What BEER are you drinking? (Part 1)

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

Fuller’s - London Porter (from bottle)

OMFG, this bottle was way better than the last 4 or 5 bottles I had in the States. Another huge win for freshness!

[Mel_Hill]

this just in to my market…

tasty! better to my tastes than Oberon think I’ll have another!

[Sean_Devaney]

Who is the brewer? Bells?

[Joe_Hauck]

So good on a hot day!

[Joe_Hauck]

@Mel Hill

this just in to my market…

tasty! better to my tastes than Oberon think I’ll have another!

That looks great Mel, almost makes me what something Hoppy.

[Mel_Hill]

@Sean Devaney

Who is the brewer? Bells?

yep, Bells
George from GoP posted a shot of a 5L keg (lucky guy) over on FB so I check on e of my local stores for their shipment of Two Hearted Ale

[Brett_Glasscock]

Not a big fan of this one. Too sweet. Very slightly sour. Sort of refreshing but at $4+ for a small bottle this was not very complex.

Barrel aged barley wine. This was absolute perfection. Balance could not be better. Wish I had this for the focus week.

[Cris_Whetstone]

A couple of random recent bottles.

Uinta Brew Co. Seventeenth Anniversary Barley Wine Ale - 10.4% - Comes at you in two phases. Strong sweet flavored malt up front which drops off and the strong bitter hops take over. This probably needs some bottle time to mellow honestly but it didn’t make me interested enough to bother.

Mission St 2011 Anniversary Ale - 8.5% - Described as an Imperial Brown Ale which is a great description. Drinks like a strong brown ale up front with a strong kick of hops on the end. Good balance. If the hops were a touch lighter it would be great but this is still pretty good. Well worth the $3 at Trader Joes. I think I’ll grab a couple more for the cellar.

[Joe_Hauck]

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this because i’m not a big Dubbel fan, but it’s really good. Dried cherries, plums, and brown sugar, but not an abundance of any of them and really quite light. Super fine carbonation gives it a real creamy texture and finishes very dry.

[Sean_Devaney]

Funny Joe, I’m just finishing this now and your note is pretty spot on. A very good dubble but not real distinct. I’m tempted to buy a couple more and re-try with 6 and 12 month aging on them to see if they will blossom some. For the same tariff I prefer Chimay red.

[G_Lam]

@Kent Zimmerman

@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%.

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.

Just had one yesterday. Loved it, but it was a royal pain in the butt to get.

BTW, mine was 10.2% as well.

Cellphone pic:

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

Gabriel,
Is that Stone glass humongous, or did you share that bottle with somebody?

[Mel_Hill]

@G Lam

@Kent Zimmerman

@Frank Deis

cool shot!

[G_Lam]

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

Gabriel,
Is that Stone glass humongous, or did you share that bottle with somebody?

Shared with a friend. Good eye.

[Scott_Butler]

Brett…that Firestone barleywine sounds fantastic. I’ve only had one b/a barleywine and I absolutely loved it.

[BRhoades]

@Cris Whetstone

Farmers Harvest seems to be doing a good job of putting new items in the cooler. They also sell small formats individually making it easy to try new things even if I can often find most of their items cheaper elsewhere. They got in some stuff from Caldera recently, much of it in the can.

Caldera Brew Co. Pale Ale - 5.5% - Peach and orange aromas. refreshing and light on the palate. Easy drinking light basic ale.

Caldera Brew Co. Ashland Amber - 5.6% - Not as big as Red Seal or Boont, my go-to’s. Ripe malt character with some notes of fig and orange. Pleasantly bitter hops kiss on the back end that lingers in a gentle way. Pretty good though the malt character isn’t as strong as I would prefer on the palate.

Love the Caldera IPA.

[Bob_Hunnicutt]

Sunday afternoon beers w/the neighbor after we finished our yard work (this is getting to be a tradition–I love it):

Sierra Nevada Torpedo extra ipa
Spaten Optimator doppel bock
North Coast Old Rasputin russian imperial stout

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

@G Lam

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

Gabriel,
Is that Stone glass humongous, or did you share that bottle with somebody?

Shared with a friend. Good eye.

Ah, cool. Thanks for satiating my curiosity.

[Brett_Glasscock]

@Mel Hill

@G Lam

@Kent Zimmerman

cool shot!

Indeed. Made even better by the fact that that bottle is from 1995!

I have a couple bottles of this but have yet to try it. Need to find an occasion soon.

[Brett_Glasscock]

@Scott Butler

Brett…that Firestone barleywine sounds fantastic. I’ve only had one b/a barleywine and I absolutely loved it.

It is indeed, Scott. I haven’t had many BA barley wines either, but that will have to change now.