GRM beer tasting

speedblind wrote: Definitely update this thread when/where it's available. Would love to give it a try.

Not too much left at this point. Sierra Nevada taphouse is already out of it. Samuel Horne's Tavern in Folsom had the tail end of a keg last night. There might be a few pints left.

Joe's Bar in Chico will have some this Saturday, starting at 2pm.

Tiger! Tiger! in San Diego will be putting it on Nov. 8th at 5pm.

Not sure on other places.

TuffWork wrote: Question to you northerners. Do many of you drink Shiner? I'm currently sipping a shiner Kosmos. Which is pretty good. It used to be only the Shiner Bock, but now they've expanded to all types of beers. Here at my beer club Shiner stuff is considered kinda cliche to bring because we've all had it and drink it.

I haven't noticed too many people drinking/buying Shiner around here. It's not as well known and not any better than more local microbrews. And it costs just as much.

Beer Review: Dogfish Head Pangea

Not impressed. It's perfectly decent, but not special. Not worth the extra price. The whole concept of "We used an ingredient from every continent" sounds cool, but ends up being more gimmicky than producing anything that really impresses. The ginger is kind of a nice touch, but they could have just made a Golden Ale with ginger and not have it be so expensive.

In reply to Salanis:

So a bit from every continent is the same bit that everyone else is using, huh...

N Sperlo wrote: In reply to Salanis: So a bit from every continent is the same bit that everyone else is using, huh...

Well, the special ingredients are: Crystallized ginger from Australia, Water from Antarctica, Basmati rice from Asia, Muscavado sugar from Africa, South American quinoa, European yeast, and North American maize.

Doesn't have to be much of any of those. Like, the "water from antarctica" is like a sports bottle worth in every batch. Rice, corn, sugar, and quinoa will just add a bit of fermentable sugar, but not much flavor.

Got back from a trip visiting friends in Oregon. Big part of the trip was trying different beers. We made some nice finds. Here are the highlights:

Fantome de Noel is an artisanal Belgian holiday ale. This is one of the best beers I've ever had. It's like a darker, higher alcohol saison. This thing amazed everyone who tried it. Just pouring it the smell made it clear you were in for something special, and the people sitting next to me could even smell it. Flavor was amazing. One guy who actively doesn't like beer tried it and said it was delicious.

Kasteel Donker and Kasteel Rouge two more excellent Belgian beers. The Donker was the big winner. High alcohol and quite sweet but with a nice dry finish. It was dessert. It was like a less syrupy Port with a subtly more serious complexity underneath. The Rouge was a big red cherry beer. Not sour. A bit less sweet than the Donker. Kind of like a good cherry cordial.

Rogue Double Chocolate Stout Float: I ordered this at a Rogue brewpub. The double chocolate stout is already good and dessert like. Add a scoop of ice cream, and you get something magical. They only had vanilla. I'm convinced chocolate ice cream would have been even better.

Fat Tire from a can is finally what this beer needed to be. This isn't the rave "holy E36 M3 this beer is amazing!" review like the earlier ones. But it's a beer you should be able to find everywhere and is now actively enjoyable. Before, there's always been something about New Belgium beers that kind of irked me. They tasted like there had been a good beer in there, but that got skunked or something. Now it was an actively nice beer that I could genuinely enjoy at a reasonable price.

I also managed to convince a friend's girlfriend that she does enjoy beer. She just didn't enjoy the beer styles my buddies up there drink (mostly very dark roasted and/or highly hopped). She didn't like the bitter or heavy beers. She preferred girly cocktails, like lemon drops. She was genuinely amazed by the Fantome, and I had her try a Belgian Dubbel and Pranqster (a Belgian style Golden ale). She especially like the Pranqster.

Abita Christmas Ale Dark and flavorful. This changes every year, and 2011 is well improved over 2010. Gone is the feeling from last year that you're sucking on a pine cone. Instead, you get a proper dark ale with a certain spiciness that I found quite enjoyable.

Winners: Left hand fade to black. I think this is the best beer I've had. I can't find any more. Wish I would've bought every one I could find.

Leinenkugel Big Eddy russian imperial stout. HUGE complex flavor. Mega hoppy and sort of 'creamy'. I bought ALL they had.

Loser: I'm finding I really don't like anything from weyerbacher. Their Winter Ale tastes like rebadged buttwiper. Very disappointing.

So the Big Eddy has been my 'staple' beer for a while, but after a case or so, I'm now kinda burned out on it. Still one of the best impy stouts I've had though...UNTIL....

Holy crap. Went to Taco Mac the other day. Stone Smoked Porter Draught: Good, not great. Followed by Smuttynose Robust Porter Draught: Really good. Not surprising, as I like the bottled version as well.

Then, I tried Oskar Blues Ten Fiddy. Oh...oh my god. The sky opened up, angels sang, I think I left my body for a moment. I am looking for the cans and hoping they're anywhere near as good.

The only Oskar Blues I have tried is Dale's Pale when I was in CO, unfortunately we don't get it here .

The Dale's Pale is fantastic though.

Firestone Walker - Velvet Merlin. Best Oatmeal Stout I've ever had. Not as awesome as Old Ras, but totally different. It is silky smooth and sessionable.

I've got both Sam Adams Winter Sampler and the Blue Moon Brewmaster's Winter Sampler here.

Sam Adams:

Old Fezziwig Ale - Pretty easy to drink, smooth, bitter aftertaste, but clean. I liked it.
Chocolate Bock -This was very good for about half a bottle, then i had enough. It's exactly what it sounds like.
Boston Lager - Standard Sam Adams Boston Lager. Never been a huge fan, but i'll drink it and not complain.
Winter Lager -Like Boston Lager, but even more bitter. Meh.
Holiday Porter -CHEWY
Black and Brew -Coffee Stout. Exactly what it sounded like. I laughed at it, i tried it, i loved it. I would drink this all year. Good way to get the day started? I think so.

Blue Moon:

Belgian White -Normal Blue Moon i think. You love it or hate it.
Pale Moon -Comments to come
Spiced Amber Ale -Comments to come
Winter Abbey Ale - comments to come

No more Ten Fidy draught at taco mac. I was surprised at how good abita oyster stout was though.

For all you Old Rasputin fan's, I'm drinking a great beer you should try to track down, Odin's Tipple:

11% abc Dark Norse Ale. It's got a surprisingly smooth body, but the flavors just explode. A little sweet, lots of roasty coffee and bitter chocolate, almost mole' like, flavor.

Not available in Alabama. I am going to have to do some beer shopping while I am travelling over the holidays.

Magic Hat Hex: A sweetish amber beer that could've used a bit more hop aroma to wake it up. This is the kind of beer you can drink all day and not get tired of, but not get terribly excited about, either.

Magic Hat Howl: A very dark beer that is perfect for winter. A bit thin on the mouth for such a dark beer, tastes of roasted malt/chocolate with decent hops. This would probably be great on tap, I had it in a bottle.

Skullsplitter ale: TRY THIS NOW. This is one of my go-to beers, and I haven't seen it mentioned yet. It tastes like a meal in a bottle: malt, fruit, bread, spices, bubbles, whoohoo! Do NOT drink the entire four pack quickly or you'll wind up on the floor.

Brett_Murphy wrote: Do NOT drink the entire four pack quickly or you'll wind up on the floor.

Ha! I was watching No Reservations re-runs last night and they were at a Martini bar. He says "We ordered another, talked a while and then I went to wipe something from my cheek and it was the floor"

Brett_Murphy wrote: Skullsplitter ale: TRY THIS NOW. This is one of my go-to beers, and I haven't seen it mentioned yet. It tastes like a meal in a bottle: malt, fruit, bread, spices, bubbles, whoohoo! Do NOT drink the entire four pack quickly or you'll wind up on the floor.

Sounds excellent. I do not think I have seen it around before. I'll have to look for it.

In reply to Salanis:

It is a heavy scotch ale. I can only imagine what it would be like on draught.

Traquair house ale used to be among my top rated picks 20 years ago, but it was only found at one bar near me and was imported in very limited numbers. The last time I had one of those (4 years ago or so) I was a bit disappointed, because it no longer seemed like the drink of the gods. The simple fact is you can get a lot of really good beer now, so things that used to seem OMG AWESOME! have to really be that good.

Skullsplitter is one of those beers.

Just tried a Belzebuth 13%.

Wow. When the French decide to do a good beer. They do a damned good beer. This is an extra strong version of a Belgian Style Golden ale. The flavor is like honey and orange marmalade.

I bought the Fat Tire Winter Sampler.

Just tried Ranger India Pale Ale.

GROSS.

It tasted just like it smelled, and it smelled like straight up marijuana. Not something i'm ever really interested in eating or drinking, to say the least.

But to update on other things.

Blue Moon Spiced Amber Ale: This beer is much win. Perfect for winter. Hints of carmel and cinnamon without tasting sweet. Nice and crisp, but still hearty despite it. One of my new favorites.

Still to follow: Pale Moon, Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale, Fat Tire, Fat Tire Snow Day, Fat Tire Trippel Belgian.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: I bought the Fat Tire Winter Sampler. Just tried Ranger India Pale Ale. GROSS.

Ranger IPA is fantastic.

EvanB wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: I bought the Fat Tire Winter Sampler. Just tried Ranger India Pale Ale. GROSS.

Ranger IPA is fantastic.

It's all about how it's transported and stored. I have noticed a lot of issues with New Belgium beers being spoiled by the time I drink them.

Hmm...I just had it out of cans in Colorado, we don't get any here in Ohio.

EvanB wrote: Hmm...I just had it out of cans in Colorado, we don't get any here in Ohio.

It is also much better out of a can. Makes oxidation and getting light struck (skunked) virtually impossible. A modern beer can is more like a single-serving keg.