What Was the Last Beer You Drank?

[DerekRx]

On Sunday I finally had a chance to get together with two guys I hadn't seen much of this year yet, (and who haven't shown up in the beer thread in like forever!) Tom and Adam. Heck, I hadn't seen Tom since last October and Adam I hadn't seen since April at Busch Gardens! Time to alleviate that by spending some time doing what Tom taught us to appreciate quite well, drinking microbrews while hanging out with great friends.

while I enjoyed the Sly Fox Jasper Maibock, sweet and fruity with a nice bit of honey and grass. A fun day with some great guys, can't wait to do it again (hopefully much sooner!)

last, but certainly not least, some Dock Street Rye IPAs for my buds at The Drafting Room with our dinner. Hoppy and spicy!

but Tom was apparently introduced to awesomeness when he finally tried the Chimay Cinq Cents. Holy butterscotch and caramel!

They were all good, the Dock Street Satellite was nice and roasty with a nice coffee flavoring as well

I was going to go with the Southern Tier Creme Brulee but they kicked it the night before, so I also went with a sampler; Dock Street Satellite Stout, Chimay White (Cinq Cents), and Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter.

The whole place was very cellar feeling, but WATCH OUT FOR THE BUS!!! This is a Schoolhouse after all.

We were able to find seats at the bar, and we found beers we wanted, so we hung out. Tom got the Atwater Vanilla Java Porter while Adam enjoyed a sampler consisting of the Victory Wild Devil, General Lafayette Matrimoniale, and Vanilla Java Porter

The bar is really nice, yet cellar-feeling, and is right on the other side of the cooler that also feeds the bottle shop

and with this notification IN the bottle shop, we figured we may as well attempt to enjoy a round at the bar itself

the bottle shop is in a totally different area than last time, and had some real winners for us, some of which you shall see upcoming in this thread in upcoming weeks

Afterwards we had a little impromptu stop off at Ron's Schoolhouse Grill. We'd visited before a few years ago and they were talking about altering the bar, but we never stopped in for more than bottle shopping at the time. Well, now the remodeling is apparently complete

and though you can't see it in my Mug Club Mug, a Hefeweizen for me, sans lemon which it really could have used. I used Adam's head as a lemon wedge instead since it no longer tasted like hair product.

The selection was so good, we stayed for another round; Tom the Bourbon Wee Heavy and Adam the Raspberry Wheat

The restaurant seating area is much smaller than any of the other Iron Hill's I've visited so far, but it apparently has lots of ghosts!

a look at the bar area since we hadn't shown this place yet

and we were all only too happy to enjoy the Bourbon Vanilla Porter on Nitro. Wow what awesome vanilla notes!

every Iron Hill has a different brewer and taplist excluding the staple beers

Just up the road it was time for even me to finally make it to a place I hadn't not been, Phoenixville's chapter of Iron Hill

meanwhile I just stuck with the Phoenix Pale Ale. Looks like Tom wanted in on the action. Ppphhhhoeee Nix!

Adam was happy to get the Black and Tan, consisting of the Phoenix Pale Ale and O'Reillys Stout

Tom went with the Royal Weiss for a Summery treat

We could have stayed longer, but we had other stops, like this one just up the road at Sly Fox in Phoenixville

So many options for me to choose from to accompany my Kolsch, but I decided upon the Hop Devil spicy BBQ pork sandwich (not shown, duh)

and Tom was pleased to enjoy some Uncle Teddy's Bitter on Cask with his Storm King glazed pork with sweet potato fries

all proud of their new BBQs, we all got some form of it for lunch. A buzz(cutt)ed Adam went with the Brisket in Storm King maple glaze to go with his Mad King's Weiss

but it still has a big crowd, even early on a Sunday! People must really like good beers served at a nice looking bar

The new place looks a lot different than the old, with finished hardwood floors, booths, and brewery decor.

First up, the newly refurbished Victory. I had been here since the change, but the others hadn't been here in quite some time

[Bubba83]

Bah, I meant to make a post last weekend but quite frankly, I've been too dang busy. My friend from New York flew in for a couple weeks so I've been catching up with him and whatnot.

 

Anyhow, I have indeed been drinking a lot of new beers and I am happy to post them on this eve!

This is the face I make when I am contemplating something really hard. Hmmm, what do I think of this beer? Well I think it's delicious! Finally a summer seasonal that is exciting and that I can get behind. The yeast doesn't dominate, and gives way to an awesome wheat base with citric highlights of orange and lemon... Highly refreshing on this warm night in my house with no AC...

And lastly Bell's Oberon was on the menu for me tonight. I'm not usually one for summer seasonals but I've heard good things and Heath sent me a bottle!

The head is so dense it looks like root beer float head. We couldn't decide between Shakespeare Stout and Rasputin for which we liked best, even back to back... They tie!

Can't follow that one up with anything but a Rasputin...

Can't say much more than deserves its spot in the top 100. Rogue knows what they are doing on the malt end of things (and surprisingly, the hop side too which I've recently found out!)

Stouts seemed to be the theme with my uncle this week as he'd bought a Shakespeare stout as well.

Quite chocolately but it doesn't offer much more than that. I had tried this a while back on my own and felt the same way. B- perhaps.

And finally last night we started off with some Bison's Chocolate Stout, all their stuff is Organic!

This is one of my uncle's standby that he always buys at BevMo. As Heath sends me more Imperial Stout awesomeness I've started to realize it's a little one note. Heavy alcohol flavor with dark roasted coffee notes. Good heavy flavor but no subtleties.

We'd end that night with some sludge. Moylan's Ryan Sullivan's Imperial Stout. You may be asking, what happened to the O' before Sullivan's? Well, funny thing, the label company printed the guy's name wrong that the brew was named after, it's actually just Ryan Sullivan!

That's weird, apparently I forgot to take a followup picture with this guy in my hands, but this another one of Maui's offering in cans, Big Swell IPA. And boy, this is one fine brewery let me tell you, these hops tasted FRESH. Like, we're talking wet hopped fresh. Awesome awesome floral notes, glad I picked this up and I hope you'll like it too Heath!

But - It impressed us both. A very solid porter on its own with just the right amount of coconut flavor. The smell is actually heavily coconut, but wow, pretty awesome combo and a great smooth mouthfeel...

Maui's Coconut Porter... So glad to see BevMo finally carrying the canned ones Heath and I have been waiting on for a while. I was skeptical of this one, as was my uncle.

A good oatmeal stout. Not quite on the level of Barney Flats but still very good, a bit hoppy actually which is a nice change of pace. I'd say a solid B+ for this guy.

I picked up a couple bottles of Alaskan's Stout when I was up in Oregon. It's too bad I can't get stuff like this around here. It's actually technically an Oatmeal Stout.

I was hot that night as you can tell by my lack of a shirt. I was really impressed with this IPA. It is almost more of an east coast style with a sturdy malt flavor highlighted by some pungeant hops. Despite the heavy flavor the mouthfeel is actually quite thin, which makes it highly sessionable. I give it an A-... Sorry if I'm previewing these beers before you get them too much Heath!

Had this one on this past thursday night. 21st Amendment's Brew Free or Die IPA.

And I'm with you all the way. It just doesn't seem like a wheat beer in any way shape or form... I actually think the amount of watermelon flavor is in perfect balance with the malt backbone, but the problem for me was that the malt backbone pretty much fell flat. It seems a lot more like a lager backbone or something, and I was wishing I had a heavier wheat backbone for better contrast. Nevertheless, a refreshing, interesting beer.

Later in the week, I had a can of 21st Amendment's Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer. I know what you're probably thinking, that's a wheat beer?

Actually a pretty good pale, but dang, after Dreadnaught, it falls pretty darn flat!

I was stupid and decided to drink another beer that night after Dreadnaught. Steelhead's Extra Pale Ale.

Now this is a beer that deserves its standing, holy mackerel, this is DANG hoppy stuff. Awesome pine flavors yet it's still delicate and has a very solid malt backbone. We were both absolutely stunned by this beer, and I would have to say I just don't know what I like better, Pliny the Elder or Dreadnaught, it's darn close! Thanks so much for this Heath!

My uncle asked me after we finished that, well how are you going to top that? I replied with a Three Floyd's Dreadnaught, the 4th best Double IPA in the world, and 18th overall on BA.

My uncle and I loved Stone 11th and this beer was no different, it's his new favorite stout pretty much, and we wish we could get more around here. Awesome stuff.

I decided to bring over a Stone 12th, which I picked up in Oregon, since the stupid BevMo's here never got it. Another Oatmeal Stout, brewed with some bitter chocolate as well.

Good stuff as always, never lets us down with the excellent mouthfeel and subtle yet delicious flavors.

That same weekend over at my uncle's we started off with a Barney Flats, which he likes quite a bit!

Heath's shipment of beers came in for trade and boy was I amazed at all the goodies he sent, wow! I must say though, I expected more out of this IPA. I mean, it's top 100! It seemed to me like the malt backbone was very similar to DFH 60 min, and the hops were a little more earthy/spicy than I normally like. Don't get me wrong, still a darn good east coast IPA, it's just not deserving of top 100 for me.

This picture turned out pretty dang blurry but you have seen the bottle before so it's not like it needs to be clear! Bell's Two Hearted.

First, I'll start with my dinner a week and a half ago, was proud of this one I guess, looks yummy eh? The cherry tomatoes and zucchini are both homegrown!

[ParkTrips]

I love Oberon, I've already finished my six pack I bought a week and a half ago

[DerekRx]

I figured I better do an update from last week and the weekend before I end up having a post with 150 pictures like Bubba!

One last fill while we wait out the rain. This time I got the pilsner and Heath the dunkel. Wish it was easier to get Swashbuckler beers, they're awesome and got a great variety for only being opened on weekends from Aug-Oct.

who else do you know that can swallow swords and juggle at the same time?

may as well watch the sword swallower while we're here, he's pretty awesome

Time to refill. Me with the Wetlands Wit and Nicole a sangria

Bring on the Joust!

After walking around and seeing some shops and such it was time to take in a show

While Heath enjoyed the Lanner Pilsner

I started out with the Danny Boy Dunkel (weiss)

This place just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Now offering a different wheat AND seasonal every week in addition to the staples

It's about time we get some more Swashbuckler goodness brewed right from there

Saturday marked the opening of the Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair again for the year, so we decided to go on Sunday

a nice tamer hoppiness of grapefruit, lemon zest, peppery hops, and earth all with a good light grainy bread and honey backbone

Finally, Sierra Nevada's Anniversary Ale 2008

I should drink this more often! Great banana, orange peel, coriander, clove, pepper, apple, ginger, and bread flavors. But at 10% it's no wonder I try to hold off

Been a while since I opened up a bottle of Troegs Scratch #3, a tripel

luckily it seemed to be ok. Nice bitter cocoa and dark fruits up front followed by smoke and charcoal, cream, and espresso. Lots of bitterness and abrasiveness, just like licking asphalt

After hearing about how Heath's bottle of Kuhnhenn Road Rash went bad, I decided to stop cellaring mine and hope for the best

Holy crap is this stuff smooth! Tastes just like a liquid vanilla creme brulee with flavors of butterscotch, vanilla, caramel, roasted malt, chocolate, lactose and a bit of alcohol warmth that Southern Tier is known for

Next up, Southern Tier's newest bad boy, the Creme Brulee Imperial Milk Stout

Excellent stuff with a good hoppiness to go along with nuts, caramel, chocolate, roasted malt, coffee, and spices

I started out with something that I got from Joe, the Terrapin India Brown Ale

[Rugged One]

^^^Sweet action Bubba! I can't wait to try some of those canned offerings!

 

So as Derek has all ready posted our Sunday adventures, I'll put up what we did on Saturday evening.

 

It had been awhile since we all got together so we thought that we'd have Derek & Nicole come over for a party. But this wasn't just any old party...

 

This was a Pizza "Port" Party!

And was it good? Just take a look at those smiles. Thanks for reading.

And finally, since the last couple of beers all ready tasted like dessert, I decide to put the cherry on top (literally) with a bottle of New Glarus Belgian Red for us all to split.

Mmmmm...this was tasty. Very, very roasty mix of chocolate, caramel, coffee, and burnt malts. And to think that this was made from the leftover crap of the Serpent's Stout. Just shows how fantastic the Stout was!

We slum on down to just a regular Port Brewing offering for a bit, but luckily this was a good one. The Moon Lit Sessions Lager, a German Style Schwarzbier that is brewed using the second runnings of the Serpent's Stout.

And lead us not unto temptation...but please deliver some more of this fantastic Belgian Style Stout to us! And with an awesome taste of chocolate, molasses, dark fruits, roasted malts, and coffee, who can blame us!

Once again, the Lost Abbey comes through with a cool looking label.

But we're not done yet! Yet more Lost Abbey awesomeness! This time something a little sweeter (and darker) in the form a bottle of Serpent's Stout.

Nicole and Derek say "Pizza Good!!!"

Of course it wouldn't be a Pizza Party without some pizza and as usual, Kim out did herself!

And once again, a very tasty offering for a Saison. Lots of fruits, tartness, bready malts, grassy hops, and loads of other barnyard character.

Up next, another Lost Abby offering. Carnevale, a Saison.

And this was very good. Especially the aroma! Delicious notes of bread, spice, grass, honey, and yeast had us feeling the burn!

And this probably has thee most disturbing labels of the Lost Abbey offerings to boot! Nothing says drinking like watching souls getting roasted in the fires of hell!

We start out with one of the newer offerings from the Lost Abbey. Inferno, a Belgian Strong Pale Ale that is brewed in the same style as other devilish offerings like Duvel & Lucifer.

[ParkTrips]

LOL I was going to have an Inferno Ale tonight, but decided to wait a little bit.. and I cooked pizza. twilight zone! Glad the IBA was nice Derek!

[FlyerACE1]

So, last Thursday, August 9th was The Beer Thread's 3rd Anniversary! Sadly, no one celebrated, well, besides my wife and I (ok, not really, just coincidence). Our coincidental celebration occurred at the very nearby NJ Jackals minor league baseball game at Yogi Berra Stadium in Montclair. And not only did we go for baseball, it was also Dollar Beer Night!! Woohoo!! Check it out...

For me, the specially brewed for the Jackals, you guessed it, Jack Ale! Really good stuff. Later I tried the Cricket Hill East Coast Lager after the Jack kicked.

Ellen enjoys a Sam Adams Summer Ale!

Here is the bar was lined up at for three times during the game. Notice the line-up. Not shabby! They have local brewery Cricket Hill stuff.

[FlyerACE1]

On Sunday I finally had a chance to get together with two guys I hadn't seen much of this year yet, (and who haven't shown up in the beer thread in like forever!) Tom and Adam. Heck, I hadn't seen Tom since last October and Adam I hadn't seen since April at Busch Gardens! Time to alleviate that by spending some time doing what Tom taught us to appreciate quite well, drinking microbrews while hanging out with great friends.

Absolutely had a great time! Thanks for posting the photos Derek. I have a few more to add and some comments...

At Ron's, this picture tells a thousand words. Several hours into drinking...we still had The Drafting Room next! LOL

Derek tried getting this mug with his Rock Bottom Mug Club card. Wrong brewpub! Luckily, he actually did have the right one.

My unbelievably delicious Bourbon Porter at Iron Hill. Looks and tastes amazing!!

At Sly Fox, Derek says "Phoeeeeenix" as a tribute to Bat Flame. Tom looks on with his Royal Weisse.

Here is where the old Victory bar used to be. It's now an extension of the restaurant heading towards the merch shop.

Since Derek didn't take a photo of his meal, I have one. Derek with his Kolsch and barbecue!

At Victory, Tom has the Uncle Teddy's Bitter. Just as a clarification, I had the Sunrise Weisse, not Mad King. The Sunrise is awesome! Took a 6-pack home with me too.

[ParkTrips]

Tonight's beer

A nice blend of dark amber and brown colors, this Oerbier is quite different from the standard that I love so much. The aroma is strong in sourness and cherries, and both come back to dominate the taste along with other notes of citrus, sherry and farmhouse. strong tartness to make this a very tasty sour.

De Dolle Oerbier Special Reserve 2006 - a special release Oud bruin

[DerekRx]

No theme this week, just good stuff that I've either never had, or just haven't had in a while.

Finally a Middle Ages beer that doesn't taste like butter! Good citrus rind, nuts, caramel, chocolate, and cinnamon notes combined with a nice bitter dryness of grass and roasted malt. This bottle didn't last long

and we'll end with another new brew for me, The Duke of Winship from Middle Ages, a Scottish Ale that has lots of porter qualities

This is just about as fantastic as a barleywine can get. Nice caramel, raisin, and bread flavors with a bombardment of pine hops and alcohol warmth.

Thinking local, time to try another Scratch 4 from Troegs since I haven't had any in a long time.

This thing ruled. Lots of caramel, banana, cocoa, fruits, and bready yeast. I'm surprised it took me this long to get this stuff, as it's brewed not too far away

another new thing for me, Weyerbacher's Slam Dunkel, a double dunkleweizen

I was happy to try this since I love Terrapin, but it wasn't that great. Not much Rye in it and just a little bit of smoke, almost like a liquidized mini smoked kielbasa sandwich.

First up, a gift from Joe; Terrapin's Side Project #2 RoggenRauchBier, a combination of Rye and Smoke styles

[Rugged One]

Been pretty quiet in here the last few days.

 

Thought that I'd break the silence and show off a couple of the more exclusive Bell's brews that have come out so far this year.

WhoooooWheeeee!!! They definitely didn't skip the Bourbon in this guy! Fortunately the cherry tartness and chocolate of the Cherry Stout could still be tasted underneath all that booze.

Finally, another brewery exclusive, a Bourbon Barrel Aged version of their Cherry Stout.

The rumor is that this is just a repackaged version of their Amber Ale. Well, it's a pretty pedestrian effort either way.

Up next is another exclusive to just Michigan. The 2008 Big Porch Ale. A tribute to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and it's ginormous front porch, which is one of the biggest in the world.

Huge pine and grapefruit dominate in this hop bomb of a DIPA but it definitely wore it's 11% ABV out there on its sleeve.

First up, the Big Head San Diego Style Ale. Larry Bell's answer to the "egos" of those Southern California brewers.

[65skylark]

Normally, on Wednesday evenings during the summer, I can be found at Portland International Raceway. This last Wednesday, however, the race was cancelled because of rain but I still had to drive out to the track for a team meeting. So, I took Sandi with me so we could stop by one of our favorite restaurants located just a few minutes away from the track.

And I finished up with one of my all around favorite beers on tap here. Bachelor Bitter. Still the best ESB I've ever had.

Sandi had the steamer clams

My half eaten hamburger. They pretty much have the best hamburgers ever.

Sandi had the extra rare Deschutes water with lemon.

Started off with there seasonal summer brew, Twighlight Ale. A very nice summer ale, with four different hops and malts used, it really has a strong hop presence with plenty of maltyness to make this a very balanced and easy drinking beer.

A look at the what's on tap. Actually, nothing real special in my book as I'm really not a big fan of Belgian style ale's.

Very nice.

Where the magic happens.

Nothing but goodness here.

and Deschutes newest brew pub.

the single largest book store in America.....

Portland's Pearl District. Home to lots of high rise condos.......

[DerekRx]

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted, not that I haven't had anything worth mentioning or anything

 

We'll do this in reverse order for a change, from present to past.

and I can't let TPR's avid beer drinkers come all this way but not join us, so we'll end this post with some very special guests; Elissa's parents, enjoying some Cask Challenger Special Bitter and Scottish Ale! Elissa's dad then followed it up with some Wilder's Hefeweizen and a Shade Mt Oatmeal Stout, both not pictured because he enjoyed them too much and I couldn't get a picture before they were gone

But here I hold a Hoppy Monk, a mighty fine Belgianish Pale Ale that's refreshing yet hoppy on a summer day

As is the norm, arriving on a Sunday means you're bound to be disappointed by something or another being kicked, but there's still some great stuff to behold. Though it does really hurt when one of the kicked is their awesome IPA

Finally Nicole and I end where the TPR East Coast trip sorta did, in Central PA near Knoebels, but for us it was at Selins Grove Brewing, in um, Selinsgrove, PA (duh)

As usual, Stone doesn't disappoint. Nice chocolate , roasted malt, caramel, rum raisins, oat, coffee and pine flavors with a touch of smoke.

Stone's latest, their 12th Anniversary Ale, a Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout is next on the agenda

A good bit of alcohol, but also a lot of good sweet caramel and toffee malt with some dark fruits and hops, a nice English version of the barleywine style

Fresh from Joe comes Duck-Rabbit's Barleywine

This is one beer that has seen better days. Pretty much all the big hoppy has died, leaving just a monster of malt and alcohol

As this year's batch is about to be released, better enjoy the last of 2007's Big Hoppy Monster from Terrapin

It may have been best by June, but it's still tasting quite fine and hoppy

another something I discovered while going through my collection downstairs, Clipper City's Loose Cannon

Not sitting for too long, so it's still pretty awesome and loaded with that San Diego West Coast vibe of beer

Such a nice not-too-hot summer evening, may as well enjoy a bottle of Alesmith IPA that I forgot about for the last 4 months

[exit english]

Clipper's Loose Cannon is probably #1 on my favorite beers right now, followed by Magic Hat no 9 and Imperial Dortmunder.

 

However, I discovered this the other night: http://www.breckbrew.com/beer/smallbatch.html

 

Breckenridge 471 Douple-Hopped pale ale. It made me fall over it was so great. What I'm waiting for though, is my local "69 Taps" is getting in Dogfish Head 120 Min IPA on draft next month!

 

-Josh

[Bubba83]

^ Try Breckenridge's IPA when you get a chance, it's fantastic.

[DerekRx]

The last two years saw me spending Labor Day out in California somewhere with Heath and Kim. This year however, Nicole and I decided to stay on the East Coast and tackle an area that she hadn't been to and that had a few new things for me to enjoy coaster related, and plenty of beer options as well, the Carolinas.

and to snack on, we split tapas. While the prices were average, my 1 beer and appetizer cost as much as 2 beers and 2 appetizers at Liberty during happy hour. So go to Liberty between 4-7 every day, people!!

Next up, elsewhere in South Carolina.

the beers were good too, at least my Hefeweizen was. Lots of banana, clove, and yeastiness. Refreshing stuff

The bar area was cool because there were even stools outside facing in

The place wasn't nearly as busy as Liberty because of it's location, but it had a nice vibe, good service, decent food, and local support

but then it was off to Myrtle Beach's newest brewpub, Gordon Biersch, located down by the airport in a new shopping area

after a stop for some candy we went back to the hotel for some more cooling off in the water

Since it's almost impossible to beat the $2.50 pint prices, I couldn't resist having a second, this time the Nut Brown. Not too heavy, good caramel, nuts, and roasted malt flavor

Nicole was too hot to enjoy a beer, but she was all over the popcorn crawdads, also 1/2 price

Went quite well with my Buffalo Shrimp appetizer, 1/2 price during happy hour!

the bar area was packed so we had to eat out in the biergarten for happy hour prices but it was worth it, despite being in the heat all day. Time for a nice malty Rocket's Red with a nice bitter hop finish

But that didn't mean we couldn't go back the next day after doing Hard Rock Park, this time getting there for happy hour!

Nicole went with the crab and corn soup and a house salad with the most awesome dressing ever invented, ginger beer. Prices were cheap and the food and drink was awesome, even if it wasn't happy hour. Sadly, we were too full to enjoy another round.

For dinner I had the peppercorn burger and a sweet potato. I polished the plate off

While I enjoyed the IPA. Not too bitter, but definitely an IPA and easy to session

to accompany her bread, some White Ale. Quite refreshing.

we missed happy hour by like 10 minutes, so we just decided to head into the dining room. Nicole was pleased with the free bread served right away

the current tap list

Hooray for Liberty at Broadway at the Beach.

After approximately 15 minutes we were in need of refreshment. So, after checking into our hotel and enjoying the ocean for a little bit, it was time to get some beer!

onto our first stop, super hot and humid Myrtle Beach for some coaster rides

while not as good as their last offering in the Monster Mash Imperial Stout, this was a pretty good Americanized Dubbel

First up, last week I also tried Boak's newest brew, a Belgian Dubbel

[DerekRx]

After our time in Myrtle Beach, we headed up to Carowinds for a day, but since the park closed at 6pm, we had time to check out another cool place not too far away before beginning our adventure home the next day.

and to end, a shot of Pilot Mountain, which looks pretty cool and gives Foothills' Pilot Mountain Pale Ale its name. I'll have to try that beer some time soon, as the place was cool and the beers were great.

and before we head out for our 8 hour drive home, time for me to enjoy some Seeing Double IPA, an awesome Double IPA with lots of caramel, biscuit, and pine. Great stuff!

while I enjoyed some crab and corn chowder and a Caesar Salad with artichoke and sun-dried tomatoes

and to accompany that, she had a veggie wrap and cheese grits

Nicole couldn't decide between the Hurricane Hefeweizen and the Oktoberfest, so she enjoyed tasters of both

But I intend to come back here again to try more stuff, so for right now I'll be happy to enjoy a pint of Hoppyum IPA, a great IPA with lots of citrus and pine flavors and a nice biscuit and honey backbone

Lots of great stuff on tap, and they have a sampler deal

We chose to sit at the bar, since it was easy to find seats. You can see the brewing operation in the background

Being a Tuesday at 11:30am, the place wasn't really crowded, but I'm sure it gets packed

Luckily I found it in Foothills Brewing

On Tuesday we drove home, making a brief stop in Winston-Salem. No, I wasn't looking for job security, I was in search for awesome beer

We then discovered you could take any of their beers and they'd super chill them in like 5 minutes in the back. We'll have to remember that the next time we head to Carowinds, as the place had a pretty sweet selection

some good malty flavors with a nice bit of hop presence

The place was pretty empty, so we got to know the locals and bartender pretty well and decided to stay for another round. Time for something more local like the Highland Gaelic Ale

Just as smooth, creamy, chocolaty, and roasted as I remember

It's been some time since I've enjoyed a good RIS, time for Old Rasputin to alleviate that

Lots of nice tart cherry flavors in there

No beers on tap, but they've got some good stuff in the cooler behind the bar, all chilled and ready to go. Nicole went with the Kasteel Rogue

Being Labor Day, the area wasn't too crowded, so I easily found a parking space on the street

Just 2 exits south of Carowinds we find Grapevine, a wine and beer bar that opened not too long ago in a shopping village

[ParkTrips]

^ great, you did Winston (LOL @ the new patients joke).. now you've gotta do Asheville (and let me know!)

[DerekRx]

^We'll try to tie in a visit to Asheville along with a trip to Dollywood, whenever that may be.

 

It's been a while since I've been to Rock Bottom, and with their 2007 GABF winning Barleywine on tap and $10 on my mug card, now is as good a time as any to get back there!

Finally, to end, a fresh batch of Founder's Breakfast Stout. Now that hits the spot!

Not sure why I got it, probably because Capone told me it was actually good, but once again Lakefront and their IPA failed to impress me. Jersey Devil, you can have this one!

Left Hand's Twin Sisters was also pretty good, though not as powerful as the Rogue. It looks like BA's Jersey Devil wants some

Rogue's Ale to the Chief was amazing, lots of piney goodness

With so much great stuff on tap, I can't pass up a flight to finish out

Luckily the Church Brew Works Coconut Stout was still on tap. Lots of chocolate and coconut flavors, but it's showing its age, and as it warmed up, lots of butter notes came out

Nope, it wasn't the Pliny the Elder, I had already known that was kicked earlier in the day, the same day it went on tap!

While I'm here, I may as well head down to Capones as there's a beer on I really want to try

While I'm here and still have some free money to spend, may as well grab the King's Wit. A little too much ginger for my liking, it competed with all the other flavors of banana, candied orange peel, and clove.

First off, right to the Broad Street Bullywine, named for our Philadelphia Flyers. For a barleywine, this thing was balanced beyond belief.

A look at the board. Looks like we'll be heading back there again in the next couple of weeks since we missed out on the Rocktoberfest last year

Back to the mall for some free booze!

[nay]

While on vacation on the west coast last week, I managed to have a few beers along the way.

And I ended the trip with the Woodie Gold.

Then the Windandsea Wheat Hefeweizen.

I had the Amber Lager first.

The Karl Strauss beer truck was a frequent stop for an afternoon break at Disney's California Adventure.

I was starting to feel crappy from being in the sun too long, but the beer made it all better. I had their Huntington Beach Blonde beer.

Now in California, we stopped in at the Huntington Beach Beer Co.

I didn't love their veggie burgers, but I was happy with the beer sampler.

Later on we hit the Burger Bar at Mandalay Place.

I had the Sapporo beer there. Not amazing, but it sure tasted good in the 100+ degree weather.

Mandalay Bay's awesome beach in Las Vegas was the first stop.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

I just drank a Smirnoff Ice if that counts for anything...of cousre there's more alcohol in mouthwash...

[Bubba83]

Sorry it's been so long guys... I've still been drinking good beer, just haven't had the time to hop on here and post all of the pictures. And there are lots of pictures.

 

I might break this up into two parts if I get too tired halfway through.

After the ho-hum reviews on BA I thought I'd be underwhelmed but I think most reviews are downright wrong. It's a GREAT robust porter with wicked complexity, a great mouthfeel, and full flavor. Great Divide is a company I wish I could find around here, their entire lineup is insane yet no one seems to talk about their beers.

The last beer of this post (more to come later) will be Great Divide's Saint Bridget's Porter. Got this in Portland too, yay Portland trip!

You just can't get a much better deal that Lagunitas' bombers, which sell from between $2.99 to $3.49 a piece. They did a really great job with this beer too. Picked the right yeast, all the flavors are there, if this came from Belgium I'd say it's a really solid tripel that I'd like to have again.

You're going to need some help on this one since the label is a bit insane. It's Lagunitas' latest Zappa release, We're only in it for the money! A Belgian Tripel.

We wanted to see how it holds to Ryan Sullivan's since we had been having lots of that. It's better in my opinion.

I know everyone's jealous I get 4 packs of this at BevMo for $6.99.

As close to hard alcohol flavor as you can get from a beer. The main flavor is, well, bourbon. Huge flavor is imparted from the Oak. Lots of vanilla too. I really like it!

Had to pick up another one of Dogfish Head's offerings that have made it out here. The BevMo's here are now carrying 4 packs of 90 Minute, Palo Santo Marron (pictured), and Midas Touch.

This beer was profound at first, with all sorts of flavors I've not yet encountered in any beer. Has some hoppy edge, followed by vanilla and bourbon, followed by anise and licorice and coffee and chocolate and roasted malts. By far the most complex beer I've had and will probably ever have. I liked it a lot, but I enjoyed the overall flavor experience of Peche Mortel a lot more. Still a solid top 20 all time for me. Thanks so much for this one Justin, I owe you bigtime!

And now for the highest ranked beer I've ever had, courtesy Justin, who was able to spare one of his bottles so that a fellow beer threaded may stare into the Abyss. Ranked #5 on BA.

Their yeast always produces that crazy rocky head. To be honest, they use a pretty crazy yeast strain that always imparts lots of weird flavor into their beers. It works though, and makes this pale ale quite interesting, different and worth the try, good stuff!

Hair of the Dog's Ruth, from Portland as well. It's their Pale Ale.

No wonder this is a breakfast stout, it's coffee on top of coffee on top of coffee! Bitter coffee dominates with no chocolate or malt flavor to be found. A rather light mouthfeel for the flavor. A good beer from Mikkeller but it didn't blow me away or anything.

I didn't have this for breakfast. I thought about it though! Picked it up in Portland, my first Mikkeller offering. Beer Geek Breakfast!

And it delivers that. Intensely deep malt flavors do hide the alcohol a while but it does warm on the swallow. Still, was actually a little bit surprised how much I liked it, didn't expect to like it quite so much. I'd give it a solid A.

A special beer the next week... Bell's Expedition Stout. Sent by Heath, who promised a VERY heavy mouthfeel.

Crazy how good it was too, extra hopped up yet carries an overwhelmingly awesome malt backbone to boot. Can't wait for Shutdown Ale to come back and give this a run for it's money.

Lagunitas' Lucky 13. Another one of their big ass amber's basically.

Very nice too. Every flavor imaginable for this style is there and in the right quantity. Still remains fluffy all the way through and surprisingly easy drinking. Highly recommend it!

Midnight Sun's Le Maitresse Du Moine. It's a Belgian Strong Dark Ale I picked up when I was in Portland. 9% ABV

Beneath the weird feel I was searching for some good flavor but I really don't like it and may dump the whole batch. It was a changed recipe cause they didn't have the hops I needed anyhow. I feel like I kind of let myself down on this one, could have been much better organized.

Trying the IPA for the first time at my uncles. It's full of hop trub because of the dry hopping. I need to figure out how to filter stuff out in the boil/dry hopping process if I plan to do another IPA.

Sure why not, still pretty good stuff but not on par with Big Bear Black or Rogue's Chocolate Stout.

Is this stuff any good? Been about a year.

I was happy to have shared it with my uncle this time. He also loved it. 2nd Favorite Imperial Stout now... Still awesome, thanks Heath!

Old Heath sent some more Old Heathen my way as per my request.

A good english beer, very complex while remaining extremely drinkable.

Never a bad time to revisit Hobgoblin.

It tasted like oranges and berries. Weird weird stuff. The body also did not seem porter like. Not good.

Also from Trader Joe's, Kennebunkport Porter.

Just a low flavored pilsner, not bad but nothing interesting about it.

Joseph's Brau Hopfest Pilsner. Picked up from Trader Joe's.

Astonishingly good. Like, favorite Imperial Stout by far to date. BY FAR TO DATE! Coffee is dominant but it's just so dang complex within the coffee layers. This was a real treat that I did not expect Heath to send, and I must thank you for many moons!

Alright no more messing around, it's time for a heavy hitter. Also from Heath, Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel's Peche Mortel Imperial Stout. #13 in the world.

Unfortunately this also had some "skunk" in it. Inky tones especially present in the head. It wasn't a drain pour though as I found myself still able to taste as intended once I let the head dissipate some. Seemed solid but the skunky tones got in the way!

Troeg's Scratch 11. Also sent my way from Heath. My first Scratch beer.

Unfortunately it was a drain pour. Not sure what happened here but it was way skunked/inky. I could tell by the smell of it before I attempted a taste as well. This is the first skunked microbrew I've had from a can. Shucks!

Uh oh, too foamy coming out on the pour... Sly Fox's Phoenix Pale Ale. Also from Heath.

Good stuff, reminds me a lot of Trumer Pils, which is a very good thing. Nice clean crisp hoppy goodness.

These beers start from almost a month ago all the way up until this weekend. First up Sly Fox's Pikeland Pils, sent my way via Heath.

[DerekRx]

Time for an update from last week and this past weekend. Unfortunately I left my camera at home for our impromptu trip to Union Jack's yesterday (now smoke-free) where I enjoyed some Russian River goodness of Damnation, Blind Pig, and even some Avery Maharaja.

For me, the Abby's Fault, a Belgian Triple with a ton of hops added to it. Nice and fruity with some candy and yeast and a big old finish of citrus peel, pine, and grass.

Nicole was overjoyed to see they released the Oktoberfest a few days early. Nice and sweet with nice malt presence and a subtle amount of German hops makes this one quite sessionable

Finally we end the weekend with a visit to Iron Hill in Lancaster on our way back from the York Fair to find some new stuff on tap

Definitely not as good as it is on cask, but it's still pretty impressive. Losing a little bit of hop kick though, more malt coming out

While I'm searching through my bottle stash, let's have one of the last of this year's Nugget Nectars

Still good stuff with lots of West Coast hop presence as well as some nice roasted malt character

I've still got some bottles of Stone XI laying around, may as well see how it's holding up

Pretty impressive stuff, raisins mixed with chocolate, caramel, toffee, and bread with a nice citrus finish

Dark Horse's Scotty Karate is next, a Scottish Ale

Pretty strong stuff, with lots of chocolate , roasted malt, alcohol, yeast, and sweet candy; much like a mix of their Merry Monks and Old Heathen

Weyerbacher's XIII, their 13th anniversary ale was next. This was like a Belgian-inspired Imperial Stout

Pretty darn dry and bitter stuff for a plain old pale ale!

something new for me to try, Mayflower Brewing's Pale Ale.

over a week ago I found myself at Stoudt's and enjoyed their new Dutch Dunkelweizen while I was there

[brilinjo]

Hi Bubba, there are special hop bags, or you can try putting hops into a stocking (preferably unused), which can be easily disposed of before bottling.

 

I've tipped out 2 of the 10 or so brews I've made so far this year, sometimes they just don't work out (or you can add a dash of lemonade if you're really desperate)

 

Brian

[Bubba83]

Yeah I know about those hop bags, I just haven't purchased extras yet.

 

Thanks for the tips... Will probably be a while before I try another IPA with the current hop situation and this dissapointment.