What Was the Last Beer You Drank?

[65skylark]

I guess it has been two weekends ago now, but the family and I decided last minute to take a long weekend trip to the Oregon Coast. This time we hit up a brewery that I have long been wanting to visit but hadn't ever been able to squeeze it in for whatever reason. Actually, we were going to hit up two breweries, but one wasn't letting in any minors because of a beer and wine festival that we didn't know was going on.

 

Anyway, on with the BTR:

Wash down evil beer aftertaste with some Yukon Jack and Pepsi.

 

Pelican Brewery coming up.

Yeah, much better, but actually still a bit dissapointing after just having it earlier that afternoon on tap. Only one thing left to do.........

So the only other thing I had was some more Dead Guy.

Something you will rarely see me do. Either Siletz Brewery is one of the worst breweries in the world, or the store we got them from like to microwave their beer for about 20 minutes before puting it on the shelf.

Yeah.......OK, it isn't just me.

EEkkkeewww! Wow! I don't even know where to start. Maybe my palet was all screwed up or something. Surely no beer could really be this bad. Better give Sandi a taste to see if it is just me.

Interesting looking bottle, anyway.

Hmmm....well there was some chocolate flavor in there. Had almost no head at all, very little carbination and very watered down. I was not impressed. Hopefully, their Red Ale would be better.

First up was the Chocolate Porter from Siletz Brewery.

Unfortunately, this is as close as we got. They were having a beer and wine festival and every pub in town closed to minors at 5pm. Oh well, next time. I still had some new beers waiting for me at the hotel.

After several hours spent sight seeing, we arrive in Newport Bay, home of Rogue Brewery.

One of the reasons we really like this restaurant along with the good food is the great view.

Rogue Dead Guy Ale. Yay! I have always really liked this beer and it is even better on tap.

Tidal Raves in Depot Bay. I wonder what they have on tap?

The next morning we slept in and then got ready to hit the road for one of our favorite restaurants for lunch and the on to Newport Bay for dinner.

Made a quick stop at the super market (notice the roof falling apart) and found some local brews that I had never had before from Siletz Brewery. We'll see how they taste later.

The view from our balcony on the third floor.

 

OK sorry, almost forgot this was the beer thread.

Our hotel for the weekend: The D Sands hotel located in Lincoln City RIGHT on the beach.

[65skylark]

So the next day we did some more sight seeing. This time we headed North up the Oregon Coast with a stop at Pacific City, home of Pelican Brewery.

And I'll leave you with a view of Haystack Rock from the parking lot. Pelican Brewery was a really nice surprise. I highly recommend it stopping by if you happen to find yourself on the Central Oregon Coast.

A quick peak into the brewery before leaving. Picked up some of their 2007 Storm Watcher barlywine at 13% ABV along with a bottle of Tsunami Stout as we left.

They were all very good. The India Pelican Ale and Tsunami Stout were my two personal favorites. India Pelican Ale was one great IPA. Very Hoppy with lots of greapfruit and pine notes. The stout was very rich with chocolate and esspresso flavors and a well balanced hop pressence. The Bad Santa was also very good.

Since these were all new to me, I had the sampler.

The view from our table.

India Pelican Ale proved to be one of the best IPA's I have ever had.

The beer selection.

Inside the place had a very nice atmosphere to it.

Pelican Pub and Brewery. Right on the beach as you can see by the lack of pavement in the parking lot.

[DerekRx]

^Sweet stuff, Justin. Stinks that you couldn't get into Rogue, but just another excuse to go back, just make sure there isn't a fest going on at the time!

 

We haven't hung out with other BACT members for quite some time, so when Adam asked us to visit and join them in touring High Point Wheat Beer Company's first open house of the year, we happily obliged, as they're one of the top breweries out there according to BA. And while up there, we turned it up a bit by visiting another top brewery in the area, as well as some other fun stuff.

After another scary, rain-filled drive back to Jersey, we decided to crack open more Captain Lawrence in the Nor'Easter and one of the last remaining bottles of New Jersey's old Heavyweight Brewing, the Biere D'Art to end the night. Thanks for having us over, Adam! We'll do it again sometime

Cha-ching!

When I rode it, it was just called "Haunted Coaster", but now it's got a better name. Jeff can count it again!

Because some people need the credit and we're the Beer and Coaster Team, after all!

While in the Palisades Mall, may as well check out Krazy City. Why?

and the 5 of us didn't do that bad, we were pretty hungry!

The empty plates will show how much you owe, so it's time to start chowing down

the stuff keeps rotating around and you pick off whatever you want (don't worry, it's all labeled and the ingredients are listed)

This ain't just any old sushi restaurant though, we've got conveyors in here!

Time for dinner, no better place than a sushi restaurant at the Palisades Mall

So long, Captain Lawrence, hope to see you again when this stuff is released!

before we head out, time to get more of our favorites, like the Smoked Porter

Heath offers to help bottle some stuff in exchange for some Golden Delicious, which sold out in like 1.5 days.

and even do some science experiments in there

They're doing this in like 4 or 5 different styles throughout the year, though nothing is out right now.

We were also free to check out the brewery, including where they are barrel aging some Smoke right now

and as for me, some Fresh Chester Pale Ale

No need for your tickets here, Adam, they serve you whatever you want, like the Liquid Gold, Brown Ale, and Smoked Porter (though just 2 samples of each kind)

Another brewery that does tastings...for FREE

About a rainy hour's drive later we had arrived just north in Pleasantville, NY, home of Captain Lawrence Brewing

Ellen and I enjoyed the Maibock fresh from the barrel, good honey sweetness. High Point was pretty cool, lots of enthusiasm going on, and some great beers. Looking forward to having more from them.

The founder, Greg, tapped the barrel with one hit

But the biggest news of the day was the tapping of the Maibock, some of it straight from a barrel

Brian Boaks of Boaks Beers was our guide

Time for a bit of a tour of their small brewery

Kim also enjoyed some Classic while I went with the Pale Ale, which was pretty darn good for not having anything German about it!

Adam and Heath start out with the Blonde Wheat and Classic Wheat

Everyone gets 4 tickets for samples

High Point, home of Ramstein beers, lots of German inspiration, including the yeast

[65skylark]

Work has been crazy lately and I'm feeling too lazy to post any pictures right now but I just had a can of TenFidy and it was fantastic! Thanks again Derek. Pictures to come soon.

[Bubba83]

^^^ Nice photo TR Justin, the pictures of the coast are beautiful. They posted the participating breweries for the 2008 OBF today, looks like a good lineup for sure!

 

^^ You guys are just having too much fun. Looks like some sweet places.

 

I'm going over to BevMo on Friday because they finally got a few things in stock I've been waiting on for a bit.

 

Here's some pics of this past weekend after I picked up a few things at Whole Foods.

Ahhhh, the amazing caramel flavors are the perfect night cap. This is yummy stuff right here.

Drake's IPA found itself back to the driveway to kick more ass and take more names. Their bottling labels are really awesome, it's like shrinkwrapped or something.

Still pretty nice roasted barley flavors and easy to drink.

Guinness Extra Stout will make another appearance tonight. Too bad it's not on nitro :[

A good hefeweizen that did not dissapoint. It wasn't mindblowing, but I really liked the more bitter ale flavor that came out of this. Too many hefeweizen's are overly citrusy in my opinion.

Now on Saturday my uncle picked up some Drake's Hefeweizen after we were pleasantly surprised by their tremendous IPA.

Lovely mouthfeel and amazingly creamy smooth. The complexity in this beer is nuts, but the flavors are verging on going in too many different directions.

We require more Lumpy Gravy. We can actually find bombers of Lagunitas around here for like $2.99 a bomber which is pretty astounding value.

Yummy! This is a style I haven't explored much and need to do some more exploring of! Nicely hopped with cirtus rind flavor and a tart almost granny smith apple quality. The Marris Otter malts are so different to me and very tasty. Earthy spicyness is there as well.

And here we have another one of Sierra Nevada's delicious seasonals. Their Extra Special Bitter Early Spring Beer.

It's quite yeasty. Fairly decent tripel but nothing to write home about, and definitely overpriced at $13 for a 4-pack.

Over at my uncle's on friday, he picked up some Petrus Gouden Tripel at the local liquor store. 7.5% ABV.

I thought it was pretty good. A decent amount of tartness with some cool raspberry flavors and a smidge of malt background. This is the first lambic I've ever had, maybe I'll try some more.

Ewww it's all blurry. Oh well... I've seen this one a lot in the beer thread and wanted to give it a whirl. Lindeman's Framboise.

[mr_teisco_delrey]

Red Hook Long Hammer. Not the greatest, not bad. But, after a day at the office it hits the spot.

[DerekRx]

Last week's favorite breweries theme got cut a little short because I came down with an illness midweek, so why not pick up where I left off for the rest of this week.

and as for that rare brew, we'll review it in a few weeks, but here's a hint as to what it is.

Looks like Bell's Hopslam wins, and stays with the theme, being another one of my favorite breweries that just doesn't seem to brew anything bad. Hopslam was especially fantastic, loads of pine and citrus with a good malty backbone, spices, and even covered up the abv nicely

While there, I may as well partake in dinner and a glass of something great during Philly's craft beer week

and tonight I had to make a run down to Capone's to pick up something super rare that just came out.

Lots of bread flavors in here, as well as lemon, honey, clove and ripe bananas.

Until I can move to San Diego, another favorite brewery is just a short hour's drive from my house, Troegs! Time to break out the fairly new Scratch #7, a Weizenbock, now that #8 is out and #10 is coming too soon.

Now that's definitely some West Coast styling in that brew, though it did have lots of head, probably from not being completely fresh. Can I retire to there yet?

Definitely high on my rankings is Port Brewing/Lost Abbey and all their wonderful Pizza Port locations. And nothing says San Diego quite like a Wipeout IPA

[Swimace]

^I don't know what it is but it would appear to have 17.5% alcohol by volume which seems pretty high (although I'm obviously not an expert seeing as I can't drink). I think that's the legal alcohol limit for beer to be sold here in South Carolina and probably a lot of other places

[Bubba83]

^^ I think your picture makes it too obvious, but I won't spoil it for everyone else. The top left hand corner along with the ABV makes it too easy, if the logo was the only thing pictured it would be quite a bit more difficult.

 

I went to BevMo today and was really happy with some of the new stuff they got in that they have never carried before.

 

My mom must have been as impressed as I was with the burger and fries from Faultline last time, because this time she suggested it!

And a picture of the logo out front as we are on our way out. This is absolutely the beer spot in Sunnyvale, much better than Firehouse Grill and Brewery.

I tried to get some pictures of the patio and lake, but it was just too dark and they didn't come out. This is a picture of the front windows that go along the side of the bar area from the outside.

I'd pair the burger with a Best Bitter served on Nitro. A nice bitter with good english hop flavor and as beers always are on nitro, it was very smooth indeed.

Here comes the burger. I was hoping it would be as good as last time, and it was just as great. Really awesome burgers and great fries too from Faultline.

Wow, this picture came out so dark. I started out with a Belgian Abbey which was a deep copper brown, was expecting more shades of red. Very spicy pepper up front melded into some awesome dark fruit flavors. I was extremely pleased with this beer, perhaps Faultline's best thus far.

It was very busy in the bar area and they did not have near enough cocktail waitresses. We started off with the Thai Chicken Skewers, which were very tasty.

[coreyml]

Tommyknocker Butt Head Bock

eh

 

negra modelo

perty good

 

 

 

joe, im thirsty

[ParkTrips]

^ I'm open late tonight or anytime tomorrow, gimme a call

 

edit: I had my first (and last!!) Miller High Life tonight. O.M.G. What a disaster.

[DerekRx]

To end Favorite Breweries Week, we'll take a little trip to Grand Rapids, home of Founders, definitely one of my favorite breweries, and I haven't even been there yet.

Not that fantastic. Very little carbonation and lots of wheat flavors, very little tastes of anything else.

Something I picked up somewhere along the way that Nicole and I decided to split last night, Pyramid's Imperial Hefeweizen

To think, the Kentucky Breakfast Stout comes out today. It's taking awesomeness and aging it in whiskey barrels! Can't wait to get me some more of that too!

Founders Breakfast Stout, lots of coffee and chocolate flavors in this guy

[ParkTrips]

ok after my mediocre drinking night Friday, I stuck at home and had a couple...

This was a very good beer. Lots of sweet malt meshed with a ton of yeast... it went down great and the alcohol warmed on its way down, not quite on the top tier but still a solid brew. de rocs.. uh... rocks

Second was the Grand Cru from de rocs, a nice Belgian dark. This time, I didn't lose half the bottle when I opened due to the carbonation, unlike the fabulous Triple Imperiale

First up, the Affligem Dubbel. The cork read 4/03... it was ok, had a dominating burnt flavor

[DerekRx]

It's been some time since we've done the local stuff around us, so with great weather yesterday, we figured it was time to get out!

The bar area still exists, though this too shall be gone in a few weeks, replaced by booths. The long bar will exist no more when the place reopens, moved to a more central bar area in the back of the restaurant instead of the front. Farewell old Victory Brewpub, we'll miss you, but look forward to the new and improved version coming in May!

Inside the entire dining area is closed off, only a few tables exist elsewhere for eating

Come May this will be the new entrance to the place. The old entrance will be solely for the handicapped and smoker's walk outside

They're doing a complete redesign on the brewpub with a different atmosphere, new bar, more seating, and a brick oven for pizzas

Afterwards we took a quite stop off at Victory before they close up shop for a month or so

and Nicole's Moroccan Chicken and Couscous salad looked pretty tempting as well

as always, Drafting Room's food rules. New to the menu was Cinnamon Almond Chicken in a dried cranberry and raspberry lambic chutney, served with apples and gingered sweet potatoes. Yum!

I went for the Philadelphia Brewing's Rowhouse Red, sort of a farmhouse ale, and pretty good

Where we learn it's Bock Month. Nicole tried the Summit Maibock, but it was too sweet for her.

Next up, The Drafting Room for dinner

Heath went for brewer Brian's GABF winning Nevermore Lager, packing in the roasted goodness

Since $1 from every pint sold goes to benefit local fire depts, I decided to grab one. Not bad, even if it is just an ESB. I'm sure the brewer would rather use his own recipe to brew something awesome

Their March release just came out, the Fire Chief Ale. All Rock Bottom's carry this, all using the same recipe.

It's been a while since we've been back to Rock Bottom too

Alas, my HopSlam has not survived past Friday. Oh well, that just means we got time to go elsewhere!

Heath chose to go with the Rogue Double Dead Guy Ale, big on the malt character

First stop was back to Capone's to enjoy more from Philly Craft Beer Week. I went with Flying Fish's Apple Jack, a tripel aged in Apple Brandy barrels. Not bad (for Jersey!)

[mcjaco]

To think, the Kentucky Breakfast Stout comes out today

 

I got lucky and the my beer manager freind saved me a bottle of the six he received. Picked it up yesterday, along with Allagash Black, Devil Dancer, and Barton something or other.......christ I can't remember.

 

I have a ton of pics over the last month. Sorry I haven't been posting, but looking at people making dumb faces after they drink something, doesn't get me too excited about any beer. Is it good? Is it bad? Or are we making faces to try and be funny?

[DerekRx]

^Hey, that's just the way Joe looks, he can't help it!

 

Seriously though, while the goofy pictures are confusing as to whether the beer is liked or not, I also think it's a little sad to criticize people for ACTIVELY participating when you just take pictures and do nothing with them. So who ends up looking like the bigger dork in the end, the guy who takes pictures to post them, or the guy who takes pictures to post them but doesn't post them?

 

Any who, it's St. Patty's Day, AKA St. Drunk's Day, so what a better way to celebrate than to drink something! But instead of drinking some fizzy yellow crap beer dyed green, I'm going all out Irish with an Irish Dry Stout straight from Ireland.

Lots of roasted malt and smoke flavors in this, masked the chocolate and coffee flavors I could vaguely pick up, but still one of the best things I could think to drink tonight.

All the way from Carlow, Ireland comes an Irish Stout from Carlow Brewing Company, O'hara's Celebration Stout. Don't worry, the super head went away fairly quickly

[Rugged One]

Ah yes, it's time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a beer that I've been wanting to try since back in the early days of the beer thread!

And you know what? It is better than Guinness! If your out there Wally. This ones for you Bro! Have a happy and safe St. Patrick's day everyone!

Yeah, that Beamish! The REAL Irish Stout that Wally would always say beat the sh*t out of Guinness. Or at least the crappy, water downed version of Guinness that we get here in the States. And I'll put it in a Guinness glass, just to rub it in. Yeah!

That's right, kicking back on St. Patties Day with a 4-pack of Beamish.

[ParkTrips]

 

well, here's a happy face...

It was great! There is truth in saying that everything was doubled, it was an extremely drinkable beer. The malt and hops balanced well for a really solid flavor, though not quite the masterpiece that the Hop Rod Rye is, this is a very similar taste albeit a bit more subdued

Terrapin's Spring seasonal from the Monster Beer Tour, the Rye Squared, twice the hops twice the malt twice the abv twice the flavor of a standard Rye Pale Ale

[coreyml]

heiniken dark - i think better than regular H

sweetwater georgia brown - perty good - 420's better

sweetwater hummer - loved it

 

but that was friday? that mean you didnt drink yesterday, corey?

nope

almost emptied my handle o jack

[mcjaco]

Seriously though, while the goofy pictures are confusing as to whether the beer is liked or not, I also think it's a little sad to criticize people for ACTIVELY participating when you just take pictures and do nothing with them. So who ends up looking like the bigger dork in the end, the guy who takes pictures to post them, or the guy who takes pictures to post them but doesn't post them?

 

We already know I'm a dork. But, point taken.

 

If my neighbors would quite having me call the police on them, which takes up half my night, I'd start posting. Fingers crossed tonight, I'll get a bunch up.

[ParkTrips]

tonight's beer...

I will sum it up and say its a good albeit odd beer. Its a very hoppy beer which the 80 IBUs would attest to, and it just doesn't seem to fit the barleywine style. It also comes with a decent amount of chocolate flavor, and a teeny bit of coffee that is subtle enough not to turn me off. Toss in double-digit ABV and this one is definitely a sipper

Nogne O #100 - the bottle says its a barleywine...

[mcjaco]

OK, it's time to put up or shut up. I may even have some faces myself.

 

Here we go.

A great spring time brew. Hopefully warm weather is just around the corner!

What better way to end this, then with New Belgium (Mmmmm)'s Springboard.

I know Bubba loves it, but I rate just slightly above average. I don't know, nothing really struck me as awesomely good.

North Coast's Old Rasputin.

The Payton Pilsner. I'll be honest, running the ball may be like making romance, but this made me want to spike it. Nothing spectacular.

Another local product, Aurora's America's Brewing Company. They're of Walter Payton's restaurant.

I think the rated a "meh" for me. Although, for some reason I keep wanting to buy more, so perhaps my face is not indicitive of what I thought.

Local product, Two Brother's Cane and Ebel.

This is probably the first GL brew I really enjoyed.

Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold. I have no idea how this one escaped my grasp this long.

Rodney Kibitzky is a local resident and one of the Long Shot winners. We got to meet and talk with him, and I picked up some goodies.

Wait it's light out and Matt's drinking. The neighbors must be out for the day.

More Sam's. Irish Red.

Abra tries Sam Adams Double Bock. She enjoyed it, but found it a little too heavy.

Abra made beer bread for one of tasting groups get togethers. Sunset Wheat Beer Bread = Matt's favorite bread of all time. It made the eniter house smell of blueberries!

I had been told tales of palette fatigue, and richness. I found it to be like drinking cocoa powder. Meh.

Southern Tier's Choklat.

Thus far in 2008, this is my surprise pick. Very refreshing, great color, and just seemed to finish nicely.

Sun Dog Amber Ale. It made me think warm thought, so I picked some up. Stupid Chicago winters.

It was OK. Not much substance to it. Certainly not the wheat beer I was expecting. Just aa touch of raspberry.

Sea Dog's Raspberry Wheat Ale. Honestly, I'm trying to find beers for my sister. I swear!

Thus far, I have not been a huge fan of Lagunitas (except Brown Sugga and Cap Stout), this is one fine brew though!

A picture of Lumpy Gravy. Dark, just like Zappa.

A little lighter in the raspberry's than I was expecting. Not sweet or tart. It was excellent.

Darkhorse's Raspberry Ale. Do I finally have something the peeps in PA can't get?

I found it odd. Odd, but very drinkable. A nice touch of ginger.

First up, Left Hand's Juju Ginger.

[DerekRx]

^Thanks for the pictures (finally!). We can't get bottles of Dark Horse stuff here yet, but we've had their stuff before, and will be stocking up on it next month.

 

So it looks like Nicole may finally get to meet Matt next week, which we believe should start the Apocalypse and be the end of the world. In fair warning to all of you, tonight's brew is just that!

Lots of great flavors of fruits like apples, pears, grapes, lemon, and pineapple as well as spices like clove and coriander, and some wheatness. It may be the End of the World, but I feel fine

Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde, #68 on BA's Top Beers on Planet Earth, a Tripel all the way from Quebec

[Bubba83]

Jeez, it's been too long since I've made a post... I hope everyone had a good St. Patrick's Day. I have a big beer week coming up here so hopefully I will be posting more soon. Going to a nice liquor store this weekend to pick up trade stuff too. I think Heath and Derek will be very happy shortly

 

Matt, nice pics, and lots of them! I may make goofy faces but I usually explain how I liked the beer regardless of the face I make!

A smile from ear to ear can only mean one thing. It was great! The roasted quality that is so muted in the Guinness we get over here was hitting you over the head in this brew. Absolutely great roasted barley flavor with a nice hop presence. A little bit sparkly for the style in mouthfeel, but that's the only downside. If they have this on Nitro from time to time at Moylan's I'll have to make sure to get up there.

Jumping forward to St. Patrick's Day, which also happens to be my mom's birthday. I decided to go the Heath route and enjoy a superior Irish Dry Stout in a Guinness pint glass. In this case, Moylan's Dragoons.

Wow! Why didn't I try this sooner? This is the definition of a huge beer. Excellent piney hops that are pungeant with an equally gigantic malt backbone.

Another beer that's new to me, and my first offering from Speakeasy. Surprising since they're right over there in San Francisco. Double Daddy IIPA.

Yeah, it is perty good eh Matt?

More Lumpy Gravy.

It's pretty bitter but the nice floral qualities don't really come through on the hops. The malt backbone is okay but overall I wasn't so impressed with this IPA, nor did I expect to be.

Saturday we'd watch Deathproof in the garage while drinking some Bridgeport IPA, also new to me.

It didn't let me down. Met expectations which were pretty high. My uncle also liked it a lot.

Time to end friday night with something I was really looking forward to that BevMo is carrying for the first time, Alaskan IPA.

Nice! I really liked the almost weizenbock flavors present in this beer with that interesting yeast strain. A good doppelbock but no celebrator...

I found some Weihenstephaner Korbinian as well. It's a doppelbock weighing in at 7.4% from Germany's oldest brewery.

I guess I put it off so long because I thought it might be kind of boring, since it's popular and they make Great White, but it was actually fairly hoppy and a nice brown with big malt flavor too.

As you can see I also picked us up a couple new tumblers. I got my uncle a Red Tail one cause that's his favorite from back in the day. Mine is one of the rogue guy. Finally get to try some Downtown Brown after putting it off.

Ok, so it's a little boring but still not a bad hefeweizen by any means.

My uncle and I started off Friday night with a Pyramid Hefe.

[ParkTrips]

tonight's beer

This was quite good. A lot of yeast as expected, but with some subtle hops in there as well. Citrus flavors come out to blend this one together quite well. Another winner from Brookyln

Brooklyn Local 1, a Belgian style ale