Beer!

Somebody would have to age it for me..somewhere far away from my house, because if I had easy access to it, I would drink it.

I have a closet in the basement (where my vinyl records are) and I put stuff I want to age down there.  Even though it's a finished basement and I have a bunch of leather furniture down there (it was going to be my "man cave") I seldom go down there.  So it's out of sight, out of mind.  You'd be surprised; if you keep you normal beer stash relatively well-stocked, you forget about bottles you stashed in a room you seldom visit.

Just got back from the grocery store where I picked up another bottle of Firestone Walker's "Wookey Jack" black IPA.   I think this might be my favorite Black IPA, even better than Founders. 

BeerAdvocate gives it a 95 - World Class.

Bought another sixer of Sam Adams Rebel Rouser Double IPA.  Not my favorite DIPA but decent enough for the price.  I also had a bomber of Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale (black IPA) over the weekend.  I think after Founders, Stone is my next favorite brewery.

Picked up a Stout made in Astoria, Or. Loving it.

I don't think I've ever met a stout I didn't like.

Unless it had a bunch of stupid adjuncts in it like pepper.

Those guys at Stone are SERIOUS about beer!

I really love how reasonably priced their beers are.  Heck, their Russian Stout goes for about 6.99 around here.  That's also what I paid for that double IPA of their's I bought.

Trying some new beers:




I already know Ommegang is a dependable beer, but I was unsure of the other one. Not too bad. A tad biterness is hidden in there but not enough to ruin the beer (with a 9.8% ABV it has bit of a kick too).

I like Curmudgeon.  It's an old ale brewed with molasses and I'm a fan of old ales.  The Ommegang is a Saison or Farmhouse ale and I've always described that style as a cross between a Belgian ale and a sour.  Not one of my favorite styles of beer but I can drink it.

Made a beer run today and bought a bunch of stuff but only one bottle was a stout. I bought a ton of black IPAs, double IPAS, a couple triple IPAS (thank you Founders) and some black rye IPAs.

I've discovered that as the weather gets warmer I find it harder to really enjoy the heavy stouts I've stockpiled for so long. But these IPAs really seem to be more refreshing in these warmer temps. I even bought one bottle of a single IPA from Founders just to see if I'm totally over my IPA-phobia or if I still have to stick with the doubles/triples and blacks.

tohostudios wrote:

I like Curmudgeon.  It's an old ale brewed with molasses and I'm a fan of old ales.  The Ommegang is a Saison or Farmhouse ale and I've always described that style as a cross between a Belgian ale and a sour.  Not one of my favorite styles of beer but I can drink it.

Kind of made me apprehensive when you said 'a sour', because I don't like sour beers. Luckily, the Belgian is strong enough to overpower it.

DallasBlack wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

I like Curmudgeon.  It's an old ale brewed with molasses and I'm a fan of old ales.  The Ommegang is a Saison or Farmhouse ale and I've always described that style as a cross between a Belgian ale and a sour.  Not one of my favorite styles of beer but I can drink it.

Kind of made me apprehensive when you said 'a sour', because I don't like sour beers. Luckily, the Belgian is strong enough to overpower it.

Yeah, be careful when you see either "saison" or "farmhouse" on the label.  I've had saisons that I've liked and others that I've hated.  That Ommegang one is one I can drink.  So is the Tank 7 Farmhouse ale by Boulevard Brewing.  But other than those two I'm really hesitant to try that style.

Drank a Noda Coco Loco last night. It's made at the Noda Brewing Co. in Charlotte.

For our Memorial Day picnic, I had some Erie Brewing Co. beers from a variety pack. In it was the Railbender Ale (a Scottish style ale), Mad Anthony's APA, Misery Bay IPA, and the Presque Isle Pilsner. The only one I haven't tried yet was the IPA. The others were quite tasty.

With Toho going on and on about double and black IPAs, I decided to try one:


www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/67046/

At first, it was just like he described. The bitterness was overpowered by the malts, and I was quite enjoying it. A quarter of the way through, the malts lost out. Became a BC powder beer and was undrinkable to me. Found out it's IBU rating is 109 and came across this quote on Beer Advocate:

"Taste is okay to start, interesting, then extremely bitter and dry. Not my taste."

Either there is no IPA that will work for me, or I came across a bad one. Luckily, the four pack (couldn't find any single IPAs-except for the regular ones) cost less than a large bottle of beer so I'm not out of too much money.

I feel your pain DB.

I poured a lot of money down the drain when trying IPAs.  But then I had that discussion with an IPA fan while watching March Madness at the local beer snob bar and that's where I learned that black IPAs, black ryes and double and even triple IPAs might appeal to me.  I'd also recommend Founders Devil Dancer Triple IPA if you can find it but it's really pricey (on sale it's 19.49 for a 4 pack).

It's been trial and error for me ever since too.  One that I found good as a starter IPA is Avery's Maharaja.  It's called an "imperial IPA" whatever that means, but I like how the malts offset the hoppy grapefruit taste.  Another good black IPA is Southern Tier's "Iniquity". 

I think I either burned myself out on stouts and their ilk or those beers are just too heavy for the warmer weather; double IPAs/black IPAs just seem more refreshing when the weather is miserably hot.

Well, I'll look out for some of those.

Also during my recent beer run I piked up this:



I must say I'm quite enjoying this one. It's like a cross between a Belgian and a porter is the best way I can describe it. And amazingly enough, it's from a Texas brewery! Most Texas beers I've had have not been very impressive.

BTW, the picture above has 9.45 ABV, but this one I'm drinking is 10.2

DallasBlack wrote:

Well, I'll look out for some of those.

Also during my recent beer run I piked up this:



I must say I'm quite enjoying this one. It's like a cross between a Belgian and a porter is the best way I can describe it. And amazingly enough, it's from a Texas brewery! Most Texas beers I've had have not been very impressive.

BTW, the picture above has 9.45 ABV, but this one I'm drinking is 10.2

New one on me. Sound good though.

tohostudios wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

Well, I'll look out for some of those.

Also during my recent beer run I piked up this:



I must say I'm quite enjoying this one. It's like a cross between a Belgian and a porter is the best way I can describe it. And amazingly enough, it's from a Texas brewery! Most Texas beers I've had have not been very impressive.

BTW, the picture above has 9.45 ABV, but this one I'm drinking is 10.2

New one on me.  Sound good though.

Beer Advocate thinks so:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30949/97156/

However, I should have waited for a time I wasn't already tired. The ABV is wreaking havoc on me.

"You must learn Grasshopper..."

I'm currently drinking an Ommegang Three Philosphers that was brewed in 2012. Its part of a 3pack of Ommegang Three Philosophers, one brewed in 2014, one in 2012 and one in 2011. 9.7 ABV on this one originally but I'm sure after 3 years it's higher than that.

tohostudios wrote:

"You must learn Grasshopper..."

Well, I had second thoughts once I saw the ABV, but I had just bough the thing and wanted to know for sure whether it would be good or not. Next time I'll wait after a nap .

Trying another new one:


http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/335/151800/

I knew that going into an 11 ABV beer that I should prepare to get buzzed. What I wasn't expecting was how strong the alcohol taste in this would be. Not unpleasant though, more like a bittersweet liqueur. From what I've read on BA, this becomes less noticeable as it warms. With that knowledge and the high ABV, I'm going to be sipping this one.

DallasBlack wrote:

Trying another new one:


http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/335/151800/

I knew that going into an 11 ABV beer that I should prepare to get buzzed. What I wasn't expecting was how strong the alcohol taste in this would be. Not unpleasant though, more like a bittersweet liqueur. From what I've read on BA, this becomes less noticeable as it warms. With that knowledge and the high ABV, I'm going to be sipping this one.

Ah, my "gateway beer". That's the one that got me started on the road to true beer snob-dom about 3 years ago. If you let Dragon's Milk age in a dark place for about a year it gets much mellower; the bourbon taste blends in with the other flavors better if you age it.