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Beer |OT|

PG2G

Member
How easy is it to get De Molen in the US? Always assumed they're too small to export further.

I see there stuff at a couple stores, dont pay too much attention so I don't know what we're getting. All the labels look the same :| Bought this one because of anchorage.

They are distributed by the same folks that do Cantillon and Fantome
 

Milchjon

Member
They have some interesting stuff. I enjoyed one of their Whiskey malt Imperial Stouts a lot (Hemel & Aard). Generally, of the ones I tried, all their darker beers are recommended. One of them tasted like strawberries and balsamic, I think it was Mooi & Meedogenloos.
 
Today's haul (a few bottles through trades)

The night stalker is a 2012. From BA it sounds like GI changed distributers so the old distributed has been dumping shit into channels.

LA-BeerGAF needs a tasting group lol

oh sweet jesus no way I can match that kinda stuff but uh yes we do

I've seen some De Molen around in California but it's not a lot and it's their more widespread releases. I've only had Hel & Verdoemenis from them but it was good, I'm sure the barrel-aged versions are delicious. Never had the time to go pay them a visit when I've been in Amsterdam though.

I've been drinking Coors Banquet all day, btw, not ideal :(
 

HiResDes

Member
Evil Twin Yin
Evil Twin Yang (both underwhelming, even mixed)
Maisel's Weisse Original
Ratsherrn Summer Ale
A friend's Citra Pale Ale that smells mind blowing.

Damn that's amazing. I just had some local brews by my favorite local brewery...Madtree, Psychopathy was the most drank one
 

Watcher

Member
Had some stone ruination 10 SO GOOD.
Finished it off with Sierra Nevada summer ale. It's terrible do not recommend. All in all great 4th so happy holidays!
 
A few American beers floating around Melbourne this weekend worth mentioning. Drank a Ballast Point Sculpin tonight, a Brash The Bollocks, Brooklyn Hammerby Syndrome, Rogue 7 Hop and Prairie Bomb! among some others last night.

In particular, the Sculpin and Bomb! were incredible. I have a bottle of the Prairie RIS aged in wine barrels, so I'm going to leave that for a few months, am really excited for it after the Bomb!.

And finally, some of my homebrew beer inspired by Ruination (but even more hoppy!). Good weekend of American beers.

Just picked up a Prairie Bomb!, which I've been wanting to try for awhile. $11 for a 12oz bottle kind of sucks, though.
You don't wanna know what that shit costs by the time it's grey imported into Australia.
 

PG2G

Member
Those expensive 12oz bottles get me too. They really should just release bombers. For some reason a $20 bomber doesn't feel as bad as a $10 12oz bottle
 
Drinking this beauty in time for the Dandy season 2 premiere.

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Tried the New Belgium/3 Floyds Lips of Faith Gratzer tonight. Never had the style before so I figured I'd give it a shot. Not really worth the 9 dollars for a bomber but it was decent, seemed true to the descriptions of the style which isn't exactly up everyone's alley. I'm not the biggest fan of smoked beers but I was okay with this. The lacto part came through more as it warmed and mostly impacted the mouthfeel, which is a bit thin but it's pretty low in alcohol. It reminded me of a couple of Moonlight sour mash lagers I've had in the past.
 

Lotto

Member
Pretty great weekend of beer for me. Picked up a 6-pack of newly released Grapefruit Sculpin at Ballast Point for 4th of July. It was strangely delicious and refreshing considering it's bitter + bitter, really like it. Then on Sat. I went to a Tap Takeover by Avery Brewing + The Lost Abbey and had a lot of great tasters.


Two of those were sold out by the time we got there (Lilikoi Kepolo and Spontaneous Cheer) but I ended up trying a bunch of these thanks to friends. Got to try 2013 The Beast Grand Cru Ale, Trogdor the Burninator, 2013 Tweak (Meph Addict), Framboise de Amorosa, 2013 Red Poppy Ale, and Track # 8 - Number of the Beast.

Gotta say that Track #8 was probably my favorite of the bunch. Just amazing raisin and cinnamon aroma and delicious bourbon-y taste that I just couldn't get enough of. Trogdor was pretty good too, I've only had a few other doppelbocks but I like the style for the most part (Rogue Dead Guy is one of the other one's I've tried.) Sours were also pretty good but I think I liked the Red Poppy more than the Framboise, probably because the sourness wasn't as prominent.

I also saw the Beer Camp collab out in the wild already but don't really have the funds for it yet (24 pack for $38 at my local Costco.)

 

Lotto

Member
Beer Camp? Will hope it comes to CT. That looks really nice.

Yep! More info here: http://beercamp.sierranevada.com/

Lots of great breweries participating in this.

OK, I’m bananas over this 12-pack. Where do I find it?

We’re sending the 12-packs nationwide through our 50-state distribution network, so chances are you’ll come across it at craft-centric stores and some grocery outlets, albeit for a very brief period of time. Your best bet is to call ahead to your favorite shops and ask if they plan to stock the 12-packs. Then set up your tent outside their doors. No, don’t do that. This isn’t Black Friday.

Seems like it'll make it to all 50 states so just keep your eyes peeled.
 

Seth C

Member
I've had a few of the beer camp beers already because a friend is, well, I'll keep it a secret. But if you have any questions and I can answe them without listing official names I'm haply to do so.
 
I've had a few of the beer camp beers already because a friend is, well, I'll keep it a secret. But if you have any questions and I can answe them without listing official names I'm haply to do so.

The Beer Camp beers are already available out here. No secret handshakes or acting all exclusive necessary.
 

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
Sierra Nevada sent out a bomber of some beer camp DIPA to all the breweries that are BA members. I never opened the bottle though.
 

Cr0wn0

Member
I've had 6 of the 12 of beer camp and haven't had a bad one yet. Really good stuff. I wish more breweries would do packs like this. Going to probably pick up another. The ones from CC and RR really stuck out for me.
 

bowery

Member
my picks up from chicago:


with the exception of the anna (got 2) which i did an in person trade for and the new glaarus scream which my girlfriend brought from me from her trip to wisconsin :)

edit: the unicorn galaxy is easily my favorite ipa ive had to date....wow....although it has the advantage of being extremely fresh
 

PG2G

Member
All right guys, I'm going to (or trying to) go without bet for a week. Did a bit too much this weekend and think the body is angry at me lol
 
Two weekends ago my wife and I went to Napa for wine tasting (we're from SoCal). Always a fun trip for us.

This time, though, afterwards we drove a little extra up North to Santa Rosa specifically to go to Russian River Brewery and hunt for Pliny the Elder. It was glorious.
We were able to pick up a 12-pack case of Pliny and a growler for a friend. Driving back to SoCal, I needed to keep that growler cold on the way home so it stayed nice and chilled in our cooler.

The bar food there is great too...I'd skip the pizzas and just get the Pliny Bites. Their chicken wings are baked instead of fried, that tender roasted taste makes it unique from your typical wing.
We also picked up some merch on the way out, like a couple of shirts, stickers, and a bottle opener.

Good times, yo.

Pro-tip:
- Get there early if you're gonna get 6-packs or 12-packs. They usually run out by around 1pm. We thought we could casually get a case while we were hanging out at the bar drinking and eating but didn't notice the cases were flying off the shelves right in front of us and eventually sold out for the day. Luckily we were staying in town overnight so we came back once it opened the next day and got our case.
- You can get up to a 6-pack of Pliny and two growlers to bring home for each person.
- As a hoppy double IPA Pliny expires...so only get as much as you can drink for at most a month's worth.
 

Socreges

Banned
Two weekends ago my wife and I went to Napa for wine tasting (we're from SoCal). Always a fun trip for us.

This time, though, afterwards we drove a little extra up North to Santa Rosa specifically to go to Russian River Brewery and hunt for Pliny the Elder. It was glorious.

We were able to pick up a 12-pack case of Pliny and a growler for a friend. Driving back to SoCal, I needed to keep that growler cold on the way home so it stayed nice and chilled in our cooler.


The bar food there is great too...I'd skip the pizzas and just get the Pliny Bites. Their chicken wings are baked instead of fried, that tender roasted taste makes it unique from your typical wing.

We also picked up some merch on the way out, like a couple of shirts, stickers, and a bottle opener.

Good times, yo.

Pro-tip:
- Get there early if you're gonna get 6-packs or 12-packs. They usually run out by around 1pm. We thought we could casually get a case while we were hanging out at the bar drinking and eating but didn't notice the cases were flying off the shelves right in front of us and eventually sold out for the day. Luckily we were staying in town overnight so we came back once it opened the next day and got our case.
- You can get up to a 6-pack of Pliny and two growlers to bring home for each person.
- As a hoppy double IPA Pliny expires...so only get as much as you can drink for at most a month's worth.
Thanks for this. What an extremely timely post. We're leaving Vancouver (BC) on Friday and will be driving past Russian River on to San Francisco on Monday. I'd planned on leaving the beer selection to dumb luck, but if there is a schedule of sorts I'll definitely try to time it.

They open at 11am, looks like. If I passed by at noon on a Monday, do you think they'd still have Pliny? Or is that too risky? We could always go by a week later when we go to Napa, as well.

What about their sours? I heard Supplication and Beatification are excellent, though I don't know if any of their sours are even available right now?
 
What about their sours? I heard Supplication and Beatification are excellent, though I don't know if any of their sours are even available right now?

I think they keep what beers they have on tap/available in bottles up to date on their website. You're not going to be able to get Beatification as the next release won't be for a while. Judging from the website there are bottles of Sanctification, Consecration, and Supplication available. All are excellent, if you had to choose one I guess Supplication although Sanctification is my personal fave.

Pliny is fantastic and I'm sure it goes without saying but don't ignore their other hoppy beer! Row 2 Hill 56 is one of the best pale ales out there, Blind Pig is still maybe my favorite IPA and I've heard great things about Happy Hops.
 
They open at 11am, looks like. If I passed by at noon on a Monday, do you think they'd still have Pliny? Or is that too risky? We could always go by a week later when we go to Napa, as well.
I think you're okay trying to grab a 6-pack or a case if you get there at noontime. But the earlier the better. Worst-case scenario, you can always grab growlers instead, each one pours about 4 pints worth. But the bottles are much more travel-friendly unless you have a cooler for the growlers.

I didn't get to try any of their other beers since I was just so focused on Pliny. I'll definitely try their Blind Pig and Happy Hops next time. My wife is thinking we should head up north again in February in time for the chaotic Pliny the Younger season =P
 

Socreges

Banned
Thanks, guys. Better news than I expected.

I do hope to take some bottles (or growlers) home with me, but cooler space will definitely be an issue as we'll be camping as well. Gonna have to brainstorm.
 
Cascade is suspending online bottle sales. Hopefully this means they'll wise up and lower their ridiculous retail prices here in WA and OR. The beer isn't selling anymore and they got greedy.
 

PG2G

Member
Cascade is suspending online bottle sales. Hopefully this means they'll wise up and lower their ridiculous retail prices here in WA and OR. The beer isn't selling anymore and they got greedy.

Do their retail prices match the online ones, or is it more? Here in LA they are nearly $10 higher than online ($28-30 for stuff like apricot and strawberry, $35-40 for stuff like sang noir)
 

Socreges

Banned
Cascade is suspending online bottle sales. Hopefully this means they'll wise up and lower their ridiculous retail prices here in WA and OR. The beer isn't selling anymore and they got greedy.

Do their retail prices match the online ones, or is it more? Here in LA they are nearly $10 higher than online ($28-30 for stuff like apricot and strawberry, $35-40 for stuff like sang noir)
Good Christ that's worse than The Bruery up in BC

Are the prices reasonable at the brewery itself?
 

PG2G

Member
They are $20 for the basics and $25-$30 for the others at the brewery I believe.

So yeah, more than Bruery sours. Those are in the $20 range right?
 
They are $20 for the basics and $25-$30 for the others at the brewery I believe.

Yep, and they sit around for a long time now. Out of towners still buy them, but the craft beer scene here in the PNW for the most part is fed up with their antics. All their beers have the same basic taste with some random fruit/thing thrown in yet the prices keep skyrocketing.

Kriek and Apricot used to be $12.50-$15 for a 750ml and the top tier stuff was $20 not that long ago. How times have changed.

Cascade has a small distribution market, I'm curious how much gray market stuff will be now.
 

fijim

Banned
Yep, and they sit around for a long time now. Out of towners still buy them, but the craft beer scene here in the PNW for the most part is fed up with their antics. All their beers have the same basic taste with some random fruit/thing thrown in yet the prices keep skyrocketing.

Kriek and Apricot used to be $12.50-$15 for a 750ml and the top tier stuff was $20 not that long ago. How times have changed.

Cascade has a small distribution market, I'm curious how much gray market stuff will be now.

I am guessing trade value will go up in out of market areas. Hell, they still traded pretty well even when the online shop was open b/c people didn't want to pay shipping.
 
My wife brought me some Nebraska Brewing cans back from her trip to Omaha to see her family. I've been to the brewpub before, but the cans are new.

75b4a48802b275d7cb57f2da358f447d_640x640.jpg


Much improved over having it on tap at the brewery a couple years ago. Citra really shines through.
 

pxleyes

Banned
My opinion on beer trading might be a little odd to some. I think beer trading is a negative practice in general. It is insanely costly for what usually amounts to gas station beer in terms of availability in the home markets. In addition, there is something special about travelling somewhere in this country and finding a new brew or two to try. Getting that beer shipped back to your home kind of defeats the purpose of local breweries. While some big breweries are distributing nationwide, for most of the smaller shops I think it is a bit of an honor to try their offerings when you are in town. No need to spoil that with getting it shipped and having it regularly. Keep it special.
 
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