The Craft Beer Thread....

shep

JK_Livin wrote:

What does everyone do with beer that is brought over by guests but then no one drinks it? I have a case of Harp thats in the way and I'd rather not drink it. I know it could be a much worse beer but compared to my other choices, it is.

Typically I solve this problem by packing up a cooler and taking it to hockey with me... most of my hockey guys are grateful someone brings beer!

I have the exact same problem right now though... had some buddies over last night and they left behind a 6-pack of miller light and a 6-pack of corona light... i wish they had of fucking taken it with them... i have no use for the stuff...

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

Also, this may be a reach by me, but outside of Czech-ish/Belgium/German beers, I think US Craft beers have completely blown by other beers.

Agreed... i was venture to say they have blown by everyone but Belgium... there's still lots of really good, interesting stuff coming out of belgium...


So, I'm going to Chicago next week for 5 days.... what does everyone recommend? I'm living in texas right now, so there's a whole world of stuff I'm going to be able to get my hands on that I normally can't get... i need recommendations for (a) what beers to try, (b) good craft beer spots downtown, and (c) a good bottle shop in the downtown area (I think I'm going to go by a bunch of stuff I normally can't get, box it up and ship it to myself ).... Chicago people please help!

PJFAN13

shep wrote:

So, I'm going to Chicago next week for 5 days.... what does everyone recommend?

I've travelled to Chicago a few times a year and make it a point to hit these places:

To buy and bring home/ship:
Binny’s Beverage Depot (specifically the Marcey St locale) - there's a bunch of these, but this one was closest to where I stayed - HUNDREDS of domestic/craft beers and a TON of imports - yummyness galore - give yourself some time - literally an adult candy store

To drink /enjoy on premise:
Hopleaf Bar on Clark St - 6/7 dollar pints of everything - lots of yummy Belgians - and if you go at evening time - order the lamb meatballs, good golly they are yummy!!!

I'm sure the local Chicagoland folks on here have a ton of ideas, hole-in-the-walls and off the beaten path joints as well, but trust me, you cannot go wrong with the above...My buddy just went for a convention and loved Hopleaf...

Horos

Picked up another 10th Anny Stone Ruination(still lots on the shelf here) and an Oakshire Perfect Storm DIPA.

Jnich2424

This thread is making me sad :( lol. Sober about a month and a half now, and still got at least 4+ months to go until I can get home. Can't wait to crack open some of the beers I got sitting at home awaiting my return

he.who.forgets

Had a few Terrapin Monk's Revenges last night. Very good! It's a Belgian style IPA with traces of banana. 8.5% ABV and very very drinkable. Terrapin puts out some very good beer.

RFTC

shep wrote:

JK_Livin wrote:

What does everyone do with beer that is brought over by guests but then no one drinks it? I have a case of Harp thats in the way and I'd rather not drink it. I know it could be a much worse beer but compared to my other choices, it is.

Typically I solve this problem by packing up a cooler and taking it to hockey with me... most of my hockey guys are grateful someone brings beer!

I have the exact same problem right now though... had some buddies over last night and they left behind a 6-pack of miller light and a 6-pack of corona light... i wish they had of fucking taken it with them... i have no use for the stuff...

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

Also, this may be a reach by me, but outside of Czech-ish/Belgium/German beers, I think US Craft beers have completely blown by other beers.

Agreed... i was venture to say they have blown by everyone but Belgium... there's still lots of really good, interesting stuff coming out of belgium...


So, I'm going to Chicago next week for 5 days.... what does everyone recommend? I'm living in texas right now, so there's a whole world of stuff I'm going to be able to get my hands on that I normally can't get... i need recommendations for (a) what beers to try, (b) good craft beer spots downtown, and (c) a good bottle shop in the downtown area (I think I'm going to go by a bunch of stuff I normally can't get, box it up and ship it to myself ).... Chicago people please help!

Shep, you need to execute an epic beer buying plan and need to organize accordingly. i know you know ba.com but for quick order i would buy a shit ton of Bells 2 hearted, and 3 floyds stuff (gumball), i doubt you will get new glarus but if so, fat squirrel is awesome. good luck, i may have some pliny's to trade in September.

81

went with the yeti ipa...wtf...i dunno....switched to bourbon....

Horos

81 wrote:

went with the yeti ipa...wtf...i dunno....switched to bourbon....

Try many of those bourbon aged beers?

shep

RFTC wrote:

Shep, you need to execute an epic beer buying plan and need to organize accordingly. i know you know ba.com but for quick order i would buy a shit ton of Bells 2 hearted, and 3 floyds stuff (gumball), i doubt you will get new glarus but if so, fat squirrel is awesome. good luck, i may have some pliny's to trade in September.

Bell's and 3 Floyds are two brands I will be looking for...

There's a Binny's right next to the hotel that looks like it's a fair size... just need to figure out what I'm going to take to get all my beer purchases back to houston... going to be an interesting adventure!

JK_Livin

shep wrote:

So, I'm going to Chicago next week for 5 days.... what does everyone recommend?

You have 2 choices, Old Style and Old Style Light

shep

Just scored 2 x 6-packs of Devine Reserve #12!

The whole city of houston/half the state of texas is going nutz looking for this stuff today... had to get the GF to show up to get me a 2nd sixer, they were only allowing 1 per person, which sucks donkey balls, considering this stuff is made to be aged 1 to 5 years....



Happy I got a few!

Yellow Ledbelly

My buddy brought back a nice haul from Gulf Shores over the weekend....several selections including a brewmaster's picks from Great Divide, some Terrapin, some Sweetwater, magic hat #9, Florida Beer Co. Swamp Ape IPA, a couple from Harpoon and I don't know what else but i think there's a couple more.

Bad thing is my house/fridge is the offical storage place when we make big hauls and now not only do i have those but quite a few new ones arrived at my store today. It's a good problem to have but even as much as we drink we aren't able to keep up with all this now.

Also, had a blast at the Top of the Hops Fest in Jackson last Saturday. Lots of great new beers just made legal here. It was the first time I've been able to try Yazoo Sue, which is super smoked big time, and it was great if you like that sort of thing. Tons of others but that stood out as the most unique of the bunch

RFTC

shep wrote:

Just scored 2 x 6-packs of Devine Reserve #12!

The whole city of houston/half the state of texas is going nutz looking for this stuff today... had to get the GF to show up to get me a 2nd sixer, they were only allowing 1 per person, which sucks donkey balls, considering this stuff is made to be aged 1 to 5 years....



Happy I got a few!

got a 6'er today as well. will review on thursday night, plan on having 2 at a time, i cant store beer, no patience for that shit.

shep

RFTC wrote:

shep wrote:

Just scored 2 x 6-packs of Devine Reserve #12!

The whole city of houston/half the state of texas is going nutz looking for this stuff today... had to get the GF to show up to get me a 2nd sixer, they were only allowing 1 per person, which sucks donkey balls, considering this stuff is made to be aged 1 to 5 years....



Happy I got a few!

got a 6'er today as well. will review on thursday night, plan on having 2 at a time, i cant store beer, no patience for that shit.

I think with this one you should try!

I had a preview of it at the feast of saint arnold... got two glasses before the keg ran dry... it's definitely "young" and made for aging... the newsletter recommended 5 years

Yellow Ledbelly

Monday night had O'Fallon's Five-day IPA...pretty good but nothing exceptional

Last night had Sweetwater IPA...thought it was fantastic. Wish i had a case of it.

Now I'll be off at lunch today and will be taking a few days off before work gets really busy again so i'll be trying a bunch over the next few days.

adam42381

To celebrate IPA Day today, I decided to go with the biggest one I've got: Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. That's one fine, inebriating brew. Happy IPA Day!

RFTC

adam42381 wrote:

To celebrate IPA Day today, I decided to go with the biggest one I've got: Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. That's one fine, inebriating brew. Happy IPA Day!

gdamn you! i want, want, need a 120 and you are stoking the flame. As i am heading to philly for pj in 30 days, how hard is it to obtain this bad boy? or if you want to trade???

RFTC

RFTC wrote:

shep wrote:

Just scored 2 x 6-packs of Devine Reserve #12!

The whole city of houston/half the state of texas is going nutz looking for this stuff today... had to get the GF to show up to get me a 2nd sixer, they were only allowing 1 per person, which sucks donkey balls, considering this stuff is made to be aged 1 to 5 years....



Happy I got a few!

got a 6'er today as well. will review on thursday night, plan on having 2 at a time, i cant store beer, no patience for that shit.

Had my first taste tonight...meh, definitely needs aging for i'd say at least 6 months. Therein lies the problem..

Horos

Went to a local bottleshop/tavern for IPA day and tried these:

Pfiem Blonde IPA 6.25% ABV, 50 IBUs
Russian River Blind Pig IPA 6.1% ABV, 70 IBUs
Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA 7.5% ABV, 70 IBUs
Russian River Pliny the Elder Double IPA 8% ABV, 100 IBUs(finally this beer is not over-rated)
Green Flash Imperial IPA 9.4% ABV, 101 IBUs
Epic Brewing Hopulent Imperial IPA Release #44, served on NITRO 8.3% ABV, ?
10 Barrel Cynical Casacadian Dark Ale(Dark IPA) 8% ABV, 85 IBUs
Stone Cali-Belgique IPA 6.9% ABV, 77 IBUs

Only $11 for a 4 oz pour of each.

Then had another glass of the Pliny.

adam42381

RFTC wrote:

adam42381 wrote:

To celebrate IPA Day today, I decided to go with the biggest one I've got: Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. That's one fine, inebriating brew. Happy IPA Day!

gdamn you! i want, want, need a 120 and you are stoking the flame. As i am heading to philly for pj in 30 days, how hard is it to obtain this bad boy? or if you want to trade???

There were a lot of them sitting on shelves a month ago here at Total Wine. I only bought 2 since they're $10 a bottle. I'm planning to age the other one.

adam42381

Horos wrote:

Went to a local bottleshop/tavern for IPA day and tried these:

Pfiem Blonde IPA 6.25% ABV, 50 IBUs
Russian River Blind Pig IPA 6.1% ABV, 70 IBUs
Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA 7.5% ABV, 70 IBUs
Russian River Pliny the Elder Double IPA 8% ABV, 100 IBUs(finally this beer is not over-rated)
Green Flash Imperial IPA 9.4% ABV, 101 IBUs
Epic Brewing Hopulent Imperial IPA Release #44, served on NITRO 8.3% ABV, ?
10 Barrel Cynical Casacadian Dark Ale(Dark IPA) 8% ABV, 85 IBUs
Stone Cali-Belgique IPA 6.9% ABV, 77 IBUs

Only $11 for a 4 oz pour of each.

Then had another glass of the Pliny.

You win.

Horos

adam42381 wrote:

Horos wrote:

Went to a local bottleshop/tavern for IPA day and tried these:

Pfiem Blonde IPA 6.25% ABV, 50 IBUs
Russian River Blind Pig IPA 6.1% ABV, 70 IBUs
Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA 7.5% ABV, 70 IBUs
Russian River Pliny the Elder Double IPA 8% ABV, 100 IBUs(finally this beer is not over-rated)
Green Flash Imperial IPA 9.4% ABV, 101 IBUs
Epic Brewing Hopulent Imperial IPA Release #44, served on NITRO 8.3% ABV, ?
10 Barrel Cynical Casacadian Dark Ale(Dark IPA) 8% ABV, 85 IBUs
Stone Cali-Belgique IPA 6.9% ABV, 77 IBUs

Only $11 for a 4 oz pour of each.

Then had another glass of the Pliny.

You win.

Actually ducked out of work 3 hours early because I feared they would run out of Pliny(they started serving it at 11am).

Picked this up for our Syndicate meeting Sunday.

guitar59

We went to Elysian Fields last night before the ball game. We tried the Immortal IPA, Loser Pale, Dragonstooth Stout, the Summer Wit, and the guest tap Firestone Pale 31. All were very enjoyable for us Albertans visiting Washington. At the game we had a Danger Ale and one Mr. Guitar can't remember...it was an IPA from somewhere. We are loving the Washington beer. Today it was some Victory Prima Pils and Hale Pale Ale by the pool. We did (or did not) obtain a 120 min IPA by Easy Street, that we will enjoy later on. We have a couple Hop in the Dark Cascadian Dark Ales to take home, we thought we would have some Freemount Summer Ales to enjoy with friends, but they are far to drinkable. Happy IPA day!

JK_Livin

I posted this earlier but I'll do it again. I'm heading here this week, http://teaandbeer.com/. It was rated as a top 100 beer bar this year. I'll have a full report next week.

MotoDC

RFTC wrote:

adam42381 wrote:

To celebrate IPA Day today, I decided to go with the biggest one I've got: Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. That's one fine, inebriating brew. Happy IPA Day!

gdamn you! i want, want, need a 120 and you are stoking the flame. As i am heading to philly for pj in 30 days, how hard is it to obtain this bad boy? or if you want to trade???

Very easy to get in Philly. Great beer town. Expect to pay around $10/bottle.

Edit: just saw you're from Texas. If I were you I'd arrange a way to get it back home with you. 120 is noticeably better after a couple months on the bottle. Comes across strangely sweet if it's too fresh.

PJFAN13

I am enjoying the just released today "Double Strike IPA' by Lightning Brewery in Poway, California.
Oh My Gosh is it fantastic - NZL hops, 9%ABV - brash and a tad bitter - it is an amazing IPA - tuff to proclaim in this "valley of IPA" (Stone, Ballast Point, Green Flash, etc..)
Nice job Lightning Brew!!!

If you are a hop head, live in the greater San Diego area - I highly recommend this tasty beverage!

RFTC

Horos wrote:

Went to a local bottleshop/tavern for IPA day and tried these:

Pfiem Blonde IPA 6.25% ABV, 50 IBUs
Russian River Blind Pig IPA 6.1% ABV, 70 IBUs
Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA 7.5% ABV, 70 IBUs
Russian River Pliny the Elder Double IPA 8% ABV, 100 IBUs(finally this beer is not over-rated)
Green Flash Imperial IPA 9.4% ABV, 101 IBUs
Epic Brewing Hopulent Imperial IPA Release #44, served on NITRO 8.3% ABV, ?
10 Barrel Cynical Casacadian Dark Ale(Dark IPA) 8% ABV, 85 IBUs
Stone Cali-Belgique IPA 6.9% ABV, 77 IBUs

Only $11 for a 4 oz pour of each.

Then had another glass of the Pliny.

that a deal of the fkn century right there, i love me some pliny but hopefully you felt the firestone walker held up well comparatively? also, were you eating pretzels or drinking water in btwn these? those are pallet wreckers for sure.

RFTC

MotoDC wrote:

RFTC wrote:

adam42381 wrote:

To celebrate IPA Day today, I decided to go with the biggest one I've got: Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. That's one fine, inebriating brew. Happy IPA Day!

gdamn you! i want, want, need a 120 and you are stoking the flame. As i am heading to philly for pj in 30 days, how hard is it to obtain this bad boy? or if you want to trade???

Very easy to get in Philly. Great beer town. Expect to pay around $10/bottle.

Edit: just saw you're from Texas. If I were you I'd arrange a way to get it back home with you. 120 is noticeably better after a couple months on the bottle. Comes across strangely sweet if it's too fresh.

thanks man, luckily i will be in philly for MIA, staying right around the park area, is there a particular bottleshop/store you would recommend in the area?

adam42381

I helped a buddy brew a parti-gyle beer about a month ago. The initial running was a Barleywine which needs to age a few more months. The second brew - made from the spent grain from the first brew - was an experimental English Pale Ale. It was on tap at a local wing place, Hurricane Wings in Estero, tonight. It turned out really well. Far from traditional, it was very hop-forward with a nice background of cinnamon and spices. It was only served in 6 ounce cups because the brew only yielded 3 gallons.

adam42381

Knocking back a Founders Double Trouble Imperial IPA tonight. That's a mighty fine beer. I really wish Founders would start distribution to Florida.