CAG Beer Drinkers Unite! Beer Snobs and Cheap Ass Drunks Welcome!

[quote name='bordjon']Any of your favorite beer bars make it?

http://draftmag.com/features/americas-100-best-beer-bars-2011/[/QUOTE]

Yep.

The Brewer's Art in Baltimore is pretty good--only went there once though.

The Brickskellar in DC is great--though I think it closed down in December, but is supposed to get remodeled and re-open under new ownership.

Max's Tap House in Baltimore is solid as well, great selection

Monk's Cafe in Philly is a great belgian beer joint

The Quarry House in Silver Spring MD--ok selection, but a cool place. This was my main drinking hole my last 2 or 3 years of grad school.

Brick Store Pub in Decatur, GA (outside ATL)--probably my favorite beer bar. Great selection, decent cheap food, great staff that's friendly and no their beer. Belgian bar upstairs, micros down stairs.

The Porter Beer Bar (ATL) have been meaning to check this place out for a while.


Anyway, haven't had much new lately. Trying not to drink so much at home alone anymore. Had a good local IPA a couple weeks ago, Jailhouse IPA, at a little bar down the street from my place.
 
Yeah - two AL bars on the list - was happy to see that!



[quote name='rabbitt']I had Left Hand's Fade to Black the other night - it's a damn fine drink.[/QUOTE]

Was this the new Fade to Black vol. 2? Probably so? It is Smoked Baltic Porter. I had some last night. I love me some baltic porter - this one was real nice - and it wasn't overly "smokey."

Also had some Bell's Special Double Cream Stout - my wife picked this one - it's pretty good though I was drinking the baltic porter and just had a few sips of it last night so I don't know if I got a true taste of it.
 
[quote name='bordjon']
Was this the new Fade to Black vol. 2? Probably so? It is Smoked Baltic Porter. I had some last night. I love me some baltic porter - this one was real nice - and it wasn't overly "smokey."

[/QUOTE]

Yes, I had the new one.

I've been to one of the bars in Cleveland, but it was before I was of-age, so I didn't pay too much attention to the actually booze (it is connected to a concert stage). I have also wanted to go to the Bier Markt in Cleveland, as their selection of Belgian's is impressive. One day soon, perhaps.
 
Had some Avery Old Jubilation the past few days. I really like this beer. 8.3% winter ale style seasonal. Nice nutty taste (very little hoppy/bitterness in this beer) - good carbonation - and man does it mask the alcohol - this is an easy to drink beer for me.

Also had a year old Terrapin coffee oatmeal imperial stout over the weekend - it was not as good as I'd remembered - overly sweet.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Yeah, it's just a matter of tastes evolving. I was much the same. HATED IPAs several years back.

But as I started drinking more micro brew lagers etc. I gradually started liking more bitter beer, and now go to a point where many IPAs I thought were too bitter years ago are now a bit bland and not bitter enough for me!
[/QUOTE]
What the hell. I picked up a six of Great Lakes APA the other day (couldn't find an IPA that wasn't past its freshness date) and now it's all I want to drink. I still like lagers, but the dry, fruity taste of an ale really hits the spot.

Also, I had a bottle of Michelob Light recently. Used to love it. Now it makes me want to vomit. Blech.
 
Haven't had any beer in over a month, so decided to relent on my resolution of doing no drinking at home and stop for a six pack on the way home. Figured I earned it by also having not drinking away from home over the past month either (which wasn't part of the resolution)! :D

Lucked out and the dinky little beer store had a sixer of Bell's Hoplam left! Have wanted to try that the past couple years but it's always sold out at the big beer stores around me before I got to try it.

Looking forward to cracking one open later.
 
The Hopslam is pretty tasty. Not sure if it's worth the $15.99 a sixer, but pretty solid double IPA. Not quite up there with the Dogfish Head 90 Minute or Stone Ruination though IMO.
 
I'll second the recommendation for Hopslam.

I went to the Indiana Microbrewers Winterfest last weekend. Every brewer in Indiana was there and there were even stands for Rogue, Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, Pyramid, Founders, Bell's, Schafly, and Kentucky Ale. So many good IPAs and stouts that I can't even write them all down. Needless to say, I'll be going again next year.
 
I had some Rogue jim jim ale i think it was at new years. That stuff was really good. I think I'm going to try more of them. Going to be trying some Irish beers at the bar tonight.
 
[quote name='bordjon']Any of your favorite beer bars make it?

http://draftmag.com/features/americas-100-best-beer-bars-2011/[/QUOTE]
My local beer bar Redlight, Redlight is on there! Excellent spot for craft brews, they constantly change their taps and have casks pretty often as well. They did a Bell's night a last week with Hopslam & about 4-5 other Bell's beers on tap. Had Hopslam and the Double Cream Stout - both were excellent. Make that a 3rd in favor of the Hopslam.

Looking forward to their Dogfish night coming up where they'll be having 60, 90, & 120 Minute on tap. Unfortunately for me it's the same day Marvel vs Capcom 3 comes out :cry:.

We're also really lucky because Shipyard just opened a brew pub down here last week. I haven't had a chance to check it out but I plan to go next week or so.

[quote name='rabbitt']Found a bottle of Brooklyn Black Ops today. I'd like to try it over the weekend sometime.[/QUOTE]
I'm super jealous. I looked all over for it and couldn't find any locally aside from a $40 bottle of '09 at the bar.
 
I'm going with Leinenkugel's Fireside Nut Brown for the Super Bowl. I always try to find a local beer for the team I'm supporting. Didn't work for the Cards two years ago so I went with Schlafly Pale Ale because of Warner's Rams glory days. Last year I had 3 Floyds Alpha King for the Colts.
 
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You would be surprised at the number of people that don't know Schlafly is a St. Louis beer. I ordered a bucket at a bar a few months back and they told me domestic only. Even after having the River Front Times on the table open to a Schlafly ad she still wouldn't let me get it in the bucket. That was the last time I have been to Hot Shots.

I'm not drinking tonight as I have to work tomorrow and still a little fucked from last night. However I am going to try to make some Guiness Chili.
 
Domestic only usually equals the cheap mass produced ones like Bud, Miller and Coors at most bars. i.e. no microbrews and no imports as they charge more for those and don't want to sell them in buckets.

I had a couple Schlafly's when in St. Louis for work a few years ago, thought they both stunk personally. Think it was the lager and the pale ale.
 
Like dmaul said, domestics only applies to the big 3 breweries. They don't even consider Sam Adams a domestic even though it's available in damn near every restaurant in America.

Schlafly's has gotten better the last few years. Unfortunately, the price reflects their position as a smaller brewery. I bought a sixer of the Pale Ale last year and it was as expensive as a sixer of Paulaner's Hefeweizen. I was less than 20 miles from the brewery. They better have swam across the Mississippi and hand delivered cases to Dierberg's.

I love supporting local breweries but you can't sell your beer for the same price as foreign imports especially in your local area. I can go down to the local brewpub and buy a sixer of their Amber or Pale Ale for $6.50. The only thing cheaper in the area are the Big 3 and the Milwaukee beers like Old Milwaukee/Schlitz and Pabst. That's how it should be.
 
Yeah, that's just the way it is though. Small brewers are selling less, using better ingredients (fresh hops rather then pellets, e.g.), using more hops and malts per batch (why it has more flavor) etc. so it's going to cost more.

I've long accepted that decent beer is mostly going to run $8-12 a six pack (and $7-12 a 22 oz/750ml bottle for some stronger beers)--be it micro brew or import. Imports used to be more but they have to be priced to compete with the microbrews now that the imports have real local competition.

But I also only drink here and there. I'd have to go for cheaper stuff if I was like my dad or some friends who are having at least 2 or 3 beers everyday rather than just having a few on the weekends etc.
 
I understand why craft brewers charge more and they should. I'm just saying the same six pack should be cheaper in a brewery's local area.

Sun King in Indianapolis charges less when you go the tap room than if you go to a local liquor store. You're being charged for the canning and shipping costs. It's understandable. Oaken Barrel charges less here in Greenwood and the southside of Indy compared to the northside. Schlafly's is actually more expensive the closer you get to St. Louis. How does that make any business sense for them?

St. Louis is Budweiser town no doubt but there's a huge market for craft beers. St. Louis has two beer bars on that 100 list. It's like they don't want to get bigger even though their quality is approaching some the better craft breweries out west and in Michigan.
 
Oh I get that, it should be cheaper in the home town than it is further away. But at the end of the day the shipping costs aren't a huge part of the cost on a per sixpack basis. Maybe they could knock a buck or so off, but even that may be more than the per sixpack cost of shipping a beer a few states away since the distributors are still buying in bulk.

Now, the beer on tap should be cheaper in the local town for sure. And that doesn't always happen. Most places here in ATL the Sweetwater, Terrapin and other area beers are usually about the same as other craft beers and imports on tap which doesn't make sense. But I get that the bottled six packs aren't going to get much discount.
 
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Either way, I think it's time for a trip to the Tap Room on Locust next time I'm in St. Louis. I'll see how the prices compare to growlers here.

Also, I had the Dry Hopped APA (and not the Pale Ale like I thought) last time I was in town. It's definitely better than the regular Pale Ale since it's got a bigger hops bite to it.
 
There is a new Costco Kirkland Signature craft beer case/24 pack (at least for east coast). It has the Pale Ale and Amber ale from the old pack but they've replaced the German Lager (which I liked) and one other I can't remember with an IPA and a Belgian-style white. I'm good with the switch! I had the IPA last night and it's not bad at all. Well balanced c-hops selection (plus amarillo) at 6.5%. Looking forward to trying the white. This stuff is 18.99 a case/24 at my Costco. If you are east coast it is brewed by Matt Brewing - who does Saranac. West Coast is Gordon Biersch.
 
Finally found a relatively fresh six of Great Lakes IPA today. Looking forward to that. Also picked up a six of their seasonal Conway's Irish Red Ale. Very pricey at 11.49 (might just be the particular store I bought it at), but it's tasty. A very caramel-sweet taste, just this side of being cloying, but I like it. Makes you feel all warm inside.

Also picked up a bottle of Bell's Hopslam. Really looking forward to trying it, but given it's high cost I'm kind of hoping I won't like it...
 
After seeing the tv show on discovery I wouldn't mind trying some dogfish head beer. The thing is it can not be found in my area. Has anyone tried this stuff?
 
Dogfish is awesome. I just had their 60 minute IPA Saturday night. If you even tolerate Eastern style IPAs, you have to try it. It doesn't have the overpowering hops of a Western style but it also doesn't have the overpowering juniper taste of most Eastern style IPAs.
 
Yeah, Dogfish Head is great. Their 90 Minute IPA (their double IPA) is probably my favorite of the style.

The 120 minutes is too much (like 16% ABV), and they have a few others that are super high alcohol that I don't care for. But other than that they have a lot of good stuff.

The Indian Brown Ale and Raison D'etre are very good as well.
 
[quote name='depascal22']Dogfish is awesome. I just had their 60 minute IPA Saturday night. If you even tolerate Eastern style IPAs, you have to try it. It doesn't have the overpowering hops of a Western style but it also doesn't have the overpowering juniper taste of most Eastern style IPAs.[/QUOTE]

I prefer the 60 minute to the 90 minute, as however they differentiate the process or ingredients b/w the two, the 60 has a much, much stronger citrus (esp. grapefruit) finish.

I have yet to try the 120 minute.
 
I don't know what it is but the 60 minute seems less citrusy than other Eastern IPAs. It's the only Eastern that I really like.

Do you guys prefer Eastern or Western IPAs? I'm a Western guy myself. I love that hops bite.
 
I'm much more of a western IPA guy. I like the piney/resiny hop bite much more than the citrusy one.

That said, I do like the citrusy ones like Sweetwater IPA (or 420 Extra Pale Ale) or Bell's Two Hearted Ale as well.

But I'd go for a Stone IPA or other west coast one over those anytime if given the choice.
 
I have a bottle of Terripin Moo-Hoo Chocolate Oatmeal Stout Beer sitting in my fridge. I think it time to crack that sucker open tonight.
 
[quote name='sendme']After seeing the tv show on discovery I wouldn't mind trying some dogfish head beer. The thing is it can not be found in my area. Has anyone tried this stuff?[/QUOTE]

DFH Bitches Brew is a really fantastic beer, and I think thats what they covered in that show. Its a big bottle offering, but really worth it. Outside of the minutes series DFH does a lot of wacky experimental beers. Not something to drink a lot of, but fun to mix in every once in a while to try something crazy, like Midas' Touch an old egyptian beer recipe or something like that.

[quote name='dmaul1114']That said, I do like the citrusy ones like Sweetwater IPA (or 420 Extra Pale Ale) or Bell's Two Hearted Ale as well.[/quote]

Bell's two hearted is awesome. I wish it was distributed in NYC... I had a Troeg's Nugget Nectar cask conditioned last weekend which is citrusy but in such a honey-sweet nectary way. Try that for an eastern IPA.
 
I'm pretty ig'nant of east/west differences in both IPAs and hip-hop.

I leave it up to the collective expertise of y'all to change that for me.
 
Well East Coast are the citrusy ones like the 60 Minute, Sweetwater IPA, Bell's Two Hearted etc.

West Coast IPAs are the ones that are more piney and straight bitter hops without the citrus like Stone IPA, Stone Ruination, Lagunitas IPA, Pliny the Elder and so on.

If you've had some of both you'll probably recall the difference. If not pick up a couple from each category and have one back to back.

Can't help you with the hip hop though! :D
 
Thought I posted in this thread last night. Really hope I didn't post what I thought I posted here in another thread. I really hate 12 hour shifts. Anyway looks like I will have to order some dogfish head. ninety9bottles.com has some. However all they have is Indian Brown Ale 12ML , Pangea 750ML , and Squall 750ML. I looked on the dogfish head site and no place in 100 miles of St. Louis MO sells it. Every place I ask at just says they have issues with the distributer. Any one know of another site that will ship this stuff to IL (live on the IL side of the river) and has more of a selection.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Well East Coast are the citrusy ones like the 60 Minute, Sweetwater IPA, Bell's Two Hearted etc.

West Coast IPAs are the ones that are more piney and straight bitter hops without the citrus like Stone IPA, Stone Ruination, Lagunitas IPA, Pliny the Elder and so on.

If you've had some of both you'll probably recall the difference. If not pick up a couple from each category and have one back to back.

Can't help you with the hip hop though! :D[/QUOTE]

I kinda figured that's where you were headed. I didn't know people different them by geography and style. That makes sense. I tend to prefer one over another depending on time of year. The temperature outside can really influence if I'd rather have a Ruination or a 60 Minute.
 
[quote name='sendme']Thought I posted in this thread last night. Really hope I didn't post what I thought I posted here in another thread. I really hate 12 hour shifts. Anyway looks like I will have to order some dogfish head. ninety9bottles.com has some. However all they have is Indian Brown Ale 12ML , Pangea 750ML , and Squall 750ML. I looked on the dogfish head site and no place in 100 miles of St. Louis MO sells it. Every place I ask at just says they have issues with the distributer. Any one know of another site that will ship this stuff to IL (live on the IL side of the river) and has more of a selection.[/QUOTE]

I've never seen it when I visit my parents in the Metro East. The one place that might have it is Johnny's in Collinsville. It's on Main just west of 159 I believe. I've seen Stone, Rogue, and Lagunitas all on tap there. They rotate their selection so there's a chance you might see it.

As for hip-hop, the aren't any differences any more. East coast hip-hop used to be darker and the south and west were heavily influenced by funk. Those are very very basic definitions though because I can go on for days on the differences between Bay Area rap and Southern California rap. There's a big difference between Too $hort, Rappin 4 Tay, Mac Dre, and the guys like Snoop, Dre, and DJ Quik.
 
[quote name='sendme']Thought I posted in this thread last night. Really hope I didn't post what I thought I posted here in another thread. I really hate 12 hour shifts. Anyway looks like I will have to order some dogfish head. ninety9bottles.com has some. However all they have is Indian Brown Ale 12ML , Pangea 750ML , and Squall 750ML. I looked on the dogfish head site and no place in 100 miles of St. Louis MO sells it. Every place I ask at just says they have issues with the distributer. Any one know of another site that will ship this stuff to IL (live on the IL side of the river) and has more of a selection.[/QUOTE]

Not sure if I understand, but if that site does deliver, the squall IPA is a great beer. The Indian is good, but nothing great, and pangea is alright, kinda gimmicky with an ingredient from every continent. Distribution is an annoying hurtle sometimes.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']I kinda figured that's where you were headed. I didn't know people different them by geography and style. That makes sense. I tend to prefer one over another depending on time of year. The temperature outside can really influence if I'd rather have a Ruination or a 60 Minute.[/QUOTE]

Yeah it's kind of interesting how the split of styles breaks down by region. It's not perfect, but you don't find all that many citrusy IPAs from west coast brewers. East coast tend to be more citrusy, but there are more piney/straight bitter ones on the east from places like Southern Tier than there are citrusy ones out west.

Agree on temperature. If I'm sweating in the summer I'd rather have a citrusy IPA than a super piney hoppy one. Though if I'm home with the a/c cranking then it's moot. :D
 
It really depends on the hops being used. When it's hot, I usually switch to Hefeweizens.

I was told by a Schafly distributors that Eastern IPAs are supposed to evoke the taste of juniper more than citrus. Everyone assumes it's citrus because of the taste but if you really taste it, you'd be hard pressed to find one citrus fruit with that kind of bitterness. I'm not a huge fan of Easterns so I just nodded and kept drinking their Coffee Stout.
 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the sweaty gym towel aroma from some IPAs. I've noticed it on a few - though I can't remember which ones at the moment. It's not entirely unpleasant even though it sounds like it would be.

Pretty good breakdown of the east coast/west coast style difference. Sweetwater IPA is the most grapefruit beer I've ever tasted - really unique among IPAs imo - not my favorite but certainly near the top of my list. Love 90min and two-hearted for east coast and green flash ipa for west coast. Had a less than stellar O'Dempsey's (atl area brewery) Inukshuk IPA last night.
 
Yeah, I don't like the Sweetwater IPA that much, just too much grapefruit for me. But it is ok on a hot day.

I like their 420 Extra Pale Ale better. Still citrusy, but not nearly as over powering.

Green Flash IPA is good, Acme's isn't bad either.
 
I had their Jim Jim Ale. Well I think that was the name of it. I had it back on new years and it was good. Rogue is one that I will be getting more of.

[quote name='faceturd']Not sure if I understand, but if that site does deliver, the squall IPA is a great beer. The Indian is good, but nothing great, and pangea is alright, kinda gimmicky with an ingredient from every continent. Distribution is an annoying hurtle sometimes.[/QUOTE]

Online is the only way I can find this stuff and bars and stores here do not sell it. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a site that will ship to IL and has more of a selection from Dogfish Head than just 3 or 4.
 
[quote name='sendme']Online is the only way I can find this stuff and bars and stores here do not sell it. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a site that will ship to IL and has more of a selection from Dogfish Head than just 3 or 4.[/QUOTE]

I asked around with some of my beer friends and it seems unlikely that you will find an online retailer willing to do the shipping. Your best bet is to either find someone to trade with or they actually recommended to poke around on ebay. Such a shame. But to reiterate, if you can get Squall IPA, that is a really good one to try out.
 
Also, join the forums on sites like Beer Advocate, Rate Beer etc. I think some of them have trading forums where you could ship someone some local beers they can get (if you're in Illinois you probably get Bell's--which wasn't availble in the DC/Maryland area when I lived there--but Dogfish Head was everywhere being a Delaware brew) and have them ship you some DFH or other beers you can't get.
 
[quote name='MtlTom']My local beer bar Redlight, Redlight is on there! Excellent spot for craft brews, they constantly change their taps and have casks pretty often as well. They did a Bell's night a last week with Hopslam & about 4-5 other Bell's beers on tap. Had Hopslam and the Double Cream Stout - both were excellent. Make that a 3rd in favor of the Hopslam.

Looking forward to their Dogfish night coming up where they'll be having 60, 90, & 120 Minute on tap. Unfortunately for me it's the same day Marvel vs Capcom 3 comes out :cry:.

We're also really lucky because Shipyard just opened a brew pub down here last week. I haven't had a chance to check it out but I plan to go next week or so.


I'm super jealous. I looked all over for it and couldn't find any locally aside from a $40 bottle of '09 at the bar.[/QUOTE]


My roommate converted me into a beer person. Redlight Redlight is pretty nice. I've been enjoying the hell out of a 6-pack of Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier.
 
Went to my favorite beer bar last weekend and had Sierra Nevada Hoptimum and Great Divide's Espresso Stout.

The Hoptimum was disappointing because it just tastes like a massive shot of hops and high alcohol content. No balance at all. I know it's a Double IPA from guys that make hoppy pale ales and a super hoppy extra IPA but it was too much.

Great Divide's Espresso Stout was divine. Rich dark beer that's best sipped. The espresso doesn't overpower and it even has a slight hops bite to it. Perfect beer for a cold day. I'm very impressed with Great Divide and can see why Coloradans(?) love the brewery so much.
 
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