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

[elixirofthetropics]

I was at family friend's house for oysters on the 24th, and I tried what he offered: a Mexican beer Modelo in a white can. Tasted drier than normal. It was OK. At my sister's wedding reception on the 17th, I had Guinness Draught bottle and Import Lowenbrau (not the Lowenbrau made in America but the one made in Deutschland).

[Tkrup]

Yesterday I had to work, so after work we went to the bar and had:

Golden Carolus Grand Cru Emperor - VERY caramely, almost no hop flavor at all; one of our friends, who will not drink beer because of the bitterness, said she might drink this

Trappistes Rochefort, #8, I think - also really good, although I can't think of a way to describe it.

Alas, Christmas is over, so the last remaining excuse to consume prodigious quantities of Belgian ales is the New Year....  I actually got complimented by my boyfriend last night because apparently other girls have been unwilling to drink Belgian ales?!  Amazing.

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My wife gets those compliments a lot too. Her favorite is the Delerium Tremens, which elicits remarks whenever she enthusiastically orders it. We split a Delerium Noel while we wrapped the Christmas presents the other day. It's really good, and I noticed it got better as it approached "cellar temperature" which is probably why yours started to taste better after a while. Have fun at Penn, and be sure to bring an appetite as well as your liver!!

Happy ChaunzaChrismaKwanzzicha!!

Edited December 30, 2005 by Tkrup (log)

[Tkrup]

Today's purchases,

I'm doing the holiday family rounds, so I decided to stop at Shangy's beer distributor in Emmaus PA. This is the place to get good beer by the case in Southeastern PA (North of Philly). I got a case of Aventinus Weizensarkbier, which is described as a blend of Dopple Bock and Weizenbock, and a case of La Binchoise Special Noel, a Golden Ale. I'll probably crack one of each open tomorrow by way of front loading for the New Year's celebration we'll be attending.

I'll report later, especially on the Aventinus. My wife was strangely drawn to it as soon as we walked into the place.

[jeniac42]

Had a Chimay Blue on Tuesday night, which will probably mark the end of the Belgian beerfest for a while because now I've got to save my money for this semester's tuition payments....

[Susan in FL]

We flew into San Diego Thursday night and when we checked into our suite, my son had Stone Levitation Ale in the fridge for us! It did taste good. Prior to that we drank Dos Equis on tap at the airport while we were waiting for our luggage which was three hours late flying in. Friday we found draft beer heaven downtown. We went to Yard House, which claims to have the largest selection of draft beer in the state or country or something, and we drank Anderson Valley Hop Ottin’ IPA, Coronado Mermaid Red Ale, and Hobglobin English Ale.

It's good beer country here. Yesterday we visited Stone Brewing Co., which has moved (more to come about that) and drank Arrogant Bastard Ale, which is now my current favorite beer, and the IPA. Today, more of that IPA and some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale...

[BrentKulman]

We flew into San Diego Thursday night and when we checked into our suite, my son had Stone Levitation Ale in the fridge for us!  It did taste good.  Prior to that we drank Dos Equis on tap at the airport while we were waiting for our luggage which was three hours late flying in.  Friday we found draft beer heaven downtown.  We went to Yard House, which claims to have the largest selection of draft beer in the state or country or something, and we drank Anderson Valley Hop Ottin’ IPA, Coronado Mermaid Red Ale, and Hobglobin English Ale. 

It's good beer country here.  Yesterday we visited Stone Brewing Co., which has moved (more to come about that) and drank Arrogant Bastard Ale, which is now my current favorite beer, and the IPA.  Today, more of that IPA and some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale...

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I hope you will get to taste some AleSmith beers, too.

[jeniac42]

Last night I got to drink some good beers again, because Eric had a DJ gig at a bar that serves them.

I had:

- Gouden Carolus Christmas - good, but I like the Grand Cru better

- Anchor Christmas 2005 - a little too bitter for my taste buds last night. Eric really liked it and said it had a lot of spice but I wasn't picking that up.

- Anderson Valley Winter Solstice - WOW. This tasted really good, like vanilla.

[Basilgirl]

Last night I tried Redhook's Winterhook for the first time. Very heavy - I could only have one before I switched back to Sierra Nevadas - but very tasty too.

[Tkrup]

Last night I got to drink some good beers again, because Eric had a DJ gig at a bar that serves them.

I had:

- Gouden Carolus Christmas - good, but I like the Grand Cru better

- Anchor Christmas 2005 - a little too bitter for my taste buds last night.  Eric really liked it and said it had a lot of spice but I wasn't picking that up.

- Anderson Valley Winter Solstice - WOW.  This tasted really good, like vanilla.

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That AV is some good stuff.

Now, the report on my Christmas purchases..

Drank the La Binchoise on New Year's Eve....mostly because the bottles are champagne style with corks and cages. This is a classic high alcohol Belgian style beer with a pleasant hoppiness and an almost syrupy spiced malt. Damn good stuff. Shared it with my old friends, one of which is a professional brewer. Good times. My friend also brewed a special Brown Ale, Belgian Ale, and Bitter for the night's debauchory. They all got high marks by the crowd, but I liked the Brown the best. It was more complex than the others. He deliberately pulled the Bitter at about 3.5 ABV to facilitate an "all night buzz" for the party

The Aventinus Weizensarkbier is great too, but it's really high in alcolol and I can generally only drink one. It reminds me of the Dopple I used to get at a now defunkt brewpub in Baltimore (which I miss dearly).

Glad you could scrape together some cheddar to get your good beer fix this week!!

Cheers

[Behemoth]

I guess I should probably take more interest in beer threads. This week I drank:

Augustiner Lagerbier Hell

Hacker-Pschorr Muenchener Hell

Schneider Aventinus

Schneider Weisse Original

The Aventinus is probably my favorite, but the Helles are more common for those wanting to avoid a painful morning-after.

[Susan in FL]

I guess I should probably take more interest in beer threads. This week I drank:

Augustiner Lagerbier Hell

Hacker-Pschorr Muenchener Hell

Schneider Aventinus

Schneider Weisse Original

The Aventinus is probably my favorite, but the Helles are more common for those wanting to avoid a painful morning-after.

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We hope you take interest!! Thanks for the post!

Tonight a Tupper's Hop Pocket Ale, followed by a Victory Hop Wallop. Oh my.

[Tkrup]

Convinced my wife that a glass of Old Crustacean was a good idea after the "Spanish" pizza I made for dinner. She's so easy!!!

Incidentally, this was the beer that got me started on my road to pretension in 1993.

[eje]

My wife got me a subscription to the PlumpJack Beer Club for Christmas, and one of the December beers was Schneider's Aventinus Weizen Eisbock.

Holy Crap!

I'm still trying to decide if the appropriate description would be "Beer Port" or "Beer Liqueur". Probably, given our response to sharing a single bottle, "Schneider's Hammer", might be most accurate.

If you drink wine, this beer is closest to a Sauterne or Late harvest Riesling.

[eje]

Was a great weekend for Hoppy Beers.

First we tried Deschutes Hop Trip made with fresh hop flowers.

With the fresh flowers, I expected this one to be overwhelmingly hoppy and sharp. It is not. While the hops are strong, they seem to have a more mellow character than dry hops. This beer reminded me most of a very good fresh English Ale. Highly recommended.

The long MLK day weekend finally allowed us to make the pilgrimage to Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa. We tried their Double IPA, Pliny the Elder, and one of their Belgian style Ales, Perdition Pale Ale. Both are outstanding examples of California Brewmanship. Pliny the Elder being a tasty strong hoppy ale not too far from Stone's Double Bastard or Prohibition's Double Daddy. Really nice. I just wish I didn't have to drive all the way to Santa Rosa to get it, or I'd drink it every night. Oh, well, maybe it is a good thing it is so far away... Their Perdition is a Belgian style ale, copper in color, and with some nice hop bite to go with the more traditional malt flavors.

I will also note that their pizzas are very good and have a happy hour all day sunday and from 4-6:00 every week day, when taps are sold for the ridiculously low price of $2.75.

Edited January 17, 2006 by eje (log)

[Audiofan2]

Was a great weekend for Hoppy Beers.

First we tried Deschutes Hop Trip made with fresh hop flowers.

With the fresh flowers, I expected this one to be overwhelmingly hoppy and sharp.  It is not.  While the hops are strong, they seem to have a more mellow character than dry hops.  This beer reminded me most of a very good fresh English Ale.  Highly recommended.

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Hop Trip is part of the Bond Street Series. The next one which was supposed to be released on January 16th, but was delayed, is:

Hop Henge I.P.A. is Deschutes Brewery's version of a big NW I.P.A. boasting 3.5 pounds of Centennial, Cascade and Northern Brewer hops per barrel with a heavy dry-hop presence to top it off. A blend of crystal, pale and caraston malts creates an overall biscuity characteristic that is dense and muscular, building the alcohol base to support the monstrous hop profile.

Like the rest of the Bond Street Series, Hop Henge highlights the creativity and curiosity of our brewers. Bolder than its English ancestors, with huge hops and a bitter finish, this IPA is no wallflower.

[malarkey]

Hop Trip is part of the Bond Street Series. The next one which was supposed to be released on January 16th, but was delayed, is:

Hop Henge I.P.A. is Deschutes Brewery's version of a big NW I.P.A. boasting 3.5 pounds of Centennial, Cascade and Northern Brewer hops per barrel with a heavy dry-hop presence to top it off.  A blend of crystal, pale and caraston malts creates an overall biscuity characteristic that is dense and muscular, building the alcohol base to support the monstrous hop profile.

Like the rest of the Bond Street Series, Hop Henge highlights the creativity and curiosity of our brewers.  Bolder than its English ancestors, with huge hops and a bitter finish, this IPA is no wallflower.

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Good god. I need to make a trip to Bottleworks I see. My name is Malarkey, and I'm an IPA junkie...

[jsolomon]

I've been slumming all week. Schlitz was on sale, so I decided to offend the sensibilities of the fiance.

Not a bad quaff for $.50 a can. Certainly better than Bud Light.

[lambretta76]

In celebration of Australia Day, last night I quaffed:

4 bottles of Tooheys New - an OK lager. Slightly sparkling, with a bit of a grape juice character. It was nice.

2 bottles of James Boag's Premium Lager - a little blander than the Toohey's, hence only two bottles of thie

2 bottles of Coopers Sparkling Ale - when the bar got too packed, it was easier to just drink what everyone else was drinking - Cooper's Red. Nice sparkling beer, if that's your thing.

[Jambalyle]

Lagunitas IPA

Very hoppy, with citrus bite. Yum!

[Lisa1349]

It's been a great beer week having visited The Drafting Room in Springhouse, PA. We happened upon their karaoke night which had some hard core singers and went back for Trivia night on Tuesday (trivia in February will be held by Victory Brewing Co) which was difficult given their great prizes. I have to study up for next week.

We had:

Legacy Nor'easter that was incredible. Chocolaty, floral and pleasantly bitter. We loved sipping it with Framboise. Someone else at the gathering had their Snowball's Chance, a lighter ale that lacked character.

Rogue Mogul. I didn't know how special this was at the time aside from how great it tasted. I just found out it's at only 60 locations across the US. Also with a refreshing bitter quality like a big dash of angostura in OJ.

Stone's Ruination IPA (from Michael's, not the Drafting Room) For me, this was only enjoyable when quite cold. It's super bitter 100+ IBU was enhanced when warmer. The color was amazing, a reddish amber I've never seen before. Great with my corned beef special. The beau's favorite to be rotated with HopDevil.

Cask Conditioned HopDevil This was from their beer engine. Also had it at the brewery itself. It's the post graduate version of the frat boy HopDevil. All grown up, refined. Requires more thought on the tongue than the original. I like this more. I'll be entering Victory's Chili Cookoff Feb. 19th. Be there!

Also had a Framboise. This is one that I must have from Draught as opposed to bottles. The raspberry just isn't happy in tight quarters.

A terrific beverage week overall.

[LunaSea]

Oh man, my head's still fuzzy!!! Last night a friend of mine and I drank 3 bottles of Chimay Grand Reserve (blue) Belgium Trappist ale...you know, the 25 oz. bottles...did I mention the 9% alcohol? Can't wait to do it again!!!

[ctgm]

Oh man, my head's still fuzzy!!! Last night a friend of mine and I drank 3 bottles of Chimay Grand Reserve (blue) Belgium Trappist ale...you know, the 25 oz. bottles...did I mention the 9% alcohol? Can't wait to do it again!!!

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Luna I feel for you! My local has it on tap and after 4 pints felt quite happy.

Anyway had Timothy Taylor's Landlord and London Pride

[gfron1]

Right now I'm enjoying a nice Westmalloe Trappist Ale - great bouquet and flavor. Product of Belgium.

[ctgm]

Ringwood 49er - http://www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk/fortyniner.htm - a lovely pint at lunch time to accompany a very good stake and kidney pie.

my favourite beer.

Edited February 1, 2006 by ctgm (log)

[Audiofan2]

Hop Trip is part of the Bond Street Series. The next one which was supposed to be released on January 16th, but was delayed, is:

Hop Henge I.P.A. is Deschutes Brewery's version of a big NW I.P.A. boasting 3.5 pounds of Centennial, Cascade and Northern Brewer hops per barrel with a heavy dry-hop presence to top it off.  A blend of crystal, pale and caraston malts creates an overall biscuity characteristic that is dense and muscular, building the alcohol base to support the monstrous hop profile.

Like the rest of the Bond Street Series, Hop Henge highlights the creativity and curiosity of our brewers.  Bolder than its English ancestors, with huge hops and a bitter finish, this IPA is no wallflower.

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Good god. I need to make a trip to Bottleworks I see. My name is Malarkey, and I'm an IPA junkie...

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Yea, I have heard about Bottleworks.... I go to Beer Stein Here in Eugene, about 800 choices just like Bottleworks.

Hop Henge did finally get released and it is very good. It has a similar aroma as Pelican IPA and Bear Republic Racer 5, two of my favorites.