What Was the Last Beer You Drank?

[mcjaco]

Justin, one never "settles" for Fat Tire.

[Juggler]

Working nights this week so the alcohol consumption has died until tomorrow at 7pm when I finish and promptly head up to the local Freehouse for a couple of ales.

 

However, during my freedom today I popped over to my local brewing supplies shop and picked up a recipe book and some more ingredients.

 

Now I know Derek and Heath will be keeping tabs on this as I'm about to embark on an Oatmeal Stout and if it wasn't for the slight issue of the Atlantic being in the way I have a feeling there'd be a knock on the door not long after it's ready!!

One table full of ingredients.

One recipe!

[Bubba83]

^ Cool, I love Oatmeal Stouts.

 

Over 3,000 posts about beer and still truckin. Go beer thread go!

 

I have pics from two different nights to post, so here they are...

It tasted like sour granny smith apples. Really different than any ESB I've tried before. It doesn't even really fade into toffee/caramel that I can tell, just stays pretty dang sour. It was pretty good regardless.

And last night, I had a Thames Welsh Extra Special Bitter. 6% ABV.

Clean, Cool, Crisp, and pretty dang flavorful.

Flying Dog's Tire Bite Golden Ale. My last bottle of this stuff. It's a nice Kolsch.

It's tasty. It's not nearly as spicy as any other Saison I've tried. However it has this really nice sweet pear flavor that is sour almost to the point of being inky at the end. Enjoyable...

Bison's 2006 Brewmaster's Reserve Farmhouse Ale. It's a Saison. I poured this as slow as humanly possible, and still ended up with half a glass full of head. Had to wait like 15 minutes before it was proportioned right for the picture.

Starting two nights ago, I started out by cooking this dinner with my mom. Salmon with Dill Sauce, assorted Zucchini with Wild Rice. YUMMY!

[DerekRx]

Just sitting here waiting for Nicole to arrive so we can start our weekend outing, but since she's stuck in traffic several hours away, I have nothing better to do than put one back.

Very crisp and refreshing with some nice hoppiness and some lemon hints. I sure wish this would become a regular seasonal for Troegs

May as well make it something enjoyable for this time of year, like Troeg's Scratch #1, a California Common/Steam style

[-Zingo-]

The weekend is finally here, time for relaxation, beer and (if I get the chance to head over to Boomers tomorrow night) coasters.

You can always count on Samuel Smith. I had forgotten how great this smelled and it tastes even better.

Next Up - Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale

It started off pretty well but very quickly started to taste watered down. Hefe-Weisen Light is the 1st thing that came to mind. While that's a bad thing while drinking at home, I think I found a great option for the next time I head to the beach or spend a day out in the sun.

1st up tonight - Harpoon Brewery's UFO Hefeweizen.

[N'at Man]

Here's a video clip from England. We were staying at the Royal Hotel in Crewe (convenient to Alton Towers) and it was attached to the Corner Pub. We enjoyed bartender Dave and his buddy so much we had to get them on film. I was having a Guinness, Janna had a Kronenbourg and I think Dave had a bitter or a Carling. How can't you love the "I (beer) Beer" shirt? Notice the music we had playing on the jukebox.

 

Another beer highlight of the trip was getting Amstel (non-light) at the Big Blue Hotel in Blackpool. I'm not much of a fan of the bitters so I stuck to Guinness, Carling and imports like Carlsberg.

crewe.wmv

Corner Bar at the Royal Hotel in Crewe

[Bubba83]

Sup guys, "I beer".

 

Last night my mom and I went out to this little Southwestern order at the counter place that I had been to before. They have a nice selection of single bottles from six packs. I would have taken a picture this time of the selection as I did have my camera but whoever put the beers in there did it so sloppy that you couldn't even see the labels at all. I had to ask what a ton of them were since i couldn't see well enough. Anyway, the food was great as always. Had two crispy blue corn tortilla shrimp tacos with baja style sauce. And I bought a Nectar Ales IPA to take home. I like going to this place cause it saves me some money over buying a six pack to try something.

This was a really well balanced IPA, and I mean with hops, not with hop/malt balance. It was very hoppy, and all the hop flavors were there. Citrus, Grapefruit, and Pine. It was really quite nice and well rounded!

Nectar Ales IPA. 6.7% ABV. Brewed by Humboldt Brewing Company, interestingly enough, they are located in Paso Robles???

[-Zingo-]

Made a quick trip over to Boomers to get some rides on The Dania Beach Hurricane, the best coaster in Florida IMO. Then it was off to Total Wine to pick up some craft brews.

 

As a side note, I'm really glad I stumbled onto this thread. I was having bad luck trying a lot of new beers at random but after reading though this thread, I've been buying stuff that I've seen recommended on here. What a difference a little insight makes because I haven't been disappointed since.

Wow, what an awesome beer. I really gotta try more of these IPA's.

I've wanted to try more IPA's and this one seems to be a favorite around here.

It's no Weihenstephaner but it's a good back-up until the next shipment comes in.

Nothing beats a Hefe-Weisen after a day in the sun.

Airtime Heaven

Welcome to the best coaster in Florida.

[DerekRx]

Another fun-filled weekend, as Nicole has finally moved down to PA and in with me for the time. Upon her arrival, she was welcomed with a weekend in Jersey, to make her feel better about living in Pennsylvania. But first, we needed dinner, and I had a new IPA to try out at Rock Bottom.

Watch out, Jahan!

No beer for Nicole, but the french onion soup did have bourbon stout in with it

and a shout out to Lou, my Salmon fish n chips

My mug of American Dream IPA, a really nice and citrusy, loaded with grapefruit flavors

A late dinner at Rock Bottom at the King of Prussia Mall

[DerekRx]

Saturday would see us going to SFGAd to help Nicole rack up a few more credits, and we followed that up with some good R and R chilling out at Bret's, who doesn't live too far from SF.

and to end the night, more Dogfish for us, though I'm confused why Bret is wearing gloves

Marshmellows and beer go ok, but the Coconut Colada and marshmellow go much better

Which also meant marshmellows for us

Of course Bret would be grillin, ROCK!

and Nicole went back to the Seagrams

Bret tried the Troegs Scratch #1 and liked it

Next up, some Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, not too shabby

Bret looks to be in heaven with the Dogfish Head 60

Nicole was quite happy that Bret still had a bottle of Leine's Sunset Wheat left. mmmm blueberry fantastic with some oranges too

Fun to drink and fun to destroy

I mixed it up with the canned Sly Fox Royal Weisse

Bret also is venturing into the world of IPAs, and he was impressed with the Long Hammer

Nicole loved drinking the Seagrams Coconut Colada. While it's not beer, who here is really gonna complain about seeing a chick in a bikini with an alcoholic beverage? Yeah, that's what I thought

Then we moved on outside to enjoy some brews while lounging in the pool. Red Hook's Long Hammer IPA for me, a new credit.

Dying of thirst from a hot morning at SF, I started off quick with the always great 60 Minute IPA

Sorry Conner, no beer for you yet. 18 years to go! and we'll definitely be back plenty of times before then. Thanks for the always excellent hospitality, Bret!

[StraX22]

Hi there, my first post here but probably not my last.

 

Figured I'd start out with a good standby, and follow up with a limited brew.

Shiner Bock, my fav.

Shiner 98, it's alright, reminds me a bit of Sam Adams. I liked Shiner 97 better.

[DerekRx]

^Welcome to the party!

 

Last night I headed down to Baltimore with Nicole and we had dinner with Dave and Mary at Outback.

 

Then tonight I just had what was left in the house, as my beerventory was getting very low. And then I ran out and bought some more goodies!

Definitely a lager, and a lighter beer, not too hoppy, but nice and crisp and great for summer sessions with some lemon hints. And less than $1 a bottle for craft beer! Bravo Reading!!

Well with my supply running low, I ran to the beer distributor to see what I could pick up. Reading Premium is back, as Legacy bought the recipe. This stuff used to be around way back in the day, and at $17.99 for a case of 24, I figured I'd give it a try

After sampling this, Nicole said "I'd rather have HopDevil"

Pretty good (great for Saranac!), but doesn't mask the alcohol that well compared to other imperial IPAs

Though I wasn't really in the mood for it tonight, I went with the Saranac Imperial IPA

Dave and Nicole had nothing alcoholic, but Mary enjoyed a Stella

Surprisingly, it was pretty good for a lager, nicely hoppy with some good lemon hints. Yay Cameron, your country does have good stuff!

Since we were at Outback, I decided to get something Australian. James Boag's Premium Lager looked to be the most promising

[-Zingo-]

Mondays suck!

 

I decided to try something a little more local tonight.

 

Key West Sunset Ale brewed in Melbourne by The Florida Beer Company.

 

"The Original Beer Of The Conch Republic" - Sounds like a gimmick beer to me, needless to say expectations were low.

Meh, it was an ok Amber. It is served on tap at a lot of local restaurants down here. I'll have to try one next time I have a chance. I'd much rather by local and this might be a decent option considering all the places that have B.M.C. and Tropical syndrome down here.

[ParkTrips]

Nice shirt Derek

[Rugged One]

Tonights beers.

 

By the way, if anyone can tell me or recognizes what the hell is up with the lines running through my pics, please let me know.

Wow, very impressive! Tons of sweet accents of coffee, chocolate, and caramel is both the nose & the taste. Probably one of the best Porters I've had in awhile!

Next up, something new I picked up in Vermont. The Black Bear Porter from Stone Coast Brewing in Portland, ME. Notice the Sunday River (their former name) on the label.

First up, some more of the Brooklyn Lager. Having just had a bottle of it on Sunday in Brooklyn, I can't believe just how much more fresh (especially in the hop department) this tastes out of the can. Good stuff!

[DerekRx]

I decided to make tonight a Troegs night. More specifically, I decided to make it a Troegs Porter night, as a rare occurrence has happened; for the first time there are 2 different Troegs porters out at the same time, the Scratch Series #2 and the newly unretired Dead Reckoning Porter, so new it just came out this past weekend. Let's try em, shall we?

Nicole was a bit confused by this one at first, but like mostly every Troegs beer, she found it pretty drinkable after she got used to the taste.

A very hopped up porter, taking away from the malt and chocolate tones a little, but leaving with a hoppier flavor.

Up next, the Scratch #2 porter, this one being filtered

Even Nicole enjoyed it, though she said it kind of smelled like soy sauce

Nice roasted malt flavors with chocolate notes and a nice hoppy kick

First, the Dead Reckoning, an unfiltered porter

[Bubba83]

^ LOL nicole. You look like someone just stole your last oreo.

 

It sure has been a while since I've posted. Not because of the lack of beer drinking, just because I've been too busy to sort through the pics and post. I think this covers four days worth, including a night at my uncle's this past weekend.

 

I'm really almost out of beer again too though

It's the same thing I complained about with the Marin Brews, for some reason it's way overcarbonated, to the point where the whole glass is head, it smells rank and inky, and tastes the same, not even the hops were strong enough to pull through that flavor. It sucks because I really liked their Double and Triple IPA.

Moylan's IPA, sigh... 6.5% ABV. Well, the saga of bad beers out of that brewery continues... It's my understanding that Moylan's uses the same facility as Marin Brewing, that company I've had several skunked beers from. I've had plenty of Moylan's without a problem, until now.

This is extreme. No other way to put it. They actually did a really great job pushing enough hops in to be able to get that flavor in the background of the sweetness.

Green Flash Brewing's Barleywine. 10% ABV. My second offering from Green Flash.

One of the better pale ales I've had from across the pond. I thought it was quite nice.

Wychwood's Scarecrow Golden Pale Ale. 4.7% ABV. From the UK of course.

Yeah, the head is creamy, instead of really sticky/prickly like I'm used to for the belgians. There's not much spice here, but the fruity flavors are quite nice. I like the fact that the head was more creamy, but it's probably considered pretty off-style.

Anderson Valley's Brother David's Double, a Belgian Style Ale. 9.0% ABV. Hmm, the head seems frothier than normal.

Pissed off as always, this beer is hoppy, deep, and means business. He immediately liked it, didn't have to think about it at all, and he put it in the top five he has tried.

While at the local liquor store, my uncle asked me to pick out a bomber I thought he'd like. So I picked up Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale. 9.28% ABV.

I think this is the best hefe I've had from a bottle so far. The best hefe I've had though is still the hefe they had on tap at Rock Bottom in Arizona.

Ayinger's Hefeweizen. 5.1% ABV. Clove and banana are really apparent in the smell and taste of this one. Thanks Ayinger!

[Rugged One]

^Yeah, definitely a looks like a bad bottle of the Moylan's IPA. Too bad too, as it's great stuff. That head looks out of control. Here's what the bottle that Derek & I shared back in March looked like:

 

[Rugged One]

Not only has fresh Three Floyds product made it's way back into PA again but so has their fantastic summer seasonal. The hoppy American Pale Wheat Ale, Gumballhead.

What can I say? Excellent as always! Just a huge initial blast of fresh hop character that balances more as it warms, with the wheaty sweetness and lemon zest. People claim that they have actually tasted bubblegum in there. I haven't. Yet!

Yeah, we're going to have to go with a big ol' double dose of the Gumballhead tonight.

It's got some pretty cool packaging too! Featuring art from the Gumballhead the Cat comic, created by a local Chicagoland artist.

Screw the overpriced bombers! It's now available in convenient six-packs. Sweet!

[DerekRx]

Today was another brutal day with a heat index well over 100. Gotta stay lite tonight, so no stouts, barleywines, or porters for me. Fortunately, one of the girls at work gave me 2 six packs of Dogfish Head's Shelter Pale Ale that she had left over from her July 4th party, seeing how she probably wouldn't drink it while it was still fresh. As it was already cooled and chilling in the fridge at work, I knew exactly what to start with when I got home. And so, another Dogfish night at the Ruth household.

A little too sour for Nicole, and she couldn't really pick up the peaches. Oh well, we'll just have to get her some Lindemans or WLD.

Very refreshing and tart, nice peach hints and a great lemon taste, perfect for summer

Next up, my last bottle of Festina Peche

Nicole wasn't so thrilled with this one, not enough coffee flavor for her

Nice citrus hop flavor makes this cold one easy to down quickly on a hot summers day

Shelter Pale Ale, one of the lighter Dogfish beers, but still 5% abv

[Meteornotes]

I have decided that Nicole makes the most entertaining beer faces ever.

 

dt

[mcjaco]

For Derek, who will not let me just drink in peace without posting photos.

[Juggler]

Nodders has arrived at Buzzard HQ and is still alive to tell the tale having sampled the "Thirst" Ale.

Nodders has beer but hold on, what's that in the background? It's a boiling wort with the Oatmeal Stout in production.

Ah yes. A discerning gentleman and a discerning beer.

# The first drink of the day...#

[-Zingo-]

I've got a couple of days to catch up on here. I closed a huge sale today that I've been working on for almost 2 months, since it's a Thursday I figured I'd celebrate at home by trying my 1st Double IPA.

Tonight was all about the Double IPA. Consider me hooked, I loved it. I think I have a new favorite style of beer. Thanks to everyone here for all the IPA reviews, keep 'em coming so I know what to look for.

Next I continued my IPA sampling with Flying Dog's Snake Dog IPA. I think the DFH 60 Minute is better but I really enjoyed this as well. I'm very impressed with this brewery. They may not make the best of any particular style but I've enjoyed every thing of theirs that I've tried.

Last night I started with a Hefe I had been wanting to try. Penn Brewing Company's Penn-Weisen.

Unfortunately I think I got an old bottle, it tasted a little flat. I'll have to try and find a fresher one sometime.

[DerekRx]

Tonight we went out for sushi, Nicole's first experience with this awesome cuisine. Lucky me, they had good beer worth drinking!

Good stuff for sure. One fine pale ale

back home, gimme Shelter

Hungry for more, I went with more salmon as well as sea urchin. The urchin tasted like Band-Aids

and what beer goes great with this? Sapporo? Kirin? No, the answer is HopDevil! Awesome!!!

For me, a spicy salmon roll and eel and spicy tuna called a Jazz roll

Nicole and her roll, a Volcano roll, loaded with spicy tuna, crab, roe, all on top of a California roll