RF Generation Message Board

I don't know how many sophisticated beer drinkers we have on the site but I thought it would be worth a shot.

Lately I've been enjoying several different Ommegang beers.  They are owned by Duvel and are Belgian in style.

Witte is an excellent hazy white that is an easy drink for anyone but very flavorful

Hennepin is a bubbly saison with a very unique taste.  Excellent with bar/bbq foods.

Three Philosphers is a Quadruple ale, very dark, and VERY good.  Probably my favorite dark beer in ever.  This is an after dinner sipping beer.

Even though many have never heard of Ommegang, they ship to 48 states so there is a good chance your local store carries them.  If you have a Whole Foods nearby, they all carry Ommegang.

Had one of those Redd "ale's" last night. Tastes like crappy light beer they put too much grocery store apple juice in.

Yeah, too sweet for my taste.

Drinking beer at 9 in the morning?

[img width=382 height=318]http://cdn.meme.li/i/llnt8.jpg[/img]

A local brewery recently canned their first beer.  It was an IPA that was already a favorite of mine in a growler, but the can made it even better.  Unfortunately, they won't be canning again for a while.  :(

I've been drinking a lot of bintang (star) beer. Indonesian brand. Reminds me of molson canadian, light pilsner 4.7%. I prefer a lagar to ales though and I don't have the most refined beer palette. Mostly stick to the common peasant swill. I tried a brand called "tiger" whicis supposed to be the pride of singapore and have won awards. It tasted like watered down pilsner with an unpleasant finish like sucking on pennies. Bintang is by far the best asian beer I have ever tried

I tried 2 different pumpkin beers. Neither tasted like pumpkin both tasted like beer.
Somewhere between bud light and miller light. Beer does not interest me.

What liquors are you drinking?

Yeah I'm mostly off beer at the moment. All about the brandy. I drink Metaxa, Greek brandy.

This is the swill I've been drinking lately:

[img width=700 height=525]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7391/10719141035_c2dd202307_o.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/10719141035/)


That one on the left is unopened, so I guess that will be drank soon. This is from the last couple weeks, I don't normally drink more than one a day.

If you came over, I wouldn't make you drink this lowbrow stuff, we could pull some good things out of the cellar.



This is what living in the NW does to you, it's the mecca of the beer world.

I work in a liquor store so this discussion is right up my alley.

In general I'm a sucker for Guinness. Just love it.

Tonight's beverage was Rickard's Cardigan. "Crafted for Fall, this delicious spiced beer holds hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and a touch of brown sugar."

[img width=700 height=933]http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o736/Fleach/20131106_231230_zpsa78e61a7.jpg[/img] (http://s1340.photobucket.com/user/Fleach/media/20131106_231230_zpsa78e61a7.jpg.html)

Haven't had a beer in going on two months. Just about time to get some more Warsteiner.

Warsteiner is hard to beat when I want a dunkel.

Wow, didn't realize we had so many beer drinkers here.  I've heard tales of Portland and the brewing scene in the North West and I can't wait to visit the area at some point.

As you can probably tell, I'm a big fan of Ommegang and other fine Belgians.  Just had their dark winter ale, Adoration.  Seriously, if you enjoy dark ales, you HAVE to find this.  One of the best dark winter spiced ales I've ever had.

Hoping for beer this Christmas.

[img width=575 height=444]http://beerpulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/elysian-superfuzz-6pack.jpg[/img]

this fluid is worth putting in your mouth.

belgium's supposed to be the place for beer but i was always partial to denmark. carlsberg in particular.

tried one of those iron maiden troopers the other day, was surprisingly alright.

Dogfish 60 Minute IPA.  Normally my favorite beer, but this one tastes a bit off.   :-\

IPAs aren't really my jam but I know what you mean about a beer not tasting the way you remember.  Seems to happen more often with smaller breweries/batches.

I like IPAs. Their hoppiness really adds a fullness to the flavour. Some can be a little powerful at first so I find there's sometimes a bit of an adjustment period before you can really determine if you like the beer or not.

My favourite brewery would have to be Dieu du Ciel or Unibroue. Both are small breweries in Quebec. If anyone is ever visiting in Canada, you should really try one of their beers.

I'm just going to fly off the handle and make some crazy comments about beer and brewing, please bear with me.

Beer can taste different from one batch to the other for all sorts of reasons. Two bottles can even taste different if they were pulled from different parts of the fermenter. Beer from the top tastes different than beer from the very bottom.

Dogfishhead is a world class brewery and my first guess wouldn't be to second guess their consistency. For some reason brewers think consistency is a high priority in brewing, I know that sounds sarcastic but I don't mean it to. I rather enjoy tasting new beers and comparing them to older versions. There is a local brewery which is not thought of as having all that great of beer, to me, their strong point is that I never know what their porter is going to taste like from one batch to the next  :P   And besides, do wine drinkers expect their favorite vintner to produce exactly the same pinot year in and year out? Regardless, if you talk to most brewers they will talk about consistency with reverence.

My first guess as to why your 60 minute tastes different than ones you've had before is the instability of hop flavor over time. 60 Minute IPA is called that because the brewer adds hops to the wort (the cooking part of beer making) consistently over one hour. They also add hops into the secondary, not unusual in brewing but they add a ton. Between the cooking and fermenting the amount of hops is much higher than most beers, higher than many IPA's.....I want to go on  :D   Would you like to know more?

Even though 60 min ipa has a well designed and substantial backbone of malt flavor, the showpiece to this beer is the hops. The hops provide the bitter taste, the hop taste and the aroma of the beer. Over time, the aroma fades away and the hop taste fades/changes. In a beer that relies so much on the hop experience, even a few weeks can change the flavor and smell of the beer. You can try this sort of thing on your own, buy a bottle of 60 minute (or even better, 90 minute!) and a bottle of something with less hops, say, a Guinness. Set the two bottles away for 6-12 months, then buy two new beers. Taste them side by side. I bet the two Guinnesses with their smaller reliance on hops will taste much more similar than the two IPA's.

For some people who hunt out limited releases and special beers, getting super fresh IPA's is a big deal. You want stuff that is really new, like within the first week or two of bottling.

So that is my guess, you either are used to older or newer batches of 60 Minute and got the other kind this time. Of course, what do I know? Maybe if I search Google I'll find out Dogfishhead stopped using barley and only uses corn now  ;)

All very good points. I see many beer discussions in our future.

Nupoile, isn't top fermenting vs bottom fermenting the contributing factor in the difference between lager and ale?

Or did you just mean a sample taken from the top vs the bottom of the fermentation vat?

Sweet  ;D

I was talking about a sample taken from the top vs the bottom.

But the answer to the first question is yes. Ale is made from ale yeast which does the active part of the fermentation at the top of the container. Lager is made with lager yeast which ferments at the bottom of the container. Temperature is also a defining characteristic between the way ale and lager yeast work, ale's ferment at higher temps, seventy-something (Fahrenheit) degrees is common. Lagers at lower temps, thirty-something is common.  Lagers can begin fermentation at the top of the fermentation vessel at higher temps and are cooled down quickly. All those rules can be broken, homebrewers play with the temperature of the fermentation a lot. Like you can make ales at 95 degrees or change the temperature of lagers several degrees as the fermentation takes place. I think there is an ale yeast or two that does its work at bottom of the vessel.

There are hundreds of different strains of yeast that are used in making beer. A handful of them are used far more than the rest, like White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast. Yeast imparts a big change in the way a beer tastes, smells and sometimes, looks. Some breweries use this to set their beers apart. Deschutes Brewery beers all have a commonality about them which is from the breweries proprietary yeast strain.

Often, brewers choose a yeast strain because it, traditionally, goes with a style of beer they are making. There can be other reasons too, most yeasts die out when alcohol gets above 8%. If you want to go higher you have to choose one of the few yeast strains that are tolerant of higher alcohol percentages. If you want to make a beer that is higher than 14% or so (a rarity in the beer world) you might start out using a regular ale yeast then switch to something like a wine or champagne yeast to complete the fermentation.

While ales and lagers are by far the most common kinds of beers there are other kinds. Sour beers are made with Brettanomyces and Lactic Acid, as apposed to Saccharomyces cerevisiae - the technical name of the ale & lager yeast strains.


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

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew/listings

http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain.cfm

I don't like beer and plus being allergic to wheat doesn't help. I'm a cocktail guy, I'm drinking something called a Tokyo Tea at the moment. Its a variant to a Long Island.

You know most beer doesn't contain wheat right? Hops, barley, yeast and water are the most common ingredients. Hefeweizen is the most popular style of beer that is made partially from wheat.


Here are the three latest, well except that I haven't opened that red ale yet.

[img width=700 height=525]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7433/10893930074_63fef61d62_b.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/10893930074/)

Very nice, Doug!  I just started watching Brew Dogs on Esquire and they did a Portland episode that makes me want to live up there.  I have a big "beers to try" list now.

Like I said earlier, I've been on a big Ommegang kick for a while.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/2etkmoS.jpg[/img]

Duvel Rustica is a collaboration with Ommegang's owner (Duvel).  I LOVE Duvel so I'm really looking forward to tasting this one.

Adoration (middle bottle) has become my favorite Dark Winter Ale of all time.  Amazingly spiced, brilliantly balanced, 10%ABV and you can barely tell.  I'm a lightweight so I just need to sip on one of these and I'm good for the night.

I had Tripel Perfection on tap recently and loved it.  I thought it was only available on tap but then found out a  limited number of bottles were released and I nabbed one. 

Three Philosophers is currently my favorite Quadrupel ale but to be fair, I haven't had very many.  The beer guy at my local store swears by La Trappe Quadrupel so that one is next in line.

And finally, just today at Red Robin I had  Breckenridge Brewery Vanilla Porter.  I've been trying to sample beers outside of my comfort zone recently and I'm glad I did.  This was a very good intro to porters (and maybe stouts later).

Yeah, I figured it was an older bottle.  I got another 6-pack and it tasted just as great as usual.

Had several good ones this week with a few more to come.  Finally got to try St Bernardus Abt 12 and it was fantastic.  I can't wait to try more Quadrupels, they really are outstanding.  Also picked up an Ommegang Wild at Heart but I'm going to let that mature for about a year.

I'm bringing a La Trappe Tripel and Ommegang Three Philosphers to Thanksgiving at my Aunt's house.  Gonna be a good weekend.

I've always wanted to pick that up, never have for some reason. You're adding to my list of beers to get Bil, with your Ommegang accolades and all.




[img width=700 height=356]http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2887/11059882033_db2b1c02c5_b.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/11059882033/)

A friend and I split these three beers Saturday. It only took us 5 hours to drink them. We party hard   ;)

Elysian's Doom - I've had the bottle nearly a year now. It was pretty good, maybe not in the best-of-the-best, elite-beers-of-the-world tier but I could argue one step down from that.

Ninkasi's Double Believer Red Ale - The brewery is about 40 minutes from here. They make NW style beers like the best of them. In this area the brewers like to just take a style and add more of everything, more hops, more malt, bigger, bolder taste. This beer is that. Its not really a red ale, just a NW take on something that could be mistaken for a red ale at first glance.

Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale - They release a batch of this every year. Some say they taste same each year. They don't. Very similar but not the same. I've actually been buying an extra 12 pack each year to keep. The friend I mentioned and I get together each year and take a bottle from all the previous years and have what is called a "vertical." One beer of the same brew but for the last several years. Celebration ale is a really dorky choice for this. It is a winter IPA, one of the worst styles to try and save but that's what makes it fun! We didn't get around to doing the vertical yet this year but I'll keep you informed.

I want to try those Ommegang beers now that Bil has so highly praised them. My store sold out of the Hennepin a few days ago, so I'm going to have to hunt around a bit to find some.

Two days ago I had the Unibroue 17 Grande Reserve. It's a strong dark ale. It was nicely rich in body and had a roasted, almost chocolaty, flavour to it. I won't put it in my top beers list since I found it a tad bit sweet but I thoroughly enjoyed it. If anyone can find I would recommend giving it a go.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o736/Fleach/20131127_190315_zps7be1443e.jpg[/img] (http://s1340.photobucket.com/user/Fleach/media/20131127_190315_zps7be1443e.jpg.html)

^ That looks pretty fancy. I've really like Unibroue the few times I've had something from them.



To catch up on the beers of the last week and show what I picked up to restock the fridge:

[img width=700 height=432]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7431/11144067996_f891cfe046_o.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/11144067996/)

The two on the left are what I've had since the last post.

21st Amendment is one of my favorite breweries. Their Fireside Chat sounded pretty good but is maybe my least favorite beer of theirs. It is spiced oddly. I've had other beers with a similar spicing but a very different malt/hop profile, they were good. This one, the malt and the spices are just an odd combination. Oh well, thats part of what makes this fun.

Dick's brewery makes, hands down, the best valued barley wine. The price has crept up over the last few years but it is still a great barley wine and beats anything I've had for even a buck or two more per bottle. The beer in the picture is a Grand Cru, I paid $2.19 for it about 8 months ago. It is the best Grand Cru I've had at that price but there are certainly better ones out there, mostly at more than $5 a bottle.



The other 7 bottles I got yesterday. Oaked Arrogant Bastard is one of my favorites, the "Oaked" part really changes the beer and takes it from "pretty good" to "wonderful."

Celebrator I've also had but not in a long time, it's good stuff.

I might have had Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome and the Pelican Bad Santa before but it would have only been once and a long time ago, and therefore different batches (they are seasonal brews.)

The can from Worthy Brewing and the bottle from Good Life brewing come from Bend. A town I go to pretty much every week but didn't know about these two breweries. Vanilla Cream Extra Stout and an IPA, how do you go wrong with that?

The one on the far right is actually a mead (fermented honey.) Until I got it home and read the label more closely, I figured it was a braggot - beer with honey. Mead, to me, always tastes better when it has been opened and left to sit, capped, in the fridge for a couple months. I like it better after it has gone flat and has been oxygenated. This one I drank all of yesterday. Rogue brewery is a great brewery that I don't care for too much, I'm pretty sure it's the yeast they use. You might know them from their Dead Guy Ale, it has a skeleton on the label. This brew didn't come from the main brewery but a farm they own. The few things I've had from the farm side of the business are kinda like the things I would homebrew, oddball stuff, well made but kinda out there. This mead smelled fantastic. They added Jasmin to the mix. Elysian brewing makes an awesome beer with Jasmin, if you can get it on tap it is even better. In the mead here though, the Jasmin was a little overpowering in taste, maybe I needed to let is sit in the fridge  ;)

[img width=700 height=932]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3727/11144068736_549d79ef60_o.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/11144068736/)

The big selection beer store that sells singles is 45 minutes away and I had to drive right by it on my way to work so I grabbed a nice little variety.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/Qt9fCU5.jpg[/img]

Captain Lawrence is a local brewery, just a few minutes from where I work.  I'm going to visit the brewery one of these days.  I don't think they are known for their Christmas Ale but it was cheap and it's local so I'll give it a shot.

I've recently discovered Belgian Tripels and I've heard that La Fin Du Monde is one of the best (even though it's brewed in Canada).

I've heard good things about Abita and, again, sucker for Christmas Ales.

Finally going to give Arrogant Bastard a try.  I kind of wanted to try the regular version first but all they had in small bottles was oaked so oaked it is.

Learned about Anchor Steam from the San Francisco episode of Brew Dogs.  Should be an interesting experience.

Among the other beers I'm a sucker for, it's Belgian Whites, especially when they are experimented with.

I wasn't crazy about La Fin Du Monde. I did get rather drunk off it though, because the retarded bartender gave me a full 16oz glass instead of the snifter they usually do, THEN I accidentally spilled the last eighth or so, and they gave me a free refill, AND THEN I drank another one. I was buzzzzzzzed

Drinking some Stockyard Oatmeal Stout tonight. It's, you know, stout.

For as much praise as is gets, I do know lots of people who aren't crazy about it.  Can I ask which aspect of it wasn't right for you?

Also, that reminds me, I need a few sniffers...

I'm not crazy about it, but I don't particularly like Tripels.

---

Been drinking a lot of Green Flash beers lately, specifically the West Coast IPA and the Triple IPA. The latter really packs a punch - over 10% ABV.

I've lately gotten into good simple pils and lighter lagers. Fin Du Mond is just a one way ticket to heavy flavorland and that just doesn't do it for me anymore.

I used to be all about IPAs and I can barely stand them now, much less tripels. I've just started hankering for a good clean, refreshing beer when I want a beer, all these gimmicky heavy seasonal blends drive me (and my stomach) nuts. That said,  Fin Du Monde is by no means bad.

Got the 3 in the middle from a few friends for my birthday.  Bought New World and Seduction at a local market on my first trip there.  Fantastic selection.  Been looking for New World. 

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/7WrfjYO.jpg[/img]

Found a lot of good, rare (and stupid expensive) stuff this past Friday. I'm not much of a Bourbon County fan, but I picked up a few anyway. Any the very least I can use it as trade bait for something down the road.

[img width=700 height=525]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/09/zuma9e2a.jpg[/img]

Is all online beer trading illegal?  I'd love to find a bottle of Ommegang Iron Throne Ale but I don't know how the online trading thing works.

I drank 3 beers from the batch I brought home on the 2nd.  One was great (Anchor Steam), one was good but unbalanced (Sam Adams Imperial White), and one was really bad (Captain Lawrence Winter Ale).

Picked up 2 bottles this week.  One of my favorite Belgian strong ales, Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Kaizer Blauw.  I buy one to drink now and one to drink in three years.

I've heard a lot of good things about Founders, especially their breakfast stout.  Heard about this special barley wine they make that is aged in bourbon maple syrup barrels for 16 months.  Sounded interesting so I picked one up.  Might wait til March so Sarah can try it too.

[img width=700 height=933]http://i.imgur.com/bxgXmwy.jpg[/img]

I also wish I could find Deschutes around here :(

I'd imagine we could do trading right here on the site. As long as it was packaged well, I'd feel safe mailing it.

AAHHHH. I've been looking for Sweet Repute like crazy. I've called 20+ stores and nobody has it. I've all but given up any hope of finding even one bottle. :/ Any chance you could find another bottle near you?

Deschutes is everywhere here now, but the Abyss is a pain in the butt to track down. It's also $20 a bottle. I could have picked up 1 or 2 more, but just couldn't justify the cost.

Wow Bad Enough Dude and Bil, you guys are getting some pretty fancy stuff, I need to step up my game.

I have never sent beer in the mail but did look into it a little bit some time ago. Mailing alcohol through USPS is illegal. For the most part people that trade beers do not ship USPS.

Mailing out of the country is iffy because you have to state on the package what is inside. Different countries have different rules, USPS is sometimes tempting because of the price but, again, it is not legal to ship that way.

FedEx and UPS are what most traders use. They might frown on it but there is no law. Try to ship in a manner where you don't have to tell them, "oh yeah, its some beer," you can tell them it is some collectable bottles if you have to. In reality, breakage is your biggest problem. If shippers notice your box is leaking you might get some flack. Pack things really well and put each bottle in a sealed plastic bag and maybe line the box with another bag. That way, if something breaks, at least it won't leak out of the box. Pack it so bottles don't clink against each other too. People do trade beer this way, there is a good demand for it actually, but like I said, it was a while ago I looked into it, you might want to check out some dedicated forums if you want to know more than what I do.




I don't think I've had The Abyss, you would think I would remember....Haven't seen it lately, forget what the price is around here, didn't think it was $20 though. I live 2.5 hours from the brewery so there stuff is pretty easy to get but The Abyss is a special release. Actually I do drive right by Deschutes brewery every week. I will be within a few feet of their parking lot tomorrow. I've never stopped while working, but I could easy enough. My wife and I did tour the place once several years ago, it was pretty neat.

[img width=700 height=525]http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5548/11316090066_da6cb9e9e0_o.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/11316090066/)
This is one of their main brew kettles, they have expanded the place a lot in the last couple years so some of this might have changed. The neat thing about this kettle is that the body is one piece. No seams, no welds, all stainless steal. It was made in Europe, so it went through the Panama canal and came into San Francisco (or what it LA? I think SF) They drove it up the freeway then onto another highway, since it is something like 23 feet across, they had to shut down the highway for three consecutive nights. I don't remember exactly how wide across it is but the vertical sidewalls where about 3 feet tall.


[img width=700 height=525]http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2806/11316034385_da48dbf2a2_o.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/11316034385/)


[img width=700 height=525]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7446/11316088966_58e2e92d32_o.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/11316088966/)


[img width=700 height=525]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7431/11316157013_a3e80785f4_o.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/11316157013/)


[img width=700 height=525]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7318/11316118824_abbab2cd34_o.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/11316118824/)

If you still have that bottle could you soak the label off and stick it in an envelope? I think it looks so awesome!

We'll see ;) I love the look of the label, I may hang onto it for a while.  I love the style too.

Did a little shopping again today. Here's what I brought home:

Hanssens Artisinaal Oude Gueuze - 375 mL (2)
Hanssens Oude Kriek - 750 mL
North Coast Barrel Aged Old Rasputin XV
Epic Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout - 22 oz
Goose Island Lolita Wild Ale - 765 mL

Lots of fun stuff. Managed to spend over $100 (again) when I hadn't really planned on buying much (again). My beer closet is looking great because of it, though. :)

Nice to see milliliters in the US!

I haven't been in the mood for beer lately so I bought a half-bottle of Glenlivet. Rich, earthy, and smooth... Yummm...

My sophistication is restricted to my wine and champagne collection. Drank some Stella Artois the last few nights

Managed to grab a couple of these beauties today.

[img width=700 height=933]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/23/2u2yva4y.jpg[/img]

I haven't post in here for a while....there were a few more beers I had to show but I think we returned the cans/bottles already. We also filled up our two growlers a few weeks ago. I say "we" because my wife actually picked out a beer to have. She even drank most of the growler which almost doubles the total amount of beer she's drank since I've known her.

[img width=700 height=525]http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5548/12177188546_cbf0454ee5_o.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/12177188546/)

From left to right:

Magic Hat Pale ale. For a long time I stayed away from pale ale's as the mega breweries give them a bad rep. If you get one from a true craft brewery they can be pretty good. This one was okay, had a little bit of a different note to it that kept it interesting. I wouldn't seek it out necessarily but certainly wouldn't avoid it either.

Pelican's Scottish Ale. This brewery is on the Oregon coast and is one of my favorites. They make great stuff. Their brewpub location is just awesome. Right on the sand, near big dunes, cragely coastal rocks, sunsets on the ocean. This scottish ale is good, I get it from time to time. I like their MacPelican's Wee Heavy Ale (another scottish style) better but that is harder to get. I live maybe an hour and a half from the brewery, so it's not like I can just swing in  ;)
http://www.yourlittlebeachtown.com/pelican

Pelican's Grand Cru 2012. Another Pelican beer. It's an aged Grand Cru, what more do I need to say?

nupoile's homebrew batch #6 (I think). I made this a couple years ago. A wheat beer of sorts. Interesting, not bad. I carbonated it in the bottle and at least got that part absolutely perfect.

10 Barrel's Pray For Snow. I normally don't get to excited for this brewery but a co-worker suggested I try this years winter ale. It's not too bad, a solid winter beer. Not fancy or anything but alright.

Stone's Vertical Epic 11. Oh man, this was so good. It came out on 11-11-11 so there is no more, but this was one of the best beers I've had in a long time. I split it with a friend so it was so much the better.

Bridgeport's Old Knucklehead 14. Barley wines are one of my favorite styles of beer. They are usually seasonal and always intense. I've never had a barley wine I didn't like. They're all good. This was middle of the pack on the Barley Wine scale.

I hope you were listening to some Megadeth while drinking that Imperial Stout, Bad Enough Dude. The label is AWESOME! :freakboy:

[img width=700 height=933]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag478/michaelrancourt/IMG_11941_zps05161887.jpg[/img] (http://s1375.photobucket.com/user/michaelrancourt/media/IMG_11941_zps05161887.jpg.html)

Nothing super exciting but I thought I'd put up some shiny new pictures  ;)



These two I picked up to bring to that last Seahawks/Denver game. Elysian does really good things with Jasmine if you find it on tap. The bottled stuff is good too of course. The Ginja Ninja is actually a cider. I didn't expect to like it but it was for several people to share and I thought we should try something new. It turned out to be good. The ginger was used with care and did not overpower. It inspired my wife to try another ginger cider later on.

[img width=600 height=800]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7300/12449058784_a7f63cb2a5_o.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/12449058784/)

[img width=700 height=525]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3802/12448707313_6ea3ac543c_o.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/12448707313/)

Just some regular stuff there. Hop Stoopid gets high reviews, I get it from time to time. I don't think I like it as much as some people do, even with Lagunitas being one of my favorite breweries. Trying the Vanilla Porter tonight, it's okay, nothing to complain about.

Mike, Gulden Draak & Innis and Gunn are fantastic beers. Very different in style and flavour, but still excellent brews.

You are absolutely right. Quite a stray from the standard domestics I consume, but very enjoyable.

[img width=700 height=933]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag478/michaelrancourt/IMG_12561_zpsb6b36009.jpg[/img] (http://s1375.photobucket.com/user/michaelrancourt/media/IMG_12561_zpsb6b36009.jpg.html)

Just finished La Fin Du Monde. Was not a fan, but will still give more Unibroue a chance. The 18 Karat is a small batch from a small local brewery. I have yet to try it, but I look forward to it.

Great! More for me!

My treat for tonight...

[img width=568 height=1024]http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o736/Fleach/DSCF2788_zps4a1c974d.jpg[/img]

A freshly poured glass of black gold. Guinness, how I love thee.

???





I was going to save this as I have some other bottles and stuff to get ready and put up but since other people are sharing today....

[img width=700 height=525]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3707/13272468795_82d412d01a_o.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/13272468795/)

I guess at this early stage in my exploration of the brew, I have certain tastes. I stopped at my local, govt.-ran, liquor store this morning and grabbed these:

[img width=700 height=795]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag478/michaelrancourt/109e3fda-cb12-4add-a163-c5cfa72bc73c_zps68cd1324.jpg[/img] (http://s1375.photobucket.com/user/michaelrancourt/media/109e3fda-cb12-4add-a163-c5cfa72bc73c_zps68cd1324.jpg.html)

So after trying my second brew (Maudite) by Unibroue, I immediately enjoyed it over my previous choice of Lu Fin Du Monde. Why I prefer Maudite over La Fin Du Monde? I prefer Malty over Yeasty? Maybe I'm not yet ready to take on the robust Triple Fermented brews yet and La Fin Du Monde had too complex a flavour. I thought the Maudite was a nice Amber, that didn't overpower on the yeasty taste and gave me a slight hoppy flavour that I love a great deal in my brews (Hence the Pilsner Urquell six-pack in the picture). Not sure how I feel about the Raftman, not having tried it yet. But I'm definitely a fan of Maudite.

[img width=480 height=640]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/22/8u8a9ege.jpg[/img]

One of my favorite sours. Try it if you're unfamiliar with the style.

Here's what you do if you didn't quite buy enough beers to fill out the box but wanted to keep the bottles from rattling around on the drive home. Fill up the empty space with Master System games and use INTV games for the smaller gaps.

(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7115/13340861494_a4628f72cb_o.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/13340861494/)




I bothered to go to a store that was further away than across the street for once. I even made a list of the beers other people put up in this thread. Even though I had the Flemish Sour Bad Enough Dude showed in the last post, in my hand at some point, it didn't make it out of the store. They didn't charge me for it, I don't know where it went   :'(

(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3707/13340618563_42073fd66c_o.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/13340618563/)




I did get the Ommegang Three Philosophers that Bil was talking about though, so that's exciting. And I picked up a six pack of Dick's Barley Wine, the best value in the barley wine world and what passes for "everyday drinking beer" at this house   ;D

(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2836/13340473735_76fa16070c_o.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nupoile/13340473735/)


So, that should keep me stocked up for quite some time.

You got a Sculpin, at least - an excellent IPA for sure. I've been meaning to try 'The Illinois,' but I never see it around here. Curious to see how much of my enjoyment is because of the absolutely gorgeous art deco label...

[img width=700 height=700]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/23/vemata9e.jpg[/img]

Snapped a photo of my beer closet yesterday, which is quickly outgrowing it's space. Right around 90 beers right now, with an always-growing want list. Sigh.

I bought these guys yesterday. And I've got enough to last me a little while. The Fin du Monde was a 4 pack and the Blanche de Chambly is a 6 pack. Actually, Mike, I think you'll like this one; it's a nice Belgian style ale. Rich and a little citrus-y.

[img width=568 height=1024]http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o736/Fleach/DSCF2790_zps0a9d6073.jpg[/img]

Awesome! Will Pick up a bottle of the Blanche de Chambly to try next!

Cool. Let me know how it goes.



You know I'm just testing the water here for my June trip to see Crabby ;)

My latest grabs (havent tried and wont til Thursday) :

[img width=700 height=933]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag478/michaelrancourt/IMG_12731_zpsf6028578.jpg[/img] (http://s1375.photobucket.com/user/michaelrancourt/media/IMG_12731_zpsf6028578.jpg.html)

Never heard of that pilsner, but the other three are really nice drinks.

I really enjoyed the Schneider Weiss Tap 7, drinking the Blance de Chambly right now. It's good, but I still prefer Maudite so far from all the offerings Unibroue has. Grabbed these today:

[img width=700 height=525]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag478/michaelrancourt/IMG_12821_zps32672cc2.jpg[/img] (http://s1375.photobucket.com/user/michaelrancourt/media/IMG_12821_zps32672cc2.jpg.html)

The Trooper!

This sold out so fast at my store and we haven't gotten any since. :(

If this is readily available near you, please set one aside for me. Or we can get in contact and work out a little trade.

Sounds good Fleach! I will head back to the store tomorrow and buy a few more! I will make sure at least one ends up in your hands.

I grabbed one for you sir, although there were probably a couple dozen on the shelf at one of the local stores. Probably likely they will have some when you come up, but grabbed you a bottle for when you are here at any rate!

Thanks! I really appreciate it. I work in a liquor store, but The Trooper sells out that fast I miss out on it. It's funny that the largest alcohol buy in Ontario can't get a steady supply of certain products.

Just drank a bottle of Unibroue Ephemere. Its a beer brewed with apple concentrate as part of the ingredients. I thought I would be repulsed but found myself ridiculously surprised with how much I enjoyed it! So far my favorites (in no order) by Unibroue: Maudite, Blonde de Chambly, and Ephemere

[img width=700 height=933]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag478/michaelrancourt/IMG_13011_zps4ecd4e41.jpg[/img] (http://s1375.photobucket.com/user/michaelrancourt/media/IMG_13011_zps4ecd4e41.jpg.html)

Picked up these guys yesterday to try out.

I've been drinking alot of Blue Moon lately.  Does that make me a chick?

I drank that Innis & Gunn Rum Finish last night. Holy Eff that was good!

With the recent popularization of Leinenkugal "anything" along with light "lime" beers and "eritas" I think you're pretty safe.

If you liked that you should check out the Ola Dubh beers by Harvestoun. They're also barrel-aged, richly flavourful beers.

I will look for that one. Had another bottle of the Unibroue Ephemere Apple last night. Dont know why I like it so much. :)

If you like, I can bring a bottle over when I come to visit Crabby.

It's been awhile since I've posted in here so this is several weeks worth of finds and drinks.


EngineerMike posted that he got some Base Camp Brewing beers lately, my wife got me their S'more Stout, actually, come to think of it, she's picked up all of the beers in this post for me  ;D   The Grand Cru was awesome, great stuff there. Notice the IPA is a "Northwest India Pale Ale" more on that later.....

[img width=640 height=480]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7069/14117846133_da5d701510_z.jpg[/img]






Wife went to New Mexico to visit some family, brought me back some local stuff. She actually had to birthday-present-join-up her sister's-husband to Marble Brewing's beer club to be able to get that Barley wine as they only sell it to members. It is sitting comfortably in my beer cupboard with a very nice selection of other barley wines (also  ;D). The whiskey isn't a beer obviously but looks awesome, it's a small batch, hand numbered bottle. We haven't had whiskey in the house for maybe a couple years now, I think the last one I had was Bulleit's Rye Whiskey, which was fantastic. I'm excited to try the Monks' Dubbel Ale. It comes from Monastery of Christ in the Desert Abbey, wife bought it in a store of course, but yay! monk beer!

[img width=600 height=800]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7191/13911129579_798eda5a2d_c.jpg[/img]






This Imperial Red Ale Also came from my wife's trip, it was yummy.

[img width=574 height=800]https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2904/13911128759_fe39b9931c_c.jpg[/img]






Wife and I each had beer from Worthy Brewing last night. Guess which one is her's.....

[img width=640 height=480]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7200/14117845523_81b38c0836_z.jpg[/img]






Worthy Brewing Co. is somewhat nearby, about two hours away. This Imperial IPA was alright, not awesome. The smell was pretty good, that was the best part. Overall it was kinda unbalanced, not that I minded so much though, they used 8 kinds of hops according to the bottle so there was lots of interesting notes to the beer. For whatever reason, I was inspired to mix it with another beer once I drank most of it. I rarely do this, almost never. The beer I had on hand to try this weird idea was Lagunitas' (one of my favorite breweries) Day Time as The Wife had picked up a 6 pack for me to have on hand as regular "drinking beer" (as opposed to "looking at beer" which mostly just sits in the beer cupboard). I tried to carefully float the Day Time on top of the Imperial IPA, either I don't know how to "float" a drink on top of another or they are the same color  :-\ (see pic) not quite as cool looking as a Black & Tan anyways.

[img width=600 height=800]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5475/14097758945_f3f13a9653_c.jpg[/img]





It's probably that they are really close to being the same color, being a Fractional IPA. Remember how I alluded to this earlier, how in the NW, we like to just make up weird beer styles? I'm cool with that, making up new styles, I did blend too wildly different IPA's for some reason after all. So this newly minted  "Fractional" IPA is a very light IPA (low avb), it's pretty good, you should try it, don't bother blending it unless you are some weirdo-beer-snob-homebrewing-NW-native though.

[img width=640 height=608]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7298/13911123697_f2c5e13e60_z.jpg[/img]

Nice brews Nupoile. Making me thirsty! Well..I would be if I wasn't polishing off another pint of Innis & Gunn Rum Finish.

Wow, I leave this thread for a bit and all the beer guys show up.  I'll snap some pics of what I've been drinking and post tonight.

I'm going to beat you to it  :D



[img width=700 height=525]https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2900/14226331675_c8a4a9dab8_o.jpg[/img]

I've been finding this stuff faster than I can drink it. The beer cupboard is full, the extra storage is full, even the fridge had several bottles in there for awhile. I'm going to have to organize a Barley Wine and Vectrex night or something.

The S'more Stout is the only Base Camp Brewing variety that I don't have locally. So far my favorite of theirs, was the In-tents IPA, which surprised me because I'm not the biggest fan of IPAs.

"In-Tents IPA"! I love it! I've never tried it or even heard of it, but I love the name.

On Saturday I went out to a restaurant called Bier Markt which is a beer-centric bistro style place and had a Rodenbach. Great red coloured sour beer.

Sounds like a decent place Fleach. The other day, I bought a Unibroue mixed case from my neighborhood, friendly, govt. ran, liquor store. It had Ephemere Cherry in it. It was OK, but I definitely prefer the apple.

Drinking Unibroue La Fin Du Monde tonight. Its stronger than what I prefer, but still tasty.

Enjoyed a Rogue Dead Guy Ale last night. I'm sure Nupoile would be proud. ;)

Even though I have had pictures of both the Oregon breweries you guys have mentioned (Rogue and Deschutes) I really don't think I have any others   :laugh:




Rogue's main entrance:

[img width=640 height=853]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3800/14291754471_cab802674c_o.jpg[/img]


Not really of Rogue but I took this across the bay from them. The brewery would be just to the left:

[img width=640 height=480]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3788/14291754521_98d8322392_o.jpg[/img]


Since Rogue brewery is in Newport and Newport is the closest coastal town to where I live we are out that way often. If you ever manage to find a bottle of their Old Crustacean barley wine, that's the one to get!

Is that Oregon? Looks like a beautiful place. I've never seen such a nice bay since Sydney, Australia.

Yep, it's Newport, Oregon. I have all sorts of great pictures of this state but it might stray too far off topic to put them in this thread. Maybe we need to start the "What place are you taking pictures of?" thread  :P

[img width=700 height=525]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag478/michaelrancourt/E615C7F8-C99F-4348-9AD6-36F28DDE8A67_zpsohpdgdaw.jpg[/img] (http://s1375.photobucket.com/user/michaelrancourt/media/E615C7F8-C99F-4348-9AD6-36F28DDE8A67_zpsohpdgdaw.jpg.html)

Got to try a new (to me) Innis & Gunn last night. Canadian Cherrywood. I enjoyed it.

Usually not a big fan of local brews, but lately I've been drinking Natty Greene's Southern Pale Ale, which is brewed a few blocks from where I work. We have another local brewery called Red Oak, which makes one of the best tasting beers I've ever had. Also have some Sweet Water 420, an Atlanta, GA brew in the fridge. Currently marinating some wings for tonight in it. :)

I wish there was a good way for us to mail beers. I think a lot of us would have some fun with it.

Well, in many states, that isn't entirely legal. ha ha. In some cases though, local breweries here in and around Denver have found ways to ship to all sorts of locations and many liquor stores here have ways to import whatever beer you want to their stores. Colorado is known for have thousands of micro-brews though, so it is probably a lot easier here than elsewhere.

Ft. Collins has great beer!  While we are on the subject, I created a thread for us all to list our favorites. Can't wait to try some new brews!

http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=14028.msg199219#msg199219

Sam Adams Rebel IPA - really hope Sam doesn't get rid of this one anytime soon.

[img width=328 height=550]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m232/Scott_Breaze/WP_20140703_039_zps80819871.jpg?t=1404886665[/img]

My first half gallon sized jug of beer. Has a very strong coffee-like flavor to it.

Decided to try a couple bottles from Gigantic Brewing out of Portland.

[img width=700 height=933]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag478/michaelrancourt/7F92B6A7-17B7-43B4-8942-3DD8CF81F896_zpsbj5wsfxg.jpg[/img] (http://s1375.photobucket.com/user/michaelrancourt/media/7F92B6A7-17B7-43B4-8942-3DD8CF81F896_zpsbj5wsfxg.jpg.html)

The Ginormous Imperial IPA threw me at first, as I am not the biggest fan of IPA's. The first taste was bitter and offensive to my taste buds, but I quickly acquired the sweet hoppy taste I craved.

I haven't tried the Too Much Coffee Man Black Ale with coffee. Might be awhile for that one.

Kirin Lager beer (633 ml bottle).  Not my normal drink, but it suffices for a Sunday evening in the summer.

I don't even think I knew about this brewery, let alone seen any of their beers. I will have to keep an eye out. People on Beeradvocate seem to think well of them http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29003/










I haven't posted here in awhile, with all those bottles I bought over the last few months it has taken awhile to work through them. We have filled up gowlers a time or two lately. Yet another new tap room/growler fill station has opened up in town, plus the store across the street does that as well. Neither of them have more than a few beers I am interested in but it's been fun the couple times we tried it.

[img width=700 height=525]https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2926/14760186635_2f8221c3fd_o.jpg[/img]

Lagunitas - one of my favorite breweries. I like the "Little Sumpin' Extra" a little more. Both are good though.





[img width=700 height=525]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3841/14573557468_df8a137ecf_o.jpg[/img]

Wife picked out the cider's. I think I've tried all these beers before but it's been awhile. Skull Splitter I've had a few times, it's great. I like the Wee Heavy/Strong Scotch Ale style a lot.....


....so much so that I bought this ~38 pounds of crushed barley hoping to turn it into a little over 13 gallons of something similar.

[img width=700 height=525]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5590/14757010031_b0aa84c484_o.jpg[/img]

I have more fun making it than drinking it all, so if you know anyone that wants to come over for homebrew....

It's been since July and I was the last person to post here? Come on guys......

Not much new stuff has come into the house after that earlier part of the year when I was going crazy collecting bottles.

Got a four-pack of the stout in a can a week ago and the two bottles today.

[img width=700 height=525]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3927/15188456639_ef907dcb4a_o.jpg[/img]

left to right:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18012/52352/

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18012/90405/

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16077/37696/

While I am typically an IPA guy, I've recently taken on a "softer side" and begun appreciating the hard ciders tremendously. Angry Orchard has been a personal favorite. Also, they finally got a distributorship in Louisville for Sweetwater Brewing Co., so I've been consuming copious amounts of the IPA and the Blue. Love Sweetwater.

Morning fellow Ba'ers

[img width=700 height=466]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e27/Jeffrey_Yukanis/IMG_5629_zps2f974e68.jpg[/img]

Someone has to keep this thread alive.....

We went to a store new-to-us today. I've known about it for some time though. The plan wasn't to stock up on bottles but we did anyways it seems.

[img width=700 height=377]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8581/16227407130_745f29f471_o.jpg[/img]

The Hairy Eyeball - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/220/112861/
The Devil Went Down To Oregon - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14400/151029/
Monk's Café Flemish Sour Ale - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/48/10482/
EKU 28 - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/412/1230/
Scottish Ale - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/8606/18666/
Peaches And Cream Ale - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/8606/130438/
Mjolnir Imperial IPA - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/8606/50648/
Salvator Doppel Bock - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/124/387/
Doggie Claws - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/173/20762/
Expo 58 - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14400/139181/
Burnside Stock Ale - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24464/67904/






Earlier this month, a friend and I did our yearly 'Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale Vertical'. A vertical is where you take multiple vintages of the same beer and taste them to experience the difference age makes.

Celebration Ale is a horrible choice for this, which is part of why we do it  :)    IPAs don't age well generally speaking. But it is easy to do, and we have fun doing it.

This year we had six years worth of the stuff, we split each bottle, so we each drank half of one. Next year there will be 7 years worth and so on each year until we have 12 years worth. I keep a 12 pack of it each year. Frankly, it is always best fresh. One-year-old and two-year-old are interesting, after that it isn't so great. You can do this much better with other styles of beer, like barleywine, and we have/do, so I would recomend not doing an IPA unless you know what you're getting into.

We make a recording of the evening too, mostly to amuse ourselves. Actually, only for ourselves, I've never done anything with it. It's pretty funny though......parts anyways.

[img width=700 height=378]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7363/16227158398_51b4516038_o.jpg[/img]

Just bought a 6 pack of Hofbrau Original. I don't think they will last the night.

Wow, I have been on this site for awhile now, and can't believe I never knew about this thread!

Im going to do a side by side with a KBS 2015 and a Weyerbacher Sunday Morning Stout. Being from PA I thought the Sunday Morning would be easy to come by.... it is sold out everywhere. I had my cousin track down a bottle for me in NYC and it is finally in my hands so we shall see how the evening goes. Sunday Morning has been compared to KBS, and some people even rate it higher. I will let you know what I think. The rest are brews I picked up this week, including the hand numbered 93/200 Saucony Creek Kutztown Bicentennial brew I am very excited to try.

[img width=700 height=525]https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/t31.0-8/11246701_10153130526489300_1876659937278686846_o.jpg[/img]

Also just got back from a Northeast Beer Tour Vacation of some great breweries including Hill Farmstead, The Alchemist (saw the outside, the brewery is currently closed to the public), Infiniti, Seadog, Shipyard, Sebago, Maine Brewing, Allagash, Woodstock, Smuttynose, Schilling, Rising Tide, Urban Farms, Long Trail, and a few others.

Below are some of the treasures I got to bring home.
[img width=700 height=525]https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11149389_10153072461644300_3270704815187885509_n.jpg?oh=2de02f27ed75dc0b807e5a8fccfbc50a&oe=55C665E3[/img]
[img width=700 height=525]https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10426300_10153072461559300_8009277204519081135_n.jpg?oh=5951308664acd35d5e3105f9dcdfc45c&oe=56066F26[/img]
[img width=700 height=525]https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/11027124_10153072461299300_4112800211703441408_n.jpg?oh=bac12cdafa0acf6f98d0c4f9fccc5f98&oe=560AFB44[/img]
[img width=700 height=525]https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/1623599_10153072461444300_7502456964323907967_n.jpg?oh=ab29184e62a9c412046d018c1408527c&oe=560C56D2&__gda__=1443206891_3417ade950b03a01132b78e3d92e8069[/img]
[img width=700 height=525]https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/t31.0-8/11055257_10153068523154300_8208644548946072370_o.jpg[/img]

Love the last photo, and even though everyone is in love with Heady, I can honestly say that its pretty far down on my list, Lawsons Sip of Sunshine, Rising Tide MITA, and every single Hill Farmstead brew I had was better. (personal opinion)


But now that I know about this thread, I may have to start posting what I am currently drinking! haha, let you know tonight about the Sunday Morning Stout! I am excited to try it.

And nupoile, is that Monks Cafe Ale from Monks Cafe in Philadelphia or is it just coincidence? Did you try it yet, if so what did you think?

Yes it is, uh, was. Beeradvocate.com says, "Brewed for Monk's Café in Philadelphia, but also available for retail purchase elsewhere."  Since I live in 'elsewhere' I acquired it there rather than Philly.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/48/10482/

Asking me to remember details about it though, haha, it was a while ago I had it....I remember it being pleasant, something I would happily have again. I can't say I'm an expert on sour beers, I've certainly had some but not many.



That is an impressive haul you got there. Ninkasi brewery is half an hour away from me (Tricerahops is soooo much a Northwest IPA by the way :)), Lagunitas is one of my favorite breweries, Allgash is a brewery I really want to tryout but haven't, some of those you got I've never seen before...which is saying something considering the variety of beer around here. Looks like you got a couple ciders too. And Kombucha, my wife never lets me get that because she thinks it's nasty, haha, I've never had any.

Thanks for the info Nupoile, I didnt realize this thread was a bit old. I live an hour from Philly and have Never seen that beer anywhere. I am however heading down to philly beer week next saturday and want to stop into Monk's for a Cantillon or 2, so maybe I will have to try that one as well. I am a fan of sours, well pretty much all beer actually.

I still have the Tricerahops in the fridge, will get to it this week, it was recommended to me by a bigger beer geek than I.
Lagunitas is probably my favorite "go to" brewery, every single beer I have had from them has never disappointed. 

Yea the reason we took the trip up to the Northeast is because of all of the beer you can only find in their respective state or region. And of course to get some Heady Topper(supposed best beer in the world http://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/top/), to me it wasnt... not even top 10,  and Hill Farmstead (supposed best brewery in US... and I can kinda agree with that).

I really need to get out to the Northwest, a lot of brews Id like to try but aren't available on the east coast.

The ciders & kombucha were for the wife, but I sampled them all as well. They were all pretty good, unlike the typical "cider" you get in the 6packs that are just filled with sugar. The Kombucha was amazing, so refreshing, but that was probably because of the 1.5% ABV, that was the first time I have tried a Kombucha.

This is my new favorite thread on here! Always like hearing new opinions on beers I have not had before. 

Cheers!