DerekRx Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 For tonight I decided to stick with the International sort of theme we have going here this week by opening up a bottle of one of Fullers top rated beers. I must say, when in England, I didn't really care for too many of their ales, but the Fullers stuff like the London Pride was pretty good, and this stuff is even better. Smooth and flavorful with caramel, toffee, chocolate, cherries, and coffee Fullers London Porter, once a top 100 beer, but has since fallen off the list, still rated an A- though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 back to CA tonight.. edit!!!! Weyerbacher coming to GA! The aroma out of the bottle was strong, and the taste lived up to the teaser. Lots of hops but not repulsive, and the malt character rounds off the beer wonderfully. This one is highly drinkable and once again BR is awesome. God I hope they come to GA soon. This might be the best IPA I have had. Bear Republic's Racer 5 IPA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba83 Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 ^ Hey, how'd you get your hands on my favorite IPA? Maybe we shall trade someday too, perhaps when I can regularly get my hands on Russian River American Wild Ales which I'm sure you'll love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coreyml Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 guiness - sucks klaster (something i cant find on the ratebeer app - too many "klasters") - much better to wash down the G taste wasnt the best so my back up plan - beck's dark i have a Tshirt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 ^ Hey, how'd you get your hands on my favorite IPA? Maybe we shall trade someday too, perhaps when I can regularly get my hands on Russian River American Wild Ales which I'm sure you'll love. Derek I'm always cool to trade.. He and I traded recently... but I could have just went to South Carolina and got some. oh, wait... I made a multi-state beer run on the way home from Tennessee Weyerbacher and Bells from North Carolina (Bruisin Ales in Asheville); Bear Republic and New Holland from South Carolina (Green's and Total Wine in Greenville). Score!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65skylark Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Got lots of pictures to post from the last three weeks or so, over half of them are beers sent to me from Derek. Just been to busy (or lazy) to get them all up. I do agree with Matt's assessment of Choklat Stout from Southern Tier, though. Lots of chocolate, not much beer. I am drinking a glass right now and it isn't bad, just not really my style when it comes to beer. If you like your beer REALLY chocolaty though, Choklat Stout is for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 tonight's beer from Urthel This was another hit from Urthel. Interesting "bock" interpretation from Belgium. Lots of delicious malts with some fruit notes like raisin or plum. This sweet, full bodied beer went down incredibly smooth and finished off easter dinner perfectly. The Urthel Vlaemse Bock beer, a strong dark ale from this great Belgian brewery. I drank it to celebrate the purchase of my Urthel glass yesterday, which is a great glass for producing big head on these beers. Plus, it looks cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 This holiday weekend we headed up to Buffalo to see Nicole's family since it's been a while since she's seen them. Of course we did the trip BACT style, with some coasters and beer. Next up, more adventures in Buffalo! The falls were pretty breathtaking, but we couldn't get much closer due to the winterish conditions still around Since Nicole agreed to do some beer stuff to make me happy, on our way back up to Buffalo we decided on an impromptu detour to see some waterfalls without the Tabasco barrel, the Gorges Smoked Porter doesn't taste like burning, it tastes like smoked bacon and coffee! besides the growler fills and 6 packs and cases, you can also mix your own 6 pack, 12 pack, or case, which I did, along with a few pickups of their Excelsior series beers here's some of the homebrew supplies Nicole let me try her Apricot Wheat, which was also very good, nice apricot flavor and best of all, it's free! I decided to start out with the Flower Power IPA, and I was very impressed, great flavor They've got great hours, and plenty of stuff on tap for growler fills and tastings Looks like an old convenience store, but now they brew awesome stuff as well as a homebrew supply shop and then 3.5 hours later, we had a little detour into Ithaca, New York, home of Ithaca Brewing First stop, Dorney to get our passes processed. Here's the new lower park skyline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Token Yankee Guy Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Samuel Adams, Brown Ale. I've really cut back on my drinking consumption since I moved back home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Saturday we took some time to head back to some of our favorite places around Buffalo, as well as scouting out some new places. Here's to a Victorious trip for us and a hoppy Easter for all! and finally, after driving home today, I was only happy to enjoy some locally brewed HopDevil. and while the bar isn't that large (like 10 people or so), with stuff like Great Lakes Blackout Stout on tap, I was so bummed I went with the Pils at BBP instead! Definitely plan on going here next time we're up in the area Though it's no Pizza Port, they've got a pretty impressive micro list for a pizza joint On the way home, we passed by one of the Pizza Plant locations, so we decided to check it out, even though we were pretty full Though they were out of many of the darker beers I wanted to try (more local stuff like High Falls, Saranac, Great Lakes, etc), they do have a nice selection, and lots of international stuff Angry chair face says "I Want Beer!" But Nicole enjoyed a Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat. Lots of blueberry flavors in there, and mixing with the oranges it smelled a little like licorice at first Round 2 consisted of me trying their Pils since they were out of every guest tap I wanted to try. Light and refreshing, though the carbonation was almost nonexistent. While I went with Buffalo's finest combo, Beef on Weck and Buffalo Wings! Fantastic!! Nicole's lunch was the Souvaki Salad, which she liked, but couldn't finish it Nicole enjoyed their Weisse while snacking on some peanuts. This one was pretty good, nice spice and wheat flavors While it's a beer bar with an impressive 30+ taps for guest beers, they brew their own as well, like this Red Ale which was good, though very malty and low in carbonation Unless you follow it up with lunch at Buffalo Brewpub Cafe Mocha and cherry Timbits, the day can't start much better than this! First stop, Tim Horton's, the official coffee of BACT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba83 Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 ^ Looks like a nice trip Derek. Exciting beer times indeed for me. So I got an email and a tracking number from Heath in my inbox at 2:45am this morning, I am still awake because I just finished my website work Apparently Heath is so hardcore he shipped my package out before work, at 5:30am eastern. Either that or he appended my email address to the package he had already shipped on Sunday, not sure which. Can't wait to see what he's sent, and I can't wait to surprise him with a few I've picked up as well. Let's get on with the picture action! I couldn't really figure this one out. I was happy to finally be trying my first Avery beer, but this beer seemed confused. It had a strong belgian funk and spice that reminded me of a Saison or Belgian Strong Pale Ale. It had some sweet candy sugar flavoring but the alcohol was pretty strong throughout. Pretty enjoyable overall but I was expecting more dark fruits and whatnot, oh well. And tonight after work, kinda late I know... but I needed to relax and enjoy after a long easter sunday work day. Avery's The Reverend, it's a Quadrupel at 10% ABV. Even lighter than in the picture, and much lighter than I'd expect for the style. But not just any beer, Stone 11th Anniversary, woopee, I finally got my hands on this stuff at Monument Wine and Spirits earlier in the day. That store had a brilliant selection of Lost Abbey/Pizza Port/Stone/Russian River. My uncle says this is the best beer he has ever had. I don't know if I can say that, but it's probably in the top20. We'd spend the day at my sister's before returning home around 9pm, just in time to head over to my uncle's to watch Vanishing Point and have a beer. And a picture of the patio side as we're on our way. Here's a picture of the interior of the place. It was a really nice place with a laid back atmosphere and a really enjoyable experience overall. So tasty infact that I had to order E.J. Phair's Stouter to wash it down. Now this beer was exciting compared to the last. Really excellent balance between roasty toasty flavors of a dry stout and chocolate coffee flavors of an IRS, this guy was one of the better stouts I've had to date. A picture of what my mom and I both had for lunch, the Salmon Fish and Chips. Very tasty! I was feeling like spring was in full swing with how nice a day it was in Concord, easily 70 degrees and an event staff cleaning up the park nearby from an easter egg hunt. So I choise the Marzen to start off with, which had nice flavor but was a bit mellow for how dark it was. Yeah Mr. Blue menu, I love beer too. Unfortunately, they had just kicked the Black Mamba and replaced it with Bear Republic Pete's Brown Tribute Ale. Moving on to saturday my mom and I went up to visit my sister in Brentwood, stopping along the way in Concord to hit Monument Wine and Spirits as well as have lunch at E.J. Phair's Alehouse. A little bit mild for an ESB, at least compared to Sierra Nevada's Early Spring Beer. Still quite nice with some excellent sour green apple flavors. Still Friday night, we'd try some more Fuller's ESB, since I've been on an ESB kick lately. Cheshire Cat Brewing Co. because Cheshire is the street name where I live, Blank Slate Porter because I couldn't think of a name and I have a Blank Slate when it comes to brewing. Honestly, it turned out decent. Good color, amount of head, and carbonation. The smell is great, the taste starts out good, then gets too weak too fast, and it's a little thin in mouthfeel. Also, at the end of the sip there is a kind of raw hop/veggie flavor that is mildly off-putting. I will be sure to get some advice from my local homebrew shop before I take a whirl at an IPA. Hmm, this bottle's label must have fallen off... Or wait a minute, could it be that it has no label at all? That's right, it's Blank Slate Porter from Cheshire Cat Brewing Co. 5% ABV. It was quite good really, but the taste and mouthfeel seemed a little watery and thin, which is my main complain with many of New Belgium's offerings. I'd start off with a New Belgium 1554 Black Ale on thursday, which was new to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Revisiting an old friend tonight I love this beer... very molasses like and highly potent despite its wonderful drinkablity. Heavy Seas beers are always a delight! Clipper City's Heavy Seas Hang Ten, a weizen bock beer at a heavy 10% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 A new week, and I've got enough stuff that it's time for a new theme week (with 1 day's exceptions). So, without further ado, I bring you New England week, where all beers I enjoy will be from our Northeast sector, well except for tomorrow. But in all honesty, blah! Too much raspberry overtakes the other flavors of malt and citrus, and combined with the alcohol, all it tastes like is cough syrup. I felt bad for the Ithaca glass I chose to hold this in First up, Berkshire Brewing's Raspberry Barleywine AKA Raspberry Strong Ale. 9% of raspberry destruction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I had a Schlenkerla Raunchbier last night at Brick Store -- my first rauchbier experience, and it was quite enjoyable. Not an everyday beer, but I imagine that would go great with some meat in the summer... anyways... for breakfast this morning... And look, trade material! The aroma out of the bottle was one of strong, piney hops. It looked and smelt like, quite honestly, a Sweetwater product (looks like a 420, smells like their IPA). It tasted great - the load of hops hits you up front and is followed up with some malts, but in the end this is all about the hops. The piney/citrusy taste really lingers and this beer is remarkably drinkable considering the IBUs, which are likely higher than the 80 that come with the Big Hoppy Monster or Rye^2. A great beer, and this really has gotten me excited about the Side Project Terrapin's Hop Shortage Ale - the first in their "Side Project" series of beers brewed once to make use of their 22oz bottling line. To pay tribute to the current shortage of hops, the guys at Terrapin decided to say "F*** It!" and make a hop bomb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucket Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I just noticed this topic! How cool there are beer enthusiasts here as well as coaster enthusiasts! Being German, I am a little biased! I think German beer is really the best! Augustiners are my favorite... it doesn't matter which, dark, light, white beer; I love them all! My cousin on the left, me, and my friend Sebastian on the right drinking Augustiner Helles... a popular and delicious German beer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 ^^Sweet, glad you managed to get some of that stuff, Joe. ^Welcome to you and your 'Friends' to the beer thread. Tonight I'm taking a break from this week's theme because Matt is nearby in Philly and it's time for Nicole to meet him! What a better place to meet than a brewpub! It was good to see Matt again, and I know I'll see him again soon. Yet it was odd that Nicole met him and the world hasn't ended yet. Maybe it's waiting until 2012. and I had the cedar plank salmon in a bing cherry glaze. Wide variety of food here at Manayunk Brewing! Matt went with Chicken Parm as far as dinner goes, Nicole was eager to have some sushi I sure hope he made it back to his hotel safely unable to decide, Matt chose to get them all in sampler format I went right for the California Dreamin' Imperial IPA, great flavors and balance Good stuff on the tap list today We decided on Manayunk Brewing as it's near Philly for Matt to get to, easy for us to park (and avoid too much traffic) and has a nice atmosphere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 ^ That was a well needed break from a bad week. Thanks for meeting me! As hard as I tried, Nicole would not take my flower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba83 Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 So Nicole, is he a lot cooler online? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Back to the New England theme for the rest of the week. Yes, definitely a good cream ale, lots of sweetness and butter notes, almost like liquid kettle corn with a nice grassy and spicy hop finish. Hopefully better is the Haver Ale from Haverhill Brewing, a cream ale with a pretty sexy label Kinda ick, with chunks of yeast, some citrus, dirty hops, and a really bitter finish that isn't caused by the hops. First up, Sheriff's IPA from Sherwood Forest Brewing in Massachusetts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 tonight, a hybrid beer that I decided to try my face says it all... "eh". Certainly not something I will buy again at $12-14 per bottle. As a Belgian ale, it was weaker ont he scale.. as a stout, it was ok by my standards since the coffee notes were pretty light, and the smoothness was good, but overall this conglomeration of styles didn't do much for me. Allagash Black, which describes itself as a "Belgian Style Stout" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 ^ I've got a bottle of that chillin' right now. Perhaps tomorrow night..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba83 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 I've been slacking for sure, so that means it's time for a beer post... I sure do have plenty of pictures! Also, I am still eagerly awaiting the triumphant return of Soren to the beer thread, fresh off his trip from Sao Paulo Brazil. Here we go... Uhhh, yeah this beer was insane... Actually, at first it comes off a lot like Wipeout IPA. The malt backbone is probably identical, but the spicy hops set this one apart and the complexities from the hops start to come out as the beer warms. I absolutely loved it, please build a Pizza Port up here! And to cap off the brilliant Sharks win when I got home, I'd have a Pizza Port Hop 15. 10% ABV (surprsing!) And what a victory it was... A come from behind win in overtime with Nabokov, Thornton, and Marleau sealing the deal. Awesome win guys! Hey, too many men on the ice! Oh wait, it's just warmup at the Shark Tank... Here's a picture of the outside of the place in the stripmall known as "The Pruneyard" And their other beer of note would be their pale ale, which has a nice spicy amarillo and simcoe kick to it. My sad attempt at a picture of the tap list. Yeah, not the easiest place to see or take a picture of... This is their award winning 2005 GABF gold Kolsch, which held up to the medals for sure. A nice dry, tettnanger hoppy flavor put me right back in Deutschland along the Rhein river up near Koln... That brings us to tonight, where I'd go to Rock Bottom Campbell before the Sharks game with my mom. I got the sampler. I keep trying Full Sail because their business model of 49 independent brewers or some such but all of their beers have this weird background smoke flavor. It's not necessarily bad, but just masks some things that I look for in a brown ale. The sweetness has a hard time coming through the smoke, and again I'm left a little underwhelmed by Full Sail. Not bad though... Another bottle from BevMo and a Full Sail Brewmaster's Reserve, the Nut Brown Ale... Almost black in color somehow... It was a good IPA. Not the best I've had out here on the west, but pretty solid and I liked the malt backbone quite a bit. I'm looking forward to hopefully getting a taste of some other Rubicon stuff in bottles soon. I wasn't planning on opening another beer, but after the triple bock I had to... And it would be Rubicon's IPA, finally available in bottles at my local BevMo. They had it at my local BevMo and when I bought it I just expected a stronger dopplebock, but it was not what I expected at all. Yes, you read right, this beer was brewed 11 years ago, when I was only 13 years old. I wish I knew how this tasted in 1997 because frankly, it was horrible in 2008, extreme soy sauce/balsamic vinegar with a touch of chocolate dominated, and I couldn't even finish the 2oz I poured. Yuck! Sam Adams Triple Bock. 17.5% ABV, wait, did I type that right? Oh, yeah I did apparently... I guess this stuff was brewed in 1997? I had no idea when I bought it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 another new style for me to try tonight... The Bubba race says it all, wow! I did not know what to expect. I guess the taste of vinegar would describe it. I was totally taken off guard, especially not eating anything and having not eaten all day... I tried a few more times but just couldn't do it, not right now. I'll try a sour ale another time.. but to think, the label describes it as mild! Monk's Flemish Sour, to celebrate the bar that Matt should have visited It was ok.. good beer, but a weaker quad. It looks like crap to me and it certainly didn't feel like a full-bodied beer. The taste was still pretty good and all.. but it just did not seem like a quad to me at all. At least the alcohol wasn't overpoweing like I've found other Avery beers to be.. Attempt #2 for the evening.. Avery's The Reverend quad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 ^Did you taste the sour apple, candy corn, and basement flavors?! To finish off New England week, I decided to try something new from one of the regions biggest microbreweries, Harpoon. Really tart with lots of apple taste as well as hints of vanilla. Big sour vinegar notes too. Harpoon Cider, while not a beer, it is made by a microbrewery and does contain alcohol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 but a weaker quad This made me giggle. Only because Joe said it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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