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

Think I posted this in the past but does anyone know of some good home made beer and a place online to buy the kits?
 
I don't brew but I know this is one of the most popular places online to buy supplies - they have several kits at various price points. It's not a cheap hobby to get into and you need to be meticulously clean with everything.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/
 
Finally made a small beer run--had taken a couple weeks off from drinking after drinking way too much in mid may to celebrate being done with teaching until late August!

Picked a sixer of Lagunitas IPA--having a couple tonight. It's just alright, had been a while since I had it. Wanted Stone IPA, but the beer store I go to hasn't had it lately. Was sick of the east coast IPAs after drinking a lot of Bells Two Hearted and Sweetwater 420 a couple weeks ago.

Picked up this years Stone Russian Imperial Stout which I'm always stocked to see on the shelf each early summer as it's possibly my #1 favorite beer!

Also picked up two of the new Heavy Seas Mutiny Fleet limited series--the current one is called Below Decks and is a barely wine--one aged in Cabernet barrels the other in Bourbon barrels. Grabbed one of each. Kind of which I had one of my beer loving buddies local so we could try them side by side. As is, too much for one me to drink both in one night at 10% abv and 22 oz apiece.
 
[quote name='bordjon']Wow this thread was buried pretty deep!

I had a couple beers that are new to me this past weekend. Avery IPA - nice, complex beer at 6.3 or 6.3 %. Was a bit more citrus than I expected - though still not as much as an east coast ipa - but this one is outta Boulder, CO. Good carbonation too.[/QUOTE]

Gonna raise this thread from the dead since it has been forever since I have posted in here.

My wife and I were in Colorado a few weeks ago and we stopped at the Avery Tap Room in Boulder. I got quite a few 4 oz. samplers of their stuff. Ballsmack!! which is a nice Baltic Porter and Out of Site which is their Out of Bounds stout with extra cold pressed coffee added to it that day.

I wanted to hit Oscar Blues as well but they moved locations and it was a little too far of a drive for us. I'm just lucky my wife was game enough to go to Avery.

We also hit a Belgian restaurant in downtown Denver called The Cheeky Monk which served Belgian food and, of course, Belgian beer. Ended up meeting the head brewer from St. Martin who was traveling across the US debuting their Abbey Brune. The beer was pretty amazing. Super caramelized and malty. They have a distributor in VA now so I will be picking some up if I can find it.

Also brewed my first beer about a month ago. Did an American Pale Ale (extract) which came out phenomenal. I actually screwed up and added 1/2 lb. extra wheat malt to the kettle which pushed it to an IPA category in the end but it is still damn good. A lot of waiting and a pain in the ass to bottle, but I have two cases of really good homebrew waiting on me whenever I want it. I'll probably be doing a stout next.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Also picked up two of the new Heavy Seas Mutiny Fleet limited series--the current one is called Below Decks and is a barely wine--one aged in Cabernet barrels the other in Bourbon barrels. Grabbed one of each. Kind of which I had one of my beer loving buddies local so we could try them side by side. As is, too much for one me to drink both in one night at 10% abv and 22 oz apiece.[/QUOTE]

I've had the Below Decks that is in the Sunker Sampler 12-pack but I haven't seen the barrel aged ones yet. I'll need to check those out as I love the regular Below Decks. I have had the Siren Noire which is pretty good as well.

I also agree with your previous post about Southern Tier. I haven't had one beer from them that I haven't liked. If you like the Jahva, you need to check out the Mokah with is a combination of the Jahva and Choklat. Incredible coffee/chocolate stout.
 
Tried some of my buddy's homebrew yesterday. He had a Helles and a stout on tap. The Helles was some of the best beer I have ever tasted. He also had an IPA, but I don't like pale ales, so I didn't try that one.

Also, I tried Victoria beer a couple weeks ago. I guess it used to be illegal to import it from Mexico, but it is now becoming pretty popular, at least in Chicago. fuck that Corona shit!
 
The other night I just finished of my last Weinenstephaner Original and was kind of "meh" about it. I love their heffe but this was kind of a disappointment. It was crisp and had a very dry finish like a drier Budweiser, which is not how I was told it would taste, but maybe I just had a bad batch. It did taste better when it warmed up, though, so maybe I should have let the bottles sit out for a bit before opening....

So this time I picked up a 6er of the Bell Oberon. A pretty good American unfiltered wheat; it has notes of citrus and spice like most summer wheat ales but has an unbelievable mouth and finish. Very good without fruit and perfect for a hot day like we've been having recently.

I also have a big bottle of Schlafly's Biere du Garde that I'm letting keep for a while. The earliest I'd think of opening it was six months (around Christmas) but we'll see how long I las.
 
Yeah, the Weinenstephaner Original is pretty terrible IMO, surprising with how good their hefe is.

I haven't had any thing good lately. Was in Stockholm last week, all the Swedish beer I had sucked--all lagers and light lagers. Had a couple good Belgian beers at a little Belgian beer bar called Duvel Cafe that was near the conference center--forgetting the names now though.

Brought a cold back with me, so haven't had any beer since returning last Friday.
 
I've also been under the weather for several days. I was feeling better last night so I had a stone IPA. Back to basics but it's a good beer. On tap - Ommegang Abbey Ale and Mission Street brown ale (Trader Joe's).
 
I never had in Keg parties--went to many, but never hosted any. Was never big on having tons of people in my apartments, and never lived anywhere that the noise level would be allowed (always apartments/condos) so in college/grad school keggers were always at friends who lived together in houses etc.
 
I haven't had the Stone ipa in over a year. I had some Avery ipa not too long ago for the first time (just came into the state) and it reminds me a whole lot of the stone ipa. Both very good and very different than the east coast ipas I've been drinking lately.

The Stone was actually brought in from GA - my wife had a work trip in the Peachtree plaza area and her and her co-worker wanted to stop by Trader Joe's so she picked up a few things for me. Not the best selection but beggars can't be chooser. I was happy to get some fresh Stone IPA since we still don't have stone distribution over here.
 
[quote name='ArthurDigbySellers']I like pretty much everything Unibroue makes. Try Terrible or Trois Pistoles if you haven't before. Very good beers by Unibroue.[/QUOTE]

Appreciate the heads up. I'll give those a try.
 
Had the Mission St. Brown Ale last night. It is contract brewed by Firestone Walker for Trader Joe's. Not bad for a 2.99 bomber. Very carbonated. Little aroma. A bit more complex flavor than I was expecting. Caramel, burnt/roasted taste. 5.7% abv - easy drinking - especially with the nice carbonation. I'd probably pick this one up again (put in an order for six or so to my wife - she said her co-worker wants to stop there again when they go on a work trip to Gainsville - I've begged her to stop by Green's and pick me up some summer seasonals but she points to the several hundred bux worth of beer and says I don't need another trip to Green's yet haha)
 
Had to special order Rogue
Kells Irish Lager and Somer Orange Honey Ale. 2
22 oz bottles each. Hopefully the wait is worth it
 
Haven't really been following the conversation here, but can someone explain to me why every single bar in the U.S. has Miller, Coors, and Bud Light on draught? I understand that they are popular beers, but I can't imagine anyone who drinks those cares whether or not it is draught. Really irks me to go to some place and not have a decent beer on tap, but they'll have plenty of watered down light beers.
 
Haven't had much new lately.

Left Hand Imperial Stout--it was alright, but a bit thin bodied and over carbonated for an imperial stout.

Other than that, just some old favorites like Stone Ruinaition, Oskar Blues Gordon Ale, Dogfish Head Raison D'etre etc.

Hoping to hit my favorite beer bar tomorrow, and need to hit the beer store again as the Stone 14th Anniversary is out now.
 
Yeah, the 90 minute is better--though of course you're comparing a double IPA to an IPA. Stone Ruination is the more apt comparison, as that's their DIPA. I still prefer the 90 minute by a hair though. Both are excellent.

Finally got a chance to run over to Hop City--the best beer store in Atlanta--and finally pick up a bunch of new beers to try.

Southern Tier IPA (6 pk)--had this before but it's been ages. Having a couple tonight as it's the only one that I bought cold.

Stone 14th Anniversary (22oz)
Heavy Seas Smoke on the Water Smoked Porter (22oz)
Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Imperial Stout (22oz)--also have a chocolate one, but opted to try the espresso one
Ft Collins Chocolate Stout (12 oz single)
Great Divide 16th Anniversary- Oak Aged Double IPA (22oz)
21st Amendment Brew Free or Die IPA (12 oz single)
Oskar Blues Gubna Imperial IPA (4 pack)

So there's several evenings of enjoying good beer in my near future! :D
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Yeah, the 90 minute is better--though of course you're comparing a double IPA to an IPA. Stone Ruination is the more apt comparison, as that's their DIPA. I still prefer the 90 minute by a hair though. Both are excellent.

Finally got a chance to run over to Hop City--the best beer store in Atlanta--and finally pick up a bunch of new beers to try.

Southern Tier IPA (6 pk)--had this before but it's been ages. Having a couple tonight as it's the only one that I bought cold.

Stone 14th Anniversary (22oz)
Heavy Seas Smoke on the Water Smoked Porter (22oz)
Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Imperial Stout (22oz)--also have a chocolate one, but opted to try the espresso one
Ft Collins Chocolate Stout (12 oz single)
Great Divide 16th Anniversary- Oak Aged Double IPA (22oz)
21st Amendment Brew Free or Die IPA (12 oz single)
Oskar Blues Gubna Imperial IPA (4 pack)

So there's several evenings of enjoying good beer in my near future! :D[/QUOTE]

Sounds like some good pickups. I've had the 21st IPA and the OB Gubna. Both of them are very good. I'm still looking for the Heavy Seas barrel aged Belowdecks you talked about in previous posts. No one around here has it.

I picked up a bomber of Avery/Russian River's Collaboration not Litigation Ale and a single of Avery's Ellie's Brown Ale. I have a shit ton of beer in the fridge right now but I was picking up wine for the wife and had to grab a couple. It seems like beer prices are down a little in my area. 12 ozers that typically go for $7 a bottle are down to around $5 right now. Siren Noir was like $5 a bomber!
 
Yeah, the 21st IPA was pretty solid, reminded me of OB Dale's Pale Ale a bit.

The Gubna I thought was fantastic. Almost comes off as a hoppy barleywine as it has a lot of malt flavor for a double IPA.

Stone 14th Anniv. was very good as well. Pretty unique double IPA. Kind of cloudy (from the white malts I guess), very hoppy up front, then a lot of malts, and the SUPER bitter in the finish.

The Ft. Collin's Chocolate stout wasn't very good. Pretty thin bodied and not very chocolately.

Haven't thad the two Great Divide's yet, will probably have one tonight.
 
[quote name='dpatel']Haven't really been following the conversation here, but can someone explain to me why every single bar in the U.S. has Miller, Coors, and Bud Light on draught? I understand that they are popular beers, but I can't imagine anyone who drinks those cares whether or not it is draught. Really irks me to go to some place and not have a decent beer on tap, but they'll have plenty of watered down light beers.[/QUOTE]

Americans (and much of the world) love cheap watered down beers. While all of us (in this thread at least) would prefer a pint of a really good beer to go with dinner, most people love to have the biggest cheapest beer possible when they go out.

Also, restaurants have to be very careful with the kegs they buy. Nothing worse than spending alot of money on a Stone IPA keg and then have it go bad because nobody drinks it.

My suggestion is to do more digging. Most cities have at least one brewpub or restaurant that carries really good beers on tap. Indianapolis is a mid size city and I can name at least half a dozen places that have craft brews on tap. Buffalo Wild Wings is one chain that not only carries the big 3, Sam Adams, Guinness, and the usual suspects but local craft beers as well.


Last weekend, I visited my parents in southern Illinois. I was pleasantly surprised that one of the old towns near my house had a sort of downtown Renaissance that everyone seems to be having lately. Bars, clubs, and restaurants lined old Main St and the atmosphere was great. We found a place that New Holland's Dragon's Milk on tap. 11% ABV and a hoppy bite for a beer that's as black as the night.
 
Man this thread is slow lately!

Picked up some more brews this evening.

Sweetwater Motorboat--new seasonaly ESB. Pretty decent.

21st Amendment Back in Black (Black IPA)--pretty interesting. Very malty and dark IPA. Malts overpower the hops a bit though, so it's not nearly as good as say the Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Ale.

Rogue Yellow Snow--had this on tap a couple years back. Don't remember much about it other than it was a very interesting yellow color. Will have this tomorrow or Friday probably.
 
Sun King won the reader's choice here in Indy. Very very good local brewery that's going to start distributing in Louisville, Cincy, and Dayton if I heard correctly.

Check out their Osiris Pale Ale if you get a chance. Heavenly.
 
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I haven't been drinking much new lately. I had a Bell's Two Hearted last night and I have a New Belgium Mothership Wit in the fridge for probably tonight.

Good People Brewing Co. here in Bham has ordered canning equipment and will be getting it in Oct. I sure hope to see some cans out by the end of the year. Their stuff is top notch and can hang with the best of them.
 
I did the Williamsburg Aleworks tour yesterday and got to taste pretty much the whole lineup. Some solid beers coming out of this place. It is a tiny craft brewery that basically just serves the Hampton Roads area of VA but they make good beer. Had their IPA, Brown Ale, Porter, Wit, Wheat, etc. The porter is very good and they have a Coffeehouse Stout which is excellent. They have a new batch of Coffeehouse Stout aging in burbon barrels which is coming out soon.

I picked up 4 bombers of their 2008 Imperial IPA (4 for $10!) and a bomber of their 2009 Barleywine. I got to taste the Imperial IPA at the brewery and it is very good. Since it has aged it has taken on a more malty character and is a really interesting beer. Clocks in at 11%.
 
[quote name='dkreegz515']im going to this in a few weeks... should be fun. http://www.greatlakesbrewfest.com/main.html[/QUOTE]

Looks like some pretty awesome representation of fine craft beer will be there! Have a great time. Me and my wife won't be able to make our annual beer vacation to Asheville's Brewgrass festival this year as she is 33 weeks pregnant!

I haven't had much new lately but I do have an Old Engine Oil in the fridge - never had it before - really looking forward to it. Also have one of my few bombers of Terrapin/Left Hand Depth Charge espresso milk stout in the fridge. Notice a theme here?
 
i havent been able to indulge lately because im trying to lose weight. but i did have some heineken light recently. i think its better than actual heineken, and its under 100 calories per beer
 
I'm excited for what beer the fall will bestow upon us. I'm looking forward to getting a few 4-packs of Dogfish's Punkin ale.

Picked up another bottle of Goose Island's Night Stalker. I might hang on to this one for a year or two (if I can resist!).
 
Picked up a sixer of Victory Hop Devil on my way home--one of my favorite IPAs.

I"m also ready for the fall beers, and also love the Dogfish Punkin. Also hoping to get some Southern Tier Pumpking this year now that Southern Tier's brews are distributed down here.
 
pretty cool thread. I really only am familiar with the larger brands. But someone should tell me some good beer to get that I can get from the northern VA area :) Probs not THAT special but I love Fat Tire :) haha. (yes i'm a noob)
 
Northern VA as well as Maryland (pretty much anywhere in the DC area) have a pretty good selection of beer available.

You should be able to find most anything mentioned in this thread around there--definitely anything from my posts pre-summer 2009 since i was in the DC area then! Even in more recent posts about the only things I've found in Atlanta that weren't available up there are the local ATL beers (Sweetwater and Terrapin) and Founder's (that one may be in DC or Nova, but wasn't in MD when I was there).
 
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Yes, bring on the Autum beers. My favorite time of the year. Can't wait for all the different Oktoberfests and Pumpkin ales.

I love Dogfish's Pumpkin and Spaten's Oktoberfest. Any other brands I should check out?
 
Southern Tier Pumpking I mentioned above is damn good.

Sweetwater Happy ending is great--a very hoppy imperial stout--but I think that was the winter seasonal. Though it seems like it came out mid-fall last year IIRC.
 
Had some Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA last week. Super hoppy just the way I like it.

I also tried Steelhead Double IPA by Mad River. It's a Humboldt style with a lot of hops and a fruity flavor to it.

The best Indiana beer I've had in the last few weeks was the Hoptimus by New Albanian Brewing Company in New Albany. I've heard it's 9% but one bartender told me it runs closer to 10%. Very hoppy and fruity and it will put you on your ass after two pints.
 
Picked up Dogfish Head Punkin and Southern Tier Oak-Aged Unearthly. I'll get to those once I finish my last Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale, which is boring (but has a nice smell to it).
 
Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale is the only beer I've had lately. It was a pretty decent brown ale. I didn't care much for the Torpedo IPA. Just kind of a funky kind of bitter, guess I don't care for whatever hops they use in that one as I usually love super hoppy beers.

Will have to grab the Dogfish Punkin since it's out now. One of the few pumpkin ales I like--most I find like boring--including the Weyerbacher, so I agree with rabbitt on that one! Southern Tier's Pumpking is another good one.
 
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going on our annual labor day camping trip tomorrow. that means lots of cheap beer (usually a keg or two) with some nice beers sprinkled in here and there. might have to pick up some of that tumbler autumn brown, havent had that before.
 
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