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oyi, must have forgot you made that post, old thread is old.

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At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

I just read a post from a few years ago that talked about how I bumped this very thread from the grave. So I'm doing it again!

As far as I can tell, I haven't posted here in quite a while, so here's what I'm adding new today from my experiences over the last few years.

1. Irish Guinness is better than what you can get here in the States. I can't tell you exactly why, it might just be a matter of freshness in truth, but it really is better, especially when consumed on a bright Sunday morning here, at the very top of the pint glass at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin as I learned in 2009.
2. Pumpkin-based brews are delicious. The best I've had are in Boston, and I miss them terribly now that I don't live there any more. If you're in Cambridge in the fall, find the Cambridge Brewing Company just off the MIT campus and order their pumpkin brew. If you're elsewhere in New England, look for Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale on tap or in a bottle. If you're more in the midwest, like I am now, O'Fallon's Pumpkin Ale is a worthy substitute to which I look forward as well.
3. Blueberry's also not bad, in porter or ale. Again going back to New England, Wachusett is worth trying over and over if you get the chance.
4. Kansas City dwellers like me will talk up Boulevard all day long. I love their unfiltered wheat beer - lots of flavor and lots of body in the opaque (due to the lack of filtering) pour. It's not the best local brewery I've ever had, but it's the heart of Kansas City and goes great with the epic barbecue you can get here.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Boulevard's pretty good- we get that here in St. Louis too.

I can also vouch for the pumpkin beer- lots of fun to drink, but I wouldn't have more than two in one sitting.

My current favorite brewery is Stone Brewery. These guys are fanatics about quality, and it really reflects in their beer. Their stout is awesome, as is their IPA, (and probably the rest of their stuff, but I live too far away to try get a hold of most of it).

Has anyone watched Beer Wars? I just saw it a couple weeks ago, and it was a lot of fun for a beer lover like me (it's on Hulu). Yuengling was mentioned, and Stone was briefly mentioned.

I was going to a bar for a while where they gave you a passport which had a list of 100 different beers, and as you crossed beers off your list, you would get things like food vouchers and a t-shirt and stuff. I got up to around 60 and then lost my passport! Oh well, it was a good journey.

Quote (Tidu-who @ 10th January 2008 00:00)

Is that the same as the Winter one, with Black Lager and Old Fezziwig? I've seen that around lately. As I mentioned way back when in this thread, my Dad's always been a big Sam guy. We'd sit around and look at the label for Old Fezziwig and laugh at the portly fellow on it. I have to get around to trying it again.

I've taken to buying single beers at really nice, huge liquor stores like Binny's Beverage Depot and DiCarlo's this semester, now that I finally have a job and a little bit of disposable income. Create-your-own 6 packs are probably the greatest idea ever. I like trying out beers, and not being stuck with 5 others is awesome.

I now enjoy really heavy, malty beers like porters. I've started keeping a bottle collection up at college, lining them on the tops of cabinets in the kitchen. Fun stuff. I like keeping it organized as well. Some notables:


Young's Double Chocolate Stout - Strong, thick, and chocolately. A little bitter aftertaste (that's the stout), but still good.

Lefthand Porter - It's got an Ace and Jack cards on the front, I love poker and that was the only reason I got it. It was fantastic.

Dirty Bastard - This beer is a kick to the face. Just wow. I guess you call it "chewy beer".


If I was up at college I could check out my collection, I need some memory refreshers lol.

Oh how I've come a long way. I'm closing in on 1000 different kinds of beer tried, at around 960 or so.

I really love:

Belgian Quads (St. Bernardus Abt 12 and Chimay Blue)
IPA's (Bell's Two Hearted Ale and Founder's Centenial IPA are my two standards)
Russian Imperial Stouts (Stone Russian Imperial is good, Old Rasputin is #1 methinks).
Belgian IPAs (Flying Dog Raging Bitch is my go-to, Chouffe something or other is amazing)


If you're gonna stout it, go all out with an Imperial. Regular stouts are fairly bland and boring. Compared to regular IPAs, for example, which are good in and of themselves. Imperial IPAs are assuredly a kick to the head. Yum!



Josh,

Best pumpkin ales I've had: #1 Southern Tier Pumking (comes in a 22oz) and #2 is simply Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale.

I had Shipyard when I was out in Boston and was ok on it. O'Fallon is alright, it's really got that spice in the nose, but the actual flavor falls a bit short compared with the above two. I still have an O'Fallon sitting in my fridge from last fall so...yah that's my feeling. What makes Pumking so amazing is that you can really taste the bread/crust flavor. It's like pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread, hard to explain until you try it.


I'm okay on Stone, I actually don't like their IPAs as much as others do. But their Arrogant Bastard and Sublimely Self Righteous Ale are both top notch. They also just recently pulled out of Wisconsin (along with Dogfish Head) which is no good for me.


I could probably go on talking about beer for a page or two. If anyone wants any recommendations, I will gladly dole some out!

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The clouds ran away, opened up the sky
And one by one I watched every constellation die
And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard
Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star
I should've known, walked all the way home
To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone

-Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You"

My favorite brewery, by a long shot, is Dogfish Head. I love their IPAs and weirder stuff, especially Pangaea. I'd buy that all the time if it wasn't so expensive. They also have two alehouses near where I live, so I can enjoy their 90-minute IPA on tap when I go out with the guys.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

I've definitely become a beer man over the last few years. Pumpkin ales are delicious, I must agree. However, I tend to steer towards beers I'm comfortable with. Here's what I'm into at the moment:

Sapporo - sake bombs are great with friends! But I love it on its own too.
Shock Top - smooth and sweet
Dos Equis Ambar - also smooth with a delicious taste, best on tap

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"The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved."
- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

I was recently introduced somehow (I really don't remember how; WIred magazine, maybe? It was on Lifehacker) to http://untappd.com/, which is kind of a Facebook and Foursquare for beer drinkers. Looks like it's been around for a bit, so some of you might have seen it, but I just picked it up when the iOS app became available.

I've got one brew recorded, the Schlafly Pumpkin Ale currently sitting on my desk. I just don't drink that much any more, and certainly not in a place where I can try lots of new stuff. The app looks fun, though!

My page: http://untappd.com/user/rangers51

This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 8th October 2011 23:07

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Heh. Last time I saw this thread I was just a kid. As it turns out I'm not much of a drinker. However when I do drink, I prefer Rolling Rock and Heineken.

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"You know that feeling you get when you're on a merry go 'round, and you want to jump off to make the spinning stop, but you know it'll suck when you land? I feel like that all the time"- Keno

"I stab my girl until I fall down"
-Yukari
Do you like Horny Bunnies?

I'm surprised I haven't chimed in on this thread yet.

Anyway, I gotta say I don't have a taste for beer. A few years back (well... more like 8 or so, when I first joined CoN) I went to the Anheuser-Busch plant in St. Louis. While there I tried every beer they made in their tasting room. Previous to this, I had said, "I hate beer". Still I thought, why not give it a chance? (especially if it's FREE). Long story short, I tried them all and still didn't like 'em. I guess beer isn't for me or I just haven't tried the "right" one yet.

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kame, tortue, tortuga, schildkröte, tartaruga, turtle

"Arthur Dent?"
"Yes."
"Arthur Philip Dent?"
"Yes."
"You're a total knee biter."

Oh, my, I could go on for quite some time here. A college friend of mine and I have whole conversations about beer on a weekly basis. It took years for me to really begin to appreciate beer, but this long, gradual process has fairly rapidly culminated in the past year or two in an explosion of interest in good beer. I swore off cheap, bad beer years ago, but it's only been fairly recently that I've really delved into the world of truly great beer. Oh, I've been having it at quality pubs with good tap selections for some time, but now I'm actually purchasing good beer to take home. I mean, I always bought pretty good beer, but mostly stuff you can find at the grocery store. Now I'm searching out rare and unusual stuff, imported stuff, stuff I can only get at BevMo! or specialty wine shops which carry craft beer. I've even started visiting breweries, and I'm considering trying to brew my own.

The only type of beer I don't really drink is IPA. I can't stand them, and I really don't get the sudden explosion in their popularity. Breweries are churning them out like mad, and people are drinking them down. A little bitterness is fine, but I don't get why someone would want their beer to be nothing BUT bitter. I'm not a big fan of pilsners, either. As far as mainstream beers go, before I ever even knew what an IPA was, I knew I hated both Heineken and Sierra Nevada's flagship pale ale (now called Torpedo IPA). I also can't drink Stella Artois. Those are the only three mainstream, widely enjoyed beers I simply will not drink under any circumstances (along with pretty much any IPA, mainstream or not). I once would not drink Guinness, but I eventually came to actually like it, and that helped open up a whole world of stouts and porters. I prefer not to drink generic crap like Bud, Miller, Coors, and the like, but won't turn my nose up at them if they're free and all that's available. But if I have to pay, I'd usually rather not drink at all than drink bad beer.

New Belgium is my favorite brewery. Not only do they make amazing beer, but they're employee-owned, wind-powered, and would like to see everyone riding bicycles. Their normal stuff (sold in six-packs all over) is great, and their specialty stuff (like their Lips of Faith series) is REALLY great. Sierra Nevada, despite their unfortunate choice of Torpedo IPA as their flagship, does make some really good beer, and they're also an extremely green brewery. And when I'm back east, I ALWAYS have a few Yuenglings; I don't know how many times I've wished I could get Yuengling here out west. North Coast, Allagash, and Ommegang are also outstanding breweries. So is Russian River, Flying Dog, and Lost Coast, and I've just discovered an Orange County brewery I love called The Bruery. I also really like Samuel Adams; although I don't care for their flagship Boston Lager, I do like a lot of their other offerings (many of their best only come in their seasonal variety packs). I've also recently come to really like Dogfish Head and Magic Hat. Tröegs and Stone are pretty cool, and I can't forget Leinenkugel's. Woodchuck and Fox Barrel are my favorites for cider. Also, I had the opportunity to visit several breweries and drink a lot of great local beer all over the country this past summer. Highlights included the Denver area (visited New Belgium and Oskar Blues, plus more than a few local brewpubs), Vermont (visited Magic Hat and Rock Art as well as an amazing brewpub in Burlington, also tried several from Long Trail), Maine (lots of local beer up in Bar Harbor, plus I visited Shipyard in Portland), Boston (visited Harpoon, unfortunately wasn't able to visit Sam Adams), and Austin (tried a bunch of local stuff from breweries like Independence, Real Ale, and Rahr and Sons).

Anyway, on to the beers!

Strong Belgian ales
Lord, do I ever want to visit Belgium. I'd probably do little else besides drink beer! Quadrupels, trippels, dubbels, regular old Belgian ales, blondes, goldens, they're all pretty amazing. Mmmm, malty. Ommegang makes some really good ones; their Three Philosophers, which is a quad blended with a bit of Kriek (cherry lambic beer), is incredible. St. Bernardus Abt 12 (another quad) is absolutely delicious, as is their Trippel. New Belgium's Abbey Ale is quite good, and their Abbey Grand Cru (Lips of Faith series) is just amazing. So is North Coast's Brother Thelonious. I could go on and on about Belgian abbey-style ales, so I'll stop there.
Blondes and goldens can be pretty good, too. Grimbergen Blonde is tasty, and so is Westmalle Tripel. Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde is pretty awesome (so is their Maudite, actually - I've been meaning to try more of their stuff). North Coast's Pranqster is about as good as a strong golden can get. Delirium Tremens is also pretty good.


Amber Ales and Lagers
Simple can be best. I love a toasty, malty amber ale or lager. New Belgium's flagship, Fat Tire, is my favorite in this department. I'll never get tired of it. Yuengling lager is a close runner-up. I'm blanking on more right now, but that's probably because there's just so many good, simple ambers out there. Most Oktoberfest ales fall into this category. Magic Hat's Hex Ourtoberfest is a good example, or Sam Adams Octoberfest. Leinenkugel's Classic Amber lager is another good one, and actually, so is Dos Equis Amber. Corona, which is a pale lager, is usually my go-to beer if I'm somewhere without a good selection, because most places have it and it's actually pretty good (so is Landshark, for that matter).


Autumn Harvest - Browns and Pumpkins
Fall is definitely the best beer-drinking time of year. So many great seasonal beers come out this time of year, brown ales and pumpkin ales and ales brewed with yams and maple syrup and spices and all sorts of awesome stuff. R51 is absolutely right about Shipyard Pumpkinhead; it's just about the best pumpkin beer I've ever had. It had just come out for the season when I was up in Maine, and lots of places had it on tap. One restaurant served it in a pint glass with a honey, brown sugar, and cinnamon rim. Shipyard's Smashed Pumpkin (part of their specialty series in 22oz bottles) is also really, really good. Harpoon's UFO Pumpkin is awesome, too. So is Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale. Blue Moon's Harvest Pumpkin is okay, and so is Sam Adams'. So is Shock Top's new Pumpkin Wheat.
As for browns, I've only just started getting into them. Sierra Nevada's Autumn Tumbler is good, and so is Dogfish Head's Palo Santo Marron. There's a little brewery in Oak Creek, Arizona (near Sedona) which makes an absolutely incredible beer called Oak Creek Nut Brown (unfortunately one can only find it near Sedona or Flagstaff). Lost Coast makes an excellent Raspberry Brown ale. I also just tried a special beer from Sierra Nevada called Life and Limb (on CASK, no less) which was truly delicious. And The Bruery makes a specialty craft beer this time of year, which I've only just discovered, called Autumn Maple, which is brewed with yams and maple syrup and is simply the season of autumn in a bottle.


Hefeweizens, Saisons, and Witbiers (Whites)
I really have a thing for wheat beers, especially nice, cloudy unfiltered ones. Belgian-style whites are what really got me to first start appreciating beer more; Blue Moon and Shock Top started it all, and then I realized that there are so many better beers out there than those. Don't get me wrong, I'll still enjoy a Blue Moon or Shock Top; throw in an orange slice, and they're great. And Shock Top's Raspberry Wheat and the aforementioned Pumpkin Wheat are both pretty awesome. Allagash White is one of the best whites I've had. Great White from Lost Coast is good, too, as is Chimay White. The spicier and fruitier, the better (usually). Saison/Farmhouse style ales are the best (Ommegang's Hennepin Farmhouse Saison is tops). Sam Adams also has a good seasonal or two in this department. But really, the only witbier one needs is New Belgium's Mothership Wit. This stuff is pure liquid gold. And it's organic!
As for hefeweizens, while a few are good with a lemon slice, the really good ones don't need one. Sierra Nevada's Kellerweis is a good choice. So is Pyramid Hefeweizen and Widmer. Magic Hat's Circus Boy is really good, and so is Harpoon's UFO Hefeweizen and UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen.


Black Ales, Stouts, Porters, and Barleywines
I've only recently gotten into these. It started when I realized that I actually don't mind Guinness. Then I tried Boddington's and liked it, too. Finally, New Belgium's 1554 Enlightened Black Ale really cinched it. Now I love a good, strong, creamy, dark beer. I've had some milk stouts that are like drinking slightly bitter ice cream, and recently I tried a really delicious Cherry Chocolate Stout (a collaboration between Tröegs and Stone).
Barleywines can be hit or miss. I've had some absolutely amazing ones, and then I've had some that are just okay (usually because they're too bitter for my taste). The ones with more sweetness than bitterness are pure liquid joy in a goblet. A brewpub in Denver had one called Royal Oil that tasted like dark chocolate covered cherries. Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Barleywine isn't bad, for a cheaper and more easily available barleywine. I've got one from Shipyard I haven't actually tried yet. One from Rock Art in Vermont, too, come to think of it.


Lambics and Ciders
Anyone else like framboise? It's a raspberry lambic, basically a cross between wine and beer. I had a framboise float one time with vanilla ice cream which was just the best thing ever. Lindeman's is pretty good. I really do like lambic-style berry beers, too, though they have to be done well. They can't be too sweet, or they can be just sickening. Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss is pretty good.
I liked cider before I really liked beer. Strongbow got me into it first, and although I still love Strongbow, I prefer Woodchuck or Fox Barrel. Magner's is pretty good, too.

Okay, I'm getting tired of typing. Enough for now. That's probably way too much as it is. I'll post more if I think of it, or if I try something new that I love. It's Beer Week here in LA right now, with a huge beer festival on Sunday which I might be attending, so who knows.

This post has been edited by Reod Dai on 19th October 2011 02:36

Now, see, Reod, I need to get YOU on Untappd - you alone on my friends list could help me branch out on the rare occasions I now have to branch out.

KC Beerfest is this weekend - I really want to go but the tickets are a bit pricey for someone in my current situation.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

So, I ought to finally make my post here I'll organize based on a couple of my favorite breweries.

Three Floyds
All Hail the King. No really, the best beer ever. Alpha King is simply the best APA I've ever drank; it has a formidible hop presence without sacrificing a bit of a malt base that allows for a real solid range of taste that supports and complements the hop notes. A genius beer, and one for which I have not yet found a replacement.

Robert the Bruce is a real solid brew in the Scottish Ale/Porter/Stout category. It has a good chocolate-chocolate balance with enough of a grain presence to give it more feel throughout as well as not overpowering me with the coffee-chocolate notes. Definitely my go-to on the dark style, just as Alpha King is my go-to for anything hop.

Gumballhead is far from a bad beer, but if I tend to be in a wheat mood I usually look for less of a hope presence. Dreadnaught is the most impressive beer I've ever had, but unfortunately its greatness comes at a bit of a high cost. Unbelievably grand, though.

Founders
The second-in-command brewery in my eyes. Centennial IPA is the top of the line in my eyes; it's an extremely drinkable IPA that has a really great earthy hop to it that makes it a great counter to the more forward hops present in Alpha King. I'm a real fan of this hop style, and it comes very refreshing.

Dirty Bastard is perhaps tied with Robert the Bruce in its style. Real solid brew; what I said for the Bruce can be repeated here. Red's Rye PA is a really impressive ale that does what I like; balances the hops a bit with a bit more lower-spectrum elements, in this case the rye mentioned in the title.

I have more to say, namely about Bell's Brewery and Great Lakes Brewing, but I'll save this for a later date. If only I had an Alpha King with me right now...

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Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

The newest CoNcast is up! Have a listen!

I've been taking it easy on the beer front lately, mostly because I have so much studying and schoolwork to do that I just can't take the time. Coffee is much more conducive to getting things done than alcohol. That being said, I've managed to have a few here and there.

Watch out for Sam Adams' Winter Classics variety pack. It's beyond amazing. Get rid of the Boston Lagers, then sit back and enjoy the rest. There's Chocolate Bock, Black & Brew (a coffee stout), Winter Lager, Old Fezziwig Ale, and Holiday Porter.

Finally had an Allagash Black. It's a pretty awesome Belgian-style stout.

I also found Sierra Nevada's Life and Limb at Whole Foods, and while it's not quite as good in the bottle as having it from a cask at a pub, it's still amazingly good. Brewed with maple and birch syrups.

Adding another brown ale to the list, Mammoth Brewing in Mammoth Lakes, California makes a really good one called Double Nut Brown.

Stone, The Bruery, and Elysian all collaborated on a pumpkin beer this fall which, unfortunately, sounds more interesting than it tastes. They call it La Citrueille Céleste de Citracado, and it's an amber ale brewed with pumpkins, yams, rye, toasted fenugreek, birch bark, and lemon verbena. It's not bad, but like I said, it's not as good as it sounds. Can't be The Bruery's fault, though; I'd like to take this opportunity to reiterate how amazing their Autumn Maple is.

Oh, and I picked up a really good limited beer from Dogfish Head. It's called Pangea, and supposedly contains an ingredient from every continent. It's mainly focused around the ginger, though. Reminds me somewhat of a hefeweizen, but a particularly dark, strong, delicious, spicy one.

I finally tried Shipyard's Imperial Stout and Barleywine, both of which are pretty good but not fantastic. Also, I forgot about a beer I picked up at the Harpoon Brewery in Boston, mostly because I actually left it back in Pennsylvania. It's part of their Leviathan series, the Imperial Rye. From what I remember in the tasting room, it's ridculously dark and intense, but with a kind of bitter sweetness. Really, really good stuff. I still have three 22oz beers from Rock Art in Vermont sitting in my fridge, as well as two remaining Harpoon UFO Pumpkins and a Shipyard Pumpkin (though there's a six pack of that also sitting back in Pennsylvania). Once I finish those off, it's on to winter beer, like the two Cherry Chocolate Stouts that are also sitting in my fridge.

This post has been edited by Reod Dai on 23rd November 2011 22:15

Quote (Reod Dai @ 23rd November 2011 17:06)

Watch out for Sam Adams' Winter Classics variety pack. It's beyond amazing. Get rid of the Boston Lagers, then sit back and enjoy the rest. There's Chocolate Bock, Black & Brew (a coffee stout), Winter Lager, Old Fezziwig Ale, and Holiday Porter.

I actually saw one of those when I was out getting wine and beer for Thanksgiving, this afternoon. I didn't get it, because I didn't think I could feed enough of it to our company coming to dinner, but I'm pretty tempted for me later.

I was disappointed that the new liquor store I tried today had what appeared to be the whole Rogue line but didn't have Chipotle Ale. One of those sounded really good, since I first tried a L'il Lucy's a couple weeks back.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

I found out yesterday that Woodchuck apparently has seasonal brews for their ciders, which sounds awesome. Fall was nutmeg and cinnamon, and winter is vanilla. I must find this somewhere.

I had a bunch of the Sam Adams pack tonight, and I really enjoyed the Holiday Porter. I find myself liking darker beers a lot more, which makes me happy.

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

I may be headed over to Three Floyds' tomorrow afternoon with a couple other guys; aside from dinner, we hope they have some Zombie Dust left. I'd really like to give that a try, given how everyone on the internets seems to be raving about it. If not, I'll be satisfied with bombers of Arctic Panzer Wolf and Ragnarok

Quote

Oh, and I picked up a really good limited beer from Dogfish Head. It's called Pangea, and supposedly contains an ingredient from every continent. It's mainly focused around the ginger, though. Reminds me somewhat of a hefeweizen, but a particularly dark, strong, delicious, spicy one.

I've heard good things about this brew. Sadly, I haven't had the opportunity to try any Dogfish Head, but I very much look forward to that day.

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Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

The newest CoNcast is up! Have a listen!

Stopped at a Bevmo! outside Phoenix on my way back to Los Angeles yesterday (spent Thanksgiving with family over there). They didn't have very much that's not available here in LA, but I did grab two six packs of New Belgium's Abbey Ale. For some reason, they're not distributing that here in southern California. They've got it over in Arizona, and up around San Francisco, but not down here. I can get 22oz bottles of their Abbey Crand Cru from a local shop, which is fantastic, but I'd still like to be able to get six-packs of the regular Abbey. Also grabbed a six-pack of Oak Creek Nut Brown and Oak Creek Amber, which are from that little brewery up in Sedona. I think that one can only find beer from that brewery in western Arizona, basically from Phoenix to Flagstaff. They also had bottles of Sam Smith on sale; I've only ever tried their organic cider. So I grabbed a bottle each of Taddy Porter, Nut Brown Ale, Oatmeal Stout, and Winter Welcome Ale.

I did take note at the time of a few that I'm going to have to try here at some point, though now I'm struggling to remember them. Dogfish Head's winter seasonal, Chicory Stout, sounds amazing. They also make a barleywine (Olde School Barleywine) that is 15% ABV, which is just ridiculous. There was a whole line of Rogue beers, which I've never really looked at before (I've only ever really noticed Rogue Dead Guy). Some of them sounded interesting (they had the Chipotle Ale, R51), so I'll have to keep an eye out from now on. One of them, in a bright pink bottle, was called Voodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon Ale. Oh, and Shiner actually makes a few interesting-sounding beers; up until now, I've only ever really seen their Bock. Bohemian Black Lager sounds good, as does Cheer (their winter seasonal) and 102. Also may have to try their Hefeweizen when spring rolls around.

And yes, Woodchuck has seasonal ciders. Bevmo! usually carries them. The fall seasonal is really good, and so is the summer (it has a touch of blueberry). I also grabbed a bottle of Blackcurrant Ginger Reserve cider from Fox Barrel yesterday, which sounds really good. They make a very limited mulled cider for the holidays which I had last year, so I'm going to have to watch for that. Anyone ever had any of the Crispin ciders? Their Artisanal Reserve line sounds good. I really need to try those.

This post has been edited by Reod Dai on 27th November 2011 00:39

Had my annual Christmas Beer run:

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r34/qui...mas12-3-112.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r34/qui...mas12-3-111.jpg


Yum! The new girl I just started seeing loves good beer just as much as me, and it's incredible! Never thought I'd meet a girl that invites me to her place to split a bottle of Pumking she just happens to have in the fridge. Yes! I didn't realize that girls like this existed. And my age too! (she's 24)

I have the wonders of Madison to thank apparently.



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The clouds ran away, opened up the sky
And one by one I watched every constellation die
And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard
Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star
I should've known, walked all the way home
To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone

-Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You"

Quote

I have the wonders of Madison to thank apparently. 

Heh, hurray for Wisconsin.

I actually just had Three Floyds' Christmas porter, Alpha Klaus ("the Alpha King's festive cousin"), and I was really impressed. Not sure if the phrase 'Christmas porter' best fits; it was more of a hoppy porter, but boy was it great. It had some hoppiness (but not too much) right up front that receded right into a pretty evenly balanced coffee-chocolate base before curling up in grain aftertaste. It tasted as if a slightly subdued Alpha King had been mixed with Robert the Bruce, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked out.

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Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

The newest CoNcast is up! Have a listen!

Quote (Rangers51 @ 21st July 2011 16:57)

2. Pumpkin-based brews are delicious. The best I've had are in Boston, and I miss them terribly now that I don't live there any more. If you're in Cambridge in the fall, find the Cambridge Brewing Company just off the MIT campus and order their pumpkin brew. If you're elsewhere in New England, look for Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale on tap or in a bottle. If you're more in the midwest, like I am now, O'Fallon's Pumpkin Ale is a worthy substitute to which I look forward as well.

I'm back in New England and got to have my first Shipyard Pumpkinhead last night. I am verrrrrry excited to have grabbed a 12-pack. Sam Adams' pumpkin brew is not nearly as good, but their Octoberfest is quite nice.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Quote (Rangers51 @ 30th August 2012 19:03)

Quote (Rangers51 @ 21st July 2011 16:57)

2. Pumpkin-based brews are delicious. The best I've had are in Boston, and I miss them terribly now that I don't live there any more. If you're in Cambridge in the fall, find the Cambridge Brewing Company just off the MIT campus and order their pumpkin brew. If you're elsewhere in New England, look for Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale on tap or in a bottle. If you're more in the midwest, like I am now, O'Fallon's Pumpkin Ale is a worthy substitute to which I look forward as well.

I'm back in New England and got to have my first Shipyard Pumpkinhead last night. I am verrrrrry excited to have grabbed a 12-pack. Sam Adams' pumpkin brew is not nearly as good, but their Octoberfest is quite nice.

Josh,

Have you tried Southern Tier Pumking? http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/southern-tier-pumking/77640/

It is phenomenal. By far my favorite Pumpkin Beer. The reason? It's like pumpkin pie. This is going to sound strange, but you can actually taste the crust. It's like pumpkin bread. It's a unique brew, one that I've never had a similar taste from other pumpkin beers.

The closest that comes to it, and another I recommend, is Hoppin Frog Double Pumpkin Ale. VERY good as well. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14879/52211


The old stand-by is Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, but that one has lost favor with me a little bit over the past two years and trying so many other options. If you get the chance, this is definitely worth a 4 pack. It was my first pumpkin beer, and was what got me into them in the first place.

I had a lot of the Shipyard you mention when I was out in Boston for a wedding last November. Pretty good stuff.

This post has been edited by Tidu-who on 1st September 2012 16:59

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The clouds ran away, opened up the sky
And one by one I watched every constellation die
And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard
Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star
I should've known, walked all the way home
To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone

-Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You"

It's not a pumpkin ale (which apparently seems to be all the rage in this thread right now ), but my dad and I are splitting our second of two bombers of Sierra Nevada's Southern Hemisphere Harvest tonight, after really enjoying it last night. The hops are just so incredibly fresh that, even though it isn't a very high abv brew, you get the hop presence of a much larger beer without as much of a punch. Really great for summer.

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Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

The newest CoNcast is up! Have a listen!

After hearing about it first in Wired magazine a couple months ago (weird place to see a beer, it was part of their theme for the issue) I got to try out both of Stone Brewery's Smoked Porters (Vanilla Bean and Chipotle) recently. They seem to act like they're only going to keep one of them around, but I really hope they go for both. They're both really tasty in very different ways.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Europe doesn't understand IPAs

I had one pretty impressive IPA a couple weeks ago though, called Punk IPA from a brewery called BrewDog out of Scotland. Nothing too strong, but it had some nice hop presence and a solid malt; could even compare to some of the better American beers. I'll probably be getting more of it in the near future, since it's quite difficult to find good examples of this style over here.

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Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

The newest CoNcast is up! Have a listen!

I don't understand IPAs either. Can't stand them, in fact. The fact that they seem to have been declared the official pride-and-joy style of so many craft breweries here in the US makes me very sad. Not that there aren't PLENTY of other amazing beers to try, but for me, the heavy focus on IPAs just sucks, especially here on the west coast.

I just made my first autumn beer run the other day. This is my favorite time of year, for beer and for a lot of other things.

Seems like I haven't posted in this thread since last Thanksgiving. Considering that I've actually been keeping a beer journal since then, I could probably go on for quite some time. Maybe I'll just pop in once in a while and write about a different brewery or type of beer each time, rather than posting a ridiculously long screed that probably no one would bother to read through.

Pumpkin beers. I actually found Shipyard Pumpkinhead out here in LA, which I wasn't expecting. I really love this stuff. It's really light and drinkable, and the pumpkin flavor really comes through. It's great with a bit of cinnamon-sugar sprinkled on the head (in Maine, a restaurant served it with a honey-cinnamon rim). And I got a bottle of Shipyard's OTHER pumpkin beer, too: Smashed Pumpkin, part of their Pugley's Signature Series. THIS stuff is very, very different from Pumpkinhead; it's a dark, rich, strong porter overflowing with pumpkin flavor. Like all the beers in this series, it's meant to be drunk warmer than most beers; it's really interesting to pull it out of the fridge, pour a glass, and sip at it slowly over 30 or 45 minutes. The flavors really change as it warms up; the pumpkin isn't that strong at the beginning, but then it really starts to come out later on.

The Bruery's fall seasonal, Autumn Maple, is back as well. It's a Belgian-style brown ale brewed with yams, molasses, maple syrup, and spices, and good lord, is it amazing. I'll talk about some of their other beers another time, but if you happen to see any beers from The Bruery, you can't really go wrong.

I also managed to find some Woodchuck Private Reserve Pumpkin Cider, which I didn't expect to make its way out here to the west coast. It's pretty good, but not as good as I'd hoped. The pumpkin flavor isn't that strong, but it's there, and the cider is nice and mellow. Maybe a bit too sweet for some people's taste, but I like it. At 6.9%, though, this stuff could be pretty dangerous. Most ciders are extremely drinkable, so when they start getting up there in alcohol, one really needs to be careful. I tried a bottle of Woodchuck's Farmhouse Select recently, and that stuff goes down like apple juice. It's almost as clear as water, too.

I didn't grab any Dogfish Head Punkin yet, but I will. That stuff is pretty awesome. I'd also like to try Uinta's Punk'n, which I've never had before. Some of the more mainstream pumpkin beers aren't bad, either; Samuel Adams has a decent one, and Shock Top's Pumpkin Wheat is actually quite good. The Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin isn't all that great, though.

I've got a bottle in my fridge that has been there since last November, and I'm REALLY looking forward to opening it. I had two of them last year, and I don't know if it's coming back this year, but I've got one more just in case. It's called Rumpkin, from Avery Brewing in Colorado. It's a MONSTER pumpkin ale aged in rum barrels. This stuff clocks in at 15.9%. It's seriously one of the most intense, flavorful beers I've ever tried. It takes about an hour to sip one's way through a bottle. Avery makes another crazy beer called The Beast, which is similar in strength and intensity.

Finally, I grabbed a couple new pumpkin beers that looked interesting. From Uinta Brewing, a corked 750mL bottle from their Crooked Line called Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin. It's a 10.31% spiced pumpkin ale aged in oak barrels. From Epic Brewing (in collaboration with DC Brau in Washington DC), an Imperial Pumpkin Porter in a bomber. The last one is from a brewery I've never heard of before, Hermitage Brewing here in SoCal. It's a 9% Pumpkin Ale in a 16.9oz bottle. I'll let you know how those three turn out.

Okay, I'm done for now. But I've got brewery visits and beer festivals to talk about still. Also, I'm planning on finally starting my first homebrewing experiment any day now. I'll keep all you beer lovers posted on how that goes. I'm getting married in June, and I really hope to have a batch or two of my own homebrewed beer at the reception.


This post has been edited by Reod Dai on 14th October 2012 07:07

Quote (Reod Dai @ 14th October 2012 01:58)

I don't understand IPAs either. Can't stand them, in fact. The fact that they seem to have been declared the official pride-and-joy style of so many craft breweries here in the US makes me very sad. Not that there aren't PLENTY of other amazing beers to try, but for me, the heavy focus on IPAs just sucks, especially here on the west coast.

I can certainly understand your frustration. Even though I am a big IPA guy, I still often go for other styles, and the American microbrewery's attraction to the IPA style is undeniable. The upper midwest is pretty big microbrew territory, and while it's endlessly debatable whether the microbreweries in the Midwest are better or worse overall than those in the other major brewing region, the west coast, it seems to me that the microbreweries in the upper midwest at least experiment a bit more with other styles. This may be the result of more direct Germanic heritage (like New Glarus in Wisconsin, which aside from the usual American styles also produces a number of fruit beers and grainier beers), or the northern/wintery climate, to which stouts and porters are more naturally suited (Founders Brewing Co. in Michigan, for example, has a couple fantastic IPAs but devotes at the least equal attention to their darker beers, like their incredible Breakfast Stout).

Sadly, Europe doesn't really seem to get microbrewing in general, which means I'm also having a tricky time finding very many brews with an abv over 5% or any exciting ingredients (like pumpkin ).

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Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

The newest CoNcast is up! Have a listen!

Neil might remember seeing this when we were in anime club together waaaay back when.

I just HAD to post it when I thought of it again XD


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9ROBdkVlPU

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kame, tortue, tortuga, schildkröte, tartaruga, turtle

"Arthur Dent?"
"Yes."
"Arthur Philip Dent?"
"Yes."
"You're a total knee biter."

Probably worth mentioning: you remember a few weeks ago when the two co-founders of BioWare retired? Well, one of them has a new project: a web series about craft beers. Seriously.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

Last weekend, I hit the century mark for unique beers on Untappd. I've only had the account for a year and a half, so I think that's pretty good for someone who hasn't spent more than a few hours in pubs, total, since he got that account.

(My 100th beer was a Sam Adams Boston Ale. Simple but tasty, and not too boozy.)

This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 5th March 2013 23:45

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Also necromanced! Fourteen months after the last post, I'm now up to almost 240 unique beers tried on Untappd. Here are a few of my recent favorites:

https://untappd.com/b/vanilla-java-porter-a...er-brewery/4903
https://untappd.com/b/ten-hill-pale-ale-goo...-beer-co/488376
https://untappd.com/b/scottish-porter-inni-gunn/450167
https://untappd.com/b/ghostrider-white-ipa-...-brewery/273432
https://untappd.com/b/stone-go-to-ipa-stone...ewing-co/564031

I already have a couple CoN friends on Untappd, if you have an account feel free to add me. I reject most friend requests but I'll take CoN people.

https://untappd.com/user/rangers51


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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?