Booze The recommend-a-beer thread

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They don't distribute outside of Indiana and Illinois for the most part, but I'll be heading down to Munster, IN this coming Saturday to pick up my allotment of:
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Three Floyd's annual Dark Lord Day. Last year there were ten to twelve thousand people there. They cut it back this year, but it will be like a 6,000 person tailgate, with people bringing hard to find stuff from all over the place to trade and share. I'll be bringing a bunch of stuff from Half-Acre, a local brewery in Chicago, as well as some Goose Island stouts (coffee and vanilla). Should be pretty crazy.
 
while up in Spokane, WA, I and a couple of friends had the chance to try the beers that are locally available in the region.

Ninkasi Total Domination IPA (Eugene, OR)
-strong hoppy with a good finish. I had more of this than the other beers combined.

Ninkasi Spring Reign Ale
-clean, mild hoppiness, a bit of aftertaste. I thought of it as a mini-TD IPA.

Boundary Bay IPA (Bellingham, WA)
-I forget which one since the menu at two different places listed just the IPA. this is the harshest of the IPAs that I tried.

Iron Horse Quilter's Irish Death (Ellensburg, WA)
-very dark for a brown ale which I'm hardly a fan of. this one has a bit of a syrupy finish. I also had a chance to try the Koko Brown (Kona Brewing, HI) but would prefer the Irish Death over that, given the choice.

while on a layover in Phx on both flights, I tried the Four Peaks Kiltlifter (Tempe, AZ) at the Barfly in the airport. I tried it the first time while enroute to Spokane, liked it, then on the way back, had two or three more. not a bad scotch ale at all.
 
Had an AMAZING time at the Bootlegger's 3rd anniversary party over this weekend. Glad to run into fellow LGKer's and other Kings' fans. Had to rep in my Kings sweatshirt!

Let me just say that beside the obvious (Knuckle Sandwich which is always delicious), the Lambic #1 was an amazing Sour, same with the Sour 76 Ale with Cherries. The bf absolutely loved their Bourbon Chaos (aged for 30months in bourbon barrels). I wish I had a chance to try the Hopinero (Hoppy ale brewed with Habenero) before it blew.

All in all, I am so happy that craft breweries like these exist so close.


FYI, for those interested, Lost Abbey is having their anniversary on May 14th (2 sessions available). Go to their website for more details.
 
Had a bunch of different beers over the weekend. Not sure I can remember them all.

at Ladyface:
Hot Mama - their Belgian brown with smoked chipotles. Good stuff and the smoke and peppers were not overdone.
TAPS barley wine - very nice. Kinda like a scotch ale.
Ladyface IPA - easy drinking, of course my tastebuds were probably compromised by this point.
Ladyface porter - good start, uneventful middle, good finish.

Friday night had a bottle of Class V stout. One of my favs. KRBC doesn't get enough press.

at Tony's Darts Away:
Pliny the Elder - always good, however I think the growler of Citra I tasted leaves PtE in the dust.
Lost Abbey Judgement Day - big fricking beer. Liked it a lot.

at Timmy Nolan's:
Green Flash IPA - solid. Hoppy goodness.
 
Avery Maharaja. Perhaps not quite as awesome as Citra, but right up there.
 
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid ftw. I've had it before, but last night I had it with a meat lovers w/jalapenos pizza from Nardonne's (best local pizza, by far). What a PERFECT match. The spicy pizza toppings on top of the sweet tomato sauce was just a perfect complement to the hoppy goodness in the brew. Every bite had to have a quaff. It was just perfect.

After the pizza we split a bottle of Le Freak from Green Flash. It was good in a strange way. One sip it was a Belgian Trippel, another sip it was an IPA. Other sips it was a Trippel to start and an IPA on the finish or vice versa. I just couldn't nail it down, ever, even as it warmed. But regardless of all that, it was a delicious brew. I will have more when I find it.
 
BTW Stormy, I think Le Freak is pretty available where I am. If you need me to send some bottles your way, let me know.

Per my post on another forum:
Friday:
Port Santa's Little Helper '10 imp stout: I had this in the fridge for a few months and was looking forward to this. When I poured it out there was a couple clumps that came out. Assuming it was yeast that had settled at the bottom I began drinking. Very boozy with a brandy like character. Unfortunately the booziness was overshadowing the rest of the beer. Faint chocolate and strong bitter coffee. Then I came upon some sort of jelly-like substance that seemed like fruit that had not been filtered out during bottling. It wasn't moving, so that's good, but it had me unsure. Overall I was a bit let down by the beer. I look forward to comparing it to the bottle I just bought off Mike.

Saturday:
Alaskan Smoked Porter '07: part of the beer PIF I just received. Seems like age has mellowed the beer out and it is incredibly smooth! Smoke is obvious but not overpowering. Excellent post-huge steak dinner selection and I only wish I drank it with the steak dinner and not afterwards.

Now:
Saint Arnold Divine Reserve No. 7: another beer PIF bottle (thanks Justin!) I'm assuming this is a dubbel because it reminds me of the St Bernardus Abt 12 I had recently. Per my notes: Winey fruit beginning, booze spice middle, and malty chocolate mocha finish. Excellent! Loving this one!
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Great Divide Chocolate Yeti: very nice. Had it on tap and kind of rushed it. Thankfully I have a bottle of it in the fridge. Like a meal in a glass.
Ladyface Picture City Porter
TAPS Barleywine: bartender gave this to me in a regular pint glass instead of the usual tulip glass. That's a lot of barleywine to consume, but consume I did.
Nogne O imp stout: having this right now. Good stuff! Dark, cocoa, faint dark fruits, chewy, strong coffee, and malty goodness.
 
Avery Maharaja right now. Pretty underrated IIPA as far as I'm concerned. First sip went down just perfectly. The first thing that hits me is the malt which is very nice, and the blast of floral hops come in with the bitter hops in the background just rounding things out. I really like this one.
 
UnholyGoalie said:
Great Divide Chocolate Yeti: very nice. Had it on tap and kind of rushed it. Thankfully I have a bottle of it in the fridge. Like a meal in a glass.
Ladyface Picture City Porter
TAPS Barleywine: bartender gave this to me in a regular pint glass instead of the usual tulip glass. That's a lot of barleywine to consume, but consume I did.
Nogne O imp stout: having this right now. Good stuff! Dark, cocoa, faint dark fruits, chewy, strong coffee, and malty goodness.
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There is never too much barleywine to consume.

Nogne 0 just rules.
 
UnholyGoalie said:
Avery Maharaja right now. Pretty underrated IIPA as far as I'm concerned. First sip went down just perfectly. The first thing that hits me is the malt which is very nice, and the blast of floral hops come in with the bitter hops in the background just rounding things out. I really like this one.
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It really is underrated. I'd take it over Pliny and the other overrated ones for sure.
 
Azagthoth said:
It really is underrated. I'd take it over Pliny and the other overrated ones for sure.
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I can't get over you continuing to lump Pliny into the "overrated" category. I'd love to see a full list of those IPA or DIPA that you feel are overrated and explain why you think that way. Pliny is a world class DIPA. Sure, there are others that can be had that are great in their own way, but to say Pliny the Elder is overrated is a reach. Not trying to be a dick and call you out, I'd just like to read what you have to say. You do have great taste in beer, no doubt. It's just puzzling to me that you sort of bang on Pliny.
 
BeerMan said:
if Pliny is world class DIPA, then what is Citra DIPA? best in the universe?
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There are a number of "world class" beers in the DIPA category, aren't there? Just like there are a number of "world class" hockey players. "World class" doesn't have to mean "the absolute, very best, we're #1" beer IMO. I've just got a beef with calling Pliny overrated. If it's great, it's great. End of story. And Pliny is f'ing great. If anything is overrated, how's about Guinness as the most overrated beer in the history of mankind?
 
Stormy2213 said:
I can't get over you continuing to lump Pliny into the "overrated" category. I'd love to see a full list of those IPA or DIPA that you feel are overrated and explain why you think that way. Pliny is a world class DIPA. Sure, there are others that can be had that are great in their own way, but to say Pliny the Elder is overrated is a reach. Not trying to be a dick and call you out, I'd just like to read what you have to say. You do have great taste in beer, no doubt. It's just puzzling to me that you sort of bang on Pliny.
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Pliny is a wonderfully crafted beer, as are all of the Russian River offerings. I find that the hype pushes it into the world class category, rather than the beer itself (90 Minute IPA from DFH is a great comparison). All I can really say to be honest is that it didn't have the same effect on me like, lets say, the Citra and Just Outstanding IPAs. Or the Hop Stoopid, Maharaja, and Hoptimum. I find IPAs and Double IPAs to be be either: ****ty, Good, or just oustanding. I would put Pliny into the good category, as it wasn't ****ty but it certainly wasn't up there with something like the Port Mongo.

Its just subjectivity, in the end.

If I judge the beer overall, this might make more sense - Russian River's Beatification and Supplication (older batches of course) are world class, and Pliny falls behind those. Regardless of different styles, world class is still world class.
 
Stormy said:
If anything is overrated, how's about Guinness as the most overrated beer in the history of mankind?
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Definitely up there. The lack of beer education has a lot to do with it, as does the mass advertising like the other giants. Commercials will make up the minds of people before they even walk into a bar.
 
Azagthoth said:
Pliny is a wonderfully crafted beer, as are all of the Russian River offerings. I find that the hype pushes it into the world class category, rather than the beer itself (90 Minute IPA from DFH is a great comparison). All I can really say to be honest is that it didn't have the same effect on me like, lets say, the Citra and Just Outstanding IPAs. Or the Hop Stoopid, Maharaja, and Hoptimum. I find IPAs and Double IPAs to be be either: ****ty, Good, or just oustanding. I would put Pliny into the good category, as it wasn't ****ty but it certainly wasn't up there with something like the Port Mongo.

Its just subjectivity, in the end.

If I judge the beer overall, this might make more sense - Russian River's Beatification and Supplication (older batches of course) are world class, and Pliny falls behind those. Regardless of different styles, world class is still world class.
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Great post. I guess I just haven't been exposed to the hype factor of Pliny b/c we don't have it distributed around here. So when I am able to enjoy a glass, it's a special occasion for me. Maybe the anticipation is making it better for me than it really is.

I agree on all the others, especially the stuff that KRBC is producing (their Class V Imp Stout is world class as well). The DFH 90 is a glass full of meh IMO, and I think you're in the same boat as I am on that one too.

All the others you listed, agreed, all outstanding (though I've never had the Maharaja, MUST FIND SOME). Hop Stoopid was the latest in a nice, consistent line of great DIPA or IPA I've been able to have over the last few months at Pour House.
 
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