The Beer Thread: 2009 – 2012

[Beerambassador]

The Isthmus had an article on that beer a couple months back Strong beer. If you love beer, you should have their page bookmarked. Even if you live nowhere near the Madison area. They have occasional neat stories about beer and beer reviews. Better beer coverage than any other Wisconsin newspaper.

 

As an aside, Tyranena's next Brewers Gone Wild beer is a cherry porter and they're releasing a scotch ale - which I believe is going to be a regular brew for them, not just a limited edition beer. They also have a smoked porter with chipotles on tap at the brewery (no bottling, boo!). I might have to stop in some time to try it. Their e-newsletter, which you can subscribe to on their website, is always a good read if you're interested in their beer, or just interested in reading the rantings of their perpetually crabby brewer/owner. Good insights into the brewing process.

 

I gotta mention this too. I saw Bell's Hopslam is out for the season. This is just an outstanding beer. Instead of just being really bitter, you get a ton of the hop flavor and taste. I cannot recommend it enough. However, with hop prices through the roof right now it was $15/six pack at Woodmans. I passed because that's just ridiculous. But if you love hops and don't mind spending, it's a great beer.

[blatzlight]

In the past two weeks or so I have tried the following:

 

3 Floyds Pride and Joy (tap) - awesome mild american pale.

3 Floyds Dreadnaught (bottle) - amazing double IPA. a little expensive at $9.50 for 22oz bottle but damn good. Very pungent hops but not too dry.

Bells Hopslam (bottle) - I picked up a 6pm the other night and almost went through all of it. It is very expensive at $16.00 for 6pk but worth it. It uses top quality hops and it does pack a wallop at 10% abv. (I think). This beer is just a stellar. Hurry up as it is a seasonal.

Dogfish Head 60 minutes IPA (bottle) - Not as good as the 90 minute but still above average.

Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout (bottle) - A 22oz bottle that will give you diabites if you try and drink it all yourself. Very good but full of chocolate.

Avery Ale to the Chief (tap) - Very nice and sweet IPA.

[logan82]

I see Bell's Brewery showing up quite a bit on people's posts lately. I know they have a summer wheat Oberon Ale which is pretty good. If you like Stouts, my wife loved their Kalamazoo Stout.

[fstorm1]

Yeah, good call on the Oberon Ale. Very, very good. Their White Winter is pretty good, and I have a bottle of their Lager in the fridge now, will crack it soon.

[blatzlight]

Tonight's beer of choice:

 

Bear Republic Racer 5 - Very nice and reasonable IPA. $3.99 for a 22oz bottle. Not extremely strong but a very citrusy hops. I think I will have a Bells Hopslam now. Oh yeah!

[fstorm1]

I've had a couple English Brown's in the past few days, Big Sky's Moose Drool, and Abita's Turbodog. I'm becoming a bigger and bigger fan of this style, and though neither of these are the best in the category, they are solid and very easy to drink. My nice lady friend really dug the Turbodog. Hopefully that means she'll buy some once in a while. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[blatzlight]

i am big fan of turbodog - especially when i am visiting new orleans. nothing like plates full of raw oysters and turbodogs for a few hours. good times.

[SeriesFinale]

Tonight's beer of choice:

 

Bear Republic Racer 5

That's my local go-to

 

A summer day in the park isn't without a cold Racer 5

[ManOfTheBeer]

First off, I'd like to pimp my newish beer blog "Finer Points of Pints". I'm seeing a pale ale theme emerging on page 37 of this fine thread, and it so happens that my friend and fellow Brewers fan Jeff has challenged me to a WI/NY Pale Ale Challenge in which we each sample and rate 3 pale ales from our respective geographic vicinities. Please feel free to comment if you see fit...this is my first true attempt at a beer blog and I'm curious to know if it's hit or miss.

 

Love seeing the 3F love in here too...3 Floyds Alpha King is the best APA I've had to date. Great chewy sweet citrus flavors.

 

As far as Bell's goes, their Two Hearted Ale stands up to most IPAs in my book...and it's named for Hemingway, so how can you go wrong?

 

+1 on the Turbodog. I first had it on tap at Crawdaddy's cajun restaurant in West Allis and fell in love immediately. My #1 brown ale is Avery's Ellie's Brown Ale...so chocolatey.

[datrain711]

A heads up for all you new glarus lovers:

 

Cracked Wheat and Unplugged Iced Barleywine are now appearing in local stores. Discount Liquor in Milwaukee and Waukesha has both of them. I will be stopping today to pick these up and I hope to have a review shortly.

 

13.5% on the barleywine, yikes!

 

happy drinking

[blatzlight]

Had a Three Floyds Black Sun Stout last night to wash out the taste of that Marquette game.

 

A hoppy and chocolatey stout. I liked it a lot but I am also a Three Floyds fanboy. I liked that there was a some hoppyness to the stout which blended well with the rich malt. Good beer.

 

This morning at breakfast I tried a taste of the Futhermore Thermo Refur. Holy weird beer batman. Made with organic beets, 5 yeast stands and black pepper. Furthermore continues to just push the envelope. It wasn't bad but I would say very very interesting.

 

I also very happy that I have six pack each of Three Floyds Alpha King, Pride and Joy and Gumball Head on its way to me today from Chicago. Going to be some good drinking soon.

[Hammer]

Decided that getting drunk was more important than having quality beer. 30 pack of the Champagne of Beers...MMM...$13 dollars for a couple of dudes to drink their sorrows away....priceless.

[logan82]

I ran across this while looking through links on the Hops N Props site. Beer mapping project. Seems like a noble cause to me. Interesting note though. If you search Appleton, nothing shows up, but if you search Oshkosh 3 places show up in Appleton. Madison is packed.

[logan82]

I got the New Glarus Crack'd Wheat. Tastes a lot like their Imperial Weizen in my opinion. Not great, but a solid beer. Maybe it will grow on me a after a few. I was hoping for something closer to Dancing Man. Clove flavors I think. Beautiful golden color in the glass.

[fstorm1]

Thanks for the update on the Cracked, logan. I hadn't been able to find it, but now that you mention it as being similar to the Imperial, I'm gonna hold out for a single bottle. The Imperial was disappointing.

 

This morning, my nice lady friend and I trekked over to Stevens Point, a planned excursion to Jung's Garden Center to buy this year's vegetable seed supply (totaled $91, and I've still not gotten all I wanted and haven't bought any "other" gardening supplies), and also to Point Brewery for the first time. I knew going in that Point would be considerably smaller than say Miller and Leinie's, but you really can't imagine how small until you're there. Amazing that they make that much and put out that much in such a small factory. But very interesting (didn't know they brewed all of James Page's beers there, or that they bottle Capital beers there for distribution), as all brewery tours are, although our tour guide was a "part time" Point employee who only works on Friday and Saturday, and is going to school. My lady friend and I both believe he may not have been old enough to actual enjoy the beer he was telling us about. He got some facts wrong, but no biggy, it was still fun and another tour I can cross off my list (leaving Capital, Berghoff/Huber, and New Glarus as the "Big Three" remaining). They had some nice deals in their giftshop, namely 6 pint glasses featuring their "Point Special" logos through the years. All six for just $9.99. Sweet. Also picked up a nifty Point pilsner/wheat glass, and a t-shirt. I was not, however, allowed to purchase a ring bottle opener. Funny, cheap little thing, but the lady friend wouldn't be seen in public with me if I wore it. Party pooper.

 

Finished off the evening with all-you-can-eat fish fry and scottish ale at the Stone Cellar brew pub in Appleton. Now that...was a good day. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

BTW- I finally had that Bell's Lager I mentioned earlier, and sadly, it may be the first Bell's I've had that I really can't recommend.

[logan82]

I should have read the bottle first. It said the Crack'd is a cross between a Bavarian Hefe and an American pale ale. Further down it says it is their "popular Imperial Weizen ratcheted down." If I remember correctly American pale ales are usually bitter and that bitterness is definitely there.

[blatzlight]

I may have a new favorite beer. Alpha King by Three Floyds. Hoppy as hell but still with a malt balance. I am in heaven!!!!

[Ando Calrissian]

Alpha King is fantastically good. I can't wait to get my hands on some soon.

[Beerambassador]

I have a couple of new one's to report on.

 

First is the Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA. Very good beer. It won't replace Bell's Two-Hearted as my stand-by IPA, but it's a good quality hop head beer. Nice hop aroma and flavor.

 

Viking Breweries Hot Chocolate Stout was a major disappointment. I'm now through with Viking. They make beers that sound intriguing, but they have problems pulling them off. This one is a chocolate stout with cayenne pepper. It was really sludgy, with an unappetizing yellow matter floating around (yeast?) in it. Ugly to look at, and not very tasty at all.

 

The Tyranena Paradise by the Dashboard Lights Cherry Porter was also kind of a disappointment. It uses the Tyranena imperial porter as a base (which is a great porter) but the cherry is just not there. There's a bit of tart from the cherry, but no real cherry flavor. Not a bad beer at all, just not what it could be.

 

Finally, I got around to mixing the Young's Double Chocolate Stout with New Glarus Raspberry Tart. Delicious, just as good as I thought it would be. I used about a quarter raspberry to 3/4 stout, but I think you could cut the raspberry down even more since the tart really comes through strong.

 

I did see a Chocolate Raspberry Stout made by Southen Tier, but the reviews were pretty bad, saying the raspberry was artificial tasting. Sometimes you gotta do things yourself.

[fstorm1]

Had a few new ones myself the last couple weeks, several of which weren't bad at all, and the rest were, well, not so good. It would figure, however, that the best came from three of my favorite breweries: New Glaris Coffee Stout, Capital's Munich Dark. and Sprecher's Abbey Triple. Up until a few months ago, I wasn't a huge fan of the darker beers. The coffee, and more so the chocolate flavorings turned me off. But I've grown to like the coffee's enough, even if the chocolate's are still not a favorite. NG's Coffee Stout was about perfect for me for the style where the coffee flavors, though dominate, aren't so ridiculously over the top that I couldn't find anything else. In this case, the nuttiness and sweetness were still more than apparent. Very good beer.

 

Capital's Munich Dark features more or less the same characteristics, only in different doses. The coffee flavor was lower, and the sweetness higher. I have a feeling this is a weak effort in terms of the style, but I liked it enough. Strangely, it tasted better colder than when it warmed.

 

Finally, the much maligned Sprecher Abbey. If you check at BA, you'll find reviews all over the place. From what I gather, however, the "newer" version of this beer is apparently much different than the old, which was, at best, poor. The bottle I had had fairly mild aromas, but the sweetness, and particularly the orange/fruitiness were very well balanced, but both higher than in my previous favorite La Fin Du Monde. I have a feeling the higher sweetness scares the purists, but I found it delicious.

 

Last night I had my first "positive" Redhook experience with their Copper Ale, which is about the limit to which I can really enjoy a pale ale. Hops, obviously, much lower than any other pale I've tried, which was nice for me, as it allowed the sweetness to poke through. Good for me, bad for pale lovers.

 

Oh, and I still haven't found the Cracked Wheat, after visiting 6 establishments. My last stop was the nice liquor lady, who promptly called her distributor, ordered it, and said she'd have it by Wednesday. I like her alot, honestly, but I have a hard time going there because she's limited by size. She just doesn't have the space for a "large" variety. Thusly, she doesn't have that many beers available in the "build" option. Plus, she's a bit more expensive than the others. Until I win the lottery, Festival will always be my first stop. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/ohwell.gif

[SoundsFan17]

I'm so glad I found the beer thread. I'm a new Brewers fan, and new to the site, but it has become indespensible to me now. Down here in Nashville, there are several brewerys, but only a couple brew pubs ( brew and sell on premises), and only one great bar. I LOVE BEER and plan on brewing my own some day, but for now, I'm content just to be an avid admirer. Theres a bar down here called The Flying Saucer( beerknurd.com ) that has a drinking club called the UFO. Once you have tried 200 different beers they give you 200$, a party, and they put your name and anything you want to say on a gold plate and put it on the wall, but you can only have three tallied in one day. They have an excellent selection and knowledgable bartenders. It's a great place to hang and drink before the Sounds game and the 10$ flat Bud Light prices if you guys ever come down here. They also show Predators games on the big screen. I'm at 130 something right now, so wish me luck.

Heres what I have had lately, I try to buy American:
Rogue XS Imperial Stout (Portland,OR bottle 11%abv,$30+)-This beer was worth every penny, notes of espresso, chocolate balanced by intense hop bitterness, I recommend halfing this one with a buddy.
Rogue Double Dead Guy(Portland,OR bottle 9%abv,$12-15)-Exactly what you think it will be. Pack a lunch.
Avery Maharaja IPA(draft,great IPA,notes of corriander balanced with the hops, not sure what the alcohol was, but it was in the 8-9% range)
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine (Chico, CA draft This beer looked and tasted great and is served in a red wine balloon. Dark amber red in color with a tall high alcohol head and superb lacing.)
My birthday is on St. Patricks Day if anyone wants to come down and drink for free! I can't wait to hear of all the tastings you guy have!

[TooLiveBrew]

If I remember correctly American pale ales are usually bitter and that bitterness is definitely there.

Yep. APAs tend to not be as bitter as IPAs. It sounds like I might actually like the Crack'd.

I'm so glad I found the beer thread. I'm a new Brewers fan, and new to the site, but it has become indespensible to me now. Down here in Nashville, there are several brewerys, but only a couple brew pubs ( brew and sell on premises), and only one great bar. I LOVE BEER and plan on brewing my own some day, but for now, I'm content just to be an avid admirer.

Welcome http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Glad you like the thread -- you'll be a good resource, since iirc there hasn't been anyone from your neck of the woods posting in here (apologies to anyone I may have slighted there).

Theres a bar down here called The Flying Saucer( beerknurd.com ) that has a drinking club called the UFO. Once you have tried 200 different beers they give you 200$, a party, and they put your name and anything you want to say on a gold plate and put it on the wall, but you can only have three tallied in one day. They have an excellent selection and knowledgable bartenders. It's a great place to hang and drink before the Sounds game and the 10$ flat Bud Light prices if you guys ever come down here. They also show Predators games on the big screen. I'm at 130 something right now, so wish me luck.

Good luck -- and don't let us all down! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif That bar sounds pretty cool, and what an enticing challenge. Pretty sweet reward. It's great that they have knowledgeable bartenders -- that really makes the beer-tasting experience much more enjoyable.


I think it's kinda funny that your first post in the beer thread, coming from Nashville, cites two Portland beers (my neck of the woods) as favorites. Small world. Rogue is an awesome brewery (one of many out here), and I've yet to go wrong with their stuff. The Dead Guy Ale is awesome -- my favorite of their varieties I've tried so far.

Another Oregon brewery to try if you can find it is Deschutes. I freaking love them. My favorites of theirs are the Jubelale (winter seasonal), Mirror Pond Pale Ale, & Inversion IPA... but you can't find a bad brew from them.

[logan82]

Just picked up New Glarus Stone Soup at the store today. I had never seen it before. I will let you know how it is later this weekend.

 

I think they pulled the New Glarus ALT out of their lineup.

 

I an looking forward to the Black Wheat that is supposed to come out in March. I hope it isn't as disappointing as the Crack'd. Don't get me wrong, the Crack'd wasn't bad, just not as tasty as I was hoping for. It would be nice to have a local Hefe other than going to The Great Dane to buy growlers which, with kids, is sort of inconvienent.

[fstorm1]

Managed a sixer of both the Crack'd and the Stone from Festival yesterday (made the liquor lady climb a ladder to get it down from the top shelf of the cooler-she said the distributor had stacked them up and not put any on the shelf as they were trying to unload some of the other N.G. stuff first). I tried both, although not in my usual trying fashion. The Crack'd was what it (and Logan) had said, although the hops do calm down quite a bit as it warms. Not bad, just nothing overly special. Let's say interesting. The Stone on the other hand, which I knew nothing about, tasted like a really, really, good tripel. It mentions Abbey on the label, but BA has it marked as a Belgian Pale. Very good, like it alot. I'm proally gonna crack another of those this evening.

 

EDIT: Upon further review, the biggest difference between the Stone and a tripel is the wine characteristics are dialed way down in this...which is fine by me. And the hop characteristics are very low for a pale. I've had two other of this style (O'so's Belgian Pale Ale and Furthermore's Fatty Boombalatty), but this one is far better. Very, very easy to drink, and quite crisp and refreshing. Unfortunately, I've now decanted the two bottles of Stone incorrectly, as you're to leave the sediment in the bottle. Just a natural motion for me to want to get all the good stuff in the glass. Have to remember that one.

[logan82]

I really liked the Stone. Will definitely buy again. Probably my new go to beer instead of Hacker Pschorr. I got 2 of them, not sure if I will save the second for my wife like I promised.