Beer in the new era

otoh, it's called resin, comes in a green can, and smells kinda like doobage. so.

A+ imo.

The only Sixpoints I've had (they just arrived in Chicago recently) are the Sweet Action and the Righteous, and I greatly preferred the latter.

I've tried a bunch. Only one I didn't like was sweet action. Not a fan of the style.

Had Firestone Walker Parabola and Velvet Merkin again last night. I love those beers.

wow velvet merkin, now that's a name for a beer.

yeah genny is great but the point of cream ales is that they're kind of boring by design

Well in my ongoing quest to try as many Sixpoints as possible, I just got the Apollo, which is I guess a summer wheat beer. I enjoyed my first one -- thought it had sort of an apricot flavor without much sweetness. But then my wife told me it tasted like olives, and now I can't get that out of my head and can no longer drink it.

Stone Leviathan Barbecue Sauce is super delicious.

And Great Lake makes a Pils now, which I find very exciting.

Shiner Ruby Redbird

anyone into mikkeller? i'm seeing it in london a lot more lately, haven't been blown away by the 2/3 i've tried (though they were good) but there are so many.

green flash rayon vert == best new beer I've had yet this year

we have a ton of those apollos in the fridge. a shame i don't particularly like 'em. not a huge wheat beer fan. i like that it's fairly sour though. i should drink more sour beers.

(we have a ton cuz my wife brought them home leftover from a work party.)

I just had a Unibroue Don De Dieu, which is a 9% wheat beer. Didn't like it so much -- Fin Du Monde is much better.

wheat beers don't sit well with me for some reason, i try to stay away from them.

anyone into mikkeller? i'm seeing it in london a lot more lately, haven't been blown away by the 2/3 i've tried (though they were good) but there are so many.

― Know how Roo feel (LocalGarda), Tuesday, July 3, 2012 6:43 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ive heard good things about the various beer geek brunches but this company is ridic, releasing a million beers which all cost a fortune is not a cool model.

La Fin du Monde in Quebec if you find the right happy hour? Get sooo happy with delicious beer at a good price

I just finished a Fin du Monde and kind of feel like I drank a bunch of 9% beer.

LG I think thir "Beer Geek Breakfast" is my favourite coffee stout in the world - it's achieves a balance which is not common. The one bottle I tried of the weasel coffee variey (Beer Geek Brunch, but the one I had was aged in something or other) I liked less. I treat myself to a bottle of Mikkeller from time to time, and they beer's always interesting, but they are keener on US-style heavy hopping than I am, so sometimes it becomes more of an exercise in appreciation than true love. I went to their bar in Copenhagen the other week, which was good: using the guidance of the bar staff I stayed away from the hoppier end and the drinking was A ++. We were there on the Sunday of the Copenhagen Beer Festival, so the bar was busier and a bit less chilled than I understand it usually is.

My current favourite trendy eurobreweries: De Struise (Belgian, famous* for their chewy dark beers Pannepot / Pannepeut / Blck Albert but I love love love their lighter oneslike Svea and Rosse) and De Molen (Dutch, kinda experimental whic results in occasional misses, awesomely nerdy). Less trendy but just as great: T'IJ (Dutch, I always end up raving about this lot after I've been to Amsterdam). I have also been enjoying beer by Evil Twin (Danish, kind of an answer record to Mikkeller, I have deliberately stayed away from their hoppier stuff which I reckon I won't like, they explicitly play to a hipster market, with one beer that they name after hipsterville in whichever relevant market (eg in Stockholm you find Sodermalm Hipter, in Copenhagen the same beer is Norrebro Hipster).

Proper beer nerds will be laughing at how mainstream my experimenting is, I know. :(

releasing a million beers which all cost a fortune is not a cool model.

It's an understandable shame the beer costs so much, but I do really like the fact that the insane variety of their beer presents a real challenge to beer tickers - you'd have to be insanely obsessive to try all their stuff, for practical purposes you can't relate to their beer in terms of collecting the set.

Mikkeller needs an editor. I've tried a ton of them and quality is all over the place.

Three floyds Barrel aged Robert the Bruce with raspberries last night. Delicious. Also had some Surly Five. Always nice when it turns up in chicago.

Three floyds Barrel aged Robert the Bruce with raspberries last night. Delicious.

You had me till "raspberries." Of all the fruit beers I've seen, that would be the last I'd want to try. Subtle I presume? I had an apricot beer called Aprihop (can't remember the brewery) that I liked a lot.

The raspberries is subtle, makes it a little tart. Definetly doesn't taste like a fruit beer.

mikkeller nelson sauvin brut is an incredibly good beer (though expensive), and it almost makes up for all their dusty ipas clogging bottle shop shelves until the end of time

whoa fucking christ, this sierra nevada hoptimum is crazeeeee.

100 IBU, 10.4%.

also worth grabbing if you can find them before they vanish - the Lagunitas undercover investigation shut down ale and the new holland rye hatter ryePA and the black hatter black ipa. the black hatter is the first black ipa i have actually really liked.

also bottled our insane imperial ipa, looks like its going to hit about 10%, now it gets to bottle condition for 4-6 weeks. luckily in the meantime we just started opening up some of our bitters (turned out pretty dope, altho not really like any bitter i have had before, very peppery, which is a good thing imo) and the saison is going to be ready next weekend. mmmmm yum yum beer.

Drank in honor of Sly Stallone's bday:

Equinoxe du Printemps by Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel
Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche by Brauerei Schlenkerla
Lava Smoked Imperial Stout by Ölvisholt Brugghús
Rye-on-Rye by Boulevard Brewing Co.

Couple of Smoked beers, doppleboch and stout, one that had something to do with maple syrup, and one of the best rye beers I've had.

And I drank more Parabola, which I will do anytime it is there.

I don't like the Farmhouse Hatter -- I've had better saisons -- but the Rye Hatter and Black Hatter are indeed both pretty good.

mikkeller nelson sauvin brut is an incredibly good beer (though expensive), and it almost makes up for all their dusty ipas clogging bottle shop shelves until the end of time

Hmm, must try this. Love other nelson sauvin beers that I've had.

this expensive beer talk is cool and all, but who wants to list their top 3 commercially available lagers?

1. Stella
2. Kroney
3. Birra Moretti

"commercially available" = macro? (I've never heard of 2 or 3, but I presume you're in the UK...)

Oh wait, Kroney = Kronenbourg?

I guess PBR and Stella would be my top 2. Schlitz and Red Stripe aren't bad, either. I don't drink enough Mexican lagers to have a preference, but those are often better than the American varieties.

they don' thave moretti in chicago? moretti is good. like it much more than stella.

faves for me:
bud bottle
yuengling bottle
pbr is fine, tied for third w a lot of cheap lagers tho -- 'gansett, tecate, coors, miler high life -- all very drinkable for me. tbh i only want to drink lager when it is really hot out and i need something refreshing & crisp.

Maybe they do? It doesn't sound familiar. Peroni seems to be the most common Italian brand I've seen.

it's not everywhere but i def see it in some grocery stores & bars here. shrug.

They're all largely the same IMO. V v little difference.

1. Black label
2. Pbr
3. Miller high life

I got nothing. I never have a need to drink lagers when I always have styles I like better available.

1. Moretti dark (which i don't see very often)
2. Tecate
3. Pilsner Urquell

i think these count but i don't quaff them often

Does cost factor into these rankings? Pilsner Urquell is good but won't ever be my default hot weather beer because of the expense.

I used to have Miller Genuine Draft as my go-to cheap lager, but eventually realized they all taste so similar it doesn't really matter. Bud lite and Coors lite are now my hot weather cheap beers - refreshing with no off flavors (I sometimes get a whiff of formaldehyde from PBR), and I can kid myself that drinking them won't make me fatter.

wasn't factoring cost, but honestly Lagunitas Czech Pils makes Urquell redundant for me (but it's a micro i guess)

1. Leinenkugel
2. Old Milwaukee
3. Stroh's

urquell (i won't count jever as "available" enough)
red stripe
modelo especial
hon. mention for coors heavy

black label is totally good--good call. local bar has a can of that & a shot of evan williams for $4.

also worth grabbing if you can find them before they vanish - the Lagunitas undercover investigation shut down ale and the new holland rye hatter ryePA and the black hatter black ipa. the black hatter is the first black ipa i have actually really liked.

what did you think of the summit black ale (which is local to you iirc)? i agree with you that there are a bunch of bad black ipas out there, but i was very impressed by it when i was in wisconsin last fall

favorite macros = natty boh, modelo, high life and bud in bottles - i usually pay the extra dollar to sub out boh for stroh's (yuck) in my local bar's shot-and-a-beer combo

I think that the summit black was a seasonal/temp brew, so I never tried it - summit EPA is a solid go to beer, but most of their one-offs seem to fall into the mediocre to dreadful category, so I tend to steer clear of them. I'll keep an eye out for it in the future though.