What Beers Did You Drink Today? Or Yesterday? (Part 1)

[ChefCrash]

Thanks Susan

I vacation in Ormand Beach every year. Love the wings at the South Turn (Granada Blvd) and the 4" thick prime rib at Martin's restaurant in Flaggler Beach (A1A).

[Susan in FL]

Cool! It surprises me the number of people who know Ormond Beach. I'm not sure about South Turn at Ormond, though. It might be something different now. I know where First Turn and North Turn are, and I know of Martin's in Flagler.

Where do you live? Hopefully at home you have a better selection of good beer than where you vacation.

[ChefCrash]

Sorry Suzan

The South Turn pub is in a plaza on Nova Rd about half mile south of International Speed way Blvd. in Daytona (inland).

I think the Daytona beach area has a great selection of beer, infact, that's where I had my first 'Cave Creek Chilli Beer' in 1992. I bought 5 cases of the stuff to bring home with us. We left our beach loungers behind so we could bring them back home in the car.

We live in East Lansing MI. and we do have a good selection of beer around here. Not because we're in a great brewing town but because I own a Beer, Wine and Liqour store.

There is one micro brewery in the town of Weberville about 15 minutes from us.They make 15 varieties, and cannot make a bad beer. An hour away in Ann Arbor, are a few more breweries and alot better food than East Lansing.

Again, we love Daytona.

[alphaiii]

We live in East Lansing MI

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Then you're not too far from one of the best microbrews in the country (IMO) - Kalamazoo Brewing Company (Bell's).

I envy you. Since I've moved to MD I don't have access to Bell's microbrews anymore - they don't distribute here. Their Two-Hearted Ale may be the best IPA I've had. The Double Cream Stout, Pale Ale, and Kalamazoo Stout are also really good brews. I haven't had an opportunity to try some of the others, but I am guessing they are quality brews as well.

[ChefCrash]

Yes alphaiii

Their best selling beer is Oberon (a seasonal wheat beer). I like their pale ale.

Edited November 14, 2005 by ChefCrash (log)

[Susan in FL]

Sorry Suzan

The South Turn pub is in a plaza on Nova Rd about half mile south of International Speed way Blvd. in Daytona (inland).

Ah yes, I know the place you're talking about. It's in that shopping center where Office Depot and Steve's Diner is I think. We have been there once. We're always on the lookout for good wings for Friday night Happy Hours, so I'm glad you mentioned that.

I think the Daytona beach area has a great selection of beer, infact, that's where I had my first 'Cave Creek Chilli Beer' in 1992. I bought 5 cases of the stuff to bring home with us. We left our beach loungers behind so we could bring them back home in the car.

Oh my, Cave Creek Chili Beer. That's a bit hot for me. My husband likes it once in a while, with tomato juice or V-8 in it.

I suppose I complain too much about the lack of selection of beer in the Daytona Beach area and maybe I should just shut about it and make the best of it. I think that we don't like the selection because we were used to all the great beers available when we lived in Delaware. Right there was Dogfish Head, including the brew pub. There was Philly nearby which is the most awesome beer town -- all the good beers from there and the state of PA like Victory. And with the Baltimore-DC area closeby, we could get Old Dominion (such as our beloved Tuppers' Hop Pocket) and others. I guess I was spoiled. Now it's a thrill to find fresh Sierra Nevade Pale Ale.

We live in East Lansing MI. and we do have a good selection of beer around here. Not because we're in a great brewing town but because I own a Beer, Wine and Liqour store.

There is one micro brewery in the town of Weberville about 15 minutes from us.They make 15 varieties, and cannot make a bad beer. An hour away in Ann Arbor, are a few more breweries and alot better food than East Lansing.

Again, we love Daytona.

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Glad you love the Daytona area... Despite my whining about beer, I love the place and wouldn't live anywhere else.

[LunaSea]

I'm new over on this side too even though I'm a serious connoisseur of fine beers. Susan, I grew up in Cocoa Beach! Great place, especially back before Ron Jon's.

Last night, while my wife is in Jamaica, I enjoyed Grolsch Amber Ale (2) and Guinness Stout (1), then poured a shot of Pyrat Cask 23 rum as a night cap. My wife buys that rum in Anguilla direct from the factory for $185 a bottle! Thank you honey!

The best beer I've ever tasted in the U.S. was a microbrewery beer from Portland, Maine called Sunday River beer. I was there visiting for a week and I think I drank all they had! Got too nippy up there in September for this Florida boy so I migrated back south.

[Susan in FL]

I'm new over on this side too even though I'm a serious connoisseur of fine beers. Susan, I grew up in Cocoa Beach! Great place, especially back before Ron Jon's.

Last night, while my wife is in Jamaica, I enjoyed Grolsch Amber Ale (2) and Guinness Stout (1), then poured a shot of Pyrat Cask 23 rum as a night cap. My wife buys that rum in Anguilla direct from the factory for $185 a bottle! Thank you honey!

The best beer I've ever tasted in the U.S. was a microbrewery beer from Portland, Maine called Sunday River beer. I was there visiting for a week and I think I drank all they had! Got too nippy up there in September for this Florida boy so I migrated back south.

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Welcome, LunaSea! (I love your nickname.) Do you ever make it up to the Cocoa area/Brevard County these days? I wondered if you know of any good places to beer shop there. I would travel that far for good beer.

Awesome about the rum. Whatta wife! I would love to taste that. We're in the learning process about rum. I've been trying new ones one bottle at a time since I found The Ministry of Rum and bought one of Ed 's books, and for now I'm keeping it in approximately the $40. range ...but that's another Forum.

I'm with you about needing the warmth of Florida! I don't even join my husband when he makes shopping trips north for beer, oysters, etc.

Cheers!

[LunaSea]

Hello Susan. My parents still live in the beachfront home where I grew up in Cocoa Beach back in the 50s and 60s, and I was having the time of my life right up until the day my mom came walking down to the beach while I was out surfing and personally handed my my draft notice! BAD MOM, BAD! I got out of the Army in 1968 and then moved to South Florida.

Whenever I go up there to visit I always make it a point to stop by this little Irish pub on A1A south of the 520 Causeway in the same shopping center as the Publix. They've got some very good Irish and British beers on tap. If you're ever down in Brevard you should go out of your way to stop in there. I'll be going to Cocoa Beach for a visit soon so I'll make it a point to see if there's any beer shops in the vicinity, and will let you know if I find any.

As for rums, my absolute favorite affordable rum that you can get here in FL is Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 year old. If you've not tried it, whip out about $40 and go buy a bottle. You can thank me later!!!

Oh, by the way, the name LunaSea came from when I went to pick up a new fishing kayak at Miami International Airport and had to go through the lunacy of picking it up from what can only be described as a Third World country! I was screaming the only Spanish that I know...which amounts to "ME NO PEEKI PANNI!!!" What a nightmare! I ended up christening my kayak "LunaSea!"

Edited November 17, 2005 by LunaSea (log)

[Susan in FL]

Thanks for the tips. My sister-in-law lives in Melbourne -- well Palm Bay actually -- and so we can easily and will make it a point to go to that pub. (And now I know what my next bottle of rum will be. )

[eje]

Another really tasty one, this time in a style I don't normally drink all that often.

Russian River Brewing Company's ESB.

An English style ale tweaked a little toward the west coast with a little more floral hoppiness than is normally found. A very well rounded and satisfying beer. I knew these guys made great belgian style beers; but, I was pleased to find this one to be quite tasty as well.

[Brad Ballinger]

On my second Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. It's been a few years since I've had this brew, and shame on me. I love the hoppiness and the bitterness of this ale. Anyone seeing the somewhat Christmas scene on the packaging might think it would be more like a winter ale or wassail, but it doesn't have the sweetness, maltiness, or spice of those. I'll be making a pot of red beans and rice this weekend, and I'll have to have some of this ale with it.

[Susan in FL]

On my second Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale.  It's been a few years since I've had this brew, and shame on me.  I love the hoppiness and the bitterness of this ale.  Anyone seeing the somewhat Christmas scene on the packaging might think it would be more like a winter ale or wassail, but it doesn't have the sweetness, maltiness, or spice of those.  I'll be making a pot of red beans and rice this weekend, and I'll have to have some of this ale with it.

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Brad, what year are you drinking?

Good idea for the pairing with beans and rice!

[Susan in FL]

I am now sipping on a Red Hook IPA. It's been a while since we drank this. Russ found it in Target, of all places. (Does anybody know anything about why the bottle says "Ballard Bitter"? I thought an IPA and a Bitter were two different beers.)

It's a good beer. If I recall corrently, I like the ESB, too. This IPA is crisp, and the hops are subtle. It's certainly not a hop monster, but I'll take it to add some variety to what we drink.

[BrentKulman]

Since there has been some recent talk of Michigan breweries, I am enjoying a Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca right now. I'm not a big fan of witbiers but I picked this up on a recent trip to Orlando and decided to drink it now, even though the weather has turned chilly in North Carolina. Jolly Pumpkin is an artisanal brewery that uses traditional open fermentation techniques and I am looking forward to trying the other two beers they made that I also bought on my trip.

I have also been drinking a lot of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale lately. That beer hits all the high points for me.

[chromedome]

I tried a few brews from BC a couple of weekends ago, at the Rocky Mountain Wine and Food festival here in Edmonton.

My favourite discovery of the show was the Cannery Brewery from Penticton, BC. I tried their Blackberry Porter, Naramata Nut Brown Ale, and Anarchist Amber Ale; and found them all to be solid offerings. The Blackberry Porter is especially interesting, combining a classic porter style with local Okanagan blackberries. It's not quite raspberries and chocolate, but there's a definite affinity. They'll be hard to find outside of BC, but if any Edmontonians want to give them a shot just PM me and I'll tell you where to find them.

The Anarchist Amber and Naramata Nut Brown are full-bodied brews, and have fared well in international competition.

I also had a few Hophead IPA's from the Tree Brewing company, which I rather liked. These are very hoppy - as befits an IPA - with definite fruity notes. Not bad at all.

[Brad Ballinger]

On my second Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale.  It's been a few years since I've had this brew, and shame on me.  I love the hoppiness and the bitterness of this ale.  Anyone seeing the somewhat Christmas scene on the packaging might think it would be more like a winter ale or wassail, but it doesn't have the sweetness, maltiness, or spice of those.  I'll be making a pot of red beans and rice this weekend, and I'll have to have some of this ale with it.

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Brad, what year are you drinking?

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2005.

[BCinBC]

I tried a few brews from BC a couple of weekends ago, at the Rocky Mountain Wine and Food festival here in Edmonton.

My favourite discovery of the show was the Cannery Brewery from Penticton, BC.  I tried their Blackberry Porter, Naramata Nut Brown Ale, and Anarchist Amber Ale; and found them all to be solid offerings.  The Blackberry Porter is especially interesting, combining a classic porter style with local Okanagan blackberries.  It's not quite raspberries and chocolate, but there's a definite affinity.  They'll be hard to find outside of BC, but if any Edmontonians want to give them a shot just PM me and I'll tell you where to find them.

The Anarchist Amber and Naramata Nut Brown are full-bodied brews, and have fared well in international competition.

I also had a few Hophead IPA's from the Tree Brewing company, which I rather liked.  These are very hoppy - as befits an IPA - with definite fruity notes.  Not bad at all.

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Chromedome,

I've never even heard of "Cannery Brewery", how odd. I'm curious about the porter though, so I will search them out at the local liquor store, or failing that there must be a local bar/resto that carries it. Thanks for the heads up.

A recent "find" of mine was R&B Raven Cream Ale (R&B website here). R&B has been around for awhile, but they seem to have been through a recent retooling or something; someone spread a rumour my way that they were bought by Shaftebury, another local brewing company - who in turn is owned by the Sleeman Brewing Machine. Wickedly slow Shaftebury flash website. Shaftebury Cream is one of my favourites beers too.

About the Tree, someone left a few bottles of Tree Hophead in our fridge after a party last Spring. To this day, there remains one bottle in there that everyone refuses to drink. IIRC Tree's "hook" is that it is 100% organic beer. And here is a link to their website: Tree Brewing Co.

[mtigges]

I tried a few brews from BC a couple of weekends ago, at the Rocky Mountain Wine and Food festival here in Edmonton.

My favourite discovery of the show was the Cannery Brewery from Penticton, BC.  I tried their Blackberry Porter, Naramata Nut Brown Ale, and Anarchist Amber Ale; and found them all to be solid offerings.  The Blackberry Porter is especially interesting, combining a classic porter style with local Okanagan blackberries.  It's not quite raspberries and chocolate, but there's a definite affinity.  They'll be hard to find outside of BC, but if any Edmontonians want to give them a shot just PM me and I'll tell you where to find them.

The Anarchist Amber and Naramata Nut Brown are full-bodied brews, and have fared well in international competition.

I also had a few Hophead IPA's from the Tree Brewing company, which I rather liked.  These are very hoppy - as befits an IPA - with definite fruity notes.  Not bad at all.

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Chromedome,

I've never even heard of "Cannery Brewery", how odd. I'm curious about the porter though, so I will search them out at the local liquor store, or failing that there must be a local bar/resto that carries it. Thanks for the heads up.

A recent "find" of mine was R&B Raven Cream Ale (R&B website here). R&B has been around for awhile, but they seem to have been through a recent retooling or something; someone spread a rumour my way that they were bought by Shaftebury, another local brewing company - who in turn is owned by the Sleeman Brewing Machine. Wickedly slow Shaftebury flash website. Shaftebury Cream is one of my favourites beers too.

About the Tree, someone left a few bottles of Tree Hophead in our fridge after a party last Spring. To this day, there remains one bottle in there that everyone refuses to drink. IIRC Tree's "hook" is that it is 100% organic beer. And here is a link to their website: Tree Brewing Co.

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Cannery are a staple at most liquour stores in Van. The crappier ones won't have it, but all the good ones do. The porter is the first to be stocked and is indeed an outstanding beer. My vote for the best fruit beer ever. If you want to try the rest of their line, better than safe than sorry, visit the Cambie location.

While you're there, if you are unfamiliar with the offerings from Old Yale, pick some of their beers up. Especially the Sergeants. It's the best IPA in the province, IMO. They had a bad spell about a year ago, with some heavily oxidized bottles, but as I understand, that's been cleared up. I don't know what the problem was. I got a couple badly oxidized bottles, and asked someone I trusted, he said he heard this.

Also, Phillips from Victoria, try their beers too (just stay away from the maple cream, yuck, of course other people love it.). We have a great number of excellent microbrews here in BC, I wish they were more popular. I am actually not that big a fan of R&B. They are good, but a little bland. Their Kristalweizen is awesome though.

[Susan in FL]

So far tonight I've had Red Hook IPA and Flying Dog Snake Dog Ale IPA. The Red Hook is good. It's very mildly hopped for an IPA, but it's a hop flavor I like. This could be a session beer. The Snake Dog IPA tasted better and less bitter than the first time I drank it. Then it was almost offensively bitter. Tonight's is way good, and nicely bitter. It's boldly hoppy, more like expected from an IPA.

[eje]

Had the Mad River Brewing 2005 John Barleycorn barleywine style ale last night with dessert.

Fairly heavily hopped for a Barleywine, it had lots of elements of citrus and spice. Quite a nice way to end the Thanksgiving meal.

[Susan in FL]

Oh yum, Erik. That sounds real good.

I just switched to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and soon will be switching to wine, with dinner.

[James Kessler]

I'm sure someone must have posted about this before me, but I can't resist: CASK ALE, or "REAL ALE." I had the pleasure of trying some on Wednesday night. It was incredible. Hand-drawn from a cask instead of a keg, it was served at a perfect cellar temperature. Low carbonation, but definately there... such a warm rich flavor. It was Fuller's Ale. I had it at D.B.A. in Manhattan. I was told by the bartender that there were only five casks of it in the world that night. My friend and I both had some, and it changed my perception of what the ideal of beer should be. I can't write a good flavor descriptor because it's not fresh in my mind anymore. I'll have to go get some more of the stuff and post again if anyone is interested. Or, if you are in the NYC metro area, go down to DBA and get some for yourself. They serve some "real ale" every night on a rotating basis. That pint was spot on!

[Rich Pawlak]

2005 Sierra Nevada Celebration!

As always, fantastic.

[jsolomon]

Last weekend I had Upstream Brewing Company's Blackstone Stout.

Creamy, rich, hints of chocolate, coffee, and good beef fond. Highly suggested if you find yourself looking for a quaff in Omaha, NE.