The Beer Thread: Mach 2

[axeman90210]

Really? That's funny, all three Chimay beers are fairly ubiquitous here. Even non craft liquor stores will have them sometimes.

[King Postwhore]

So, we have a great time at the Amesbury Ale House last night.  First I've start with the food.  The app. was shaved onion with a spicy ketchup,  very ggod.  The main course was a smoked chicken ravioli in a light white sauce.  It was very good and seemed very light.  The smoked gouda cheese in the ravioli made the dish.

So my first beer was a sampler of 4, 5oz Sierra Nevada specialty beers.  I had the Hoptimum,  a nice malty drink. At 10.4%, it was the only beer worth drinking.  I was very disapointed with Sierra Nevada.  Th reast of the beers lacked character at just seemed to strong in an alcohol flavor.  I'll just list the other 3 beers.  Bigfoot(Malty/hops) at 9.6%. Jack & Ken(Barleywine)8.2%. Grand Cru(blend of Bigfoot/Pale Ale/Celebration Ale)9.2%.

The second batch of samples I had was top notch compared to Sierra Nevada.  First was Allagash Curieux.  A tripple ageg in bourbon barrels.  So smooth with a hint of banana & caramel.  It didn't even seem like it wasthat high in alcohol at 11%.

Next was Piraat Belgan IPA.  Another tripel loaded with hops.  Had a good zing to it and again the alcohol is well hidden even though it's at 10.5%  Fruit aroma in abundance here.

The third was Lagunitas Olde Gnarleywine.  A dark copper color with a fruity, hoppy taste tht becomes a hint of sugar.  Not much head on this one but very tastefull and again the alcohol is hidden in it's delishious flavor at 11%.

Last, like a desert was the Southern Tier Choklat stout. 11% Talk about for the love of chocolate!!  I never get sick of the beer.  This is the best of the best for chocolate stouts!

Well there you have it!

[Tick]

My favorite Summer beer is Corona.
My favorite all around beer is Sam Adams Boston Lager.
I had a couple Guinness on tap at an Irish pub in NYC on Monday. Delicious!

[axeman90210]

I hit review number 200 on Beer Advocate tonight (or rather am in the process of doing so) and opened a bottle of something special to do so. Goose Island releases their Bourbon County Brand Stout every year, and in 2010 they released a few variations on that beer. The crown jewel I guess of last year's releases was Bourbon County Brand Rare Stout, which was aged in 23 year Pappy Van Winkle barrels instead of whatever brand they usually use. I'd be embarrassed to admit what this ran in stores, but it's absolutely incredible. An absolutele chocolate bomb, with supporting roles from vanilla and a smooth whiskey bite, with just a hint of oak. One of the best beers I've tasted in my life.

[dongringo]

Living in Beer City USA (Portland, OR) where there are 46 microbreweries, good beer is literally at every bar, restaurant and pizza joint, and of course at the breweries themselves. Kind of take it for granted these days actually.

[axeman90210]

Color me jealous. Portland's one of my tip places to visit for a beercation (behind only Belgium and California).

[dongringo]

Haha You get used to it after awhile.

[Sigz]

Yesterday at lunch I had an Innis & Gunn oak aged rum cask beer, it was really interesting. My food kinda fucked with the taste though, so I'll have to get it again to give a full rundown. I also have a bottle of the normal oak aged beer, so I'll have to give that a go soon.

[King Postwhore]

I forgot to add what my wife had while we were at the Ales House.  Of course I sampled the ones I did not have.

Sampler #1

Sierra Nevada --Hoptimum
Hill Farmstead--Holger  7.5%   A Smoked brown ale.  brown ales are my least favorite beers but this had some character to it.
Gulden Draak--Belgian dark ale at 10.5%  I loved it.  Dark belgians are my favs.
Smuttynose S'muttonatoe 8.5%  Doppelbock.  Very good.  I've had it before

Sampler #2

Haandbryggeriet Menno & Jens--7%  A beer made with no hops that is made from yarrow, myricagale & mugwort.  It's a true gruit beer and very unique herb ale.  Very sweet to the taste buds.  Very interesting.

Allagash White Ale.  5.2%  What more can I say about this perfect unfiltered white ale.

BBS Coffeehouse Poter.  6.2%  What can I say about one of my favorite local brewers.  This is a top notch porter with nodes of chocolate.

Dogfish Head Red and White. 10%  A white ale that is made with pinot noir juices and fermented.  Hints of cherry and sweet but drinkable.  A beer worth taking you time with.

[axeman90210]

Can not wait for this weekend One of the recent additions to the beer list is Dogfish Head's Palo Santo Marron (a big 12% brown ale aged on Palo Santo wood) run through a Randall with bacon and roasted habaneros. Fucking win right there

[axeman90210]

Getting ready to crash for the night so I can get up and head to Boston for Extreme Beer Fest. Here's some of what I'm looking forward to

Friday Night (Night of the Barrels):
Sam Adams Utopias
Sam Adams WTF (the notes for this beer say "No notes give, just drink it")
Ommegang 3 Philosophers aged on bourbon
Cambridge Brewing dubbel aged in bourbon barrels
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron through a bacon and habanero Randall
Firestone Walker 13 (the anniversary blend predecessor to 14, which is abso-fucking-lutely incredible)
Firestone Walker Abacus (barrel aged English Barleywine, and a main component of the anniversary blends)
Pretty Things Baby Tree aged in wood
Pretty Things White Fluffy Rabbits dry hopped while aged in wood
Short's Whiskey Sour (their tasty Key Lime Pie beer aged in whiskey barrels)
Short's Strawberry Milkshake
The Bruery Black Tuesday (18% barrel aged imperial stout)
The Lost Abbey Sinner's Club Blend 2010 (a blended wild ale available only to their club members)
The Lost Abbey Double Fruited Framboise de Amarosa (2x raspberry multiplier, this was an all star from Belgian Beer Fest back in the fall)

Saturday Sessions
Cambridge Brewing Rose de Cambrinus (blend of wild ales aged on cherries and raspberries)
Dogfish Head World Wide Stout through espresso-packed Randall
Dogfish Head Namaste (wit with lemongrass)
Ithaca 13 (hoppy imperial wit)
Ithaca LeBleu (wild ale aged on blueberries)
Short's Almond Joy
Short's Another Caucasian Gary (White Russian Inspired)
Sierra Nevada (1996 vintage Bigfoot Barleywine)
The Bruery Hottenroth (Berliner Weiss)
The Bruery Melange #3 (barrel aged blend of beers)
The Bruery/Cigar City ISo/FT: (barrel aged imperial red sour)
The Lost Abbey Cuvee de Tomme (blend of barrel aged sour quads on cherries of different ages)

[King Postwhore]

I am happy for you but sad for me.  But my brother is having a party over his house so I have a whole bunch of good beers there.  I expect a full report on each night!

[axeman90210]

Definitely. You may have to wait a couple days though as I'm not bringing my laptop with me and a recap post would be a lot of typing on my Blackberry

[King Postwhore]

Wuss   I'd love to see one post in drunken gibberish!!

[axeman90210]

Well, I'm not gonna lie, I'm hurting a little bit this morning. I tried everything on the list except Black Tuesday, and a bunch of other stuff as well...

Allagash Bourbon Barrel Black
Allagash Indigenuts
Avery Dihos Dactylion
Avery Samael's
Avery Quinquepartite
Cambridge Brewing Nomi Sugi (beer/sake hybrid)
Cascade Kriek 2008
Cigar City White Oak IPA
Clipper City One Eyed Woody
Ithaca SuperBlends (wild IPA)
Sierra Nevada 2x4
Stone Crime and Punishment (2 of their beers with extra dry hops and chili peppers)
Lost Abbey Veritas 008
Lost Abbey Double Fruited Red Poppy

There was a lot of good beer, but not much that really stood out. Well, Sam Adams WTF stood out, but only because it was awful. Whenever I was working but had nothing to do I would just stand by their table and listen to everyone's reactions to trying WTF

[King Postwhore]

So the title is poetic then.

That sake hybrid sound good as well as the Allagash Indigenuts
.

[King Postwhore]

Well my brother and sis in law got me a beer club of the month for a year!  It starts in April.  Man do they know me!

[axeman90210]

Alright, let's see if I can remember everything that I drank on Saturday

Allagash Vrienden
San Adams Wee Heavy
Cambridge Brewing Rose de Cambrinus
Captain Lawrence 5 Years Later
Captain Lawrence Saturday's Sour Blend 2011
Dogfish Head Fungus Tea'mungus
Dogfish Head Pappaskull
Dogfish Head Namaste
Dogfish Head World Wide Stout through espresso beans
Dogfish head Noble Rot
Firestone Walker experimental sour ale
Firestone Walker Velvet Merkin
Founders Red's Rye IPA
Founders Double Trouble DIPA
Founders All Day IPA
Founders Nemesis 2010
Founder Kaiser Curmudgeon
Founders Backwoods Bastard
Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout x4
Harpoon 2009 Chocolate Stout infected with brettanomyces
Harpoon Uncle Fester
Haverhill Fire and Weiss
Hill Farmstead Ephraim
Ithaca LeBleu
Ithaca 13
New England Brewing Company 668: The Neighbor of the Beast
New England Brewing Company Imperial Stout Trooper x2-3
Short's Almond Joy
Short's Another Caucasian Gary
Short's Pineapple Upsidedown
Sierra Nevada 1996 Vintage Bigfoot
Sierra Nevada Peach Pit Ale
Sierra Nevada Saison de Haricot
Sierra Nevada Ovila Abbey Dubbel
Sixpoint Bolshoi
Sixpoint Berserker Bock
Stone Supremely Self Conscious Ale
Stone Smoked Porter with vanilla beans
The Bruery Hottenroth
The Bruery Melange #3
The Bruery Black Tuesday
The Bruery Pintolamicus
The Lost Abbey 2010 Brandy Barrel Angel's Share
The Lost Abbey Cuvee de Tomme x2
Weyerbacher Quatro Krazy
Wormtown MassWHole
Wormtown CocoNutty
Wormtown Egg Nog Ale

and that's not even counting all the drinking the volunteers did after cleanup. Gee, now I know why Sunday morning was so painful

[King Postwhore]

Holt shit that was an outstanding list!!  How was the breakfast at sunset Bill?

[axeman90210]

In a word, a shitshow. I've always said it, but the service at Sunset drops off a fucking cliff when it gets busy. I don't know if they understaff or just have not the best waitstaff, but it gets pretty unfortunate. The food was fine, and I had a mimosa made with a splash of Namaste (witbier from Dogfish Head) that was pretty tasty, but everything took forever. Also, despite asking politely when we first went to order, our waitress refused to do split checks for a table full of strangers. Then when I ordered a beer and asked for the table's bill it took 15+ minutes plus to get those things, meaning I had time to enjoy about a third of my beer before I had to dash off to catch the bus home.

[King Postwhore]

So I had my first White Birch Brewing beer last night.  It was their Indulgence Ale.   To say this is an ale seem weird to me because it seemed more of a coffee porter to me.  Very nice flavor with a hint of chocolate and it hides the alcohol well.  ABV's 8%.

[axeman90210]

I had a couple White Birch brews last year, and they were pretty good, but a bit expensive for me to pick up. They do have a lot of interesting beers though, so I might try some more of their stuff it was something that interested me more than a straightforward Belgian Pale Ale or Tripel.

Last night my cousin and I split bottles of Sweetwater's Rye'd Ale (not bad, but a bit old) and Hickory Stick Stout from Olde Hickory brewery (received as a trade extra, solid stout). Then I cracked a bottle of Heavy Seas/Clipper City Holy Sheet, a self described "Uber-Abbey Ale", but basically just a ~9% Belgian Strong Dark Ale. I didn't hate drinking it, but to my mind when you aim to brew in the Belgian style you have to compete with some of the world's finest, especially when it comes to body and mouthfeel, and this one just didn't measure up. The whole charm of these beers is that they pack a ton of malt flavor while still finishing somewhat dry, so that the body's not too heavy. At the same time they're usually fairly highly carbonated, giving them almost a spritzy character sometimes. This one though finished too sweet and the carbonation was inadequate and low, and the result was a cloyingly sweet, syrupy beer.

[Elsydeon]

I'm doing a trip to new hampshire for the week, just picked up a pack of sam adams irish red and dogfish head indian brown ale for it. Good choices? First time trying them

[King Postwhore]

The Sam Adams is ok but I do like the Dogfish Head indian brown ale and I'm not keen on brown ales.  Remeber all the Dogfish Heads are quite unique and bold in flavor(mostly).  What so you normally drink Elsydeon?

[Elsydeon]

Well the 60min ipa has become a favorite of mine recently. Usually I'll pick up that or a sam adams seasonal

[King Postwhore]

where at you going in NH?  There's a few good beer stops

[Elsydeon]

Up at bretton woods near mt Washington

[King Postwhore]

Here's a link to brewpubs in the N.H. mountain region.  Enjoy!


https://www.nhliving.com/microbreweries/whitemtns.shtml

[King Postwhore]

So Bill.  here's the weekend of debauchery.

Friday at 99 Restaurant--  Sam Adam's Noble Pils.

Friday at Sunset-- Sampler #1-- Brooklyn Monster Ale Barleywine
Shared with the Mrs.                 Dogfish Head My Antonia
                                             Harpoon Oyster Stout
                                             Cisco's Santa Beered

                          Sampler #2-- Dogfish Head Red & White
                                             Dogfish Head Burton Baton
                                             Mort Subite Kreik

                          Sampler #3-- Pierta Bier De Garde
                                             Klokke Roeland
                                             Corsendonk Christmas Ale
                                             Lost Abbey Brandy Barrel Angel Share

                          One Glass--- Lexington Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale

Sat-- At  The Barley House in Concord N.H

                                             Barley House 10 Year Pale(Harpoon made)
                                             Three Philosophers--Belgium Style Quad

Sunday at home                       Sam Adams---Wee Heavy
                                             Breckenridge---Vanilla Porter
                                             Dogfish Head---Midas Touch


This week.  Not much drinking!
                         


                             

[axeman90210]

that's a whole lotta tasty beer for one weekend ( Angel's Share). My buddy came over the other night and while shooting the shit for about 4 hours we went through bottles of Sam Adams/Weihenstephan Infinium (major fail), Ommegang Adoration (tasty spiced winter belgian), Sweetwater Mean Joe Bean (very good coffee imperial porter), and finally cracked a bottle of 2010 Imperial Storm Trooper. Tonight I've got a few bottles from the Southampton release I went to back in January lined up, and I'll also be continuing my love affair with Allagash White as a spring beer

[Sigz]

Found an awesome beer seller in the Boroughs Market the other day, here's my (relatively small) haul:





From left to right:

Leffe 9 - 9% ABV leffe, I'm ultra psyched cause thus far I've only had the Brunne and Blonde brews but they're two of my favorites so far.
Chimay Red and Blue - I've only had Red before but it was amazing
Delerium Red - I'm visiting this bar when I got to Brussels next weekend , and the bottle is ceramic, it's badass
La Trappe Witte Trappist - I knew nothing about this when I bought it, but it has good reviews on Beer Advocate
Hel & Verdoemenis - Same as above, but it has even better reviews on Beer Advocate


God I love Belgian beer.

[Sigz]

HOLY FUCK This Witte Trappist is amazing.

[TheVoxyn]

You typing a bit in Dutch is amazing.

[Sigz]

wat

[TheVoxyn]

Witte Trapist