though it's got a pretty high ABV; one's enough for me.

Dragonmeade Final Absolution is probably my favorite Belgian-style Trippel.

I enjoy strong ales. New Holland Dragon's Milk is a favorite.

Browns depend on whether I want a lighter, or a heavier one. Big Sky's Moose Drool Brown is a nice, less heavy one; New Holland Cabin Fever is more complex, and high on my list. Short's Bellaire Brown is a great easy-drinking brown as well. I'm really hoping to get some New Glarus Fat Squirrel the next time friends or relatives come back from Wisconsin, I'm waiting for that.

I have too many stouts to list on my favorite list, there's just so many characters to a stout, and I love most of them. I have a feeling you and I could dedicate an entire thread to them --and we probably should some time.

Dark Horse Amber is probably my favorite amber, because it doesn't have the slight sharpness/bitter edge of some ambers. It's good almost any time of year.

Porters -Atwater Block's Vanilla Java Porter is decent. Flying Dog's Gonzo Imperial isn't bad either, nor is Rogue Mocha Porter.

LoneWolf15 wrote:

I just had my first Celebrator the other night. It was excellent, and made me wish I hadn't had two other brews first, I'd have gotten more enjoyment yet from it -it puts my previously liked Dark Horse Perkulator to shame.. Samischlaus isn't a bad doppelbock, either, though it's got a pretty high ABV; one's enough for me.

Perkulator is a bit of an outlier, in that it has coffee in it. Doesn't make it any less yummy... just different. And different can be a good thing!

Samichlaus is another outlier... personally I wouldn't call it a Doppelbock, as it has nearly 2x the ABV of a "normal" Doppelbock! It is really more of a "specialty" beer... or maybe a "stunt" beer depending on your POV. Not bad as a dessert...

LoneWolf15 wrote:

Browns depend on whether I want a lighter, or a heavier one. Big Sky's Moose Drool Brown is a nice, less heavy one; New Holland Cabin Fever is more complex, and high on my list. Short's Bellaire Brown is a great easy-drinking brown as well. I'm really hoping to get some New Glarus Fat Squirrel the next time friends or relatives come back from Wisconsin, I'm waiting for that.

Moose Drool and Fat Squirrel are both excellent examples of what I'd call a "Session Brown". Relatively low in alcohol, but quite enjoyable nonetheless.

OK, I'll take my "beer Nazi" hat off now...

just brew it! wrote:

OK, I'll take my "beer Nazi" hat off now...

As you said to me, you have two sides -the "judge of beer" and then your personal tastes. Always good to see both sides

I agree with you on Moose Drool as a session beer. Short's Bellaire would meet that too. New Holland's Cabin Fever is definitely more complex, and (forgive the possible cliche') "mysterious". Short's "Good Humans" Double Brown would fit that too.

P.S. I tried the La Fin Du Monde tonight, and I have to agree, it's very good.

Earned my Wold Beer Tour T-Shirt (55 beers) from Old Chicago in the process.

Tonight's haul. From left to right:

The Lost Abbey - Judgement Day (Belgian Quad)
Stone - Belgo Anise Imperial Russian Stout
Rochefort - 6 (Beglian Strong Dark)
Lagunitas - Little Sumpin Sumpin

I've had the Lagunitas before, so I'll let that one sit for a bit. Was amazed to see Rochefort. And here I was, just a few posts back, lamenting the fact that I couldn't find it locally. The Stone Anise RIS sounds interesting. I'm probably the only person the people at the liquor store ever see crouched in the beer aisle with my android phone out, researching the beers they have on the shelf. The Stone RIS is apparently way over the top with the anise flavor. Should be interesting.

Broke in to The Lost Abbey Quad when I got home. First beer I've ever had from this brewery, although I've read good things about their beers in the past. It's definitely an assertive Quad. Lots of sugary alcohol, raisins, bready malt, and caramel. Can only drink in sips.