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

Anyone had the pleasure of visiting a John Harvard's and sampling from their microbrewery? I went recently for my girlfriend's 21st birthday and their pumpkin spice ale and octoberfest beers were incredible.

I also recently had the pleasure of visiting a bar on the south shore of LI that had Blue Point's toasted lager on tap, and that was really a refreshing change. So was the Ithaca Nut Brown that we found at our local Applebee's (!!!).
 
[quote name='shieryda']Aaaarrrrrrrrr! Where does this ale be brewed, matey?[/quote]

It be a Belgium IPA. The alcohol content is like 10% so you're pretty much getting the same effect of 2 normal beers. I've only bought it twice because I can get the same quality beer for $3 - $4 cheaper.

Another nice expensive Beer is Gulden Draak. It's a little cheaper than Piraat but still it's up there. Also it's got a cool name:

gulden_draak.jpg


[quote name='stripes_green']Hey, just turned 21 2 weeks ago, but I live at school so I have not been able to hit any stores.
Looking to drink something that is good but not too expensive over the thanksgiving holiday. I heard that sam adams is pretty good and so is blue moon. What do the experienced beer drinkers think?[/quote]

Blue Moon is nice. I don't buy it often cause I prefer darker beers but it's sweet and easy to drink. If I may make a suggestion Yuengling Black & Tan is a great beer for the price. My local store sells it cheap, $9 for a 12-pack. It's not the best beer in the world but it beats Bud/Millar/Coors, especially if you're on a budget.
 
If you really like wheat beers from Germany try Ayinger Brau-Weiss for lighter wheat beers or Ur-Weiss for a slightly darker. They cost about $3 for a half liter but you can find it at Tops or Fred Meyers. My personal favorite and well worth the price.

If anyone is looking for a good seasonal beer try St. Bernardus Christmas Ale. Its 10% but really smooth so you barely taste the alcohol.
 
[quote name='AshesofWake']Anybody try the new Double Bastard yet? Arrogant Bastard is my favorite beer, and i picked up this new delight, 10.2% alc/vol lol. havent drank it though, waiting for right moment...[/QUOTE]

Definitely a good beer. I like the double bastard more than the arrogant bastard. But like I said, I love, big strong beers.

The Oaked Arrogant Bastard is great as well. Stone just kicks ass in general.
 
[quote name='ryan838']If anyone is looking for a good seasonal beer try St. Bernardus Christmas Ale. Its 10% but really smooth so you barely taste the alcohol.[/quote]

I love St. Bernardus but I've never seen their Christmas Ale. Is it new or has it been out for a while.
 
This girl I know brought over some Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss. Never had a "fruit beer" before, I thought it was pretty good although I can't imagine drinking it on any sort of normal basis because of how sweet it is.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']I love St. Bernardus but I've never seen their Christmas Ale. Is it new or has it been out for a while.[/QUOTE]

I think it was released last year. If you're able to find a bottle or a place with it on tap you should get it especially since you like St. Bernardus.
 
100 posts of good ales, stouts, lagers, pilsners, hefeweizens, and everything in between. Thanks guys for taking to a thread that's not about everything sucking.
 
My favorite brews would have to be anything oktoberfest (sam adams, Leine's any microbrew)

I love going to brewerys in Ann Arbor and enjoy drinking the seasonals and of course a nice porter.

I been digging on Leinenkugels Fireside nut brown, sam adams cherry wheat and sam adams winter lager.


when im feeling cheap ill drink Labatt Blue light and coors light. I cant stand anything budweiser

bitburger is also a good german beer
 
[quote name='wakeandbake']My favorite brews would have to be anything oktoberfest (sam adams, Leine's any microbrew)

I love going to brewerys in Ann Arbor and enjoy drinking the seasonals and of course a nice porter.

I been digging on Leinenkugels Fireside nut brown, sam adams cherry wheat and sam adams winter lager.


when im feeling cheap ill drink Labatt Blue light and coors light. I cant stand anything budweiser

bitburger is also a good german beer[/QUOTE]


never had the winter ale, but love cherry wheat. What is in the winter ale?
 
[quote name='BasketCase1080']never had the winter ale, but love cherry wheat. What is in the winter ale?[/QUOTE]

Usually a good winter ale has Spruce tips in it, which you should clearly taste. The Alaskan Winter Ale is a perfect example of it. It's alcohol content is usually higher too, which is an added bonus to it's darker taste.

Anyhow, I picked up a great local beer today. Spent $10 on one bottle of The Abyss from the Deschutes Brewery. One of the highest rated beers, if any of you can get their hands on it, I HIGHLY recommend it. Definitely my favorite stout.
457423810_9e0c0e5050.jpg

Reviews

[quote name='this review is pretty accurate']
A+ / 4.75
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | drink: 4.5
rDev: +4%

This is my first review, and while I was going to wait until I had more experience drinking good beer before taking a stab at reviewing this but this one was so incredible I had to write down what I could. Previous to this my experience with stout had been Guinness. I apologize in advance for my lame noob review. :)

A: Poured into a large mug, very dark, and thick. Two inch brown head that stuck around awhile.

S: Chocolate, rich dark chocolate. Also the alcohol cleared the sinuses.

T: Dark chocolate flavor is real dominant, followed by the sweet mollases aftertaste, and alcohol warmth.

M: Thick, and smooth. I read someone elses review that said this was thinner than previous years, since this is my first Abyss I have no basis to debate that. But this was thick in my book, ecspecially when I let it warm a bit. Nice slight carbonation, not too much, not too little. Went down real smooth.

D: I could drink this all night long, it is smooth, flavorfull, and enjoyable. The ABV is high so obviously I would be limited to probably 2 before passing out, but that is ok as I drank this real slow to enjoy the flavor anyways.

Docked a half point on drinkability due to the strong alcohol that will most likely smooth out with age (which is why I am aging some). This is by far the best beer I have ever drank. Now with my limited experience that may not be saying much, but I think other reviews of this beer pretty much say the same thing and I will definately get my hands on this whenever available.

Serving type: bottle
[/quote]
 
[quote name='ryan838']I think it was released last year. If you're able to find a bottle or a place with it on tap you should get it especially since you like St. Bernardus.[/quote]

If I could find this on tap I'd be in heaven, unfortunatly it's difficult to find good beers on tap around here. But I'll look for a bottle of it, I'm anxious to try it.
 
Stumbled in a Buffalo Wild Wings after work today and I have to say I'm pretty impressed at their draught (the only way beer snobs can spell it) beers since it's just a chain restaurant. I had a little Red Hook ESB and I was going to get the Leinenkugel's 1867 if the wifey hadn't shown up to ruin the fun.

Any other chain joints that have surprisingly decent taps?
 
I have to say magic hat #9 and UFO are probably my favorite.
Unfortunately, I'm in college so I drink shitty keystone light as well as natty light which make my stomach cry.
 
Went to the beer shop before Thanksgiving and picked up some odds and ends:

- Bell's Two Hearted Ale
- Bell's Christmas Ale
- Kulmbacher Eisbock (a nice alternative to the higher-priced Eisbocks out there and it is pretty damn good)
- Brookyln Black Chocolate Stout
- Weyerbacher Raspberry Imperial Stout

Unfortunately I found out I have pneumonia so I haven't got a chance to try any of them yet. I'm hoping I'm better by this weekend b/c the local beer garden is having their annual Samichlaus tasting and I don't want to miss it.
 
im not a beer snob i just enjoy getting drunk every once in a while, i love drinking 40's and tomorrow my buddy is coming over and we're each killing a 12 pack of coronas with lime. its been a while sense we've done that but thats our thing, once a year we each have a 12er of coronas and limes. our game for the night will be co-op left for dead.
 
[quote name='carpwrist']

Anyhow, I picked up a great local beer today. Spent $10 on one bottle of The Abyss from the Deschutes Brewery. One of the highest rated beers, if any of you can get their hands on it, I HIGHLY recommend it. Definitely my favorite stout.
[/QUOTE]

i love Deschutes, but I've never seen this. I'll have to keep an eye out, it def wasn't at BevMo this weekend, maybe I'll stop by Trader Joe's and Cost Plus this weekend to see if they have it.

[quote name='Rodimus']Had a couple IPA's last night. You can never go wrong with that stuff.

What's the most expensive beer you like? Mine would be Piraat. One bottle is like $5:

2686477.jpg
http://amadeo.blog.com/repository/22379/2686477.jpg[/QUOTE]

if youre a fan of piraat then you should check out la fin du monde. one of my all time favorite beers, just as expensive and just as potent. very good stuff.
 
I love potent beers, and I think I've hed La Fin Du Monde once but I don't remember it.

My local Total Wine has an enormous selection of beer. They sell single bottles of beer so you can make your own 6-pack. I like variety.
 
[quote name='saintkfs']the old shiner bock is mighty tasty. blue moon with an orange slice is great to enjoy with a meal.[/QUOTE]

Very true. Pretty much anything in the Shiner family is tasty. My favorites have been the Kolsch summer brew and this year's Helles '99'. The missus likes Shiner Blonde for its clean, crisp finish. That and it goes well with chili.

LoneStar works when funds are low and beer is needed on the cheap.

Negra Modello works very well with Tex-Mex, give it a shot.
 
[quote name='ArthurDigbySellers']Went to the beer shop before Thanksgiving and picked up some odds and ends:

- Bell's Two Hearted Ale
- Bell's Christmas Ale
- Kulmbacher Eisbock (a nice alternative to the higher-priced Eisbocks out there and it is pretty damn good)
- Brookyln Black Chocolate Stout
- Weyerbacher Raspberry Imperial Stout
[/QUOTE]

The Brooklyn Black Chocolate is pretty decent.

Let us know how the Weyerbacher Raspberry Imperial Stout is. I love a good imperial, but have never had a raspberry one. I can probably find it locally as Weyerbacher stuff is all over here. There stuff is kind of hit or miss though.

Had a couple pretty good super strong beers by them a couple weeks ago. One was Mephistophle's (16% ABV) and the other I think was called Rafael's or something like that (was 14%). Split those and a few other's with a buddy and felt pretty shitty the next day!
 
[quote name='Rodimus']If I could find this on tap I'd be in heaven, unfortunatly it's difficult to find good beers on tap around here. But I'll look for a bottle of it, I'm anxious to try it.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I got lucky and I was able to try it at a local bar called Uber Tavern, which is on Aurora in Seattle for any fellow local beer snobs. There are a few local speciality stores around here and they just got it in so I was able to score a bottle which I'm going to save for Christmas eve.

[quote name='carpwrist']Usually a good winter ale has Spruce tips in it, which you should clearly taste. The Alaskan Winter Ale is a perfect example of it. It's alcohol content is usually higher too, which is an added bonus to it's darker taste.

Anyhow, I picked up a great local beer today. Spent $10 on one bottle of The Abyss from the Deschutes Brewery. One of the highest rated beers, if any of you can get their hands on it, I HIGHLY recommend it. Definitely my favorite stout.
457423810_9e0c0e5050.jpg

Reviews[/QUOTE]

I had the Abyss on tap and thought it was pretty good. I see you are in Olympia did you pick that up at the Gravity beer store? If not, you should check that place out its pretty cool.
 
[quote name='ryan838']Yeah I got lucky and I was able to try it at a local bar called Uber Tavern, which is on Aurora in Seattle for any fellow local beer snobs. There are a few local speciality stores around here and they just got it in so I was able to score a bottle which I'm going to save for Christmas eve.[/quote]

Does it age well? I know you can age a lot of Belguim beers but I've never tried. I always thought they'd go flat after a few months.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Does it age well? I know you can age a lot of Belguim beers but I've never tried. I always thought they'd go flat after a few months.[/QUOTE]

It says on the bottle it can be aged for up to 15 years but I've only aged a couple beers for about a year. It gets too hard to wait any longer.
 
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[quote name='dmaul1114']
I'm a huge beer snob, along with my buddy and I we have a spread sheet tracking beers we've tried over the past year or so. It's up to around 220 beers so far, it's missing a lot we've tried as it only covers stuff we've bought in stores and is missing a lot of good beers we've had on tap as we hit some good beer bars once a week or more. Nerdy for sure, but keeps us from forgetting we tried something and didn't like it, as well as being a good thing to skim through before heading to the liquor store.
[/QUOTE]

This is an excellent idea! I really should do something of the sort to keep track of everything.

Sam Adams is definitely my brew of choice but I'm open to just about anything except Bud/Miller/etc.

I just checked out Brooklyn Brewery's Brown Ale last week, pretty good stuff. I'm going to have to check out some of their other varieties.
 
I might also try the spreadsheet but I've got a pretty good liquor memory. Bad beers and hard liquor tend to sear into my brain as well as bad experiences. I can still remember my friend nearly drowning in his own Goldschlager puke. I remember opening the door and I thought I found buried treasure. Gold flecks were everywhere.

Back to beer, I enjoyed Sierra Nevada over the last week and I might go back to that as my main grocery store bought beer. It's between that, Sam Adams, and Stella.
 
Had an Avery Ellie's Brown Ale last night that was pretty solid. Orginal Flag Porter was ok as well. Had a Belgian beer--Buffalo something a rather, that was pretty terrible.
 
[quote name='MtlTom']This is an excellent idea! I really should do something of the sort to keep track of everything.

Sam Adams is definitely my brew of choice but I'm open to just about anything except Bud/Miller/etc.

I just checked out Brooklyn Brewery's Brown Ale last week, pretty good stuff. I'm going to have to check out some of their other varieties.[/quote]

I'm doing sort of the same thing but in a physical book. I peel the labels off of any beers that I try and paste them into the book with my impressions.

I got kind of backlogged on the last 6 or 7 that I saved so all I have are labels on those pages. A speadsheet would probably be a helluva lot easier ;)

Still haven't tried any of the recent beers I bought because I haven't felt up to it yet. I did make it to the annual Samichlaus tasting and man was that good. It was the 2005 batch which means it was originally brewed in 2004. Good stuff.

I'm hoping I can break into the Raspberry Imperial Stout this weekend.
 
Had a couple decent brews last night.

Red Hook Winterhook on tap. Nice and hobby with hints of grapefruit.

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. Also nice and hoppy. Not as good as the Anniversary Ale that's out in the fall, but still very good.

St Augustine's Ale. Not bad, not as good as the other two. A little sweet for my liking.

Also had the Sam Adam's Chocolate Bock a couple weeks ago. Pretty good but not worth the $17 price. I reccomend their winter sampler pack though. The Holiday Porter and Old Fezziwig Ale are very good and only available in that 12 pack. The Cranberry Lambic sucks (unless you like fruity beer). The others included are the regular Boston Lager, Winter Lager and Cream Stout which are all good but available on their own.

[quote name='ArthurDigbySellers']
I'm hoping I can break into the Raspberry Imperial Stout this weekend.[/QUOTE]

Did you get a chance to try that yet?
 
I also had that Sam Adam's Chocolate Bock. Mine was a little cheaper and only cost $12.99 but still not worth the price. Honestly I don't taste the chocolate as much compared to Rouge's & Young's chocolate beers. Still it was a nice dark beer and I enjoyed it, but unless I see it cheaper I won't be buying another one.

Their samplers are always fun. I need to pick one up soon.
 
I got a sampler six pack from Christmas and the Monty Python's Holy Ale was in there. Out of the six beers in the pack, it was the worst.

I'm back to cheap ass drinking. I've found that Pabst makes the best cheap beer and I might stick with that for a while.
 
I'm not too heavy into beer, but my friends invited me to an English pub. Had my first Irish car bomb, which was really good. Then I had a couple of their beers. My favorite was this white ale they had. It was so light and smooth-- may have been one of my favorite beers I've had. A shame I can't remember its name.
But otherwise I am a Corona man.
 
I'm a stout/ale kind of person. My favorite would still have to be Guinness. . . or Boddingtons. Berghoff Dark is also delicious. And also, if I'm feeling particularly amorous, Mickeys.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Had a couple decent brews last night.

Red Hook Winterhook on tap. Nice and hobby with hints of grapefruit.

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. Also nice and hoppy. Not as good as the Anniversary Ale that's out in the fall, but still very good.

St Augustine's Ale. Not bad, not as good as the other two. A little sweet for my liking.

Also had the Sam Adam's Chocolate Bock a couple weeks ago. Pretty good but not worth the $17 price. I reccomend their winter sampler pack though. The Holiday Porter and Old Fezziwig Ale are very good and only available in that 12 pack. The Cranberry Lambic sucks (unless you like fruity beer). The others included are the regular Boston Lager, Winter Lager and Cream Stout which are all good but available on their own.



Did you get a chance to try that yet?[/quote]

Not yet. I'm going to have it this weekend. I've been on a bourbon kick since New Years for some reason.

I had a couple beers on New Year's at my neighbor's that I hadn't tried before. I brought my Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout which I thought was pretty tasty. Also had Schlafly Reserve (Barleywine) as the toast for the New Year. Great barleywine.

I was drinking a lot of my neighbor's Imperial Stout that he brewed at the beginning of November and it is coming alone nicely.

Also had a Bell's Two Hearted Ale and I have to agree with others in this thread, it is a great beer. I'm going to be picking up more of that when the weather gets warmer.
 
Boddingtons is the shit. I had my first one about a month ago. I normally stay away from canned beers but this is ment to be poured out.

It's funny someone mentioned the smell of Mickey's. The smell reminds me of sitting around watching anime and playing Tekken Tag with friends in college. I used to pick up a 32oz for $.79. I'd get trashed off just $5.It's been years since I had a Mickey's.
 
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[quote name='Rodimus']
It's funny someone mentioned the smell of Mickey's. The smell reminds me of sitting around watching anime and playing Tekken Tag with friends in collage. I used to pick it up a 32oz for $.79. I'd get trashed off just $5.It's been years since I had a Mickey's.[/quote]

My bro-in-law has the Mickey's hornet tattooed on his shoulder.
 
So my brother had given me a few different beers for my birthday and for Christmas, and there are a couple of them that are absolutely amazing. The first was Duvel Golden Ale. Now I am not usually a huge Ale person and not really a beer person in general, but it is definitely one of my favorites.

Also, he had given me a New Belgium Brewing Folley Pack. It contained their Cherry, 1554, Fat Tire, and Mothership Wit. The 1779 took a little bit before I liked it as I usually don't like dark ales, but it was much better the 2nd time around. Out of the 4, the Mothership Wit was beyond the best. It has an orange flavor to it.
 
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[quote name='depascal22']Did you like the Flat Tire? I've been meaning to try that one sometime but I haven't been able to find it around here.[/quote]

I do not like it, but it's pretty popular here.
 
Yea I had Fat Tire about week ago, I like it once in a while. Although for graduation last year I got a 12 pack of it and my dad drank it all.
 
Whoops... I meant to say Fat Tire... Also, I looked at New Belgium's site and they don't even have they Cherry on there. The Fat Tire was alright, and also the one with the date was 1554. The Fat Tire was at the bottom out of the 4.

In order of which ones I liked (most to least it was):

Mothership Wit
Cherry
1554
Fat Tire

The Fat Tire just didn't have as much flavor as the other ones in my opinion.
 
I just thought that there might be a new beer out there. With all the microbrews and local brewpubs across the country, it wouldn't be hard to find a Flat Tire somewhere out there.
 
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