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Beer |OT|

M

Mindlog

Member
What are the exemplary examples of Black Lager (Euro Dark Lager?) available in North America?

A while back I hosted a party and received ~12 cases of Guiness Black Lager (long story) as part of the selection. I was pretty shocked at the people that took to it. I don't mind buying a variety of beers for different tastes, but I'm wondering what the superior alternatives are. Stouts and Porters are my wheelhouse with an increasing awareness of IPAs. If anyone has Black Lager (Euro Dark Lager?) recommendations it would be greatly appreciated. Wider North American distribution would be nice, but I'm not above making an order to specialty retailers.
 
M

mcfrank

Member
Mindlog said:
What are the exemplary examples of Black Lager (Euro Dark Lager?) available in North America?

A while back I hosted a party and received ~12 cases of Guiness Black Lager (long story) as part of the selection. I was pretty shocked at the people that took to it. I don't mind buying a variety of beers for different tastes, but I'm wondering what the superior alternatives are. Stouts and Porters are my wheelhouse with an increasing awareness of IPAs. If anyone has Black Lager (Euro Dark Lager?) recommendations it would be greatly appreciated. Wider North American distribution would be nice, but I'm not above making an order to specialty retailers.
Click to expand...

KCCO was pretty good. It's not my favorite style but it is nice if you want to drink more than a few beers at a party.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
Tanakaya in Mejiro (Tokyo) is amazing. 800 yen 375s of Cantillon kriek, geuze and gambrinus. Snagged a Cantillon tulip and some awesome Japanese craft beers.

Off to dinner and beers at Devilcraft now. Pizza and beer. Oh yeah!
 
F

fijim

Banned
Mindlog said:
What are the exemplary examples of Black Lager (Euro Dark Lager?) available in North America?

A while back I hosted a party and received ~12 cases of Guiness Black Lager (long story) as part of the selection. I was pretty shocked at the people that took to it. I don't mind buying a variety of beers for different tastes, but I'm wondering what the superior alternatives are. Stouts and Porters are my wheelhouse with an increasing awareness of IPAs. If anyone has Black Lager (Euro Dark Lager?) recommendations it would be greatly appreciated. Wider North American distribution would be nice, but I'm not above making an order to specialty retailers.
Click to expand...

New Belgium 1554
 
E

ErnieMcCracken

Member
Mindlog said:
What are the exemplary examples of Black Lager (Euro Dark Lager?) available in North America?

A while back I hosted a party and received ~12 cases of Guiness Black Lager (long story) as part of the selection. I was pretty shocked at the people that took to it. I don't mind buying a variety of beers for different tastes, but I'm wondering what the superior alternatives are. Stouts and Porters are my wheelhouse with an increasing awareness of IPAs. If anyone has Black Lager (Euro Dark Lager?) recommendations it would be greatly appreciated. Wider North American distribution would be nice, but I'm not above making an order to specialty retailers.
Click to expand...
Look for this one: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/648/1774/
Should be able to find it if you have a good beer store around. At least they should be able to order it in for you if they don't carry it.
 
F

fijim

Banned
So a group I am part of that previously hosted this Founders tasting, hosted a Bourbon County tasting. Here are a few pics:

uIJIAXF.jpg


RLPTzJ2.jpg


The unlabeled bomber is a bomber of 2008 Bourbon County that was bottled from a keg of 2008 BCBS our group found and purchased collectively and then bottled by a homebrewer with the right equipment.

The 25th Anniversay beers are: Cthulhu, Brettanomite, Silver Jubilee, 25th Anniversary Flanders Red

They also had a keg of Baudonia apparently pouring at this event.

Had to contribute quite a bit to get in. I was not able to get in unfortunately and I had offered: Prop, 2012 Coffee, 2012 Regular, 2013 Coffee, 2013 Regular, 2013 Barleywine.
 
M

MacGurcules

Member
fijim said:
So a group I am part of that previously hosted this Founders tasting, hosted a Bourbon County tasting. Here are a few pics:

The unlabeled bomber is a bomber of 2008 Bourbon County that was bottled from a keg of 2008 BCBS our group found and purchased collectively and then bottled by a homebrewer with the right equipment.

The 25th Anniversay beers are: Cthulhu, Brettanomite, Silver Jubilee, 25th Anniversary Flanders Red

They also had a keg of Baudonia apparently pouring at this event.

Had to contribute quite a bit to get in. I was not able to get in unfortunately and I had offered: Prop, 2012 Coffee, 2012 Regular, 2013 Coffee, 2013 Regular, 2013 Barleywine.
Click to expand...
Aw damn. Is that a bottle of Rare? I had a taste a few years ago and I wish I could get another.
 
M

mcfrank

Member
fijim said:
So a group I am part of that previously hosted this Founders tasting, hosted a Bourbon County tasting. Here are a few pics:

uIJIAXF.jpg


RLPTzJ2.jpg


The unlabeled bomber is a bomber of 2008 Bourbon County that was bottled from a keg of 2008 BCBS our group found and purchased collectively and then bottled by a homebrewer with the right equipment.

The 25th Anniversay beers are: Cthulhu, Brettanomite, Silver Jubilee, 25th Anniversary Flanders Red

They also had a keg of Baudonia apparently pouring at this event.

Had to contribute quite a bit to get in. I was not able to get in unfortunately and I had offered: Prop, 2012 Coffee, 2012 Regular, 2013 Coffee, 2013 Regular, 2013 Barleywine.
Click to expand...

I want to go to there
 
P

PhoncipleBone

Banned
Having Goat Boy tonight. Meh. Not great, but not terrible either. Tastes bitter as you sip, but you definitely get banana in the aftertaste.

A beer I am happy with for tonight, but dont intend to buy again.
 
B

bowery

Member
PhoncipleBone said:
Having Goat Boy tonight. Meh. Not great, but not terrible either. Tastes bitter as you sip, but you definitely get banana in the aftertaste.

A beer I am happy with for tonight, but dont intend to buy again.
Click to expand...

southern tier y do u disappoint me so with these new releases
 
P

PhoncipleBone

Banned
mlarine said:
southern tier y do u disappoint me so with these new releases
Click to expand...
Well, it has gotten better as the night has gone on at least. Nowhere near as bitter, but that is probably my palette adjusting.

And the banana aftertaste is sticking longer, for better or worse depending on how you feel about banana.
 
B

bowery

Member
If there is such a high demand for American sours or "wild ales" why doesn't a california brewery with access to oak barrels and good distribution like lagunitas or Sierra Nevada put out a mass distributed line. It sucks when in New York the only real access I have are Belgian imports at high prices and I know Captain Lawrence in ny puts out sours but they are super limited
 
F

fenners

Member
mlarine said:
If there is such a high demand for American sours or "wild ales" why doesn't a california brewery with access to oak barrels and good distribution like lagunitas or Sierra Nevada put out a mass distributed line. It sucks when in New York the only real access I have are Belgian imports at high prices and I know Captain Lawrence in ny puts out sours but they are super limited
Click to expand...

Lots of breweries are doing sours/farmhouse ales all across the US already. The likes of Lagunitas aren't going to put out a large mainstream sour as the mainstream market isn't there for it.

It takes time & space for sours, so the cost/batch size are always going to be small unless the market suddenly grows.
 
M

mcfrank

Member
mlarine said:
If there is such a high demand for American sours or "wild ales" why doesn't a california brewery with access to oak barrels and good distribution like lagunitas or Sierra Nevada put out a mass distributed line. It sucks when in New York the only real access I have are Belgian imports at high prices and I know Captain Lawrence in ny puts out sours but they are super limited
Click to expand...

Sours are hard to make and run the risk of screwing up your other beers if you have limited space (see The Bruery's recent struggles). Sours have a limited but devout following - not mainstream appeal (yet). Sours are expensive and time consuming to make. ETC ETC. There are lots of reasons.

That said - there are plenty of sours that are easy to find when they are out, you just need to get used to the cyclical nature of them and that the sour you drink in May is different than the sour you drink in December.
 
E

ErnieMcCracken

Member
mlarine said:
If there is such a high demand for American sours or "wild ales" why doesn't a california brewery with access to oak barrels and good distribution like lagunitas or Sierra Nevada put out a mass distributed line. It sucks when in New York the only real access I have are Belgian imports at high prices and I know Captain Lawrence in ny puts out sours but they are super limited
Click to expand...

Sierra did a sour collaboration with Russian River (Brux) and said they would never do it again due to risk of infection of the rest of the brewery. Someone would (ideally) need a separate sour brewing/aging facility to keep the rest of the brewery free from infection. I'm sure time and cost are two of the other biggest factors. Maybe the sour hype train will die down. Yeah, right.
 
D

dekline

Member
Nothing too fancy...

rsz_2014-04-09_191931ckurq.jpg


I keep eyeing up a single bottle of backyard rye BCBS but the price is holding me back. Finally the clerk tells me if I don't buy it by friday he will :(

Beer problems
 
S

ShinAmano

Member
So I had KBS last night...was it me or did I miss the bourbon? Good beer but there are many better and easier to find bourbon coffee stout.
 
P

PhoncipleBone

Banned
In the DC area for the weekend. Rockville, MD specifically. Anything I should hunt down while here that I can't get in CT? There is a Dogfish Head restaurant a couple miles from the hotel, so I wanna go there and see if they have any unique things on tap.
 
S

schuelma

Wastes hours checking old Famitsu software data, but that's why we love him.
ShinAmano said:
So I had KBS last night...was it me or did I miss the bourbon? Good beer but there are many better and easier to find bourbon coffee stout.
Click to expand...

Hmm. I definitely tasted it.

On a somewhat related note, really enjoying Shorts right now. Its Michigan distribution only, but for any gafers in the area, I highly recommend.
 
S

SteveWinwood

Member
blue moons spring seasonal is trash this year

i remember like 5 years ago their summer seasonal was one of the greatest things to grace my tongue but then they replaced it with something else and i was legitimately sad
 
F

fat pat

Member
ShinAmano said:
So I had KBS last night...was it me or did I miss the bourbon? Good beer but there are many better and easier to find bourbon coffee stout.
Click to expand...

Thats strange, mine had a LOT of bourbon. Was a real real hot bourbony note coming through a nose exhale with a mouthful of it.
 
F

fijim

Banned
dekline said:
Well, it's Saturday now but it was $20. I suppose I could stop by later and see if it's still on the shelf.
Click to expand...

$20 is MSRP, you could turn around and sell it for $80+ on craigslist (although I do not condone such activities)

You should buy at that price in a heartbeat.
 
P

PG2G

Member
fijim said:
$20 is MSRP, you could turn around and sell it for $80+ on craigslist (although I do not condone such activities)

You should buy at that price in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...

$80 for a backyard? Lol, I should get rid of the two I have. Its not that good :/
 
P

PhoncipleBone

Banned
I can get most of it in bottles in CT, but while near DC went to Dogfish Head Alehouse tonight and had a slew of stuff in tap. World Wide Stout on tap? Yes, please!
Best part: didn't pay for dinner since was out with in laws. That beer sampler tray was divine.
 
P

pxleyes

Banned
I'm going to make an effort to post more here instead of just lurking.

Here is what I picked up tonight, and then the Sciaenhops is tonight's drink of choice. It. Is. Amazing.

1cskXhn.jpg

0PmWWzf.jpg
 
D

dekline

Member
I think parabola is the best stout I've ever had. Can't remember the year it was bottled unfortunately.

It's probably in this thread.
 
J

Jarnet87

Member
Was at an ABC Liquor and they happened to have a couple of the small batch Sam Adams beers. I got my hands on 2 Merry Makers (gingerbread stout) and 2 Cinder Bocks (Rauch Bock).
 
P

PhoncipleBone

Banned
Jarnet87 said:
Was at an ABC Liquor and they happened to have a couple of the small batch Sam Adams beers. I got my hands on 2 Merry Makers (gingerbread stout) and 2 Cinder Bocks (Rauch Bock).
Click to expand...

Never saw the Cinder Bock before. Will have to look for it. The Merry Maker is good. Like liquified gingerbread.
 
E

Enron

Banned
Fucking SCORE. Went looking for Bluepoint Toasted Lager at lunch now that its available here in GA this month, and found this treasure instead.

13853876365_dfa07832e1_b.jpg



Brooklyn Silver Anniversary, aka the best thing Brooklyn has ever brewed. I thought i missed out on this, i havent seen a bottle of it on a shelf in months, and there were two of them staring me in the face.
 
S

Socreges

Banned
Enron said:
Fucking SCORE. Went looking for Bluepoint Toasted Lager at lunch now that its available here in GA this month, and found this treasure instead.

13853876365_dfa07832e1_b.jpg



Brooklyn Silver Anniversary, aka the best thing Brooklyn has ever brewed. I thought i missed out on this, i havent seen a bottle of it on a shelf in months, and there were two of them staring me in the face.
Click to expand...
My local store has several that haven't moved in ages. $17, though.
 
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