The Craft Beer Thread....

shep

Had 2 glasses of Saint Arnold limited release Bitter Belgian. For those in the Houston area (if there's anyone other than me in this thread in the houston area ), it's definitely worth a try. An interesting take on the Elissa

for those interested I'll give some background.. Saint Arnold started a "moveable yeast" series 2 years ago, and this is the last of them. What they did was take their regular IPA (called Elissa) and change the yeast to make a bunch of different tasting beers...

The Bitter Belgian is the last of the series (they used a Belgian yeast strain obviously)... it's much more bitter than the typical IPA... I find it hard to believe that more hops weren't added to the brew, but I'm told they weren't... Anyway, it's a good beer! They only produced it in kegs - so you gotta go out somewhere to try it... I'll be looking for some more on my night out tonight...

JK_Livin

shep wrote:

Had 2 glasses of Saint Arnold limited release Bitter Belgian. For those in the Houston area (if there's anyone other than me in this thread in the houston area ), it's definitely worth a try. An interesting take on the Elissa

for those interested I'll give some background.. Saint Arnold started a "moveable yeast" series 2 years ago, and this is the last of them. What they did was take their regular IPA (called Elissa) and change the yeast to make a bunch of different tasting beers...

The Bitter Belgian is the last of the series (they used a Belgian yeast strain obviously)... it's much more bitter than the typical IPA... I find it hard to believe that more hops weren't added to the brew, but I'm told they weren't... Anyway, it's a good beer! They only produced it in kegs - so you gotta go out somewhere to try it... I'll be looking for some more on my night out tonight...

Let me know when you receive the Immort Ale.

JK_Livin

Hopslam or Zombie Dust? If I was going to splurge on a couple bottles on ebay which should I try 1st? They're both about the same price.

Horos

Microbrew Festival in town tonight. One of my friends birthday as well. Going to be sampling alot of beers tonight!

carolinabeerguy

JK_Livin wrote:

Hopslam or Zombie Dust? If I was going to splurge on a couple bottles on ebay which should I try 1st? They're both about the same price.

For me, I'd have a hard time spending close to $50 for a sixer of almost anything. That said, if I was going to spend the money, I'd spend it on Hopslam simply because it's a much higher alcohol beer. I've never had Zombie Dust (which I've heard is an excellent pale ale), but I think you'll get more bang for your buck with Hopslam at 10% vs. Zombie Dust at 6% ABV.

For the record, retail prices on Hopslam are around $20/6 pack whereas Zombie Dust retails for around $10-12/6-pack.

JK_Livin

adam42381 wrote:

JK_Livin wrote:

Hopslam or Zombie Dust? If I was going to splurge on a couple bottles on ebay which should I try 1st? They're both about the same price.

For me, I'd have a hard time spending close to $50 for a sixer of almost anything. That said, if I was going to spend the money, I'd spend it on Hopslam simply because it's a much higher alcohol beer. I've never had Zombie Dust (which I've heard is an excellent pale ale), but I think you'll get more bang for your buck with Hopslam at 10% vs. Zombie Dust at 6% ABV.

For the record, retail prices on Hopslam are around $20/6 pack whereas Zombie Dust retails for around $10-12/6-pack.

Thanks. I may just grab a bottle or 2.

carolinabeerguy

Today's mini-haul.

shep

adam42381 wrote:

Today's mini-haul.

Nice haul!

Cliffy6745

Picked up a case of Fade To Black, some oysters, a couple of lamb chops

jamminpearls

Just left Iron Hill Brewery,really wish the sold to stores.

FenwayFaithful

Not sure we have every addressed this, but do you guys have a stash of beers that you are aging somewhere? I started a collection with youngster in his basement a few months ago and have the following:

1 750ml DFH Fort
1 12oz DFH Palo Santo
1 12oz DFH WW Stout
1 750ml Firestone Walker XV anny.
2 12oz Otter Creek 20th anny.
6 12oz Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Whats in your cellar?

RW81233

Ithaca X
Ithaca XI
Ithaca XII
Ithaca XIII
DFH PJ20 (hopefully it will taste better in 20 more years)

Kel Varnsen

In my cellar, which is really the crawlspace under my front stairs (although it works awesome since it is uninsulated, so while the rest of my house is 68 degrees, my cellar is a cool 50 degrees (perfect for storing beer)), I have
2 bottles of the 2011 Fuller's Vintage Ale
1 or 2 bottles of the 2010 Fuller's Vintage Ale
1 or 2 bottles of the 2009 Fuller's Vintage Ale
1 Bottle of St. Bernardus ABT 12 which I bought in December 2010
1 bottle of St. Sylvestre 3 Monts 90th Anniversary.

shep

FenwayFaithful wrote:

Not sure we have every addressed this, but do you guys have a stash of beers that you are aging somewhere? I started a collection with youngster in his basement a few months ago and have the following:

1 750ml DFH Fort
1 12oz DFH Palo Santo
1 12oz DFH WW Stout
1 750ml Firestone Walker XV anny.
2 12oz Otter Creek 20th anny.
6 12oz Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Whats in your cellar?

My cellar is actually a dual climate 60 bottle wine fridge with 1 climate modified to store beer upright... it's set at 52 degrees (being that stouts, lagers and IPA's are all recommended to be aged at different temps between 45-60 degrees)..

anyway in there right now:

(2) 25 oz DFH Pangaea
(3) 22 oz Saint Arnolds 2011 Pumpkinator -- this is the best pumpkin beer i've ever had... it is amazing.
(3) 12 oz DFH Paolo Santo
(3) 12 oz DFH Immort Ale brewed october 2011 (thanks JK_livin!)
(1) 25 oz Jester King Black Metal Stout
(1) 12 oz Guinness 250th anny stout (not sure if that is being aged or archieved)
(1) each of 22 oz Saint Arnolds Centennial, light and dark versions
(1) 25 oz DFH Obrama....
(1) 25 oz Bourbon Barrel Quad from Boulevard Brewing Co....

I think that's it...

I have a lot of drinking to do next year

FenwayFaithful

Well done shep. I drank at least 12 of the Immorts last November, wish I had saved some. The Palo Santo is really boozy fresh, so we'll see how it ages.

Whats the most aged beer you've had out of the bottle?

Yellow Ledbelly

If any of you care to take a couple minutes and watch this it's about the push to raise ABV limits and legalize homebrewing in Mizzip...featuring my favorite store. Pretty stupid that stores can sell homebrew kits but you aren't legally allowed to brew it

http://www.wapt.com/video/30460531/detail.html

JK_Livin

I tried the DFH Noble Rot the other and wasn't sure what to think. It was kind of like Champagne.

Horos

A few from Deschutes Brewery lately:

Mirror Pond Pale Ale
Inversion IPA
Red Chair NWPA

Also had some Sierra Nevada Celebration

Faithfull Ale has finally hit Oregon at $10.59/bottle.

carolinabeerguy

Horos wrote:

Faithfull Ale has finally hit Oregon at $10.59/bottle.

Good price. Too bad the beer is mediocre.

shep

FenwayFaithful wrote:

Well done shep. I drank at least 12 of the Immorts last November, wish I had saved some. The Palo Santo is really boozy fresh, so we'll see how it ages.

Whats the most aged beer you've had out of the bottle?

... thanks, I think ... the girlfriend thinks it's a fairly heathy hobby - as long as I stick with the one fridge...

Yea... I just bought the Palo a couple of weeks ago from the January batch of this year... had one and am aging the rest... not really sure how it felt about the first one - the booziness was definitely a little overwhelming when combined with the woody flavors... if it wasn't for the maltyness I would have thought I was drinking an Isle of Sky single malt (my other booze habit :oops: )

haven't had any of the immort yet, JK_livin sent it down to my from NJ (thanks again Tom!)... it never showed up here in Houston, except at one store, which i missed by 24 hours... the beer guy told me they sold out of it within 6 hours of putting it on the shelf... Anyway, I'm gonna age 3 and there's one in the fridge for me to try the weekend...

I just finished a Full Sail Amber Ale and a Sierra Nevada Celebration... both very enjoyable... really like the Full Sail Amber... I could definitely see myself consuming a 6 or 12 pack of those on the right night.... The celebration is pretty hoppy... the hop punch surprised me a bit on the first sip - but enjoying the last few drops as I type this....

Also - the gf gave me a $30 gift card to my local beer store for valentines... went down there today and spent it... after recommendations from my beer guy, I walked away with a new brew from Jester King called Thrash Metal, a bottle of Raven Mad from Bridgeport brewers, and a 6-pack of Anchor Steam (i'm kind of ashamed to say I've never actually had any of their beers before :oops: )