What BEER are you drinking?

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

New Belgium -- "Wild Ale" (Lips of Faith series)
Bear Republic -- Racer 5 IPA
Stone -- Arrogant Bastard

[JamieM.]

Rothaus Märzen Export
Except I just finished my last bottle.

[Adam Noble]

Full Sail Session Dark Lager is a nice, easy drinking everyday beer I'm on at the moment. Last night was St. Bernardus Christmas Ale - dark, sweet, brooding, and delicious. Last week I had a Trader Joe's 2009 Vintage Ale - very good. And I'm waiting for my yearly six-pack and mag of Anchor Merry Xmas & Happy New Year Ale.

Just picked up a couple of bottle of a Stone collaboration with some Hawaii brewery - Coconut, Macadamia, Kona coffee porter. I'm sure it will be a nice dessert beer.

I didn't bite on the Lips of Faith because it's PRICEY! I'd be interested in hearing what people think of them.

Thanks!

Adam

[Dick Krueger]

The few times I drink beer, it's usually Stone Brewing's Arrogant Bastard or/and Stone Porter or Newcastle Brown Ale.

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

I didn't bite on the Lips of Faith because it's PRICEY! I'd be interested in hearing what people think of them.

Thanks!

Adam

Adam,

Generally speaking, the L.o.F. beers I've had have been excellent. Of course, I'm not spending $15/22oz. for them (which seems to be the going rate around these here parts) ... instead, a few bars around here have them on tap, so I take advantage of the opportunity to get a glass when I see them on tap (usually served in portions ranging from 30cL to 50cL).

The ones I've had:
Fall Wild Ale: good, but not great. Kind of like a lighter Belgian ale, with a good amount of hoppiness
La Folie - Sour Brown Ale: simply awesome!! If you like sour beers this will be right up your alley.
Le Fleur Misseur: another awesome one. Had this for the first time last weekend -- a very nice session beer.
Bierre de Mars: very nice -- very similar to Le Fleur Misseur, but a bit sweeter and fruiter, whereas the Fleur Misseur is hoppier, and more floral.

Bottom line: highly recommended, especially La Folie and Le Fleur Misseur.

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

The few times I drink beer, it's usually Stone Brewing's Arrogant Bastard or/and Stone Porter or Newcastle Brown Ale.

one of the first times I visited the Stone brewery I found out about something they call a "Smoky Indian": 2/3 IPA, 1/3 Smoked Porter --- super delicious!!! I've been perturbing bartenders with such requests ever since -- my favorite version thus far is 2/3 Racer 5 IPA and 1/3 Stone Smoked Porter. I can only imagine how fantastic this combination would be if I used Samuel Smith's Porter.

[Frank Deis]

My approach to beer is utilitarian -- I look around at Costco and get a case of whatever looks the most interesting.

I found an Oktoberfest beer that I rather liked, but those are gone. Now I would like to buy the Sam Adams Winter Lager but they didn't have it so I just got a case of the Boston Lager. I have asked for a set of the Sam Adams special glasses for Christmas (the description sounds like something Riedel would come up with, has anyone heard of those?).

Just finished a mixed case of Blue Moon seasonals and a mixed case from Yuengling.

One reason I buy beer is because a couple of bottles is enough, I don't keep sipping it all evening. With wine it is harder to stop...

FWIW I should point out that I have a selection of good Belgians in the cellar, including Westvleteren. I -know- about high end beer, and I like it on occasion. But it's not really part of my collecting hobby.

[Joe Dulworth]

Decent stuff but nothing outstanding lately:

Red Stripe yesterday with a burger from a local carry out
Red Hook Winter Hook today with some Hebrew National dogs

Need to make a beer run to the liquor store to pick up some Dead Guy.

[Adam Noble]

Brian,

Thanks for the reply - I LOVE sour browns - one of my favorite types. I'm headed to the best beer bar in Seattle on Wed (Brouwer's), and hope they have it in one of they many taps.

And maybe I'll break down and get one.

Adam

[Jason Hagen]

Just popped this 24 oz bad boy. Sharing with my better half.

[Todd Hamina]

The New Belgian Folly 12 pack gives you three each of, 2 below, abbey, 1554 and Fat Tire. All gone!

[Todd F r e n c h]

Just popped this 24 oz bad boy. Sharing with my better half.

Your upper half?

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

Brian,

Thanks for the reply - I LOVE sour browns - one of my favorite types. I'm headed to the best beer bar in Seattle on Wed (Brouwer's), and hope they have it in one of they many taps.

And maybe I'll break down and get one.

Adam

if you LOVE sour browns there should be no "maybe" about it -- get a La Folie!!! IMO, it's better than Monk's Flemish Sour Red

[Josh Beck]

Recently I've been drinking a lot of beer. I've been brewing too, so about 1/2 of my consumption is homebrews and the other half is a rotation of:

Traquair House Ale
Traquair Jacobite Ale
Westmalle Tripel
St Bernardus 12
St Bernardus Wit
Boont Amber
Red Seal
Allagash White
Grimbergen
Local brewpub's "Old Soulstice" a big, malty, bitter, spicy ale.

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

Josh,

What are those Traquair's like? I've seen 'em, but never tasted one.

[Josh Beck]

About as dark, rich and malty as possible while staying in the caramel / toffee / malt spectrum and not tasting like a coffee or chocolate. Kind of biscuity / bready but still not like porter. Moderately bitter, moderately sweet, no overt hops. Pretty big but not huge (7% or so each I think), very complex, very full bodied, very satisfying. One of the best beers (to my tastes) I've discovered in the past year or two. Bummer on the price, but qualitatively they are up there w/ top Belgians for me, at least based on having had a half dozen or so of them.

[Josh Beck]

Oh, should add to my list, I've had several Sam Smith's Nut Brown Ales lately, always a win for my tastes, and I drank several Gordon Biersch Maerzens a couple weeks back and remember thinking it was the best Gordon Biersch beer I've had -- still not great, but better than the many disappointments I remember from them.

[Jorge Henriquez]

Been liking this one recently:



From Vermont.

Aside from that, had some Saranac Caramel Porter that was quite tasty and full-bodied without it being overly sweet.

[Steve Saxon]

[Rick Allen]

We went to Higgins in Portland last night, and I made everyone break away from the 96 Clos des Goisses we were drinking (which went really well with the truffle risotto appetizer we had) to try a Trappiste Rochfort #8 with the salad course. Perfect match.

[Frank Deis]

Well, it's not what I am -drinking- but with all the beer porn going on I tried to take a picture of my Westvleteren bottle. Someone reviewed this as "the best beer in the world" -- the beer equivalent of a Parker 100 score. I personally don't agree but it is nice to have a couple of bottles since this is really tough to find. You kind of need Belgian friends.

There is -no- label on the bottle, just brown glass, and the only ID is the cap. I had trouble using flash with the macro setting, I could take a good picture in daylight probably. At any rate it looks just like this except mine is 10.2% alcohol instead of 11%.

[John Cabot]

I mentioned this in another thread but I had a Heater Allen Sandy Paws dark lager that was really good. Nice job, Rick!

[Bob Wood]

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

Pliney .... yummo!!!

Josh,
Thanks for the Traquair info.

[Randy Bowman]

I'm a boring beer drinker:

Golf course: Coors Light
Mexican Food: cold Negra Modelo
Fishing: warm Heineken Dark
Beer Bar: Black & Tan (Guinness & whatever dark beer)

We have Napa Smith beers at the shop and all are pretty good. The amber ale and pilsner are the stand outs.

[Adam Noble]

I love Monk's Cafe, so I'm going to have to break down on the LoF.

I've had 2 Heater Allen beers so far, and enjoyed them a lot. The Eiserweizen (?) - one of the best hefe I've had, and the Bobtoberfest - one left that I'm nursing through the winter.

I like beer a lot!

[Larry Kaplan]

North Coast Brewing Pranqster AWESOME

[Josh Beck]

Have never had any Heater Allen beers, and can't say that I've ever noticed them / heard of them before, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Pranqster is a great beer indeed, Larry, I'm a big fan. One of the best beers in CA IMHO.

[Larry Kaplan]

Josh if you like that you should also try the Muhal 12 a bit darker and deeper in color and more malt in flavor but still a close second to the Pranqster. You know what i say about 2nd place "you are just the first loser"

[Paul L i n]

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

[Bob Wood]

Have never had any Heater Allen beers, and can't say that I've ever noticed them / heard of them before, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

For the time being, lots of luck unless you visit the brewery or Portland.

[Veronica Castro]

There is a blueberry beer done by Stadium Brewery in Aliso Viejo. So good! They brew it themselves during the Fall. It's not artificial or sickly sweet. It's sublime, just slightly sweet (for a fruit beer) and natural, with a tablespoon of fresh blueberries sitting at the bottom of your glass. Low alcohol level. Good stuff.

I have no connection with this place whatsoever.

[Jason Hagen]

Have never had any Heater Allen beers, and can't say that I've ever noticed them / heard of them before, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

For the time being, lots of luck unless you visit the brewery or Portland.

I just added this to my February to do list. Are the bottles large format?

Jason

[Jim Brennan]

Saison Dupont
Oro de Calabaza
Westmalle Tripel
Beamish

[Bob Wood]

Have never had any Heater Allen beers, and can't say that I've ever noticed them / heard of them before, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

For the time being, lots of luck unless you visit the brewery or Portland.

I just added this to my February to do list. Are the bottles large format?

Jason

Yes.

[Rick Allen]

Have never had any Heater Allen beers, and can't say that I've ever noticed them / heard of them before, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

For the time being, lots of luck unless you visit the brewery or Portland.

I just added this to my February to do list. Are the bottles large format?

Jason

Jason, definitely stop by. I'll give you the Berserker discount!

[Bob Wood]

For the time being, lots of luck unless you visit the brewery or Portland.

I just added this to my February to do list. Are the bottles large format?

Jason

Jason, definitely stop by. I'll give you the Berserker discount!

Go past The Eyrie Vineyards on 10th and look for the fancy roll-up door on the right.

[Todd Hamina]

And check out Remy wines next door.

[C Janko]

Warsteiner Dunkel FTW

[Peter Tryba]

Just finished off an Achel Blonde.

It had a very impressive, tall head and an almost Champagne consistency to the sud itself. Very aromatic in the higher tones, great grain characteristics and lemon in there. Flavors of citrus, bread, and hops can be found easily. Some citrus on the finish, but dominated by dry hop and banana.

Delicious and cheap!

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

moving the gueuze discussion over here ...

Peter,
that 20yr Cantillon was still sour? That is unf***king believable! The few “slightly aged” gueuzes I’ve had seem to soften considerably, losing much of their sourness, turning more to a slightly funky saison/farmhouse style. Which Cantillon was it? Their standard gueuze?

How much does the Panil reserve cost at retail? I’ve had one Panil, and don’t recall if it was their “reserve” or not ... I think I paid $18. I liked it, but it seemed kind of flat to me, leaving me wishing that I had spent my money on a gueuze or lambic instead. Panil is Italian, no?

[Sean Connor]

'Poon (Harpoon IPA) - support your local brewer that doesn't make $150 Dystopia bottles

Spaten Oktoberfest (clearing out locally cheap)

Long Tail IPA

[gary hatley]

Beers are good. Drinking the Stone Smoked Porter lately along with the Anchor Brewing Co Christmas Ale. At Rustic Canyon Golf Course I have the Firestone Double Barrel Ale on tap with a burger... nice way to finish a round.
John, if you have any of the Heaters left...bring one down.

[Peter Tryba]

Panil "regular" is around $18, the reserve is roughly $10 more per 750ml bottle.

Maybe we should start a gueuze and lambic thread?

Good idea, I will!

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

Panil "regular" is around $18, the reserve is roughly $10 more per 750ml bottle.

Maybe we should start a gueuze and lambic thread?

Good idea, I will!

great idea!! ... even if it devolves into only you, myself, Roberto, and a wall all talking to each other.

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

Had a couple Paulaner Hefe's last night ... this is my favorite straight hefe.

[Peter Tryba]

This is my desk drawer at work:

One 2008 De Dolle Orbier Reserve for tonight, one for the cellar!

[Kent Zimmerman]

Well, it's not what I am -drinking- but with all the beer porn going on I tried to take a picture of my Westvleteren bottle. Someone reviewed this as "the best beer in the world" -- the beer equivalent of a Parker 100 score. I personally don't agree but it is nice to have a couple of bottles since this is really tough to find. You kind of need Belgian friends.

There is -no- label on the bottle, just brown glass, and the only ID is the cap. I had trouble using flash with the macro setting, I could take a good picture in daylight probably. At any rate it looks just like this except mine is 10.2% alcohol instead of 11%.

So, when are you going to drink them? Are you going to wait for a special occasion or simply pop one when the mod strikes?

On my last trip to Europe, I tried to come up with a plan to somehow get to the Abby but it was not meant to be.

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

Requiem - Espresso Stout. I thought this was very nice: you can taste the coffee, but it’s not overwhelming. The 7.5% alc. is dangerously hidden – most Stouts that stout approach being sickly, to me ... not the case with this one. Definitely more on the bitter, rather than creamy, side of things.

Samuel Smith - “Taddy” Porter. It’s been waaaay too long since I’ve had this beer. So good, it almost makes me laugh. Easily the best porter I’ve ever tasted. Gawd, I love this beer!!

[Jeff Twersky]

if you LOVE sour browns there should be no "maybe" about it -- get a La Folie!!! IMO, it's better than Monk's Flemish Sour Red

I haven't had Monk's Flemish Sour Red, but have seen it for sale. Good stuff? And yes, I like sour beer.