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Beer |OT|

Going camping with some friends and their wives and kids this weekend. We've been emailing back and forth about what beer we're taking. So far it looks like:

Firestone Walker Abacus 2011
Surly BA Darkness 2014
Goose Island King Henry
de Garde Imperial Marion Bu
Cantillon Kriek
Holy Mountain Barrel #7
Perennial 17
Barley Browns Belmont Black CDA
Parallel 49 Parallelogram Oatmeal Coffee Porter
6-pack Bale Breaker Field 41
6-pack Grapefruit Sculpin

I think we're going to die.
 
Habanero Sculpin showed up on the shelf at my local grocery. I'd tried it once before on draft and it was very hot. You couldn't taste anything but the heat for the first third of a glass. This time around, it's a bit more gentle. Big and fruity with a steady warmth that makes you want another sip. Might be my preferred variant now.
 

codhand

Member
Habanero Sculpin showed up on the shelf at my local grocery. I'd tried it once before on draft and it was very hot. You couldn't taste anything but the heat for the first third of a glass. This time around, it's a bit more gentle. Big and fruity with a steady warmth that makes you want another sip. Might be my preferred variant now.

hmm it was way too hot last time i had it. im not a huge spicy guy but i can take the heat. time helped it probably like you said. the new evil twin firewater is a pretty great spicy IPA. best spicy ipa ive ever had was a homebrew unfortunately.
 
Yeah I've only a small taste on tap and it as way too much for me. I guess the bottles may be mellower but I still doubt it's my thing. Seems to be doing well though, see lots of people buying it.
 

Jarnet87

Member
I liked Habanero Sculpin when I had it on tap, but it's not something I could drink on the regular. It's got a nice heat to it. Funky Buddha has a Raspberry Habanero Red Ale called Fire in The Hole, the raspberry and the heat create a cool balance.
 
Anything special about blue wax 2014 Dark Lord? Regular old version? Buddy is bringing one camping this weekend. Never had DL before so I don't really care if it is regular.
 
I've never had Dark Lord (did see it for a couple hundred euros at a bar in Amsterdam but wasn't exactly tempted) so I can't contribute much here but soy sauce jokes.
 
I too will contribute soy sauce jokes. More excited about King Henry.
King Henry might be a little past it's prime. The Bourbon County barleywines haven't held up the best (IMHO). It could be awesome though...

Not sure about 2014 Dark Lord (didn't get '14 or '15). Some years are great, others not so much. '08 was awesome and I still have a couple left.
 
So ended up down in Lincoln for Husker game day. I found myself with a 23oz pour (they weren't allowed to use glassware today) of Le Terrior in front of me. Don't think I'll complain haha.

tiOt0Ja.jpg
 
How does it age, does the mouthfeel thin too much?

Not noticeably that I can tell. It is still thick like motor oil. I had some cans of 2013 the other month, then got a pack of 2014. I have a can of each of those saved for when 2015 hits so I can do all three years in one night. In the meantime, I have a four pack of 2014 to crush out this weekend.

Definitely my favorite stout that is easily found.
 
I concur, though if I could find Even More Jesus regularly I might go with that instead.

There are a few bottles of that still in town. I almost got another one. But a 4 pack of Ten Fidy was the same price, so it was an easy choice.

Maybe grab a bottle of EMJ if it is still there to age for next year.

Evil Twin's stout game is very, very strong.
 

tmac456

Member
King Henry might be a little past it's prime. The Bourbon County barleywines haven't held up the best (IMHO). It could be awesome though...

Not sure about 2014 Dark Lord (didn't get '14 or '15). Some years are great, others not so much. '08 was awesome and I still have a couple left.

Cracked open a 2014 this summer and it was very good. A bit sweet but good. Had 2015 earlier as well and it's even better than 2014.

Never really understood the soy sauce comments from the years I've had, but to each their own
 
King Henry might be a little past it's prime. The Bourbon County barleywines haven't held up the best (IMHO). It could be awesome though...

Not sure about 2014 Dark Lord (didn't get '14 or '15). Some years are great, others not so much. '08 was awesome and I still have a couple left.

Dark Lord was fine. Too sweet for me. Nothing to create a festival around. Weird that it's not barrel aged with all the hype around it.

King Henry was spectacular, though. If every barleywine was that good, I'd probably like barleywines more than I do. We drank the Abacus 2011 before KH, and it was really good, but I'm glad we drank it first.
 

HiResDes

Member
Man I love a good Barley Wine, hard to find regularly these days... People need to hype up that style so it blows up and I can get everywhere and in any season.
 

injurai

Banned
Man I love a good Barley Wine, hard to find regularly these days... People need to hype up that style so it blows up and I can get everywhere and in any season.

Yeah, I found a goldmine of not well known barleywines in the back of a store recently. Stocking up on them. I doubt it will really blow up because it's not cheap to make, and is too good to promote as a party drink.
 

Link

The Autumn Wind
Man I love a good Barley Wine, hard to find regularly these days... People need to hype up that style so it blows up and I can get everywhere and in any season.
This post is tempting me to break out my last bottle of 2013 Bourbon County Barleywine.
 
Some stouts I bought recently at a local beer shop:

- lost coast 8 balls sweet stout (USA), opened today, very nice as expected
- smuttynose robust porter (USA)
- Lervig 3 Bean, 13% ABV imperial stout (Norway)
- Hornbeer Vladimir P, imperial stout (Denmark)

1ABBQFv.jpg
 
Had about 15 beers at this weekend's Septembeerfest, with the most notable ones being:

  • Sierra Nevada's Ovila Abbey Quad with Plums, Oktoberfest, and Narwhal Imperial Stout
  • The Bruery's Autumn Maple
  • Oakshire Brewing's Big Black Jack
  • Oregon Trail Brewery's Perpetual Harmonium
An excellent time was had by all.
 

Link

The Autumn Wind
I've had that Ovila Quad. It is delicious. Between that and their Oktoberfest, Sierra Nevada has been on point lately.
 

t-ramp

Member
So Ovila is worth it? How about the expensive barrel aged version?
The Ovila quad is quite good. I don't think it was expensive, despite even the 4-pack being corked-and-caged. Doubt I would have paid more than $12 or whatever on it, but I don't recall.

Had to pass on the barrel-aged dubbel, though, since it was like $25.

Haven't had the Ovila saison either... or any others aside from the quad, for that matter.
 

tmac456

Member
Dark Lord was fine. Too sweet for me. Nothing to create a festival around. Weird that it's not barrel aged with all the hype around it.

King Henry was spectacular, though. If every barleywine was that good, I'd probably like barleywines more than I do. We drank the Abacus 2011 before KH, and it was really good, but I'm glad we drank it first.

lol you might want to research the history of Dark Lord Day and why the event exists. The event itself is great. If you're a craft beer lover then it should be on your bucket list.

Also, they have a bunch of Barrel Aged variants of it.


but yeah I thought 2014 was a bit sweet. enjoyed it but liked 2015 more
 
Looks like a pretty narrow swath of breweries from only Eugene, Corvallis and Salem/Albany. Aside from Block 15, I really like the offerings I've had from Agrarian.

Sadly, the two that Agrarian brought to the festival, Color of Your Energy Belgian Amber and Notre Gran Ami American Farmhouse, were super bland and disappointing. I may have to check out their brewery and see if they have others that stand out more.
 
So Ovila is worth it? How about the expensive barrel aged version?

It really impressed me, so I'm keeping an eye out for it, because I've never seen it in stores. I'm going to a 99 Bottle of Beer on the Wall event tonight at one of my favorite beer places, so hoping I find it there.

If I can find the barrel-aged version, I'll definitely grab that one, too.
 
lol you might want to research the history of Dark Lord Day and why the event exists. The event itself is great. If you're a craft beer lover then it should be on your bucket list.

Also, they have a bunch of Barrel Aged variants of it.


but yeah I thought 2014 was a bit sweet. enjoyed it but liked 2015 more

I'm aware of the history of the event and the barrel versions, I just think it's weird the standard run of the mill DL isn't barrel aged. Just my perspective from a west coast dude. We don't do crazy release events out here.
 

codhand

Member
Toppling Goliath Morning Delight is selling for $800-1000 a bottle and is a non-BA Stout. Also Hunahpu has an event, is non-BA. people dont seem to mind.
 
I'm aware of the history of the event and the barrel versions, I just think it's weird the standard run of the mill DL isn't barrel aged. Just my perspective from a west coast dude. We don't do crazy release events out here.

Barrel-aging wasn't exactly a thing when they did the first bottle release back in '04. They released 5 bottles (5 TOTAL bottles via raffle) of a BA version in '06. Don't recall the 1st year that the variants were in a larger bottle quantity ('10 maybe?), but they would have variants on draft starting in '08 (BA and vanilla). It's a crazy even but just too much any more.
 

tmac456

Member
Toppling Goliath Morning Delight is selling for $800-1000 a bottle and is a non-BA Stout. Also Hunahpu has an event, is non-BA. people dont seem to mind.

that is lunacy.

my buddy went to their brewpub labor day weekend and they had a bottle for him that they opened and drank there. he said it was good but too sweet for him
 

Lilith

Member
New to BeerGAF, wanted to present myself:

German/Polish woman, loves beer, had many different beers from all over the world.
Favourite so far Smithwick's Pale Ale.

To all Irish people in here: how would you hold back such a delightful beer?
Exactly one year ago, the bf and I went to Dublin and
we not also went to the Guinness brewery, but also
we have met this crisp, honey-like beer in a pub. The bf, who actually does not like beer at all (except for Guinness), was head over heels. Now back in Germany, I taste through every Pale Ale possible to buy, but nothing comes near to that Smithwick's Pale Ale. So far there'd be only Kilkennny Red Ale available in Germany and that's, simply put, not the same in taste and colour.

So guys, any ideas?
 
I been drinking lots of trillium lately.

The one Trillium beer I've had (double dry-hopped Melcher Street) was one of the best hoppy beers I've ever had, jealous that you get to drink their beers regularly. I was bummed that they didn't really have a tasting room, only to-go bottles/growlers but I understand they're expanding.
 

Milchjon

Member
Haven't tried Smithwick's but it kinda sounds like it would be more British in it's style, whereas almost all the pale ales you can find in Germany are modeled after the more bitter, hoppy, fruity American ones.

If you have a good beer store around (which city are you in?), you could try all the things labeled "Bitter" or "ESB", which are often a bit more mellow and bisquit-y, in my experience.

You might also find some of that British stuff at Galeria Kaufhof.
 
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