Thread: The recommend-a-beer thread

You'll be wondering if someone replaced your hef with water.

Been drinking Widmer's Snow Plow.


It's a milk stout and pretty tasty.

Lagunitas has a new special release Hairy Eyeball. TRied it at the Bevmo tasting last night and loved it bought a sixer for when I'm done with the Snow Plow.

Over the weekend I picked up some goodies:

Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout
Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout
Great Divide Hercules Double IPA
Port Santa's Little Helper Imperial Stout
Founders Red Rye
Hair of the Dog Adam

I consumed the Trader Joe's 2008 Vintage Ale on Friday night, which is brewed by Unibroue. I really enjoyed it ! Hell of a Belgian and far superior to the 2007 version. I'll definitely be picking up a few more of these, and at $4.99 a bottle you certainly cannot go wrong !!!

Also had a 6'er of the Green Flash West Coast IPA. Very good !!! Aggressive in the hop department that is complimented well with a nice malt backbone. This brewery really has their **** together, and are doing the west coast style as good as their competitors. Definitely one of my favorite craft breweries out of California. Mad props to them.

Last but not least was the Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout. A pretty decent whack at it, just felt it could have been a bit smoother and heavier. Something along the lines of the Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout would have been ideal. Not bad overall and I'd definitely have it again sometime.

Last night I had the Great Divide "Yeti Imperial Stout"

Can't say I would pick this one up again, and simply because it is not worth the $13 dollars that I paid for a 22 oz bottle. The taste was good, but just didn't stand out above the rest. Stone's Imperial Russian Stout is by far the better of the two, and I can get about 3 of those for almost the price of one Yeti.

Don't get me wrong, it was tasty and what an Imperial Stout should be, but it does not deserve the hole in the pocket that comes along with it.

Az, love your reviews. Big Green Flash fan as well here.

I liked St Arnolds Brown but I have only found it in the Houston Area (it's brewed there). Anybody seen it anywhere else?

Saturday night was a 4 pack of North Coast's "Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout". This is the only Stout for me that has come anywhere close to matching the greatness of Stone's IRS. Its nice to know that when Stone's IRS is sold out, that Old Rasputin can get the job done just fine. I personally rated in my journal, Stone's IRS at 4.75/5.0, and would give Old Rasputin the same, or at worst a 4.5/5.0

I really need to pick up some more from North Coast. I had their Red Seal a couple years back and that was another flawless one.

Just had Port's "Santa's Little Helper". Finally one from Port that I truly enjoyed and would come back to. As far as Russian Imperial Stouts go that have left an impression, it would appear as such:

Stone Imperial Russian Stout > North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout > Port Brewing Santa's Little Helper

Still waiting for more RIS brews to fill up this top 5 of the style. All the others that I have had are mediocre-good - no more no less.

After work I picked up Drake's Imperial Stout. I will report how that one is once it is consumed.

Just read that Claremont is going to have a new pub later this year. Featuring mainly beers from Belgium, Germany and France.

http://www.claremont-courier.com/pag...y013008.1.html