This is a beer thread

[SpookyPistolero]

Blue Moon! A Blue Moon with a nice slice of orange in it is one of the greatest pleasures on earth. It's a wheat ale, and my bestest friend.

 

[Chimay]

The worst signs you could ever see are "coldest beer in town" or" last stop befor dry county" Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

 

[Slatts]

Eeeh gads, listening to all the home brewers here makes me want to start doing that again. Five to 10 years ago, I was a very prolific brewer of stouts, ales and an occasional mead. I'm very fond of very bitter IPAs. When I visit microbreweries I always ask for their most bitter beer which is usually an IPA of some sort. My favorite off the shelf IPA was from Summit Brewery. It's been a long time since I had a Summit IPA and not even sure they're still in business.

 

[Will Power]

You take the beer and ........oh ,now I'm confused !!

That's how I like Ale, served by beauty at ROOM TEMPERATURE

 

[kinzli]

I'd like to hear your comments on the Lagunitas, I saw that in the store the other day and should have bought it, but slacked.

I also like some of the Unibroues, very nice. Trois Pistoles is my favorite.

So I went back to the store and bought the Lagunitas.

I wasn't terribly impressed with it. To me, it was like they took a good IPA, and added a bit of water to water it down. Sad, because I've had some good Lagunitas brews and while this one was far from bad, it didn't live up to what I would have expected from them.

I would call it a regular IPA.

 

[superduty truck]

Samuel Adams pale ale!!!!!!!!! I took the tour in Boston, great tour it is a small bewery, but the taste testing was AWESOME!!!! I sat in the back, and I recieved the pitchers as everyone else got their fill. We had a small party as a few new friends and I refilled from them. See guys patients does pay off. The tour is free and so is the tasting.

 

[V-1]

I like drinking the regional microbrews; Appalachian, Troeg Bros., Victory, Yuengling...unless I'm drinking some other import or microbrew.

All else fails, Guinness Draught. :thumbup:

 

[raindog101]

Damn, people! 3 whole pages of a beer thread, and nobody's mentioned the greatest IPA in the land: Harpoon!
Their Winter Warmer ain't bad, either.
Gotta love Blue Moon with a slice of orange, like Spooky says...

 

[Steven Roos]

Sam Adams Triple Bock!!!
How old is the bottle you got,Steven?
I have two bottles been gathering dust, vintage '93 & '94.
The last known reference I could find was "97.
Great stuff though,the only beer I know of that was made to age.
Even when new, it had a rich cherry density to it and vanilla tones.
I should break one out to see what time has done to it!

No idea. I had heard that it was only done in '93, '94, and '95, but my local shops have plenty still. No idea how that could work...

 

[Steven Roos]

Alright, this weekend was the best two days for beer I've ever had in my entire life! My fiance and I went to San Diego for my birthday, and it was awesome! Yesterday, we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park (where the serve Stone Pale Ale) and spent most of the day there. Afterwards, we went to Holiday Wine Cellar in Esconditio. Picked up some real good stuff there that I can't find in the Inland Empire, details to follow. After a short stint at our hotel, we headed off into San Diego and went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for dinner. With little to choose from in beer, I got a Pinot Grigio with my lobster bisque and a Cabernet with my Ribeye. After dinner, we went back to the hotel, she got a cocktail and I got the worst beer of the weekend, a pint of flat Pyramid Hefeweizen.

In terms of beer, today started off much better than yesterday finished. My fiance surprised me with a Stone Ruination IPA t-shirt for me and an Imperial Russian Stout shirt for her to wear to Stone later that day. Around 10AM went to a very large BevMo location in San Diego and picked up more good stuff. Missed out on the 1.5L bottles of Chimay Blue, but found everything else I was hoping for. We then headed off to Stone Brewery, much earlier than originally expected. We arrived at about noon, and the first tour wasn't until 2PM, so I got a glass of Stone XI Anniversary and we sat down for bunch. We split the BBQ Duck Tacos and the Buffalo Burger along with a side of Arrogant Bastard onion rings. I got a pint of Oaked Arrogant Bastard, as well as a real beer float with vanilla ice cream and Stone Smoked Porter. We both dug into the real beer float, and after we were done we walked through the garden outside the bistro.

We browsed the gift shop while we waited for the Brewery tour to depart. Picked up some Arrogant Bastard hot sauces and a Smoked Porter BBQ sauce! Yum! The tour guide showed up and got everyone together and into the brewery. Very cool place, very clean, and very nice looking. They talked about what is in their beer (no adjuncts of course), how beer is made, showed off all the cool equipment, and showed us all the packaging equipment. At the end, we got to drool over all the vast stores of beer in the cooler just before we got to try some Stone brews. We had Stone Pale Ale, Smoked Porter, IPA, and Arrogant Bastard Ale, in that order, from the growler filling bar inside the gift shop. Good stuff if you can find it in the bottle, but even better on tap!

After that, it was time for our real reservation at the Bistro. We hadn't planned on eating their twice in one day, but I'm glad we did! We started with the braised beef hand rolls (yes, like sushi!) and a bowl of Ruination IPA garlic and cheese soup. The soup was VERY bitter as I was warned, but very good anyway. The hand rolls were incredible, I only wish there were more! Having had my fill of strong, hoppy beers for the day, I got a set of four tasters: Paulaner Pils, Avery White Rascal, and a Hard Apple Cider and another Pils that I can't recall the makers of. Great brews, especially the Paulaner Pils. For dinner, we had their HUGE steak for two with the cous cous, green beans with mushrooms, and Indian style okra. Not quite Ruth's Chris caliber steak, but an incredible meal at half the price! The dinner was capped off with another float, root beer this time.

After that, we hit the road for home. After we got back, I unloaded my beer haul and took this pic:

From Left to Right:
Brewery Bosteels Pauwel Kwak Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Cobra Krait Prestige Champagne Lager
Lost Abbey Judgment Day Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Sprecher Abbey Tripel
Pyramid Imperial Hefewizen (x2)
Avery Maharajah Imperial IPA (x2)
Port Brewing Hop 15 (x2)
St. Bernardus Belgian Tripel
Victory V-12 Belgian Quadrupel
St. Bernardus Abt 12 (60th Anniversary Limited)
Brewery Bosteels DeuS Brut Des Flandres 2002 Champagne Lager

I have come home a bit fatter, lighter in the wallet, and with the biggest grin on my face EVER! A good weekend for beer to say the least!

 

[kinzli]

Ah, Stone's Ruination IPA is wonderful...mmmm.

 

[H2OCutter]

Sounds like an excellent time. Great selection you hauled in, The Abtr12 is good as is the Avery Maharaja IPA congrats on a successful weeekend.

 

[grease-man]

mmmmmm... Leine's!!! I'm in IN, so I can still find the occasional offering. My folks moved to NC about 15 years ago and every time they drive through WI, they have to pick up a coupl'a cases!

J-

I still have to make it to Chippewa Falls and take the Leinie's Brewery tour...it's still on my list of things to do soon!

SpookyPistolero brought up another of my favorites...Blue Moon. I like to pour it out into a glass and wait until it gets almost room temp and then drink it. Seems to unlock more flavor or something. In fact, I like a lot of beers when they get warmer. -Matt-

 

[Nimick]

SpookyPistolero brought up another of my favorites...Blue Moon. I like to pour it out into a glass and wait until it gets almost room temp and then drink it. Seems to unlock more flavor or something. In fact, I like a lot of beers when they get warmer. -Matt-

A lot of the darker beers are more flavorfull at room temp. the more I drink the more it becomes clear that the need for a "cold one" is the result of crappy american beer.

 

[wired45]

Glad to see a thread on BEER . Have never been able to drink the hard stuff . Just don't like the taste . I've always heard its an aquired taste for Scotch and others . Just never rang my Bell. Hard to pick a fav. Just Happy to see this thread .

 

[grease-man]

A lot of the darker beers are more flavorfull at room temp. the more I drink the more it becomes clear that the need for a "cold one" is the result of crappy american beer.

I agree with this 100%! I have completely lost the taste for most of the mass produced beers, especially the "light" beers. I like the Sam Adams light commercial that states that they won a competition in Germany with their light beer, and there was no light beer category. Says something for flavor in a light beer... you can have it if the brewer wants to brew it that way. But hey, I guess the little guy loses taste for mass market appeal (read swill) -Matt-

 

[tknife]

Afterwards, we went to Holiday Wine Cellar in Esconditio.

Sounds like an awesome weekend, and super sweet haul you got there! I love going down to SD, beer everywhere! ANd Holiday Wine Cellar is the BEST. I can always find new and hard to get brews there. I usually go to the Stone anniversary party every year, but missed it this time around.


Bevmo just got in Speedway Stout and I picked up 2 bottles last night, I can hardly wait for today to be over so I can crack one open :thumbup:

 

[Steven Roos]

Bevmo just got in Speedway Stout and I picked up 2 bottles last night, I can hardly wait for today to be over so I can crack one open :thumbup:

If you like strong beers, you'll love the Speedway Stout! Start with it chilled and leave the bottle out to warm as you drink it.

 

[tknife]

Definitely. A friend of mine got some of the barrell aged Speedway last year, talk about awesome! That was probably the best beer I've ever had (Next to the Westy 12).
I love them strong, Belgians being my favorite.

 

[Steven Roos]

Definitely. A friend of mine got some of the barrell aged Speedway last year, talk about awesome! That was probably the best beer I've ever had (Next to the Westy 12).
I love them strong, Belgians being my favorite.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you get your hands on the Westy 12?