What Was the Last Beer You Drank?

[Bubba83]

^^ What happened to wearing your Sharks jersey in a post Heath!!!

[Rugged One]

^^ Well you did get to your first beer festival this year, so I guess anything is possible!

 

Don't forget to charge your batteries!

 

^Be patient young Bubba. The Sharks jersey will appear soon.

[DerekRx]

Discovered tonight that I had a bottle of Sweetwater left. Woohoo, time for the South to make up for that blah brown that Red Brick brewed.

It's no IPA, but it sure is sweet and citrusy, with a nice lite pine finish

420 Extra Pale Ale, pretty good stuff

[brilinjo]

^ Which beers do Australians drink that are brewed in Australia?

 

Hi Bubba

 

I'm partial to Cooper's Brewery as it is our local brew in Adelaide. Their range is available at Bevmo http://www.bevmo.com/productlist.asp?area=home&N=-7420

 

Other Aussie favorites (i.e. drunk widely, not necessarily to my taste) are:

-Cascade Premium Lager (I remember seeing someone drink that on here, it has a Tasmanian Tiger on the label)

-XXXX (Fourex) - from Brisbane

-Toohey's New (lager) or Toohey's Extra Dry (Chill) - from Sydney

-Carlton Cold (Chill), Carlton Draught or Victoria Bitter - from Melbourne

 

A lot of people also drink imported beers (Corona, Heineken, Becks etc).

 

The craft beer / microbrew industry is not so large in Australia, most people drink the mass produced beers. Two good examples of "craft" beer (but still produced in reasonable quantities) are:

-Little Creatures Pale Ale - from Perth

-James Squire Amber Ale - from Sydney. They are owned by Lion Nathan (New Zealand's largest brewery) but still have a small brewery feel to them.

 

To give you an indication of how well Foster's is rated in the local market, check out the ranking by taste on this website:

http://www.tastebeer.com.au/rated-beers/

 

Brian

[ParkTrips]

I went to Outback tonight, go figure, haha. I stuck with a Sam Adams Oktoberfest as I hadn't had one at all this year, and its my favorite from the Sam Adams lineup.

 

One of my friends had a Tooheys though, and he didn't like it much at all. Funny you mentioned Cooper's, as I was going to try that if I opted for a 2nd beer. The description of it being "sparkling" and "champagne-like" kinda got me intrigued a lot more than the standard lager offerings. I'll definitely give it a shot next time!

[FlyerACE1]

On Saturday, Ellen and I decided to check out the monthly open house at High Point Brewing Company in Butler, NJ. We've been wanting to do this for quite some time but there hasn't been one Saturday that's coincided with an open house when we didn't already have plans. Come November 10th, and here we are! High Point is a true micro-brewery in every sense of the word. They're a small barrell producer and only distribute in NJ, NY and PA with most deliveries in kegs and very little bottle production. Their beer line is called Ramstein and they're known for some excellent German style wheat beers. The brewmaster, Greg Zaccardi, studied in Germany and has exclusive rights to a Bavarian yeast that only one other brewery in Germany uses. The results are quite impressive. Any way, the open house was better than expected! It draws a large crowd, they have a great little tour and they even had free food! On to the photos...

Finally, one last shot of literally the entire brewery complex. Not very big. Still, a great time! We'll be back.

Here's a shot from inside the brewery looking towards the bar area.

I'm not sure why but they had a variety of kegs in their warehouse and I never asked why. You can see some from Clipper City and they had Lagunitas too. Maybe old reused kegs??

Ellen really loved the homemade Chicken Soup. It was big hit at the open house. Did I mention it was free?

Oh, did someone say food? They had a full Thanksgiving dinner- turkey and all the trimmings plus some kick ass cabbage and noodles with meatballs and sausage. Yumm!!

Ellen with her Blonde Wheat. This was my personal favorite.

Back inside the bar area. That's the brewmaster, with the black hair just to the right of the blonde bartender.

The place is packed!

This is what they do for exercise. Climbing the spiral stairs with sacks of wheat. Who needs a gym when you work in a brewery?

Here's a better shot of the guide in front of the bottling machine.

Our tour guide was awesome. Very informative and funny too. He threw some great digs towards large domestic brewers.

As you can see, the brewery is pretty small but check out that spread of food! For Free!!

And I love it too! We'll be sampling more of this at the Split Rock Beer Fest next weekend.

Ellen loves the Winter Wheat!

Just inside the door is a bar area with a nice wood burning stove. Each person receives 4 tickets for 2 oz. samples of beer. One ticket was for the Winter Wheat, just tapped on Saturday!

It's like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory except when the door finally opened, the brewer proclaimed, "So, who wants some beer!!???".

It's 10 minutes before opening and already a crowd has gathered.

Outside the High Point brewery located in a small industrial park near a residential area similar to Victory. The brewery is housed in an old rubber plant.

[mcjaco]

Well, the wife's friends have left, and I'm taking a break from Guitar Hero III to present you some of the drinks I've had over the last week. Here we go.

Drinkable, but I'm still not a fan. I have one more IPA in the fridge then I'm retiring from trying IPA's and other hoppy assorted brews.

Since I'm a lemming. Here's Sierra Nevada's Harvest. Matt battles another hoppy brew take 764.

The 7.5% caught up to me. I must go fine more of this before it disappears.

Two Brother's HelioCentric. It's a limited run honey brewed ale. I drank so smoothly, I finshed the bomber quite quickly.

Yum. This one's a hit with the wife.

Capital Brewery's Winter Skal. I'm a fan of Capital, and this one didn't disappoint. It's light for a winter brew.

It's like Fat Tire kicked up a notch. BAM!

The first "winter" season brew of the year for me. New Belgium's 2 Below.

Makes Matt happy!

Probably the last bottle of Southern Tier's Pumking. I know you guys didn't care for it, but I loved it. Just enough spice and pumpkin for me.

Oh hellz yeah. This is some seriously sweet tasting stuff. Nice touch of cherries to finish off.

The local Two Brother's Northwind Stout. Chocolate and cherries.

I nice smooth stout, but nothing that kicked my tastebuds in the teeth.

Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout.

[DerekRx]

^^Looks like good stuff, Adam, glad you finally found a time to get there. With their excellent beers for sampling AND free food, hopefully we'll be joining you sometime soon for a tour.

 

On Saturday we decided to head down to a fairly new beer bar in the suburbs of Philly to see how the place was.

As it aged, more of the citrus hops have gone away, but the grassy and pine is very strong

Tonight, since IPA Project 07 is about a month away, I thought I should enjoy some more of the 06 I got of the Odyssey IPA from Sly Fox

and while I could have went for a vertical tasting of Harvest Ale, I decided to try the 2007 Celebration Ale instead. Loaded with hops and a great way to begin the cold season approaching.

For dessert, Nicole went with the Sly Fox Black Raspberry Reserve, which was filled to the brim with raspberry goodness

and for Nicole, a pecan crusted chicken stuffed with shrimp served over pasta, also great stuff, just another reason why we love The Drafting Room. Great beers AND awesome food

For dinner, the specials for us, Mako Shark in a cider au jus, apple and onion relish, and Yukon Potato and butternut squash medley. Just excellent

While I went with the 2007 Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale, still pure awesomeness

Digging it, she went and ordered a pint

Wanting to try new beers and new styles, Nicole went with a taster of the Old Brown Dog from Smuttynose, a Brown Ale

As usual, pretty awesome stuff on tap, lots of things left from the Sierra Nevada night last week

Just a short 30 minutes away, it's time for dinner at one of our favorite places, The Drafting Room

and a final stop at the very cool looking bathroom before heading onward

Then quickly stole my Breakfast Stout, loving the taste of coffee that this brew dominates

While Nicole practically inhaled her Kasteel Rouge, a raspberry lambic

and what beers did we have? Well, for me, a Founder's Breakfast Stout, of course!

The place is pretty small, so I'm glad we didn't come at dinnertime, but it had a nice atmosphere, great beers, and good service. The food looked pretty tasty too, including a salad made with Lindeman's Cassis vinegarette. That's the kitchen in the back.

A look at the bar area, where you can see the 2 hand pumps as well as the wall of glassware, all used properly for the type of beer you order

With 24 taps and 2 hand pumps, they've got plenty of variety. They've also got a huge selection of bottled beers from around the world, lots of them being Belgians

Teresa's Next Door, a new addition to Teresa's Cafe, conveniently located next door. All beers come from the Beer Yard down the road, so you know they've got some greatness

[ParkTrips]

Derek,

 

You suck. I wanted that Terrapin jacket but they didn't have any left in my size

 

[mr_teisco_delrey]

^ Fear not my beer compatriot, I will be there this year! I may even bring my camera!

 

Matt, you might consider bringing a can of Raid also. There were quite a few flys in the place. I am planning on the last week of April for my next rip. That is when they tap the really good stuff.

[DerekRx]

Tonight I knew exactly what I'd be drinking, something I picked up at Capone's on Saturday, and was very excited to break opened. All the way from very charred Southern California comes Pizza Port's take on the Wet Hop Harvest IPAs, High Tide!

Yeah, this sucker is a hop bomb. Loads of fresh citrus, grass, and pine tastes, with very little malt backing. Not as good as the Wipeout, but it may give Sierra Nevada Harvest a run for it's title of "Derek's Favorite Wet Hopped Ale". As for this year though, I think Sierra Nevada wins.

Check out that awesome logo, a huge wave of hops. Oh to live near San Diego!!

High Tide Fresh Hop IPA, Pizza Port/Port Brewing's bottled wet hop ale

[Rugged One]

This past weekend, we just wanted to get out of the area and go do something somewhere new. We had some shopping to get done and had never been to the giganitc Tyson's Corner Center Mall in Northern VA.

 

There's actually a lot of good beer in the area but unfortunately, we've only checked out a small portion of it because we never feel like stopping on the way back from visiting the VA parks.

 

Sounds like it's time for a BACT Attack without the coasters.

 

H&K style!

I finish up another fun-filled day of beer drinking with their Ghost Town Pumpkin Ale. It was pretty light and not very complicated but they insist on doing the whole "ring the glass with spices and bits of nuts". Whatever. And so ends another extreme beer drinking day with H&K. Until next time. Cheers!

And some little mexican eggrolls with guac sauce too!

Some snackage was definitely in order. Nothing a giant bowl of guacamole can't cure.

Kim gets in on the beer action with a Kokopelli IPA. Again, pretty decent and a definite step up from the normal Pale Ale they always have on tap here.

Gotta start out with the Chipotle Porter. It was decent. Not overly spicy or anything.

Another shot (and easier to read too) of their tap list.

Now normally Sweetwater is good for usually one or two interesting beers being on tap at one time. We lucked out tonight!

Just down the road and our final stop of the day. Back at The Sweetwater Tavern. I had heard that this place can get quite busy in the evenings and it was! Luckily, we avoided the 40 min wait for a table and fanagled our way to a couple of seats at the bar.

Unfortunately, I had to control myself for the most part but we'll be back again in a couple of weeks.

Oh my! Look at all of that Bell's! Pretty much all the good stuff they have out right now. Expedition, Double Cream, Java and Cherry Stouts, Winter White, Third Coast, Batch 8,000, Best Brown. I love it!

After that fun, little side trip, it was time to get down to business at Whole Foods. Which of course means beer shopping

We actually liked this one more than the one in Gaithersburg, MD. Much more spread out here while the other one is more build up on floors. I also really dug the amount of signs and cool Dogfish theming at this one. We had a chance to talk to the owner of both restaurants and offered our congrats on finally gettting the place open.

...and went with a good ole' reliable 60 Min IPA. Just a good IPA that never lets you down.

Luckily the bar wasn't too full. Lot's of the usual suspects on draft and even a few rarities too. The World Wide Stout on tap was tempting but at about $1 per oz, I decided to save my wallet and liver...

And this one was a long time coming too. I think that it was originally supposed to open last spring. Anyway, naturally being a new restaurant on a Saturday night, the place was packed. That's allright though, as I only wanted a drink.

And because we just happened to be driving by on the way to our next location, we couldn't pass up a chance to stop off at the brand spanking new Dogfish Head Alehouse in Falls Church that just opened the other week.

I decide to go for their Oatmilk Stout. It was a good choice too since it had some nice sweetness from the milk that went well with it's roasty chocolate undertones.

Kim goes for some of their root beer. It was a good one too with a nice licorice taste.

Gotta go for some of the their Fall seasonal Pumpkin beer. The Pumpkinator! Ok, it didn't quite terminate my palatte but it was very good. Nice medium body and a good balance of pumpkin and spices.

Shot of the board with their staple beers and a couple of seasonals.

The design of the place was pretty cool. Since it's non-smoking, everything is located in one large room, with all the dining room seating situated in a circle around the gigantic circular bar. The serving tanks in the middle are a nice touch as well.

Why it's the Arlington location of the Capitol City Brewing Company.

Stop #3 is yet another shopping complex in Arlington. This one the Shirlington Village, which was actually a really cute area of shops and what not. Gee, what could be here?

I finish up with another giant mug of their GABF winning Ballston Brown. And it's dry hopped on the hand pump to boot! Good stuff!

I guess that's why they have a secondary bar in the back to accomadate all those crowds (and to supply the back patio when it's open).

Uh, do you think that Wednesday nights are popular here? Jeez, they're practically giving it away!

Of course! Their best selling and award winning Mother Martha's Light Ale style Kolsch. It was rather light and easy drinking.

Hmmm. What do you think Kim will go for...

I decide to go with some of this month's specialty release. The Spout Run Porter. On nitro and Mug Club sized too. Nice creamy body with good roasted chocolate notes.

And another shot of the taps.

Shot of the board. This is another Rock Bottom that is blessed to have a decent brewer here that's into creating solid yet creative styles.

The front bar isn't nearly as big as the one at the King of Prussia location but we'll get back to that later.

...is a location for yet another popular brewchain. The Arlington Rock Bottom! Much like most of these, this has both a mall entrance and street entrance.

Next stop. Yet another mall. The Ballston Commons in Arlington. This was another good sized mall, standing 3 levels and tucked away in the corner of the bottom level...

Kim tries some of their housebrewed Root Beer. One of several she would have throughout the day.

Being lunchtime, we went for this crab and artichoke dip to help with the hunger. It was very good.

They had a bunch of different German styles on tap but I settled on their seasonal, the Autumnfest. They also serve a traditional Marzen here but this seemed like a sweeter take on it.

The place was pretty packed but we found a cozy nook right behind the bar area.

After a hard morning of shopping, one gets thirsty. Luckily, here at the Tysons Corner Center, they have a location from the Gordon Biersch to help quench that thirst.

[brilinjo]

A growler is a new concept for me, how long does it stay carbonated?

[Bubba83]

^ 2-3 days, if you're lucky.

 

^^ Heath, Awesome Photo TR. That's the first time I have seen a Dogfish Head Alehouse. Also, I'm really jealous of all the Bell's.

 

Pictures of what I've been drinking the last few nights should be coming soon...

[mcjaco]

Best thing about growlers, you need to drink up all it's yumminess quickly.

 

^ That Bell's selection makes me mad. Even when I hop the border to WI, they don't have that kind of selection. It's their plain jane stuff.

 

Speaking of border hopping, I'm off to New Glarus on Friday. The tour won't be open, but I'll take some pictures of me grabbing some swag.

[Rugged One]

^^ Heath, Awesome Photo TR. That's the first time I have seen a Dogfish Head Alehouse. Also, I'm really jealous of all the Bell's.

 

Here's some pics from a visit we took to the one in Gaithersburg last winter Bubba,which also included our first time visiting that Whole Foods and Sweetwater Tavern.

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18179&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=2360

 

Finally got back to ABC the other day to see if my mug had come in yet.

And I go for the always tasty Susquehanna Stout on cask, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite beers here.

Unfortunately, they were out of their Kriek, so Kim settled for their super sour Frambois Lambic.

Well since it's got a bear on it, it's only fitting that my first mug fill is of of their November specialty, the Grinnin' Grizzly.

You bet it has! And I'm pleased to see that it has a pretty cool design this year too!

Back at the ABC for the moment of truth. Has my mug finally come in yet?

[DerekRx]

Tonight I was supposed to be doing my own thing while my woman did something she loved. Unfortunately, I found out her plans went sour after my plans were already well under way.

 

Even though I wish I had spent the time with her, here is my Victory Tuesday...

and to end the night, a few fellow BA's showed up, one of which asked us to help him split his bottles of Founder's Blushing Monk and Voodoo's Love Child, a Belgian triple with cherries, raspberries, and passion fruit. Thanks for the tastes, Seth!

Victory's Braumeister Harvest Pils, a wet-hopped pilsner. And you know you're starting to get important when the owner, Mr. Matt Capone himself, rushes out to serve you! One really nice guy he is, and truly passionate about his beers

Picking up some goods and sticking with the Wet Hop theme of the week, up next I'd head to Capones, where it was all-you-can-eat crab leg night

Since everyone was grabbing growlers of it, I figured it was worth a taste. I'm not too fond of ESBs, but it was one of the better ones. I think it was just popular with the locals because of its low abv and drinkability

and much like the Kolsh, the ESB was just tapped, but no mention on the website or anywhere else.

My seat for the evening gave me a nice view of the tanks. Tuesdays aren't busy at all at the place (especially compared to a Friday). Good to know!

To accompany my pizza, time for this year's Hop Wallop...on cask! Lots of grassy and piney flavors in this crazy local yocal. Yum!

The board of tapness, containing a few brewpub exclusives

The night starts off back in Downingtown, home of Victory Brewing

[65skylark]

Well, I'm finally settled back in to things after being gone from home for three weeks. I thought I'd through in some beer pics from when I was gone.

 

I was in Charlotte for two of the three weeks for a training class. I am certainly not the beer conesseiur that some of you guys here are, but it really didn't didn't seem like NC had much in the way of beer. So, I grabbed a few things that I recognized, instead of taking a chance.

Troegs Amber was great.

Troegs seems to be the theme of the night.

Looks like Matt is going for the wheat also.

Paul goes for Rugged Trail.

Now we're talking. My first ever Troegs would be there Dreamweaver wheat.

The last of the crappy beer.

 

Class is over. I'm going to Florida!

IT was so bad I had to get more.

We all went out for dinner to celabrate before our last day together. I don't even remeber the name of the swill they had on tap at Carrabba's.

Not too bad. Nothing special.

Another safe beer. Sam Adams Octoberfest.

Yay Hop Devil.

Later in the week I went with something I knew would be good and is kind of hard to get here in Portland.

There! Too bad the beer was crap.

Ah, but I have been in this situation before (hey Ted) and I rememberd the trick.

Must. Open. Beer.

Of course, I forgot a bottle opener.

Since it was mid October, I thought I'd try the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale.

By this point, I have lost track.

Matt gets his first tast of Deschutes Obsidian Stout.

[mcjaco]

^ Thanks for posting a picture of me and my manboobs.....I'm now heading over to Robb's 30 lbs thread.....YIKES!

[65skylark]

^ I thought you'd like that!

[ParkTrips]

^ Thanks for posting a picture of me and my manboobs.....

 

[DerekRx]

Tonight I attended a drug rep dinner where we listened to a presentation for new treatments for certain types of cancer. While not required to go to these, they are sometimes enlightening, and usually somewhat fun. Plus dinner and drinks make it well worth it!, especially if we go to a place with good food and a nice selection of beverages.

Dinner and drinks is always a good way to end a rough day at work for a nurse, especially when the drinks can include mojitos and apricot sours

Really sweet with loads of raspberry goodness

and, of course, for dessert, some Lindeman's Framboise

To accompany my crab cakes, I went with the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale 2007, served on tap. Meanwhile Sue looks on with sadness as her Cosmo hasn't arrived yet

Yup, still very well balanced between malt and hops and a good beer to enjoy with appetizers like bacon wrapped shrimp, brie, and stuffed mushrooms

Continuing from Victory night, I started off the evening with a HopDevil

[mcjaco]

As I sit in chat explaining to Derek what a complete moron I am, I'll give you all the summary.

 

Tonight I tried the last IPA in my fridge. It was Two Brother's Heavy Handed. I swore this was going to be my last try at liking an IPA. First sip, I actually like it. I continued to drink and enjoyed every sip...which turned to gulps.

 

I literally ran upstairs to post the pics of my newly found IPA love, and I moved to fast for my PC, I copied and pasted faster than it could, and it corrupted the pics. They're gone.

 

Oh well, guess it just means I have to buy another bottle!

[DerekRx]

^Woohoo, Matt found an IPA he doesn't hate! Well, at least you found this out before your big weekend plans, thus ruining even more pictures (which we're still predicting will happen). Maybe you should ask for multiple cameras for Christmas.

 

Tonight I decided to try something new from Founders, their take on a wet hop pale ale. Being as awesome as Founders is brewing some stuff, what are the chances this stuff will rock too?

Smells really good, but sadly the taste was a little weak. Not much malt at all, not too hoppy either, but easy to drink. Definitely not the Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale, that's for sure. Oh well, this was Founders first shot at it, maybe it'll get better next year.

Founder's newest brew, their Harvest Ale, made with fresh wet hops

[ParkTrips]

I am to Stouts what Matt is to IPAs. I just don't like them. I did, however, pick up another one today. At $10.99 a bottle, it was a pretty big risk for something that I may not like, but it was a chocolate stout and I needed dessert, as well as experience with this type of stout....

The first couple of tastes were good. Very chocolatey, but not so much sweet. However I noticed a bit of coffee flavor at the end of the first taste. It wasn't too bad, and I could have lived with it, but as I'm about halfway through it just keeps getting more and more prevalent. Just not a Joe beer, but still not bad. I'm not going to pour this one out like I did Rasputin

The Ommegang 10th Anniversary ale, the Chocolate Indulgence Stout. Ommegang hasn't let me down yet, and the aroma right out of the bottle was incredible!