Beer in the new era

amazing quote from the guy who has realized multiple variants of imperial biscotti break

I was thinking the same thing.

Also, so many gross sounding one-off beers.

Soft Dookie is pretty good.

I want to say Evil Twin is one of those brews that just seems to clog the shelves, like Pipeworks or Clown Shoes. Just so many different varieties.

Hey, has anyone, ever, anywhere, ever had one of those Fifty Fifty Eclipse beers? Talk about clogging the shelves, they just sit there. Aging.

Right. Depends on the quality. Like all the Eclipse variants that just came out. At $30 you'll see them in shelves for months. I think they taste good but putting out like 6 variants and charging so much, seems like you could just dial in a couple of variants and it would be more worthwhile.

― Jeff, Tuesday, December 17, 2013 4:54 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

And I have two at home, but honestly I'm not sure which variants they are because I can decipher the wax color. I think they are the Bernheim Wheat and Mellow Corn. But the wax color could go either way.

i've had one, they're good, they're not 30 dollars good though

I think it can be gross if you drink it like a beer - cold, fast, even with a meal, let alone the wrong meal. The best comparison I've thought of is that it's a bit like drinking a cigar (I've never had a cigar): you have to make it last. It's definitely an intense beer and/or an acquired taste, imo.

I dunno, I drank it very slowly. Maybe it was a bit too cold when I started it but it certainly warmed up in the glass. To me it tasted out of the realm of beer entirely, more like booze, and not very good booze, like a dessert wine gone bad or something. Very sweet, syrupy, the whiskey flavors seemed generic and lacked the nuances of an actually good whiskey, overpowering, too much going on. It was like a better version of some of the bad Dogfish offerings I've had. Gave me a very weird buzz fwiw, almost druggy.

going by most of your post i see in this thread our taste in beer is miles apart most of the time.

xpst Do you like other bourbon barrel aged stouts better? Or is the whole style not your thing.

Nah I think I just don't like the style.

I think it can be gross if you drink it like a beer - cold, fast, even with a meal, let alone the wrong meal. The best comparison I've thought of is that it's a bit like drinking a cigar (I've never had a cigar): you have to make it last. It's definitely an intense beer and/or an acquired taste, imo.

I dunno, I drank it very slowly. Maybe it was a bit too cold when I started it but it certainly warmed up in the glass. To me it tasted out of the realm of beer entirely, more like booze, and not very good booze, like a dessert wine gone bad or something. Very sweet, syrupy, the whiskey flavors seemed generic and lacked the nuances of an actually good whiskey, overpowering, too much going on. It was like a better version of some of the bad Dogfish offerings I've had. Gave me a very weird buzz fwiw, almost druggy.

i've never had BCBS before, and i enjoy various bourbon barrel-aged stouts, but i've numerous beers in that style that totally match this description.

that palo santo marron beer from dogfish completely fit this vibe

yeah i mean i don't find bcbs to be overly sweet, i'd call it more viscous than syrupy, but i can see how someone would make those criticisms. i don't really get the out of the realm of beer comment though.

i don't like a lot of the barrel aged stuff (too sweet, esp with the high APV) but i think the BCBS is pretty exceptional

xp palo santo isn't a bourbon barrel beer, but it is barrel-aged in palo santo wood, and is similar in taste to other dark, rich, boozy imperial stouts. dogfish called it a "brown ale," yea right

this is exactly how i felt about a Kentucky BBS (not positive on the brewery?) i had in a bar recently, especially in comparison to the Goose Island BCBS, which has a lot more going on imo.

xp

yeah actually it did have aspects that reminded me of palo santo marron (which I also dont' really like) now that I think of it. I'm being a little harsh, it wasn't completely terrible, I just enjoyed it a lot less than I expected after all the hype. Maybe I'll wait a while and try it again. I have some Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout on deck, which I love.

i think the brooklyn black chocolate stout is one of the more successful strong stouts out there

barrel-aged in palo santo wood

!!! really wanna try this, I like that stuff

viscous is definitely the word. i would agree that the closest i come to being drunk in my 30s is when i have one of these.

xp

Yeah maybe it was also because I drank the thing watching true detective alone in the dark, but I felt pretty fucked up for a dad afterwards.

Just realized that Mikkeler vs Evil Twin is a rip-off of the Adidas/Puma schism.

'pretty fucked up for a dad' is such a magnificent typo

hurting needs to confirm it was in fact a typo

yea i'm a dad and i didn't read it as a typo!!

betting on no typo here

no typo!

haha yeah i was going to say, i'm a dad and know that feeling

like when your toddler suddenly cries out in the middle of the night and you stumble over to her room and your hand completely misses the doorknob

lol

more drunk dad stories please

I have thankfully few! Having to change a poop diaper drunk (or hungover first thing in the morning) really cures a lot of the urge to get drunk!

I'm drinking most of the time while I'm parenting.

you guys are crazy for not digging bourbon barrel-aged stuff btw! i'm not sure imperial stouts are the best thing to put in a bourbon barrel tho - scotch ales, barleywines, belgian strong darks, etc are a much better fit. those styles are all pretty sweet to begin with, the bourbon taste adds a bit of sweetness but the other smokey/leathery flavors usually stand out way more ime

it's not like i want that much sugar in my beer all the time, but it's a nice treat in the winter or as dessert or w/e

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/03/30/magazine/mag30-Glaser-beer-sidebar.html

Shiner is by far the best-looking bottle on that page

yea. ommegang has always had a nice sense of design too. most of the others are terrible, though i like sixpoint and lefthand

dogfish is just awful though

yeah milt otm about that one, but I think he's also onto something about how standing out and not looking like a beer beer is more important than good design

the uinta one is almost nice but the colors make me hurt

I think this is one of the nicest beer bottles (and a delicious beer too)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n_7gOdboq2w/T25UX_jVGgI/AAAAAAAACvI/i-evjfm2z3s/s640/uintababablacklager.JPG

that's a good looking bottle

the uinta ipa one i don't really like. it kind reminds me of the vermont brewery wolavers:
http://wa.worldclassbeer.com/wp-content/beer_spy/images/prodimages/Wolavers/lOatmealStoutLogo.jpg
which is kind of like, i don't, generic "good design" but just kind of blank and doesn't leave much of an impression

ha i take back the "good design" comment

do not like that farmer guy

it's definitely a little generic. I'm not a designer but to me something about it is weak design-wise. Maybe it's that there are too many words. "VERMONT'S OWN WOLAVER'S FINE ORGANIC ALES BETTER BEER BETTER WORLD OATMEAL STOUT RICH AND CREAMY STOUT" kind of seems like a lot to be saying when you line it all up

like all those phrases are all-caps, they all attract the eye. my eye bounces all around the label with all the different text all over the place, yet it looks like it's not supposed to be busy. It's "clean style" that's not actually clean.

feeling these new throwback-ish cans from amnesia

https://untappd.s3.amazonaws.com/photo/2014_02_09/ac484d68987a5c99c18e669d85f54ed2_640x640.jpg

also like the super-basic look of occidental cans

http://spiritsofmtseymour.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/o/c/occidental_kolsch.jpg

woah, apologies for HUEG pics