What Beers Did You Drink Today? Or Yesterday? (Part 2)

[Hassouni]

No pics, but at one of my favorite pubs in DC (The Saloon), had a nice pint of Eggenberg Dunkel - very dark, rich, and malty, like a good black bread.

[FrogPrincesse]

Green Flash Saison and Lost Abbey Framboise de Amorosa at Blind Lady Ale House.

Both on draft and both fantastic. The Framboise was not sweet and I found it more complex than Lindemans.

[Alex]

Keeping it local, a Bell's Two Hearted Ale

[FrogPrincesse]

The Loakal Red from the Bruery is a beer that is only available in Orange County. It's a red ale that is partially aged in oak casks. It is hoppy and citrusy with a great depth of flavor.

[FrogPrincesse]

Green Flash Le Freak Belgian IPA. I always forget how hoppy this is. Not for the faint of heart. I like it though. Beautiful color too.

Iron Fist Renegade Blonde ale. Another good one, quite crisp but with with enough character to be interesting. This one was gone in no time as the photo attests.

[FrogPrincesse]

Stone Cali-Belgique IPA was perfect with a yellowtail & lemon dish. Crisp and slightly acidic, with a lot of flavor/spice/funk. Hoppy but reasonably so considering it's made by Stone. Slightly bitter finish. It has a very attractive light orange color.

Edited June 10, 2013 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

Stone Vertical Epic 12.12.12. Delicious Belgian-style strong dark ale. Not too sweet; rich flavor with spice and some bitterness. I am going to stock up on this one!

Tried the Stone Vertical Epic 12.12.12 again with pizza last night. More than 6 months later it tasted quite sweet with chocolate and spice notes, followed by a bitter finish. It would have been excellent with dessert but was not so great with pizza. As a side note this had not been properly cellared; it's been at room temperature since December.

For those who enjoy reading the notes (although they are a little hard to read...).

Edited June 12, 2013 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[haresfur]

for those who enjoy reading the notes (although they are a little hard to read...).

I'd have to give this at least an 8.5 for 'wank'.

[FrogPrincesse]

I had to look that one up. Thanks, I guess, for enriching my British vocabulary...

Last night was La Fin Du Monde (Unibroue), a Belgian-style tripel ale brewed in Quebec. Yeasty with a lot of coriander. Very nice with roasted chicken and vegetables.

[Ashen]

I really liked fin du monde .. the first time I tried it was in Montreal while my wife and I were on our honeymoon. There was a little grocery store down the street from our B&B and I would wonder in and buy one or two singles of beers I hadn't had before.

Nickelbrook Berliner Weisse . I had a sample at the brewery and liked it but after drinking a full 750 ml bottle I think I have changed my mind. It is a bit thin and although I generally like the sour edge in this style beer , I found this one unpleasant by the end.

[FrogPrincesse]

Talking about sour beers, here is The Bruery's take on a Gueuze that they named Rueuze. It's a sour blonde ale aged in oak barrels. It smelled really good, acidic with apple cider notes. Not much fizz. Loved the first few sips. After a while though, I found it a little bit too sour (bile-like notes).

Overall it was very promising and I enjoyed tasting a gueuze that was not overly sweet.

[FrogPrincesse]

This really nice Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point. It is crisp and refreshing with a slightly bitter finish, perfect with a fish taco on a hot summer day.

Bear Republic Cher Ami Belgian Pale Ale (front), Anchor Fort Ross Saison at Fathom Bistro, Bait & Tackle, a tiny little restaurant that serves homemade sausages and craft beers in a Life Aquatic setting right on the water in Point Loma. I really liked the Fort Ross Saison.

[Plantes Vertes]

This really nice Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point. It is crisp and refreshing with a slightly bitter finish, perfect with a fish taco on a hot summer day.

On that subject, here is a picture of my favourite Sculpin, the Blob Sculpin

Edited July 1, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

On that subject, here is a picture of my favourite Sculpin, the Blob Sculpin

Yikes! Thank god the sculpin on the label is much more attractive than Mr Blob here!

Here is an explanation about the name from their website:

Ironically, the meat from a Sculpin is considered some of the tastiest. Something that has a sting but tastes great, sounds like a Ballast Point India Pale Ale.

[ChrisTaylor]

I am currently sampling a Harviestoun Ola Dubh. There's a whole lot of marketing bullshittle to go with this but, in short, it is an 'ale matured in whisky casks'. Highland Park to be specific. It's quite pleasant. A real dark chocolate quality to it. I normally don't enjoy beers like this but after three Junipero-based G&Ts pretty much anything is rad.

Edited July 10, 2013 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[Ashen]

not exactly high class but strangely satisfying, I am in the process of drinking an ice cold molson golden after yardwork.

[ChrisTaylor]

After an excursion in which several of my students almost fell down a wombat hole and/or squashed a pile of wombat shit in excitement: Cooper's Sparkling Ale while in the shower. Shower beers are probably even better in the northern hemisphere summer.

[Ashen]

I am very sad that the liquor store no longer sells Cooper's here. It makes the best beer batter for fish along with just being a great beer.

Very hot and humid weather here the past week. Have been drinking a few different beers . Warsteiner pils and Big Wheel amber along with more Molson Golden.

[FrogPrincesse]

Societe's Apprentice. Citrus and hops; great IPA with a good level of bitterness.Tried side by side with Ballast Point's Sculpin which is a little more robust and bitter. They are both excellent IPAs.

[FrogPrincesse]

These IPAs are fantastic with lighter summer foods - fish tacos and salads.

This weekend I had the West Coast IPA from Green Flash. It was citrusy and hoppy with some maltiness as well. Delicious.

[ChrisTaylor]

Coopers 2013 vintage ale. I like it better than the 2012.

[Adam George]

Ooh look, a beer forum!

Hello to the cocktail-heads I know. And hello to everyone else.

I also enjoy beer and whilst doing a food shop (rare for me as usually I eat at work, but I'm between positions at the moment) I bought some reduced bottles. All of these were found in the "World Beers" section of the supermarket, despite being British. I realised that this was because they are not big Brewery owned products like Shepard Neame and Fuller's. I hope they don't get dropped through lack of sales because of this shelving... Anyway, I digress.

Firstly,

Sole Star:

Adnams is a pretty big "indie" producer in the UK and more recently they have opened shops and started producing spirits.

Sole Star is a very light Amber or golden or whatever ale at 2.7%. Having been incredibly impressed with The Kernel's Table Beer that comes in at sub 3% I thought I'd give this a try for the modest sum of £1 for 500ml. No big disappointment, but this is a very different beer. Whilst the Kernel's beers are typically massive, full flavoured hop or malt bombs, this is much lighter. Described as floral and citrus, I'd agree on the nose. More malt on the palate than I expected but unfortunately the beer suffers a massive loss of mouth feel and body. The finish is pretty short and flat. However, it's a 2.7% pint! You could enjoy one of these in the lunch hour and feel confident going back to work. It's by no means a flavourless beer and would make an ideal entry level ale to those who have previously only drunk Euro Lager.

Did I mention it was £1 ?

Boilermaker:

My favourite way to enjoy an IPA and a whisky in one bottle? Great!

Like this Innis & Gunn beers, Boilermaker is an IPA aged in used Penderyn Whisky casks by Brains Brewery in... Wales.

Much more full bodied, as you'd expect with a doubled ABV of 6.5%.

Deep copper/burgundy coloured. Malty smooth, with good vanilla but balanced with a sensible level of citrus.

No real "warm whisky finish" as advertised, but the casks influence is certainly there.

Again, not a bad beer at £1.50 a bottle.

I have two Innis & Gunn releases to compare this to in the following days as well as a self-described American IPA by the same brewery. I'd return to Boilermaker much quicker than Marks & Spencer/Meantime's Greenwich Hospital Porter (Laphroaig Aged) that I found too medicinal (funny, that!) though this is far from being my favourite IPA.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Adam George (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

Hi Adam! Good to see you here.

Here is a recent one. Saison Diego (Green Flash). Easy to drink, spice, orange, crisp and refreshing.

Forgot to take a picture in the glass but there was moderate foam and it's golden in color.

[FrogPrincesse]

Karl Strauss Red Trolley Ale (left), Green Flash West Coast IPA

The Red Trolley has a mahogany color. It tastes malty with a slight bitterness. It is quite simple but it works.

[FrogPrincesse]

Schot in Het Donker (Shot in the Dark), a saison-style beer brewed with cherries. El Segundo and Tender Greens collaboration.

It's dry and very aromatic.