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Thread: Thread O' Beer!

  1. #1476
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    22. Utepils Brewing
    Alt 1848 - Altbier



    Utepils is a brewery that sure took its time opening, sheesh. Originally going with the name Bryn Maur brewing after the Minneapolis neighborhood they call home, there was originally a lot of buzz surrounding them when they announced because there were only a few taprooms around at the time, and besides, they had a killer location for a biergarten with their brewery located in a nice woodsy area right along the creek. And plus, they were gonna focus on classic German styles, a welcome change of pace in a market overflowing with IPAs.

    But man, it seemed like they were "opening soon!" for years! I guess things got delayed when they got into a dispute over the name Bryn Maur - apparently someone else was using the name, which is why they changed their name to Utepils, which is Norwegian for "outside lager". But oh well, better late than never, I guess.

    Oddly enough, I haven't yet made it to their taproom for some reason, but I have had their beer plenty of times - their kölsch is something I reach for in the warm months when I'm looking for something easy drinking. This altbier, tho - I don't believe I'd had it before.

    Anyway, taking a whiff gets me a noseful of malt sweetness - graham, brown sugar, yeah lots of brown sugar, kinda reminiscent of butter brickle, to be honest. Taste wise, it's sweet for only a moment, but gives way quickly to bitterness as the hops take over - it's like a bock that transforms into a pilsner as it works its way across the palate. There is a hint of stone fruit towards the end as well, and some almond in there too.

    All in all, a serviceable beer - 3/5. I only wish there was a touch more malt presence in the taste to balance out the bitterness a little better, but hey can't have everything - where would you put it?

    Two beers left! AAAIIIEEEE!!!
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  2. #1477
    White Tiger Field Stay Puft's Avatar
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    GIZMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    23. Trappist Holiday Ale (Belgian Strong Dark Ale)
    The Spencer Brewery (Massachusetts, USA)




    Unfortunately, I'm not crossing another Trappist brewery off my list this year, but the Trappist Ale from the Spencer brewery was one of my favorite discoveries last year, so I'm happy to get to try more. Trappist Ale was quite popular at my store, so unsurprisingly, we tried to get more from them this year, and the result included gift packs for the holidays with small bottles of the Trappist Ale, Trappist Holiday Ale, and Trappist Imperial Stout. Those gift packs also included Spencer glassware, which is a nice addition to my (very small) collection. I saved the Holiday Ale for my list, figuring it would prove a good (season appropriate) follow up to last year's selection.

    Trappist Holiday Ale pours a muddy reddish/brown with an modest, off-white head. Moderate retention, minimal lacing. On the nose, there's a ton of spice. Yeah, this doesn't smell lightly spiced (as the bottle claims). I get whiffs of clove, cardamom, cinnamon (I'm not actually sure what they used in the brew, however). It almost smells a bit like potpourri. In terms of flavor, there's a healthy amount of malt, and thank goodness for that. There's a strong note of caramel, as well, and the malt provides a nice backbone for the spices. Body is medium to full, soft and smooth. I'm actually loving everything about this beer as I swirl it around in my mouth and consume it. Feels good, tastes good. But on the finish, the spice again dominates. It has this lingering taste, too, like... cool mint? It's really weird. I have to agree with Gizmo that this beer still comes across too heavy-handed with the spices. Holiday beers in general, I think, work better with food pairings, and I finished the bottle with dinner, which was really nice. But without food to cut through the spice of the beer a bit, as I noticed during my initial sips and note taking, the spice grows quite strong on the (very, very long) finish, with odd flavors and intensity. This is one beer where the length of the finish seems to actually work against it. I did enjoy the process of drinking it, however, and it worked well with food, so I'm still going to say this is good (for a holiday beer).

    3.5/5
    Giving up in 2020. Who cares.

    maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore (Sky Hopinka) ***½
    Without Remorse (Stefano Sollima) *½
    The Marksman (Robert Lorenz) **
    Beckett (Ferdinando Cito Filomarino) *½
    Night Hunter (David Raymond) *

  3. #1478
    The Pan Scar's Avatar
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    I may need to make a run to Minneapolis tomorrow so Bac0n has a certain beer for his list.
    “What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”

  4. #1479
    White Tiger Field Stay Puft's Avatar
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    I'm catching a plane tomorrow and travelling for the holidays so I decided to stay up late tonight to drink more and finish my list. Let's go.

    24. Collective Project: Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Porter 2018 (American Imperial Porter)
    Collective Arts Brewing (Ontario, Canada)




    I wasn't sure how to finish my list this year, so I decided to bring it full circle and end where I began, with Collective Arts. The 2018 edition of their Barrel-Aged Imperial Porter is described as a "super-charged" version of their Imperial Porter, which I've had before in cans. The Imperial Porter was also, basically, a "super-charged" version of their standard porter, Stranger Than Fiction, which might honestly be one of the best porters I've sampled in the Ontario craft scene. Suffice to say, while the Imperial Porter is good, I actually prefer Stranger Than Fiction. So I was curious to see where this Barrel-Aged version would land. I'm working my way through the bottle right now, and already I'd say this surpasses the Imperial Porter, easily. This is great stuff so far. It's hard to say if I like it more than Stranger Than Fiction, though. I may not be able to decide that tonight. Anyways, this Barrel-Aged version has some nice packaging, with a tube wrapped in art from local (as in right here in Toronto, represent!) artist Kait Cooper. It also comes with a large print of the same art. Presentation-wise, Collective Arts have outdone themselves with this one.

    The 2018 Barrel-Aged Imperial Porter pours a dense black with a large, bubbly mocha head. It recedes quickly to a thin ring, leaving very little lacing. Aromas have the typical roasted malt, coffee and chocolate, but the real star here is the bourbon barrel aging. This thing screams vanilla. Lots of dark fruit notes as well, like plum and figs. Subtle notes of oak and smoke, as well, but damn, it's just crazy vanilla. It seems a bit overbearing, but on the palate, things are nicely balanced. There's a sweet note with the malts, a touch of molasses, more fruit like grape and plum, and of course some roasted notes following behind, with bread, toast and dark chocolate. And, yes, still plenty of vanilla. It's full in body, but not entirely heavy in terms of mouthfeel. It's actually surprisingly smooth, even a touch creamy. And not all that warm? 11.5% ABV but damn, the alcohol is very well hidden in this one. It's so smooth and flavorful you could drink this pretty fast and never know what hit you. The finish is long, warm, toasty and has some mild fruit sweetness. This is perfect for a cold night. Sweet, smooth, full, warm and delicious. This is the closest I've come to rating something 5/5, I think, but... it's just not quite there for me. I dunno. I guess it just wasn't going to happen this year. Still, a fantastic beer to end the list.

    4.5/5

    Merry Christmas you beer loving fucks.
    Giving up in 2020. Who cares.

    maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore (Sky Hopinka) ***½
    Without Remorse (Stefano Sollima) *½
    The Marksman (Robert Lorenz) **
    Beckett (Ferdinando Cito Filomarino) *½
    Night Hunter (David Raymond) *

  5. #1480
    Kept out of sunlight Gizmo's Avatar
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    damn Puft, what are the odds? I mean, I should have had mine a week ago, but the coincidence because I didn't is crazy.
    *coming soon*

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  6. #1481
    Kept out of sunlight Gizmo's Avatar
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    24. Ator 20(Riegele)


    We finish off with what I figured would be one of the more standard beers of the month, a dunkel. However, Riegele has managed to make this dunkel feel special. It's got a fruitiness to it that I've not tasted in a dunkel before. I really want to know what they put in this to make it feel so special, as it's a German brew, so I know it's just grain, hops, yeast.... but which ones! It is well blended sweetness, that really hit my tastebuds in the right way. It may be my favorite dunkel since I've arrived. This is so very good, and such a great end to another solid month of beer! I wish everyone the very best for the rest of the season, and happy holidays!
    *coming soon*

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  7. #1482
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Scar (view post)
    I may need to make a run to Minneapolis tomorrow so Bac0n has a certain beer for his list.
    hahaha - no need to go out of your way on my account. I have a backup plan. AND SPEAKING OF WHICH:

    23. Urban Growler
    Cowbell - Cream Ale




    Haha, I get it. When you want another pint of this beer, you say I want more cowbell. Laughs are shared. And then when you say I have a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell, then people really bust their guts. It is to laugh! I can only imagine how funny that joke still is for the people pouring this beer in the taproom.

    Anyway, as Scar mentioned, the plan was to finish this list off with Wicked Wort's The Axe is Back, a Nut Brown dedicated to Larry "The Axe" Hennig, patriarch of the Hennig wrestling family, particularly his son Curt, aka Mr. Perfect (RIP), and his grandson Joe, aka Curtis Axel (currently wrestling in the WWE). Sadly, a week after the beer was released, The Axe passed away, so I was planning on mixing in a eulogy of sorts to the last remaining king of the local wrestling scene as well as gushing about one of my favorite new breweries, yada yada, but somehow, three scotches into Die Hard, I... kinda forgot to take the bottle home with me from Scar's. Dammit! And the only bottle I have of Wicked Wort's at the moment is a bomber of Barley Wine, and hell no I am not gonna tear into that one without plenty of help - I don't wanna be a quivering mass of slime on the floor while everyone is opening presents. Double Dammit!

    So, in an attempt to maintain this alphabetical order of sorts, I stopped by and picked up a beer from Urban Growler, an all female outfit just across the border from Minneapolis. And I just noticed that I should have had this before Utepils, so no matter what, this is out of order anyway. Triple dammit!

    Anway, about this Cowbell: it's an alright, non-offensive beer. I'm getting a slight sweetness that leads into moderate bitterness, the mouthfeel is moderately creamy as the name would suggest. All in all very approachable, but not super interesting at the same time. I s'pose it would get the job done if it's summer and you want a beer you don't need to think too hard about, or if you have guests coming over and you don't wanna buy Bud, but at the same time, you don't quite know what to get them, so you wanna make the safe play.

    That being said, I'm gonna give this a 3/5 - serviceable.

    One beer (and one sleep) until Christmas!
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  8. #1483
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    Okay, sorry guys this took so long. Once Christmas Eve kicked in, I was too busy christmassing, and have spent these post-xmas days really busy enjoying myself doing absolutely nothing. But I did actually try this beer on the 24th and took some notes, so here they are for your reading enjoyment.

    24. Venn Brewing
    Pineapple Sour





    We end our journey at the brewery on this list that is closest to where I live, Venn Brewing (I live a few blocks west of the V in their name above). Of all the breweries on this list, they win in the convenience department, in that they are right on the blue light rail line, literally right across the street from where I can hop on the light rail, which goes literally right to the NE entrance of Target Field where the Twins play. And they're also two blocks east of Bull's Horn, the best burger dive in town. So, on a summer day, it's not unusual for me to grab a burger at Bull's Horn, hop on the train to watch the Twins, then hit Venn after the game to commiserate. The fact that Venn makes mostly good beer takes a bit of the bite off the inevitable loss the Twins will suffer at the hands of their vastly superior opponents.

    As for their beer, they still have a pretty limited distro, with their stuff showing up in crowlers in only a few nearby bottle shops. For now, they seem pretty content serving their immediate neighborhoods, and they seem to be doing a bang up job of it, as I've been to their taproom about a half dozen times, and it's always been pretty busy. But what beer I've had of theirs, it's been good, especially for an outfit relatively new to the game, which I tend to give the benefit of the doubt for a few months while they get the kinks worked out of their operation.

    Now, this pineapple sour - I gotta say, it tasted good enough, but it is all pineapple and no sour - in fact I'm not really picking hardly anything beery up about it at all. You could slap a label of pineapple cider on this thing and no-one would be any the wiser.

    The pineapple is bright and fresh, and the mouthfeel is light, so I'm thinking this would be quite quaffable in warmer temps. However, as a fella who was going in expecting a sour, I gotta say, this leaves me wanting - whatever tart, acidity and sourness there is fades into that provided by the pineapple, and there is no funk to speak of (which is not necessarily a bad thing).

    So in that regard, I'm going to give this beer a 2/5 - mediocre. But as a "pineapple ale" or something like that, it would hold up a bit better, probably 3/5.

    And that's a wrap! A pleasure as always, fellas. A bit late to wish you a Merry Christmas, but Happy New Year!
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  9. #1484
    The Pan Scar's Avatar
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    Yeah, you need to finish your list on a high note *shifty eyes*
    “What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”

  10. #1485
    Kept out of sunlight Gizmo's Avatar
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    Wow, I know I haven't been around much, but 11 months have passed with no posts?

    Anyway, I don't even have 24 (new) beers on hand yet this year, but I'm planning on doing the 24 beers of Christmas for the (6th/7th?) straight year now.
    *coming soon*

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  11. #1486
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    I’m on the fence about doing it this year, TBH. There is a beer advent calendar for sale at CostCo I was thinking of going with. Anybody else besides Gizmo thinking of joining the fun?


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    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  12. #1487
    The Pan Scar's Avatar
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    I’m going to try and post more, but the 24 beers of Christmas generally doesn’t work for me, since beer is usually just a weekend food.
    “What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”

  13. #1488
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    An advent of beers would be cool and something I could partake in. Like Scar, I generally save my drinking for weekends and make up for the weekdays.

    Barbarian - ***
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  14. #1489
    The Pan Scar's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Ezee E (view post)
    An advent of beers would be cool and something I could partake in. Like Scar, I generally save my drinking for weekends and make up for the weekdays.
    Yeah..... I only drink on the weekends, that’s it!
    “What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”

  15. #1490
    Kept out of sunlight Gizmo's Avatar
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    1. Roundhouse Kick (Crew Republic)


    Starting off with a whopper. I haven't had an imperial stout since drinking myself numb this summer when I went home for my dad's funeral. Now with the chance to savor one, I grabbed a good one this day. Strong but sweet, as the date/raisin/fig flavors come through nicely. Good roasted bitterness follows and lingers behind it all. This thing is toasty, tasty, and chewy, as the full body holds it all together. A great start to the season!

    23 beers remain (I hope, still haven't filled the deck yet!)
    *coming soon*

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  16. #1491
    Here till the end MadMan's Avatar
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    Hey Gizmo!

    I only go out once or twice a week to my favorite bar these days and I don't really get drunk much at home save for the weekends and sometimes Wednesday nights since I have Thursday off. My work did expand its booze section so I might try some ones I've never had before.
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  17. #1492
    Kept out of sunlight Gizmo's Avatar
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    2. Winterbock (Der Ulmer)


    This is a solid winter bock from a relatively new (from German standards), relatively local small brewery. It's crisp and smooth, and has a good hop and yeast generated spicing that makes it feel almost American in flavoring. I'm liking the start to this season after the first two days, hoping it's not downhill from here.

    22 beers remain
    *coming soon*

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  18. #1493
    Here till the end MadMan's Avatar
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    I'll have to look out for that one. The last German beer I had was high in alcohol percentage and was quite tasty.
    BLOG

    And everybody wants to be special here
    They call your name out loud and clear
    Here comes a regular
    Call out your name
    Here comes a regular
    Am I the only one here today?



  19. #1494
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    Oooh, that bock looks good. It's a seriously under-represented style stateside, which is odd considering how distinctive a style it is, and how many variants exist (maibock, doppelbock, eisbock, weisenbock, etc.)

    Perhaps it's that the style emphasizes malt over hops that it hasn't caught as much traction here as IPAs.
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  20. #1495
    Kept out of sunlight Gizmo's Avatar
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    3. Hieronymus (Schlossbrauerei Stöckle Schmieheim)


    Already behind, but I expected that to happen. I'm on overnight shift, so my days are off kilter to begin with, and having a beer after work means I'm doing it at 6-7am and potentially waking up 7 hours later to get ready for work. I'll try to catch up/keep up on my off nights.
    Anyway, this unfiltered pilsner drinks smooth and easy, but is also very sharp. There's not much flavor notes outside of a bit of hay feel/flavor, which I'm guessing comes from the hops and not the actual grains. I'd down these pretty easily in the summer, and at 4.8%, it wouldn't even hurt. I'd call this a good German take on the American style lager, as far as flavor and drinkability. Compare it to the normal offerings here, and this is basically your alcoholic flavored water. I'd choose this over Budweiser any time, but put it in that ballpark.

    21 beers remain.
    *coming soon*

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  21. #1496
    Kept out of sunlight Gizmo's Avatar
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    4. Double Dark (Waterloo)


    A strong 8%'er to end the night, this right now (i.e. before warming a bit) doesn't have much going on. I don't taste much nuance in this one, it's just a bittered water, with some maltiness. Disappointing out of the bottle, especially for a dark beer in general, and sets a low bar for a second Waterloo to come. Ah well, maybe it'll warm nicely, and if nothing else, the high alcohol content should help me sleep.

    20 beers remain.
    *coming soon*

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  22. #1497
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    where does one find these awesome looking beers???

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


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  23. #1498
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    Thats one helluva cup.
    [+] closer to next rating / [-] closer to previous rating

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  24. #1499
    The Pan Scar's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Ezee E (view post)
    where does one find these awesome looking beers???
    I find plenty of goodies at Total Wine.
    “What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”

  25. #1500
    Kept out of sunlight Gizmo's Avatar
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    I find them in Germany, but Total Wine was a great stopping point when I was in the states.

    5. Double Espresso (Broeder Jacob)


    Another double version of a dark, this one hits like coffee right away, as it's brewed with Java. Yesterday's selection did warm into a bit of a coffee, but never really got all that good, by the way. Broeder Jacob has created a dark beer that hits like coffee (not a strong as espresso), but doesn't hide in a stout or porter like most. Therefore, I'm not getting the roast malt, or chocolate flavorings that often seem to accompany an espresso beer. Instead, I've got a malty base that coffee is riding on, creating the bitter for the beer. It's interesting, and fairly good, but I'd actually like some more nuance to compete with the coffee flavoring.

    19 beers remain.
    *coming soon*

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