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

Are there any Indianapolis CAGs who are beer snobs? This summer, it was my goal to try a new beer every single day (99 days, 99 beers). Well, here in Champaign that's easy as we have a Binny's and another store called Friar Tuck which both offer excellent beer selections (including mix-a-6). But I'm moving to Indianapolis on Monday and I'm going to need a new place to find new beers. Any suggestions?
 
Time to bump this thread.

I bought a pint of Sam Smith Hard Apple Cider and Guinness Extra Foreign this afternoon and can't wait to try them. I know Guinness is commercial as shit but I really don't give a fuck.:D

Oh, and quality hard cider is good shit. fuck the haters on that one too!
 
I've had the Sam Smith organic, but not the Hard (not sure if I've even seen the hard).

A brown ale I made a few months back will be ready to taste tomorrow evening. fuckin' a, I hope it's not terrible.
 
Grabbed the variety 12 pack of the Goose Island stuff. Was on sale for $11. Got home only to realize the seasonal beer in here was the Mild Winter :/ Not that it's not good or anything, but it's summer time!

I usually like to grab anything Goose Island when I don't feel like forking over $10 for a 6 pack of some better stuff. They are pretty decent and for the price you can't go wrong.
 
Been having a blast with the local beer scene lately. Found out I have an old friend from undergrad who just opened a brewery here - Cahaba Brewing Company. Got to hang out with him and a few other old friends this weekend at their brewery at an afterparty for our recent brewfest. Got to meet lots of local brewers and have some pretty amazing beer. Highlight was a Straight to Ale bordeaux RIS (Laika is the name) aged in red wine barrels - one of the best beers I've EVER had. There was a porter from Avondale Brewing aged in Jack Daniels barrels that was pretty awesome too. My friend's brewery only has 3 beers right now - the IPA is his recipe and they've only brewed it twice on their current equipment - so very, very new. It's a nice and drinkable beer as is their amber. They are only distributing kegs to a few local restaurants right now.
 
For anyone here that has been doing home brewing how long did it take till you started to use your own recipes? Also when brewing for the 2 stage do you start with the carboy or the 5 gallon plastic bucket or does it even matter? A friend and I just started and we are using a kit with all the ingredients in it. The instructions said put it in the bucket but one of the books says start it in the carboy and another book that we picked up says to also start in the bucket.
 
[quote name='bigpimpin24']Grabbed the variety 12 pack of the Goose Island stuff. Was on sale for $11. Got home only to realize the seasonal beer in here was the Mild Winter :/ Not that it's not good or anything, but it's summer time!

I usually like to grab anything Goose Island when I don't feel like forking over $10 for a 6 pack of some better stuff. They are pretty decent and for the price you can't go wrong.[/QUOTE]

I agree. At the Binny's in Champaign, all Goose Island 12 packs are $11.99. So 312 is usually my go to beer. I think I've tried nearly every one of them though.

Also, thanks for the PM depascal22. I'll be checking those out. I'm on the north side and we actually went down to Broad Ripple last week and I got some good beers. There's a college-ish bar called Chumley's that had an AMAZING beer selection. As soon as I get paid again, maybe I can make it down to the south side. :lol:
 
My friend and I were at the liquor store a week or two ago and we decided to try a 6-pack of Black Butte Porter at the recommendation of another friend who we just happened to see while we were there. It was a pleasant surprise. Very smooth and great flavor, wish we would've bought more afterwards.
 
Picked up a 6 pack of Abita's Purple Haze and a 6 pack of Sierra Nevada's Summerfest. I think I tried Purple Haze once before but over a year ago and I can't remember at all what it tastes like. I've never tried the Summerfest at all though.

My grocery store actually had a little stand with a "Mix and Match 6" type of thing for $9.99 This was the first time I've seen them do it since it is a bigger chain (Ultra Foods) The choices were pretty meh though. They had Torpedo, Summerfest, and a few different Blue Moons as well as the Woodchuck Hard Ciders. While I really like Torpedo, I don't think the selection was there to warrant $10

I've been meaning to go check out this place a buddy of mine suggested called Wise Guys. Supposedly they have a large variety of craft there and they let you build a 6 as well. It's about 20 miles away though and I've been putting off for a few weeks now. Maybe in two weeks or so.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Having an Oskar Blues smorgasbord tonight - celebrating since they just came in to the state (Dale's home state actually!) Old Chub, Dale's Pale, and Mama's Little Yella Pils!
 
Recently had Victory Brewing Company's Hop Wallop and New Belgium's Belgo. Both were really really good. Just further proves that I'm a Pale Ale type of guy. As for my earlier post about Purple Haze and Summerfest.. Purple Haze was awesome for being a fruit beer. Made my taste buds go crazy. The Summerfest I am on the fence about. The first one I had was really refreshing and enjoyable, but as I kept drinking it it started to taste worse to me for some reason.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Had an Abita Purple Haze for the first time last night. Not bad[/QUOTE]

Just got back from NOLA, and I was pretty dissapointed with most of the local beers. I didn't try the Purple Haze but did drink the Amber, Jocamo (sp?), and maybe a blonde. NOLA blonde was meh...

Best I had was Hopitoulus from NOLA brewing.
 
Mississipi Mud was pretty good from my recollection from 5-6 years ago. Just bought a 6 pack of Yuengling's Black and Tan. I really enjoyed it. Nice clean taste. I had to check to see if they were owned by one of the large beer companies and am surprised that they are still independent.
 
I have vague memories of making black and tans with Harp and maybe Guinness. I remember having this wooden handled metal spoon that I bent backwards at a right angle with the bottom of the bowl side up and putting it in a glass and pouring the dark beer over it. That's been a long time.

Our "Gourmet Bottle Bill" passed a couple months ago and goes in to effect Aug. 1 aka "Bomber Day." So now we have have 22s and 750s! I'm planning on picking up a La Chouffe since I got a La Chouffe Petite years ago the day our abv got raised and probably a few locals as all the local breweries are putting out small batches of 22s. I'm also going to crack open one of my Terrapin Depth Charge from several years ago.

Hop City has started work on their location and has an official Hop City Bham facebook page now. My friend's brewery is a few doors down from them and he just posted a pic of him and the Hop City guys so they are close to opening but I don't think they will be open by Aug. 1 (website just says August.)
 
Enjoy both. Great combination to have bombers and Hop City coming in around the same time.

I love the Atlanta location. Especially the 60 tap growler station, which is mainly what I hit up these days to save on bottle/can recycling.
 
Absolutely - I'm really excited about growlertown! There are already several places here doing draft-to-go (a few with over 50 taps even!) but there's just something real nice about Hop City as a great one stop beer shopping spot.

Our state has some kinks to work out regarding reusing glass growlers. Most places are currently using plastic milk jugs because of confusing regulations. Apparently one store here is reusing glass growlers now without issue somehow but there are folks working on the confusion right now - seems like the dept of health and the beverage control can't communicate and can't decide who's issue it is.

Our grassroots organization - free the hops - is deciding on their next agenda. Looking like it will be more focus on breweries/brewpubs - like the ability for draft-to-go directly from the breweries. Our breweries are doing serious business these days - taprooms open daily, bands playing, food service trucks outside (another issue - they can't serve food and be a brewery - have to be a brewpub - but if they are a brewpub they can't distribute their beer, only serve it on premise - it's a mess.)
 
Whew this thread gets buried lately.

3 120 mins - that's 2 more than I've ever had. It was just too syrup-y sweet for me. One day I may try it again but I'm not in any hurry...

Been having local brews lately. I do have a Rogue John John Dead Guy in the fridge for this weekend. Had a couple of bottles from a local Huntsville brewery Blue Pants - a strawbeery saison that was really pretty nice. Very fresh strawberry taste that didn't taste artificial. As I understand - they add strawberries sorta like they would a late dry hop addition I think. It was real easy drinking. Also a "hoppy" tripel - their term. It was 9% and decent but I'm just not real big on the ipa/tripel combo a la Le Freak from Green Flash. I think I like my ipas and tripels separate.

Chattanooga's annual brewer's fest is tomorrow. I've yet to go despite only being a couple hours away. Maybe one year.
 
484444_4252721443945_810288266_n.jpg

In my fridge. Right now. fuck yeah.
 
Just missed it at the store the other day (said it would be in today or tomorrow). Definitely have to swing back buy and pick some up before they sell out hopefully!

Ended up with growlers of Stone Ruination and Dog Fish Head 90 minute which were both great as always. Also got a 4 pack of Dog Fish Head Burton Baton--guy said it was a mix of the 75 minute and 90 minute IPA aged in oak barrels. It's very good, but not as good as the store owner hyped it (said he thought it was the best DFH brew). Not as hoppy as you'd expect given the blend. But still good, and has a nice oak aftertaste.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It's been a while but I remember liking the Burton Baton quite a bit. I don't remember it being very hoppy though. I remember it being fairly complex though and me and my wife both enjoyed it. I'm becoming more of a fan of barrel-aged stuff - especially if it's draft. That John John is a dead guy aged in their own whiskey barrels so we'll see how that goes.

I wish we had Stone distribution here. I imagine it won't be long and until then I can pick it up in FL and GA but still will be nice when it gets here. I'll be in atl in a few weeks for the weekend and we'll stop by hop city and/or greens to see what goodies they have but I'm picking up a lot more locally now that we have so much more to choose from. Our hop city is tentatively opening Sept. 6. They posted pics of the taps - 60 of them! Really looking forward to that opening.
 
Well at first I didn't care much for the John John. It seemed a bit watery and no real distinct flavors coming out. I had a couple 4 oz glasses and then decided to have a cigar with a glass ( my new dirty hobby) and just give up on it. Now that I'm finishing it though it's really grown on me. My wife says it's a bit watery and she tastes the whiskey (from the barrel.) I'm getting the oak/whiskey now and some nice caramel malty sweetness. It's not blowing me away but it's gotten better. And I will say this thing has produced some gorgeous lacing - which is neither here nor there - but still worth noting I suppose.
 
Oh the Burton Baton is damn good. Just different than I expected since it's not hoppy at all and is an imperial ipa. It's more like a strong ale to me as it's more malty/alcohol sweat than hoppy like an ipa.
 
Well I decided to look it up and read about it and Dogfish says it's a blend of an imperial IPA and an English-style old ale - also says it sits for about a month in the barrel aging. So that would make sense it tasting a bit malty and sweet - which is how I remember it. I suppose with the blending and the aging in the barrel then depending on how long it's been in the bottle the hop character subsides. Man all this talk about it I'm gonna have to pick up some more pronto - and I'm gonna go dig around in my stash and see if I have one left to stick in the fridge for tonight - making my mouth water!

*edit* I had 6 different dfh brews but no burton - so I put a Raison D'Etre in the fridge instead - don't know that I've even tried that one yet.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I was confused about the Stone Offerings. I thought the Enjoy by 9/21 was just their anniversary brew this year. But that's a limited release and currently only available in SoCal, NJ and Chicago--so I'm very envious.

I did grab a couple bottles of the 16th Anniversary IPA though. From Stone's website write up about it: "It’s actually a double IPA (don’t pretend to be surprised) spiked with a touch of lemon verbena and lemon oil, which Brewmaster Mitch Steele tells us “combines wonderfully with the peach and tropical mango flavors from the Amarillo hops, and with the apple and berry notes from the Calypso hops.”

Have them getting cold, will try one tonight. Bought a four pack of Green Flash Hop Head Red to drink on while those are chilling. :D
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']I was confused about the Stone Offerings. I thought the Enjoy by 9/21 was just their anniversary brew this year. But that's a limited release and currently only available in SoCal, NJ and Chicago--so I'm very envious.[/QUOTE]

I'm really glad I had one to satisfy my curiosity, but to be honest it wasn't very good. It had the strangest aftertaste, and one I still can't place. Really hurt the beer overall to me. But it is hella high in ABV (9.4%?), but doesn't taste like it at all. So it totally snuck up on me.
 
Yeah I'm totally jealous of that that Enjoy By - that's definitely a pretty awesome score!

I didn't have any beer tonight - we grilled out and made margaritas instead. I think this is only the second time I've ever made them. My wife was wanting them so I said what the heck. Used El Jimador repo (which for me has a bit too much kick straight so that worked out to finish off our bottle of that.)
 
Grabbed a 6 pack of 400 Pound Monkey from Left Hand Brewing.. Very tasty indeed. Also tried Golden Monkey by Victory Brewing last weekend or so, was pleasantly surprised as well. That's one of those beers that has a high ABV but you can't even tell. If I see anything else with a Monkey on it, definitely going to try it. 2/2 so far on Monkey labeled beers, lol.
 
[quote name='bigpimpin24']If I see anything else with a Monkey on it, definitely going to try it. 2/2 so far on Monkey labeled beers, lol.[/QUOTE]

Down here in Alabama there is a new up-and-coming brewery called Straight to Ale that has a totally awesome IPA called Monkeynaut. http://www.straighttoale.com/beer/monkeynaut-ipa/ and the beer advocate link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22655/57722 It's name refers to the first monkey in space which lived out it's life on earth for a long time in Huntsville, AL where the brewery is based. They are canning that beer and it's only in Alabama (and soon to be Nashville - they have a few other brews in Nashville currently.)
 
The Stone 16th Anniversary IPA was pretty good. Maybe a little heavy on the lemon, but still very hoppy so it works out ok. It's 10% APV and doesn't taste it really, so its also one that can sneak up on you.
 
Picked up a super fresh 4 pack of cans from one of our local breweries - Good People Brewing - Snake Handler Double IPA - canned yesterday! They brew it just every now and then - maybe two or three times a year. It's a pretty darn awesome DIPA. Also picked up a bomber of Jester King Noble King - a hoppy farmhouse. Jester King is in Austin and I think only really distributes to Texas but apparently, as per their blog, they ship out small amounts of "extra" when they have it to various states as if just on whim. Maybe we got some since we just passed a bill allowing big bottles - who knows - I'm not complaining though and hope it continues to show up - looking forward to trying it!
 
Tried a few beers at my local casino last night. Abita's Turbodog, Harpoons UFO White and Fosters. First two were on tap and the Fosters was in a 25oz can. Really enjoyed the Turbodog and UFO, the Fosters was ok.
 
Fall beers are rolling out. Had 3 pumpkin beers at happy hour on Friday. The Dogfish Head Punkin was great as always, but I didn't care for the other two--one from Brooklyn Brewing and one from Blue Point.

Other than that all I've had is some Stone IPA and grabbed a sixer of Sam Adams Octoberfest at the grocery store tonight.
 
The Weyerbacher Pumpkin is really, really good if you like heavy clove, nutmeg, and allspice kinds of flavors. Which I do, just not in this weather. I'm not sure how you can stomach that in such a warm climate, man.

Also, if you can hunt down the Southern Tier Pumpking, I've heard it's amazing beyond belief. I have not tried it, but I have a bottle in my fridge.
 
Yeah, the Weyerbacher is good. The Pumpking is good as well, but very heavy on those spices.

That's why I like the Dogfish one best as it's light on the spices and still a little hoppy so it's more my style.

As for the heat, I couldn't drink these fall beers, imperial stouts etc. outside or after a day outside. But it's all good on days inside with the AC cranking. :D
 
So I figured I'd post this list. Over the summer, I made it a habit to try a new beer every day. I fell behind sometimes with work and whatnot, but I still got to try quite a few beers. Here's the list of what I tried over the summer. (I may have missed a few.)

I would say that some of my favorites were the Two Lucy's Blackberry Wheat and Three Floyd's Gumballhead. As you can see, I'm a big fan of wheat ales. Especially fruity ones (no homo). :lol:

It was a fun time. I'm still trying new beers all the time. I've got 5 or 6 more in the mini-fridge now.

Goose Island Summertime
Dark Horse Raspberry Ale
Blue Star Wheat Beer
Magic Hat Circus Boy
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
New Belgium Abbey
Bell's Oberon Ale
Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer
Schlafly Pale Ale
Boulder Beer Hazed and Infused
Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye
Upland Brewery Wheat Ale
Bell's Cherry Ale
Two Lucy's Blackberry Wheat
Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale
Magic Hat #9
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
Sam Adams Noble Pils
Three Floyd's Arctic Panzer Wolf
Ommegang Brewery Hennepin
Bell's Porter
Anno Hoegarden
Capital brewery Island Wheat
Magic Hat Elder Betty
Goose Island Honker's Ale
Jack Whacker Wheat
Sierra Nevada Hefweizen
Left Hand Brewery Sawtooth Ale
Bell's Oarsman Ale
Carta Blanca
Ale Asylum Sticky McDoogle
Three Floyd's Gumballhead
Leinenkugel Heavy Scotch Ale
Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat
Sea Dog Blueberry Ale
Oaken Barrel Razz-Wheat
Three Floyd's Dreadnaught
Trout Slayer Wheat Ale
The Poet Oatmeal Stout
Hacker-Pschorr Weiss
Hyve Honey Ale
Two Brothers Ebel's Weiss
Barley Island Sheet Metal Blonde
Celis Grand Cru
Spotted Cow
North Coast Scrimshaw
Ellie's Brown Ale
North Coast Red Seal Ale
Metropolitan Brewing Flywheel
New Belgium 1554
Barley Island Brass Knuckles
Bell's Amber Ale
Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale
Beckenridge Oatmeal Stout
Tucher Dunkel
Schlafly Summer Ale
Capital Brewery Weizen
Fixed Gear Red Ale
Left Hand Brewery Polestar Pilsner
Goose Island Nut Brown Ale
Sam Adams Whitewater IPA
Capitol Brewery Pilsner
Chimay Blue
Chimay Red
Spring Blonde Wheat Ale
Shiner Ruby Redbird
8 Ball Stout
Sam Adam Latitude 48 IPA
Michelob AmberBock
Sierra Nevada Summerfest
Breckenridge Porter
New Holland Golden Cap
Abita Turbo Dog
Hochzeitsbier Von 1810
Three Floyd's Alpha King
Red Hook Pilsner
Star Island Single
People's Farmer's Daughter
Flat 12 Bierwerks American Amber Ale
Sapporo
Asahi
 
Pumking from Southern Tier is indeed the bomb.
Still loving the Summit Saga IPA.

Grabbed some of the Raven's Wood Syrah/Shiraz the other night too. Nice and heavy $10 wine if you're into that kind of thing.
 
Still haven't had that Jester King yet - maybe tonight. My wife is picking up some Ballast Point Sculpin IPA (very highly rated IPA - really looking forward to this one!) and some Tongue Buckler Double Red. Ballast Point just came in to the state a day or two ago.

I noticed Hop City just got Pumpking. I'll be in the area this weekend and will likely pick up some along with some other goodies that we don't have here in AL. (I sort of remember talk of Southern Tier coming here but I can't remember when.) I like the DFH Punkin though for the same reason - a bit more hoppy and bit less spicy than some of the other pumpkin brews.

On a maybe somewhat related note - I'm a bit concerned about what appears to be a trend towards "natural flavors" added to beer. I mean it's one thing (and not really something I'm too fond of) to have "brewed with" coffee/coco nibs/honey/etc. But I don't really like seeing "with natural flavor(s)" on beer. Magic Hat #9 comes to mind. A friend was just talking about Shipyard's Smashed Blueberry - saying he and his wife really liked it. It's no wimpy beer either - 9% porter/scotch hybrid that gets more than decent reviews.
 
Jester King - Noble King - very impressive farmhouse. Sorta like a tripel/golden too but not as strong at 5.9%. Distinct Belgian yeast - maybe not as wild and funky as a farmhouse but that's ok with me. They bill it as a "hoppy" farmhouse and they did it right.

Will probably have the Ballast Point Sculpin IPA tomorrow night. Pricey stuff at 14.99 a sixer. 7% abv I think it is. The Tongue Buckler was more of a "normal" price at 8.99 for the bomber.
 
[quote name='bordjon']Jester King - Noble King - very impressive farmhouse. Sorta like a tripel/golden too but not as strong at 5.9%. Distinct Belgian yeast - maybe not as wild and funky as a farmhouse but that's ok with me. They bill it as a "hoppy" farmhouse and they did it right.

Will probably have the Ballast Point Sculpin IPA tomorrow night. Pricey stuff at 14.99 a sixer. 7% abv I think it is. The Tongue Buckler was more of a "normal" price at 8.99 for the bomber.[/QUOTE]

Sculpin is pretty great, but at $14.99 you may need to find a better place to buy beer.
 
[quote name='Bloodbooger']Sculpin is pretty great, but at $14.99 you may need to find a better place to buy beer.[/QUOTE]

Haha - that's as good a price as it'll get here in AL for the time being. I'm clear across the country from where it's made and it just came in to the state a few days ago. I see you are in CA so I'd imagine you've had access to it for a while and surely at a better price. It's not something I'll be buying regularly though but I'm looking forward to trying it out for sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top