In deference to the recent topic of apples and such, I feel compelled to share an outstanding new release from Prairie; specifically, their Apple Brandy Barrel Noir. This stuff is truly outstanding! I've got to run back down to the store and score a few more to sit on for awhile.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...de4fc5a424.jpg

I was brewing a 5 gallon batch last weekend and my glass-top stove shattered as soon as I added the sparge water for my wort boil. Guess it couldn't handle 50+ pounds on a single burner. Had to make an emergency run to Walmart for a gas burner to finish the brew.

An experience which I had last weekend has stuck with me...



I was visiting a friend who lives about an hour and a half north of NYC. I took the Metro North Railroad to the New Hamburg station, and then walked about four miles to his house in Wappingers Falls. On the way, I stopped at a local convenience store to buy beer:


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...169b975c52.png


Now, I've posted these images in another thread already, but there's a more serious message to be heard. This little hillbilly convenience store, within which was contained the local post office, held a secret:


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...581e859b33.png



No, not the Coors, the Miller Lite, or the Negro Modelo. This little whistle-stop actually had good beer! I'd be lying if I said I remembered the exact six-packs that I bought, but one of them was a gose, one of them was a delicious unfiltered wheat, and one of them was... something delicious. (Hey, I hauled this shit on my back for over two miles. Lay off, ok?)







We have crossed over a singularity of sorts. Good beer has become mainstream.





And I'm ok with this.

i may be hording all the firestone walkers
 

i have a soft spot for firestone walker


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cc2ec14be5.jpg

Wow, long time no see. I've put the brakes on drinking for a bit. Treated myself to a Left Hand "Wake Up Dead" Imp Stout on Nitro. I miss having a nitro setup at home.

Welcome back!

I should too, most likely, but where's the fun in that when there's just so much goodness waiting to be sampled.


PS- I swear, you've got to try that Prairie Apple Brandy Barrel Noir. It's simply divine. (post 2241)

I wish Prairie distributed to NC. My room mate has brought back bottles from his work travels.

Anyone else using Tavour? I signed up a few months ago and my liver and wallet are going to form a coalition government to overthrow my brain.

They send you an email (or two, or three) each day with an embellished description of that day's beer offering, and you order by replying to the email with a quantity. 4-5 weeks after your first order, they box everything up, charge your credit card $15, and ship it to you. You can delay that ship date a few weeks to get more beer per shipment, but I tend to accelerate it because I mostly order IPAs. If you don't order anything for a month, they won't charge you anything. They specialize in highly rated, unique, award-winning, small-batch, and/or low/no-distrubtion beers of all flavors. The beer is a little pricey but it's mostly stuff you simply can't find at your local grocer/wine store and everything I've had is very, very good. If you want to constantly try new stuff that's almost certainly excellent without having to go and seek it out, it's great.

They do offer $10 in free beer if you use a sign-up code, and I get $10 in free beer if you use mine. I don't want to be a click-bait whore, but free beer is free beer, so if you PM me, I'll give it to you. They only operate in AZ, CA, CO, MN, NV, NM, OH, OR, and WA for now.

Hmmm . . . It sounds intriguing, and they may be a fantastic service, but their website sucks if you're just a Looky Lou. You can't even see their beer selection, let alone their pricing unless you create an account. which I am not inclined to do until I can see what they offer, and how their pricing compares. Obviously, a selection of out-of-the-area and otherwise unavailable beer can be worth a premium, but I need to see that sh*t before I go signing up. :dunno:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7cb737669b.jpg

Mmmmm... Porter

(Well eventually, if all goes according to plan)

Almost certainly a result of legal restrictions placed on alcohol sales or something having to do with exclusive distributor contracts. You can sign up without providing any CC info, and they won't ask until you actually order something.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1261101058.jpg

Pretty good, lots of mouth feel and up front flavor, but a very easy finish. I might get a few more and age them :)

Is that this year's release?

Yep, 2016, saw it at whole foods and remembered the recommendation from this thread (from you?) and grabbed one.

w00tstout
The 2016 (4.0) came out about 2 weeks ago. I haven't seen it hit the stores here yet, but I will definitely be keeping an eye out.

Coffee porter brewed by Ryan_G on this forum. This is only his second batch of homebrew ever and he did a commendable job. I'm very fortunate to have received a six pack to sample. Thanks Ryan!

Just throwing this out there: if any of my CA peeps were to pick up a bottle or three of the w00t for me, and stick 'em in the mail, I'd be grateful.

Tried Ballast point Sculpin IPA; not bad but far from my favorite Dogfish Head 90. Interestingly, the clone recipes I found for each have a couple of the same hops; I'm going to have to look in more detail to see why they taste so different to me. The Sculpin seems to have more bittering hops vs aromatic in the 90, though I am easily way off considering the brief review of recipes.

Sure Joe, I just found a BevMo near me that has 3 cases of it in stock. I was going to stop by tonight and pick up a bunch, so I'll just add another 3 on a separate receipt for you. If you end up not wanting them, I guess I can always suffer through them. :giggle:

Not much chance of that happening.

I can shoot you a PayPal immediately, just need to hold of shipping until I figure out where I'm going to be living a few weeks from now.