Earlier, Shiv. And I agree Tanner.

Yeah Shiv rolled up to the party last night with an incredible bottle of Allagash I can't wait to try, and a bottle of Bourbon Co Stout, which we split 5 ways with some folks... so fucking good every time. Man I love that stuff. And I had the Dogfish Bitches Brew, which I'll write up later. I hit that sweetspot last night, slightly drunk, but not Monday-Ruining Drunk.


PS - Shiv's new girl is Teh Cute. And she knows the Gravity Pub in ATL. Instant qualifier.

Birthday Party Evening

Corsendonk - Abbey Brown

My second from the 'Donk. This one, like the last, was perfectly pleasant and true to form, but didn't shock or suprise me in any way. That's just about the meanest compliment I can give it... to be merely a very good belgian abbey brown is a very good thing, but this doesn't taste superior, to me, to Caracole's Amber or any of the others regularly listed here. It is merely "really fucking" good and not "sweet jesus h christ" good. A solid choice, if you can find it, and the less familiar you are with this kind of beer, the more it is likely to impress you. Like when you were young, and hadn't seen 3000 movies yet, the first decent sci fi or horror film you saw was AMAZING. Now watching that film, you would only notice all the similarities to everything else you've seen that's like it. Fair, and yet not fair. A-

Dogfish Head - Bitches Brew

Much ado about ... something. "Nothing" isn't the right word, this was good, but I had no idea there was Gesho (wtf is gesho) or honey in this without reading the label first. And while it is technically an ale, it tasted like a good stout with something kinda sweetish in it. Didn't change my world, and with the buildup from the guy at the store, it needed to. Good but not crazy good. A-

Green River - Blueberry Madness Ambrosia

The wife picked this out, and for some reason busted it out at the very end of the night when the 6 of us left at the house were all fairly well toasted. I did not dig it much. It tasted like some of the juice my daughter drinks - flat, fruity, thin, and sugary - but with a faint flavor of alcohol. But I'm a completist, and I drank it, so here it shall be pictured. C+

I had it the other night. It was...decent. It wasn't bad but not mind blowing either. Totally different than Dogfish but I'd choose that over this anytime.



Trying this now. It's good, though sort of flat, I guess?

I had one of theirs, and was not happy. But it was a 1-off made by an intern. Interesting.

White Birch is awful. Haven't had anything from them that is remotely enjoyable... in fact, almost hysterically bad at times.

I wouldn't say awful. Overpriced for sure though.

I guess I was rooting for White Birch because we need more top tier breweries in new England. Damn.

I tried a ton of stuff over the weekend that I haven't gotten around to posting about.

This was due to apparently drinkng "Monday Ruination Ales" on Sunday.

I've felt like crap all week.

Try the cherry quad... it'll make you cry blood.

It's a fine art. I find I do the best when I have really tame beers around as well, so that when it's 10pm sunday and I've had plenty already but STILL REALLY WANT ONE MORE BEER for no good reason, I can drink something that won't make things too much worse.

I finished my order off over the weekend, pleasantly suprised and very enjoyable, although not quite the life altering experience that i was perhaps led to believe from researching these beers (my arse is bigger though).

Rank:

1- Rochefort 10
2- Delirium Tremens
3- St Bernadus Apt 12

4- Gaudon C
5- Chimay Blue
6- Verboden Vrucht
7- Chimay Triple
8- Chimay Red
9- Kwak
10- De Konick
11- Brugse Zot Blond

I'm going to order a load of that Rochefort, and I've found a pub in town that sells Delirium, so I'm sorted.

I picked a few beers from a local brewery last night called PotBelly.



Tried the Beijing Black last night, a mild, very creamy... Nasty shit.

So, it turns out I wasn't just drunk and hungover after Sunday but actually sick with the crud. The kind of crap that sucks but isn't bad enough to keep you out of work.

Still, figure I should post comments about last weekend while I can still remember. FemDerris ordered WAY better than me on this particular night.

Friday at dinner:

FemDerris had:

Allagash White- this was great as many alluded to but it surpassed my expectations. Just light, tasty, and no bad aftertaste. Just a great beer
Saison Dupont- I wanted her to try one of these or a Tripel and this is what we went with. Very good beer but I think she was already sold on the Allagash. Just a different taste. I'll be revisiting this come Spring.
Hitachino Nest White Ale- She had this with the mussels she ordered. Another solid choice. I felt it was a little.....flat....for lack of a better term. Not as good as the Allagash but quite good and she liked it.
Rochefort 8- we both went Trappist for post dinner drink and this is what she went with. I'm on record with these guys. Awesome.

Derris had:

Allagash Grand Cru from the cask- The description sounded good and was looking forward to trying these guys stuff for the first time. I was meh at best on it. I think this stuff is brewed in the Fall and it may have been GREAT at one point but it just left me as flat and a bit sour almost. Not a good start.
Bell's Special Double Cream Stout- was praying this would get out in time to drink before my food got there but unfortunately I only had about a 1/3 down when it arrived (spicy hot Po-boy). I didn't want to ruin it so I drank almost all of it before eating. By the end I was openly debating forgetting the food altogether and getting another. Couldn't drink many of these but man, they were good. Easily the best beer that I ordered of the night.
Founder's Centennial IPA- needed something hoppy to cut the spice and they recommended this. Wasn't bad but it wasn't all that memorable either. Could've been that I was liking FemDerris' beer more at the moment (Hitachino).
Trappist Achel Dubbel- Maybe the worst beer of the night. That same bad aroma and taste of liquorice I've experienced with these types of Belgians before (Westmalle and Gouden Caroulus come to mind). Horrible end to the night. At least FemDerris let me drink some of her Rochefort



All in all, I liked all of FemDerris' beers but the things I took away from the evening were:

1) On a cold winter night, a Bell's Double Cream Stout can hit the spot
2) Allagash White: possibly my new go to spring/summer beer. Really good.


More to come on the debacle of last Sunday.......

Oh nice. Allagash White desrves everything people say about it, it's just a fine, fine beer. I would LOVE to try that Bell's Double Cream. Fuck that sounds good. I'm going to the ATL in a few weeks for 4 or 5 days, maybe I can find it.

You staying in town? Same type of deal as before?

Rochefort and Bell's Double Cream Stout. Noted. Both of those sound great, and hopefully I can find them over at Hop City.

I really, really need to get some new beer.

No, this time I'm burning up a few vacation days by flying with the munchkin down to visit my folks and First Mate's. Few days with one, then a few days with the other. I'd love to do that again like last time, and in fact I might. Tech offers courses all the time, and now that I know about that place (and that the company will cover it)... why the fuck not?

Super Bowl Sunday.

Things began so innocently.

Allagash White- bought a 4 pack of these for FemDerris but snaked one to start things about an hour before kickoff. Good as I remembered from Friday.

Started in on the St. Bernardus sampler I bought (because it had the St. Bernie's goblet and I didn't have a goblet):

St. Bernardus Tripel- fantastic. Lighter than the Abt 12 but has that malty aroma that I love from these guys. Kingfish, consider yourself vindicated.
St. Bernardus Pater 6- I don't have much wow factor from this one but I remember liking it. Really smooth.
Unibroue - La Fin Du Monde Attempted to stay with the lighter stuff and I thought this was pretty good. Not as alcohol-y as Loog was saying but not as epic as others have stated. Solid beer but there are a couple Tripel's I'd take over it so far. Not bad for price though. Drank the whole 750ml.

Perfectly good evening if only I had stopped there. Had dinner around this point and then went into the dark ales:

St. Bernardus Abt 12- Figured I'd finish off the sampler and have just one more pint of this goodness.
Brooklyn Local #2- the drunkening had taken hold and I offered to split this with the guy that was there, which he gladly accepted. I vaguely remember really liking it but it certainly didn't get the proper time it deserved.
Caracole - Nostradamus Apparently I talked the couple that was there into having another and I split this with the guy. No recollection of how it tasted. I could've been drinking turpentine. Total waste.


We got a new TV last Saturday and we had to swap out a surge protector from our bedroom to the tv downstairs. Apparently while getting ready for bed I got belligerent with FemDerris about the proper way to hook up the lamps and alarm clocks. I set my own alarm for 10 minutes before I had to be at work instead of an hour and 10 minutes. Got to work about half an hour late. Stayed there for about an hour and thought better of being there when I started getting queasy and a conversation I had with a co-worker made it clear (to me internally) I should go home. So I did.

Fucking disaster. Monday Ruination Ale indeed.

Derris, you gotta get you some of this:



This is how BEER is supposed to taste. Screw all of those Belgian ales (not permanently, just long enough to drink a couple of Weihenstephaner Original).

And I agree with your assessment of La Fin Du Monde. I think it's a good buy but not near the best.

I'm going to a tapping party for Boulevard Chocolate Ale tomorrow.

COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
One of the brightest stars in a city filled with culinary treasures, Christopher Elbow has been hand-crafting masterpieces in chocolate for more than ten years. In that time the reputation of his artistic delicacies has spread around the globe. Elbow’s sweets are distinguished by their use of unusual and sometimes surprising flavors and ingredients; in that adventurous spirit we joined forces to bring you a very special Chocolate Ale. Chocolate Ale is full of surprises, beginning with a glowing amber hue. The aroma is given over to earthy, fruity cocoa, with just a hint of hops. Smooth layers of dark chocolate intertwine with threads of caramel, vanilla, and nutty malt as the flavor warms and rounds to a bittersweet finish.

This beer has an ABV of 9.1%

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/boulevard- ... le/138627/

The Boulevard Chocolate Ale is amazing, albeit a bit unnatural. It taste like fine European Chocolate with a hint of Hershey's Chocolate syrup and literally no beer related aftertastes. I wouldn't have more than one or two in one setting, but it was a delicious dessert beer that almost anyone could enjoy.

I also had the Abita Special Imperial Stout on tap, along with the Lips of Faith/New Belgium Dunkelweiss and Empyrean Belgium Golden. It is rare to get an Abita on tap in this part of the country, and it is quite cheap, so I can't really complain about it lacking any taste up front and being bottom heavy.

Now, I am enjoying the Schell Stag Series Wild Rice Farmhouse Ale
https://www.ratebeer.com/ratings/beer/s ... le/126176/

I also got a copy of the latest edition of Philly Beer Scene magazine today thanks to an article featuring Nebraska Beer Company. I wish Nebraska had a beer magazine that was as cool as this free monthly magazine.

I've actually never tried that Allagash; may have to remedy that tonight at a birthday celebration I'm going to at Kickbacks. Along with the Coresendonk and St. Feuillien Tripels (of course), the St. Bernardus Tripel is about as good as it gets for me.

I tried the Boelens Santa Bee Belgian Strong Dark Ale and Weyerbacher Winter Ale last night while at a birthday dinner.
The Weyerbacher was very drinkable and tasty, but not necessarily a great Winter Warmer. The Santa Bee wasn't nearly as bad as the Beer Advocate reviews say it is, but it wasn't something I'd order again. I got the last goblet from the keg on that one, and therre seemed to be a lot of yeasty sediment in the beer.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/660/47968
The Beer Advocate Review of Boelens Santa Bee