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Beer |OT|

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PhoncipleBone

Banned
BumRush said:
Beer GAF, I've mostly lurked in this thread, selfishly taking your suggestions and reaping the delicious reward. I'm a huge IPA guy (favorite beers right now are probably Union Jack for a single and Resin for a double) but my buddies and I started something recently. Once a month we get together and try a different style of beer. This month was stouts. Had this and LOVED IT...highly recommended.

BXizVPx.jpg
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Mmmm. I shall have to hunt this down. Thank you.
 
O

overcast

Member
Is beer advocate a good go to for last minute reccomendations? I've posted here about being relatively new to beer.

I think Rasputin is my favorite beer I've tried thus far. Thought Brother Thelonious was good, and I just tried one of Rogue's beers that was pretty good.
 
H

HiResDes

Member
overcast said:
Is beer advocate a good go to for last minute reccomendations? I've posted here about being relatively new to beer.

I think Rasputin is my favorite beer I've tried thus far. Thought Brother Thelonious was good, and I just tried one of Rogue's beers that was pretty good.
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Yeah they're good, but I've found ratebeer to be better at rating IPAs as beer advocate just automatically goes crazy for whatever is most hoppy
 
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overcast

Member
HiResDes said:
Yeah they're good, but I've found ratebeer to be better at rating IPAs as beer advocate just automatically goes crazy for whatever is most hoppy
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Good to know. I've loved IPA's, but it doesn't need to be insane on hops. I'll keep that in mind. Since you're here, any good IPA's to look out for? Dogfish Head or Sculpin any good?
 
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bumbillbee

Member
overcast said:
Is beer advocate a good go to for last minute reccomendations? I've posted here about being relatively new to beer.

I think Rasputin is my favorite beer I've tried thus far. Thought Brother Thelonious was good, and I just tried one of Rogue's beers that was pretty good.
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Do you mean the site itself or the forums? The ratings can be useful but the highest-rated beers are usually going to be biased towards the very limited/regional. I use it mostly when I'm at the store and come across a beer I'm not familiar with or when I like a brewery's beer and want to see what else they've done.

You're in SoCal right? Not the best place to be for imperial stouts like Rasputin but there's usually a decent selection. Sierra Nevada, Stone, Lagunitas, and Bear Republic all have good and relatively inexpensive imperial stouts but they tend to be seasonal. A lot of stouts these days tend to add coffee so if you like coffee try to seek those out.

Where do you usually shop for beer?

Edit: I've never liked Dogfish Head's IPAs much, especially given their price. Sculpin is a classic, but also overpriced generally. My advice with IPAs whether you're buying them at a beer shop or Safeway is to check the bottles/cans for a "brewed on" or "best by" date to make sure it's relatively fresh since hops can fade in flavor. Can't tell you how many times I've checked a bottle of, say, Firestone's Union Jack and seen that it was five or six months old. Have you had any IPAs or pale ales you particularly like yet?
 
M

MacGurcules

Member
overcast said:
Good to know. I've loved IPA's, but it doesn't need to be insane on hops. I'll keep that in mind. Since you're here, any good IPA's to look out for? Dogfish Head or Sculpin any good?
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Personally, 60 Minute IPA does nothing for me. But 90 Minute is pretty tasty. Sculpin is widely regarded as one of the best IPAs available. I don't particularly disagree.
 
H

HiResDes

Member
Those are both good, but I'd also suggest Russian Rivers Blind Pig, Racer Five, Green Flash West Coast IPA, Three Floyds Alpha King, Lagunitas Sucks, Mikkeller Single HOP, and my personal favorite Two Hearted Ale if you can find it in Socal. Stone has some good ones, but they're too hoppy and bitter for my tastes.
 
O

overcast

Member
bumbillbee said:
Do you mean the site itself or the forums? The ratings can be useful but the highest-rated beers are usually going to be biased towards the very limited/regional. I use it mostly when I'm at the store and come across a beer I'm not familiar with or when I like a brewery's beer and want to see what else they've done.

You're in SoCal right? Not the best place to be for imperial stouts like Rasputin but there's usually a decent selection. Sierra Nevada, Stone, Lagunitas, and Bear Republic all have good and relatively inexpensive imperial stouts but they tend to be seasonal. A lot of stouts these days tend to add coffee so if you like coffee try to seek those out.

Where do you usually shop for beer?

Edit: I've never liked Dogfish Head's IPAs much, especially given their price. Sculpin is a classic, but also overpriced generally. My advice with IPAs whether you're buying them at a beer shop or Safeway is to check the bottles/cans for a "brewed on" or "best by" date to make sure it's relatively fresh since hops can fade in flavor. Can't tell you how many times I've checked a bottle of, say, Firestone's Union Jack and seen that it was five or six months old. Have you had any IPAs or pale ales you particularly like yet?
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Just ratings themselves. I will seek those out for sure, thanks. I love coffee so that sounds awesome.

I can go a few places. I have a barons, trader joes, grocery stores, and a Bevmo nearby. Yeah, SoCal.

I'll keep that in mind with IPA's. Honestly, I went to bars up north (Portland/Seattle) and didn't write down which IPA's I liked. So, I kind of regret that. I remember when I first tried IPA's a few of them were just too damn hoppy. Think Stone's Arrogant Bastard was a total turn off.

Edit: Oh shit, I'll definitely write these other ones down too. Thanks.
 
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bumbillbee

Member
A good coffee stout that should be available somewhere near you is Modern Times' Black House. Comes in a four-pack on pint cans for around ten dollars.
 
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t-ramp

Member
Just picked up a six-pack of Summit Saga cans, a Crooked Stave Surette, and a friend who works at the liquor store gave me a bottle of A Little Sumpin' Extra! Nice surprise, since Lagunitas is draft-only here for a couple months before packaged stuff arrives.
 
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distantmantra

Member
A buddy got too many member reserve Crooked Stave bottles (ie. his wife isn't happy with how much he spends on beer), so I ended up with two of them. Score.
 
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ErnieMcCracken

Member
Picked up a couple bottles of Stone w00tstout 2.0. Looking forward to this year's version. Also grabbed some Against the Grain brews: Bo & Luke and Rico Sauvin.
 
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t-ramp

Member
t-ramp on Untappd

Also, I just remembered that I've been on there about a year. My first check-in was a Tumbler on July 25th of last year. I'll probably be at 238 unique beers by the 25th... not bad.
 
A

andycapps

Member
HiResDes said:
Those are both good, but I'd also suggest Russian Rivers Blind Pig, Racer Five, Green Flash West Coast IPA, Three Floyds Alpha King, Lagunitas Sucks, Mikkeller Single HOP, and my personal favorite Two Hearted Ale if you can find it in Socal. Stone has some good ones, but they're too hoppy and bitter for my tastes.
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Two Hearted Ale is my favorite IPA, by far. I like hops okay, but most of them just go completely overboard to where it's not enjoyable. It becomes tons of hops just for the hell of it.
 
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distantmantra

Member
PG2G said:
Finally checking this off my list. Great pale ale but think I prefer Alpine's Hoppy Birthday
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Zombie Dust can be really good or kinda medicinal depending on how fresh the bottle is.

I honestly think Gumball Head is the better FFF beer.

Also, you need some Bale Breaker Field 41. Best pale ever, which isn't surprising since the brewery is on a hop farm in Yakima.
 
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pablito

Member
What's up Beer GAF. Had pretty good beer weekend. California State Fair had a beer festival/contest and I got to try some cool stuff. I'm a huge IPA guy so that's mainly what I tried. Unfortunately I don't remember many names because it was crowded as hell and I didn't really pay close attention when I was in line. I know I'll recognize labels if I ever see them though. The winner, Track 7, had a good single IPA though.

Favorites: Pliny the Elder (haven't tried Younger yet), Device's Basilica (Triple IPA, small Sacramento brewery), Sierra Nevada's Big Foot (this year especially), Dogfish Head 90 minute, Stone's Enjoy By 7/4/14.

I generally like my stuff crazy hopped lol. Can't get enough hops.
 
S

Socreges

Banned
I'd also agree that Lagunitas Sucks is very good. Probably the 'underdog hit' of my road trip. Gonna grab a couple bottles in Portland before returning home.

Gonna miss the awesome Sours selection most of all. :(

Any ideas on where to grab some in Portland? Besides Cascade, I mean. Haven't been able to find Russian River stuff in stores (YMMV I guess).
 
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distantmantra

Member
Socreges said:
I'd also agree that Lagunitas Sucks is very good. Probably the 'underdog hit' of my road trip. Gonna grab a couple bottles in Portland before returning home.

Gonna miss the awesome Sours selection most of all. :(

Any ideas on where to grab some in Portland? Besides Cascade, I mean. Haven't been able to find Russian River stuff in stores (YMMV I guess).
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Get some Breakside Passionfruit Sour. Sooo good. Also Ale Apothecary, Commons and Upright bottle sours. Tin Bucket typically has a bunch on tap.

Belmont might have some tion beers.
 
H

HiResDes

Member
distantmantra said:
Zombie Dust can be really good or kinda medicinal depending on how fresh the bottle is.

I honestly think Gumball Head is the better FFF beer.

Also, you need some Bale Breaker Field 41. Best pale ever, which isn't surprising since the brewery is on a hop farm in Yakima.
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Gumball Head is my favorite too, but it's rarer than their other offerings around here.
 
S

sharkmuncher

Member
Jarnet87 said:
Grabbed 2 of the Beer Camp 12 packs yesterday.
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They came and went here on Tues. and I didn't even know. All the beer stores that usually post releases like that on Facebook didn't even bother this time. I guess it was 3-5 12 packs per account or something stupid like that. A bar is doing a tasting session in a couple weeks though, so hopefully I'll try some there
 
M

MacGurcules

Member
Beer Camp is supposed to be here tomorrow, for me. I've got somebody at the liquor looking out and she's gonna call me when they land. Hopefully I can scoop some up. Limited release stuff always seems super limited around here.
 
M

MacGurcules

Member
distantmantra said:
Tons of Beer Camp boxes in Seattle. Costco, Safeway, Fred Meyer, Whole Foods, bottle shops, etc. No shortage. It's not limited at all.
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Well, by limited, I very nearly mean, "not produced and shipped year round." Practically anything with a narrow release window and any hype at all is gone within a day. Two if you're lucky.

The biggest liquor store in town can frequently get a decent supply but it's predictably shopped pretty heavily. The grocery store with the decent beer section is generally stocked pretty low. And the other, smaller, liquor store in town typically gets some good stuff, but the manager is an asshole and scoops up all of the limited release stuff to sell to his buddies.
 
D

Datwheezy

Unconfirmed Member
Probably going to skip out on the bottles, but a couple local bars are going to have all 12 beers on tap. Those of you who have had the bottles, which ones are worth getting?
 
H

HiResDes

Member
distantmantra said:
Tons of Beer Camp boxes in Seattle. Costco, Safeway, Fred Meyer, Whole Foods, bottle shops, etc. No shortage. It's not limited at all.



What part of the country are you in again? That might explain why.
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I'm in the midwest, Ohio, but we get it on draft...Though I guess the transport would ensure it not being super fresh
 
P

PG2G

Member
Datwheezy said:
Probably going to skip out on the bottles, but a couple local bars are going to have all 12 beers on tap. Those of you who have had the bottles, which ones are worth getting?
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Double Latte is the standout dog what I've tried. Still have like half to go through
 
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distantmantra

Member
HiResDes said:
I'm in the midwest, Ohio, but we get it on draft...Though I guess the transport would ensure it not being super fresh
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Not transport, just the regional differences in certain beer styles. Alpha King reminds me a lot of PNW ambers.

Alpha King isn't alone on this. I've had lots of hoppy pales and IPAs from the Midwest that would just be a red out here.
 
H

HiResDes

Member
distantmantra said:
Not transport, just the regional differences in certain beer styles. Alpha King reminds me a lot of PNW ambers.

Alpha King isn't alone on this. I've had lots of hoppy pales and IPAs from the Midwest that would just be a red out here.
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Seems pretty accurate, I had a friend from Portland question if Two-Hearted Ale was even an IPA
 
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PG2G

Member
I need to get some Two hearted next time I drive to SD. Sucks that they distribute to SD not LA. Seems like there'd be more competition there lol
 
P

PhoncipleBone

Banned
Having the Stone Enjoy by 8/16/14 tonight. Bottled on 7/10, so it is only two weeks old. Nice and fresh, and great as always. I do think the Enjoy by 7/4/14 tasted better though. Are they always slightly different recipes, or is it always the same and the taste difference is my imagination?
 
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bumbillbee

Member
PhoncipleBone said:
Having the Stone Enjoy by 8/16/14 tonight. Bottled on 7/10, so it is only two weeks old. Nice and fresh, and great as always. I do think the Enjoy by 7/4/14 tasted better though. Are they always slightly different recipes, or is it always the same and the taste difference is my imagination?
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I've heard the recipe is the same but there seems to be some batch variation given my experiences, always had it very fresh too. With that many hop varietals I'm not surprised there's some variation.

I've was in Michigan for a month or so last year and the pales and IPAs were definitely maltier in general. I still liked Two Hearted a lot as an IPA, though, definitely wish those 4-packs of pints made it to Los Angeles. And Kuhnhenn's DRIPA was by far one of the best I've had regardless of coast. Oddside's Citra Pale Ale was killer too.
 
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distantmantra

Member
HiResDes said:
Seems pretty accurate, I had a friend from Portland question if Two-Hearted Ale was even an IPA
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Two Hearted is a bit more hop forward, but still pretty malty in comparison to what we get out here. Great beer, though.

I'm going to my wife's cousin's wedding this summer in Michigan. Gonna have kegs of Two Hearted and Oberon at the reception. Can't complain.
 
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PhoncipleBone

Banned
Never tried a gose before. What are some ones that would be easy to find in CT that you would recommend? Also some good sours. I keep eyeing the Weyerbacher Riserva, but it is damn expensive. But I usually like Weyerbacher's stuff.
 
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HiResDes

Member
I hate when breweries won't bottle or can their best beers. We have this brewery called Madtree here in Cincy that makes my absolute favorite stout called Thundersnow, but it's seasonal and they only serve it on draft at the brewery....WTF
 
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