The Craft Beer Thread....

81

adam42381 wrote:

Last night was Bell's Brewery night at World of Beer. The highlight, of course, was Hopslam on draft.

looks like they are serving it way to cold.

carolinabeerguy

81 wrote:

adam42381 wrote:

Last night was Bell's Brewery night at World of Beer. The highlight, of course, was Hopslam on draft.

looks like they are serving it way to cold.

It was served around 45-50 degrees which is a little cool for a Double IPA, but nothing crazy. It's sweating so much because I was sitting outside and it was around 75 degrees.

intodeep

I like Bell's Hopslam a lot but it is a little over rated because of its rarity. That said it is a mighty fine beer in my opinion.
Last night i had:
-Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot- First time having it on tap and i thought it was good. I think for its style it is a solid beer.
-Heavy Seas Black Cannon- A really nice Black IPA. Seems like some of these black ipas are hits others are misses this one fires true and is a hit. it was my first time tryign this.
-21st amendment's american bitter- Good not great, but i'm not a huge fan of the style in general first time having it
-Dogfishhead Chicory Stout- YUM I liked this a good bit it was my first time and i'll have it again.

81

adam42381 wrote:

81 wrote:

adam42381 wrote:

Last night was Bell's Brewery night at World of Beer. The highlight, of course, was Hopslam on draft.

looks like they are serving it way to cold.

It was served around 45-50 degrees which is a little cool for a Double IPA, but nothing crazy. It's sweating so much because I was sitting outside and it was around 75 degrees.

ahh...outside in FL...that explains it.

50 would be ok...

i just hate when they serve good beer ice cold. ruins the flavor....until you get it warmed up.

carolinabeerguy

81 wrote:

ahh...outside in FL...that explains it.

50 would be ok...

i just hate when they serve good beer ice cold. ruins the flavor....until you get it warmed up.

I'm the same way. I'd much rather drink most beer a little on the warm side than too cold. If I'm in a bar I'm not familiar with, I make sure to tell the server/bartender that I want a room temperature glass. Nothing worse to me than drinking from a chilled or frozen glass - unless it's some macro crap where I welcome the cold taking away from the flavor of rice or corn.

intodeep

adam42381 wrote:

81 wrote:

ahh...outside in FL...that explains it.

50 would be ok...

i just hate when they serve good beer ice cold. ruins the flavor....until you get it warmed up.

I'm the same way. I'd much rather drink most beer a little on the warm side than too cold. If I'm in a bar I'm not familiar with, I make sure to tell the server/bartender that I want a room temperature glass. Nothing worse to me than drinking from a chilled or frozen glass - unless it's some macro crap where I welcome the cold taking away from the flavor of rice or corn.

I learned to ask for room temp glasses too. I learned my lesson i went to one place and they came out with a iced frosty mug and i asked if i could get a room temp mug and the server seemed iritated the had to go get another one.
I on the other hand was iritated because i was ordering a nice ipa not like i was ordering a bud lite and i thought most places that serve a good beer should teach their servers not to do that.
I tried to explain to him why i asked for it adn i got that look like shut up anddrink your beer beer snob :(

carolinabeerguy

intodeep wrote:

I learned to ask for room temp glasses too. I learned my lesson i went to one place and they came out with a iced frosty mug and i asked if i could get a room temp mug and the server seemed iritated the had to go get another one.
I on the other hand was iritated because i was ordering a nice ipa not like i was ordering a bud lite and i thought most places that serve a good beer should teach their servers not to do that.
I tried to explain to him why i asked for it adn i got that look like shut up anddrink your beer beer snob :(

I get that look a lot. They act like you're an idiot because you don't want your beer as cold as possible. When I order a decent beer, I want it in a room temperature glass. When I'm at home or in a craft beer bar I prefer the proper glassware, but I don't expect it when I'm at a place that doesn't specialize in it. Just don't be rude when I ask for a glass that isn't frozen.

There's a Buffalo Wild Wings near my house that serves a few craft beers (Cigar City, Bell's, Sierra Nevada, etc.), but they don't keep any of their glasses at room temperature. All there glassware is washed and left wet before being placed into the freezer so it becomes frosted. When I ordered a glass of Maduro Brown Ale I asked for a room temperature glass and got the "Are you serious?" look. They told me they didn't have any so I told the bartender just to wash it and let it sit out for a few minutes. He kind of snickered, but I ended up getting what I wanted.

I'm picky about my beer, but I don't think I'm snobbish. There's a time and place for everything. I don't mind ordering pitchers of Coors Light or something of that sort when I'm at a sports bar to watch a game. Just don't look down on me for a simple request that actually makes a real difference in the way my beer is enjoyed.

81

never asked for a warm glass...just wrap my hands around it for a few minutes

FenwayFaithful

Haha, the last page of this thread is great. The yahoos at most bars have no clue how to properly serve shit. There are two places I go to in Boston and Cambridge that know what they're doing, and hence why I give them my business.

Just grabbed a bottle of Stone Old Guardian and a 12er of Ruthless Rye for the weekend.

81

FenwayFaithful wrote:

Haha, the last page of this thread is great. The yahoos at most bars have no clue how to properly serve shit. There are two places I go to in Boston and Cambridge that know what they're doing, and hence why I give them my business.

Just grabbed a bottle of Stone Old Guardian and a 12er of Ruthless Rye for the weekend.

best beer i've ever had was this IPA that was served old old old school via a beer engine. perfect temp, good beer, and the expiernce of the beer engine just put it over the top.

FenwayFaithful

Beer engine huh? Had to look that one up myself.

Can't wait for my trip to the UK in March. Gonna be tasting a bunch of room temp beer over there.

carolinabeerguy

I love cask beer. While many may decry putting IPAs or most American beers in casks, I really enjoy it.

BIGDaddyWil

adam42381 wrote:

I love cask beer. While many may decry putting IPAs or most American beers in casks, I really enjoy it.

Word!!!

guitar59

Enjoying all the love for beer severed at warmer temperatures.
Finally tried the Faithfull last weekend, and true to form, the warmer it got the more I enjoyed it. Also enjoyed a Firestone Double Jack...it smelled so good I stole it from Mr. Guitar to enjoy the aroma...then wound up drinking it...good thing he loves me

FenwayFaithful

guitar59 wrote:

Finally tried the Faithfull last weekend, and true to form, the warmer it got the more I enjoyed it.

Really?

I'm still bitter about how poor this was last year. I feel like I wasted 20 bucks on Coors Light. Talk about putting a silk hat on a pig.

youngster

Picked up a couple things this afternoon:

Dogfish Head 120 min IPA
Sam Adams Imperial White
Otter Creek Copper Ale
Weisen Edel-Weise Ale
Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier (Bavarian Style)

mfc2006

Just about to open a bottle of this....yum....

Deschutes Hop Henge Experimental IPA

from their site...
"Hop Henge Experimental IPA is our annual exercise in IBU escalation. An outrageous amount of Centennial and Cascade hops are added to each barrel, with a heavy dry-hop presence as well. It is dense and muscular, with a blend of crystal, pale and carastan malts creating an overall biscuity characteristic. It’s all hop, no apologies."

FenwayFaithful

youngster wrote:

Picked up a couple things this afternoon:

Dogfish Head 120 min IPA
Sam Adams Imperial White
Otter Creek Copper Ale
Weisen Edel-Weise Ale
Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier (Bavarian Style)

Mmmm Imperial White

guitar59

FenwayFaithful wrote:

guitar59 wrote:

Finally tried the Faithfull last weekend, and true to form, the warmer it got the more I enjoyed it.

Really?

I'm still bitter about how poor this was last year. I feel like I wasted 20 bucks on Coors Light. Talk about putting a silk hat on a pig.

Yes, really.
But to put a little perspective on it...craft beer is not huge in Alberta...you can get it...but not a lot of it is local and you have to look hard to find much variety. There are 9 microbreweries and 3 brew pubs in Alberta. There are microbreweries in other provinces, but taxes make it difficult for small places to send their beer to other provinces. It just isn't cost effective to ship it out of province. So we get a few brews from BC, a few from Ontario, a couple from Quebec and a handful from any where else. We get some European beers and we can get a few brews out of the States (Rouge, Lakefront, Hopworks, Anchor, Pyramid, Brooklyn...a few others) but pickings are slim and all of it is fairly expensive (we routinely pay $13- $17 dollars a 6 pack). There are also only a handful of places in Calgary to find any selection. So the novelty of getting a Dogfish Head beer combined with general lack of variety make even a pig in a silk hat enjoyable.

mfc2006

mfc2006 wrote:

Just about to open a bottle of this....yum....

Deschutes Hop Henge Experimental IPA

from their site...
"Hop Henge Experimental IPA is our annual exercise in IBU escalation. An outrageous amount of Centennial and Cascade hops are added to each barrel, with a heavy dry-hop presence as well. It is dense and muscular, with a blend of crystal, pale and carastan malts creating an overall biscuity characteristic. It’s all hop, no apologies."

i've gotta say that this is incredibly tasty. my wife even likes it & she usually hates IPA's.