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

[FrogPrincesse]

Stone Pale Ale. Robust but quite subdued on the hop front for a beer from Stone. I get mostly citrus and malt. Interesting to think that this was their very first beer, in 1996. A lot has changed since then in the beer world.

Really nice with a couple of carnitas tacos.

[Ashen]

Paulaner Hefe-Weizen Good summer brew.

[Ashen]

Nickel Brook Saison.. I picked up a growler from the brewery in burlington on the weekend. Very nice brew, warm fermented , naturally carbonated, decent level of hops that have a pronounced citrus note. Good belgian style summer beer

[fvandrog]

Stone Pale Ale.

I really enjoyed the different Stone Ales back when I was living in San Diego, I have always been wondering what hops they used to get the well balanced bitterness in their different beers.

[SylviaLovegren]

We were in Indiana recently and had the Bier Brewery's Witbier. It was a very hot, muggy day, and the beer was ice cold and the spice and orange without hops made it so refreshing and delicious. It was wonderful.

[FrogPrincesse]

Ballast Point San Salvador summer saison, named after Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s flagship. The beer was created "using ingredients that would have been present when Cabrillo landed at San Diego Bay in 1542.". So these include elderberries, manzanita berries and white sage among other things.

It was light with roasted flavors and herbs. I wish I could had have another one!

Initially I had ordered The Bruery's Tart of Darkness but the keg had a malfunction and I sat there eating my food and seeing person after person ordering it and being turned down. I also realized later that they had Pliny the Elder as well (buried deep at the end of their list of beer offerings) - is it really as good as what everyone says? It seems to have quite a following!

[FrogPrincesse]

I forgot to post this photo in the previous post - it was the sign at the entrance of the little bait & tackle shop turned bistro where I had the beer.

[FrogPrincesse]

White Chocolate (The Bruery) (no photo but it's deep amber)

This one is kind of an odd duck, very different. It's a barrel-aged wheat wine. It smells of caramel and vanilla. It tastes creamy, boozy, sweet white chocolate. Very complex. It would be great with chocolate cake...

Trois Pistoles (Unibroue)

This Belgian strong ale is super drinkable despite the 9% ABV (you can't really taste the alcohol). A lot of malt and spices without being sweet.

R&R coconut IPA (Robert & Ryan / Rip Current / Stone)

This collaboration beer was created by two homebrewers, Robert Masterson and Ryan Reschan, who won a homebrewing contest.

A vibrant IPA with a lot of stone fruit and a subtle coconut finish. Quite bitter. I had it with grilled sausages.

The Schot in Het Donker (shot in the dark) Saison again, this time with a picture and yellowtail tacos. Perfect on a super hot day.

[ChrisTaylor]

A couple of good ones from New Zealand brewer, Tuatara: their Aotearoa Pale Ale and India Pale Ale. Both are excellent. Worth us annexing New Zealand for. If you're Stateside or wherever and someone local stops NZ beers--I suspect it's hard enough to get Australian ones, so I doubt you'll be in luck--then you want both of these.

[ChrisTaylor]

Sierra Nevada's rye beer. First Sierra Nevada I thought was truly excellent.

[Fernwood]

Sierra Nevada's rye beer. First Sierra Nevada I thought was truly excellent.

Ruthless Rye--I love this! Haven't seen it yet this season but I will be looking.

[FrogPrincesse]

5150 IPA from Ironfire in Temecula ("ales for outlaws") to accompany a mahi mahi ceviche and a white seabasss taco.

This one is not for the timid - pungent funky/cat litter aroma, very bitter on the first sip (no wonder with 95 IBU), amazingly hoppy, hardly any malt to relieve the palate. Still it's pretty good and full of interesting flavors from the hops, but it took my a while to finish my glass. It reminds me of Green Flash's Le Freak. I will have do try them side-by-side some day.

Ironfire 5150 by *FrogPrincesse*, on Flickr

[ChrisTaylor]

Kooinda American Pale Ale. Seems to be a style that a lot of microbreweries in Australia and New Zealand successfully pull off. Makes me wonder if it's an ideal launching off point for home brew, seeing as everyone's doing one now and often doing them well.

[haresfur]

Kooinda American Pale Ale. Seems to be a style that a lot of microbreweries in Australia and New Zealand successfully pull off. Makes me wonder if it's an ideal launching off point for home brew, seeing as everyone's doing one now and often doing them well.

You could do worse, but if you are brewing from malt extract, don't expect to get a very light coloured beer. I recommend starting with a porter, though.

[ChrisTaylor]

Have you ever made a rye beer?

[FrogPrincesse]

The Bruery's Autumn Maple (holiday yam ale), St Feuillien Saison

Yam ale is not something I would normally order, but I've had a great pumpkin & yam beer by the Bruery & Stone in the past (La Citrueille Celeste) so I was excited about this one. Unfortunately the yams were overwhelming in this beer, and not in a good way. Good thing it was a small glass.

The St Feuillien Saison on the other end was really great.

[FrogPrincesse]

Session black lager

Slightly smoky, malty, light to medium body, drinks very easily.

Saison Rue from the Bruery

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this one yet because it is one of my favorite beers. First it has a great orange color. Flavor-wise, it has the perfect combination of spice from the rye and crazy almost fruity flavors (apricot, peach, etc) from the yeast, plus bread-like aromas. It's rich and complex, and very harmonious overall.

Providential Belgian-style golden ale from Trader Joe's (brewed by Unibroue)

It is actually excellent. Ok, it does not have the complexity of something like Saison Rue but it is still a very enjoyable beer and it's only $6 for the large bottle (about half the price of Saison Rue).

Green Flash 30th street pale ale

That one was overly bitter for me; not enough other flavors to counterbalance the bitterness.

The Bruery Batch 1000 Bryeian

The recipe was from the winners of a homebrewing contest.

It was a little too busy for me between the intense hop flavor, the dark malts, and the rye.

Edited October 2, 2013 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[Siya Names]

Last night i had Kingfisher Strong beer, i was three bottle down and its been hard to get normal.

[FrogPrincesse]

Here was the beer board on a recent visit at Blind Lady Ale House .

Started with the Petrus aged pale and the St Louis gueuze. The guy taking our beer order double-checked with me that I was aware that the Petrus was a SOUR beer before he let me order it. I thought it was funny because I love sourness. I could practically drink (and enjoy) vinegar neat. Anyway I digress...

The Petrus was indeed sour and dry, and was the perfect way to get my taste buds ready for the meal. The St Louis was nice and tart.

The second round was the Stone Enjoy By 10-25-13 and Maredsous triple.

The Stone was an intensely piney/hoppy double IPA with crazy aromas. The Maredsous had a deep flavor and was dangerously smooth for 10% ABV. It reminded me of my first time trying a triple with my parents during a trip to Belgium when I was a teenager. Tasted fabulous but I was surprised to find myself a little "light-headed" after just one beer when it was time to stand up and leave the restaurant.

[la.april]

Lastnight, I drank a delicious blue Chimay. Quite a relaxing after work beer. But just make sure you don't drink too many of them.

[FrogPrincesse]

Lastnight, I drank a delicious blue Chimay. Quite a relaxing after work beer. But just make sure you don't drink too many of them.

Nice choice! Can't go wrong with this one.

Had a couple of beers at California Kebab & Beer Garden in Pacific Beach. They brew they own beer on the premises in their "nanobrewery", Amplified Ale Works.

I was very tempted to order the Habanero Sculpin but was told that it was really hot so I passed. I tried the Soul-Less Ginger wheat but did not care for it. We ended up ordering a Modern Times Blazing World and a Köstritzer Schwarzbier.

[ChrisTaylor]

Morimoto Soba Ale. I'm not sure if I like this.

[ChrisTaylor]

One that I do like a fair bit more than the Morimoto: Hix Beer's Pale Ale. A local, mildly hoppy brew.

[FrogPrincesse]

I think I am officially obsessed with The Bruery. The other day I skipped my daily cocktail ritual to open a bottle of Tart of Darkness, which is a sour ale combined with a stout and aged in oak barrels. It is very dark like a stout but tastes mostly like a wild ale, very tart and with some tart apple undertones. It's in the finish that the stout character really comes through with roasted coffee and smoke.

Edited October 21, 2013 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[ChrisTaylor]

Rogue's Juniper Pale Ale. Of the 2-3 Rogue beers I've tried, I haven't liked any. Until now. This one I like a lot.