well, if there are five or six of us, i'd be up for doing a brew'n'swap.

anyone?

 

I'm already active on BeerAdvocate for trading... But I don't have room to brew mine own unfortunately.

I've had the He'Brew Jewbelation... I wasn't really that impressed at all.

 

right now:



after this, possibly the Jewbelation. this one's 14%, so that might help the Jewbelation get a higher score form my taste buds. :-)

 

Nice... I wasn't a fan of the Jewbelation when I had it awhile back.

I only had a Samuel Adams Summer Ale and Dogfish Head Immort Ale last night myself.

 

Sat down to a couple of new ones to me over the past few days. My BeerAdvocate reviews will be attached as well.

1) Laughing Dog Devil Dog Imperial IPA:
"Thanks to hopflop for this one! Served from bottle into a Duvel tulip. Poured a nice hazy dark copper with a small amount of sediment settling at the bottom with an off-white two-finger head that subsides to a one-finger after a bit. The lacing was excellent throughout. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, subtle hops, and small amount of alcohol. The flavor was of loads of sweet malt, alcohol, and a hoppy followthrough. It had a medium feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a very flavorful brew. It had a nice balance of sweet of bitter to counteract the alcohol flavor so it wasn't overpowering. However it is not that drinkable though and you can definitely tell it is a heavy hitter."

2) Cricket Hill Hopnotic IPA:
"Thanks to hopflop for this one! Served from bottle into a Samuel Smith imperial pint. Pours a nice hazy yellow-orange with a minimal white head. Lacing was minimal throughout. The aroma was comprised of malt and subtle hop notes. The flavor was of subtle hops and malt. It had a medium feel on the palate with low carbonation. Overall this brew was very smooth for an IPA and is quite drinkable. If you enjoy IPAs with subtle flavors you owe it to yourself to try this one."

3) River Horse Hop Hazard Pale Ale:
"Thanks to hopflop for this one! Served from bottle into a Samuel Smith imperial pint. Pours a nice hazy dark copper with a three finger white head that subsides to one finger. It maintained excellent lacing throughout. The aroma was comprised of malt, hops, and citrus. The flavor was of malt, slight hops, and citrus. It was light on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a very nice brew. It definitely had a very unique aftertaste that I could not determine the origin of. Just hate I can't get it around here."

4) New Belgium Lips of Faith Biere De Mars:
"Served from bottle into Duvel tulip. Pours a copper color with a one finger off-white head that subsides to minimal upon sitting. There was no apparent lacing throughout. The aroma was comprised of fruit, malt, and subtle alcohol. The flavor was of fruit, bread, and very subtle alcohol. It had a light feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this is an excellent brew. It is very drinkable and not overpowering. Definitely suggest this for anyone who has yet to try it or want to try this style."

 

Tried a Piraat the other day, bottled. Very good, but not for me, too much like an IPA.

 

IPA FTW! What's your style? Maybe we can setup a trade for some I can get here for ones you can there.

 

Kulmbacher Eisbock FTW.

 

Doppelbocks, dunkelbocks, weisenbocks, good heffeweisens (especially with coriander), basically non-ultrahoppy dark Belgian beers.

Aventinus is in my top three. Optimator and Dunkel (Spaten) are both good. I tried a St Bernardus ABT12 the other day (on tap) that was fantastic. It is classified as a quadrupel. Excellent complexity and balance.

 

Not a bad selection of style... We have a local brewery that makes a decent Doppelbock. Tonight I am off to an event "Night of the Yeti" at a local bar. Link: http://beeradvocate.com/events/info/35100 Planning to pick up a bottle or two of the rare one at the bottom.

 

Not a fancy beer by any means, but I had a Blue Moon for the first time a few nights ago and thought it was one of my least favorites of all time. The orange slice on the glass is not going to help the flavor at all. Seems like I recall hearing some people talking well about it.

 

Yeah... Blue Moon is either a love or hate brew. I can tolerate it, but don't go out actively looking for it by any means. It's okay when there is NOTHING else on the menu, but that's about it.

 

Blue Moon is what happens when a large brewery gets hold of a style they think they can sell to the general public, meaning guys who aren't beer aficionados and women who like fruit in their beer. It's passable as a Belgian wit, just with some dumbed down flavor. Don't write off the style completely though if you haven't tried any others. Celis White is probably one of the better examples that is distributed widely enough that most people can get it. Try one if you see it at your local store, just 86 the fruit.

 

And that's the only reason it ended up in front of me. Honestly, I would have rather had a domestic crap beer.

 

Well, you got one. I can't stand it when people refer to **** like Blue Moon as "Belgian" or Imported... it's made by Bud, in The States...

 

Always tell them "hold the fruit." Blue Moon is better than Shock Top, but neither are great choices.

I am grateful that even the "Bud or Bud Light" bars and restaurants have experienced a bit of an awakening over the last couple of years. The popularity of more mainstream marketing experiments like BM or Shock Top are opening the door to the exotics we know and love.

If I happen to be in an establishment that has only one or two semi-unusual beers, I'm buying them. If given the chance, I'll mention to the owner or manager how great it is that they have beer x and not just the big five, and encourage him to branch out further. Even if it is just Yuengling, Negra Modelo or something like that, mention it and push them to expand more. I wouldn't expect them to put something with limited appeal like Abt 12 on tap and have good results, but I had a local chain "family sports grill" put Paulaner on tap and it went over like gangbusters. Tap it and they will come. But you need to encourage them to stray from the beaten path, and starter beers like Shock Top will at least get the public curious about new things. Did I mention that I love Paulaner?

 

It's not zackly Bud that owns them. They are owned by Molson which is Canadian and also owns Coors. Bud made Shock Top in response to BM's popularity rise.

Edit: It was apparently created by Coors originally. Developed by one of their brewmasters for their onsite brewery tours in Golden, Colorado. Thanks WIKIPEDIA!

 

My bad, COORS close enough

 

Hey now, Coors original banquet beer >>> Budweiser.

Despite being somewhat perverted by a large brewery, I submit to you that Blue Moon is a far better example of its intended style than is Shiner "bock" (or so they call it). Sorry, Texans. Neither are great, but both are "drinkable" depending what else is on the menu.

 

I meant one of the bigger, equally shitty labels, like Bud Light, or Miller. Something I am at least familiar with, in all of it's shitty glory. Take a chill pill, Mr. Beer-Connoisseur.