Just got a bottle of Odell's new cellar series Amuste

http://odellbrewing.com/beer/amuste/

Can't wait to try it out tonight after work

Had a SixPoint 3 Beans Porter. Really damn good. Im not a coffee drinker but I really enjoyed the coffee taste and the sweet hint of chocolate really compliments this porter. Loved it.

My first double post! Had a Terrapin Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal stout. Real strong coffee taste and aroma. I really liked the aroma but the coffee taste was really strong. Still enjoyed it though.

Originally Posted by combatrhombus Bell's Hopslam was just released, its a delicious double IPA at 10% alcohol. I'm lucky and have a local bar that serves it on draft. Here are the places they ship to... Hopslam will start shipping to areas in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio the week of Jan. 7. It will begin shipping to Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Missouri and Arizona the week of Jan. 14. It will then start shipping to Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington DC, Kentucky and Pennsylvania the week of Jan. 21.

I saw a TON of these at the Binny's here in town, but I didn't get paid until today, so $16 for a six pack was a bit out of my price range. But after all the comments in this thread, I might have to give it a try.

i drink cheap stuff. i enjoy 40 ounces of malt liquor like OE and King Cobra (i like the new label as well)

i also grabbed the Sam Adams Spring variety pack and im pretty happy with that except i hate the maple pecan beer but really enjoy white latern because it tastes alot like Blue Moon.

I'm actually drinking the Maple Pecan right now. It's ok - nothing special and I'm not a fan of added "flavors" to beer especially in the form of "natural flavor" but I usually keep some of the Sam Adams seasonals on hand. I had some Bulleit bourbon earlier and just wanted a bit more to drink so I opened a Sam Adams.

I tried one of my year old Hopslam - it was nice. I've had a year old before (maybe last year or a year before) and they definitely lose a lot of hop character - the malt sweetness hits you first but you do get a bit of hoppy bitterness after that.

I got a Mr. Beer kit today. I finally broke down and decided to try some "brewing" of my own (I'm not sure if you can call using the included "hopped malt extract" brewing...) I've been reading stuff at mrbeerfans.com for a while now. I guess this is a super cheap way for one to try it out and see if one is interested.

Picked up a growler of Tommy Knocker Imperial Nut Brown Ale, a bomber of West Coast Brewing Palate Wrecker and a 4-pack of West Coast Brewing Double Stout Black Ale.

Originally Posted by bordjon I got a Mr. Beer kit today. I finally broke down and decided to try some "brewing" of my own (I'm not sure if you can call using the included "hopped malt extract" brewing...) I've been reading stuff at mrbeerfans.com for a while now. I guess this is a super cheap way for one to try it out and see if one is interested.

Let us know how that works out. I can't possibly have a full brew setup in my apartment, so I've been looking at those Mr. Beer kits for a while now. I'm thinking about grabbing one with my next paycheck.

I'm curious how the Mr. Beer kits actually work and how well the beer is. I'm looking to save up for one of the beer start kits with the jugs and 5 gallon buckets, etc... I've seen started kits go for around $350, I'm thinking I can piece it together for cheaper, a few of my friends have these and brewed some good beers. They typically brew a case or two. I probably won't start this project until next year but I'm going to start research and saving in May.

I've hemmed and hawed around the idea of brewing for a long time. I have several friends that homebrew and several that did it for a while and quit and even one friend who owns a brewery! I just have so darn many hobbies as it is I've always said I wouldn't do it. But curiosity got the best of me. I don't have a ton of room - a 3/1 with a one car carport - no garage for homebrewing! I always said I'd just wait until we moved to a bigger house. Well - I didn't - I saw these things were on clearance for 11 bucks at Targets. I didn't find one at my Target. So I watched them on Amazon Warehouse and found a "like new" one for 23.33 (if you aren't familiar with "like new" warehouse deals - they are typically damage box items which this one was just that - had a little dent in the box.) It's the deluxe so no plastic 1 liter bottles came with it for bottling. No big deal for me as I've got several flip-top bottles and growlers that I figure I can use. I figure if I like this I can look in to more bottling options on down the line. We'll try and get the brew going this weekend. It'll be at least a month before I crack one open - 2 weeks to ferment and two+ for conditioning. I don't *think* I'll get impatient and open one before that but you never know!

If you have the space - like a garage with a sink and a turkey fryer setup or an electric eye or something like that you could do it all there and go with a 5 gallon setup. Midwestsupplies.com has a variety of starter kits and recipe kits for good prices. I also often see a groupon or livingsocial deal on midwest I think it is offering one of their starter kits at about half price 64 bucks or so (plus some shipping.) If I like brewing I imagine I'll move up to a 5 gallon kit eventually. Though a lot of brewers use multiple mr beer kegs for 5 gallon + batches - the keg will actually hold around 2.45 gallons. So it's conceivable to use a 5 gallon all grain recipe in two Mr. Beers from what I've read.

Really nice website/book that's free to read online. I've read section 1 chapter 1 so far.

http://www.howtobrew.com/

I will have to check those sites out, I may have a local acquaintance who family owns a local one in Michigan when the time comes. For now I'm just going to enjoy beer, disappointed my local bar is out of hopslam. But I did have a delicious Atwater brewing co. Vanilla Java Porter, one of my new favorites.

Looking for some feedback from the community. When you go to a store and can build your own six pack, do you normally grab six different beers or two of each?

I usually grab two of the same, and then 4 randoms ones. This was all before I started venturing into new beers. I really like to try everything now rather than just IPA's. I just started to really enjoy a good stout and porter (thanks Magic Hat - Heart of Darkness, Founders - Breakfast Stout, and Atwater - Vanilla Java Porter).

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When I do a mix-a-six, it's always 6 different beers. (And 95% of the time, they're beers I haven't tried before.) Generally, if a beer if good enough to buy 2 of, I just buy a 6-pack of it. A mix-a-six is generally more expensive than a normal 6-pack, so I reserve that for new beers.

Originally Posted by combatrhombus I'm curious how the Mr. Beer kits actually work and how well the beer is. I'm looking to save up for one of the beer start kits with the jugs and 5 gallon buckets, etc... I've seen started kits go for around $350, I'm thinking I can piece it together for cheaper, a few of my friends have these and brewed some good beers. They typically brew a case or two. I probably won't start this project until next year but I'm going to start research and saving in May.

I suggest that you stay away from the Mr. Beer kits. I have tried the pale ale and the lager. The pale ale was over carbonated and the lager was lacking in flavor. The direction were fallowed exactly for the pale ale. After doing that my friend and I decided to go with a kit like this one:

http://www.brewgadgets.com/p-141-tru...on-carboy.aspx

We have brewed 5 different beers now and we are getting better. Ours cost more than the one listed and is for 5 gallons just like it. I suggest you look online for the stuff than getting it from local home brewing stores. We paid around 250 for that, the pot and one kit. It can be fun and the beer is good as long as you reach the temperature. I suggest getting a needle thermometer if one does not come with the kit.

We got our Mr. Beer going this Saturday. It took no time at all (like maybe all of 30 minutes) to sanitize and brew because of the simplicity of the kit recipe. It's malt extract already hopped so you basically heat it up and pour it in water fresh off the boil. Then pour that in the keg with some more water and pitch the yeast. (we used spring water.) I don't have high expectations for the Bud/Coors/Miller lite clone that the kit came with but it was definitely a fun and easy start.

We decided to pick up 12 16pz flip top bottles from our local home brew store and will put the rest in a growler or growlerettes. This way I can open one and test it. (bottling in about two weeks and then let it condition for about a month is my plan.) The keg sits nicely on our kitchen counter tucked away. I have a digital thermometer/humidity gauge sitting on top of it and I also put a small freezer pack beside it every morning. It's staying pretty consistent at 68 degrees. The yeast appears to definitely be doing its job. Summer brewing I may have to stick it in my cooler though.

My wife is pretty excited about it and has been talking about it a good bit. We have actually pretty much decided we are going to get another keg and do 5 gal unhopped malt extract kits soon. But our local home brew store sells 2.5 gallon unhopped malt extract kits which are basically for a mr. beer keg so I think we are going to try one of those next and if we like it and it goes well we'll move up to 5 gal. We can easily fit two kegs on our kitchen counter so it wouldn't be a big stretch.

Grabbed one of the Sam Adams spring samples mentioned above at Costco.

All decent brews, but nothing great. The Double Agent IPL is probably the best of the bunch. Maple porter is ok. The white one isn't my bag (don't like white ales) and the Alpine Spring I'd had before and thought was just so-so. Boston Lager is always good though.

Yeah that Double Agent is my favorite in the pack as well. It surprised me when I first had it - wasn't expecting it to be that good!

We picked up a couple of local can sixers - Good People Brewing's new offering - their Pale Ale - it's really nice. Not super hoppy/borderline IPA - just clean and crisp. In the end though I wasn't real impressed - it was just a bit boring. Also got Straight To Ale's Lilly Flagg Milk Stout. I'd had this before. It's a great beer. Not "watery" or thin - which is how many non-RIS taste to me.

Speaking of cans - I noticed Terrapin and Sam Adams (maybe there was one other?) are going to start canning beers soon. Don't know if they are completely switching over though. I saw it posted by beerstreetjournal on my fb feed.

Oh and one last tidbit - I found a Leffe tulip glass at the thrift store yesterday! Not a particularly extraordinary brewery but the glass looks nice and I picked it up for a dollar. There were also two Breckenridge Avalanche pint glasses that I passed on.

Forgot to mention that the Green Flash Palate Wrecker was fantastic.

Super hoppy, 9.5% yet still very drinkable.

I didn't like the Double Agent. I'm not an IPA fan and I don't like grapefruit. The only other one I have had was the Irish Red and I wasn't sure what to think at first. Near the end I started to like it, but it left a bad after taste.

So I'm curious, how cold do you guys drink your beer? I've read at what temperatures you're supposed to serve certain beer types, but I just don't buy it. Warm beer just makes me want to puke. No exceptions. To me, drinking anything warmer than ice cold is just torture. (And yes, that includes hot chocolate, tea, coffee and hot cider. Bleh.)

Originally Posted by ZxT Vendetta EDIT: Also had Great Divide's new seasonal Orabelle. 8.4% Trippel. Very light in color, very tasty beer. I only had one bottle left though cuz the damn liner broke and I lost all the others . I highly recommend this beer if you are into Belgian Dubbel, Trippel, and Quads.

Recently had Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel and it's a great combination.