What Was the Last Beer You Drank?

[DerekRx]

^I'm older, but I STILL have tastebuds!

Tonight I decided to go with another pumpkin ale, from one of the first places to make them in the modern era.

I guess if I want something that tastes like pumpkin pie, I may as well go for the real thing

Unfortunately, I didn't really care for it. Too bland in the taste, though it did get a little cinnamon flavor as it warmed up.

Buffalo Bills Pumpkin Ale from California, as one of the first, it should be pretty good

[ParkTrips]

it's been a while since I've done a beer thread post (More than two weeks!), so once I finished up my meds this morning I knew I would be ready for a brew tonight...

It was great! I don't have much stout experience either but that's what the mouth feel reminded me of. Fortunately for me, no coffee, and a very yummy taste that was kinda roasty. A great pickup! I love Troegs!

My first impression was that it had a strong aroma... then I tasted it...

Tonight I went with Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter. It was my first porter, a style which I know generally nothing about. Maybe I should have went with something I knew I'd like...

The bottle opener still had the cap from the Double Bastard I had on September 18, its been so long =(

[Rugged One]

Last night, it was something new from a new for me brewery. Ska Brewing in Durango, CO. Basically these guys were a bunch of ska music fans back in the mid-nineties, that decided to start brewing some beers. Now I like ska music and I like beer so these guys should be right up my alley.

This one tasted a little better but man did this thing have a thin body! Milk Stouts aren't supposed to have thick bodies but this poured more like a Porter. A really thin Porter. Me thinks that the gentlemen over at Ska Brewing need to concentrate a little less on being cool and edgey and a little more on brewing quality beers. More from these guys later.

Well give something darker a try. The Steeltoe Stout. A Milk Stout.

And the taste was pretty disappointing too. Not that it was offensive but just didn't taste like much. Some light fruitiness and dry creaminess. Next!

First up, the True Blonde Ale. Their take on an American Blonde style. Nice label. Wow, look at all that foam. What a fabulous first impression!

[Bubba83]

I feel so out of the Oktoberfest loop, I haven't bought beer in quite a long time now so I haven't been able to see what new is out. I was also looking forward to getting some wet hopped stuff as well, hopefully soon.

 

Anyway I'm going to make a pretty big post now to try to start catching up some more with my photos today.

And no birthday would be complete without saying goodnight in a big way with another Racer 5.

A little different than I am used to, must be that old-english style. With that said, I loved it. Everytime I have a new porter, I think it's my favorite porter yet, so I guess that probably means I just really like porters.

Back at home I wrap up my birthday with a different St. Peters brew, their Old-Style Porter.

And here's my Chicken Marsala, which really wasn't done in a very traditional italian style, but was still great.

My mom got the fish and chips, which looked excellent, and tasted excellent too, I stole a little piece!

My birthday pictures, from a little over a week ago now, boy how time flies when you're busy! We went to Gordon Biersch and I got the sampler.

Wow! So I only really have one beer to compare this guy to, and that's La Folie. Well to my surprise, this guy blew La Folie out of the water! La Folie is pure sourness which is pretty awesome, but there's not much balance. This guy however had just the right amount of sour, and excellent sweetness balance with fruity undertones.

Zoetzuur Flemish Ale, from Andelot in Belgium. This baby weighs in at 7% and has an excellent appearance that wasn't captured that well on camera.

So appealing in the glass, begged me to drink it really fast!

The last Gonzo. I will miss you!

Hands down the best dubbel I've had. Excellent head and mouthfeel, incredibly diverse flavor profile with plums and blackberries being prominent. Excellent all around.

Allagash's Dubbel Reserve. Batch #56 from Portland, Maine. 7% ABV. My first beer from Allagash.

Yummy. Probably the best Saison I have had yet. Nice citrus tones!

I finally picked up a Hennepin, yay Hennepin! It's a Saison of course, but a pretty alcoholic one at 7.7% ABV.

You devil you, why I oughtta drink you 'til the last drop.

I drink too much of this stuff. Who do I think I am, Speedracer himself?

It tasted like a stronger version of their American Amber. I wasn't too impressed with American Amber, and I'm not too impressed with this either, though it is better than American Amber. I'd rather have a well hopped red.

Rogue's St. Rogue Red Ale. 5.1% ABV. This one is new to me!

Very horsey! Also quite peppery, it'd be nice if it balanced a little better with some sweetness, but it's pretty dry/peppery, a nice changeup once in a while.

North Coast's Pranqster, a Belgian Golden Ale.

I honestly don't remember much about it because I drank it so long ago, but I think I was able to taste the vanilla and it was pretty good?

Dark Side Vanilla Porter, from Empyrean Brewing in Nebraska. 5.7% ABV.

[DerekRx]

Wow, Bubba! That's quite a lot of posting. See, now you know why we try to do this daily, at least that way we've still got the taste fresh in our heads! Glad to see you didn't fall off the drinking wagon or anything though!

[-Zingo-]

Well I finally made it over to Spec's today, they had a lot stuff I haven't seen before. I decided to start local though as it's always important to support the local brewers. They were out of Live Oak Hefe-Weisen which is something I really wanted to try. My disappointment went away quickly though when I saw that Saint Arnold brewed an IPA.

Saint Arnold's Elissa IPA - This a great IPA, very hoppy upfront but then a good malt pressence to balance it out. Very impressed and since it's local, it'll be a staple in my fridge.

[Bubba83]

^ LOL at Elissa's IPA.

[DerekRx]

^^Dude, there's an Elissa IPA!? That would make someone very happy, if she liked IPAs. Does the label at least have a rodent on it?

 

Tonight I decided to head down to Capones after work because I heard they just got in and tapped a keg of one of my favorite beers ever, one that is only brewed this time each year, and is really best as soon as it's brewed. Bring on the Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale!

a few of BAs elite show up, including Phatz front and off-center in the hat, to try this stuff, as they'll never venture as far as Pittsburgh to actually buy it! Tomorrow they'll all run back to their neighborhood bars and say "I tried Voodoo beers, who wants to touch me!?"

Pilzilla wasn't too shabby either. Of course, no free beer is a bad beer, but these were exceptionally fantastic. I look forward to heading back to Pittsburgh and trying to get more of their stuff, as they're in nearby Meadville

6 of their offerings were being presented. Of course I tried them all. My favorites being the Voodoo Love Child (a Belgian made with cherries) and White Magick of the Sun (an imperial Wit), but the Wynona's big Brown Ale was pretty good too

After I got done my meal and drinks, it just so happened that there was a sampling going on in the bottle shop of Pittsburgh's newest brewery, Voodoo

Seeing how Capones had Troegs Nugget Nectar on tap and I was wearing a Nugget Nectar shirt, I was going to get one, but I knew it was a batch from like February, so I skipped it and went with the East End Black Strap Stout out of Pittsburgh instead. Fantastic coffee and chocolate flavors, one great stout

First up, the Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale. Just as awesome as I remember it, just phenominal. Lucky for you guys, they decided to bottle it this year for the first time as well. Not sure it's as good, but we'll find out soon enough! So go try to find some, as it's very limited!

A fresh taplist just created today with plenty of awesome things on it. Makes me wish I had a designated driver so I could enjoy more

After work, the 1 hour drive to Capone's is well worth it, as he's always got plenty of awesomeness both on tap and in the bottle shop. After picking up plenty of purchases for future updates, it's time to head inside for dinner

[-Zingo-]

I thought everyone would get a kick out of the name, no rodents on the label though. It's actually named after a ship, here's the info from the website:

 

Debuted March 2004.

 

We had wanted to brew an IPA for several years, but our water was too high in calcium carbonate which tends to impart a harsh bitter to such beers. It was not until we installed our reverse osmosis system that we could do so. Reverse osmosis takes the water coming into the brewery with about 300-500 ppm dissolved solids and strips it down to about 5 ppm. We then can add back only the minerals that we want. This way, we can recreate the brewing water of anyplace in the world. Actually the RO system improved all of our beers. And lets us brew a delicious, hoppy IPA!

 

This beer is named after ELISSA, a tall ship now moored in Galveston. Ships like ELISSA were used in transporting IPAs to India.

 

Saint Arnold Brewing Company donates a portion of the proceeds of this beer to the Galveston Historical District for preservation of this ship.

 

 

It's a very good IPA though be sure to try it if you see it. I'm very happy with the brews available here, they have alot more to choose from then they did in FL and there's alot of breweries in the state. Nothing like Cal or the northeast but alot more then FL.

[Rugged One]

Special thanks to Bubba for this latest selection:

I've been psyched to try this latest hop bomb from the boys in Petaluma and they didn't disappoint. Heavily hopped grassy and citrus taste that is balanced quite nicely with a sweet and dry malt backbone. Just a solid West Coast DIPA yet I still think I liked the Kill Ugly Radio better. I have another bottle chilling of that, so we shall soon see.

From the new Sonoma Farmhouse line of Lagunitas, comes a tasty new Double IPA from them, the Hop Stoopid.

[Juggler]

Been out of the loop for a while due to plenty of brewing and not enough sampling. However a recent PC build for my brother's father in law resulted in a thank you gift of six bottle conditioned ales from the Iceni Brewery in Norfolk.

and here's why it's a very LOVELY day. The joys of ebay turned up two barrels plus two beer engines (hand pumps) plus all the bits for £35 ($70 or thereabouts.)

Not bad, not bad at all.

It certainly has been a Lovely Day.

[DerekRx]

This weekend was Phoenix Phall Phunfest at Knoebels. Of course, that would mean we'd have to follow our new tradition of going to Selins Grove Brewing Company in nearby Selinsgrove beforehand. As usual, plenty of awesome stuff on tap!

and after a shout out to Joe, we're off to Knoebels for some Phun!

For Heath's second beer, he goes with the Market Street Fest, Selins Grove's Oktoberfest. He wanted to get more beers, but Kim wasn't with, so he had no DD.

But I finally elude the ghost hand and show off my Golden's Special Bitter regular style

Ghost hand attacks and blocks the shot of my next beer of excellence

But we did more than just drink! They've got awesome food, but as usual, Selins Grove has awesome specials. Here Nicole enjoys some shrimp and avocado tacos

and I know I won't find a finer West Coast style IPA anywhere else in the area, so I jump at the chance to have another one here

Heath was glad to get the Golden's Special Bitter...on the beer engine. Nothing better than an English beer on cask

Even though they're still playing catchup after getting new bigger and better brewing equipment, they've still got amazing stuff on, as usual.

Back at one of our favorite places...a place so awesome that Nicole DEMANDED we go. Apparently someone hit their old sign though

[65skylark]

Today both the kids were off with friends, so Sandi and I headed out to the Ram Restraurant and Brewery.

And we finished with some awesome carrot cake.

Buttface.

 

What? I'm just sayin'.

Next, I got the Buttface Amber Ale. Very good amber with a really smooth finish.

Hmmmm...coconut shrimp.

Sandi had a drink of mine, and then decided she liked it so much, she got her own after all.

I started out with their Octoberfest.

Sanid wasn't feeling like a beer so she went with some tea.

We arrive on a nice cool overcast fall day.

[DerekRx]

Sure hadn't felt like Autumn for the last couple of days. May as well use this as an excuse to have another one of my leftover Summer brews.

Some lemon, honey, and banana flavors, but man that metallic taste gets funkier every time

Red Brick Summer from Atlanta Brewing, a wheat

[Rugged One]

Well, as Derek showed the other night, the latest Fall batch of Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale (and our favorite beer out there) has been released. And lucky for us, he was able to grab something else special that was just released at the Capone's bottle shop.

Well there you go kids. If you weren't able to find one of the best beers around before, SN just helped increase your odds. Now excuse me, while I continue to make sweet, sweet love to my beer...

Just so, so good. Fresh hop character naturally dominates but this time I really picked up on the spicey malt backbone this thing has. Excellent!

So what's better than the yearly release of Sierra Nevada's Fresh Hop Harvest Ale? How about Harvest Ale in new, limited 24oz bottles? Yes!

[Hattuchili]

I had no beer since a while. Does anyone know something about Brazilien beers?

[Rugged One]

With Kim and I both off on Monday, we decided to take a ride down to the King of Prussia Mall for a little shopping.

Yet another great visit to Victory! I'm sure we'll be back sooner than later.

And then sexes up a fresh pint of Hopdevil on cask. Oh my!

While Derek checks out a sample of the Abbey Six, a Belgian Dark Ale that I think we both agreed was a little disappointing.

I decide to finish up with the always tasty and hugely sessionable (3.7% ABV) Donnybrook Stout.

...cuz look who decided to stop by for dinner with us. Derek! And he's was thirsty for some Weisen too.

Kim and I were hungy as hell, so we decided to destroy this tasty plate of nachos. And we've got help...

Thankfully they at least had something new on for me to try. The Wiesen, Victory's take on the more modern day Oktoberfest beers (they are lighter in color and sweeter than the traditional Marzen) that are served in Germany.

I was really anticipating trying this years batch of Harvest Ale and the Braumeister Harvest Pils but guess what? The Harvest Ale was gone. Boooo! And the Pils kicked while we were there and before I could order it. Double-Boooo! Luckily the Drafting Room will once again come through with these for us in a couple of weeks. Yeah!

After some shopping at the mall, we headed up the road to Downingtown and Victory for dinner.

Their Pumpkin Ale gets tapped next week. We'll be heading back in a couple of weekends to try it.

I finish up with another mug of a favorite that I've had on a previous visit. The Nevermore Lager, a German style Schwarzbier with some fantastic roastiness to it. I killed this guy pretty quick too.

The Catcher in the Rye Rye Ale. Very good and hugely quaffable. I think I killed this mug in less than 10 minutes.

Luckily, there was still something tasty on the handpump although our bartender was trying to get me to try it on nitro. Screw that!

...but no Rocktoberfest on the board? They just kicked it the night before. Booooo!

...Rocktoberfest on the coaster...

There's Rocktoberfest on the tap handle...

Back at Rock Bottom for the first time in awhile. They had just got done rapping up their annual "Rocktoberfest" promotion the night before and I was looking to maybe score some of their take on the traditional Marzen style.

[DerekRx]

Starting to get a sore throat again, but maybe beer will help keep the bug at bay. Back to a pumpkin ale tonight, one that I've had before and thought was worthy of picking up again this year (whereas most of the other ones I've had previously I decided to skip this year, as they weren't really worth the price).

and this year is no different. Nicely balanced with spices and pumpkin flavoring, it's flavors changed nicely as it warmed up. One of the best pumpkin beers out there, not too much pumpkin overpowering flavor, not too much spices and not enough pumpkin, this one hits the pumpkin ale nail right smack dab in the center of the head

Wild Goose's Pumpkin Patch Ale, one of the few pumpkin beers that stood out in my mind as actually being really good last year.

[Rugged One]

Fall drinking continues with a new to me Pumpkin Ale that is *gasp* a Macro?

 

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

...this sucked. OK maybe sucks is a strong word but this thing barely tasted like pumpkin too me. Maybe it was so over spiced that it covered up the pumpkin? Who knows. I guess that this is a great example of what passes for flavor in the BMC world these days. Yee have been warned...

The Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale from Blue Moon, which as we all know, is brewed by Coors. Now before you think that I'm going to automatically hate on anything that's Macro, keep in mind that I keep an open mind with all beers, so matter who brewed it. With that being said...

[Bubba83]

I guess now when we say BMC, it's going to be more like BM/C, hehe.

 

Well I have still been drinking beers, and lots of them, I've just been busy with the work for my dad.

 

So here is another super long post catching me all the way up to today.

They carry three different kinds at my BevMo now, the IPA, the Poppy Jasper, and the Pale. This beer tasted exactly how it did on tap, which was out of balance on the hop side, something I'm okay with. It has a sort of spicey dankyness to it that is different than every other IPA I've had.

And this is from just last night, whadda you know, El Toro bottles their beers. Actually, according to my friend in Morgan Hill, they have for a while, but they haven't distributed far. This is their IPA.

Mmm, a little sour and bitterness here compliments the traces of pine and excellent malt profile nicely.

Followed that bad boy up with a grapefruit hop monster, Hop Ottin IPA from Anderson Valley. This picture brought to you by a fiery bag of Mission Tortilla Rounds.

This is the 11th edition of this beer, and they claim they were the first to wet hop and bottle it. This is the first wet hopped beer I've had. I thought the oily, resinous flavors to it were excellent and added a lot.

The next night, also at my uncles, he found Sierra Nevada's 2007 Harvest Fresh Hop Ale. A beer I had been telling him just came out recently.

The original gateway beer for me into Craft Brews, it never dissapoints with it's excellent bready profile and high cherry alcohol taste.

The original bastard makes yet another appearance.

I can't decide if I like it better than Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout or not, they seem almost identical.

Over at my uncles this past friday, Anderson Valley's Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout.

Consistently good, as always. And so so easy to quaff.

I think this was my last bottle of Anchor Porter.

It reminds me a lot of Inversion IPA, which is no surprise since that is also a Cascade IPA. The two are very similar, but I think I'd give a small edge to Deschutes' version.

The next day I found a sixer of Sierra Nevada's 2007 Anniversary Ale. It's a Cascade hopped IPA.

It's always a nice treat, very syrupy and sweet, but lacks the complexity of flavors that the Imperial Stout brings to the table.

Speaking of the Oatmeal Stout, I had it the very next night. My uncle is a big fan of Samuel Smith so it's usually a staple at his house or for gift giving.

Very tasty as always. I like it quite a bit more than the Oatmeal Stout.

I love this picture, doesn't it just look really appealing? Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout, yeah, it's on the top 100 somewhere.

Even more exceptional than their double. Much more complexity in the diverse flavor profile, and incredbly smooth from using a different style yeast than is standard with the belgians.

The only beer of the six I got from my uncle that I hadn't tried before. Anderson Valley's Triple. I have had their double which I liked.

Yeah, it's about like that.

Changed the pace up a bit with a North Coast Pranqster from a 4-pack I got a while back.

This beer is serious, so I made a serious face. And by serious, I mean seriously good!

Sticking with Bear Republic the next night I had the Big Bear Black Stout.

Here's the night of my barbecue birthday dinner on 9/29, two days after my actual birthday. My uncle got me six bombers, I was running low so it worked out nice. I drank the always lovely Ruination that night.

It's just a great all around red, well balanced with just the right amount of hops.

One that I hadn't revisited in a while, and my uncle picked up, Bear Republic's Red Rocket Ale.

From what I rememeber it was pretty mellow and a bit uninteresting, but it was a while back so I don't remember much.

My uncle picked this one up for us to share. Weihenstephaner Hefeweiss Dark. Lotsa head!

I think this is still my favorite wheat from a bottle. Gumball head was damn good too, but I'm not sure I can really rate it against this directly, since they are quite different. I love the strong banana and hints of clove I get in this beer.

Franziskaner's Hefe-Weisse, with the matching wheat glass. The wheats look so much more appealing in this glass! A Stunning color range.

[exit english]

Wells Banana Bread Beer.

 

mmmmmm...mmmmm...Tasty

 

Josh

[mcjaco]

Heath, I have to agree with you on the Blue Moon Pumpkin. My wife really liked it last year, and I found it acceptable. This year we bought a sixer and found it to be barely passable. I don't know what they did, but it's not the same as last year. More spice, which isn't much, and no pumpkin. Yuck.

 

Pics from me coming tonight. I swear.

[DerekRx]

Still feeling sick (so much in fact that I took the day off of work!). Hoping alcohol would help, I decided to try another newly released local brew from Troegs. Even with hindered tastebuds, this stuff was one of the best brews I've ever had from them. While it didn't make me feel better, it did make me sleep well!

Wow, simply phenominal! Tasted like their Nugget Nectar Imperial Amber mixed with their Dead Reckoning Porter. Hopped out IPA with some coffee and chocolate notes. This needs to become one of their staple beers!

Newly released and already wiped out of the brewery comes Troeg's latest anniversary Scratch beer, #4, the barleywine

[Juggler]

It's the first pint through the new bar kit time!

Up close and personal! 5.5% abv and very drinkable. All I need is a name for it.

Sampling time....OOOOOooooooo, VERY smooth and just the right amount of chocolate taste. A nice citrus after bite but not quite the orange tang I was looking for. A good starting point for my Chocolate Orange Stout.

That first pint looks dark. In fact it's very dark (Shame I'd just been doing the washing up, mind you at least it's not beer down the front!!)

cheers.wmv

Only got the one barrel ready at the moment so just the one pump on tap!

[mcjaco]

Now that the camera is back. Here we go.

 

First up, Dogfish Head Punkin Ale and Lefthand Brewery's Oktoberfest.

Muhahahahahahaha!

Uh...what's this???????

Decent Oktoberfest. Nothing too spectacular.

Nice, but I was hoping for more pumpkin.