The Beer Thread: 2009 – 2012

[Baldkin]

There was a very interesting read about the Brewery decision by their owner, he basically said "We need to expand, we could either expand here, and pay way more for both shipping and space, or expand there and cut our costs. It was an easy decision."

[logan82]

It makes a ton of sense if you have the capitol and don't like contract brewing.

[GAME05]

i forgot the name of the gentleman who somewhat-recently moved to Raleigh, but if you're willing to drive to Winston-Salem tonight or early tomorrow morning, there's a good store there selling cases of beer for about 50% off (and wine for about 40% off). but get there early because the popular ones go fast. lot of winter seasonals they're trying to get rid of, but others, too.

[Funketown]

i forgot the name of the gentleman who somewhat-recently moved to Raleigh, but if you're willing to drive to Winston-Salem tonight or early tomorrow morning, there's a good store there selling cases of beer for about 50% off (and wine for about 40% off). but get there early because the popular ones go fast. lot of winter seasonals they're trying to get rid of, but others, too.

 

Ah, that would have been tempting, but it's probably about 1.5 hours from where we are in Carrboro (right next to Chapel Hill) to Winston-Salem. I take it your back in NC now? The big news here is obviously that Sierra Nevada and New Belgium are opening their East coast facilities in Asheville. That now gives the Asheville area NB, SN, French Broad, Highland, Pisgah, and about a dozen others that I don't see out here.

 

Highland Little Hump is one of my favorite spring beers. It's a baby 4.5% APA which probably clocks in at ~25 IBU's, but's it's got a pretty good amount of floral hop character and I can drink them all night without getting blitzed. Finish is slightly vapid, but that's something that seems difficult to avoid in such a low abv session beer (not counting Lambics and Berliner Weiss as sessioners!).

[GAME05]

got back a couple weeks ago, which means now it's job-hunting time. but i'm now fighting the stress with a $22 case of Stoudts Tripple.

 

a friend of mine used to be the Assistant Brewmaster for Pisgah. they were bad when they first started, but now their stuff is pretty good. either i'll go up to Asheville or he'll come here and we'll be beer snobs for a weekend, which is fun. you'll have to join us next time.

[patrickgpe]

bumping this

 

i normally do not care for fruity beer, but the milwaukee brewing company released weekend at louies this week, which is a blueberry lager. This started as an accident when they watered down a back of Louie’s demise. Rather than dump it, though decided to add the Blueberry Rooibos tea. I think it may be a little too sweet for my liking, but it is a very interesting brew for sure. Definitely a different taste than berry weiss and other fruity beers.

[Funketown]

When I flew back from Wisconsin to NC, I had 12 Dancing Man Wheats and a bunch of diapers that I needed to fit in my checked bag. I wrapped the diapers around the beer for protection and if needed, absorption. TSA checked my bag and opened every single diaper, but luckily they put them back on fairly well so none of the beer broke.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

There have been a BUNCH of new "Nano" breweries opening near me and they're all good. Peeps with day jobs who are only open one or two days a week. One is just in a guy's garage.

 

http://www.dirtybucketbrewery.com/

 

Also Oregon Brewers Fest this week! My 15th!

[Funketown]

We have a few small operations opening down here soon that I'm pretty excited about. One nano in Carrboro has just begun selling to local bars, and there's another micro in Carrboro that should open around September.

 

Haw River Farmhouse Ales is opening late in the year in Saxapahaw, NC, about 25 minutes West of Chapel Hill. They're obviously going to specialize in Farmhouse Ales from northern France and Belgium, which I'm really excited about because Saison is one of my favorite styles. Right now they're working on a Saison with Sorachi Ace hops, black tea, and Meyer lemon. I've tried that hop once, in Brooklyn's Sorachi Ace, and it has a very distinct lemon/black tea flavor.

[logan82]

Don't forget to vote.

[Funketown]

Don't forget to vote.

 

I had to stuff the ballot for the wheats. So many other breweries make solid IIPA, BIPA's, Bocks, Brown Ales, etc. New Glarus' Wheat beers are really on another level, and I can count on a single hand the number of wheats I've had that I think are in the same ballpark as NG's.

[Bikeage77]

went out west in mid june and stocked up on all the micros i found out there. Got Kilt Lifter Scottish Ale, Grand Canyon mixer, Ska Brewery mixer and the Ska IPA

 

I'd say the Ska Brewery IPA is one of my favorites. Kilt Lifter stands out too. If your in Arizona or Colorado, hunt em down.

 

Also found Hamm's 24oz cans, which is more of a novelty than anything, but it's my favorite swill, and I can't find it anywhere in Wisconsin

[logan82]

Don't forget to vote.

 

I had to stuff the ballot for the wheats. So many other breweries make solid IIPA, BIPA's, Bocks, Brown Ales, etc. New Glarus' Wheat beers are really on another level, and I can count on a single hand the number of wheats I've had that I think are in the same ballpark as NG's.

Yeah their wheats are really good.

 

Vote for Black Top also. Probably the best dark IPA I have had. Most are not balenced well between the hops and roasted grains.

 

I voted for Black Top, Black Wheat, D'man, IIPA and Imperial Saison. It's hard to get good Belgian style beers locally and their IIPA is really good.

 

Has anybody tried the Saison New Glarus put out? I thought it was pretty good. Nice subtle fruity flavor.

[mothershipconnection]

I've been in Iceland for the past few weeks and access to beer will be the only good part of ending my vacation. It's like these guys have no knowledge that you can make anything besides lager.

[Funketown]

I had NG's Saison the first time they brewed it a few years back, and I remember it being good with lots of apricot flavor, but bordering on cloyingly sweet.

 

Iceland would be a neat place to visit, just not for the beer/food!

[logan82]

Well ales need 65-70°F temperatures to ferment.(some Belgian strains of yeast like it even hotter) I imagine lager(45-50°F) lends itself better to the temperatures of the country so that is what ended up more prevalent. Heck they probably have to raise the temperature just to ferment lagers.

[RobDeer 45]

Wanted to give this a bump and see if there are any good Oktoberfest beers to be sampled this fall. I am out of state so that could limit some of my choices from the WI people. Recently had Great Lakes Oktoberfest which was solid. Any suggestions would be great.

[chuckiehacks]

I had the Upland Oktoberfest last week. It was pretty good. They're out of Indiana and I think they have limited availability in the midwest.

[RobDeer 45]

I'll have to look in to that. I had a few Hofbrau Oktoberfest beers and I was not impressed. It was fine as a beer but not the oktoberfest I'm used to around the midwest. I believe that's one of the tents at the Oktoberfest so maybe I'm the one who is in the wrong!

 

One of my favorites was always Capital Brewery..... I have not seen that down here yet.

[Baldkin]

Rogue's Octoberfest was really good, as is Staghorn by New Glarus. Southern Tier's was pretty tasty as well.

[Kelbysdaddy]

i had the widmer brothers oktoberfest. it was ok

[Funketown]

Great Lakes' Oktoberfest is my favorite. I prefer it to Boulevard's, which is also widely available and fairly well regarded. I've never been wild about the German ones in the US, but I've only had a few and they might have been poorly stored and stale by the time I drank them.

[Kelbysdaddy]

has anyone had newcastles werewolf? i had it on tap at the tipsy cow in madison a week ago. i really liked it. its an irish red ale. its pretty smooth. has anyone seen it in a 6 pack?

[TheCrew07]

I haven't paid much attention to this thread and I'd be shocked if this company wasn't mentioned already, but over the years I became a huge fan of Great Lakes Brewing Company.

 

Holy Moses White Ale is my all time favorite beer, but the rest of their collection (that I've gotten to sample) has been fantastic as well. I'm not that much of a beer drinker anymore, but after looking around some beer sites their Oktoberfest is rated higher than the Holy Moses.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Nano Breweries have made me even MORE of a beer drinker. I didn't even think that was possible.