The Beer Thread: 2009 – 2012

[TooLiveBrew]

Oh, and sorry for the double post, but I also tried & loved Flying Dog's Snake Dog IPA. I'm a fan of Flying Dog in general, but this IPA was really good imo. Beeradvocate gives it a B (B- from the Bros.); I'd go with a B+ or A-.

[logan82]

I haven't done the "new" New Glarus brewery tour since they opened the 2nd facility, but the original was really underwhelming. And this is from someone who loves their beers. If you're set on Madison-area tours, I recommend Capital and even Great Dane over New Glarus.

 

They do a tour of both breweries with a beer and cheese tasting at the end. We have zero interest in Capital Brewery. My wife and I think they make watery beer. I know a lot of other people really like them though. We live in the Madison area so that is where our interest is centered.

[ManOfTheBeer]

TooLiveBrew: I'm glad to hear you recommend Ranger. I respect your beerness, and I had a sixer or Ranger in my hands before walking past Moon Man at my local liquor store. Thanks for the disclaimer on the hoppiness of that beer though. It's been a few years since I had Flying Dog's IPA, but I don't remember being impressed. I will have to seek it out again. Flying Dog has been really hit and miss (mostly miss) for me. I wasn't big on their Tire Bite or their Road Dog (Scotch Ale). I did really, really like their Gonzo Porter. One of my favorite IPAs at the moment is Smuttynose IPA. I've also heard really good things about Lakefront's IPA as well.

 

logan3825: To each his own when it comes to opinions of breweries. Truthfully, I'm not a huge Capital fan either. I don't really like German lagers. I much prefer styles from England/Ireland/Scotland. I'm just saying, if you want a lot of beer and an entertaining tour, Capital impressed me. The beer and cheese tasting part of the New Glarus tour was not what I experienced. Sounds awesome!

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm glad to hear you recommend Ranger. I respect your beerness, and I had a sixer or Ranger in my hands before walking past Moon Man at my local liquor store. Thanks for the disclaimer on the hoppiness of that beer though. It's been a few years since I had Flying Dog's IPA, but I don't remember being impressed. I will have to seek it out again. Flying Dog has been really hit and miss (mostly miss) for me. I wasn't big on their Tire Bite or their Road Dog (Scotch Ale). I did really, really like their Gonzo Porter. One of my favorite IPAs at the moment is Smuttynose IPA. I've also heard really good things about Lakefront's IPA as well.

 

I like the Ranger more than Snake Dog. I guess I shouldn't just make the blanket comment that "I'm a fan of Flying Dog" -- I really only like their Pale Ale & now the IPA. I tend to not like many brews outside of Ales, so I don't do a good job of comparing them well. I just dislike how sweet Abbeys & many Bocks can be (though I love most Maibocks).

 

Is Smuttynose widely available? I've never heard of that one. As for Lakefront, I've liked just about everything I've tried from them. They're a very overlooked brewery imo. Their Stein Beer is pretty awesome. Just got ahold of their Big Easy Imperial Maibock. Yum. I liked it more than the B it gets at beeradvocate, but I honestly am not nearly as knowledgeable & critical of beer as many posters there are. I don't grade a beer on things like "lacing" (no idea what that is) or "retention". I might actually know what those phrases mean in layman's terms, but I tend to 'grade' beers based on how good I think they are in a much more basic sense. Hopping is really the only thing I think I know a tiny bit about, and that was only due to living in the Pac. NW for a while, where hops are king.

[Beerambassador]

I wasn't wild about Ranger, but that might be more of a personal taste thing. I just don't care for New Belgium as a whole. I talked about this earlier in the thread and Ranger confirms what I was thinking. All of their beers taste the same. It's gotta be their house yeast strain. I pour a bottle of New Belgium and I immediately pick out that taste and that's it. It just bothers me. It was a nice, bitter IPA but I thought it was missing that citrusy aroma/taste I love from hops. That and it had that darn background flavor from their yeast.

 

As for the whole tour thing. It' my understanding that New Glarus only does the guided tour with cheese on Friday afternoon. Other than that, it's the super lame self-guided tours "hosted" by JOHNNY DANGER! I thought it was REALLY underwhelming. While I much prefer New Glarus's beer over Captial, Capital has MUCH better tours. By a long shot. Unless you take the hardhat tour at New Glarus, which sounds awesome.

 

Smuttynose is pretty widely available. For starters, I know Woodman's has it. I'm sure you can find it elsewhere but Woodman's has quite a few of their beers.

 

Oh, and ManOfTheBeer, let us know how those beers turn out. I've been drinking my first homebrew for about a week now. It's not great, but it's getting better with each passing day. I'm excited to try my second, and was considering one of the Northern Brewer Scotch ale kits. The 60 seemed like it would be lacking, seeing how cheap it is. I'm thinking there can't be much malt or hops in any kit that far under $20.

[logan82]

Yes the hard hat tours are Fridays at 1:00 only and yes the self guided tour is lame. Even the tour of their new hilltop brewery which is a very nice looking brewery.

[stoops17]

I did the self guided tour about a month ago on a Sunday afternoon at the hilltop facility, just when I thought it was going to be lame, one of the gift shop girls decided to tag along and gave us an impromptu guided tour, maybe she was practicing for regular tours or maybe she liked my brother and I, either way, I'm glad she did as she answered questions and was entertaining and nice. I guess we just got lucky.

[logan82]

I think a lot of the people who work at New Glarus are family. That hilltop facility is very nice looking. Obviously made with the public in mind.

[logan82]

Had some Ranger the other night. Not to bad. Maybe I am turning to the dark side and starting to like hoppy beer.

[ManOfTheBeer]

I needed a nice hop fix last night so I hurried to my local store and picked up a sixer of 3 Floyds Alpha King. I've had it several times in the past, but I'm always blown away by how drinkable it is! The hops are clear and present in that APA, but 3F really know how to draw out some great citrus flavors with their hop usage. Alpha King, for those of you who haven't had it yet, has this delicious sweet tangerine/orange taste that mixes oh so well with the bready malts. Like marmalade on toast. If any of you are new to 3 Floyds, try their Gumballhead...insanely good American Wheat (almost Pale Ale though).

One of my coworkers just got back from a Hawaiian vacation and brought me a few beers...the best was Kona's golden ale...kind of boring when cold, but as it warmed it balanced out and was a delicious marriage of sweet malt and just enough hop bitterness for a golden. Her friend who lives in Hawaii is going to be sending her their Wailua Wheat when it's available.

On that note of seasonal fruit beers, please rush out and try Abita's Strawberry Harvest. It's brewed from March-May, but it's in very limited quantity. I've already put a Fond du Lac grocery store and a West Bend liquor store out of stock for the season. I'm trying to hold off on buying more so others may experience the awe and wonder of this phenomenal beer. I know, I know. My name should be ManOfTheFruitBeer. But really, this one is so drinkable and not overly sweet. It tastes like fresh strawberries, and there is absolutely no aftertaste. Truly a fantastic creation!

TLB: I don't know how available Smuttynose is...they're a New Hampshire brewery that also makes a very good brown ale (Old Brown Dog). Brown ales are an oft-maligned beer style, but I find them to be delicious. Just dark and chocolately enough for a session. You're right: Lakefront is criminally underrated. I love Riverwest Stein, Eastside Dark, and Fuel Cafe (coffee stout) best, but I haven't found one yet that I don't like. I guess I'd say Cattail Ale is my least favorite, though that's perhaps because when I think of mild ale, I think of 3 Floyds Pride & Joy. Tough to beat that one. And hey, don't worry about lacing (the sides of a beer glass as you drink the beer) and retention (how long the head remains) when you have the wonderful world of Pacific Northwest hops to deal with...it's a problem we'd all love to have. Wisconsin is home to some world class beers and a culture to match, but the NW is king of hops. That region has done more for the US craft beer scene that any other.

Beerambassador: Yes, Johnny Danger! I was drawing a blank on what we were laughing at during the NG tour, but that was it. I don't care for self-guided tours in general because of the silly talking wand you have to walk around with. I did wave to Dan Carey, who was in a hurry making some new delicious Unplugged (probably). I don't like every NG beer out there, but they do so much right that I just assume it's a deficiency in my tasting. I'll let you guys know how the homebrews turn out...you're right about the 60 Shilling being underwhelming...we wanted to start with a nice, easy drinker to give to family/friends. I'm expecting a mild English type of ale, pretty sessionable. The price was right though!

[diomedeh2]

Far too long since this thread was updated...

 

Anyway...was able to get my hands on a glass of 2004 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot the other night...crazy crazy beer. The hops have mellowed out completely and given way to a much smoother, almost spicy barleywine. At $5 a glass it was hard to argue that price.

[Buckylovesbeer]

The new Capital Supper Club is not bad. Pretty plain and simple as far as beer goes, but pretty good. Very smooth and no after-taste. Capital does good work!

[FunksG]

I see this was posted a while back, but I went to check the 2010 New Glarus Beer Calendar because it's getting to be that time of year for Dancing Man Wheat. Sadly, I see it isn't available until around July, looks like I will have to resort to the Crack'd Wheat for the time being (which I have never had). Another one of my favorite wheat beers is Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier from Germany. I have a four pack of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA in the fridge right now, once finals are done on Thursday I will tap into that and test it out, I have heard good things.

[diomedeh2]

I have a four pack of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA in the fridge right now, once finals are done on Thursday I will tap into that and test it out, I have heard good things.

As far as IPA's go, especially for Dogfish, the 90 Minute is a very strong offering. I've had all three (60, 90, 120) and I'd say the 90 left the best impression on me. Just watch out for that abv, it'll catch up on ya.

[logan82]

I see this was posted a while back, but I went to check the 2010 New Glarus Beer Calendar because it's getting to be that time of year for Dancing Man Wheat. Sadly, I see it isn't available until around July, looks like I will have to resort to the Crack'd Wheat for the time being (which I have never had). Another one of my favorite wheat beers is Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier from Germany. I have a four pack of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA in the fridge right now, once finals are done on Thursday I will tap into that and test it out, I have heard good things.

I would go with either Oberon Ale from Bells or Stone soup until D-Man comes out. Crack'd Wheat is hoppy and not really like a Hefe.

[LouisEly]

So how many of you can say you have had this:

 

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/22515d988b341bc456ae8df18c1a8b3747a57b5.jpg

[JumpinMacFlash]

I have. I didn't think it was that impressive. To me, it didn't differ too much from the regular Blue Moon (or at least not enough to justify the price difference).

[TooLiveBrew]

This thread needs a serious revival. Come on, summer brews, inspire us!

 

 

Had some more Mighty Arrow (New Belgium) & Moon Man (New Glarus). I like both, as previously stated. I need to try some new stuff out, so I'll have to read through this thread some more.

[sgtcluels]

DFH 90 minute is by far their best offering of that line. 60 isn't hoppy enough, 120 is way to astringent and earthy. While 90 has great hop notes, but a little lingerly astringent. I drank a can (one in a can, one in a glass) of Oscar Blues Gubna, it reminds me a ton of DFH90. Both don't hold a candle up to Hopslam though, love the citrus notes of hopslam minus all the stringent characters that most super hoppy beers have.

 

Moon Man reminds me of a hoppy spotted cow, while it's my favorite of the new glarus lines, I don't like most of their offerings.

 

I'll be trying Oscar Blues Gordon (Hoppy Red) some time this week.

[diomedeh2]

I'll be trying Oscar Blues Gordon (Hoppy Red) some time this week.

Enjoy. I was able to try their double dry hopped Gordon at an event a few months back and it was absolutely fantastic. I think it might be the strongest Oscar Blues offering, personally.

[diomedeh2]

As for the Blue Moon Grand Cru, I always see it on shelves and have yet to be tempted enough to pick one up. That said, I still give Blue Moon some props for introducing me, a few years back now, to the world of Belgian wits. Granted there are far superior offerings out there, it was a fine intro back in the day.

[diomedeh2]

This thread needs a serious revival. Come on, summer brews, inspire us!

Agreed. Anyone tried Enigma yet? I'll be heading back to WI in a few weeks and will definitely be looking to get my hands on a bottle or two.

[honuswagner21]

I have stumbled onto Lakefront White. Was looking for a lighter wheat beer and this one more than fit the bill. This one went down really well during the 85 degree mid-60's dew point weather over Memorial Day weekend here in MKE.

[logan82]

Summer is actually a time when I am less likely to try new beer. I only have a limited time to drink as much Oberon Ale and Dancing Man Wheat as possible. I like the Moon Man as well. I really have not come across anything interesting lately. I tried Flying Dog Brewery's Belgian IPA. I liked that although I have no idea what the heck a Belgium IPA is supposed to be. I am going on the New Glarus paid brewery tour on June 18th. We originally were going to stop at the Grumpy Troll in Mt Horeb on the way back but decided we didn't want to drink to much while driving.

[LouisEly]

I have. I didn't think it was that impressive. To me, it didn't differ too much from the regular Blue Moon (or at least not enough to justify the price difference).

According to what I was told, it was only produced in a very limited quantity as their special 20th anniversary brew and not supposed to be for sale to the public.

 

If you can find it you might want to save a bottle, as from what I heard it is a one-time thing and not something that will be regularly brewed. Thus the high price.