The Beer Thread

[atomicfront]

Those three beers combine for a .333 batting average in my book. And although Hoegaarden gets a hit, it's definitely a bloop single.

Leffe Brune is very good though.

I think the regular stuff has always sucked (well ranged from sucky to mediocre). ((My wife is from Chicago, so my Goose Island famliarity goes way back.)

I think the reason that they're on draft at a ballpark in Baltimore and were the only "craft" beer on draft (aside from a Sam Adams brewhouse and it's debateably whether they are craft) when I was recently in the Miami airport are for exactly the reasons you cite.

"On March 28, 2011, Goose Island announced that it will sell its 58% stake in Fulton Street Brewery LLC (the legal name of Goose Island Brewing) to distribution partner Anheuser-Busch. The remaining 42% stake, owned by Craft Brewers Alliance LLC, is also to be purchased by Anheuser-Busch."

coincidence that they suck?

And most likely the reason they have leffe, hoegarden, and stella on draft. So Interbev buying every beer in the world has some positives.

I like Leffe Blonde on tap.  I bought some bottles after drinking it at the game and it wasn't nearly as good.  Not a Stella fan.

[sweetcell]

I think the regular stuff has always sucked (well ranged from sucky to mediocre).

yup, and this pre-dates the AB sale.

[stevewizzle]

enjoyed a few great commercial and non-commercial brews lately...

stone enjoy by is a cant miss.  that shit is gooooood.

weyerbacher insanity was one lushy barleywine, and while i thoroughly enjoyed the bottle i had last night, the rest will be aging. 

enjoyed a dollnitzer ritterguts gose and dc brau's otwoa at the dumpy, dupont donut bar GBD. $4 happy hour beers!

weyerbacher heresy is in the fridge, i'll give that a try tonight.

and a sweetcell ipa. that was very delicious.

[James Ford]

A big beer week for me. Lots of beer from some of the bigger names.
On draft at Fairfax Whole Foods:

Maine Beer Company Mo: Surprisingly mediocre, not on par with Lunch or Zoe
Port City Maniacal: If it's Port City, it's got to be mediocre!
Weyerbacher Heresy: Like the poor man's KBS. Unspectacular, but good nonetheless

24 hours earlier, they had MBC Lunch, Founders Imperial Stout, and Alewerks Cafe Royale all on draft. not bad for a suburban grocery store. But you snooze, you lose.


Four ounce pours at Churchkey (spread out over two visits)

Visit 1:

Founders Doom: not a miss, but something i'll seek out in an expensive bottle
Stone Enjoy By: Based on the first version of this, this one seems to get better as you sip it. iven that I was in a HURRY and it was 4 oz, didn't get a fair shake. Good b ut not outstanding. Read that the Stone Ruination 10th anniversary (the souped up version of the regular stuff) is going to reappear this June...now that's the Stone DIPA I'm really looking forward to)
FW Double Jack: Double Jack for the win. It aint Heady, but for me it ranks at the top with OTWOA and Ruination in terms of year round/intermittently/locally available  DIPA's.

Visit 2:

Stone IRS: oh, so good. This is what a stout should taste like
Stone  :oOak Aged Double Bastard: One of my favorite beer aged with oak chips. SCORE!

Tonight for dinner at home with a grilled gouda sandwich:

Boulevard Rye on Rye: excellent, but not quite as excellent as it was on draft.

[Yada]

Call it serendipitous, but this happens to be occuring the weekend I'm in Burlington this summer.

WOooOOOOoT.

http://vtbrewfest.com/our_brewers.php

[BrettnotBritt]

Went on an epic spree this week. Was able to procure a bottle of Founders Doom, Stone IRS and Espresso IRS, and Enjoy By. Had the Espresso last night, basically had to drink the entire bottle myself since my wife only drank a four ounce pour. This morning was a little rough.

Planning on cracking open the Enjoy By this weekend.

[sweetcell]

Had the Espresso last night, basically had to drink the entire bottle myself since my wife only drank a four ounce pour. This morning was a little rough.

" had to drink the entire bottle myself"?  was it a chore, or did you like the beer?

i'm curious because i have 2 bottles sitting in the cellar.  i'm not going to touch them for at least 6 months.  i've got an IRS from last year... might be time to break that one out soon.

stone enjoy by is a cant miss.  that shit is gooooood.

bottle or draft?  as i've mentioned before, i was unimpressed with the last version on draft.  other folks seem to be all about it, might have to give it another try.

and a sweetcell ipa. that was very delicious.

thank my friends ms. simcoe and ms. amarillo

[stevewizzle]

Port City Maniacal: If it's Port City, it's got to be mediocre!
Weyerbacher Heresy: Like the poor man's KBS. Unspectacular, but good nonetheless

agree on all fronts with the weyerbacher.  very good, but leaves some to be desired.  damn you, kbs!

but on with port city... i have a feeling these dudes are on the cusp of some (at the very least) interesting beers.  it appears they are trying out some better crafty styles.  saw on a blog comment the head brewer was putting together a gratzer recipe.

the DIPA was not impressive? that's a shame. 

[stevewizzle]

and a sweetcell ipa. that was very delicious.

thank my friends ms. simcoe and ms. amarillo

roommate was able to call out the simcoe immediately, so good job.

[atomicfront]

Weyerbacher's Merry Monk's is pretty good.

[sweetcell]

a little beer pron for y'all.  i'm way late on this write-up but here goes anyways: a few weeks ago we have the second 930 board bottle share party at my place in the hinterlands (AKA rockville).  thanks to everyone for trekking out.

as usual, brennser shamed us with his selection and generosity: daisy cutter pale ale, russian river temptation, 3F zombie dust, Hair of the Dog Adam, 2012 FW Sucuba... wow.  just wow.  i'm probably forgetting some.

james ford regaled us with Unibroue trois pistoles, Dieu du Ciel solstice d'hiver, and a 2012 SN Bigfoot.

stewizzle dazzled us with a DFH Sixty-One, delighted us with an Epic Elder Brett, and confused us with that weird smoked wheat thing, Piwo Grodziskie.

my brewing buddy Tony joined us with a Blue Mountain Dark Hollow and a Hop Stoopid in tow.  i believe we tried his Vertical Epic 09.09.09, a batch we brewed together, but i'm not sure anymore.  he also had a growler of his Alaskan Amber clone but we didn't get around to trying it.

i had a Troubadour 2011 Cascade/Simcoe belgian but we didn't touch that, either.  we did have several of my homebrews: a kolsch, a brett'ed belgian dark strong (with disappointingly low brett character but still tasty), an imperial amber/brown (aforementioned simcoe/amarillo hop bomb), a dubbel, a bourbon coffee stout.  i think i'm forgetting one.

highlight of the evening was Cirka the wonder dog (as in, "i wonder what the hell ever possessed me to get this breed") stealing ford's daughter's stuffed animal, running out the back door, and then having 6 adults chase her around the garden.  took us a solid 2 or 3 minutes to catch that damn fleabag. 

gold star of the night went to the missus for her fresh baked bread.  you can see the two different kinds in the "family portrait" below (click to enlarge).



(apologies if i forgot anything, or wrongly attributed a beer to someone)

[James Ford]

ah, good time. yes, we did have the vertical 09.09.09, and it was delicious.

[James Ford]

Those who like barrel aged need to get to Pizza Paradiso this weekend.

Celebrate Arbor Day with Wood & Barrel Aged Beers at All Locations

April 26-28

Dupont:
Allagash FV-13, Alvinne Zymatore Cuvee Freddy, Anchor OBA,
BFM Abbaye de St. Bon Chien, The Bruery White Oak,
Captain Lawrence Golden Delicious, Elysian The Dread,
Evolution Fall Migration, Glazen Toren Jan de Lichte Zymatore,
Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza, Harviestoun Ola Dubh 21 yr,
Local Option Morning Wood,, 3 Stars Sea Change w/ Oak (Cask)
Georgetown:
Allagash Curieux, Baladin Super (Wooden Clad Cask), Boulevard Rye on Rye,
Devils Backbone Wood Aged Kilt Flasher, DDVK Peated Oak Aged Embrasse,
Flying Dog Doggie Style w/ Cedar (Cask), Founders The Doom
JW Lees Harvest (Lagavulin), Loverbeer Duvabeer,
Mother Earth Window Pane Raisin & Fig, New Belgium Oscar,
Oxbow Freestyle #30, Struise Rio Reserva
Three Floyds Barrel Aged Black Sun
Old Town:
Allagash Odyssey, Bavik Petrus Aged Pale Ale, BFM √225,
Blue Mountain Local Species, The Bruery Sour in the Rye,
Dogfish Head Burton Baton, Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron,
Firestone Walker 2011 Parabola, Harviestoun Ola Dubh 12 yr,
Heavy Seas Big DIPA (Cask),  New Belgium La Folie, Terrapin Oak Aged Big Hoppy Monster,
Schlafly Oak Aged Imperial Stout, Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard,
 Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne

[StoneTheCrow]

ah, good time. yes, we did have the vertical 09.09.09, and it was delicious.

Nice.  I drank my '10 two weeks ago - last night I said goodbye to my '11.  I miss them already.

[James Ford]

Just to clarify, what we drank was a homebrewered  (I think)clone of the Stone 09.09.09 that sweetcell and his friend Tony homebrewed. Every bit as delicious as the real thing. Or quite close anyway.

ah, good time. yes, we did have the vertical 09.09.09, and it was delicious.

Nice.  I drank my '10 two weeks ago - last night I said goodbye to my '11.  I miss them already.