The Beer Thread: 2009 – 2012

[sgtcluels]

Heretic/JA Phair - Start up, brew house isn't' even done yet. Beer needs some work, JA Phair traditional english pales were really good, the rest forgettable.

Heretic is the brewery Jamil started up I believe.

 

 

Sure is. He and his crew were up in Oregon till the day after we stopped there otherwise I would have gotten to meet him. Bummer.

 

They need more work, but this was the last tap of the first keg from their first run on their equipment. Not 100% awesome beer is to be expected.

[logan82]

sgtcluels wrote:

 

Sure is. He and his crew were up in Oregon till the day after we stopped there otherwise I would have gotten to meet him. Bummer.

 

They need more work, but this was the last tap of the first keg from their first run on their equipment. Not 100% awesome beer is to be expected.

Yeah I just looked over at the website and on the blog portion Jamil said he really wasn't comfortable with serving his beer yet but he promised it would be there to drink. That was early July.

[TooLiveBrew]

Am recently back from my trip to the PacNW. When I get some more time, I'll list the 70+ unique beers sampled on that excursion. What an awesome freaking time.

Glad you had a good time! Looking forward to reading your report.

[Ando Calrissian]

Our trip started in Seattle. We headed east to Colfax (family reunion) and then down to Walla Walla. From there to Portland. From Portland to Seaside. From Seaside back to Seattle. We ate great food all over, gained a new appreciation for the amazing landscape of Eastern Washington and Oregon. Best meal of the trip is tough to say, but it might have been at Revel in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood.

 

Alright, here's the beer list:

 

Hale's Supergoose IPA

Hale's Pale Ale

Ninkasi Total Domination IPA

Elysian Immortal IPA/ IPA on Cask (@ Stumbling Monks)

Elysian ESB

Elysian Raconteur Porter

Elysian Red

Alaskan Kolsch

Boundary Bay CDA

Anacoetes IPA

Fremont Brewing Solstice IPA

North Sound Brewing Bitter Rain ESB

Diamond Knot IPA

Russian River Pliny the Elder

Stillwater Debutante Saison

Upright Rye Ale

Deschutes Inversion IPA

Deschutes Twilight Summer Ale

Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA

Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale

Rainer Lager

Olympia

Palouse Falls Crimson

Palouse Falls Spring Thaw

HUB Rise up Red (on cask)

HUB Evelyn's Imperial Sunshine

HUB Seven Grain Survival Stout

HUB Crosstown Pale Ale

HUB Galactic Imperical Red

Rogue YSB

Rogue Double Dead Guy

Rogue Dad's Little Helper

Amnesia ESB

Amnesia Dusty Trail Pale Ale

Amnesia Copacetic IPA

Walking Man Knuckle Dragger Pale Ale

Cascade Spring Gose

Cascade Summer Gose

Cascade "The Vine" (2010)

Cascade Apricot (2010)

Cascade Sang Rouge (2010)

Cascade Double Cherry (2011)

Cascade Saison de Maison

Lompoc C Note Imperial IPA

Lompoc Strong Draft

Lompoc Kick Axe Pale

Laurelwood Brewing Motherlode Golden Ale

Everybody's Brewing Common Ale

Tug Boat ESB

Tug Boat Golden Ale

Tug Boat Chernobyl Stout

Off the Rails OTM Stout

Fort George Brewing Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale

Fort George Brewing Vortex

Widmer Citra Summer Ale

Vertigo Friar Mike's IPA

Fish Tail Leavenworth Dunkel

Fish Tail Organic IPA

Fish Tail Hodson's IPA

Fish Tail Salmon Pale Ale

Harmon ESB

Harmon Belgian IPA

Harmon Mt Takhoma Blonde Ale

Mack 'n Jack's Amber

[TooLiveBrew]

Wow, that is some list.

 

 

Elysian Immortal IPA/ IPA on Cask (@ Stumbling Monks)

Elysian ESB

Elysian Raconteur Porter

Elysian Red

Alaskan Kolsch

...

Diamond Knot IPA

 

EdgarDiazRocks approves

[GAME05]

with out combined beer experience and varied locations around the country/world, we could combine to make one heck of a ratings guide.

[Funketown]

Ando, that's an awesome list. You should be really proud of yourself for having the determination to sample all of those wonderful beers. I'm surprised you found a couple of Gose beers. I've only had one of those before and I loved it - so tart and refreshing, with almost a fresh funky sourdough character. Awesome style; Gose and Berliner Weisse are my two favorite German styles. I would probably kill for a New Glarus Berliner Weisse down here in this consistent 90+ degree heat. I might maim for a Moon Man.

[logan82]

Yeah that Moon Man stuff is really good. I think my wife went shopping today..... eh, who am I kidding. I know my wife well enough to know she bought Moon Man and D-Man.

 

I am off to New Glarus tomorrow for the yearly pilgrimage. They usually have a brewery only beer.

[TooLiveBrew]

Moon Man is hands down my favorite NG brew. It's probably one of my favorites overall, too.

[Ando Calrissian]

Ando, that's an awesome list. You should be really proud of yourself for having the determination to sample all of those wonderful beers. I'm surprised you found a couple of Gose beers. I've only had one of those before and I loved it - so tart and refreshing, with almost a fresh funky sourdough character. Awesome style; Gose and Berliner Weisse are my two favorite German styles. I would probably kill for a New Glarus Berliner Weisse down here in this consistent 90+ degree heat. I might maim for a Moon Man.

The Gose was fantastic. They weren't just straight up sour/tart either, they'd been seasoned with salt and some other things. Anyway, they were a highlight.

My absolute favorite brewery/brewpub of the trip was Cascade in Portland. From what I gathered they're only a couple years old, but I just found what they were aiming for to be impressive. In general, I noticed a trend towards specialization in brewers out west that we're not seeing in the midwest yet. Some places really went after English ales, others (like Cascade) had other things in mind.

The Oatmeal Pale Ale was a real winner. Came come right away and brewed my own version of it (did an all Maris Otter English IPA w/ oats and nothing but EKG).

As a general observation I was impressed with the experience in that rarely (if ever) did I try a brew there the brewer had just totally missed on the particular style they were aiming for. There's a great baseline of quality out there that some of our Milwaukee companies would do well to take note of.

 

[Ando Calrissian]

Wow, that is some list.

 

 

Elysian Immortal IPA/ IPA on Cask (@ Stumbling Monks)

Elysian ESB

Elysian Raconteur Porter

Elysian Red

Alaskan Kolsch

...

Diamond Knot IPA

 

EdgarDiazRocks approves

Elysian was good beer. Was really looking forward to the Diamond Knot per EDR's rec, but you know, I didn't love it. In the vast sea of great IPA's available there, I found to be good, not great.

I was quite impressed with Boundary Bay's CDA (Cascadian Dark Ale). Hit all the right notes for me on what I'd imagine that brew should be like.

As an aside, I think I discovered that the Pac NW might be the perfect context in which to enjoy a coffee porter or stout. There's just something that felt right about that style in that context. Gotta try and brew one up for the early fall.

 

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Was really looking forward to the Diamond Knot per EDR's rec, but you know, I didn't love it. In the vast sea of great IPA's available there, I found to be good, not great.

The double hopped Industrial IPA is the standout, I agree the regular IPA is just okay.

 

I've never had a bad Boundary Bay beer, but more important, what did you think of the Amnesia Copacetic? PDX Beer Fest(!) this week and they're bringing a double hopped version they're calling "Dopacetic" can't wait to get a hold of that.

[Ando Calrissian]

Copacetic was great. I wish we'd had more time to hang out at Amnesia than we did, but it was a worthy stop.

I was thrilled with how many places were brewing up bitter and that had multiple brews on cask. Good bitter and even IPA on cask might prevent me from being productive for days on end. So, so, good.

Additionally, there seemed to be a fair amount of experimentation in blending base malts and hops from different styles. Amnesia did this - an all Maris Otter American IPA. I even remember someplace trying to do a pale ale with German hop varieties. Fun stuff.

If I get the chance to return to Portland, I wouldn't go back to Rogue. I like a fair amount of their beer, but didn't appreciate that grimy tap room.

[TooLiveBrew]

PDX Beer Fest(!) this week

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ! / http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif

 

Can't wait to see your pictures

[Funketown]

Boulevard Double-Wide DIPA tonight. Pretty solid brew, but I think it might have been a bit old since the hop flavors were somewhat muted. Not overly bitter for a DIPA, lots of caramel/toffee sweetness up front balanced it out.

 

On a side note, I hate it how most breweries don't put "bottled on" dates on the bottles, especially with IPA's and Pilsners. I don't care what freakin' batch number it is. Just tell me if it's fresh!

[logan82]

Funketown wrote:

On a side note, I hate it how most breweries don't put "bottled on" dates on the bottles, especially with IPA's and Pilsners. I don't care what freakin' batch number it is. Just tell me if it's fresh!

Yeah hoppy beer really should be fresh. Hop flavor fades fast. Not sure why it matters with Pilsner.

[Funketown]

Yeah hoppy beer really should be fresh. Hop flavor fades fast. Not sure why it matters with Pilsner.

I've always felt like good Pilsners have really lovely hop flavors but they're pretty subtle and they just fade into astringency when they aren't fresh. I was never a big Pilsner guy until I had Sam Adams Noble Pils and Victory Prima Pils both fresh, and they were pretty excellent.

[logan82]

Everything about the flavor of Pilsner is subtle. It is almost like a brewer makes it to see if they can make a beer without flaws. Any flaw at all will show up in a Pilsner. IPA's on the other hand are relatively easy to make. Hell I have made a few good hoppy beers. I am pretty haphazard as a brewer. No temp control. Brew on a schedule.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Can't wait to see your pictures

They're here!

 

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6138/5998203540_2a83242057.jpg

[datrain711]

The New Glarus fall schedule looks insane!

 

Chocolate Abbey,

Black IPA,

Cyrstal Weizen

 

not to mention Apple Ale and their wonderful Oktoberfest.

[logan82]

Not sure if I like them messing with a style like Abbey. I don't believe it will have a strong chocolate taste. It might also go well with the style. I wish we had a brewery in the state that made decent Belgian style beers. No, I am not talking about the fruity stuff.

 

It is time to vote on New Glarus' beer schedule for next year.

[datrain711]

Not sure if I like them messing with a style like Abbey. I don't believe it will have a strong chocolate taste. It might also go well with the style. I wish we had a brewery in the state that made decent Belgian style beers. No, I am not talking about the fruity stuff.

 

It is time to vote on New Glarus' beer schedule for next year.

Whether it turns out really well or not, it is nice to have a local brewery so committed to trying new things. I can't wait for the black IPA. As for belgians, are there any U.S. breweries you recommend that do this style well? I tend to stick with Wittekerke, Duvel, etc.

[Funketown]

I'm fond of Ommegang's Abbey, though I've only had it once. Unibroue (QC) does some excellent Belgians; I love La Fin du Monde and Trois Pistoles.

 

I had a Rochefort 6 last night and I didn't love it. I found it to be way overcarbonated, a bit watery, and not nearly as complex as their others. Fine beer, but I didn't love it.

[logan82]

Whether it turns out really well or not, it is nice to have a local brewery so committed to trying new things.

 

Absolutely. That is why I pimp them every chance I get. If you read this whole thread you would be at least half convinced that I was on the payroll.(I'm not but if they want to give me some free beer I wouldn't decline.) I just wish they had a decent true non-fruit Belgian style beer on their roster.

 

I can't wait for the black IPA.

 

I am considdering making one myself. I doubt I will since I am not a fan of bitterness but I will probably do one with some hop bursting.

 

As for belgians, are there any U.S. breweries you recommend that do this style well?

 

Ommegang and Goose Island off the top of my head. I love the dubbel from both. They also do several other Belgian styles. The Vintage in Madison has several Belgian styles on tap but their taps rotate pretty frequently. They have a really good Dubbel and Triple, which I believe they will be bringing back in the fall. They also had a Belgiam IPA made with Sorachi Ace hops which I somewhat tried to make at home.(turned out pretty tasty but not like theirs) There is another one I have never tried but supposedly has good Belgian style beer in Allagash. It is also very interesting Ommegang makes such good Belgians and now their former brew master, Randy Thiel, currently works at New Glarus in their lab.

 

I have also had several really good Belgian style beers at The Vintage in Madison. Honestly I think they make the best Belgian style beers in Wisconsin, outside of the fruity ones. Dan Carrey makes really good fruity beer.

[Fartknocker]

I wish we had a brewery in the state that made decent Belgian style beers. No, I am not talking about the fruity stuff.

Give Ale Asylum (Madison) a try if you haven't yet.