Beer in the new era

Are there any steam beers other than Anchor Steam that are readily available?

ipa (us and english), american amber/red ale. though i'm not actually sure what classification the darker beers i like come under.

Enjoyed a Sixpoint Resin last night. Probably prefer Bengali Tiger, though.

There is a braggot on the menu of this bar I'm in tonight. Cantus Caeli 2010.

This list is actually amazing. But $$$$$$$$$.

Bottle list from last night: http://50.22.2.126/~churchke/sites/default/files/BBCK%20ONLINE%20BOTTLE%20LIST%207-5-12.pdf

Oh weird, I was actually just looking at that menu last night. Going to D.C. next month.

have you guys ever seen this stateside?

http://www.six3.tv/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Six3-Kernel-IPA-e1313500031464.jpg

it's quite prominent in london but the more things i try the more i rate it. it most likely isn't available across the water i guess.

Haven't seen it.

Jaymc, definitely worth a trip. And if you stick to their drafts, not too expense. You can even get 4 oz pours on everything.

churchkey is the best! when i was there last week for the bell's black note tapping, all the tables had kegs of upland and cigar city stashed under them, presumably for some sort of nefarious dc beer week purposes

Ha, I'm back at churchkey tonight. I'm glad this place isn't in Chicago, it would bankrupt me.

Drank tonight:

JW Lee's Harvest Ale 1999. I don't think I've ever drank a 12 year old beer before. I was not of legal drinking age when this beer was born.

Avery Uncle Jacob's Bourbon stout. 17%!!! Not the highest abv beer I've drank, but up there. This is an abrasive beer. I would like to taste this bottle in 5 years.

Ola Dubh Special Reserve 18. Taste like whiskey.

Oh, and the night before I had a 2009 Older Viscosity. Maybe one of the top 25 beers I've ever had. Right in my wheelhouse as far as style goes though, a barrel aged barley wine. Reminded me a lot of Goose Island's King Henry.

For a reasonably priced massmarket beer, I'm really loving the new Widmer Rotator series, Shaddock IPA, which adds grapefruit peel to the Citra hops. Perfect summer IPA.

The rotater beers are alright - cheap and they seem to do some interesting ones.

hmmm i will have to try that

had this years monks sour ale and how the mighty have fallen :( cuvee des jacobins has ruined me for all other sours i think.

I tried Left Hand Brewery's Sawtooth Ale recently. It was not bad - to my taste buds, it's somewhere between an English-style ale and a Pale Ale - a bit hoppy but also slightly malty and balanced. Not particularly memorable though.

cuvee des jacobins

Saw this in Whole Foods and it was $22 for a 4-pack of 12 oz bottles. I think the one time I've had it in a bar it cost about the same (likely a somewhat smaller pour, but still). It is a great sour, though.

yeah the cuvee is a good way for a beer drinker to get poor, thats a pretty standard price. although hey if you buy bombers in the $11 range its the same thing by volume/$ so eh. it could be worse.

hey if you buy bombers in the $11 range its the same thing by volume/$ so eh. it could be worse.

That's true, though I usually get cold feet when bombers are above $8. OTOH, I buy plenty of wine for $10-15/bottle, and go for Deliriums at $10-11, so maybe it's just a perception thing. One thing about the C des J, I doubt if I would drink more than one at a time. When I tried it I also ordered fish and chips - didn't need vinegar!

Sawtooth Ale is probably my least favorite of Left Hand's -- their Black Jack Porter is worth a try. the stranger APA is pretty solid too.

i just got a six pack of the stranger and (although i dont trust the store i got it from so that may have contributed) it was pretty bland and a little skunky. havent really found a left hand that i love yet, but i wont stop trying.

i live right near left hand so i haven't had skunky stranger, but i can see it being a bit on the bland side -- i kind of like that it's a little bit mellow.

did the vt run again this past week, posting pic of what is likely the best reg production beer in america

http://www.howigit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/alch-heady.jpg

so jealous

hung out last week with an ilx lurker buddy of mine (hi 3ric!) and got talking about his beer catering plans for his wedding in september - a few cases of heady, a kate the great vertical, and a keg of HF vera mae? works for me!

^^would rsvp

This is what I had at my wedding last year, all in bottles/cans:

Half Acre Daisy Cutter
Bell's Oberon
Two Brothers Domaine Du Page
Corona

I was kind of proud that I was able to assemble a decent variety of styles (for different tastes) within our small budget. Also, the Midwestern beers all have some personal geographic significance: Half Acre is the brewery closest to where we currently live, Bell's is the brewery closest to where I went to college, and Two Brothers is the brewery closest to where I grew up.

Of course, the Daisy Cutter was basically gone before dinner, IIRC.

i had a two brothers beer last night! someone brought it back from a chicago trip, had never heard of the brewery before.

I can't remember what we had on tap at our reception.

yes heady-topper is really that good

the beer for my wedding was 80% canned beer, a fact that i am very proud of

Surly Furious
Surly Bender
Surly Bitter Brewer
Summit EPA
and Black Label

the only thing we didnt run out of was summit actually, the only bottled option.

two brothers stuff is pretty badass, they make my favorite session ale in the world i think. Long Haul i think?

Wasn't familiar with Heady Topper. 120 IBU, holy hell...

rodenbach grand cru

wth is this

A sourish red ale, similar to cuvee. I like it a lot.

I can't remember what we had on tap at our reception.

Well, your reception was at a bar.

i don't know anything about this stuff, but i just read that above 100 ibu you can't distinguish more bitterness.

also sweet action is a cream ale? really? i thought that was just something genesee came up with to sound fancy. maybe i should try more cream ales (are there others?) cause i really like sweet action.

I'd like to try Sweet Action again, but I'm not going to pay for it.

not sure about this rodenbach

I've never met a cream ale that I've liked.

Here's what Sixpoint says about Sweet Action, btw:

Take, for instance, Sweet Action. What is it? Is it a cream ale? Well not really, because it is brewed with elements of a Hefe-Weizen. So it is a Hefe-Weizen then, right? Well, no... because it has a hop profile similar to a Pale Ale. All right, well what is it then? It is Sweet Action. That's what it is.

this odell 5 barrel pale ale is much more my speed

i really like sixpoint, they have a pretty fun really casual brewery tour, which is basically just one guy talking and showing you around his garage.

I also had a Two Brothers I really liked recently having never previously heard of the brewery -- it was a rye

Probably the Cane & Ebel. Jaymc likes that a lot.

I do! There was a time -- maybe about four years ago -- when I'd routinely tell people that it was My Favorite Beer. Then, after a while, I began to gravitate toward beer that wasn't as overtly sweet (one of the key ingredients of Cane & Ebel is Thai palm sugar). But I actually just bought a six-pack recently and reflected on how nicely balanced it is.

Oh, and I also just had their Pillar of Salt, a limited-edition "white rye" that was brewed as a light, dry antithesis of Cane & Ebel. Recommended.