The Beer Thread

[slappy]

Ian F'n BeerKaye over here

FTFY

[slappy]

Pumpking now out, in four packs this year, for anyone whose taste is so bad that they actually still drink the vile swill known as pumpkin beer.

It's been out for a few weeks. But I guess that wouldn't give you reason to bitch.

[Space Freely]

southern tier's other pumpkin beer, Warlock is one of my all time favorites
scrumptious Imperial Stout

but at $9 a bomber, I've been laying off this year

starting to use the oz/abv per $ (created Space) computation lately and its getting me sad
oh the days when all the dollars were mine and I could spend them freely

I had to throw the $/oz factor our the window when I started buying sours. 

[Space Freely]

We made our second trip to Ocelot Sunday, first in three months.

Great to run into Yada, with this little rascal, out in the wilds of VA.

The previous week they had 12 beers listed, so we apparently got the "leftovers" as they were down to five beers.

They had a DIPA (excellent), saison (good to very good),  barleywine (good) ,wild ale (decent but they need to do some work if they want to compete in that category), and pale ale (meh, should have skipped).

Lots of space for little kids to wander. Dog friendly place. Great tunes. Outside food permitted.

Looking forward to going back the next time they have mutiple IPA's (their strongest suit so far) on tap.

[Yada]

Good bumping into you guys as well!

I agree with your assessment of the beers and of the environment. Definitely the best brewery I've been to in the DC region. Only drawback is the actual location, too bad it's not in some scenic vineyard-esque location or at least  had some outdoor seating options. That office/warehouse park is pretty pretty ugly.

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

This I'm planning a casual ride with a focus on seeing (and drinking) at the breweries on the WO&D.

Mile 12  Caboose Brewing   520 Mill St NE, Vienna

Cheers and gears!

So the ride only ended up being about 35 miles and didn't stick to the plan
But I did make it a point to stay on the lighter side of things

Against my better judgment we hit Cap City first
But I thought the Poetic Belgian-Style WIT was a really refreshing drink out on the patio beer, would get again.


Then we hit Caboose.
Great space, right on the trail (easiest way to get there as it's at the end of this industrial park)
great seating outside (although they need to work on the shade)
Inside is also done up real nice
They have a fairly light selection of beers, which was my plan


The "Zoo" Berliner Weise - one of the better ones, with a good tartness

Crossroads Lager - this had a nice taste, could drink a bunch of these, but nothing that special

End-of-Line Kolsch - I liked this, but not a go to selection, but very clean and crisp

Sidetrack Saison - This was definitely tasty and probably my second favorite selection there

Citra Wheat - This was surprisingly good, lots of fruity going on

We some food off the bar menu that was really good (although didn't love the pimento cheese thing)


Both of these were not on tap, but sounds like they would be worth a try next visit
Sidetrack Cucumber Saison and Local Motion Imperial IPA

I enjoyed everything I drank, but nothing was outstanding
So, not a top 10 DC area brewery
But great location and set up help it out a lot

I think as it starts getting cooler they will have a bigger selection of the darker/heavier beers

With it's location on the trail, I have a feeling I'll be stopping in a few more times on my way back of a long ride

[Space Freely]

Best Happy Hour special ever:

$3 for 9 oz of Speedway Stout at Paradiso Alexandria. 26 ox bottle goes for $16. And you don't really need more than 9 oz of a 12% stout. At least I don't.

This one was pretty nice too:

Green Flash Cellar 3 Natura Morta with Plum

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

Had a Bells Neptune and a Bells Mango Habanero Oberon earlier. First one tasted like a founders breakfast stout with cayenne pepper. The second tasted like a slight variant on a Bloody Mary. Both tasted like Pure Michigan.

[walk,on,by]

I like, like really like, that new root beer, beer.

[grateful]

I like, like really like, that new root beer, beer.

I am afraid for my children.

[Space Freely]

I like, like really like, that new root beer, beer.

The one produced by Pabst, or the one produced by Sam Adams?

[walk,on,by]

Not your father's root,beer by small town brewery.

[Space Freely]

Not your father's root,beer by small town brewery.

Ah, the one owned by Pabst.

The Sam Adams one is called Coney Island Hard Root Beer.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2015/06/27/sips/i5RUfAU00EnRIbrcr9D9JL/story.html

A couple days later, I discover an LLC filing with the state of Illinois that lists Small Town as part of Innovative Brewing, a subsidiary of Phusion Projects, makers of Four Loko. When I show it to the PR company, they go silent for days, then finally back off their claims of independence, explaining that Small Town was recently acquired by Eugene Kashper, the owner of Pabst.

[Yada]

Got a porch bomb of these guys and a few others from NC.

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

So few homebrew questions....

refractometer vs Hydrometer
Cracked my Hydro (it's only $5) but was thinking I might upgrade to Refrac?

Carbonation drops vs Dextrose vs Priming sugar vs Honey
I keep having issues with carbonation/feel of the beer.   the Carbonation drops have helped is seems, but not every time


Sanitizing/cleaning
most dreaded part...what is your technique?