The Beer Thread

[sweetcell]

Obama Plays Up Love of Beer to Ferment Coalition of the Swilling
http://magicvalley.com/news/national/obama-plays-up-love-of-beer-to-ferment-coalition-of/article_1ec56eb2-e7c6-11e1-afb0-0019bb2963f4.html

[James Ford]

What day did you try to get the Heady Topper? Per the brewery blog, deliveries are made to the Burlington area on Wednesdays:

We have been running out of Heady Topper here at our retail shop consistently for the past 6 weeks.  This tends to happen on either Sunday or late Saturday afternoon- depending on how busy the weekend traffic is.  If you are planning a visit to the brewery to purchase Heady Topper, please keep in mind that we ?can? each Monday and Thursday.  These are great days to visit as you are guaranteed as much fresh beer as you want.  If visiting on a weekend, Fridays and early Saturday are generally great (we open at 11am).  At this point, the only retailers in the state of Vermont who carry Heady Topper are in our designated distribution territory- Burlington, Montpelier, Mad River Valley and Stowe.  Our delivery truck goes to Burlington/Winooski/Richmond on Wednesdays, and Montpelier/Mad River Valley/Stowe on Fridays.  More information on each retailer can be found on our website.

Unfortunately, we can no longer let retailers outside of our distribution area pick up Heady Topper for resale.  We now have multiple retailers in each town that are interested in carrying Heady Topper, but we are unable to fill every account interested.  By law, you cannot ?pick and choose? your accounts within the same area.  So, we are unable to sell to a select group of retailers until we have enough to get it to everyone.  AND WE ARE WORKING ON IT.

heady topper... so delicious. look out for maine lunch IPA too.

will do, thanks for the recommendation - beer dork WIN.

just like the heady topper, Lunch is sold out throughout the region... beer dork FAIL.

instead i picked up Maine Beer Co's "Zoe" ("our happy, hoppy amber") as a consolation.  also got Long Trail's Imperial Pumpkin (from their Brewmasters series).  both have good scores on BA.

[sweetcell]

What day did you try to get the Heady Topper? Per the brewery blog, deliveries are made to the Burlington area on Wednesdays:

the problem for me isn't "when", it's "where".  a local beer store is listed as an official retailer of HT, but they haven't had it for a few weeks and won't be getting it again until november (i.e. when their doubled capacity comes online).

Lunch was also sold out in the 3 places i checked around here.  tough goin'.

however...

[sweetcell]

i may well have the best in-laws ever.

gonna hafta think about this, but heady topper might be the best DIPA i've ever tasted.

[sweetcell]

instead i picked up Maine Beer Co's "Zoe" ("our happy, hoppy amber") as a consolation.  also got Long Trail's Imperial Pumpkin (from their Brewmasters series).  both have good scores on BA.

the Zoe was was a delightful surprise.  a nice hoppy amber.  recommended. 

the LT imperial pumpkin was another winner.  might be the best pumpkin beer i've ever tasted.

heady topper is indeed the best DIPA/IIPA i've ever had.  only 3 cans left...

since i couldn't find any Lunch while in VT, i headed over to the Harpoon brewery which is just a few miles away from the in-laws:
- 100 Barrel Series #42 Ginger Wheat is very gingery, and a hit with the missus.  other than a strong ginger flavor i don't find it has much going for it.
- 100 Barrel Series #43 White IPA is a highly hopped imperial wheat, and it's frikken delicious.  wish i had picked up more of these.
- Leviathan Great Scott Ale: this one is a "miss" for me.  i'm only so-so on wee heavies and this isn't a particularly good example of the style.  i'll probably end up saving the 3 bottles i have left for guests that like heavy malt/low hop beers.  maybe it'll age nicely... i'm likely to forgot about this one.
- Leviathan Red Squared: an imperial red ale that has a great citrus kick.  not sure if i like this one as much or more than that Zoe - but it's a definite winner.
- Also had a glass of their Imperial IPA on draft, which is quite respectable.  no match for the Heady Topper but it stands its own ground. 
- the UFO pumpkin should be avoided.

[James Ford]

I love how sweetcell is becoming such a hophead! 

Thanks for the info, hope to pick up some HT and Zoe on my trip next week.

[Yada]

i may well have the best in-laws ever.

gonna hafta think about this, but heady topper might be the best DIPA i've ever tasted.

It is completely delicious but I think Pliny beats it out by a hop.

[sweetcell]

I love how sweetcell is becoming such a hophead! 

no!  it's not true!  i mean, not really.  at least not a whole lot.

ok fine, i like hoppy beers.  i'm still very picky about my hop-bombs, tho.  to date i've disliked more 100+ IBU beers than i've liked, which is why i'm so vocal about the ones i do like.

there, ya happy now?!?

Thanks for the info, hope to pick up some HT and Zoe on my trip next week.

Maine's "Peeper" also looks decent (highly hopped APA), but Zoe looks better/more interesting.  certainly tasted great!

if you can't make it to the Alchemist brewery, try to hit the retail shops late on delivery day or early the next.  call ahead.  some places might even be willing to put aside a few cans for you.

It is completely delicious but I think Pliny beats it out by a hop.

i haven't had the pleasure of trying a Pliny yet, so i'll reserve judgement. 

if anyone has a fresh Pliny to trade, I still have 2 cans of Heady left, fresh from last thursday's batch.  likely to be only 1 can by the time i finish mowing the lawn.

[Yada]

i haven't had the pleasure of trying a Pliny yet, so i'll reserve judgement. 

if anyone has a fresh Pliny to trade, I still have 2 cans of Heady left, fresh from last thursday's batch.  likely to be only 1 can by the time i finish mowing the lawn.

This place has Pliny regularly, but way over priced... still delicious though!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/connecticut-avenue-wine-and-liquors-washington

[brennser]

Just found out I'm headed to NoCal tomorrow on a surprise birthday trip.....Russian River, Lagunitas, Bear Republic and more, here I come!!! 

[sweetcell]

a few beer-related events:

NASA Crab Feast 2012 (brought to you by the Free State Homebrew Club Guild)
http://mdhomebrewers.com/crab/
Goddard Space Flight Center Recreation Center
Saturday, September 15, 2012 Noon-6 pm
$35 for all-you can eat crabs and more, cask ale & other craft beers, etc

Baltimore Beer Week
October 19-28
http://www.baltimorebeerweek.com/

[sweetcell]

i haven't had the pleasure of trying a Pliny yet, so i'll reserve judgement. 

if anyone has a fresh Pliny to trade, I still have 2 cans of Heady left, fresh from last thursday's batch.  likely to be only 1 can by the time i finish mowing the lawn.

This place has Pliny regularly, but way over priced... still delicious though!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/connecticut-avenue-wine-and-liquors-washington

checked it out yesterday - $19.99 a bottle

no thanks.  i'll wait.

[Yada]

i haven't had the pleasure of trying a Pliny yet, so i'll reserve judgement. 

if anyone has a fresh Pliny to trade, I still have 2 cans of Heady left, fresh from last thursday's batch.  likely to be only 1 can by the time i finish mowing the lawn.

This place has Pliny regularly, but way over priced... still delicious though!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/connecticut-avenue-wine-and-liquors-washington

checked it out yesterday - $19.99 a bottle

no thanks.  i'll wait.

damn... It was $14.99 the last I went there. Interesting.

[Jaguar]

So much for champagne taste on a beer budget! 

[James Ford]

Stopped at the Alchemist Brewery (0.3 miles from Ben and Jerry's factory!) and Prohibition Pig in Waterbury, VT yesterday. Game, set, and match to Heady Topper. Holy crap. The US Open is now closed. Also had some fine Vermont beers from Hill Farmstead, Lawson's, and Zero Gravity. And picked up a bottle of Maine Beer Co. Zoe.

Add that to two days in Montreal drinking Dieu de Ciel on draft at ther brewpub, as well as stops at the Ommegang Cafe and Troegs tasting room...and it's been quite a road trip!