Rugged One Posted October 28, 2006 Posted October 28, 2006 Tried yet another Oktoberfest last night. The Victory Festbier. This is a really tasty one too. Very sweet and malty. Yum!
JamesMC Posted October 29, 2006 Posted October 29, 2006 Sorry no pic, but it was a Goose Island Oktoberfest. VERRRRRRY tasty.
mr_teisco_delrey Posted October 29, 2006 Posted October 29, 2006 No pics. I had a Mic Amber Bock, followed up later by a Sam Adams Boston Lager. Great way to spend an afternoon. I assume this post is better that my last when I fessed up to swilling a Coor's Silver Bullet.
PhishyBrewer Posted October 29, 2006 Posted October 29, 2006 I finally ate at a Rock Bottom Brewery last night in San Jose. Had their Kolsch. Actually... I had two of them. Tall ones. The Jambalya was great!
DerekRx Posted October 29, 2006 Posted October 29, 2006 ^^Much better Yesterday I had groomsman stuff to take care of, but that didn't stop me from doing another BACT attack, this time on the nearby Jolly Pumpkin Artisans Ale brewery in Dexter, Michigan. Much like the other awesome places like Alesmith and Troegs, they're only opened a few hours of the week for retail sales and sample tastings. The owner/brewmaster Spooky Captain Ron Jeffries was on hand to proudly share his creations with us (mostly me) and I must say, he's got some really unique and amazing stuff brewing. Luckily for me, I now know of a few places in the area where I can get his stuff. Another good brew with some spice and orange hints. I need more Pumpkin! Final Jolly Pumpkin to try, the Calabaza Blanca, a white ale. Next, in high school fashion, it was drinking in the bathroom. This time La Roja, the amber ale. But this one was the Grand Reserve, oak barrel aged for 20 months. Sweet! The Oro seriously was fantastic. I need more of these! Followed by the award winning Oro de Calabaza, a Franco-belgian style gold ale But I had my own secret stash, so next was some regular Bam Biere At the reception, Labatt's Blue was on tap, so I had a few of them Someone knew I liked beer, and they did their best. Lowenbrau works fine for me Fast forward a few hours and we're done with the wedding and drinking champibble in the limo This one rocked big time. Nice and grapefruity. Even Todd really dug it Brewmaster Ron then pours the cask conditioned One Hopped Up Bug, super hopped version of the Luciernaga, a Grand Cru style His last few minutes as a single man, Todd also enjoyed the Hop Bam First up, the newly dry hopped Hop Bam, a hopped up version of the Bam Biere Farmhouse Ale. Not bad at all A little hard to find thanks to Mapquest being wrong, but well worth the effort
DerekRx Posted October 31, 2006 Posted October 31, 2006 Tonight started off with the start of a variety pack from Adam, an assortment of Flying Dog. First up, Flying Dog's Old Scratch Amber Lager. Pretty good amber with some maltiness and a nice hop presence. mmmm, tree bark and chemicals. My kind of beer! Next up, one of Nicole's favorites, the HopDevil! Not bad, not bad at all Old Scratch, weird label art, kinda looks like a mosquito even though its a dog
niiicolaaah Posted October 31, 2006 Posted October 31, 2006 Yay Hopdevil! The tastiest beer in the universe! (pardon me while i go vomit! )
Rugged One Posted October 31, 2006 Posted October 31, 2006 Nice pics from Jolly Pumpkin Derek. Good job wedging it in there right before the wedding. Tuxes and all. A true BACT ATTACK! With October nearly wrapped up, I figure I need to start hitting more of these Oktoberfest styles I have sitting around. Tonight, it's the Paulaner Oktoberfest. I think this is my favorite of the imported styles I've had so far. Not as dry as some of the others. Rather sweet up front with a nice hoppiness at the end. Good stuff!
Coaster Palooza Posted October 31, 2006 Posted October 31, 2006 Hangin' out with Wally on Friday was great. He even brought a couple gifts. Since my birthday was on Thursday, this was a great surprise! That's right! Wally the brewmaster! Hey Wally this beer tastes great. I am looking forward to some more. WOW! Tastes great! What kind of beer is it? I will pour it into my Steelers' pilsner. It has a very tasty aroma... No label, but I must open it with my Steelers bottle opener. Hmmm what is this?
FlyerACE1 Posted October 31, 2006 Posted October 31, 2006 Since Heath and I posted our opposite reviews of Brooklyn Brewery's Post Road Pumpkin Ale, there's been some questioning on whether or not Heath may have gotten a bad batch. I loved it and Heath didn't like it much at all. This past weekend we exchanged bottles to complete a side by side comparison. Did Heath have a bad batch or was I just happy to be drinking beer again after my pneumonia? Well, see for yourself... Ellen didn't care for it at all so she went with a much better Pumpkin brew- Dogfish Head Punkin Ale. Now she's happy! Eh, Heath was right. Not a very good one, indeed. Must have been the pneumonia. I still drank a full pint by combining the two. Don't want to waste it. Ellen can't tell the difference besides a very slight more spiciness with ours but essentially the same. How about mine!? Hmmm...don't know. Doesn't seem to be a big difference. Here's my lame attempt at a Heath face with his. Hmmm...not like I remember mine to be. This one does taste a bit hoppy and not very pumpkiny. Next up, our bottle. Ellen stepped in as an impartial judge. Here she gets ready to sample Heath's. J.J. Bitting glasses would represent Heath and Pumpkinhead would represent mine. Here are the contenders. Heath's bottle has the H on the cap, mine has nothing.
mr_teisco_delrey Posted October 31, 2006 Posted October 31, 2006 DerekRX - Did the oak barrel aged La Roja have a Bourbonny aftertaste by chance? There are some microbreweries around Kentucky that use the old barrels from distilleries for aging. One that I tried (Kentucky Ale)had a mild Bourbon aftertaste. As for tonight, I am having some homebrew (no not moonshine)made by a co-worker.
Rugged One Posted November 1, 2006 Posted November 1, 2006 ^^ Hmmm, interesting Adam. So I guess it was your beer crazed brain that we have to blame for this controversy! So I guess the beer is meant to be hoppy. Weird. I'll probably crack into your bottle sometime this week to see if I detect anything different between the two. What better way to celebrate the end of October and Halloween itself, than with my final bottle of pumpkin ale. And I have to say, I think this is my favorite. The Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale. Have a safe and scary Halloween everybody! The Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale. Just big and bold and pumpkiny and spicey and delicious. Mmmmmmm!
DerekRx Posted November 1, 2006 Posted November 1, 2006 ^^Yup, you know it. La Roja Grand Reserve had a really oaky aroma, and a strong alcohol taste, that of whiskey, but mixed with the sweetness of the beer, with a sort of cherry and pineapple hint. But the alcohol did overpower them in the end. There are several other beers that are aged in oak barrels, like the Old Heathen from Weyerbacher, called Heresy once aged. The oak barrel aged stuff is a whole different level of beer, and quite worth it if you find any. Yup, its Halloween, which means the perfect time for pumpkin brews. Adam's Flying Dog's will just have to hold off a bit longer. (and BTW, Ellen's hair is getting LONG! Soon she can go topless) Defintely more alcohol in this bad boy. yum! Next up, DFHs Punkin, also quite tasty Lots of pumpkin spice and very pumpkin pie-like First up on this fine all hallow's eve, Pumpkinhead
DerekRx Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 Back to the reviews of the Flying Dog brews. This time it was the Classic Pale Ale, a beer I've had before and vaguely remember enjoying. Very nice pale ale, with a bit of alcohol and a nice citrusy flavor Another funky label
DerekRx Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 Another Flying Dog presentation, this time their IPA, the Snake Dog IPA. In short, lots of head, good citrus flavor, turning to a bit of hoppiness as the beer got warmer. Woohoo! Even more hoppy than before. Fantasicominal! Back to clearing out the fridge for this year's prep. One more Celebration Ale Vintage '05 to enjoy Good stuff, nice citrus flavor, with a hop finish OK, now its all out of the bottle and into the glass...only took about 15 minutes! Settling a bit more... Yaoza, thats not much beer to fill that cup! At first pour, holy head Batman!
twisterbret Posted November 4, 2006 Posted November 4, 2006 O man ..your drinking the Celebration Ale which is my favorite. I can't wait till the holidays. Also the Flying Dog comes in 3rd. I think they changed the label ..it use to say doggie style on it It's strong and not even close to my pale ale's but I can't begin to guess the alcohol content. It reminds me of when I first starting drinking beer and that first sip use to make you shiver from the bitterness.
DerekRx Posted November 4, 2006 Posted November 4, 2006 ^awww, Bret is posting to the beer thread! Either I'm drunk or life is really good (or its a combination of both!). Tonight was "Hop Harvest Night" for some of us BACTers. First stop, Victory brewing, for what we thought would be dinner and the newly tapped 2006 edition of Hop Wallop Double IPA.... The Drafting Room in Exton definitely gets the BACT seal of approval. And since we're such VIPs, we even managed to score some pint glasses which are usually only given out during special events. We rule, we know! Ut oh, big Sierra Nevada tapping later next week, whats up with that!? But my dessert was more peachy-keen! To finish off the night, Heath went the Sly Fox route with the Nugget IPA Coconut Cashew Chicken was on my palate, but only because Tacos weren't on the menu Heath do done gotted the gumbo for his food Whereas I prime myself for Sly Fox's Project IPA-fest next month, by sampling their Newport IPA Right before dinner Heath breaks into the Double IPA from Mad River Our appetizer was Belgian Ale and Cheese fondue! But she couldn't handle the Harvest Ale, too hoppy for her NOT to make the hopface And Kim even enjoyed a Lindemann's Peche on tap! They had it, the boys were happy, and it was amazing! Almost a perfect beer, with loads of hops and hops aftertaste, but not overwhelming But our main reason for coming here, the hope of Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale 2006, a wet hop pale ale Big Beer list!? Yes, there is one, and its got some awesome stuff on it, like Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza and North Coast Brother Thelonius Yeah, we'll be back here fo sho! Lots of bottles in stock too, not just drafts Heath is a happy man With a SpectBACTular draft menu, every month with a different theme. This month Double IPAs! A few miles later, we end up at the Drafting Room in Exton! While I dig right into the Harvest Ale, a wet Hop Ale Unknownst to us, the Hop Harvests were now on tap. Heath enjoys the BrauMeister Pils, a wet hop pilsner But not before getting some new beer creds in With an hour and a half wait for food, we'll opt out this time Um, wow, its crowded tonight! A bit later than we expected thanks to Baltimore traffic, but we still made it to Victory!
DerekRx Posted November 4, 2006 Posted November 4, 2006 Thanks to the wonders of the beer thread, I was able to go back and actually document how many beers I've had and put them in chronological order backwards up thru the end of 2005. It was determined that I broke 500 last night with the Braumeister Pils from Victory. Appropriately, today I had an appointment to get inked (early Christmas present from coworker). More pictures of the event eventually, but for right now, in celebration of the event, its time for a HopDevil. A fine choice in beers, may it forever be this good (otherwise I'm gonna look stupid with its logo on my leg!) The three Devils
PhishyBrewer Posted November 5, 2006 Posted November 5, 2006 You guys just HAVE TO try the Harvest Ale. It's one of my favorites. It was only available at the brewery. Until now, I guess.
Rugged One Posted November 5, 2006 Posted November 5, 2006 ^ Look above Wally. We allready had it Friday night. I must say, that Derek and I both agreed that it was one of our top beers of the year. Picked up something new yesterday. A case of Double Bastard 06. The Oaked Arrogant Bastard is sitting in the back at the beer distributor but can't be sold yet until the new 12 oz bottles are approved for sale in the state of PA. Hopefully soon. Oh yeah!
DerekRx Posted November 5, 2006 Posted November 5, 2006 Heath and Kim were within 30 miles of my house last night, so they stopped by and off to drink we went again! So much he wants to take the bottle home with him (of course, he forgot it!) Heath digs this big time Oh my, thats some good stuff. Very chocolatey To finish off the night, we went and split a bottle of Avery's Mephistopheles Stout But Pliny left her with the hopface Even Kim enjoyed it Very good stuff, but I liked the hopped up version a bit better As for me, I went with a bottle of Luciernaga from Jolly Pumpkin, a Belgian Pale Ale in Grand Cru style next, Heath went with the Southampton Pumpkin Ale. Too much spice and not enough pumpkin for him though Adam tastes pretty good! and Kim loves the way Adam tastes in her mouth Heath doesn't mind Adam Something just seems odd about drinking Adam As promised, I got the Hair of the Dog Adam, an old world ale Next up, Russian Rivers Pliny the Younger. Odd ipa I started out with Middle Ages 11th Anniversary Double Wheat. Banana-y and hop hints Lindemanns on tap, Kim couldn't resist First for him, Legacy's Hoptimus Prime double ipa So instead we went to Union Jacks. Heath was very happily looking over the tap list But they were closed for a wedding!? WTF! Our plan: Canal Street, home of Legacy Brewing
twisterbret Posted November 5, 2006 Posted November 5, 2006 "Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale 2006, a wet hop pale ale" Hey do they have this stuff bottles anywhere?
DerekRx Posted November 5, 2006 Posted November 5, 2006 Nope, I believe its only served draft. And its good!
FlyerACE1 Posted November 6, 2006 Posted November 6, 2006 Great PTR, Derek, Heath and Kim! Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. Also glad you finally tried the Adam beer from Hair of the Dog. I have to say, my bottle image owns!! Tonight, Ellen and I got together with Mark and Amanda to check out a place with a good vibe located in Montclair. It's called Egan and Sons and it's a unique "micro-brew" where they only complete half the process of brewing beer (thus, not having the large tanks). The food is Irish style and I think the atmosphere is great. For a Sunday night, they had a good sized crowd too. I'll have photos up tomorrow from this place. Later!
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