on saturday night brennser graciously hosted a bottle-sharing party at his place. during the course of the evening we enjoyed:
- a taste-off between the two versions of International Arms Race, a gruit made by both Flying Dog and Brewdog. there was no clear consensus on who's version was better, but folks did agree that these were less than mind-blowing. file under "interesting and glad i tried... somebody else's bottle"
the provider of these bottles was tom, the editor of
http://americancraftbeer.com/.
- james ford brought what was arguably the highlight of the night: a 2 year-old Deschutes'
The Dissident. i'm not a sour guy so the fact that this might have been my fav is really saying something. for kicks, check out the review by"BrewSnob" on the
first page of BA. Ford also brought a Zombie Dust and another pale ale that escapes me at the moment.
- stevewizzle brought it strong with his homebrewed chocolate stout, a small growler of DC Brau Colliding Hemispheres (a just-released dark "IPA"), and a Sam Adams 2011 Infinium (a belgian strong that i thoroughly enjoyed).
- brennser has an amazing cellar, it seems that every time we mentioned a style he'd ask if we'd like another version. sour? he returned with a Russian River Supplication (which we chose over the Beatification). Stout? he produced Upright Brewing's Oyster Stout (mmm, salty). IPA? out came a Pliny the Elder (the nose... the nose!), then backed that up with a Marin White Knuckle. etc.
- my contributions were a bomber of my Mosaic IPA (again, well received) and a Chimay Spéciale Cent Cinquante (this limited release was the abbey's first new recipe in something like 50 years).
i'm sure i'm forgetting some... gents, please chime in. this was easily the biggest & best assortment of beers i have ever had in one sitting. although we were only getting 2-3 oz pours of each one, i was feeling pretty damn toasty by the end.
