Beer!

I'm at the Hilton by the airport....just had a couple of Shafly Oatmeal Stouts at the hotel bar....pretty good.

I'm at the Hilton by the airport....just had a couple of Shafly Oatmeal Stouts at the hotel bar....pretty good.

Sorry...Schlafly....stupid phone.

Damn!

How did I let this thread get bumped off the first page?

Anyway, a guy I work with hooked me up with a bomber of Schlafly's Bourbon Barrel Spiced Stout and a 12 oz of Founder's KBS.

So far I've only tasted the Schlafly's and it's friggin' awesome!!!! It's like their pumpkin ale but in stout form. And it's only available at this particular distributor. I'm not familiar with this distributor but I'm going to see if I can get some more there because this stuff is to die for.

And now I'm enjoying Charleville's Box of Chocolate Belgian Quad after it's been aged in a bourbon barrel.

Holy crap, is this stuff great! You wouldn't think it would work but surprisingly, it does. The barrel aging evidently adds more vanilla notes to the flavor and mellows out the chocolate/fruit dichotomy that annoys me with the regular version.

Too bad Charleville only produced 420 bottles of the stuff (which sold out at the single location carrying it in about 3 hours). Fortunately I had a friend on the inside score a bottle for me.

I found a lil restaurant in Denton, Mt (43 miles away on gravel roads). that serves Guinness on tap.  Happy Happy Happy

As luck would have it, one of the 3 liquor stores that Schlafly created their Bourbon Barrel Spiced Stout for happened to be about 2 minutes from Godiva's vet clinic so while she was getting her 4th chemo treatment today, I ran over there and cleaned them out.  I bought 3 cases of it.   They only made about 600 bottles of this stuff so I stocked up.

These days the only beer I really seem to enjoy is Maudite, the sweeter Belgians start off well, but I tire of them half-way through. I also tire of the cheaper stuff, not even New Belgian Abbey works for me.

Every other weekend I participate in what has been dubbed Drive-Way Drunks. My mom and me go over to my sister and her fiance's place with a friend of theirs (who makes her own moonshine) one of my step-sisters and her fiance, and a revolving door of their friends. We sit around and drink, shoot the shite, and play Cards Against Humanity. It's the only social life I have but it's an enjoyable one. My sister's fiance is a VERY funny guy who, drunk or sober is the life of the party (he used to transfer federal criminals for the US Marshalls, and has created a biker charity event called Rock Stars). Playing such a perverted card game around my mom was very uncomfortable at first, but my strong Belgians make it easier.

tohostudios wrote:

As luck would have it, one of the 3 liquor stores that Schlafly created their Bourbon Barrel Spiced Stout for happened to be about 2 minutes from Godiva's vet clinic so while she was getting her 4th chemo treatment today, I ran over there and cleaned them out.  I bought 3 cases of it.   They only made about 600 bottles of this stuff so I stocked up.

I sold 6 of these to my friend at work so I'm down to 2 1/2 cases.  I'm enjoying a bottle of this now!

My nephew is coming to visit and bringing me a couple of cases of 211 in 40 oz. bottles

James B. wrote:

My nephew is coming to visit and bringing me a couple of cases of 211 in 40 oz. bottles

What's that?

I was in a beer store over the weekend and noticed something odd... Olde English 800 now comes in a plastic 40 ounce bottle.

...must be hard to look "gangsta" while drinking one of those!

Public announcement time fellas:



I visited the beer store over the weekend and saw something new: a so called "Craft Beer" from Wisconsin called Boxer Lager. It was new, therefore it was on sale ($3.99 a six) so I said "Ehh, what the hell" and picked up two sixes.

After one of these mofo's I totally regretted that decision. This stuff is AWFUL... and mind you this is coming from a guy who drinks Pabst Blue F*cking Ribbon like it's going out of style. Boxer has got a weird, metallic taste while drinking and has a sweet aftertaste when swallowed that I can not accurately describe except to say "BLEAH."

I am perhaps the least picky beer drinker on the planet but I am dreading having to finish off the other 11 cans of this swill. Give me Olde English 800, give me Crazy Stallion, give me Colt 45 and we'll party all night but this stuff is of the Devil.

One word: AVOID.

I will, however, give them grudging props for their awesome TV commercial:

Looks like my favorite beer review site agrees with you.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/435/62061/

BTW, the big red flag on this stuff would be that it calls itself a craft beer yet it comes in a can.

Just save that Boxer Lager for company you don't really care for.

I've been told really crappy beer is great for cooking brats (as in bratwurst; don't get any other ideas FF).

tohostudios wrote:

Looks like my favorite beer review site agrees with you.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/435/62061/

Yeah, I read that Beer Advocate review yesterday. Maybe I need to start bringing my smartphone to the beer store with me, so I can check their ratings on unknown stuff before I buy!

Quote :

BTW, the big red flag on this stuff would be that it calls itself a craft beer yet it comes in a can.

I dunno, I've seen a lot more smaller/indie breweries canning their stuff of late - Shipyard, Dan's Pale Ale, etc. Apparently it saves them on storage/shipping costs (you can stack cases of cans higher than cases of bottles) and there's no breakage.

tohostudios wrote:

I've been told really crappy beer is great for cooking brats (as in bratwurst; don't get any other ideas FF).

Kids...you can't live with'em, you can't boil'em in beer. (sheesh)

I did some further research on this stuff and there are some absolutely vicious reviews of it on the web. Boxer sez it's "Craft Brewed," but they must be using a very loose interpretation of the term. From what I gathered, you can buy this stuff in a 36 pack (!!) for around 12 bucks in some stores. That doesn't sound very "craft" to me. It sounds like cheap ass frat boy beer.

...mind you, ordinarily I have no problem with cheap-ass frat boy beer, as long as it tastes OK. This stuff doesn't!

I can't believe that commercial   

Just out of curiosity, what would be your favorite type of beer?

Mglaffas81 wrote:

I can't believe that commercial  

I think the director was inspired by Warrant's "Cherry Pie" video.

Quote :

Just out of curiosity, what would be your favorite type of beer?

I don't really have a "favorite," I like to try different stuff as much as I can, I've never really developed a "loyalty" to one particular style/brand. That said, my standard answer to that question is:

When I can afford it: Saranac or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
When I can't (which is most of the time): Pabst Blue Ribbon

tohostudios wrote:

Looks like my favorite beer review site agrees with you.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/435/62061/

BTW, the big red flag on this stuff would be that it calls itself a craft beer yet it comes in a can.

To add on to what Keith said, one of the local microbrew places (Lost Rhino) ships their beer in cans and it's 100% "craft" beer (and damn tasty too!) That's beer you never want to drink directly out of the can, has to go in a glass. Of course, there beer is $10 bucks a six pack...... luckily a friend hits Lost Rhino (they also have a bar/restaurant at the brewery) and gets a growler filled for drink when we hang out.

Yeah, Schlafly and New Belgium have started canning some of their beers too but you are absolutely right; it HAS to be poured into a glass first. 

And the price is a dead giveaway that Lost Rhino is a real "craft beer". 

But I still refuse to drink any beer from a can, glass or not.

Mglaffas81 wrote:

I can't believe that commercial   

Just out of curiosity, what would be your favorite type of beer?

My favorites are Stouts and Belgian Quads but I also like some ginger beers and black lagers.  The one beer style I don't do is IPAs; to me drinking an IPA is like licking the inside of a grapefruit peel.  I know it's a very popular beer style and lots of people seek out IPAs but the bitterness just turns me off.

Oh, and Bock beers are a big favorite for me as well.

EDIT: And on my last beer run I took a chance on Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA in an attempt to broaden my beer horizons.  I've had some other black IPAs that weren't terrible and since Stone is one of my favorite brewers, I figured I'd give this one a shot. Just popped it in the fridge; I'll let you know what I think about it.

So I'm tasting Stone's Sublimely Self-righteous black IPA and my opinion still holds; this is like licking the inside of a grapefruit peel.

Still working my way thru the remainder of that godawful "Boxer" beer. This past weekend I spent much of Saturday moving furniture around and since it was a warm day, I needed some beer - any beer - when it was finished.

I did find that Boxer becomes almost palatable if, instead of drinking straight from the can, you pour it into a glass so it can "breathe" a little.

...you'll notice I said "almost." I am now down to six cans from the original twelve.

Once those six are consumed this devil brew shall never darken my door again

I found the weirdest beer I've ever tasted.

Horny Goat Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter.  I wanted it to be great because, being a peanut butter lover, I always thought that if I got into home brewing I'd figure out a way to work peanut butter into a brew.  Well the PB is definitely there in this one but unfortunately the chocolate isn't.  It's a really weird taste too and I'm not sure adding more chocolate would help. 

So much for my new beer idea I guess.