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Huge_Midget posted:Is this years Hoptimum drinkable? Last year being the premiere for it, it was a boozy, bitter mess. As one goon once said about drinking unbalanced IPAs, it "was like being throat hosed by an ethanol-soaked hop dildo". Hoptimum is really bitter and really hoppy, but I find the alcohol is masked far better than last year's version, it really is a big improvement. I like it better than this year's Hopslam, and better than the Surly Abrasive I had last week, but not more than the Heady Topper I had the same week, as a point of comparison.
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Apr 2, 2012 23:51
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Huge_Midget posted:Is this years Hoptimum drinkable? Last year being the premiere for it, it was a boozy, bitter mess. As one goon once said about drinking unbalanced IPAs, it "was like being throat hosed by an ethanol-soaked hop dildo". I had it on tap last....Thursday? I think? Anyway, it was a little hard to remember every bit from the one bottle I had last year but it struck me as actually being a little sweeter this year, as if it'd been hit with a decent load of honey. It wasn't a malty sweetness, nothing that seemed to contribute to the boozy nose. It's still a very unique IIPA, and while I love the unbalanced IPAs I actually found it to be a punch from both ends of the spectrum that doesn't seem off on either side. I'm well-stocked on IPAs right now but as soon as my supply runs dry it's the next thing on my list to load up on.
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Apr 3, 2012 00:04
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Kudosx posted:I picked up a 4 pack of Hoptimum, and a bottle of Maharaja. I'm drinking the Hoptimum right now, and it's pretty good. I think it was priced very reasonably at $9.99/4 pack, considering the high ABV. Try a Burton Baton from Dogfish Head. It's a barrel aged IPA. It was decent. Some interesting flavors going on, but it was very boozy and I doubt I could drink more than one. Also, if it's Giant Eagle that got a growler station I would be ecstatic. But I doubt it was.
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Apr 3, 2012 00:05
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Had a Maine Brewing Co "Mean Old Tom" on draft tonight. Wow. Vanilla, chocolate and no bitterness at all. So smooth. It was both rich and delicious. I can see why Maine is getting such rave revieews as of late. Also had an Ommegang Seduction : Really good, but a letdown after the Mean Old Tom. The chocolate and cherries were very prominent.
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Apr 3, 2012 00:26
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I killed the last of my Allies Win the War tonight. Picked up the Sam Adams Longshot six, will probably try the Secret Alt tonight. Always an interesting mix. Last year's lavender ale was cool, '09 had a lemon pepper saison.
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Apr 3, 2012 00:29
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Kudosx posted:I also saw bottles of Oak Aged Unearthly, and Gemini. Any thoughts on those? I still haven't tried the regular Unearthly, but having never tried a barrel aged IPA, the Oak Aged version really intrigued me. Years ago I rated Unearthly rather high, this year I re-rated a 2 month old bottle that was fridge kept and it was an un-balanced beer with little hop profile, a poo poo ton of caramel sweetness that became sickening. I picked up the oak aged one and will try it soon.
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Apr 3, 2012 00:37
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Firestone XV is good, but yeah, it needs to be sat on for a while to let it mellow out as it is a booze heavy beer. My favorite of the Firestone special releases is the Parabola. My god, that sucker is perfect. Even at 13%, that sucker is really intense with the Bourbon flavor in an imperial stout.
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Apr 3, 2012 00:39
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Midorka posted:Years ago I rated Unearthly rather high, this year I re-rated a 2 month old bottle that was fridge kept and it was an un-balanced beer with little hop profile, a poo poo ton of caramel sweetness that became sickening. I picked up the oak aged one and will try it soon. You're in luck, the Oak Aged version is less hoppy and even sweeter! 
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Apr 3, 2012 00:48
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Kudosx posted:I picked up a 4 pack of Hoptimum, and a bottle of Maharaja. I also like the regular Unearthly better, but the oaked is still pretty good. Gemini is tasty. If you want to try a good oak aged IPA try Great Divide's Rumble IPA. The oak/vanilla is played down, and I think it's blended with some fresh IPA to refresh the hops.
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Apr 3, 2012 00:51
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I had Firestone 14 and 15 back to back last week, both where awesome but I liked the 14th better. Total wine was getting rid of all their winter beers, 3.99 for 6 packs of Winterbraun and Anderson Valley Winter solstice, 3.99 for a bomber Babyaga from Pretty things also.
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Apr 3, 2012 01:04
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Mahoning posted:Try a Burton Baton from Dogfish Head. It's a barrel aged IPA. It was decent. Some interesting flavors going on, but it was very boozy and I doubt I could drink more than one. Oh jeez, somehow I didn't realize Burton Baton was a barrel aged IPA. I have tried that, so I guess I have tried a BA IPA. It really didn't have much barrel flavor at all, so I didn't notice it... I also only had a 4 oz sample so I didn't get to pull as many of the flavors as I would have liked. Giant Eagle has not gotten any growler stations, but it would be awesome if they would! Acme is getting 3 more growler stations, so they will have a total of 6.
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Apr 3, 2012 01:04
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I think Great Divide has an oaked IPA, but I'm pretty sure it's aged on wood, not in wood.
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Apr 3, 2012 01:23
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Yeah - it's the 17th Anniversary DIPA. edit: Conflicting sources. Their site states nothing more than "French and American Oak". FreelanceSocialist fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Apr 3, 2012 |
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Apr 3, 2012 01:33
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Jack Skeleton posted:Firestone XV is good, but yeah, it needs to be sat on for a while to let it mellow out as it is a booze heavy beer. I didn't think XV was boozy at all, I thought it was a really well balanced blend with a lot going on supporting the barleywines. I have a second I'm sitting on for at least a year, but I don't expect it to get much better as I think it's drat near perfect now. deadwing posted:You're in luck, the Oak Aged version is less hoppy and even sweeter! Can't say I'm surprised in the least at this in the least, oh well. Kudosx posted:Oh jeez, somehow I didn't realize Burton Baton was a barrel aged IPA. I have tried that, so I guess I have tried a BA IPA. It really didn't have much barrel flavor at all, so I didn't notice it... I also only had a 4 oz sample so I didn't get to pull as many of the flavors as I would have liked. I think it's only aged for 4 months or something, just a minor oak flavor I picked up. I still think it's an excellent beer though.
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Apr 3, 2012 01:41
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Midorka posted:I think it's only aged for 4 months or something, just a minor oak flavor I picked up. I still think it's an excellent beer though. agreed. it might be my favorite from DFH.
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Apr 3, 2012 01:49
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World Wide Stout tops my list from DFH so far... but I have a bottle of Burton but haven't tried it yet.
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Apr 3, 2012 01:49
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FreelanceSocialist posted:Yeah - it's the 17th Anniversary DIPA. They have an 18th anniversary as well, same deal as far as I could tell. My buddy brought it over for a brew night and we didn't make it to it.
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Apr 3, 2012 02:11
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FreelanceSocialist posted:World Wide Stout tops my list from DFH so far... but I have a bottle of Burton but haven't tried it yet. World Wide Stout is one of my favorite beers on this earth, but fresh it's a bit of a mess, at least the late 2011/2012 batch is. I've been buying bottles of the 2010 version for the past few months to split with buddies for a nice treat and it's fantastic, very port wine like. The 2012 version was too syrupy and messy as far as presentation is concerned. I will be stocking up on bottles though since it's on hiatus now and it's easily available. I may try to cook with it actually. On the DFH topic, I just finished an Indian Brown Ale from them and very much enjoyed it. I haven't had one in two to three years, but this is a very easy drinking beer I greatly enjoyed despite me not liking brown ales usually.
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Apr 3, 2012 02:19
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Mahoning posted:Try a Burton Baton from Dogfish Head. It's a barrel aged IPA. It was decent. Some interesting flavors going on, but it was very boozy and I doubt I could drink more than one. I'm going to play a bit of devil's advocate here and say that I found Burton Baton to be another disgustingly sweet, hot DFH mess. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, of course, but if you find most other DFH beers to be overly sweet, you'll find the same with this beer.
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Apr 3, 2012 02:28
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I liked Burton Baton the one time I had it. It is definitely caramel sweet but the drat thing is 10% ABV, it is going to be pretty hefty. It was enjoyable but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it again (please let's not have The Dogfish Debate yet again).Midorka posted:On the DFH topic, I just finished an Indian Brown Ale from them and very much enjoyed it. I haven't had one in two to three years, but this is a very easy drinking beer I greatly enjoyed despite me not liking brown ales usually. If you get Boulder Beer in your area, they make Flashback India Brown Ale which is pretty darn good.
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Apr 3, 2012 02:59
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Boulder Beer has at least three good beers: Flashback, Mojo, and Hopped and Infused. Mojo is a great IPA. LeeMajors posted:They have an 18th anniversary as well, same deal as far as I could tell. My buddy brought it over for a brew night and we didn't make it to it. They did a couple of the Anniversaries and those 750ml Stranahan Whiskey aged beers, but Rumble IPA is a regular release. And yes, it's aged with oak chips in the tank, not in oak barrels. I also like Burton Baton, but I don't think I could have had more than a single bottle.
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Apr 3, 2012 03:14
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Midorka posted:On the DFH topic, I just finished an Indian Brown Ale from them and very much enjoyed it. I haven't had one in two to three years, but this is a very easy drinking beer I greatly enjoyed despite me not liking brown ales usually. The only DFH I like. But I don't *love* it, and it costs like $3/six more than other stuff, so gently caress it.
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Apr 3, 2012 03:25
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CalvinDooglas posted:Boulder Beer has at least three good beers: Flashback, Mojo, and Hopped and Infused. Mojo is a great IPA. It's Hazed and Infused, but yes....all good. Sweaty Betty from Boulder not only sounds disgusting, it is disgusting.
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Apr 3, 2012 03:29
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So a local store got in some bottles of Lost Abbey Red Poppy. This would be a big deal as it's one of the few beers my wife will drink, but it's seventeen dollars for a 12 ounce bottle. I had it on tap early last year, and it was good, but not $17/12oz good. Are they gouging or is that what the drat thing actually costs?
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Apr 3, 2012 03:35
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I'm drinking the DFH 75 Minute IPA and it's pretty delicious. Nice malty profile with a nice hit of hops, but it isn't overwhelming. While the hop profile feels more West Coast, they're definitely at an East Coast intensity. The maple is very, very subtle and it is completely possible that it's all in my mind, but it just tastes really nice.
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Apr 3, 2012 03:43
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Docjowles posted:If you get Boulder Beer in your area, they make Flashback India Brown Ale which is pretty darn good. Thanks for the tip, I've only had Obovoid, an oak aged oatmeal stout, and thought it had qualities similar to Parabola but lacked a lot. I'll look for it. I've always passed by their beers though and I don't know why. Arnold of Soissons posted:The only DFH I like. But I don't *love* it, and it costs like $3/six more than other stuff, so gently caress it. I don't love it either, the only brown ale I've ever loved was Surly's Coffee Bender but that's next level beer to me. IBA is only $9 a 6 pack here though so it's priced well.
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Apr 3, 2012 03:57
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I've had a few bottles of Hoptimum over the last two weeks and I declare it the best Big (9%+) Imperial IPA on the market. This is how you do an maxed out IPA. Very high bitterness, very high hoppiness and very high alcohol but "balance" it out so that its pleasant and drinkable. Low sweetness from being fairly dry and low specialty malts, but enough to support the bracing bitterness and hoppiness. Way better than this years hopslam and its not a sweet cloying mess like a lot of IPAs in this category get like say Maharaja. Was at a Big Beer Tasting last night and we cleared out a liver destroying amount of high ABV beers that for the most part were pretty good.    I brought this one and it actually drank pretty drat nice for 17.5% ABV. Some sweetness, fair amount of roasted barley / dark chocolate and a nice smoked almost espresso like character. Highlights and general musings of the night Finally had 2011 Bourbon County Coffee and it was pretty good, would love to try it fresh! Abacus 2011 and Sucaba 2012 side by side were pretty drat close to the same beer, with 2012 being a little dryer and less malty but mostly the same expression. 2005 Avery Samaels Oak Aged tastes like a nice sherry or maderia, very tasty. 2004 Avery The Beast still tastes like The Beast. 1994 Sam Adams Triple Bock was finally drinking like a good beer instead of a gross soy sauce mess. Extreme richness like a tawny port, lots of dark malt character and some maple actually coming out. Only took 18 years. KBS is always good and just gets better with age (10-11-12 vertical that I almost didn't get there in time for but caught some small sips). One of my homebrewing buddies brought a kick rear end Hair of the Dog Adam clone with the official recipe put out by HOTD but he aged it in a rum cask for 6 months and it was just stupidly good.
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Apr 3, 2012 04:58
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On DFH, if you haven't had Sah'tea you haven't had life, man. I love weird-rear end beers though, which is why I don't really post in this thread too often.
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Apr 3, 2012 05:09
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rage-saq posted:its not a sweet cloying mess like a lot of IPAs in this category get like say Maharaja. I know tastebuds and poo poo, but you should get yours or the bottle you had checked.
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Apr 3, 2012 05:10
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quadrophrenic posted:On DFH, if you haven't had Sah'tea you haven't had life, man. I agree - Sah'tea is wonderful and very different from most other beers that I have come across. DFH is probably my favorite brewery, simply due to the bizarre stuff they put out. It might not all be the best, but it is always interesting and worth picking up a bottle of. I still need to get my hands on a Bitches Brew and a 120 
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Apr 3, 2012 05:13
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FreelanceSocialist posted:I agree - Sah'tea is wonderful and very different from most other beers that I have come across. DFH is probably my favorite brewery, simply due to the bizarre stuff they put out. It might not all be the best, but it is always interesting and worth picking up a bottle of. I still need to get my hands on a Bitches Brew and a 120 120 has only been good, imo, with a year on it. At that point, like WWS, it becomes a world class beer. Question for all though:  Guy says he bought the Westy 12 on Ebay and I've never seen Westy 12 with labels on it. Wikipedia says some importers in the US require labels and Google image search shows some similar. I thought that Westleveteran didn't allow the commercial selling of their beer though and it had to be bought at the brewery. What gives?
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Apr 3, 2012 05:22
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Midorka posted:Guy says he bought the Westy 12 on Ebay and I've never seen Westy 12 with labels on it. Wikipedia says some importers in the US require labels and Google image search shows some similar. I thought that Westleveteran didn't allow the commercial selling of their beer though and it had to be bought at the brewery. What gives? They are doing a big distribution burst to a bunch of different countries to help raise money for an expansion on the monastery. They haven't been released in the US yet, and they have labels/glasses with the limited edition box set they're releasing. They will eventually be released in the US, but they will probably sell out crazy fast, and go for a crazy high price. I'm still going to try to get a box!
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Apr 3, 2012 05:24
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Kudosx posted:They are doing a big distribution burst to a bunch of different countries to help raise money for an expansion on the monastery. They haven't been released in the US yet, and they have labels/glasses with the limited edition box set they're releasing. They will eventually be released in the US, but they will probably sell out crazy fast, and go for a crazy high price. I'm still going to try to get a box! None of the labels match the one pictured. I can't find any information on the one pictured. The ones that come to the US will more than likely be blank as the brewery has not printed labels since 1945, according to Wikipedia.
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Apr 3, 2012 05:28
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Midorka posted:None of the labels match the one pictured. I can't find any information on the one pictured. The ones that come to the US will more than likely be blank as the brewery has not printed labels since 1945, according to Wikipedia. lol, yes they have. You see them in the picture. Wikipedia makes people stupid, this is why we can't have nice things http://www.beerpulse.com/2012/03/westvleteren-xii-release-pushed-back-to-june-suggested-retail-price-set-at-85/ The article says they're being released in June in the US. They have already been released in Ireland, The Netherlands, and other European countries. They have labels in these countries, because they are released in the gift pack. Kudosx fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Apr 3, 2012 |
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Apr 3, 2012 05:36
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Kudosx posted:lol, yes they have. You see them in the picture. This is why wikipedia makes people stupid. Well, I feel stupid. Oh well. I still think people are idiots spending $200+ on the gift sets, then again I think people are retarded spending $200+ on DLD tickets. Edit: And I don't think that's Westleveteren labeling for what it's worth, I think it's the importers.
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Apr 3, 2012 05:42
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Midorka posted:Well, I feel stupid. Oh well. I still think people are idiots spending $200+ on the gift sets, then again I think people are retarded spending $200+ on DLD tickets. Looks like the label was made up by the imported/distributors. Hopefully a few gift sets make their way towards my neck of the woods, and hopefully they're not marked above $100! I'd gladly buy a gift set and stash most of them away for special occasions, even if it's not any better than St. Bernardus, I still want some! Kudosx fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Apr 3, 2012 |
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Apr 3, 2012 05:44
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I'll definitely buy a gift set, but I'll definitely never buy it again even if it blows my mind. I've heard it's pretty much the same thing as ABT 12 and this, seemingly, educated poster here indicates it's simply a matter of yeast strain that's different:quote:Actually, in 1946 St. Bernardus (then Sint-Sixtus of Westvleteren) was licensed to brew Westvleteren because they did not want to commercialize the beer. They used the original recipe, yeast strain and know-how as the monks in the monastery. Their license came to an end in 1992, but they continue to brew it under the name St. Bernardus. In fact, they are more true to the original recipe than Westvleteren because they are still using the original yeast strain. Whereas Westvleteren switched to Westmalle yeast and new recipe I believe. I don't know if he's right but I've heard similar in the past. So far I have tried ABT 12 twice and was rather indifferent, but Rochefort 10 was on a whole nother level imo.
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Apr 3, 2012 05:50
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Midorka posted:I know tastebuds and poo poo, but you should get yours or the bottle you had checked. I've had Maharaja tons and tons of times, I can barely stand more than two or three ounces of IPAs like this anymore. Prior to 2007 it used to not be as sweet and I enjoyed it more, but Avery pulled out of AZ last year so I wont get any 2012 so I don't know if its gone back to its leaner, dryer self. Something about the pale malt grist, loads of bitterness, high alcohol and high final gravity just really puts it into yucky-feeling-in-the-mouth cloying, some American Barleywines doing the same thing. I suspect that some water chemistry property like final pH, chloride, sulfate or sodium levels (or combinations thereof) might be a contributing factor because some big IPAs I just can't get enough of and a lot of them I can't drainpour fast enough. Sierra Nevada gets it right on all counts with Hoptimum and Torpedo.
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Apr 3, 2012 05:52
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Midorka posted:quote: Thats pretty close. A homebrewing companion book called "Brew Like A Monk" by Stan Hieronymus (which is an extremely excellent beer/brewing book) covered all the trappists in great detail, visiting all of the monestaries and prominent abbeys and talking with the brewers (monks and laypeople alike) to get a really good history. He doesn't list out every last detail but the general recent history timeline in the book goes like: Westvleteren was growing pretty large in 1946 and they decided to sell all the cafe's (except the one across the street, In De Vrede) and have the beer produced under license by St Bernardus until in 1989 when they decided to overhaul the St Sixtus brewhouse and began brewing once again in 1992. Previous to the reopening in 1992 the St Sixtus/Westvleteren had used their own yeast they had used from god knows when and it is theorized that when the head brewer from Westvleteren went to St Bernardus to set up brewing of their beers he probably brought some of the house yeast with him. It is also theorized that the St Bernardus 12 and others are related to the old original Westvleteren beers and may still use the same house yeast. They now use the classic yeast by Westmalle but in a different way.
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Apr 3, 2012 06:05
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rage-saq: I actually have a 3rd edition of that Nogne O Dark Horizon. Have you tried more than one batch? Curious to see how different they might be.
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Apr 3, 2012 06:12
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