The OFFICIAL Craft Beer Thread

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 2:37 pm

Rush2112 wrote:
I would, but I'm only going Thursday.

Added the CL, I've had many Drakes from my trips to CA, Sixpoint Resin is very tasty. Shmaltz distributes here, I liked the 17th anniversary (IIRC) with the 17 malts and hops.

I was joking, since there was just shy of 700 breweries. Holy fuck, my head would 'asplode. I didn't realize Drakes was a bigger brewery. They are less than a mile from my companies HQ. I get a monthly e-mail for outings there. I get jealous.

I have a bottle of Funky Jewbilation at home. It is a mix of 6 different ales aged between 6 - 16 months in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels, Sazarac and Willet Rye barrels. This could be great or horrible, and reviews run the gamut.

Post by **Sabo** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 2:40 pm

Rush2112 wrote:
Sabo wrote:
BSF21 wrote:...ginger gluten free? were they out of literally anything else?
I've been avoiding real beer the last month or so because of some intestinal issues I have. The place I went to had only one GF beer, and that was it. They had some ciders, but I was in the mood for a beer. I wish I'd picked a cider.
I've got a buddy that's a celiac, he says the only "good" gluten free are Tweazenale (sp?) from Dogfish and Green's.

I've had the Green's, and I was not impressed. I thought it was way too watery.

So far the best GF beers I've had are the Omission brews from Widmer. They have a lager, pale ale and IPA. Instead of brewing from GF ingredients, they brew regular beer then add an enzyme that supposedly removes 99.5 percent of the gluten in it. It's much better than the brews made out of sorghum, brown rice or whatever else they use.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 2:56 pm

Man, for the most part all the smaller places around here that I really like aren't going. Of the ones that are, anything by Kane and Wormtown (MA) Be Hoppy would be the targets.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 2:58 pm

The Sybian wrote:

I was joking, since there was just shy of 700 breweries. Holy fuck, my head would 'asplode.[/quote]

Some people do all 5 sessions, plus tap takeovers. I have no idea how. That would be hard at 21. I am a seasoned veteran, but I'm going to be sleeping in a bit before I drive down to ABQ on Friday.

It's amazing how shitty yo get drinking 1-2 oz at a time, but I guess that's basically a pint in a few minutes.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:00 pm

My favorite beerfests are the ones where I don't have a conscience about dumping.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:02 pm

mister d wrote:Man, for the most part all the smaller places around here that I really like aren't going. Of the ones that are, anything by Kane and Wormtown (MA) Be Hoppy would be the targets.

Wormtown had one of the worst beers I have ever had. A mint IPA. Denver Beer has a Kefir Lime Ale that is close. Blech.

It's a shame that so many smaller ones get shut out. I wish that they'd had more quarterly festivals rather than these massive ones. Allows for seasonal beers, more breweries attending etc. but this bad boy is a cash cow.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:03 pm

I refused to try Be Hoppy for a long time because everything I tried from them was either bad or stale but its pretty strong. I think it gets overhyped in terms of approaching any sort of top 10 standing, but worth having if its making its way west.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:15 pm

mister d wrote:My favorite beerfests are the ones where I don't have a conscience about dumping.

Yep. Last year's Garden State was a mudfest due to torrential rain through the beginning of the event. No qualms dumping in mud. The previous year I surreptitiously dumped in garbage cans. You can't waste your booze limit on a bad or even decent beer. 200 beers to try!

With the move from May to September, I am hoping for a vastly different selection. In the past, there were a large number of Summer beers, session ales, lagers and a few fruity crap adjunct beers... I know there is an Octoberfest tent with 12-15 German beers.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:59 pm

mister d wrote:I refused to try Be Hoppy for a long time because everything I tried from them was either bad or stale but its pretty strong. I think it gets overhyped in terms of approaching any sort of top 10 standing, but worth having if its making its way west.

My fav from last year was a sour from Cambridge (they typically try too hard) that was a blend of beers with the oldest being 12 (?) years old. Was so layered and complex it was indescribable, and utterly amazing.

devilfluff · Post by **devilfluff** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:57 pm

The Sybian wrote:Kane out of NJ is top-notch. Their Evening Bell Porter is possibly the best beer I've ever had. It was towards the end of a beer festival, so my
judgment was highly impaired by that point. Their Head High IPA and Overhead DIPA are outstanding. Waiting for them to finally
come out in cans. Currently keg only.

I was there Saturday for their release of Sunday Brunch bottles.

devilfluff · Post by **devilfluff** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 11:30 pm

Rush2112 wrote:This one is still up:

http://www.porchdrinking.com/articles/2 ... s-missing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ETA:

and what's pouring (supposedly)

Some things I'd be down to try:

The Rare Barrel - Home Sour Home is really good, and almost everything they're pouring looks good.
Allagash - Farm to Face & Coolship Resurgam
Boneyard - Notorious
I am intrigued by Coppertail Brewing...
Dogfish Head - Higher Math & Choc Lobster
Due South - Mexican Standoff
FiftyFifty - Coffee BART
Foothills - Barrel Aged Sexual Chocolate
Fremont Brewing is bringing their big hitters, BA Abominable w/ adjuncts & BA Dark Star
Funky Buddha - Morning Wood or No Crusts
Goose Island - Bourbon County VANILLA RYE(this stuff is the tits!)
Lakewood - French Quarter Temptress
You already said Lawson's...
NoDa - Hop, Drop, & Roll
Revolution - Mosaic Hero
Russian River - Beatification
St Arnold is bringing a nice selection
Societe - The Pupil - Excellent, and hard to get outside of San Diego
The Bruery - Grey Monday
Union Craft - Double Duckpin
Wicked Weed has several excellent options(Golden Angel, Black Angel, Freak)

Just some of the places I'd go... You may take or leave my opinion as you see fit.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 12:20 am

Nice. I've got a sour/High ABV list started, and of course some of these are already on it.Just need names aside from the BIG names. Thanks.

RR is such a shit show. Last year people were waiting 45 minutes (of a 4 hour session!) to get 1 oz pours. It's good, but not that good.

I was north of SD last week, only got to hit up the Bruery, a Pizza Port, and Port/Lost Abbey taproom, tried a number of Modern Times, didn't see any Societe. Hard to hit breweries when you've got a one year old.

Also, I highly recommend that y'all make it out here for one of these sometimes. It really is amazing.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:33 am

devilfluff wrote:
Rush2112 wrote:This one is still up:

http://www.porchdrinking.com/articles/2 ... s-missing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ETA:

and what's pouring (supposedly)
Some things I'd be down to try:

The Rare Barrel - Home Sour Home is really good, and almost everything they're pouring looks good.
Allagash - Farm to Face & Coolship Resurgam
Boneyard - Notorious
I am intrigued by Coppertail Brewing...
Dogfish Head - Higher Math & Choc Lobster
Due South - Mexican Standoff
FiftyFifty - Coffee BART
Foothills - Barrel Aged Sexual Chocolate
Fremont Brewing is bringing their big hitters, BA Abominable w/ adjuncts & BA Dark Star
Funky Buddha - Morning Wood or No Crusts
Goose Island - Bourbon County VANILLA RYE(this stuff is the tits!)
Lakewood - French Quarter Temptress
You already said Lawson's...
NoDa - Hop, Drop, & Roll
Revolution - Mosaic Hero
Russian River - Beatification
St Arnold is bringing a nice selection
Societe - The Pupil - Excellent, and hard to get outside of San Diego
The Bruery - Grey Monday
Union Craft - Double Duckpin
Wicked Weed has several excellent options(Golden Angel, Black Angel, Freak)

Just some of the places I'd go... You may take or leave my opinion as you see fit.

I've been to Wicked Weed, and I thought it was pretty good, nothing more. I think I sampled 8-10 beers, and they had a few that stood out, but it wasn't earth shattering.

Coppertail is an easy drink. I've heard rumors that the local AB distributors (Pepin family) are the $$ behind this brewery, and it makes sense. They came out of nowhere, opened a gorgeous tasting room, have very pretty, well organized bottle label marketing, and their beers generally go down as smooth as macros. I'm skeptical of them. Basically what I'm saying is that they generally have good stuff, but Mr. D would never drink it.

devilfluff · Post by **devilfluff** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 12:49 pm

govmentchedda wrote:
devilfluff wrote:
Rush2112 wrote:This one is still up:

http://www.porchdrinking.com/articles/2 ... s-missing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ETA:

and what's pouring (supposedly)
Some things I'd be down to try:

The Rare Barrel - Home Sour Home is really good, and almost everything they're pouring looks good.
Allagash - Farm to Face & Coolship Resurgam
Boneyard - Notorious
I am intrigued by Coppertail Brewing...
Dogfish Head - Higher Math & Choc Lobster
Due South - Mexican Standoff
FiftyFifty - Coffee BART
Foothills - Barrel Aged Sexual Chocolate
Fremont Brewing is bringing their big hitters, BA Abominable w/ adjuncts & BA Dark Star
Funky Buddha - Morning Wood or No Crusts
Goose Island - Bourbon County VANILLA RYE(this stuff is the tits!)
Lakewood - French Quarter Temptress
You already said Lawson's...
NoDa - Hop, Drop, & Roll
Revolution - Mosaic Hero
Russian River - Beatification
St Arnold is bringing a nice selection
Societe - The Pupil - Excellent, and hard to get outside of San Diego
The Bruery - Grey Monday
Union Craft - Double Duckpin
Wicked Weed has several excellent options(Golden Angel, Black Angel, Freak)

Just some of the places I'd go... You may take or leave my opinion as you see fit.
I've been to Wicked Weed, and I thought it was pretty good, nothing more. I think I sampled 8-10 beers, and they had a few that stood out, but it wasn't earth shattering.

Coppertail is an easy drink. I've heard rumors that the local AB distributors (Pepin family) are the $$ behind this brewery, and it makes sense. They came out of nowhere, opened a gorgeous tasting room, have very pretty, well organized bottle label marketing, and their beers generally go down as smooth as macros. I'm skeptical of them. Basically what I'm saying is that they generally have good stuff, but Mr. D would never drink it.

Coppertail's head brewer and co-owner was the former brewer at one of my locals, Flying Fish

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:07 am

Welp. Looks like I might have to buy one of these for the bar

http://www.beercapmaps.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:30 am

A_B wrote:Welp. Looks like I might have to buy one of these for the bar

http://www.beercapmaps.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Kind of cool, but the cap counts on the individual state maps are a little goof balls. California gets 64 cap holes, Utah gets almost twice as many. Plus, they punted on Hawaii.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:36 am

Ummmm... what's going on here?

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 12:46 pm

Exclusive: U.S. probes allegations AB InBev seeking to curb craft beer distribution

The U.S. Justice Department is probing allegations that Anheuser-Busch InBev is seeking to curb competition in the beer market by buying distributors, making it harder for fast-growing craft brewers to get their products on store shelves, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Antitrust regulators are also reviewing craft brewers' claims that AB InBev pushes some independent distributors to only carry the company's products and end their ties with the craft industry, two of the sources said, noting that the investigation was in its early stages. AB InBev's purchase of several craft beer makers in recent years means that it is in a position to offer a greater variety of products itself.

Who could have seen this coming?

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 11:34 am

Met up with the esteemed mr. Giff on Tuesday for a couple beers and dinner. Among those we drank:
Alesmith Horny Devil IPA
Boulder Beer Co. Hazed and Infused IPA
Left Hand Haystack Hefeweizen
Devil's Canyon Deadicated IPA (San Carlos brewery!)

Then, yesterday, I flew up to Portland for work and had a couple Lompoc Blonde Coffee ales. Surprisingly good.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 11:55 am

sancarlos wrote:Met up with the esteemed mr. Giff on Tuesday for a couple beers and dinner. Among those we drank:
Alesmith Horny Devil IPA
Boulder Beer Co. Hazed and Infused IPA
Left Hand Haystack Hefeweizen
Devil's Canyon Deadicated IPA (San Carlos brewery!)

Then, yesterday, I flew up to Portland for work and had a couple Lompoc Blonde Coffee ales. Surprisingly good.

But was he OK?

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 12:04 pm

The Astros definitely wounded him.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 12:05 pm

He shouldn't be.

(I'm realizing I think I might never have encountered an actual Texas Rangers fan, in person or online. Is that possible? Am I forgetting someone here?)

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 2:05 pm

sancarlos wrote:Met up with the esteemed mr. Giff on Tuesday for a couple beers and dinner. Among those we drank:
Alesmith Horny Devil IPA
Boulder Beer Co. Hazed and Infused IPA
Left Hand Haystack Hefeweizen
Devil's Canyon Deadicated IPA (San Carlos brewery!)

Then, yesterday, I flew up to Portland for work and had a couple Lompoc Blonde Coffee ales. Surprisingly good.

Does this mean we'll have to keep track if we hang out in a couple weeks?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 2:23 pm

DSafetyGuy wrote:
sancarlos wrote:Met up with the esteemed mr. Giff on Tuesday for a couple beers and dinner. Among those we drank:
Alesmith Horny Devil IPA
Boulder Beer Co. Hazed and Infused IPA
Left Hand Haystack Hefeweizen
Devil's Canyon Deadicated IPA (San Carlos brewery!)

Then, yesterday, I flew up to Portland for work and had a couple Lompoc Blonde Coffee ales. Surprisingly good.
Does this mean we'll have to keep track if we hang out in a couple weeks?

Untappd!

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 2:51 pm

A_B wrote:

Untappd!

You got me hooked on Untappd. I only log in beers I've never had before, and I often wonder why I bother. It came in handy once when I almost bought a beer, but couldn't remember if I'd tried it before. Untappd told me I didn't like it, so it bought me the opportunity to buy a different beer.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 2:56 pm

The Sybian wrote:
A_B wrote:

Untappd!
You got me hooked on Untappd. I only log in beers I've never had before, and I often wonder why I bother. It came in handy once when I almost bought a beer, but couldn't remember if I'd tried it before. Untappd told me I didn't like it, so it bought me the opportunity to buy a different beer.

I sometimes log places even if it's a beer I've had before, but I try to only do new ones most of the time.

devilfluff · Post by **devilfluff** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 3:49 pm

I use the hell out of Untappd.

teeteebee · Post by **teeteebee** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 9:44 pm

This Stone Enjoy by Halloween is beyond solid.

teeteebee · Post by **teeteebee** » Fri Oct 16, 2015 9:57 pm

Neshaminy Creek The Shape of Hops to Come. Very nice. 5 hops - Simcoe, Topaz, Citra, Apollo and Nitra. Check it out if you get the chance.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 7:16 am

devilfluff wrote:I use the hell out of Untappd.

Agreed. Hadn't seen any for like 6 months and didn't love the last 1 or 2 I'd had but this one is great.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:22 am

mister d wrote:
devilfluff wrote:I use the hell out of Untappd.
Agreed. Hadn't seen any for like 6 months and didn't love the last 1 or 2 I'd had but this one is great.

Untappd? Do you mean Enjoy By? Just bought one. At worst, they are very solid. One of them I had was great. I saw they brought back the 08.08.08 Vertical. I passed, was this a mistake? Read some reviews, and it didn't sound like something I had to try. Speaking of Stone, Thunderstruck IPA was very underwhelming. Very light flavor and thin. Some people seemed to love it, though.

Had Founder's ReDANKulous. Worth trying, very good and dank, but nothing worth searching for. I saw Backwoods Bastard (Bourbon barrel aged Scotch Ale) hit the shelves before schedule in NY and KY, for some reason. If you see it, MUST buy. Top 5 all-time beer for me.

Excited for wet hop season. Drank a couple Sixpoint Sensi Harvest. Definitely taste the fresh hop difference, but not a great beer. I feel the need to pound them so I can get rid of them, drink fresh, and get some different wet hopped.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:31 am

Place I was at last night was out of Enjoy By..., had reDANKulous but I "just" got a Head High. Still so so good.

devilfluff · Post by **devilfluff** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 9:08 am

I'm kinda meh on wet hop beers.

Head High is excellent. I'll have to make another trip to the brewery after their next canning run.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 12:23 pm

I was going to see if I could fit in a run this weekend if they weren't out but they are. Seems awesome, 600 cases at $72 per out of their tasting room = $43.2K gross in a weekend. I imagine that'll spur more canning runs.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 12:24 pm

Re: Vertical Epics, they're really hit or miss. Some have been great, some bad, some meh. Wouldn't buy blind unless the style really appealed to me.

And agree on wet hops. Have always wanted to like the ones I've had more than I did.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:13 pm

rass wrote:Place I was at last night was out of Enjoy By..., had reDANKulous but I "just" got a Head High. Still so so good.

Head High is much better.

Enjoy By 10/31 is really good. Piney, and the aftertaste feels like you ate pink grapefruit. Feeling the booze after a bomber, and fear I'm going to regret moving on to some rye. Templeton's, really enjoying it. Not sure why rye fell off the radar. It's like bourbon, but better and more complex, with nice spices, and Templeton's has a bit of mintiness going on.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 3:30 am

The Sybian wrote: Not sure why rye fell off the radar.

It was/is an eastern drink! It lost out to king bourbon in the Prohibition and aftermath. We have a distillery here that a Maryland style rye that's fantastic. Sadly it's gained a name and hard to find. It'll come back though as theirs a market for it, plus Manhattan's rule.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 5:57 pm

The Sybian wrote:
rass wrote:Place I was at last night was out of Enjoy By..., had reDANKulous but I "just" got a Head High. Still so so good.
Head High is much better.

Enjoy By 10/31 is really good. Piney, and the aftertaste feels like you ate pink grapefruit. Feeling the booze after a bomber, and fear I'm going to regret moving on to some rye. Templeton's, really enjoying it. Not sure why rye fell off the radar. It's like bourbon, but better and more complex, with nice spices, and Templeton's has a bit of mintiness going on.

Enjoy Bys have pissed me off as of late. I keep trying them at a crazy premium (18$ per 4 pack here) and they've been pedestrian at best the last 2 or 3 times. Maybe it's just IPA overload, and I love Stone, but it's just not worth the money.

devilfluff · Post by **devilfluff** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 11:10 pm

BSF21 wrote:
The Sybian wrote:
rass wrote:Place I was at last night was out of Enjoy By..., had reDANKulous but I "just" got a Head High. Still so so good.
Head High is much better.

Enjoy By 10/31 is really good. Piney, and the aftertaste feels like you ate pink grapefruit. Feeling the booze after a bomber, and fear I'm going to regret moving on to some rye. Templeton's, really enjoying it. Not sure why rye fell off the radar. It's like bourbon, but better and more complex, with nice spices, and Templeton's has a bit of mintiness going on.
Enjoy Bys have pissed me off as of late. I keep trying them at a crazy premium (18$ per 4 pack here) and they've been pedestrian at best the last 2 or 3 times. Maybe it's just IPA overload, and I love Stone, but it's just not worth the money.

$18/4 pack is crazy money. I can get 4 packs of world class IPAs in pounder cans for $12.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 2:44 pm

Backwoods Bastard has hit NJ! Stopped in at Joe Canal's in Woodbridge, and they had 6 unopened cases underneath Breakfast stout 4-packs in the seasonal beer display. I bought all 6 and will be selling them at an enormous markup. A customer walked past me as I was opening a case, and he looked like a cartoon character with his eyes bugging out and jaw hitting the floor. He looked panicked, ran back to empty his basket, repeating "no way" the whole time. I only bought 2 4-packs, but at $11.99, I probably should have bought them all.

Canal's also had a couple of 6ers of Ballast Point Calm Before the Storm. One of the few beers I kept tabs on the NJ release. Every store told me "it should be this week" for many weeks, until I finally gave up. I bought the last single bottle at BuyRite a couple weeks ago, so I was really surprised to see it. It wasn't good enough to warrant a 6 pack, but I found a bunch of single bottles hidden on a bottom shelf, labels all turned towards the wall. I feel like a kid on Christmas, and I mean a Christian kid, not my childhood boredom with a side of Mu Shu pork.