75

oh also forgot the Rogue 16th Anniversary IPA that my brother-in-law gave me yesterday. I'm not so sure that I will enjoy that though based on my preferences but I'll give it a shot

[Edited on January 13, 2013 at 8:32 PM. Reason : ]

1/13/2013 8:31:51 PM

sampled these 3 Friday:

Delirium Tremons
Duvel
North Coast Pranqster

Delirium was my favorite out of the three, North Coast tasted a little young to me- not a fan

1/13/2013 8:50:47 PM

opened a Cascade Blueberry tonight. not as sour on the back end like most other Cascade options, but it was very good regardless.

pretty low key beer weekend here. Enjoyed some Monk's Cafe, Hellhound, and a couple others Friday but not too much the other days.

1/13/2013 10:39:22 PM

Quote :

"Rogue 16th Anniversary IPA"

keep in mind that came out like 5 months ago.

1/14/2013 12:21:07 AM

Thanks for letting me know. I guess for me, that might actually be a good thing right? Over-hoppiness is what turns me off from IPAs typically, but being 5 months old some of that may have tamed I imagine.

[Edited on January 14, 2013 at 9:49 AM. Reason : ]

1/14/2013 9:49:28 AM

Quote :

"Jester King Wytchmaker "

how is this holding up?

i don't think it's been brewed in quite some time and i routinely see pre-farmhouse bottles around... those would be like, 1.5+ years old by now

after the last few new jester king beers, i'm done with them until they quit fucking around and produce something good. and get away from their farmhouse strain on beers that do not need that yeast.

there aren't a bunch of jk haters around where i live, but i am one of them. buddah's brew and that gostljtlash;dlkgja;slkdjgljstrickia beers were probably the worst things i had in 2012.

and this year's bonnie sucked too.


prospero, have you had funkwerks' mistral, or crooked stave's saison?

a friend went home to co over christmas and brought those back for me as a gift.

[Edited on January 14, 2013 at 10:33 AM. Reason : e]

1/14/2013 10:10:29 AM

Orkney skull splitter has been my go to lately. Fantastic scotch ale.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/orkney-skull-splitter-bottle/1210/

1/14/2013 10:30:08 AM

If anyone's interested, Halftime has BCBS in-stock along with Peche Mortel and Fantome Saisons, also picked up some Maine Zoe & Mo. They also have Victory at Sea, Sculpin, Alesmith stuff. Pretty nice order possibilities. FREESHIP on $100 orders (12 or more bottles)

Quote :

"how is this holding up? i don't think it's been brewed in quite some time and i routinely see pre-farmhouse bottles around... those would be like, 1.5+ years old by now. prospero, have you had funkwerks' mistral, or crooked stave's saison? a friend went home to co over christmas and brought those back for me as a gift. "

I thought it was reallllly good. The rye was really well balanced with the hops and enjoyed it thoroughly. Pretty sure I had a farmhouse Wytchmaker which is brewed year-round, so it's not 1.5 years old. Now that I've had most of their stuff I probably won't go back to them unless it's for a Boxer's Revenge or Beer Geek Rodeo. I still have a Black Metal in the cellar I have to sample.

I have a Crooked Stave Saison in the fridge, from what I've heard it's good, but considering there's no brett in there (it's their base-saison) and the fact that that's what they specialize in, I can understand it not being as good as their sours. If you ever want to compare to other Crooked Stave let me know, their sours are some of the best. I have a friend who's in the Reserve Society and I'm a trustee for another in the CS Reserve. Should be another great year for them. I have 2x L'Brett D'Or in the cellar.

Funkwerks Deceit, Saison & White are their best beers IMHO, but I have not yet had Mistral. They won small brewery of the year award at GABF this year, so I can't imagine it being all that bad

Funkwerks & Crooked Stave are probably some of the best farmhouse/sours coming out of Colorado right now. From CS's facebook page, it looks like they may be doing a lambic this year !

[Edited on January 14, 2013 at 11:36 AM. Reason : .]

1/14/2013 11:11:39 AM

i'm excited to be introduced to both of those.

the CS cellar membership looks fucking awesome.

oh, and i wasn't meaning to imply that they hadn't brewed wytchmaker since going farmhouse.. just that it doesn't move at all and stock just gathers dust. and i hadn't heard about a new batch recently, so was wondering how it was doing. do you have the original black metal left, or the farmhouse?

i could probably send you an original one if you were interested

[Edited on January 14, 2013 at 11:48 AM. Reason : e]

1/14/2013 11:47:35 AM

yea, i'm totally jealous as they'll be getting Persica again which didn't hit distribution last year at all, only cellar reserve members, and it was one of the best sours I've ever had (had it at Avery's sourfest)

1/14/2013 11:51:19 AM

just got a trade for BA Speedway, BA Wee Heavy & Silva lined up, w00t!

1/14/2013 4:14:21 PM

Went out for the Olde Hickory- The Bean draft release this weekend. So good on nitro.

1/14/2013 5:45:51 PM

i might have mentioned it in this thread, but i don't remember... but i think i was either starting to get hop fatigue, or my palate was turning against IPAs or something... which have been a love of mine since i started into craft beers years ago... this was disturbing.. i just couldn't find an IPA that i really enjoyed, outside of some of the really heavy hitters that i don't have constant access to.

so i took the last 25 days off from hoppy beers entirely. stayed away from all ipas, pales, and even american barleywines, to try and.. idk, kind of cleanse the palate for hops. stouts, porters, sours, and lambics were the only beers i drank.

had a 3 week old sculpin last night as an intro back into the hop world, and still found it really boring. i do know i prefer the more piney hops than the citrusy hops, but still.

what the hell?

1/15/2013 10:16:48 AM

after getting burnt out on all the heavy imperial stouts in my fridge i went out and bought a 6 pack of Full Nelson Pale Ale. It's great when fresh, but this wasn't and was just average. It, still, somewhat satisfied my craving for something a little more hoppy. but honestly, i'm all in on Citra hops. the others just aren't doing it for me anymore. I need to get ahold of some Zombie Dust or other Citra forward IPAs.

I wish I would have stocked up on Terrapin So Fresh So Green Citra

1/15/2013 11:10:08 AM

Quote :

"Went out for the Olde Hickory- The Bean draft release this weekend. So good on nitro."

I havent had the Nitro, and I really like Ted and Bottle Rev, but the bomber of The Bean that I picked up last week was a bit disappointing. Tasted a little watered down and flat, I really wanted to like it too

1/15/2013 11:42:59 AM

i have had mixed feelings about hops. i hated them, then i loved them, now i just see them as 1/3 of beer (water excluded) and enjoy malt & yeast profiles just as much. although I have never understood the imperial IPAs where all you taste is hops, bitterness and resin, they just have never been that attractive of flavors, i like more balanced IPAs (particularly with Citra) like Pliny, Alesmith IPA, Alpine Pure Hopiness, Odell Myrcenary, Avery IPA, Odell IPA, Avery Maharaja, Zombie Dust and tend to stay away from overly bitter ones like Arctic Panzer Wolf, Deschutes Red Chair, even to some degree Heady Topper. although a bunch of citrus hops are easier and more appealing than a mouth full of piney resin... anyways, this is all just my opinion, but hops are a very polarizing thing in beer.

i've always had a sweet tooth so i'm probably the exact opposite end of the spectrum considering one of my favorite styles is the english barleywine, about as malty as it gets, lol.

And out of all the IPAs i've had, Scuplin is pretty boring.... well balanced and maybe even a tad too malty for an IPA.

[Edited on January 15, 2013 at 12:04 PM. Reason : .]

1/15/2013 12:03:13 PM

A buddy came to town last night and crashed at my place due to an early morning trip to the airport and brought some beers to enjoy:

Westvleteren 12
Trappistes Rochefort 10
Kabert No42 RIS

Twas an enjoyable evening. My first time trying the Kabert and I was pleasantly surprised. It really benefited from the port barrel aging and was strong without being overpowering.

1/15/2013 12:31:28 PM

^^^Haven't opened my bottle yet. I did have it on regular tap too, though. Wasn't overly impressed with that. The nitro was great though.

1/15/2013 8:21:04 PM

Bought a six pack of ruthless rye. A little different from last year.

1/15/2013 8:59:49 PM

I helped a buddy out with something at his house tonight and he gave me a bottle of Westys. We were talking about beers and his wife said I should try one of these special beers she got him for Xmas. My eyes haven't opened that wide in a long time when I saw her walk in with the bottle.

Apparently neither of them liked it

1/15/2013 9:50:03 PM

really tempted to try and join the crooked stave cellar reserve club.

there's a handful of spots left, would just need to get a trade partner to trustee for me.

but i shouldn't drop that cash right now. lol.

1/18/2013 10:59:28 AM

i can trustee, i live 10 min. away. i trustee for another BA in california and another friend who's a member. you can message me on BA under same name.

1/18/2013 3:23:02 PM

Ruthless Rye is an awesome beer. Between that, Hoptimum, Narwhal, and Celebration, Sierra Nevada is absolutely killing it right now.

Just picked up these today:
Kama Citra http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/19476/70574

Hellhound on my Ale http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10099/67219

Excited to try the Kama Citra when I get home. I freakin' love American brown ales.

1/18/2013 4:20:10 PM

Everyone should probably pick up a six pack of New Albion just for the novelty. If you aren't familiar with the name definitely google it. Pretty cool collab with Sam Adams.

^Sierra Nevada had a huge year in 2012. Sales way up nationwide and up 13% in NC.

[Edited on January 18, 2013 at 5:47 PM. Reason : ]

1/18/2013 5:43:20 PM

Quote :

"Tasted a little watered down and flat, I really wanted to like it too"

Sums up about 95% of all OHB stouts.

1/19/2013 9:31:53 AM

^ agree.

had a palate wrecker on tap yesterday 7/10 (real good) along with the 21st amend. oyster stout on draft 5/10(pretty good)
also sushi 9 had bigboss aces/8's drafts for $3 last night. 6/10 (solid stout)

1/19/2013 9:45:17 AM

I'm reeling a bit this morning from Sour Sunday. all these, plus splitting a Bolt Cutter at the end of the night. The Cascade Noyaux is hands down the best of the group. Amazing beer.



La Folie 2011
Bam Noire
Escoffier (Brewery Vivant)
La Roja
La Roja Grand Reserve
Cascade Apricot
Cascade Noyaux
Cascade Kriek
Petrus Gold
Greenman Schadenfreude
Cisco Lady of the Woods

1/21/2013 8:09:51 AM

^I hope this isn't a stupid question, but is that your place or are you in a store? I honestly can't tell

[Edited on January 21, 2013 at 10:14 AM. Reason : ]

1/21/2013 10:14:45 AM

haha that was at a small bottle shop here in CLT called Salud. I spend quite a bit of time there

1/21/2013 10:43:38 AM

People confuse him for an employee all the time.

1/21/2013 10:45:18 AM

it's true.

1/21/2013 10:59:09 AM

Not great pictures, but cracked open a few random goodies for a friend's birthday:

Pardon the crappy pictures, my friend took them.

1/21/2013 1:02:15 PM

I tried Palm the other weekend and really enjoyed it.

1/21/2013 1:09:30 PM

how's the beer scene in NYC? i'll be in midtown/upper east side. what should i seek out?

1/22/2013 11:39:15 AM

^^, ^....Now I'm confused?!?!?!!?

1/22/2013 11:41:08 AM

Got 6 120 minute ipas in the fridge.

1/22/2013 11:45:04 AM

debating making a belgium in a box order for my 30th birthday.

i've got my head set on a bottle of st. lamvinus. after having one in november to myself, i can't stop thinking of it.

but goddamn it's an investment.

might just try and swing a case of la cumbre elevated or something and sit on the beach for the weekend instead. that'd save a few hundo.

1/23/2013 10:57:44 AM

The beer in india can really just go fuck itself. I haven't had a proper ale in 2 weeks

1/23/2013 12:37:00 PM

_____ Pale Ales

1/23/2013 12:40:35 PM

Quote :

"debating making a belgium in a box order for my 30th birthday. i've got my head set on a bottle of st. lamvinus. after having one in november to myself, i can't stop thinking of it. but goddamn it's an investment."

it's an investment, i ordered 3 boxes last year, split my last box with three other BA's and that allowed me to make it worth shipping. My Fou' Foune, Westveleter 8 & Cantillon glass total was only $60.

[Edited on January 23, 2013 at 1:34 PM. Reason : .]

1/23/2013 1:34:28 PM

has anyone tried Sam Adam's New Albion Ale tribute?

1/23/2013 3:49:09 PM

^it's a decent english pale ale, not something I would buy again in all likelihood but it's a nice change of pace from super hoppy IPAs.

1/23/2013 4:44:58 PM

good deal, i figured i'd pick up a 6 pack to mix things up a bit.

1/23/2013 4:50:59 PM

It's very drinkable, and can catch you by surprise at 6%.

There's nothing special about the beer itself, its more about the history.

The founder of New Albion, Jack McAuliffe, turned up completely broke and partially paralyzed. Sam Adams owned the rights to New Albion (since 1993, to protect the name) and asked him to come and brew his original Pale Ale with them. They found the exact same strain of yeast that Jack used in the 70's in a yeast bank at UC Davis and used that to brew the tribute. All of the profits from the sales of New Albion will go to Jack.

1/23/2013 5:18:36 PM

Quote :

"The beer in india can really just go fuck itself. I haven't had a proper ale in 2 weeks "

Is the Lion Stout (Lion/Ceylon Brewery in Sri Lanka) readily available there?

1/23/2013 5:20:42 PM

Man, the Belgium In a Box site seems fairly expensive for being a belgium based retailer. In just a quick glance, they seem to be really expensive for beers that are readily in even the grocery stores here. Hell, if you guys are interested in things that are fairly easy to acquire in the Brussels area, I'd be happy to gather them and ship them to you at cost.

1/23/2013 5:29:41 PM

Finally got my hands on a sixer of Lagunitas Sucks from Tastys today. Delicious

1/23/2013 6:09:45 PM

^^this guy just made some new friends. Including me. Haha

1/23/2013 6:27:15 PM

FYI, Tastys is going to have a couple kegs of JW Lees Harvest Ale tomorrow afternoon. Might have to work a little late so I can swing by for a pint on my way home. I love a good barleywine

1/23/2013 7:57:23 PM

SET EM UP!

1/24/2013 9:14:53 AM