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Doh004 posted:Bart yelled at me to post in this here thread because I said I don't enjoy Christmas beers because they taste like super bitter Christmas trees. My friends would always get happy when they should start buying the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale and I just never got it. Would anyone happen to have some suggestions for "Christmas" beers? I generally enjoy "Winter" beers (lagers), it's just a huge amount of hops that I don't like (not a big fan of super overly hopped IPA's either, even though I like floral ones). i think Celebration is kind of the exception to what is generally considered "Christmas beer"- that is, English-style ales that are sweet, super-malty, generally with a bit of booziness and often spiced. maybe check out beers with "winter warmer" on the label (Sam Adams'Old Fezziwig is pretty good if you snag their seasonal mixed case)
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Nov 27, 2012 17:18
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Doh004 posted:Bart yelled at me to post in this here thread because I said I don't enjoy Christmas beers because they taste like super bitter Christmas trees. My friends would always get happy when they should start buying the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale and I just never got it. Would anyone happen to have some suggestions for "Christmas" beers? I generally enjoy "Winter" beers (lagers), it's just a huge amount of hops that I don't like (not a big fan of super overly hopped IPA's either, even though I like floral ones). I would suggest trying one of the maltier winter beers. Some of my favorites that I can find around me are Deschutes Jubelale, and Odell's Isolation Ale. Both are pretty sweet and have a lot of nice malt character. Isolation Ale is more caramel-tasting and all around brighter in my mind, both in color and in flavor. Jubelale is much darker, roastier, and fruitier. Sierra Nevada actually put 'Fresh Hop beer' on the boxes for this year's Celebration due to people expecting something darker and with the entire spice rack dumped in. global tetrahedron fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Nov 27, 2012 |
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Nov 27, 2012 17:20
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Doh004 posted:Bart yelled at me to post in this here thread because I said I don't enjoy Christmas beers because they taste like super bitter Christmas trees. My friends would always get happy when they should start buying the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale and I just never got it. Would anyone happen to have some suggestions for "Christmas" beers? I generally enjoy "Winter" beers (lagers), it's just a huge amount of hops that I don't like (not a big fan of super overly hopped IPA's either, even though I like floral ones). Sierra Nevada Celebration and Lagunitas Sucks are the exception rather than the rule when it comes to Christmas beers. Those two are really solidly built IPAs that happen to have a Holiday theme on the label. Another exception to the spiced Christmas Beers is Port's Santa's Little Helper, which is really just a really well made RIS. Goose Island Christmas, Great Lakes Christmas, Bruery Five Golden Rings, and any others that say something about cinnamon, clove and ginger on the label will be more up your alley, and more of what people think of as Christmas Beers.
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Nov 27, 2012 17:23
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swickles posted:So I am surprising my girlfriend for Christmas/New Year's and taking her to see Wicked in Tampa in January. While we are there, I plan on going to Cigar City and Peg's Cantina (hopefully Rare Dos will still be around). I am super excited, CCB is easily my favorite brewery and I have never been there despite living only a few hours away. Anyone have any other Tampa area suggestions on places for beer or food? Datz Delicatessen rules, they've got a nice craft beer menu and awesome food. I'll also second the 7eventh Sun/Dunedin stop, what I'll usually do is hit up 7eventh Sun for some beers, Dunedin for food, then Lueken's Liquors for bottles.
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Nov 27, 2012 17:45
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Got to try 23 cask beers at the Triangle Brewing Black Friday cask fest, which was an awesomely laid back event. Lonerider's Dead Eye Jack on vanilla and cocoa was great, as was Liberty's Amber Waves, and Triangle's Habanero Pale Ale remains my absolute favorite pepper beer. The cask version was a bit hotter than what I remember from having it on draft, but that could have been a function of the temperature and lowered CO2. Past that, I made some notes but I'm not sure I'd trust them too much, especially after the first 12 or so. They said 2 oz pours, but most servers were filling 'em nearly to the brim, so more like 4-6 oz pours on average. It is hard to beat a cask beer done right, and it's really hard to beat 23 of them. Also got to randomly snag a Bolt Cutter at my regular store, so a pretty good Thanksgiving weekend.
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Nov 27, 2012 18:06
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Doh004 posted:Would anyone happen to have some suggestions for "Christmas" beers? I generally enjoy "Winter" beers (lagers), it's just a huge amount of hops that I don't like Winter's a good time to reach for high ABV beers in general, even if they aren't explicitly marketed as a winter seasonal. Russian Imperial Stout, Belgian Quad, English Barleywine or Old Ale, German Doppelbock and Weizenbock. These are all very malt-forward, very warming styles well-suited to slow sipping on a cold dark night. edit: Sorry, totally hosed up the quote attribution while copy/pasting poo poo 
Docjowles fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Nov 27, 2012 |
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Nov 27, 2012 18:11
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Retemnav posted:Got to try 23 cask beers at the Triangle Brewing Black Friday cask fest... Did the Roth brothers make a showing with any cask beers? I had a cask Valkyrie w/ plums at their anniversary bash over the summer that was quite good.
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Nov 27, 2012 18:13
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Docjowles posted:Winter's a good time to reach for high ABV beers in general, even if they aren't explicitly marketed as a winter seasonal. Russian Imperial Stout, Belgian Quad, English Barleywine or Old Ale, German Doppelbock and Weizenbock. These are all very malt-forward, very warming styles well-suited to slow sipping on a cold dark night. hey, that wasn't me!
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Nov 27, 2012 18:25
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I'll probably get some crap for this, but as of late one of my favorite "winter" beers is Gordon Biersch's holiday ale (or whatever they're calling it this year).
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Nov 27, 2012 18:48
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FreelanceSocialist posted:Did the Roth brothers make a showing with any cask beers? I had a cask Valkyrie w/ plums at their anniversary bash over the summer that was quite good. No, Roth and Boylan Bridge were the only two Triangle-area breweries not there, I think. Ever done Roth's tour? Coming back down in a few weeks, and they and Big Boss are the only two I haven't toured yet.
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Nov 27, 2012 18:58
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I do like the Anchor christmas beers as well, and usually check how the recipe changes from year to year, even if it tends to be kinda subtle. My new favorite winter beer is Peticolas Wintervention, and of course it's only available in the DFW metroplex. Completely unique interpretation of the style. Winter spices like nutmeg/cinnamon balanced out with caramel malt and toffee notes extremely well. 10% abv is well-hidden, and drinks like it's no more than 5/6%. As far as big beers for the cold go, I'm going to a friend's to have a "barrel-aged only" tasting on Saturday. Totally got my liver prepped and ready. On another note, I was underwhelmed by the Enjoy by 12.21.12. I was expecting something top notch in the lines of PtE/Furious, etc for all the hype, but the piney hop profile was one-dimensional to me and didn't even come near something like Maharaja or Resin. The bright, crisp, citrus flavor in most IIPA's just was not there. I almost feel like they pushed out an average product, with limited lifespan product and low quantity just to drive up demand and hype. air- fucked around with this message at 19:33 on Nov 27, 2012 |
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Nov 27, 2012 19:23
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Retemnav posted:No, Roth and Boylan Bridge were the only two Triangle-area breweries not there, I think. Ever done Roth's tour? Coming back down in a few weeks, and they and Big Boss are the only two I haven't toured yet. Roth's tour is literally a garage in an industrial park off of Glenwood/RT70 just past RDU. Ryan and Eric are awesome, though. Bonus shot of Eric opening a prototype Valkyrie during a beer tasting we hosted awhile back: 
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Nov 27, 2012 20:01
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I don't quite understand how they gave their product a "limited life span". I read about it on their website but that didn't help much either. Seems like pure marketing BS to me unless I'm missing something obvious. DIPAs don't work like that. Doesn't seem like something Stone would do though.
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Nov 27, 2012 20:02
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The world ends on December 21, 2012. Duh.
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Nov 27, 2012 20:06
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Appears that the guy behind Goose Island's barrel aging program is leaving to start his own brewery called Off Color: http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/stew/chi-new-brewery-john-laffler-20121127,0,6788177.story It'll be interesting to see if they can make a bunch of beers that are both tasty and different. They hope to release beer in March, so we'll see where that goes.
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Nov 27, 2012 20:14
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fullroundaction posted:I don't quite understand how they gave their product a "limited life span". I read about it on their website but that didn't help much either. Why don't DIPAs work like that? I know Southern Tier 2XIPA falls apart in the lifespan Stone's given the Enjoy By series.
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Nov 27, 2012 20:17
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fullroundaction posted:I don't quite understand how they gave their product a "limited life span". I read about it on their website but that didn't help much either. Have you tried a IIPA that's over 30+ days old? Big difference in how the hops fade in that time horizon. Honestly not really surprised by Stone pulling a publicity stunt like this too. I mean, they're riding the marketing hard, just look at how their brewery is slowly turning into a Disney World for beer nerds.
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Nov 27, 2012 20:22
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air- posted:
The beer isn't bad, it just tastes a lot like Sculpin to me (its actually cheaper than Sculpin though, but harder to find)
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Nov 27, 2012 20:46
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air- posted:Have you tried a IIPA that's over 30+ days old? Yes. Pretty much every IIPA anyone has ever consumed is 30+ days old. And most of them age perfectly fine. Of course they're going to change, but not that quickly, and they certainly don't "go bad" after a month.
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Nov 27, 2012 20:46
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air- posted:Have you tried a IIPA that's over 30+ days old? Big difference in how the hops fade in that time horizon. I've done this many times. Its noticeable, but its not like the beer's character itself becomes bad or the beer becomes bad. 3 month old Sculpin doesn't taste exactly like fresh Sculpin, but its still a drat tasty beer and I wouldn't mistake it for some other beer. fullroundaction posted:I don't quite understand how they gave their product a "limited life span". I read about it on their website but that didn't help much either. They wrote "12-21-12" on the bottle. They certainly didn't DO something to lower the shelf life. Having looked at the beer, its clearly just as filtered as all of their other beers. Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 20:53 on Nov 27, 2012 |
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Nov 27, 2012 20:50
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Angry Grimace posted:I've done this many times. Its noticeable, but its not like the beer's character itself becomes bad or the beer becomes bad. 3 month old Sculpin doesn't taste exactly like fresh Sculpin, but its still a drat tasty beer and I wouldn't mistake it for some other beer. You're misunderstanding if you think I'm claiming age would turn a hoppy beer into swill. The point is, I don't agree with denying that the fade/age's impact on character/complexity doesn't happen at all (what fullroundaction is saying). To me, there's an easily discernible difference between an IPA (regardless of single/double) that's a couple weeks vs a month or so old. Here's another good read on the topic: http://captainsbeerblog.com/2010/03/23/fading-hops/
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Nov 27, 2012 21:05
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I wasn't saying the beer doesn't change (in fact I said "Of course they're going to change") I was just saying that by the time a IIPA gets to your storefront/shelf it's probably already at least close to a month old, unless it's some gimmicky thing. The idea that IIPAs don't age well or that Stone's needs to be rotated off the shelf a month after it goes up is absolutely stupid/ridiculous. E: I think I'm just mad at Stone's choice of words and maybe I'm missing the point of the product. I don't actually disagree with what anyone has said in this thread. fullroundaction fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Nov 27, 2012 |
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Nov 27, 2012 21:10
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air- posted:You're misunderstanding if you think I'm claiming age would turn a hoppy beer into swill. The point is, I don't agree with denying that the fade/age's impact on character/complexity doesn't happen at all (what fullroundaction is saying). To me, there's an easily discernible difference between an IPA (regardless of single/double) that's a couple weeks vs a month or so old. Here's another good read on the topic: There are plenty of beer geeks who absolutely will not buy a beer unless its sub 1 month, which is kind of over the top in my opinion. Its not really fair to demand breweries keep consumers supplied with sub 1 month beer while simultaneously shipping to half the country. This is why a lot of breweries were resistant to putting bottling dates on their bottles - really demanding consumers refuse to buy them and let the stock go stale.
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Nov 27, 2012 21:16
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ChiTownEddie posted:Appears that the guy behind Goose Island's barrel aging program is leaving to start his own brewery called Off Color: http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/stew/chi-new-brewery-john-laffler-20121127,0,6788177.story Interesting. He's right about the IPA glut, and brewing uncommon styles is a neat idea (especially with an ex-Two Brothers guy; Two Brothers claim when they opened up was brewing uncommon styles, many of which are pretty common now 15 years later). But "the guy behind Goose Island's barrel aging program" isn't exactly what I'd call this guy. In fact, I was at one of the BCBS sessions on Friday and this guy wasn't either of the GI barrel people that were overseeing that one. So while I'm sure he's very talented and it's a loss for GI, the opening paragraphs of this come off as overselling the dude as the father of Bourbon County or something.
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Nov 27, 2012 21:55
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danbanana posted:Interesting. He's right about the IPA glut, and brewing uncommon styles is a neat idea (especially with an ex-Two Brothers guy; Two Brothers claim when they opened up was brewing uncommon styles, many of which are pretty common now 15 years later). Huh? Laffler spoke the whole time at the 4 pm session about the barrel aging program.
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Nov 27, 2012 22:03
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Not to imply I am in any special way 'in the know', but yeah I thought he was running the program for the past few years. Not the father, but just the head. Either way, having stared at the endless amount of IPAs at Binny's last night...I definitely am intrigued to see what they do.
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Nov 27, 2012 22:20
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Yeah as far as I knew, Laffler has been running the BA program for a few years now, and he spoke extensively at the 4pm session. Just hope the quality of the BA stuff doesn't dip. Besides BCBS, the sours are all very good, and Sofie is my favourite year-round GI offering.
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Nov 27, 2012 22:33
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Who kicked off the barrel-aging fad? I remember cask finishes were all the rage in scotch about ten years ago, but finishing beer seems much more recent.
Julio Cesar Fatass fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Nov 27, 2012 |
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Nov 27, 2012 22:53
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J.W. Lees has been doing barrel aged barleywines since at least 1998 (that was the oldest bottle that I've personally had), the barrels were sherry casks. It's not a new idea, but it's much more prominent than it was a few years ago.
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Nov 27, 2012 23:08
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I think Sam Adams claimed to have started it with Triple Bock way back when, but I'm not sure. Beer has been aged in oak for pretty much forever, but I think using spent spirit barrels is a relatively new phenomenon.
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Nov 27, 2012 23:19
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Julio Cesar Fatass posted:Who kicked off the barrel-aging fad? I remember cask finishes were all the rage in scotch about ten years ago, but finishing beer seems much more recent. Of course, beer used to always come in barrels back in the day, but my recollection is that bourbon/liquor barrel aging as a fad really did come from Goose Island.
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Nov 27, 2012 23:21
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Angry Grimace posted:Of course, beer used to always come in barrels back in the day, but my recollection is that bourbon/liquor barrel aging as a fad really did come from Goose Island. That was my understanding. Or at least that's how GI has marketed it.
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Nov 27, 2012 23:31
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Thanks for the Tampa advice guys, I will post pics if we actually do the brewery tour. We might not, since I have seen enough breweries and would rather spend the time in the tasting room.
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Nov 27, 2012 23:41
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Del Norte in Denver appears to be closed. It's a shame; I visited there once and had a very fine afternoon with their lagers. I don't know why they closed but I get the feeling that they expanded too large, too quickly than their finances could support. That or unfortunately maybe they were just in the wrong place, trying to market that in what's generally a pretty cold part of the US, in a city which (for better or for worse) the trendy thing in beer is heavier, darker, nerdier. I spent time for about 2 years in/around Denver and it was always my observation that the beer "scene" over there never gave a crap about DN even when they were aware of them at all. It says something about the bad break Del Norte always seemed to get in that there are now a couple of breweries in the US calling themselves "the first Mexican inspired craft brewery" even though DN was around at least three years before any of them. I bet they woulda done better in Texas.
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Nov 28, 2012 00:21
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crazyfish posted:Yeah as far as I knew, Laffler has been running the BA program for a few years now, and he spoke extensively at the 4pm session. He started at GI in '09. His predecessor was Phil Wymore, who left to head up Half Acre. Prior to Wymore, and the wider distribution of BCBS to other markets around 2008, it was Scott Fujino (who technically was the operations manager, but oversaw the barrel program, IIRC).
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Nov 28, 2012 00:38
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deadwing posted:Datz Delicatessen rules, they've got a nice craft beer menu and awesome food. I'll also second the 7eventh Sun/Dunedin stop, what I'll usually do is hit up 7eventh Sun for some beers, Dunedin for food, then Lueken's Liquors for bottles.
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Nov 28, 2012 03:01
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I haven't tried many things by Deschutes, but goodness their Inversion IPA is one of the best IPAs that I've had in a while. I like it better than that Enjoy By 12/21/12 Sone that just came out.
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Nov 28, 2012 09:13
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Had a small tasting last night with some oddities in it. Midnight Sun Brewtality Espresso Black Bier - I didn't love this beer. There was something odd about it, a fruity off flavor but not a typical "overripe fruit" flaw. Muted coffee flavor, thin mouthfeel, and low perceived alcohol made this sort of like a coffee stout lite, in a weird way. Ska Brewing Mole Stout - an autumn seasonal. It's completely different from Cocoa Mole: drier, with lower chocolate presence. That said, it's a very well-balanced beer that does a nice job of expressing chiles and baking spice with just enough bittersweet chocolate and hops to bring it all together. Really quite good, I'd seek this out in small doses. Epic Ales Desert Ale - This is the Epic in Washington, not the better-known Epic Brewing from SLC. This was also an old bottle, someone picked it up in Seattle a year or so ago. It was sealed with red wax. I have no idea what this tasted like fresh, but last night all I could taste was Hawaiian Punch. Vaguely tropical fruits, red fruits, watery...this was a really weird beer, not offensive but not what I'd call good either. Epic Brewing Big Bad Baptist - From the Utah Epic, and a much better beer. This was Batch 4, bottled in January with Tanzanian coffee beans. For a barrel-aged beer the oak and bourbon flavors were really understated, nicely balanced by the base beer and coffee. I only had a small taste of this and wanted more, it was delicious. Clown Shoes Genghis Pecan - Ugh, gently caress. They brag on the label that this is their first batch with real nuts instead of extract. Unfortunately, the nuts they used were rancid and that rancid flavor transferred into the beer. Could have been enjoyable, but when ingredient QC fails to that degree it's not surprising you end up with a poo poo beer. Oh well, at least the label doesn't disappoint. FW Velvet Merlin - This year's is every bit as good as the last few. Drink this poo poo now, buy bottles to hold for six months to a year, and enjoy one of the best oatmeal stouts on the market. Widmer Brothers South By Northwest (SXNW) - Oh hey, a pecan beer that tastes like fresh pecans. How refreshing! The chiles present more as vegetal than spicy, which I normally don't like but the nuts seem to make it more acceptable. Feels like a slightly off-the-wall winter warmer more than anything. It's an interesting curiosity worth trying in a group.
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Nov 28, 2012 15:47
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Just got word that the local bottle shop I go to here in PA should be getting 1 case of Bourbon County Coffee and my name is on the hold list. Is this best to drink right away, or does a few months to a year do wonders to this particular version of BCBS?
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Nov 28, 2012 16:06
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WaffleStomp posted:Just got word that the local bottle shop I go to here in PA should be getting 1 case of Bourbon County Coffee and my name is on the hold list. Is this best to drink right away, or does a few months to a year do wonders to this particular version of BCBS? This year's seemed more coffee-forward than previous, in my opinion. It's almost over-powering, so I personally think time will do it some good.
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Nov 28, 2012 16:18
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