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Beer |OT|

Alpine and Boneyard did a collaboration IRA together called Chingdara. On tap in Bend and Portland right now, not sure about Seattle (Boneyard's other distro state) or Southern California.
 

HiResDes

Member
Interested to see what you think of the New Belgium/3F collab. It's a style you don't see much and just kind of an odd mix of flavors (thin and low-alcohol but very smoky, slightly sour). I'm not huge on smoked beers but I mostly enjoyed it.

Picked up a Modern Times Phalanx yesterday at Whole Foods. Excited to try it; I don't think I've ever had Summer hops. The weird part was seeing a couple month-old bottles of Pliny just sitting on the shelf, I'm not sure I've seen that happen in the LA area recently.
I've made a huge mistake. I should have gotten the Red Rock collaboration instead. Not a fan of smoky beers
 

PG2G

Member
Interested to see what you think of the New Belgium/3F collab. It's a style you don't see much and just kind of an odd mix of flavors (thin and low-alcohol but very smoky, slightly sour). I'm not huge on smoked beers but I mostly enjoyed it.

Picked up a Modern Times Phalanx yesterday at Whole Foods. Excited to try it; I don't think I've ever had Summer hops. The weird part was seeing a couple month-old bottles of Pliny just sitting on the shelf, I'm not sure I've seen that happen in the LA area recently.

They probably held them in the back and forgot about it lol
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
Yeungling is all over Tennesse though, and he is just across the border. Its my go to beer if there is nothing darker on tap. If you ever head down to Clarksville I can tell you the 2-3 places worth going, and there are a few places in Nashville worth a trip.
 

HiResDes

Member
Yeungling is all over Tennesse though, and he is just across the border. Its my go to beer if there is nothing darker on tap. If you ever head down to Clarksville I can tell you the 2-3 places worth going, and there are a few places in Nashville worth a trip.
Yeah it's all over Cincy, so it's weird that it's not in KY.
 
Drinking the Modern Times Phalanx IPA now, damn this is delicious. It's like a bigger, more tropical Blazing World. Wish this one came in four-packs of pint cans...
 
I did a quick comparison and looked over the lists, based on breweries I've sampled extensively. Here are some of the highlights that you will be losing access to:

Allagash
Ballast Point
Clown Shoes
Maine Brewing
New England
Relic
Weyerbacher

And here are some breweries I'd recommend that you'll now have access to:

Against the Grain
Anchorage
Anderson Valley
Arcadia
Avery
Bells
Country Boy
Dark Horse
Deschutes
Great Lakes
Jolly Pumpkin
Left Hand
New Holland
Prairie
Schlafly
Three Floyd's
Uinta
West Sixth

New England Brewing and Weyerbacher are the ones that will hurt me the most. I am looking forward to some Three Floyds action though. Was glad to try some of that and West Sixth while there this weekend.

But now I am back in CT for the next three weeks before we move. Better make the most of those breweries then.
 

Seth C

Member
Yeah it's all over Cincy, so it's weird that it's not in KY.

It's in Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, AND West Virginia. It's weird. People here flip out for it, too. They will bring a trunk load of cases home from across the border. It's stupid. Meanwhile over in Charleston it's like $1 a pint during happy hour.

Seeing Against the Grain in that list ....

Holy shit they are ridiculously expensive. $16 for a bomber of their IPA? What the fuck? No thanks.

They make good beer, but I only drink it on draft. I think they also only have distribution in about 6 states, yet I've seen one of their beers in Poland, for crying out loud (it was astronomically priced). Their brewpub also makes some fantastic food.
 
that's not why it's expensive, it has to do with taxation and distribution.

It was a joke...

Well they don't actually distribute in Washington so you can blame some of that price on whoever is bringing it in.

You sure? It's at Whole Foods and bottle shops in the city and out in the suburbs. Our state system would be all over someone that's illegally bringing it in.

http://www.seattlebeerweek.com/events/1187-Against-the-Grain-Cap-Hill-Pub-Crawl

Seems official.
 

sdconvoy

Member
Totally agree. Madtree has new cool stuff here.


Just picked these up today:

ttIp8qR.jpg

That warlock... you must enlighten us with your opinion when you open that bad lad.
 

Seth C

Member
Ah, looks like they must have then. Also, before that they've bottled a few collaborations that worked their way into different distribution areas because if the other brewery. Still not sure how Bo and Luke ended up in Poland though, and no one got the joke there anyway. Also, it was $35 a bottle so no one was drinking it.
 

Seth C

Member
Gandhi Bot is damn good and all, but I prefer Dirt Wolf by Victory. Cheaper, just as tasty, and easily found damn near everywhere.

Well you're in luck there then, as one of the bars I go to has Dirt Wolf on tap. You won't have to miss that one at all. I prefer Ghandi Bot though.

Zwanze Day list is out. Seattle got snubbed this year, along with a bunch of other cities that had it last year. Huh.

You're more than welcome to come hang out with me at Holy Grale in Louisville.
 

fijim

Banned
I wonder if Shelton and Urban Family (Seattle distributor) are having issues. Haven't had a Cantillon shipment here since March.

It's strange because West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL is on the list, but Shelton pulled out of Illinois earlier this year because of a distributor dispute. I think one of the owners of that shop used to work for Shelton though, so they must have worked out some special deal.
 

Seth C

Member
airport beer. meh, denver had great airport beer tho

Lots of airports do. I know I was in an airport bar in Philly that had a tap list of about 50 beers. Charlotte's "brewery" in the airport though...all their beers are mediocre. I've spent too much time in that airport.
 
airport beer. meh, denver had great airport beer tho

Portland is the best. Growler fills (Laurelwood and Rogue pubs) past security that you can take on the plane. And Made in Oregon stores with great bottles and glassware available.

I took a growler of Laurelwood's Workhorse IPA to a friend in Tokyo when we flew out of PDX in 2010.
 

t-ramp

Member
Zwanze Day list is out. Seattle got snubbed this year, along with a bunch of other cities that had it last year. Huh.
Meanwhile, a town of 1,200 here in Iowa makes the list. Interesting.

Apparently the guy that owns the Shelton distributor here also owned the bar in Elkader previously, which explains the choice. I'm sure the place will be crazy that day.

Oh, and speaking of which, they just delivered some Prairie stuff to the store here. I think I might go get a Funky Gold Mosaic after work. Some Against the Grain beers were also dropped off, but I've never heard much about their stuff.
 

Screaming_Gremlin

My QB is a Dick and my coach is a Nutt
Mikro in Hamden, CT is having a New Holland Brewing event tonight that I am looking forward to going to (they will have like 9 of their beers on tap). I haven't had much from New Holland, but the Dragon's Milk and Poet look really good.
 

codhand

Member
Mikro in Hamden, CT is having a New Holland Brewing event tonight that I am looking forward to going to (they will have like 9 of their beers on tap). I haven't had much from New Holland, but the Dragon's Milk and Poet look really good.

I love Mikro, but I like their regular tap lists more than the takeovers usually. i'm sure itll be fun though, let us know.
 

Seth C

Member
Mikro in Hamden, CT is having a New Holland Brewing event tonight that I am looking forward to going to (they will have like 9 of their beers on tap). I haven't had much from New Holland, but the Dragon's Milk and Poet look really good.

The Poet is okay, Dragon's Milk is pretty good. New Holland is not my favorite of the Michigan breweries. Speaking of...

My local brewery is having a Founder's tap takeover in a week. The tap list is:

1-Kentucky Breakfast Stout
2-Devil Dancer
3-Dissenter
4-Rubaeus
5-Double Trouble
6-All Day IPA
7-Centennial
8-Imperial Stout (2013)
9- Curmudgean (2013/ Old Ale)
10-Backwoods Bastard (2013/ Scotch Ale)
11-Nitro Oatmeal Stout
12-Red's Rye IPA
 

Seth C

Member
Never had two through four, need impressions, love the brewery

I've never had Dissenter so I can't say. Rubaeus is good but nothing I'd drink regularly. Devil Dancer is unbelievably delicious. It's a triple IPA, nice and heavy mouth feel, with an aroma of sour cherries. It was on tap elsewhere in town a few weeks ago and I had to have one every time I went.

You should come down for the event. Country Boy will also have 12 of their beers on, and Gastrognomes will have 12 small plates.
 

Screaming_Gremlin

My QB is a Dick and my coach is a Nutt
I've never had Dissenter so I can't say. Rubaeus is good but nothing I'd drink regularly. Devil Dancer is unbelievably delicious. It's a triple IPA, nice and heavy mouth feel, with an aroma of sour cherries. It was on tap elsewhere in town a few weeks ago and I had to have one every time I went.

Agree with you on Devil Dancer. It is a fantastic IPA. The Kentucky Breakfast Stout is also amazing. I am not a big fan of their All Day IPA, but the Centennial and Red Rye are pretty good.

As far as the New Holland stuff I had tonight, it was good, but nothing really blew me away. I would agree that Founders is still my favorite of the MI breweries that I have had a chance to try.

Full Circle (Kölsch) - This was a pretty crisp everyday drinking beer that I actually enjoyed more than I thought I would.
El Mole Ocho (Chili Beer) - This was really good. Just the right amount of chocolate and heat. It doesn't burn but you can still sort of feel it at the back of your throat.
Imperial Hatter (Double IPA) - It wasn't bad by any means, but I have had a lot of IPAs I would put above it.
Dragon's Milk (Double Stout) - I think the standout of the night. It isn't a KBS, but really good flavor.

I love Mikro, but I like their regular tap lists more than the takeovers usually. i'm sure itll be fun though, let us know.

Honestly, I feel like this is the biggest tap takeover they have had for a while (maybe since pumpkin night of last year). Half the taps were New Holland. It seems like lately they only will put up a couple of beers, like Green Flash a month ago where they only had 6.
 

t-ramp

Member
I think Fat Jack might be the only beer I've neglected to check into Untappd since I started using it last year... so I'm only 2/5 towards the Gourd to the Last Drop badge after this Schlafly Pumpkin. It's pretty good, but not something I'd want every day.
 
That Founders list is pretty good, some great stuff on there. KBS aside I loved the nitro oatmeal stout and even though I generally dislike scotch ales Backwoods Bastard is amazing.

I didn't try a ton of New Holland beers when I was in Michigan but I wasn't too impressed. Dragons Milk was okay for the price but I wouldn't go out of my way to try it again and I forget which Hatter I tried but I don't remember liking it much. I thought Shorts, OddSide, and Kuhnhenn were all far more interesting as far as non-Founders/Bells Michigan breweries go.
 
Interested to see what you think of the New Belgium/3F collab. It's a style you don't see much and just kind of an odd mix of flavors (thin and low-alcohol but very smoky, slightly sour). I'm not huge on smoked beers but I mostly enjoyed it.

I ended up filing three growlers of it this summer (NB no longer has it on tap and is now serving up FOCO which is meh). I really found myself enjoying it with a salad and grilled meat. It was a good beer to pair with food. I never wanted to session it out like New Belgium's Helles. That is my go to commercial beer of the summer. This summer we've mostly been drinking my wit, a white IPA that fermented on kumquat and Cascade hops and a dry hopped (Crystal hops) soured saison.

I'm thinking my beer of the fall is going to be dunkelweizen. I've never fermented one, but I'm stoked to give it a try.
 

Jarlaxle

Member
I noticed Pumking and Warlock at my local beer store the other day. I thought it was a little early for fall beer but who am I to say no to these delicious beers. I think I'll have to pick some more bottles up tonight.
 

Seth C

Member
I'm always worried I won't be able to drive back, that's the only thing that's stopped me. I'll work on finding a DD

If you can't find a DD and you get too drunk I'm sure I can find room for you on the sofa.

The kegerator (or keezer, if you prefer) has most of the physical labor done now. The collar got 3 coats of polyurethane and looks pretty nice. I put a layer of insulation on it and dropped it in for a nice snug fit, then re-attached the lid. I built and tested my temperature controller and that's working. Now I'm just waiting on the kegs (should arrive today), the co2 tank, and the faucets/lines/regulator, all of which have shipped. Going to start a raspberry apple cider in the next day or two and brew a citra double IPA over the weekend.

Some more photos...

The collar with poly and insulation. Will also do some spray in foam in the corners.


Inner workings of the temperature controller.


All wired up.


The whole rig, with a mini fridge beside it for bottles.
 

Seth C

Member
thats, why, you get, two!

Thankfully I get over half the stuff on that list regularly so having two KBS is possible, though I bet Country Boy will try to match the list with some of their more rare/high alcohol beers. I could definitely go for another half pint of their Rx Stout.
 

codhand

Member
Thankfully I get over half the stuff on that list regularly so having two KBS is possible, though I bet Country Boy will try to match the list with some of their more rare/high alcohol beers. I could definitely go for another half pint of their Rx Stout.

the mango one is cool, Doom is good, Bolt Cutter and Sweet Repute ive heard are OK, to bad. i have both of the latter, just havent popped em yet....
 
What's the best variant of BCBS if I know someone willing to trade?

Unless you're trading some crazy stuff you probably won't be able to get the rarer variants (Rare, Proprietors, Cherry Rye, Vanilla). So that leaves the coffee variant which I've heard is great (if you like coffee), the barleywine, and backyard bramble. That said, from what I understand, vanilla is coming back this year and I don't get why people go crazy over adjuncts that fade especially after a year or two. What does the trader have available?
 
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