Beer in the new era

Also bought a bomber of central waters space ghost to pop at the liquor store as a thanks for some crazy back room freebies, and it was pretty damn good. Stout with ghost peppers (I know I know wait for it)12% abv. Shockingly balanced, heat but not stupid, high abv buried under flavor. $6 bomber. I'm pretty close to central waters evangelist at this point. Not going to lie, half of my share choice was based on "there's no fucking way I am soloing a ghost pepper stout."

That's one I'd buy to share with my macho chile-head friends.

glad you enjoyed the otter creeks, dan! i agree that fresh squeezed is a little hard to love, i'm waiting for warmer weather where i think i'll appreciate the amount of citrus they put in it.

Want to reiterate that the Sierra Nevada Wit is incredibly good!

Space Ghost was good. Not too hot, which I liked. Not as good as the Ghost Pepper Bourbon County I had a few years ago though.

Anyone have the New Holland Dragon's Milk variety with roasted arbol peppers yet? Almost picked one up in Wisconsin, but it must be making its way around.

^^^i was just about to post about that, i split a bottle last night and it's amazing. the heat is a perfect amount, warm but not obnoxious. really want to get some more while it's still around.

haven't had the dragon's milk w/ peppers but i have had the regular dragon's milk, it's outstanding. new holland is pretty great imo

Definitely hoping to taste the BLAKKR, there was a thing on the Decibel blog about that and it sounded pretty interesting.

― an enormous bolus of flatulence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, March 3, 2014 9:31 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Noticed today in Warehouse Liquors tweet that they now have BLAKKR in cans. I guess this is the Surly release of it?

Anyone try the Dogfish Head Aprihop?

xp Yep, Blakkr cans have been available for a month. I got a 4-pack in the mail of Blakkr, Abrasive, Furious and Bender and was really happy with those.

i tried aprihop a long time ago, maybe 5 years ago. someplace had it on draft and it was sublime. i bought some in bottles and shared with some friends and we all thought it was terrible

I tried a sample of aprihop on draft and liked it so I got a growler. Opened it up after a day or two in the fridge and it just tasted off.

Noticed today in Warehouse Liquors tweet that they now have BLAKKR in cans. I guess this is the Surly release of it?

Yeah, I'm guessing it must be because 3Floyds confirmed they were just doing the bombers from their end.

I've had Aprihop on tap and liked it, but can't remember if I've ever bought bottles.

Well, I just bought bottles. Will report. It's hard to believe so many folks love it on tap and hate it in bottles. How radically different could it be? (I will see!).

OK, Aprihop is perfectly fine. Pretty subtle, hardly disgusting. Pairing well with strawberries right now.

RFI I guess. I don't know a whole lot about US beers, and I think we only get the most widely-distributed breweries in the UK. But what would you guys suggest best starting points to seek out in terms of appreciating that big beer continent of yours?

Xpost Aprihop getting less OK as it warms up.

A couple weeks back we started chatting about the new era and what defines it, specifically in the context of a post of Michael Jackson's best American beers list from 2002.

It kinda had me thinking of different milestones and landmark beers I'd enjoyed over the years, and what has changed in the new era.

I recently remembered in 1996 getting into a Red Hook x Starbucks(which somewhat of a niche company at the time hah!) collab called Double Black Stout.

So I looked it up online to see what people thought of it then...

''On a scale of 1 to 10, it was between a 3 and a 5,'' said Keith Mackie, brewery general manager for McMenamins Pubs and Breweries. ''I bet Double Black Stout's going to be a flash in the pan.''

And as of 2014 BA rates it very good/outstanding: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18134/55/

Similarly around this time (1995?) I took a trip to Seattle in January and it was really cold compounded with this bone chilling wind coming off the Sound. We ended up seeking refuge in a bar and the bartender recommended Black Butte Porter from Deschutes and it was served absolutely ice cold in a frozen mug, like the top of the beer was iced over... and I can still remember how delicious it was.

#beerstalgia

seandalai i have no concept of what you get over there so if you can talk a bit abt what you see on the shelves that would help.

I did a quick little google of a couple of UK beer shops the other night, and the handful of "American craft" offerings were pretty run of the mill, iirc, at least from my perspective.

This is the biggest selection I've found over here: http://www.beersofeurope.co.uk/american-beer
Plus my local shop seems to have about 50 varieties of Rogue.

Based on that page, Founders, Green Flash, Jolly Pumpkin, Stone, and Lost Abbey are all very good buys. And hell, they have BCBS, may as well get that too. Also lolled to see Huber on there, haven't seen that shit in years.

yeah those would be many of the breweries i would start with, alesmith as well.

if i were you i would be trying to figure out how fresh the pale ales/ipas they're stocking are, no real use in overpaying for a 6-month old green flash ipa

BCBS may be as American as it gets, relatively speaking.

Awesome, thanks. Some of those (Stone, Founders, Lost Abbey) I can get locally too so I can check the dates on the bottles. How fresh should an ipa be to count as "fresh"?

within 6 months imo

slowburn LOL at "Millers Genuine Draught"

I saw Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on tap last time I was in London, I'd have to look through expense report journals to try to find out more specifics though.

Rumor is Surly to start distro to Wisconsin?

really? that would make me very happy. thinking about going to a tap takeover thing tonight (part of this insanity, which i don't want to get too caught up in).

i had a bottle of the Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Cherry Stout last night, i'm not generally into cherry but this was really good.

seandalai - i'd add epic and drake's to the list of stuff to check out, but i think the other suggestions are probably a bit more universally-acclaimed. drake's is surprisingly solid though! stillwater and southern tier are pretty good too, though some are definitely better than others

re complaints about Beeradvocate reviews upthread, found this one for Torpedo there:

This IPA has the flavor I have been searching for in a beverage for half a century. I can't explain how the entire experience of ordering a Torpedo and drinking it is so complete. Adjectives disappear. I become one with the total experience. If it's not the perfect beer for me, it's as near perfect as I have ever found. I have tried to describe the experience to friends and family, but lately, I don't even care if no one else likes it. I'm totally selfish about it. I'm hoping Torpedo is served in the afterlife. Otherwise I may never check out. Well done Sierra Nevada!! I have checked off the perfect beer from my bucket list.

overall: 4.75

lol

lol i would like to see the rest of that bucket list

Still on the lookout for the perfect grilled cheese sandwich.

idk anything about BA rating scales but I would figure "perfect" would equate to a round number

saving the 5.0 rating for when they actually drink sierra nevada torpedo in heaven

Awesome. I guess Torpedo is the real answer to my US beer questions.

Decided to pick up a 4pk so I am ridin' the ~chillwave~... I didn't know it was a Great Lakes surfing reference. Tastes better than when I had it on draft.

Found a couple of bottles of Pipeworks barrel aged Jones Dog milk stout. Stoked.

I moved on to the Allagash FV13 that CAD sent a few weeks ago. Solid sour with a nice balance of flavors so nothing really dominates. Good amount of barrel to it, good carbonation. This was just over 2 years in the bottle and I guess 4 years in the barrel prior to that? I'm not sure we get any of their barrel-aged products in Chicago but I'd definitely try some more.

We do, don't we? Bourbon barrel black Belgian, Curieux ...

We do, and I'm always too cheap to buy them.

Ah okay, can't recall ever seeing any.

you guys prob get the large-format aged allagash things but not fv13 and the other stuff they've put out in 375s.

Right

finally got a chance to open that heady topper last friday and DAMN. exactly what i want from a double ipa, so jealous of people who have easy access to that stuff, thanks so much CAD