Plan on drinking a shit load of cheap beer this weekend. Fuck yeah for excuses(homecoming).

me either at first, so i hit up the wychwood site and was linked to brakspear beer. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/806/24419
http://www.brakspear-beers.co.uk/br...06_packaged.htm
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/brakspear-triple/46132/

i googled it also, and thats where i learned there was only one E in the name. 7.2% not too shabby..still on the lower side for a tripel. either way, i'd love to give it a try. don't know if i've had any british versions of a belgian style before.

the ratings aren't too bad for it..93% of the people gave it a thumbs up. i thought it was pretty good...still i'd say either scarecrow or hobgoblin are my favorites of the ones i've had.

this friday i'm off to total for another handle and probably a few more beers. so far so good on this weekend warrior shit. have kept it down to one beer a day, then friday and saturday i get drunk off some rum. had a little left over sunday night, so i killed that.

think i'm gonna get another one of those samichlaus beers. that is a damn good beer for a lager, also the strongest lager i know of. 14%! not sure what else i'm gonna get...a mixture of stuff i really liked and haven't had in a while, and try to find a couple new ones.

tomorrow i'm drinking a 16 oz bottle of this: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1310/3535 thames welsh ESB. never had it before, but it was recommended in the book i'm reading. (even though the adnams that i had today was also and i didn't like it too much. i bought them at the same time though..) i have a little more faith in this one for some reason hah. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/779/12305 this is the one i had today...high rating, but i just don't get it. maybe i had a bad one..cause the first handful of sips made me think of macro lager. i admit, it got better..but at first i thought it was terrible. maybe it was something i ate just before.

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9677/oneglassfb8.jpg

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hahah the funny thing is, i had to go to alcohol therapy for a little bit and had to keep a log of my drinking..i pulled the same shit that guy is doing, only he has me beat by a long shot. i'd put down 3 or 4 beers, which were actually quarts of olde english.

hahahah you sure beat the system

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hah well at least one counselor. those people will call you an alcoholic for so many reasons..it's best not to give them too much info.

went to the store today..since my funds are getting low, i went for a $12 handle of rum..not even sure what brand it is..but it's a plastic bottle. i figured if i'm mixing it with coke zero..it doesn't really matter what rum it is. on top of that..and since i saved myself about 8 or 9 bucks on the rum..i bought a mixed 6 pack. got some more clipper city small craft warning uber pils http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/898/16471 , some great divide saint bridget's porter http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/158/262 , brooklyn pennant ale '55 http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45/836 , westmalle trappist tripel http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/208/646 , another samichlaus http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/285/776 , and some franziskaner hefe-weisse dunkel http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/142/924 . i think first i'm gonna have the westmalle.

Yea, but they brew it under the 'Brakespear' name- they also brew the 'Duchy Originals' (fancy organic beer), and Sainsbury's 'So Organic' range too I forget how much it was, but a 500ml bottle was 3.9 UK units, can't remember what that converts too, but it makes you twice the drink-drive limit!

I'm looking forward to the Bah Humbug again, that's good stuff that, and hopefully i'll find somewhere that has Hobgoblin on cask... and when i do, i'll be getting very drunk indeed

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Westmalle Triple's are very good. I had one aging(aged more in the store..was a couple years old) and it was also very tasty.

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theres some bah humbug out from last years season at the beer store i go to. should i wait for fresh stuff? i dont think it coudl have aged very well. its no where near natural light really. but flourescent lights are all over it..

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Yeah, probably best to wait for the new stuff. Last year they were in brown bottles here, but even the NSLC has some very old stock of other Wychwood beers which were clear bottles, but since changed to brown.

Any bright light to my understanding can eventually taint clear-bottled beer.

Edit - I'm picking up a growler and a 341ml bottle of Propeller Pumpkin Ale, haven't tried it from previous years(sells out very quick), but this year's batch is said to be better than any past attempts. I was never much a fan of pumpkin pie, but any new local craft beer is worth checking out.

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yeah ill just wait. im gonna hit the beer store next weekend i think, i had some more sam adams octoberfest today. i think ill try one more brew of autumn seasonal stuff. anyone recommend anything in particular? i keep seeing redhook autumn harvest i know graf tried that, ill look for his post

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did you try the punkin ale yet? from dogfish head. that one is pretty good. spaten octoberfest - marzen is pretty good. it's a lager though, if you are looking for ales. like pumpkin a lot? try shipyard pumpkinhead. it was a bit too much like eating pumpkin pie for what i'm looking for in a seasonal..but enough people must like it if they keep making it. i honestly don't remember my impression of the redhook seasonal. it was decent i remember..just can't remember if it was on the good side of decent or the mediocre side. i like their other beers, so it should be at least worth a try. i have a few octoberfest beers at home right now..one is otter creek brewing co. (never had any of their beers...but i have that and a copper ale from them waiting to be consumed), and i have a penn brewery octoberfest. i've had a few of their beers..good shit..one i want to try from them is penndemonium. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/125/36925 it's not cheap..not insanely expensive..probably about 10 bucks a bomber.

oh..another one i saw that i will try soon hopefully that i've never seen and haven't even looked up yet is ommegeddon. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42/25005 100% of the people say thumbs up. "american wild ale" hah never heard of that one before. i would've picked it up today..but it was 10.49 for a 750..and i felt like getting a few beers instead of one big one.

the westmalle tripel is good stuff. first beer of theirs i've had. was hoping to find the dubbel honestly, but it was sold out. tripel was nice though, yeasty and bready smelling with a bit of spice. much the same in the flavor..already finished it, so i can't sip it as i type.

yeah i had the punkin ale after you talked about it. its absoultely delicious. probably better than octoberfest from sam adams. it was more spicey and distinct. octoberfest has a GREAT head, its thick and not pure white. it almost clumps too, like duvel.

you gave the redhook a pretty mediocre review and so did the BA guys. so i dont know. i might try the oktoberfest from spaten.... considering that its brewed in munich (home of oktoberfest) its probably pretty true to oktoberfest style. although not pumpkin-y

this is why i wish i was 21! i cant go in and start chatting with the clerk because if he were to ask about my age the funs over hahaha

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the store i go to always cards me, even though i go once a week. sometimes i have found that if you talk to the people (and they too are interested in beer) and you show a degree of knowledge of beer, people assume you are old enough to be drinking it since you seem experienced. it doesn't always work that way, but sometimes it does.

edit..


can you get singles? or do you have to buy a 6 pack? i'd give it a try..some people like certain beers that others hate and all for different reasons. you may like it, i guess i thought it was meh..and so did ba people..but sometimes they, and i, underrate things. getting a single would be better if you can. i love being able to buy them in singles because every now and then, i get something i don't care for..so it's nice not having to drink 5 more of them and paying for them all as well.

i agree, that punkin ale was good, i think i might pick up some more before it gets to late.

well theres no way in hell i can pass as 21. even when im 21 ill get carded all the time. i have a baby face!

well i dont know about the policy of getting singles. youre allowed to take a single out of a six/four pack and buy it. but is that considered kind of taboo? i dont want to ruin a bunch of 6 packs and make everyone irritated

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haha well i guess you'll have to wait. at least you have someone reliable to buy for you..though nothing like being able to browse around. of course..you could always go there, look around and buy nothing but take note of what you want to try.

on the singles...if they allow it, it's fair game. they can't allow it AND cry about it.

If you're really uncomfortable about it, switch it into another 6-pack. Perfectly acceptable in most stores.

do they ring them up differently? i'd love to switch certain beers into 6 packs if the price didn't change.

they ring them up separately yep

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Would defeat the act of pricing them differently if they didn't. Though if you get something similar looking they sometimes don't notice.

I've had some Blonde D'achouffe last night....it looks like La Maudite, but a bit more spicy

http://archives.topbieres.com/wp-co...-d-achouffe.jpg

strong taste and 8% alchoolized. Very good!

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yea, that's what i was thinking. i guess the way you worded it made me wonder. would be pretty daft to let a belgian ale go in a 6er of bud light.

hah that is true..there are many companies that use simple gold looking caps, and several companies have the same cap for all their beers. i've confused some people at the store i go to with that one.

I rarely get carded at all at liquor stores..and practically never at private or breweries/pubs. I'm pretty much a regular at all of these places so that may be why as well.

I refilled a growler of Garrison IPA, Propeller IPA and Propeller Pumpkin Ale, should be a good night..especially waking up at 6am for work tomorrow.

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A decent classy eat/drink-in place or pub shouldn't card their customers unless they're wearing braces and a High School Class of 2009 t-shirt or some shit... no kid is going to go in a nice establishment to drink, they're going to a kegger or steal liquor from their parents or get ahold of natty ice from somewhere.

in other news, Donkey Punch!!!!! Very good double IPA, find it while you can if you can. I think it's going to be a yearly release for autumn, which is a good thing to me because this may be the only bottle I ever see.

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well its more lax in canada bassbehemoth. age is only 18 so they can be even more lazy about carding people


had an asahi dry from china (made in japan) today with my dinner. i reheated my thai food. pretty standard beer but it was good imo

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today i had la rossa from birra moretti. the best italian beer i've had i'd say. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10161/34048

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_3591.jpg

it's an italian doppelbock. was ok..not one of my favorite doppelbocks for sure. mainly got it because it's in my beer book. the book has a check list broken down into different styles from different countries/regions. haha you know you're a beer nerd when you bring a damn book with you to the store and flip around looking for stuff then trying to find it on the shelf. funny thing is, there was someone else there doing the same thing..with a different book though. i tried several beers in italy when i was there...birra moretti was my favorite. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10161/33540

also not really special in anyway, it was just better than other beers i had. 1 euro for a decent sized bottle too. didn't see any of the la rossa when i was over there. italy doesn't seem to strike me as a place for beer, but i think there are some small breweries there..

if I saw someone at the beer store with a book, I would probably strike up a conversation.. hell if I saw anyone buying anything besides Bud Light I would kiss them.

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probably not a bad idea..but i'm not too social really. at least when i go out in public.

that day i actually had a good cashier. i don't know if she did it on purpose or not, but normally the cashiers yank the beer out of the 6 pack (a mix pack..they have their own 6 packs hanging in the isle of beer that you can grab and fold out to carry your random beers) then shake them around trying to get the scanner to read the UPC. not so bad with some beers..but i had a couple bottle conditioned bottles.

The age is 18 in only a few provinces, elsewhere it is 19.

Had Propeller Pumpkin Ale and Garrison IPA last night, was pretty loaded. Their pumpkin ale was pretty damn good, nice pumpkin pie/nutmeg/cinnamon notes to it.

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I actually went out and didn't drink last night. Strange...but I had to study a shitload today. I'm gonna knock back a couple of good brews before my radio show tonight.

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today i had a bottle of brooklyn pennant ale '55. it's an APA (american pale ale). was sort of bland, but strangely enough, very refreshing and kinda tasty. i couldn't put my finger on it. at first i thought maybe it was too cold, so i let it sit for 10-15 minutes before drinking it more. had a nice balanced flavor..a little malty sweetness, a touch of hop bitterness. possibly my favorite beer from brooklyn so far..not sure how i'd rank it next to the east india pale ale or whatever it is called.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_3597.jpg

not too pale, it is a little lighter than the pic..good old flash photography.

You would be surprized how they card people, the only way to get alcohol is to buy in a convenience store with a chinese guy who work there....and sometimes, it stills hard to get it...


Asahi is a basic beer, nothing special exept it doesnt taste a lot....but its not bad.

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I just picked up some jamaican red stripe. Never tried it but my buddy sings its praises.

I've only been carded once in the hundred times I've bought beer, but then again I look like I live up in the mountains and beat my wife.

It's pretty good. I have a friend just like that.

ITS ALL ABOUT THE BOOZE!!
AND YES 40's R THE SHIT
THEY'RE FUCKIN CHEAP
AND GOOD >=)

WHATS UR FAVE 40 oz??

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1. Take caps off
2. Don't post pics in your avatar
3. stop being obnoxious
4.......

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lurk moar

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Heineken makes 40s so I may start getting them.(just found out they existed last weekend)

Anyways, how was your b-day?

probally a man....

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to answer the question..my old favorite was always olde english 800. i haven't had a 40 or quart in some time though...now that i've had lots of good beer, not sure that i could go back to cheap malt liquor.

1 liter of donkey punch is a large amount of beer... i would do it again.

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had some of this last night. http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_3599.jpg

franziskaner hefe-weisse dunkel. good shit, a little less delicious as i was expecting..still a nice beer. seems people on BA like the regular hefe-weisse better. i'll be sure to try it. the dominant flavor was the yeast..gave it a good swirl towards the end then poured it in. also tasted some spices..the yeast and the wheat were foremost, but seemed to combine and give it a noticeable banana flavor.

later, i caved in and had a second beer for the night.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_3600.jpg
penn brewery oktoberfest. was actually fairly disappointed with this one. surprised actually. i was thinking it wouldn't be amazing, but at least enjoyable. it was ok, but very lack luster, and won't be buying anymore of it. i liked some of their other beers though, so i'm not shutting the door on this brewer. i still plan to try the rest of their beers, particularly the penndemonium. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/125/36925

Had a bottle of Wychwood Pumpking ale a little earlier.

Verdict: for a beer, quite good, nice taste.... for a pumpkin ale, rubbish. It didn't taste or smell of pumpkin at all, which is a little bit of an issue for a pumpkin ale.

I wouldn't really recommend it, which is unlike me, because i've enjoyed all the Wychwood beers to date.

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Godamn I'm amazed by the beer accessibility you have available.

And well..am extremely jealous.

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You say that... but i've never seen a place here that'll offer a pitcher of decent ale.... let alone Imperial and Oatmeal Stout! The only stout we ever have on tap is Guinness, and most of the time it's the inferior 'Extra Cold' variety. Dark beers are pretty hard to come by, most of it is pale ale fruity kinda stuff, and most of it tastes like it's watered down

I think i'm going to have to have a good hunt round london now that i get discounted travelcards (yay for being a student), and find some places that can satisfy my stout need

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my brother and i had a pint each of that guinness extra cold when we were at heathrow. i couldn't tell the difference, but i do believe stouts are supposed to be warmer than other beers when consumed.

having another glass of that samichlaus doppelbock. good stuff, just not something everyone would like. especially if you are used to drinking shit like budweiser.

talkin about accessability; we have many, many bars here with more than 200 beers available. Not to mention the special beer-stores with even more beers plus matching glasses and goodies.

yesterday i got drunk on warsteiner and tonight on dommelsch. both very fine (but not specifically special) beers.

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never heard of dommelsch, i have had warsteiner and the dark version also.

over here a lot of people (the macro lager majority) consider it pretty upscale/fancy. my old roommate would always buy it whenever we'd go to the alcohol superstore. i kept trying to convince him to try one of the other beers they had there since the prices were good and the variety was great..he wasn't having any of that though.

to me, warsteiner is decent..but i just consider it a good macro lager. when you compare it to budweiser or miller, it definitely is much better..but if you compare it to many other beers, american, german, wherever..it suddenly seems pretty boring to me. good session beer..just not a session beer of my choice i guess.

well its german, but nothing special. I guess it indeed is what you call a 'macro lager'. Its just a tad more expensive than other macro lagers over here, so whenever theres a 'special' occasion, i buy it.

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Do any of you have trouble sleeping the next day after getting real drunk? Came home this morning about 5:00 fucked up and was up by 9:30 still feeling a lil'drunk. Hell im even zoning out writing this.

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its just a really bad hangover. you should have a fat breakfast (bacon, eggs, whatever) and drink lots of water

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did you drink any water before going to bed? that happens to me from time to time..stay up really late, drink a shitload, wake up early as fuck. it's annoying as hell..cause once i'm awake, i'm pretty much fucked if i want to go back to sleep.

having some otter creek copper ale

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_3601.jpg

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/119/434

which is supposed to be influenced by the german style altbier. which is a brew made with ale yeast but fermented in lagering conditions. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/86 ba doesn't mention the word lager..but i read it in my beer book...which also recommended this beer. so far i must say it is pretty good. my first otter creek beer..have another in the fridge, their octoberfest beer. has a mildly sweet malty flavor with a less noticeable hoppy flavor that starts up somewhere in the middle to give it a little balance. there are even some impressions of caramel from the malty sweetness.

the bottle says it uses 6 malts and 3 types of hops. no preservatives, and is not pasteurized.

has a medium body with a slightly dry finish..probably the hops i guess. smooth and easy to drink..would be a fine session beer. not earth-shattering in greatness, but a great everyday beer. would definitely drink it again, though i'm not in any rush to buy more. one day i will probably. for now, i'll probably work through their other beers that are available to me here. not sure how many others there are down here..

I remember eating and having a glass of sprite maybe, i was so drunk i just really wanted to kill over. I seem to get alot on my mind lately when i drink anyway, might be the whole mind racing deal forcing me to get up and find something to do to occupy the current time.

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Craft beer has to take a back seat while i get anti-depressant fucking drunk.. sorry beer. You are too expensive per apv percentage point.

I need to keep some Yuengling around for times like this, good cheap beer. I might be laying waste to some fizzy yellow beers if I had any.

You know Coors and Miller are like merging operations in the US or some shit... google search for millercoors and you'll find details (i dont even know the details, just that it sounds like a really gay thing). Ostensibly to combat Anheuser Busch i think... shit I just used ostensibly, thats what the drink does to you. I dont support any macro brewers but the local Alabama A-B distributors are chief opposition to changing our beer laws (they stand to lose some market share, its solely about money, and they buy off local politicians and stuff.. its not just a conspiracy theory anymore), so I encourage boycotting or sanctioning of Anheuser-Busch whenever I can. They've gotten complaint letters from people around here and the distributor boss has bitched about how they're threatening to come down on him.. fuckin beer politics man.

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damn that sucks..i don't know how anyone can survive there.

had this last night: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_3603.jpg

otter creek oktoberfest. smelled good..some spices in there, noticeable malt aroma, faint smell of hops, a nice sweet smell that made me think of pumpkin pie. the taste is malty for the most part. also has a semi-dry finish, not very sweet, touch of hop bitterness, and again, spices are detectable. can't taste the pie like smell, but the beer does have a bready taste to it. light - medium body.

overall it's a solid beer..pretty smooth. fairly bold compared to other octoberfest beers i've had. perhaps one reason for this is that the oco is an ale, while most of the octoberfest beers are lagers.

pretty pumped about tonights beer. sierra nevada anniversary ale 2007. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/37477 an american IPA. i've never seen it before, so i immediately grabbed the last single they had on the shelf. since it was lonely, i also grabbed an otter creek white sail which is a bottle conditioned belgian style white beer. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/119/36551

in keeping with the season, i also grabbed a couple other octoberfest beers.

stoudt's oktober fest. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/394/1154
brooklyn oktoberfest beer. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45/570

and for the hell of it, and to fill two empty slots in my 6 pack, i grabbed a franziskaner hefe-weisse http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/142/1946 and a bottle of bar harbor blueberry ale. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/378/2266 the blueberry ale was kinda iffy, but the lady that wrote the book i'm reading recommended it, and i've had a pale ale by the same brewer that was good. one last reason was that one time when basstendencies came over to our house after he moved, he grabbed some blueberry wheat beer that i had never had. turned out surprisingly good.

looking forward to the franziskaner too..i liked the dunkel, so now i'm trying the original. seems the people on BA prefer the regular one anyway.

finally..for the weekend, i picked up a $12 plastic bottled handle of rum.

SN anniversary is a good one.. not too strong of an IPA, I would call it a pale ale with extra cojones. They dont make any bad beers though, they really have their shit together to be such a large brewery.

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http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_4003.jpg

it's IPA enough for me. great beer! smells like pine and hops. that's about all i can smell..or at least all i can think of when i smell it.

taste echoes the smell. piney bitter hops dominate..detectable malt backbone keep it from being an all out hop assault. smooth as hell, with a dry finish. almost has a creamy taste too it as well as creamy feel.

would be an awesome session beer if it wasn't a special release. it's very likely i'll be picking up more of this stuff..especially since i'm not sure how long it will be available for.

it reminds me a lot of Harpoon IPA... do you have that one?

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yep..that's a good one too. the only other harpoon beer i've seen down here is the ufo unfiltered hefeweizen.

i'm drinking Highland Brewing's Tasgall Ale from North Carolina... it's very good. Its basically a big 8% apv porter. Thick, very smooth, tastes of pure sweetness but is actually pretty balanced. Another big score from my atlanta trip, which I need to do again ASAP.

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mmmmmmmm Young's double chocolate stout.

young's makes some good beer. i've only had that one and the oatmeal stout. they have one called dirty dick's ale.

today i had a brooklyn oktoberfest. it was alright..a little disappointed though.

I'm alcoholed out. Drank 12 years aged Jameson's Irish whiskey over the weekend, growlers of Garrison IPA, bomber of Garrison Unfiltered Wheat..and the government liquor stores are now carrying these!

McAuslan(St. Ambroise) Scotch Ale
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/194/6841

St. Ambroise Millésimée 2007 Barely Wine
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/194/33560

The last link is for the 2006 version. Haven't had either until samples from my friend's bottles last night. Both were very excellent. The scotch ale went well while double-fisting it with the Irish whiskey.

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haha i never double fist...especially with liquor and beer. the liquor will completely overshadow the beer.

Well I wasn't doing it for long..because I just had samples of the beer. I can't wait to pick some up at the store, I hope they're around for awhile.

Edit - Exciting news for NS liquor stores posted by a member of BA. Apparently they are getting a bunch of English beers in which include:

Fuller's ESB
Young's Double Chocolate Stout
Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted
Wychwood Blond
Caledonian 80/-
Sharp's Doom Bar
Brakspear Organic

...Fuller's Vintage!


Awesome.

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cool, great news! i thought you guys already had fuller's ESB? of that bunch, i've only had the fuller's ESB and the young's dcs... the rest are all new to me.

We have Fuller's London Pride(Pale Ale) and their London Porter. Can't wait to see these 'new' beer in the stores though.

It's a shame of their lack of American microbrews..actually now that I think of it, the government-run liquor stores don't sell any, only the few private stores do.

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ESB: very good, get it
double chocolate stout: not had it myself, but it's meant to be good
Harviestoun: never heard of it
Wychwood blond: textbook blonde ale
caledonian: not had it
Doom bar: disappointing from what i can remember, but it was over a year ago i think
brakspear: very good, pester the guy to get the triple in though! and make him get some more Wychwood stuff in while he places the order

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Thanks for the insight sqol! I've already looked them all up on BA.

And 'the guy' should probably be re-named 'The Man' as they are government owned liquor stores that are getting in this haul. I still can't wait for some Christmas releases though.

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you'll like the fuller's and young's for sure. that ESB is a great session beer. well..besides the fact that fuller's beers are a little pricey..at least in my area.

here's a pic of the brooklyn oktoberfest.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_4004.jpg

again..so so, not something i'll be reaching for in the future.

right now i'm drinking some bar harbor blueberry ale.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_4009.jpg

could smell the blueberry a little bit when i poured it. definitely can smell it when i put my nose up to the glass! it smells sweet, like blueberries, with a touch of something else..hard to tell because of the presence of the blueberry smell..i think it might be a hoppy aroma.

it tastes mostly of blueberry, though it isn't as strong as the aroma. can taste more than just blueberry..though you aren't going to forget this is a blueberry ale. it is pretty sweet..underlying malt flavors give it a sort of bready finish. has a somewhat dry finish as well. pretty light in body, a little (not much) too much carbonation for me i guess...seems to make the beer less smooth overall. which could account for the dry finish. i can taste some hops in there also towards the end.

decent stuff, would drink it again..likely that i won't pick up any more though. just wanted to try it because i've had their "real ale" and it was good..not great, good enough to warrant trying their other offerings. the beer was mentioned in my book too, so i have been grabbing a couple from the book and a few that just catch my eye for whatever reason.



was poking around the BA forums and stumbled across a bit of info on hops.

nice little video from sierra nevada about their wet hop beer called harvest ale. wet hops, as they explain, simply means they are very fresh and not dried. they have about 2-3 days until they can't use the hops after they've been harvested. interesting..haven't seen it on sale yet though. will definitely grab some the first time i see it.
http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/harvest.html

the only wet hopped beer i know of that i've had is fresh hop from the great divide brewing co. it was really good stuff..sadly, it wasn't available after that particular store ran out of stock. http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...r/IMG_7530s.jpg haha wrong kind of glass..i think that was the only beer glass i had at the time.

http://hopjones.blogspot.com/2007/1...-hop-beers.html
an article on using wet hops.

wall street journal article that is pretty good..it is the one linked in the link i just posted right above this.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115...weekend_journal

Just drinking Amstel now.

By the way BassB, get the Wychwood Blond, it's awesome.

Any of you guys ever heard of the 'Gulden Draak'? I got it as a present from Belgium, never seen a white beer bottle before, haha.

yea, i've had it a couple times. pretty tasty stuff.

hah the first time i bought a bottle..i was on the way home and took a corner too hard. the six pack of beer i had tipped over and the bottle of gd went flying out. seemed ok.. i got to the next street light and happened to know the person stopped next to me so i rolled down my window to say hi. then suddenly a loud pop came from the bag with the six pack in it.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...r/IMG_8482s.jpg

sucked...cause now i'm out one ~$4 bottle of beer and my passenger seat smelled like belgian ale. the smell was fine at first...then it started to get really bad. had to febreeze the hell out of the seat a number of times. even bought some air freshener thing that clipped onto the dash.

wasn't enough to stop me though..went to the store the next day and grabbed a bottle.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...r/IMG_8506s.jpg

got to drink it that time too.

im gonna be on the lookout for the blueberry ale. i love blueberries

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it's from maine..so if i can get it here, you should be able to get it up there. another one that is widely distributed is sea dog blue paw blueberry wheat ale. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/137/345
it's a pretty good beer.

allagash could start brewing a belgian style stout. the article only briefly mentions it, and also incorrectly states that the style doesn't exist. i've had one belgian stout before, and i know there are some others. maybe they meant american belgian style stout.

http://www.themaineswitch.com/story/view/1342/

went to a different store today since i was at the bank and it wasn't too far away. they have several beers that i haven't seen on sale in other stores. wanted to get a bunch of stuff, only problem was i only had about $12 to spend. i got a bottle of sierra nevada harvest fresh hop ale (that beer they are talking about in the video from a post i made a day or two ago.) http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/6549

and a locally brewed beer called saison athene from saint somewhere brewing co. of tarpon springs, fl. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16205/38426

can't wait to try them both.

fuck... they only put the harvest ale in 24 oz bottles. None for us here. I'll trade you some Atlanta Brewing Co. and Sweetwater stuff for it... either that or I've been seriously considering driving to Atlanta this week.

Great Divide has their fresh hop stuff out too. limited to 200 barrels and its ON TAP over in Georgia. jeez...

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that sucks. fucking stupid ass laws..can't buy a 24 oz bottle of beer, or a 12 oz bottle of 10% beer, but oh..you want a 1.75 liter bottle of 40% whiskey? sure, here you go! enjoy.

the only 24 oz bottles fucked with me for a second. i'm not used to seeing larger SN beers, so i was looking at the singles and the 6 packs but the only SN i could see were in 6 packs..and it wasn't there. randomly i noticed a larger bottle that wasn't even next to all the other SN beer that said harvest..then i saw the SN logo. actually have it sitting right next to me..just letting it warm up a little after being in the fridge for a while.

can you get any stone beers? or victory? if not, i'd trade one for 2 of the sweetwater IPAs or the atlanta winter ale double chocolate porter (sounds very good!).

the fresh hop is tasty stuff..this will only be my second wet hopped beer.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_4028.jpg

you'd be surprised to hear what it smells like. one guess..starts with an H. lightly piney..not as strong as other piney smelling beers. can actually smell a small amount of what seems to be a malty smell...not very easily though. i'm actually a little surprised with the smell to be honest..i was expecting to be knocked on my ass by pine, citrus, and hops. it's all there, it just isn't in your face like i thought it would be.

the taste is a little more in line with what i was expecting. bittery goodness. again has a fairly distinct pine note to it. so far, it looks like my whole glass is going to be coated in lace. there is a little bit of sweetness in the beginning which gets masked by the bitterness of the hops which lingers in your mouth after each sip. it leaves your mouth somewhat dry..which of course calls for another sip.

all in all, i'm glad i grabbed this stuff. what's even better is that, once this glass is empty...i still have about half the bottle left to drink! i'd be interested in trying this alongside some of their IPA (which i've only seen on sale a few times sadly). would be even more interesting to do a blind test.

which reminds me of all those beers i had in my fridge for a while to do a blind test..never happened. got too close to moving time, so i just drank them.

stone beers are all over here but ive heard mixed reviews. some say the arrogant bastard is the best thing ever, some say its just a marketing campaign that appeals to people and the beer fails to deliver

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Stone beers?

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http://www.stonebrew.com/ not quite what you were hoping for.

trans - try some then ya bastard! haha i've heard it is great..and would immediately pick some up if i saw it on sale here. of course, my mind frame in that regard is also a little different since i've NEVER seen it on sale here. on the other hand, i'd have tried it a while ago if it was.

Stone is sold in Tennessee... that's the only place around here. I'll see what I can do about those others.

Speaking of Stone Brewing, they are located in Escondito, CA which has been evacuated due to fire.

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most noteable being arrogant bastard. rather large brown/red bottles with the devil on the front. theyre all over EBI

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http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/...agermeister.jpg

Now that I have seen this, I don't really mind the idea of getting old

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good beer day today... i drove an hour north to one of our best beer establishments (thenookbar.com) to meet with people. I had Terrapin India Brown Ale from the tap, which was great, very good malty bready brown ale with massive hops that killed my taste buds. I drank a Murphy's Stout on tap next and could barely taste it.. it tasted like milk. Then I had a bottle of Anchor Steam. That's 2 really good beers and one that I need to try again.

Then we drove over to a sports bar/grill place and I had a bacon cheeseburger and a draught of Newcastle (probably the most decent thing they had available besides Brooklyn Brown). They dropped me back off at the bar and I stayed indoors to sit awhile, and 3 locals were inside drinking mixed drinks and shots. I asked the bartender if he knew the Flaming Dr. Pepper and he did, and made 2 of them up to split between the 4 of us. A shotglass of amaretto with bacardi 151 floated on top and lit on fire dropped in a pint glass of pale/macro lager and slammed. It really does taste like Dr. Pepper and i'm pretty sure the fire doesn't have anything to do with it...

i scored a bottle of the fresh hopped Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale too. Oh, and we're getting a local brewpub. I hope it sticks around.

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eventful day!
got hoegaarden, some ommegang i forget which kind, youngs double choc stout, newcastle brown ale. mom got a six pack of old post road pumpkin ale

heres my reeb (tasted watery and just like it looks..went well with my meal i guess)
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j...m/dumplings.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j...m/reebflash.jpg

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Just had one Yaggerbomb, probably about an 12-14oz glass.

Going to drink some Shiner Hefewiezen and a glass of Captain Morgan's Original Spiced Rum(probably around 3-4 shots).

And more to come. Haha I'll try and post what I drink later on, if I remember.

Post Road pumpkin ale is one I want to try because I can't drink DFH all the time... it's currently made by Brooklyn Brewery, you know.

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Had one Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale, it was good.

I'm wasted guys...

from one pumkpin ale? damn man..

heh, just kidding.

harvest moon/blue moon is Coors beer, fuck that stuff. It's ok, but bottom of the barrel. Brooklyn's Post Road should be a lot better.

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They only sell the popular shit around here, but man does it fuck me up. Drunk almost a whole bottle of rum.

i did not know that! ive never heard of post road. mom oved the punkin ale so much, and they were out of DFH punkin. but they did have tall the minute varities of IPA...

i had that maredsous the other night! oh my god that was great! it was malty, coffee-y. my one complaint was that it tasted a bit to alcohol-y as it warmed. it was totally not what i was expecting. bottled by duvel, 8%. i thought it would be about the same as duvel. i best described it as a stout without the bitterness

i want to try the blue version

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Johnny Walker Black Label might be my new favorite liquor.

I had a fun time getting trashed on an eclectic bunch of beer, wine and the aforementioned whiskey. Suprisingly, I do NOT have a hangover. I feel fantastical.

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Stone's 11th anniversary ale. Probably one of the best and most unique beers I've ever had. It's pretty much a cross between a porter and an IPA but it's considered a strong ale.

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was visiting friends, then my little brother. had quite a bit of beer with each. met up with the BA people at brother tucker's.. from the beers on tap..i had some paulaner hefe weizen http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/124/1256 , lost coast indica ipa http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/256/1670 , urthel hop it http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1339/26159 , and spaten oktoberfest http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/142/582 .

all of these are good beers..hadn't had the urthel hop it (a belgian ipa)..so that was a treat. still prefer our american IPAs though. had some other beers too..they were bottled. had some scotch silly http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/804/2489 which is actually brewed in belgium. not crazy about scotch ales, at least the ones i've had, though this one was very good with a unique flavor. main reason i ordered this one is that at least one person orders some every time i've been to the place.

i think i had one or two more..for the life of me, i can't seem to remember which ones they were.

tried a handful of other beers that i grabbed at total wine in ft lauderdale and boca raton. unfortunately, i left some (and an almost full handle of rum) at my friends house in ft laud. and wasn't able to get over there to grab them before i left. one of them was a dogfish head beer that i hadn't seen anywhere..can't remember what it is, and don't recognize the name on BA.

while i was on that coast, i bought a kick ass book by michael jackson..500 of his favorite beers from around the world. one page per beer..a nice pic of the bottle and poured beer (in appropriate glassware) technical details, then a review.

after leaving that coast..i met up with my brother and went to the cock and bull pub in sarasota, fl http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2419 it's rated the 6th best beer bar in the country. only my second time being there..and again i loved it. they have many more beers on tap than the place on the other coast.. i bought a bottle of new world porter to go http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30/5722 since i don't remember having it before. also grabbed one of their shirts.

from the tap i had bell's amber ale http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/287/794 , lost coast double java porter http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/256/39123 , and lagunitas kill ugly radio http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/220/38225 . the KUR is an imperial IPA..was really tasty..had a nice bit of hop flavor to it..very citrusy and tasted very much like grapefruit. i think that was all i had while there. we weren't trying to stick around too long since there was a party we were trying to go to.

a couple other beers i had..both of which were good..the dogtoberfest was alright..

boulder beer co. cold hop british style ale
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_4032.jpg
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/130/36468

flying dog dogtoberfest
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_4033.jpg
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/68/19651

i guess that's it for now..

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_4035.jpg

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/285/35329

smells malty.. a bit like coffee also. not quite like straight coffee..a little more like a dark chocolate coffee. very faint though..not a strong chocolate aroma. a decent bit of smoky aroma to it as well.

tastes like a smokey malted beverage... 8.5% ABV doesn't really shine through. the beer does have a strong flavor to it..just not one of strong alcohol. plenty smoky like the smell.

another awesome bee from the castle brewery eggenberg from austria. this is a "doppelbock dunkel" aka dark double bock. it's not pitch black..but is a dark amber color.

we're having a big beerfest Saturday... free admission, free food, local bands, and all the beer you can drink for hundreds of people. Some will be bottles and kegs donated from breweries (such as sam adams, lazy mag, terrapin, brooklyn), some is coming from the pocket of the event's organizers, and some will be homebrewed by local enthusiasts. Free beer is one thing, but free really fuckin good beer, I can make a day of that. I hope I can make it.. if any of you guys are in the area or wanna fly in for free beer, come on down :-D

Later in the month there's going to be a tasting and sharing of Imperial Russian Stouts, including Three Floyds' Dark Lord, which I never dreamed I'd get to try. viva la` resistance!

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mathias that sounds awesome. will it be strong ABV stuff illegally? or is it going to be legal?


graf or anyone else....have you ever had maredsous? the 8% variety? i was totally intriguied by its dark rich stouty-ness , without the bitterness of say old rasputin

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i've had one maredsous..the 10 or triple.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c...er/IMG_1275.jpg

it certainly is some good shit. there was an 8 on sale..i guess a dubbel..haven't tried that one yet though.

how odd...the 10 is wayyy lgihter than the 8. the eight was dark dark dark brown/black, non-translucent

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yep, that's cause tripels are a golden strong ale basically. dubbels are generally more malty and less alcoholic than a tripel.

i think later today i'm having a bottle of stoudt's fest (octoberfest). haven't had it before..other beers from stoudt's i've had were good. they make a pretty good tripel that is relatively cheap compared to it's belgian relatives.