Beer!

I like my Unibroue's but they are just too expensive to have on a regular basis. There is New Belgian Abbey but there are no places around that sells it. Albertsons has a make your own sampler and while they have some decent beers I'm already familiar with there are some unknowns. I picked three of those and here are the results:

First up was Beck's Sapphire. This was not bat at all and I could see myself drinking it on a regular basis. It's smooth and not bitter and had a pleasant taste. It wasn't too strong, but not so weak as to be watery. Beer advocate gives it a poor rating but for me it wasn't too bad.

Next was Buffalo Butt. Strange name but it was said to be pretty good and beer advocate gives it an okay rating. However, the name was very descriptive of it's smell. I should have realized that smelling as bad as it did meant it wasn't going to be good. However, you can't judge the taste by the smell. Unfortunatly, this one was nasty. I nearly tripped over myself trying to get some soda to wash the horrible taste out of my mouth. This was the worst beer I have ever tasted. As I said to my friend John, beer shouldn't make you feel like vomiting unless you're suffering a hangover.

Finally was Founder's Dirty Bastard. Not as good to me as the Becks but light years ahead of BB. This was a bit too stouty for my taste but I was able to drink it and it went real well with our hot dogs and bacon wrapped, cream cheese stuffed jalepenos. Like a lot of stronger beers the last bit at the bottom of the bottle was the hardest part to drink (but still better than BB).

If I can't find anything better (like NB Abbey), Becks Sapphire would bee a good, cheaper beer for me to get.

If Unibroue is out of your price range, I'd say New Belgium or Sam Adams would be good alternatives.  Try Sam Adams Black Lager or NB's version called "1581"

1581 is OK but not something I would drink on a regular basis. I'll try the Sam Adams sometime. Hopefully, I can find some place on my route from work to home that will have the Abbey though. Or next time I go visit my dad I can stock up on it (several places around there carry it).

My favorite Southeast Asian beer tonight; from Singapore:

Had a Beck's Sapphire with my Taco Cabana tonight.

Had a limited edition brew by Minnesota's Hammerheart Brewery called "Serpensblod" last night at the opening show of Agalloch's U.S. tour.

It was crafted to match the mood of their latest album and I think they nailed it: "A dry, smoked Red Ale, including beechwood, cherry wood, and oak smoked malts, chocolate malt and a generous portion of rye with a mild hop presence. 8.34% alcohol by volume."

glassprison wrote:

Had a limited edition brew by Minnesota's Hammerheart Brewery called "Serpensblod" last night at the opening show of Agalloch's U.S. tour.

It was crafted to match the mood of their latest album and I think they nailed it:  "A dry, smoked Red Ale, including beechwood, cherry wood, and oak smoked malts, chocolate malt and a generous portion of rye with a mild hop presence. 8.34% alcohol by volume."

That sounds....awesome! Love me some smoke

glassprison wrote:

Had a limited edition brew by Minnesota's Hammerheart Brewery called "Serpensblod" last night at the opening show of Agalloch's U.S. tour.

It was crafted to match the mood of their latest album and I think they nailed it:  "A dry, smoked Red Ale, including beechwood, cherry wood, and oak smoked malts, chocolate malt and a generous portion of rye with a mild hop presence. 8.34% alcohol by volume."

That sounds right up my alley, especially the "mild hop presence".

Remember that godawful "Boxer" beer that I ranted about here a couple of weeks ago? I wrote me a HubPage about it to warn others:

http://fatfreddyscat.hubpages.com/hub/Bad-Beer-Alert-BOXER-Lager

My HubPage about Boxer has already gotten a couple of comments, including one that sez "I've had this beer. It tastes like blueberry upchuck." So at least I know it's not just me.

I love the BA rating.  I've never seen them rate anything as Awful before.

I finally found a place with New Belgium Abbey (back where I used to live, near my dad). They only had one 6 pack but they had single bottles so I got one of those variety packs (or I thought it was). I actually bought all 6 individually. Wasn't too much more expensive but they only had 5 bottles and the 6th one was different and twice the cost. It is from Belgium:



It has a high rating on Beer Advocate, but unfortunatly, turns out it's a Belgian IPA. Wish it had said it on the bottle, but at $3, I might as well give it a try. However, after hearing Toho rage against IPAs (figure of speech) all this time, I'm not sure it will turn out well. I did read some reviews that the IPA of this is not too noticeable, while others have said it is. I'll see when I try it.

Yeah, I can't stand IPAs but I know a lot of people who absolutely love them; the hoppier, the better.  In fact, one of my favorite breweries, Founders, just released its seasonal Triple IPA.  I knew I'd hate it but I had to try it because I'd never heard of a triple IPA before.  OMG, it's like chewing on a grapefruit peel.  I choked down 1 and gave the rest to a hophead at work.

IPAs are awesome and make other types of beer seem tame in comparison.

See.  Lots of people LOVE IPAs.  I just happen to hate them.

tohostudios wrote:

See.  Lots of people LOVE IPAs.  I just happen to hate them.

Yeah, but your idea of bitterness (judging by you introducing me to Belgians) is close to mine. Even stouts seem bitter to me and you love them. The chances of me liking this one are low. There is still a chance as some of the reviewers say it is Belgian enough that the IPA classification isn't quite accurate, but there are equal ones who say the opposite. It could be the former, are IPA fans while the latter aren't. However, it's just one bottle so if I don't like it, I don't have to waste a lot of beer or do what Freddy did with his and choke it down (of course at $3, I will find a way with just the one ).

If you're not a fan of bitterness in beer (i.e., hops) you most likely won't enjoy an IPA.  But who knows?  My best friend (and fellow beer snob) generally agrees with me on IPAs yet he somehow manages to enjoy Black IPAs.  And while Black IPAs are more palatable to me than regular IPAs, I still don't usually buy them.

Eh, the money's already spent so give it a shot; who knows, you might actually enjoy it.

I'm trying as many MN brews as I can while I'm here over the summer. I'm currently drinking this "Getaway" pilsner from Lift Bridge:




It's a decent beer, but a little sweet for my taste.

Well, the verdict is in. For the first 4-5 sips I tasted a very fine Belgian with a hint of something familiar. Eventually, the hint of great bitterness started overpowering the Belgian part of this. Despite what previously said, I will probably waste the other half of this one as now it's like drinking a Belgian filled with BC Powder.

On another note, not even the Abbey tastes right. I think I've been drinking high quality Belgians for so long that my pallet won't except any other. I will probably drink Unibroue when I can afford it, and when not stick, with Beck's Sapphire as that seems to be a cheapie I can keepie.

Quote :

On another note, not even the Abbey tastes right. I think I've been drinking high quality Belgians for so long that my pallet won't except any other. I

Yup.  Welcome to my world.  Once you taste "real" beer, there's no going back.  It's gotten to where I feel like I'm "beer slumming" if I drink something by Sam Adams.

Has anyone tried Innis & Gunn? I've had their original and "rum finish" - I highly recommend them, they're delicious and very drinkable considering how strong they are (6.6-6.8% ABV).

Finally got to get a bottle of the Trooper beer!  It's chilling in the fridge now.


I also bought a six pack of this:





Pretty good stuff !

I like Wells Banana Bread beer.

Troublezone wrote:

I like Wells Banana Bread beer.

That sounds delicious!