Thread O' Beer!

[bac0n]

You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.

Beer has come a long way since the 80s, when it was thought of as little more than a means to get really wasted while hanging outside a stadium waiting for your football team of choice to start playing. Nowadays, beer is a virtual cornucopia of varieties, with styles to suit every taste and sensibility and is taking its rightful place along other libations such as wine as a compliment to food and friends. Beer sommeliers are starting to turn up everywhere.

Beer has been discussed before, often in passing in the gastronomy thread, but Benny, Megs & I, beer brewers the lot of us, thought I would be cool to give it its due, a thread all its own, advocating 30 great beers from 30 different world class breweries, each offering the unique perspectives of guys who actually know how to make the stuff.

So, here's how its gonna work. The three of us have lists of 10 of our favorite beers. Each of our individual lists can not repeat a style more than once. Furthermore, none of us can list a beer from a brewery that has already been represented in this thread.

Should be interesting, eh? We'll get a lot of great beers getting talked about here, and you'll soon find out that great beer is, quite literally, everywhere.

Anywho, I have my first beer for review in the fridge. I'm gonna crack that bad boy open, pour me a pint, and get the review under way. After that, keep checking this thread out, cuz Benny & Megs have their lists too. Should make for some great back and forth.

Stay tuned! First review is on the way!

bac0n's Beers:

1. Founders Harvest Ale (Wet-Hopped American Pale Ale)
2. Bells Oberon (Weiss)
3. Smithwick's Brewery Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale (Irish Red Ale)
4. Sprecher Black Bavarian (Schwarzbier)
5. Bierbrouwerij De Koningshoeven Tilburg's (Dutch Brown Ale)
6. Unibroue La Fun Du Monde (Tripel)
7. Lagunitas PILS (Czech Style Pilsener)

Benny's Beers:

1. Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (India Pale Ale)
2. North Coast Brewing Brother Thelonious (Belgian Abbey Style Ale)
3. Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale (Brown Ale)
4. Deschuttes Brewery Black Butte (Porter)

Megs' Beers:

1. Scotch Irish Brewing Black Irish Plain Porter (Porter)
2. Steam Whistle Brewing Steam Whistle (Pilsner)
3. Shepherd Neame Bishop's Finger (English Ale)
4. Hockley Valley Brewing Hockley Stout (Irish Stout)
5. Wychwood Fiddler's Elbow (Wheat Ale)

[bac0n]

Harvest Ale
Style: American Pale Ale
Brewery: Founders Brewing Company, Grand Rapids MI

Among my gaggle of brew-buddies, Founders is the favorite discovery of 2009, cuz, damn can they work some magic with hops. Their straight-up IPA is world class, their Rye Pale is fantastic, they make a helluva Triple IPA, but their crown jewel is their wet hopped American Style IPA, Harvest Ale.

What is a Wet-Hopped Ale, you ask? Wet Hopped ales mean that the hops are taken off the bush and quite literally thrown right into the boil. Some breweries such as Sierra Nevada that have their own fields take the hops off the bush and have them in the boil in a matter of minutes; others ship them in, but regardless, no more than 24 hours can pass between bush and boil. The result is fantastic florals in the bouquet and wide, expansive citrus notes that spread across your palette like a blanket. And Harvest Ale has each in abundant generosity.

Appearance: moderate golden color, hazy like a wheat beer, small head that dissipates rather quickly.

Smell: Citrus explosion, particularly grapefruit.

Taste: The bitterness typically associated with hops is there, but takes a backseat to the intense citrus notes of the fresh hops. No, these aren't notes - these are entire chords, dammit. Finishes with a touch of pine. Delicious. The flavor lingers long after the beer is gone. I would recommend something to clear your palette between beers.

Mouthfeel: Light as far as ales go which compliments the...

Drinkability: very smooth. The temptation is to throw this down quickly, which would be a waste, cuz there's a lot for your tongue to enjoy with this one.

Preferred Serving Type: served cold in a wide-lipped pint glass.

As you could probably guess, wet hopped IPAs are fall brews, starting to show up in mid september, about 6 weeks after harvest time for the hops. I'm sure there are a few wet hopped IPAs lying around here and there. If you can find them, you really ought to pick some up, lest you be SOL and forced to wait until next fall.

Okay, Benny & Megs - lets see what you got!

[soitgoes...]

C'mon Black Butte Porter. They, Deschutes, have some better specialty beers (The Abyss, Mirror Mirror and their anniversary porter), but as far as their regular line goes, this one's tops.

I'll be keeping watch...

[Spun Lepton]

I'd like to participate.

Coors Light
Style: Light American Lager
Brewery: Somewhere in Colorado, I think.

wUnce I want t get drunkern shit!!!1 i lookered over hitler and yawn, foun my shoos an tied them t my feets and walkered sevin miles to big drunk billys howse. all he haz waz a cuple a coors lites in a warm diaper and I thunked hell I eated worser stuffs so i kan handle diaper beer. i got drunked an woke up in the pleass stashun.

Appearance: kinda yellow and pale with bubbles

Smell: same to you, ashole

Taste: it gets you drunk so who cares?

Mouthfeel: mouth what?? what are ya, some kinda faggirt???!!!213!

Drinkability: you and yer big faggirt words

Preferred Serving Type: warm diaper

[jenniferofthejungle]

I have recently discovered that I like beer.

Carry on.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Awesome idea.

[Benny Profane]

60 Minute IPA, Yo.
Style: India Pale Ale
Brewery: Dogfish Head

This here beer was first released in 2003 and is now quite popular in the mid-Atlantic states, along with it's kissing cousins the 90 Minute IPA and the lethal as all hell 120 Minute IPA. (Drink 5 of those, two Jameson's, and three shots of vodka and let me know how you feel the next morning. Like bloody death!)

Appearance: Look at the pictar.

The 60 minute is rich in citrusy, hoppy flavors, and pairs very nicely with your standard bar fare, such as buffalo wings. Finish is smooth and dry. For me, it has the perfect amount of carbonation and balance. Whether I'm maxin' and relaxin' on the couch or at a bar looking to get loose, this is one of my go-to beers. Never lets me down.

[Raiders]

Here's hoping we get away from IPA's soon. I have had the Dogfish Head, and yeah I guess for an IPA it is quality. I'm just not a fan.

[Dukefrukem]

Nice Spun...

IPAs are my favorite style of beer. This thread is making me thirsty. I haven't had a beer since Halloween, been on a "diet" as of late...

[Acapelli]

Here's hoping we get away from IPA's soon. I have had the Dogfish Head, and yeah I guess for an IPA it is quality. I'm just not a fan.

same here

i recently tried delerium tremens which was amazing and the brooklyn chocolate stout which blew

[shaun]

60 Minute IPA, Yo.
Style: India Pale Ale
Brewery: Dogfish Head

This here beer was first released in 2003 and is now quite popular in the mid-Atlantic states, along with it's kissing cousins the 90 Minute IPA and the lethal as all hell 120 Minute IPA. (Drink 5 of those, two Jameson's, and three shots of vodka and let me know how you feel the next morning. Like bloody death!)

Dogfish 90 4life.

[megladon8]

Mmmmm...IPA.

[bac0n]

Style: India Pale Ale
Brewery: Dogfish Head

I'm always on the lookout for new IPAs. How hoppy is this, on a scale of 1-10, or in terms of IBUs? (Int'l Bittering Units for the resta you guys - your typical well-hopped IPA will have around 70)

[D_Davis]

This thread is delicious.

For my tastes, nothing beats a good wheat/hef.

[Benny Profane]

I'm always on the lookout for new IPAs. How hoppy is this, on a scale of 1-10, or in terms of IBUs? (Int'l Bittering Units for the resta you guys - your typical well-hopped IPA will have around 70)

I would give it a 7.5, in terms of hoppiness.

[Hugh_Grant]

Awesome idea for a thread! There is this awesome place in town called The Flying Saucer that has a cool rewards program. Drink 200 different beers and get a plate on the wall. I'm at #15, so I have a long way to go.

[bac0n]

Our Special Ale 2010 (Anchor Christmas Ale)
Style: Winter Warmer Ale
Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company, San Francisco, CA

I first discovered this beer in 2002 when, after a long and grueling drive home through a snowstorm one friday after work, I trudged back out to the liquor store on the next block and chatted with the guy running the place as had become my friday ritual. He introduced me to this beer, and it was love at first sip. Saturday I trudged back through the snow and got two more, and Anchor's Christmas beer has been as much a part of the Christmas experience as decorating the tree ever since.

Anchor Christmas Ale is a Winter Warmer ale, essentially a brown ale into which are imparted various spices. There really are no rules to it beyond that, so Winter Warmer as a title won't tell you a whole lot about what to expect flavor and body-wise as much as say an IPA would, because breweries are always tweaking their recipes, and Anchor in particular changes the recipe of their Christmas beer every year. What doesn't change, tho, is the fact that year in, year out, the beer is awesome.

Appearance: In a word, dark as pitch. Even holding it up to the light reveals only the slightest nod of burgundy. A nice frothy head leaves laces up the side of the glass as it pours.

Smell: Cinnamon & Ginger are at the forefront, but some sweetness & nutmeg tickle the nosehairs as well.

Taste: Tastes like a comfortable chair in a warm and cozy house when it's snowing outside and you don't have to be anywhere. The Cinnamon you smelled was no illusion - it's at the forefront with that ginger right behind it, accompanied by the hints of chocolate and coffee you would expect from a dark ale. There's a sorta smoothness that shows up just before the finish that I'm trying to put a finger on. Maybe vanilla? Who knows. Finishes on a slightly hoppy and sour note. A complex beer great for those occasions when you're not in any hurry to be anywhere and sippin' is about the right speed, to be sure.

Mouthfeel: Pretty good body to this bad-boy, I would put it on par with a porter.

Drinkability: This is a sippin' beer. If it's taking any less than a half hour to get through a pint, you're drinking this way too fast. The body coupled with the complexity forces this to be drank real slow-like.

Preferred Serving Type: Served cold in a wide lipped pint glass, in a comfortable chair with loved-ones close by, preferably with glasses of their own to enjoy.

In short, Anchor's Christmas Ale will always hold a special place in my heart. So many great Christmas memories have been made with a pint of this in my hand that I can't begin to list them all. This is right at the top of the list of my very favorite beers, and perhaps no beer is as inseparable from a particular time of year as is this one.

[bac0n]

So, this Friday I'm going to try my hand at making an Imperial IPA, something along the lines of Russian River's Pliney the Elder, for those of you familiar with that one.

Most IPAs have ABVs (alcohol by volume) around 5.5%. This one is going to be between 8 and 9 thanks to some corn sugar I'll be adding during the mash (steeping of the grains) and doing a yeast starter so there's more yeast to pitch.

In addition, whereas most IPAs have maybe three hop additions during the boil, this bad-boy has no less that 8, and some of the hops I'll be using (Simcoe and Warrior) have some super-high intensities to them.

Should be interesting!

[Spun Lepton]

So, this Friday I'm going to try my hand at making an Imperial IPA, something along the lines of Russian River's Pliney the Elder, for those of you familiar with that one.

Most IPAs have ABVs (alcohol by volume) around 5.5%. This one is going to be between 8 and 9 thanks to some corn sugar I'll be adding during the mash (steeping of the grains) and doing a yeast starter so there's more yeast to pitch.

In addition, whereas most IPAs have maybe three hop additions during the boil, this bad-boy has no less that 8, and some of the hops I'll be using (Simcoe and Warrior) have some super-high intensities to them.

Should be interesting!

Is it done, yet?

[bac0n]

It's time for the first of my beer exchange reviews!

Bengali Tiger
Style: American IPA
Brewery: Six Point Brewery, Brooklyn NY

Okay, it has a name like Bengali Tiger. With a name like that, the can could contain gerbil piss and I'd still buy it. And I'd probably buy it again, despite the fact that being that it was comprised of gerbil piss, it's flavor profile would be decidedly budweiser-ish, but, hey, such was not my fate as in so many video games wherein the coolest looking car/character/whatever was also the most sucky in battle (I'm looking at you, Sweet Tooth). Basically, this beer has it all: name, packaging, quality. It's a goddamn trifecta!

So, I'm wondering if the folks at Six Point shruged and decided to call this an IPA cuz it was as close as they could get in terms of an actual style classification. I say this because it doesn't really seem all that IPAish to me, at least not in the British or American sense of the word. The former tends to be all bitterness, and the other seeks to wallop you with a strong distinct hop profile. This does neither. Or perhaps it does both. In the end, it seems to be a sorta junction between an American IPA, a British IPA and a British Bitter. But ya know what: who cares; it tastes good and that's good enough for me.

Appearance: Pours a nice radioactive golden orange. The beer has a half life of half an hour at most. The head is a good inch and a half on the top and it leaves lovely lacing down the side of the glass as it pours.

Smell: The ample bosom that was the head made it difficult at first getting a good whiff, but as the head died down, sweetness and breadiness was right there waiting for me, beckoning me.

Taste: Bitterness throughout, but a decidedly complex and layered hop profile is what really defines this beer. At first piney and grassy, gives way to bitterness and ends on a grapefruity tone. Tethering the experience is the prevalence of biscuit throughout. I can only imagine the tweaking it took to get this sorta balance - I would say no less than five different hop varieties went into the crafting of this - and the constant adjusting no doubt resulted in fist fights.

Mouthfeel: If you would call something chewy like an Imperial Stout as the high extreme, and lightly carbonated urine like Miller Lite as the other, I would say this lives in the middle, about a 5 and a half.

Drinkability: By proxy of its more balanced approach to hops - not seeking to really overwhelm you like so many IPAs do - it becomes much more easy drinking than I would say I am used to for a beer which self identifies as an IPA. That being said, drinking this bad boy fast would be a shame, cuz you'd be zipping by a lot of hops.

Overall: I love beers which defy genre, and Bengali Tiger... it has a really cool name. But lo I digress, it also defies genre. I'm definitely going to seeking these guys out at the Great American Beer Festival this fall.

[Irish]

You forgot a +1 for that packacking & the "beer is culture" tag. Also, I want that pint glass. :P

[bac0n]

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/m...mine-pint.html

[bac0n]

Beer of the Gods
Style: American Blonde
Brewery: High & Mighty Beer Co., Holyoke MA

So, I'm going into these beer exchange beers without having read anything about them prior to trying. Hell, I don't even read anything on the can or bottle aside from the name. I'd prefer to judge the beer on its own merits, without knowing the style rather than have my opinion shackled by genre conventions and expectations.

That being said, I was surprised when, after I had finished this brew, I went to Beer Advocate and saw them classify this beer as an American Blonde...

Really?

They must be really stretching to fit this one into a category. When I think blonde, I think sweetness with some malt thrown in. Afflingen. Leffe. Monroe. That's what I think of when I think of a blonde. But whatever.

Appearance: Pours a hazy straw color, as if a pilsner and a weiss had a kid. Head is minimal and dissipates quickly.

Smell: Not much here. Smelled clean if a touch grassy.

Taste: Not what I was expecting judging from how clear and light the appearance is. A pilsnener style of bitterness, makes me wonder if saaz hops were in the recipe. The bitterness lingers long after the other flavors have left the building. As it spreads across the palate a tartness kinda like granny smith apple reveals itself, just a slight whisper of pear, and finishes on a slightly floral note.

Mouthfeel: Light, crisp, benefits from being nice and cold.

Drinkability: This is a session beer to be sure. At 4.5 ABV, a fella could knock back a few and still drive home no problem. This would be a great beer to enjoy on a hot day after a round of golf. Or during a round of golf. Or instead of a round of golf.

Overall: This beer was a bit of a surprise on several fronts. First, with a name like Beer of the Gods, I was expecting something aggressive, either in terms of malt, alcohol, or hops. Instead I got something decidedly laid back. Second, the clear and light appearance belies an unexpected bitterness, and that tartness is not something I am used to in a session lager. I like being surprised.

[bac0n]

Haha, I was way off! Well knowing it's an Irish Red sorta nixed all the mouthfeel feedback I had, doesn't it?

[Gizmo]

Been almost a month since the last post! i'm mostly off medication now, so I've been drinking a bit here and there. My parents were in town this past weekend and brought in Rivertown Lambic, which has won awards for lambic produced in the U.S.



Here's my ratebeer review:

Vintage 2012. I’ve never had a lambic, and likely never will again. The taste is sour tart, with a slight sweetness hint. Really it’s overpowering citris/acid flavor. It’s not easy to drink, nor is it hard to drink, just gotta take small sips with breaks in between. I would assume that this is a good lambic, because it’s not terrible, but it’s not for me.

Any lambic drinkers around?