Booze The recommend-a-beer thread

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Stormy2213 said:
Next in the holiday lineup....tonight I poured a Bateman's Rosey Nosey Holiday Ale. I wasn't expecting much as the ingredient lineup was fairly pedestrian - Maris Otter pale and crystal malt, wheat malt, and E. Kent Goldings hops. It comes in at 5% ABV so it's hardly a winter warmer. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised. Nice orange/brown/red color with the thinnest off white head. Not much on the nose except for a malty sweetness. The mouth-feel is that of a session ale and come to think of it, the flavor works out in that direction as well. Carbonation is nice - it's not a "gassy" ale. Lightly carbonated in fact. Not much in the way of hops in this one - but than again, I'm coming down off of a slight cold so my nose might be off some. Not too bad a beer at all - in fact it's a really enjoyable ale. Malty, nutty, no alcohol burn. I'd drink this again, many times. But overall, not really a holiday ale by my book. Too much like an everyday, I'd drink this after work type ale. But would I recommend this ale? Yes, very much so.
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Since you are sampling all of the holiday ales, I would strongly advise against the Ridgeway x-mas beers. They are all utter crap and a complete waste of money! They include the Bad Elf, Insanely Bad Elf, Santa's Butt, etc...
 
Just back from a trip to Pittsburgh. Incredible city and some great food. Spent quite a bit of time on the Southside which is lined with bars. Went to a place called Fatheads on Friday which had a pretty good selection on tap, although a lot were West Coast brew which I avoided. Had some Great Lakes Elliot Ness. Nice ale with just the right amount of hops and a little hint of spice. Upstairs they had a Beer Union store and picked up a few bottles to take back to the hotel. They don't sell beer in grocery stores in the Pittsburgh area, so a little harder to find the bottled brews. Had a Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. That was one really nice stout. Nice rich brew with great chocolate flavor and perfect for the cold weather. Years ago, I had tried a Brooklyn Brown Ale, and wondered as to whether I would still have the same imprssion as I did back then. Nothing has changed, it still ranks as my favorite Brown Ale. Not as sweet as most of the Brown Ales on the market. Just the right amount of bitterness, made me wish I could bring a case home. The regular beer on tap at most retaurants is either Iron City or Yuengling. Iron City is nothing special, but fits in with the blue class atmoshere of much of the city. Yuengling was a surprise. May not be up with the top micro brews, but for a mass produced beer, it stands out. Nice light amber color, filled with flavor, not watered down like Bud, Coors and the like. One thing I noticed at both Mellon Arena and Heinz field, is that they don't sell what we call Premium Beer. It's either small or large with a large going for $7.75.
 
haven't spent any time reading this recently, so i ask for a bit of a breakdown... anyone got the goods in terms of brews for the Holidays?

i liked the Delirium No?l, so go from there!
 
gescom said:
haven't spent any time reading this recently, so i ask for a bit of a breakdown... anyone got the goods in terms of brews for the Holidays?

i liked the Delirium No?l, so go from there!
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Must haves - Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale and Anchor Merry Christmas Ale.

Avoid - Affligem Noel

OK to have - Bateman's Rosey Nosey

I have St. Bernardus Christmas Ale and Abbey du Val-Dieu Winter Ale in the fridge and will report back on those sometime later this week. Perhaps one of them in the next few hours.

I'd also love to hear about others that are out and possibly available in SLO Country.
 
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sorry, had to bring this up again. this is one fine IPA. I am enjoying it right now.
 
Just had FW 13. It's too early to compare to the 11 and 12, but so far I like them most in that exact order - 11, 12, then 13. They are all quality barrel aged blended beers that are somewhere between an Imperial Stout and an American Strong Ale and/or barleywine.

The Imperial Stouts and Barleywines have been getting the better part of me lately, during these cold winter days. Also, a heads up on the new Humulus XPA from The Bruery! I have never had a beer at 4.1% ABV that packs in so much hop and flavor that you would swear is at least a 5.5% American Pale Ale. Simply amazing.
 
Anderson Valley Winter Solstice Seasonal Ale

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Malty, creamy, caramel-like goodness.
 
so they had a mini beer tasting at bevmo yesterday (fridays 4-7 at the valencia store) the firestone rep was there. Seven beers $3.

Firestone Walker Brewing Company - Our Pale Ales

we went through the DBA, pale 31, and union jack. I wasnt a fan of the DBA. the pale 31 was much better, more hops, very smooth but had some good taste to it. out of these three beers the union jack IPA was my favorite.

the firestone rep told me that they own Nectar Ales too. Nectar Ales he had the red nectar , and hemp ale out to taste. I didnt like the red nectar, but the hemp ale was quite interesting. It had an almost nutty ending to the taste.

There were two other beers he was tasting, I dont remember the last one (very underwhelming) but the 2nd to last one was great.the Anchor Steam Christmas ale was great Anchor Steam - Anchor Christmas Ale it had a bit of the "pumpkin spice" to it (the cinamon, nutmeg, ginger) but it was a really nice beer. i bought a 6 pack on the spot, and might go get more soon.

go easy on me, i am stil a rookie at figuring out all the flavors in beers and all that jazz.
 
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Anchor's Christmas ale is quite nice! I have a the remains of a sixer of it in my fridge. I had a bottle of Trader Joe's 2009 Christmas Dark Ale last night and it reminded me a lot of Anchor's. My buddy told me it was brewed by Unibroue.
 
DMAN3474 said:
so they had a mini beer tasting at bevmo yesterday (fridays 4-7 at the valencia store) the firestone rep was there. Seven beers $3.

Firestone Walker Brewing Company - Our Pale Ales

we went through the DBA, pale 31, and union jack. I wasnt a fan of the DBA. the pale 31 was much better, more hops, very smooth but had some good taste to it. out of these three beers the union jack IPA was my favorite.

the firestone rep told me that they own Nectar Ales too. Nectar Ales he had the red nectar , and hemp ale out to taste. I didnt like the red nectar, but the hemp ale was quite interesting. It had an almost nutty ending to the taste.

There were two other beers he was tasting, I dont remember the last one (very underwhelming) but the 2nd to last one was great.the Anchor Steam Christmas ale was great Anchor Steam - Anchor Christmas Ale it had a bit of the "pumpkin spice" to it (the cinamon, nutmeg, ginger) but it was a really nice beer. i bought a 6 pack on the spot, and might go get more soon.

go easy on me, i am stil a rookie at figuring out all the flavors in beers and all that jazz.
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Pretty impressive noentheless! You managed to enjoy most the Union Jack, which is arguably the best of the three Firestone beers you tried. And the Anchor Holiday beers rock, except the 2006. I love this year's, but probably wouldn't go for more than two of them in a sitting.
 
Latest holiday brew I've had the pleasure of imbibing is the Samuel Smith Winter Welcome. I've always found Samuel Smith ales to be very delicious. Never had a bad brew from them in my life.

The Winter Welcome is something you will want to seek out if you like a to enjoy a brew that isn't too heavy on the palate or the stomach. It's almost a "session" beer to me in that it's got a light body and fairly low carbonation. The brew pours a nice light amber with a low head that disappears fairly quickly. The nose is lightly malted, maybe some honey and nutmeg with very faint hops. The mouth-feel is surprisingly "thin" given that most holiday ales load up on the malt and the subsequent "heaviness" is what strikes most as a signature of a holiday ale. Not this one. It's amongst the "thinnest" ales I've had - short of having some wreck of a homebrew. But don't let the thin body block your enjoyment. The taste is very much along the lines of the nose and the smooth maltiness is very satisfying. Take a long pull from your pint glass and savor the sweet malt and light hops. In varying degrees I've tasted caramel, some sweet citrus and even a bit of chocolate.

Overall, I was really happy with both 550 ml bottles I had. Tasty, clean, and not too heavy. One word of warning, if you are in the mood for a heavily spiced holiday ale, this one will let you down big time. If you want something that is more of a clean finishing, lighter ale that has a bit more ABV than your everyday ale, go grab this. Drink it now b/c I don't think this one is in any way going to age like other holiday ales.

BTW - loving the Anchor Christmas ale this season. It's become my everyday brew, strangely supplanting my beloved Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. Tonight I've got a Delirium Noel on the menu. I'm not sure I can wait until tonight to open it though!!!
 
Any Alesmith fans out there? My cousin, who reps for Pyramid, recommended their stuff. I'd never had it before last night. I grabbed a couple of sips of their Anvil ESP from a buddy. From what I recall, it was like one of the best home brews I've ever had. And I LOVE homebrew so no dis intended. If I say "your beer tastes like good homebrew" I'm paying a high compliment b/c I know a lot of great homebrewers who make beer that beats most off the rack beers. So, any Alesmith fans out there? Tell me what I should try.
 
my older brother just gave me his old home brew kit for xmas, just need to pick up a few items from the home brew store and im ready to start my own batch woot!
 
Stormy2213 said:
Any Alesmith fans out there? My cousin, who reps for Pyramid, recommended their stuff. I'd never had it before last night. I grabbed a couple of sips of their Anvil ESP from a buddy. From what I recall, it was like one of the best home brews I've ever had. And I LOVE homebrew so no dis intended. If I say "your beer tastes like good homebrew" I'm paying a high compliment b/c I know a lot of great homebrewers who make beer that beats most off the rack beers. So, any Alesmith fans out there? Tell me what I should try.
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Alesmith is exceptional in every way! The Speedway Stout is one of the greatest Imperial Stouts on the market. Horny Devil is damn tasty, the Grand Cru is definitely a special treat to savor, and the Old Numbskull rules. Also gotta mention the Wee Heavy Scottish Ale, and their IPA.

Try everything from Alesmith.
 
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