Bubba83

^ Derek, Congratulations on #1,000! ^ To be honest, I haven't tried anything from Lagunitas for some unknown reason... I will try to try some of their brews in the near future, though it seems like a lot of their offerings come in only sixers :[ I'm kinda surprised that I am posting right now, because I'm feeling a bit drunk right now, and it's taking a lot of backspaces to even type actual sentences, but... A much different IPA than the Hop Ottin from Anderson Valley. Very citrusy, and not so caramely, with a bigger hop kick at the end. My uncle preferred the Anderson Valley, but I beg to differ! To end the night, a brew I've had before, but my uncle was trying for the first time, Racer 5 IPA. This easily surpassed any other stout I've ever had, and is now my favorite stout out of everything I've had. Thanks again Bear Republic, you're awesome! Bear Republic's Big Bear Black Stout. Just a straight up excellent stout, god I love Bear Republic. This is the fire we had going at the "beerfest" on my uncle's driveway, though my uncle and I were the only ones trying new beers. Enjoyed it quite a bit, very nice caramel flavors up front, and not much of a bitter bite at the end... The Hop Ottin IPA. The highest ranked brew from Anderson Valley Brewing Company. But it grew on me as I drank it and it warmed up a bit, some nice pale ale flavors started to come through and by the end I began to enjoy this unfiltered brew. Blue Heron Pale Ale... From Mendocino Brewing, it wasn't really what I expected. Didn't taste much like a pale to me at first... Yep, it's pretty good, felt a bit more heavy and flavorful near the bottom. I'm generally not a light beer fan, but this was acceptable. Great White Beer, from Lost Coast. This beer was pretty good, a nice amount of flavor for a light colored beer. My uncle thought it was a good beer to start off the beerfest with as well.

^ You sure do post a lot for being too sick to post the photo TR

It's awesome time ladies and gents!!! Thanks again to Moylan's!!! Quickly becoming a good company for which I should be trying more of their beers. By the way, my uncle said to come over for a beerfest tomorrow, but I'm not really sure what that means. Maybe he bought some interesting ones of his own? I'll take my digicam and see if I can capture some of the action... I really like this Imperial Stout. If there's foam in your sip you will definitely get a chocolate milk type of taste, but the rum/raisin characteristics also come through. Alcohol is disguised well, tastes very nice and has a great mouthfeel! Profile shot!!! Oh my!!! Moylan's Imperial Stout, 10% ABV. Yeah, there's 5.5 shots of smirnoff vodka worth of alcohol in here. I drank it too quick I think, cause I'm buzzing! Mmmmmmm....

^ I'm wondering the same thing! Where's the photo TR Matt? Juggler, as for beers you might want to try and brew, I always thought a double bock might be fun if I ever got into it... I disciplined myself well enough today to get up at 9am!!! I didn't get much sleep and felt kinda bad all day because of it, but hey, now I'm pretty tired and it's not even midnight, hopefully I've corrected my poor sleep schedule... You know what? I think I deserve a special reward from myself to celebrate! How about #6 in the world??? The astonished look on my face is what happened when my brain didn't know what to do with all the flavors. I liked it a lot, smelled of bananas, and tasted like it too, that's the main fruit I got. I liked it a lot better than Rochefort 8. Rochefort 10. ABV 11.3% My second trappist beer and second beer I've tried in Beeradvocate's top 10. This beer smells terriffic, best smelling so far by a mile.

So after the first beer I had to pour out, I hoped Stone's Smoked Porter would save the style... I wasn't really impressed... Do you guys have any suggestions for porters out my way? I mean, maybe I was just REALLY spoiled by the first porter I ever tried, The Deschutes Black Butte Porter. But, I haven't really liked any other porter I've tried. They are usually too fizzy for me or too thin. Also, I thought you guys were coming out to California this past weekend, not going to Ohio! Looked like you had a good time there though. What happened to California though? Anyway, onto the beer from the last 2 days... As you can see it's lighter in color than the Celebrator, but it did pack some nice flavors in, and was quite enjoyable! Salvator Doppelbock. 7.9% ABV. Finally out of my questionable beer funk... I liked this doppelbock a lot, it didn't have crazy different flavors like the Celebrator though. With that said, I did finish this bottle because the flavor was actually quite good. A smokey coffee kind of flavor that was a little bitter in spots. If only the mouthfeel had been better... Stone's Smoked Porter. 5.9% ABV. Not too much head on the pour, but too fizzy and thin for me once again, I like the creamy porters and thick porters.

^^ Well, Even though it's called a triple hoppy ale, it's still listed as an American Double IPA on BA, so i dunno. I will go back and check out the Moylan's IPA reviews from March. As for the "You can drive 45 mins" I don't own a car, I could probably take the train and then bus or cable car to city beer... But I don't have anyone to go with to make the trip enjoyable. So I finally had a bad experience with a beer last night... I actually poured it out before finishing it, and I don't think it was skunked either after reading the mixed reviews on BA. This is one of my new favorite beers, but it cannot overcome Deschutes Black Butte Porter!!! =P Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye. ABV 8.0% I picked this one up after Derek's complimentary review. I thought it was excellent, more hearty flavor than a typical IPA, not so... bright, more deep. Marin Brewing's Point Reyes Porter, I didn't like it at all. First pour was ALL foam, and I had to wait a while for it to even be drinkable. Then, it tasted sour, and burnt. On top of all that, WAY too carbonated and thin for a porter.

It's really too bad you didn't get to ride Mean Streak. Maybe I was just lucky when I was at Cedar Point but, it was by far my favorite wooden coaster. Everyone talks about how rough it is but when I rode it, it was quite smooth for a woodie. Please note my small woodie sample size, but still!

Ask an employee to help you find Stealth, when he tells you they sold it, tear up and start sobbing slowly at first, and building up until you are crying loudly. A few "Why god? WHY!!!"'s might also add to the drama. This is how I spend the entirety of my days at the park.

^ Speaking of Double IPAs... I tried my first one tonight! I know I know, at first I thought I couldn't handle IPAs, (but to be fair, the first one I had was a horrible one!) Then Derek and Heath suggested Racer5 IPA and Stone's IPA... They were great! I must admit, I didn't know if I was ready for a double IPA or not when I bought this, but by golly, it was about time to find out! Moylan's Hopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale. 9.2% ABV. "Triple hoppy ale" Uhh yeah, it's hoppy alright! One of the most beautiful beers to look at as far as color and head. I must say, it was excellent. Right when I expected it to be too bitter, it wasn't... Caramel notes and a pine needle aftertaste, excellent. Ladies and gentlemen, I am offiically a hophead! All I need now is a goatee and a fetish for vertical loops!

Would you rather the news devote full time to what they normally cover? Babies being found in dumpsters, people shooting other people, and sick molestation cases?

^ I've been searching for anything from AleSmith around here and can't find it anywhere. The buzz on the internet puts it at two places, Ledgers in Berkeley, which is like an hour away, or City Beer in San Francisco, which is like 45 minutes away. If you know something I don't though, let me know! Last night I tried Rochefort 8... Tastes good, tons of different flavors are enhanced by a nice alcohol profile. I enjoyed sipping it slowly, enjoying all sorts of flavors. It was good, but it wasn't really my favorite style. The head on a really light pour was incredible. It's a pretty fizzy type head with very surprising retention. Smelled pretty great as well. ABV 9.2% My first of the Trappist beers. #47 on BA's top 100.

I tried another new beer last night. My 2nd Oatmeal Stout ever (1st was Samuel Smith's) I enjoyed it a lot, has an awesome mouthfeel like Samuel Smith's, just a different flavor. I still favor Samuel Smith's overall though, but I'll probably buy this again sometime... Solar Powered Brewing at Anderson Valley, isn't California great? Anderson Valley's Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout. ABV 5.7% Much different than Samuel Smith's. It isn't as chocolatey or cofee-like. More of a roasted bitter tasting type of stout with a little sweetness at the end.

^ At least I admit I'm too much of a goober to take the pictures, instead of coming up with excuses

Thanks for the suggestion Heath, I'll look for more Hoppy Imperial Stouts out my way. Unfortunately, it looks like the only place Victory gets distributed in California is all down in Southern California, otherwise I'd have already tried Storm King. Last night I had my Celebrator Doppelbock, #27 on BAs top 100, knocking them down 1 by 1 heh! As I kept drinking and the beer warmed a bit more, I started to taste all sorts of different flavors, even some that I usually find only in Imperial Stouts. Each sip was different in experience, a nice feature! The first few sips I had reminded me of all of the other Doppelbocks I had, and I didn't see what was so special about this one. But that soon changed, as I kept drinking.

I sometimes forget to bring lactaid with me too, unless we plan ahead to go out to pizza etc. I always thought this was more of just a guy problem though since most women carry a purse with endless amounts of everything in them.

Doesn't Nicole know about Lactaid? They are little pills you can buy that contain lactase enzyme, which when mixed with the lactose in your stomach gets rid of it. I am lactose intolerant as well and have had great success with these pills! Anyway, this review got me hungry, I want some custard!

^ Hi Brian, Welcome to the beer thread. I'm not quite sure what the stipulations are as far as posting what the ABV is on the beers. I know I have had quite a few that don't mention it on the bottles. Most will list it on their website if you go a'lookin. Derek, you've posted 2 of the beers I picked up at BevMo in the last 3 days, quit stealing my thunder! The 2 beers are the Rogue Chocolate Stout and Big Bear Black Stout. I guess I'll save those to be the last I consume out of this stock. Tonight the new beer I tried was North Coast's Old Rasputin Imperial Stout. #82 in the world according to BeerAdvocate... Yes, still one of the better IPAs I've had, the caramel flavors up front are really impressive, if only it finished a little cleaner, I think it would be one of the best beers in the world... I'll end the night with an Inversion IPA. It's almost like they brewed this one just for Derek... I mean, it has inversion in the name for crying out loud, not to mention lots of cascade hops! Starts off with a nice bitterness, which caught me off guard because I don't usually expect Imperial Stouts to be bitter. You definitely catch some alcohol taste at the end, which is okay because it added character. Quite a good beer indeed. Pretty cool looking bottle, weighs in at 9% ABV. Tastes strong to boot!

^ Looks like you guys went to some cool places up in Buffalo... As for me, today I was at the Sunnyvale Art and Wine Festival that happens every year. They did have some beer there too, a Hefeweizen and a Pale Ale from the local Firehouse Brewpub and Grill. They also had Bud Light/Rolling Rock/Sierra Nevada Summerfest on tap. I tried everything but the bud light. The Pale was pretty good, although I thought it could have been called an IPA without anyone knowing the difference. Again, I took no pictures despite having my digicam in my pocket the whole time. Yeah, I'm lame... I was there with friends and it just didn't feel right, I don't know... As for the beers I had last night... It's probably because it's raw honey comb or something... But, I did think it was pretty interesting and a nice change... Kind of underwhelmed by all 3 in the pack though. Sam Adams Honey Porter. Weird stuff I tell you! Smells of honey, but I'm not quite sure I get the taste of honey, at least not how I'm used to honey tasting. Sam Adams Black Lager. Part of the Brewmaster Collection pack I got, drank this over at my Uncle's again. He loved it, it's in his top 5 now... I thought it was good but I wasn't raving...

^I love hockey! Do you guys root for the pens or the flyers? Last night I tried two new beers from my pickup at BevMo yesterday... So, without further ado... Followed by a little bit of a citrus kind of pop to it, and after it goes down it has a pretty sharp bitterness. Overall, another fine brew from Deschutes! Deschutes Inversion IPA! I picked up a six pack of this. It's a pretty good IPA, not the best I've had, but good because it's different. It has a nice mellow caramel type flavor as it rests on the front of your tongue. I'm not a huge brown ale fan really... This beer left me a little unsatisfied... So I decided to try a beer I was quite excited about... Samuel Adams Brown Ale. Part of a little Brewmaster Collection pack I got... It's decent, tastes a bit like a biscuit and maybe a little nutty.

What the hell? There's a turtle swimming in your head! What is that thing?

^ mmm Deschutes... I love the Mirror Pond Pale =P I think I'm going to make a BevMo trip tomorrow because I am out of brews, how embarassing! How do Derek and Heath never run out? How do they acquire so many local to California brews all the way in Pennsylvania? Why do I ask so many questions? Hopefully I'll come home with a nice selection. =]

I need to get me some of that Derek!!! I've been loving Bear Republic lately. When my friend Adam makes it back up here from San Diego we're thinking of making a trip up to the Russian River area to go to both Bear Republic's Brewpub and the Russian River Brewpub to try the pliny the elder (i don't think the younger will be brewed there within the next few months) Oh, we're also planning to hit Six Flags Discovery Kingdom to check out the former Marine World we all went to as kids before they had coasters! Larry, pay close attention to the extreme facial expressions ahead, you could learn a thing or two! My new favorite stout!!! The flavor is just amazing on this beer. It's complex, has roastyness, coffee flavors, and chocolate, with a tinge of bitterness. It's so well rounded! Finally something good from across the pond! So interesting, it made me go cross-eyed! The mouthfeel on this stuff is great thanks to the oatmeal! The last beer of my recent BevMo trip, Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout, missing BeerAdvocate's Top 100 by only a tiny bit. ABV 5.0%

^It has made it all the way to California infact, along with like 5 other Young's brews.

Awesome Virginia stops! I wish there were crazy beer stores like that here... Maybe there are and I've yet to find them. Tonight I tried Bear Republic's XP Pale Ale. The verdict is in, this beer kicks ass! I've really enjoyed all of the offerings from Bear Republic thus far. Looking forward to finding more. Profile Shot!!! ABV 5.5% Mmm, a nice hoppy American Pale Ale... Probably my favorite style overall right now.

Classic BBQ night, I BBQ'd some tri-tip and we had some Artichokes from the Artichoke capital in the world, Castroville. We also had some baked potatoes! For dessert, I tried 2 new beers. Next up, Marin Brewing's San Quentin Breakout Stout, 7.0% ABV. A very nice well balanced stout that isn't very roasty, but has some coffee type flavors and is pretty dry, I liked this one quite a bit. The Samuel Smith Organically Produced Ale. Definitely can tell it's English. It's pretty malty and a bit sweet, the first sip almost reminded me of Martinelli's