The Beer Thread: 2009 – 2012

[logan82]

Now that you mentioned it, I seem to recall there being signs that indicated it was an R & D series beer and probably why I thought it might change periodically. I thought the Golden Ale got better as it warmed up. My wife thought it tasted like floor cleaner, but she only drank it cold. I would drink it again, but I doubt I would buy more than one unless it comes out at the regular New Glarus price for beer. It was $8 a bottle. It was a pint but still a little steep for regular consumption.

[datrain711]

so do you have a good comparison for the golden ale?

 

I probably can't get there for 2 weeks so I'm kind of intrigued by these R and D beers

 

thanks

[logan82]

Sorry, I really don't. Ales are not something I drink often.

[blatzlight]

Was up in Seattle this past weekend and had a couple great IPA's. Mack n Jack's was great - a little more bitter than fav's but damn tastey. Then I had Manny's. This beer freaking rocks. Bitter, citrusy, big huge hops - it was awesome. Also went to Pikes Brewery and Pyramid and they good. Pyramid Thunderhead is a pretty good IPA. The Hefe was weak in taste and reminded me of Miller Lite.

[Schlitz001]

Sierra Nevada sells what they call an "Extra IPA" by the name of Torpedo. Give it a try if you like hops. It's almost too intense.

 

Every couple of months a new variety of Leinenkugels shows up at the local Liquor store in my town. They now have four great Leinies to choose from, but for some reason they don't sell the original or the red. One would think those would be the first beers they would try and market in a new area. I live in Montana, BTW.

[blatzlight]

Sierra Nevada sells what they call an "Extra IPA" by the name of Torpedo. Give it a try if you like hops. It's almost too intense.

 

I have never been a Sierra Nevada fan. Torpedo was ok - but there are hundreds of better IPA's to be drank. I don't know what hops it is, cascade I think, that they just use way too much of.

[Schlitz001]

I probably wouldn't buy the Torpedo again, but the standard green label Sierra Nevada has always been one of my favorites. It's kind of a fall back beer for me.

 

I used to live with a guy who drank way to much Pyramid Hefeweizen so I grew somewhat attached to it. As far as domestic mass distributed hefeweizens, I think Pyramid is one of the best, although not really in the same catagory as any Bavarian hefeweizen. I never was too fond of the Pyrmaid IPA though.

[blatzlight]

if you like california IPA's and you haven't tried Bear Republic Racer 5 you should. i think it is a fantastic IPA, one of my all time favorite beers not just favorite IPA's.

[colbyjack]

midwest entries: Sprecher (bringing the Mai Bock . . .any good?)

 

I've raved about Sprecher's Mai Bock a few times in this thread. It's my favorite all-time brew, although a seasonal. Definitely make sure to try it out as I'd love to know what you think (especially since I know your opinion of midwest micros). I'm curious if they brewed a fresh batch for that event, since it usually comes out in March.

 

That's a tasty looking list overall.

[TooLiveBrew]

I also love Sprecher's Mai Bock (& have commented in this thread as well).

 

 

if you like california IPA's and you haven't tried Bear Republic Racer 5 you should. i think it is a fantastic IPA, one of my all time favorite beers not just favorite IPA's.

 

Appreciate the recommendation, blatzlight. I will now be looking all over for this.

 

 

I used to live with a guy who drank way to much Pyramid Hefeweizen so I grew somewhat attached to it. As far as domestic mass distributed hefeweizens, I think Pyramid is one of the best, although not really in the same catagory as any Bavarian hefeweizen. I never was too fond of the Pyrmaid IPA though.

 

I agree on that assessment of Pyramid overall. Good/decent, not great.

[datrain711]

for those in the milwaukee area, a link that promises to cost us more money.

 

http://www.beermenus.com/milwaukee

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

Stopped at the New Glarus Brewery yesterday. Awesome facility. Would be pissed though if I drove from MKE to take a tour there. Had the Golden Ale, which I thought was pretty bad. Something was off about it, not sure what it was. For some reason I've never had the Stone Soup... just fantastic.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Was up in Seattle this past weekend and had a couple great IPA's. Mack n Jack's was great - a little more bitter than fav's but damn tastey. Then I had Manny's. This beer freaking rocks. Bitter, citrusy, big huge hops - it was awesome. Also went to Pikes Brewery and Pyramid and they good.

Yeah the Mac n Jack is the baseline of Seattle. When they don't have anything interesting you go "Alright, I'll have a Mac n Jack" It's an African Amber and the only one they distribute ('tho you can get others at the brewery) Or did you actually see a tap that had the rarer IPA? I've only seen that one at the brewery myself. Like all their offerings, I found it average and inoffensive. I'm putting together a little brewery tour up here and didn't even think of putting them on the list.

 

The Manny's Pale on the other hand comes from the absolutely superior Georgetown Brewing. Which is where the tour is going to start. If you can ever get your hands on their Chopper or even better, the Super Chopper they are top 10 offerings.

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2319/2907397024_892fdb319d.jpg

 

 

Pyramid is Pyramid (meh.), but occasionally Pike's can hit one out. Not often 'tho.

 

colbyjack wrote:

---

I've raved about Sprecher's Mai Bock a few times in this thread. It's my favorite all-time brew, although a seasonal. Definitely make sure to try it out as I'd love to know what you think (especially since I know your opinion of midwest micros).

I'll make sure to make it "the first catch of the day" before the ion canon of beer wipes me out. My opinions of midwest beer comes entirely from 8 years ago where the only non-miller or bud offerings were Summit(eww...) and Capitol(meh.). When last there (two years ago now?) I could at least get a Fat Tire and Rogue was around in bottles. Still very little small local stuff. Here I look at the list and always try something I have never had before, there you searched for anything remotely drinkable. Has it changed? Remember most of my time was spent in the Twin Cities or to a lesser extent, Iowa. Wisconsin might have been a different animal even back then.

 

Here there are little places around every corner.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/3723902494_a1317618ee.jpg

 

if you like california IPA's and you haven't tried Bear Republic Racer 5 you should. i think it is a fantastic IPA, one of my all time favorite beers not just favorite IPA's.

It's pretty easy to find on tap, I don't know about in PDX, but here anyway. My local grocery has it in bottles too, but you'll need to go to someplace better than Fred Meyer's for it. My opinon is solid to good, not outstanding. I can't think of any California beer that has really knocked me out 'tho. I think they might be trying too hard maybe? I like the tasting Anchor Steam Christmas, but it's different every year and some people hate "tree" beer as much as I hate fruit beer.

[TooLiveBrew]

I can't even think of the last time I went to Fred's for beer.

[logan82]

Stopped at the New Glarus Brewery yesterday. Awesome facility. Would be pissed though if I drove from MKE to take a tour there. Had the Golden Ale, which I thought was pretty bad. Something was off about it, not sure what it was. For some reason I've never had the Stone Soup... just fantastic.

Yup, tour is pretty weak. Really nice looking facility though.

 

Stone Soup is my year round beer since it came out earlier this year. I like it even better than Hacker-Pschorr. I will have to vote for it in the fall so it continues to be a year round beer.

 

I had the New Glarus Berliner Weisse today. It is one of their Unplugged beers. Not good at all. Again, my fault for not reading the label. It clearly says it is Pino Grigio like. Sour beer colored white wine is what it tasted like. I don't like white wine.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Hey TLB, I shot you a note about Beer Fest.

[colbyjack]

I'll make sure to make it "the first catch of the day" before the ion canon of beer wipes me out. My opinions of midwest beer comes entirely from 8 years ago where the only non-miller or bud offerings were Summit(eww...) and Capitol(meh.). When last there (two years ago now?) I could at least get a Fat Tire and Rogue was around in bottles. Still very little small local stuff. Here I look at the list and always try something I have never had before, there you searched for anything remotely drinkable. Has it changed? Remember most of my time was spent in the Twin Cities or to a lesser extent, Iowa. Wisconsin might have been a different animal even back then.

 

I worked in a liquor store on Milwaukee's East side from 1996-1997 and we had plenty of Rogue, Summit (even if you don't care for it), and plenty of other micros along with an impressive list of steadfast, tried and true European beers that couldn't be found just anywhere. I can't speak for Iowa and Minnesota, but I know when I worked at that liquor store I had plenty of out-of-state visitors come in to load up on bottles of micros, both in-state and out, praising Wisconsin's lack of laws preventing how much alcohol and what-sized bottles beer could be brewed in and out of. Most of those visitors were from the East Coast, but still, Wisconsin has always been known as a state that has had plenty of options, even if there aren't as many internal ones. It still surprises me that it took so long for New Belgium brews to get here, and I would contend that any Sprecher, Capital, New Glarus or Lakefront brew kicks any New Belgium brew top to bottom (Odell Brewery IMO is a far superior Fort Collins brewery).

 

Give Capital another try if you're here. I've often said that I've never had a Capital brew that I didn't like. Lakefront, Sprecher and New Glarus among others are all fine breweries. I doubt we have the number of breweries located in your neck of the woods, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

 

A Lakefront tour is a must for any Brewers and beer fan. I just took one on Monday with Jim Klisch, co-founder of the brewery, the first time I've had one conducted by either he or Russ, and it was the best tour I've taken there (somewhere in the 25-30 range by now) to date.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

. It still surprises me that it took so long for New Belgium brews to get here, and I would contend that any Sprecher, Capital, New Glarus or Lakefront brew kicks any New Belgium brew top to bottom

 

Give Capital another try if you're here. I've often said that I've never had a Capital brew that I didn't like. Lakefront, Sprecher and New Glarus among others are all fine breweries. I doubt we have the number of breweries located in your neck of the woods, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Oh I'm no New Belgium fanatic, I would class it the same as Newcastle, Kona and Alaskan Brewing . . . someplace to start into craft beer.

 

Near the end of my time in Minnesota, I finally found a place that had Portland Brewing's McTarnahans which Capitol stood up to very well. I'm sure there's a place here where I can score a bottle of that and the New Glarus, 'tho freshness might be an issue. I'll make the effort. I am planning a trip at least to the Chicago area next summer, but with new child in tow brewery tours and baseball may not be a priority. Sha whaaaa??????

[colbyjack]

I am planning a trip at least to the Chicago area next summer, but with new child in tow brewery tours and baseball may not be a priority. Sha whaaaa??????

 

Boo-urns! Last summer when we went out to Denver I made sure to take my then-pregnant wife and 2-year old son to both New Belgium and Odell breweries. I'm always amazed at the places that are particularly kid friendly, even if they don't have much for a toddler to do. New Belgium more so than Odell since they had a really nice, open facility. We didn't take the tour, but I was put to task to finish both my and my wife's allotted samples http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

 

And my older son Henry has seen both David Price (Vanderbilt) and Ryan Braun play in Nashville as a 1-year old, so I disagree with the baseball part as well http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

 

Let us know what you think of the Mai Bock. I hope you like it!

[TooLiveBrew]

The Oregon Brewers Festival kicks off today. Really looking forward to it, even though the temperatures are going to be routinely over 90 degrees.

 

Beer List -- another amazing roster this year

[colbyjack]

I meant to ask this before, but is anyone going to the Denver brew fest in late September? I've heard really good things about that one.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Ahhh Good times at the PDX Beer Fest!

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2556/3761300499_070d93d18a.jpg

 

My favorite beer was Boundary Bay's Amarillo Double Dry Hopped Pale Ale brewed special for the festival out of Bellingham WA, but there were several top notch offerings to go around.

 

Between my dying iphone battery and TLB's inability to figure out how email works, I was worried there would be no Brewers Baseball talk, but we pulled it off and a good time was had.

 

 

And my older son Henry has seen both David Price (Vanderbilt) and Ryan Braun play in Nashville as a 1-year old, so I disagree with the baseball part as well http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

 

Let us know what you think of the Mai Bock. I hope you like it!

The Sprecher was the first beer I tried and was solid, but with so many Breweries pulling out the stops I don't think this was the best venue for it to really impress me, especially since i got about 8oz of it. I'm going to try to find some around town so that i can really focus on it.

 

And I have a rule now for my unborn daughter, that I'm not taking her to a baseball game until she's actually old enough to remember it. Well maybe the Everett Aquasox . . . . rookie league, that barely counts.

[TooLiveBrew]

Tried the Bear Republic Racer 5 last night. It was good, but I didn't think it was anything I hadn't had before. Very solid IPA, but those seem to be all over the place on the West Coast/in the Pac. NW.

 

Looking forward to going through the rest of my goody-bag this week. (Thanks, EDR!)

 

 

I was worried there would be no Brewers Baseball talk, but we pulled it off and a good time was had.

 

You'd never freakin' believe... after we met up on Sun. morning, I saw a guy wearing a Brewers (current logo, so you know it's legit) hat walking down the sidewalk. I would have said something to him, but you can't exactly roll the streetcar's windows down. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[colbyjack]

Thanks for giving it a try EDR. Great picture as always, thanks for sharing your handiwork.

[fstorm1]

Spent this past Saturday in Madison with my lady friends brother, a graduated student at UW, who's leaving for a year to teach English in Vietnam. Anyhoo, we went down to spend the day with him and his sister, and ended up dragging them both to Mt Horeb for their annual Mustard Festival. My lady friend and I went to the same fesatival back in '01, was one of the first things we did together. Had lotsa fun, hot dogs, mustard everywhere, Culver's even had a Mustard Custard (not quite as disgusting as it sounds, just plain weird), yadda yadda. Block off of "downtown" Mt Horeb is the Grumpy Troll, as great but tiny brew pub. Had the sampler of 11 beers, and was most impressed with their work. Particularily liked their Hefe (of course), but they had a couple porters that were very good, and even their IPA wasn't too bad. Left with a growler of the Hefe, a little pricey at $15, but it's another growler for the basement bar. Get a chance to slide down there, the beers are worth the trip. And even if it's not, you can visit the Mustard Museum, always fun.

 

Spent the evening back in Madison, on (or at) "The Terrace", drinking Oberon on tap, sitting by the lake, listening to free live music. Good times.