What Was the Last Beer You Drank?

[Coaster Palooza]

Sorry I am so late with this. Congratulations Derek and Nicole. That is so awesome!

[Coaster Palooza]

I went to El Toro on Saturday. Derek, Heath and Kim visited this place last year. I, however, didn't meet up with them.

 

I was going to Sinaloa's for lunch (to let Gyendolynne enjoy sleeping in on her birthday) and saw that it was right next door to El Toro. I thought I would stop in and have a sampler.

This is my friend Dave. We went to the Sabercats game on Saturday for Gyendolynne's birthday. I had an Imperial IPA. You can see what Gyendolynne had. I don't know what Dave is drinking.

We went to dinner at Henry's Hi-Life.

I had to take a nap when I got home.

Here is my sampler. I had the Poppy Jasper, El Toro Oro Golden Age, Williams Wheat (YUCK!!!), Honey Blonde, and El Toro IPA. I liked everything except the Wheat beer. I will try the Extra Hoppy Poppy next time.

Here is me...

Derek's report was so much more thorough than I could ever do. Here is the bar.

Hooray! I'm here.

[mcjaco]

We all know Derek popped the question because Nicole and I finally met, which inevitably means the end of the world is coming soon. It seems like just a few weeks ago when we met for diner you were both single......oh wait, that's because you were!

 

 

Congrats you two! I will be bringing gifts of beer in the near future, Derek!

[tobelong]

Many congrats to Derek & Nicole!!! So happy for you both. So, will your wedding reception be filled with your crazy dance moves, whipped cream offerings direct to your mouth, and sneaking beer into the bathroom? I sure hope so. Our reception wouldn't have been complete without it all. *winks*

 

Love you, man.

~Krista & Todd Long

[niiicolaaah]

Oh crap, I forgot about Derek's "awesome" dancing...

[Big Mike]

Awesome news Derek and Nicole!

 

Your a great couple. Very wonderful people.

 

All the best!

 

 

Your Bud, Big Mike

[mcjaco]

It's time to play some catch up. Let's see what I've got. Or we could consider this the worst engagement gift ever given.

 

OK, when I took this, I didn't like it. Too much sugar beet taste. As it's warmed, I'm diggin' it.

Let's stick to Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre.

Hot damn! I have to say, this was nice. I am getting a bit tired of the oak barrel, and the bourbon barrel aged stuff, but this was one IPA I can drink!

Dogfish Head's Burton Baton. An oak aged IPA. Perhaps this IPA will win me over?

Not too shabby. Nothing to write home about. Just a nice drinking brew.

New Holland's Red Tulip. I enjoyed their Sun Dog, so I thought I'd give this a whirl.

Did it work? At 10%, this is one potent brew. I liked it, but I'll stick to Brown Sugga. Which seems to be the only Lagunitas brew that I find outstanding.

Lagunita's Hairy Eyeball.

Yum. Yum. And more yum!

Allagash's Dubbel Ale.

Beer two. And that's two "meh" beers.

Another selection from Walter Payton's. It's their Honey Wheat.

This may be one of the finer dopplebocks I've had. Not to carmely, nice and smooth.

First up, Capital Brewing's Dopplebock.

[DerekRx]

Tonight time to start in on the newest releases in the Sam Adams Longshot competition winners. Last year's brews were pretty good, especially the Dortmunder, and the Boysenberry wasn't bad either. Thanks to Heath for these donations!

Fairly good, lots of sweetness from the malts with just a touch of citrus and floral hops and a hint of grape in the finish. Not like Dimetap though, not that sweet

A Grape Pale Ale, brewed by one of Samuel Adams' female brewers from Hawaii

[mcjaco]

^ I met Rodney last month. His brew actually ages really well. Great clove taste.

 

The Grape Ale does nothing for me.

[Mr Pete]

Congratulations Derek & Nicole.

 

All the best for the future!

 

-Pete

[ParkTrips]

catching up from the past couple days...

A barleywine from Weyerbacher that is seriously good?? Shocking!!! A hearty beer, Blithering Idiot has a big malty taste with a mix of sweetness and a bit of a bite from the alcohol. Can't wait till these guys arrive down here in the next few months

Next up is Blithering Idiot from Weyerbacher, acquired in Asheville last month

It was bursting with carbonation and gave off huge head considering the 10% abv, but once I let it settle down a little and drank it, it was a stellar example of a tripel. It was loaded up with orange and banana and other fruits, and warm mouthfeel helps this one go down easy. A highly drinkable tripel, this is easily the best of the bunch. De Dolle is always a solid choice!

Next we have De Dolle's Dulle Teve tripel, aka the mad bitch

Good as always

A Terrapin..

[Guy T. Koepp]

I just tried that Terapin Beer the other day. It was quite tasty! Sorry I have no pictures to prove it.

 

So I could be lying!

[Bubba83]

I guess I have been slacking a bit too so I need to post my recent beers from the last five days. My uncle went over to World Market before this past weekend and picked up some stuff that we've never tried, though most of it is stuff pretty easy to get, but I just haven't sprung for the six packs. World Market is the only store in the area I know of that lets you build your own sixer though, so he took full advantage of that.

 

Long post incoming, lookout!

Reminded me more of a bock with more alcohol. The weird part was the extra deep down flavors of a good doppelbock weren't there. However, the mouthfeel was really syrupy, which doesn't seem to make sense since the heavy flavor wasn't there. It was almost cloyingly sweet too. It was drinkable though and I'd say overall it was okay.

I'd wash that down with a Consecrator Doppelbock, from Bell's via Kegatron aka Rugged One aka Heath. 8% ABV.

Last night I decided to make cheesesteaks for dinner for my mom and I. I had never tried them before, but I had just seen Bobby Flay's Throwdown Cheesesteak episode on the Food Network. They came out really good! Thinly sliced ribeye steaks with provolone, onions and green bell peppers.

I was afraid this was going to be as hoppy as Bigfoot, but I'm glad it wasn't. I like how the malt character plays with the high ABV so much in these things that I need that flavor to be in the forefront in a barleywine. It was pretty well balanced here. It was still quite hoppy for a barleywine, but the citrus hops played nicer with the malt character. Maybe my 2nd favorite barleywine.

Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale. Picked up a few bombers of this when my BevMo had it for a very limited time.

Pretty extreme stuff. Nice hoppy character from Lagunitas with a sweet malt backbone that seems more amber than red in flavor.

Lagunitas Imperial Red. Another new to me beer I've not yet had because it only seems to come in six packs. Thank god for World Market!

Awesome stuff. Big hoppy presence especially in the aroma and the great malt backbones Rogue is known for throughout the industry.

Rogue's Dry Hopped St. Rogue Red Ale. I've had the regular before, which I liked quite a bit.

I had a six pack of this from my first BevMo trip after I got home from college last May, and it was my first barleywine ever then. It was cloyingly sweet then but I grew to like it. I was wondering what I'd think one year and twenty or so barleywines later. I was extremely happy to be just as impressed with this beer as when I first tried it. HUGE interesting malt character, very chewy and oily, almost no hop presence. I think this is my favorite barleywine.

My uncle always seems annoyed when I bring over barleywines, cause he always says "I want to be able to get up in the morning Kev!" But, I couldn't resist as I found this six pack of Old Foghorn at the local liquor store in the back of the cooler for $7.99. Yes, you read that right, they must not have known what they had!

Not many hops here. With all the hoppy reds I've been drinking I forgot what a tried and true malty red tastes like. Overally pretty good.

Moylan's Danny's Irish Style Red Ale. 6.5% ABV, my uncle found it at the liquor store down the street, which is the first Moylan's we've seen there... I think we might be able to suggest they get something like Hopsickle!

Wow, I was expecting a sort of Hop Ottin flavor out of this, just stronger, but it was different. They used different amounts of different hop varieties, much more pine than normal from Anderson Valley which I liked, but citrus and grapefruit are there too. Well balanced hop character and a good malt backbone made for a nice beer to end the night.

So we decided we'd end friday with a more flavorful beer. Anderson Valley's 20th Anniversary Imperial IPA. Never saw this around these parts either, glad I was able to find it at Monument in Concord.

Somewhere in the okay-good range. A little bit too light in flavor perhaps for a Winter Ale.

E.J. Phair's Winter Ale. The first bottled E.J. Phair offering I've seen around the south bay.

Of course, every beer described in that calendar is made out to be some robust superhero, so I wasn't expecting much. However... It delivered on ALL fronts. Why is there not more hype about this beer? WOW. It is somewhere in between a porter and an imperial porter. Excellent malt profile with chocolate, coffee, licorice and good hop flavor.

And here's a beer I've never seen in these parts. MacTarnahan's Blackwatch Porter! I first read about this beer in my beer a day calendar, and the description excited me.

I was curious to see how this might hold up since it has been a while since I tried it the first time. Still my favorite pale ale to date. Excellent balance and subtle hop nuances.

I bought a six pack of this one before, but my uncle hadn't tried it. It's North Coast's Red Seal Ale.

I wasn't impressed. The beer tasted like butterscotch and wet cardboard. It was definitely different, I'll give it that, but, a rare miss from an otherwise solid company.

Next up would be something we just forgot to get during the winter season. Anderson Valley's Winter Solstice. It's a winter warmer at 6.9%.

It was halfway decent, but seemed a little bit uninspired and watered down.

Shipyard Export. A 5% American Pale Ale.

[Rugged One]

^ You can have the rest of the Consecrator I you want. I hated the stuff! I wish that I could magically turn the rest into Oberon.

 

Speaking of beer and Bubba...

And Wow! This was some righteous sh*t right here. A awesome balance of hops, citrus, and malt up front, leading into a piney explosion in the finish. And I swear that this has one of the thee best IPA aromas that I've smelled in a long time. Fantastic stuff and a big thanks to Bubba for hooking me up. I might need another one or six of these in our next trade...

Trade from the West Coast via Kev comes a bottle of Alaskan IPA. Alaskan is just one of those breweries (along with Deschutes and Kona) that is just everywhere on the West Coast and that I'd love to just be able to pick up whenever I want around here.

[DerekRx]

From the last day or so...

and I decided to follow that up with a Racer 5 IPA. Actually I ordered a Hop Rod Rye but they brought me this instead, good enough!

and it definitely earned its A rating; lots of pine, citrus, and floral notes mixed with a nice sweetness. Just a tad bit better than the Mean Manalishi

That's right. I don't know how he does it, but Capone managed to be the first place in Pennsylvania to obtain the stuff

It happens to be Bear Republic Night, which means lots of taps of the BR stuff, including the Racer X??!

because they've got awesome stuff on tap, that's why!

Tonight I found myself back at Capone's in Norristown. Why?

Really good stuff, great citrus and pine flavors with a nice sweetness to boot

Yesterday I decided to enjoy something from Ohio, the Mean Manalishi Double IPA from Hoppin' Frog

[Bubba83]

^^ Glad you liked Alaskan IPA Heath, it is really sexy indeed.

 

^ Racer X? You lucky dog!

[coreyml]

no pictures

nothing interesting

but

after church... we didnt decide on somewhere to go and the braves game was on sooooooooooooooo taco mac it was

 

Red brick peachtree ale something

perty good - 85% the good taste of sweetwater 420

 

Stoudts American pale ale?

mucho goodo

 

my beer noobage still reeks

 

im up to 29 now jizzoh

the only thing i beat you in unless you did your 6 beer/day plan

[Bucket]

I was offered a beer by my co-workers here in New Hampshire and I think it was called Miller. BLECH! Absolutely awful! Tasted like water...... Definitely cannot even compare to German beer!

[Bubba83]

^ LOL, sounds like somebody needs to take a trip to Portsmouth.

 

Edit: Well at least when you turn 21 that is...

 

Edit #2: FedEx just tried to deliver the two Russian River packages when I was on the can and I barely missed them. They require a signature and I called to see if they could call the driver and tell him to re-attempt since I'm sure he only got a few blocks away, but they said they won't re-attempt after 1pm, and they can't reach the FedEx Ground drivers...

 

Oh well... They'll try again tomorrow. Heath, I'm going to need that FedEx Billing number soon!

[mcjaco]

Well alrighty then. More long hours at work, a craptastic week, and running low on beer. So here's what's I got.

Hey, he likes it! he really likes it! Light hop taste, nice fruitiness. I think that made it palatable for me.

Tonight, local Two Brother's Hop Juice. So far, everything I've tried of theirs has not disappointed. But this is an IPA......dun, dun, dun!

Oooohhhhhh. This was a recommendation from a buddy over the weekend, and he steered me right.

Last night I headed over the Atlantic and picked up Nogne's Saison.

Nice aroma. Then again, I love all stout aromas. Nice roast taste.

Next, Great Lakes Blackout Stout. I went on a stout kick toward the end of December, and I'm still finding goodies in the depths of the fridge.

Is there anything Founders makes that isn't top notch? Honestly, if I can drink this, and drink it without a hop face, I'm sold.

First up, Founder's Devil Dancer. OH MY GOD, Matt's trying IPA's again!

[Rugged One]

A couple of random beers from this week.

And there was definitely no shortage of hops in this guy! The aroma was a little subdued but the taste had a nice herbal, grassy hop bitterness that lasted the whole way through. A nice start to this new series and I'm looking forward to big things from them in the future (RIS anyone?)

And finally, since it was over 80 degrees here yesterday, I decided it would be a good time to get into something extra hoppy. A bottle of the new 22 oz bottled Terrapin Side Project release, the Hop Shortage Ale.

And this was actually one of the better Brown Ales that I've had. A very nice flavor of pecans, candied caramel, a little roast, and mild hop bitterness. This had a surprisingly beefy body for something so drinkable and hey, it's a new beer State credit. Cha-ching!

A shot of the side label telling a little more about the beer.

Up next, something that I recently received as an extra in a trade. Lazy Magnolia is thee only brewery (and one of only 2 brewpubs) in the beer barren state of Mississippi. They recently started bottling their Southern Pecan Brown Ale making it the only bottled beer in the entire state.

And this was a great example of that. Lots of coffee accents and roasted bitterness that was well balanced by chocolate and toffee sweetness. And at around 5% it's sessionalbility is about as huge as the head it pours.

First up a bottle of St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout from McAuslan Brewing up in Quebec. It seems like there has been more and more stuff from Quebec being distributed down here besides Unibroue lately and that's a good thing as there really are some great breweries up there.

[ParkTrips]

LOL I guess I didn't get my package off to PA quick enough, since Hop Shortage made it up there already

[Meteornotes]

I noticed there were two Stellas in the fridge tonight as we were about to eat our freshly grilled burgers. They have been consumed.

 

dt

[Sue]

That Terrapin bottle is awesome! If you guys ever have an empty bottle of that that you don't want, can I have it? You can have the beer--I just want the bottle!

[Juggler]

Well just some old favourites for me today so no photos. Old peculiar, Hobgoblin and a Tanglefoot went down the hatch rather nicely as the day passed by.

 

Off to the East Anglian Beer Festival next weekend and the boot of the car will be loaded with two kegs of my own stuff for consumption at my Mum's house where we are all crashing for the weekend. A rather interesting Stout that for some reason didn't quite hit the numbers that I expected (5.2%) and a Mild that fermented far better than it should have done and came out at 5.3%. Photos will be taken of said bar set up and beer.

 

Of course there also needs to be some training done ready for the USA trip so Muttley and myself are heading down to Southend on Friday to whore a few more credits.