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The what beer are you drinking (and or rating) thread.
- Thread starter Aspidites
- Start date
I haven't had Old Rasputin in a while. A BBQ joint down the street keeps it in, so sounds like a good excuse for me to go enjoy a pulled pork sammich.
I credit Bell's 2-Hearted with my recent interest in IPAs. I thought I was pretty much done with IPAs until I picked up a few bottles of that.
...which brings me to the purpose of this post: TB picks my first beer of the night. It's about 6:30 CDT right now, and I'll check back at 7 to see what y'all have chosen:
Whole Hog "[DEL]5-Hop[/DEL] 6-Hop IPA"
Samuel Smith's "India Ale"
Westmalle "Trapist Ale Tripel"
De Dolle Brouwers "Special Reserva 2008 Ale"
Orval "Trapist Ale"
Abita "Andygator"
I credit Bell's 2-Hearted with my recent interest in IPAs. I thought I was pretty much done with IPAs until I picked up a few bottles of that.
...which brings me to the purpose of this post: TB picks my first beer of the night. It's about 6:30 CDT right now, and I'll check back at 7 to see what y'all have chosen:
Whole Hog "[DEL]5-Hop[/DEL] 6-Hop IPA"
Samuel Smith's "India Ale"
Westmalle "Trapist Ale Tripel"
De Dolle Brouwers "Special Reserva 2008 Ale"
Orval "Trapist Ale"
Abita "Andygator"
Go from the top of your list down. Whole Hog sounds like a good starting point.
Well, looks to be the only vote in the time allotted, so Whole Hog it is.
Terrific lemon-y smell opening the bottle. The twist-off is handy, too.
My apologies on the frosted/etched glass... my Abita sets are the only pint glasses I have clean right now. It's a very rich caramel color and pours without much head. Doesn't leave much lacing on the glass, either. (If you look in the fleur-de-lis or the skyline the glass is clear and shows the true color pretty well.)
This is one that I'll probably stop at one bottle. A bit "hoppier" than I care for with a dry, slightly bitter finish. Reminds me why I don't really dig IPAs.
What, me again? Oh, alright. I enjoyed a lovely bottle of Southern Tier Brewing's Imperial Choklat Stout while preparing dinner. If you enjoy a stout that is heavy on chocolate, with an ABV of 11%(!), you may want to give this one a whirl. I found it to be a trifle montonous in terms of flavour profile (chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate... with booze!), but it has a richness that is vey satisfying, especially if sipped slowly. I have only found this beer in 650 ml bottles, that are VERY pricey in Canada, so this one falls into the 'enjoy occasionally' bracket.
Attachments
Had a few glasses of Andygator last night while joining friends for wings. Tonight I'll be delivering a growler of Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale to a friend, and I'm sure I'll have to sit down and help him out w/ it. I decided to do some wine shopping this past weekend instead of picking up some new beers, but I'll be back in the game soon. I'm very anxious to get my hands on a few bottles of Stevens Point 2012 Black Ale.
For some strange but glorious reason, my local Safeway had both this:
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in stock tonight.
You all know the Chimay, but the Little Sumpin Wild is exceptionally good. Trappist yeast + lots of American hops. Think "mid-level American IPA with a rounder, more complex backbone". Yum.
Invalid Link Removedand this:
in stock tonight.
You all know the Chimay, but the Little Sumpin Wild is exceptionally good. Trappist yeast + lots of American hops. Think "mid-level American IPA with a rounder, more complex backbone". Yum.
Im several sheets to the wind at this point to give a proper beer evaluation, but this
is not a bad beer.
Last year's batch was better.
Speaking of New Belgium, I had some of the 1554. Just as good as always, but I think they might have lowered its alcohol content.
If you can find it, Rasputin (the original) from the DeMoellen brewing company puts just about everything else to shame. Not sure if it will be imported to the US this year, but it was last year in small quantities. I've been watching patiently, but the distributors don't know if it will be imported this year or not.
Had some Spaten Oktoberfest last night, and Sierra Nevada Tumbler the night before...the latter being the best brown ale I've had in a long time.
Oh man, that Tumbler is good stuff. I got a 12 pack last week and made short order of it.
Samuel Smith's India Ale:
Did nothing for me right out of the bottle. A thick, bitter dryness that turns me off of most IPAs. Let it sit and warm-up just a bit, though, and the flavor becomes bolder, the bitterness a bit subdued, and more of a sweetness comes out. I'm going to be giving this one another chance.
Over the weekend I took a few growlers over to some friends to see what they thought. 1 was Kiltlifter (love it), 1 Shipyard's Pumpkinhead (no thank you!), and I can't for the life of me remember what the third was, but I enjoyed it. I'm going to go get a growler or two refilled this week so I'll try to figure out what that third one was.
Did nothing for me right out of the bottle. A thick, bitter dryness that turns me off of most IPAs. Let it sit and warm-up just a bit, though, and the flavor becomes bolder, the bitterness a bit subdued, and more of a sweetness comes out. I'm going to be giving this one another chance.
Over the weekend I took a few growlers over to some friends to see what they thought. 1 was Kiltlifter (love it), 1 Shipyard's Pumpkinhead (no thank you!), and I can't for the life of me remember what the third was, but I enjoyed it. I'm going to go get a growler or two refilled this week so I'll try to figure out what that third one was.
Every time I go to the local "British-y" Pub I must have:
One pint of Old Speckled Hen;
A few Strong Suffolk longnecks.
One pint of Old Speckled Hen;
A few Strong Suffolk longnecks.
Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout is my favorite, but can only have a couple b/c they're so thick. Bass is my sipping beer preference.
