Recents

Brooklyn - Summer Ale

If you usually like summer ale offerings from big american craft breweries (Sam Adams, Pete's Wicked, Sierra Nevada, etc), you will like this. It's in the same wheelhouse. It's got a decent amount of body and a lot of flavor but is still geared for lawn mowin' weather. A very good example of this kind of beer, no alarms and no surprises. B+


Weyerbacher - Harverst Ale

Found this in the fridge after Shiv house sat for us. A good, fresh IPA with (again) no surprises, other than perhaps the 6.5% content. Good, not amazing, I think "solid" is the word I'm looking for. B


Kona - Pipeline Porter

Had this at a beer garden yesterday, it was the only one on the beer list I hadn't had yet. I'd never heard of Kona til now. -shrug- So it was a good porter, the coffee flavor was subtle enough to stay out of the way, and I still dug it by the end of the pint. I'd try something else of theirs if i came across it. B


Cisco - Sankaty Light

With dinner at a restaurant last night. These guys have the wierdest water flavor to their beers, owing I guess to it coming from a little island. It tastes a little bit... mineraly. Earthy. Like you wouldn't be surprised to see a little sediment in it, but there is none. I had the Mrs sample it and she confirms, I'm not nuts. Having said that, it isn't an unpleasant taste, just different. And this, their "light" offering, is really pleasant and refreshing without being wimpy. Tastes like a sunny afternoon spent sockless in boat shoes with a popped collar. A-

Squirrg - Kona distrbutes here. I really like that Porter. Nice and chocolaty with that subtle dark roasted coffee you mention.

I feel like several times recently the first beer I've had from some new (to me) brewery has been their porter, and I've liked it. I was getting worried that I'm a pushover for porters. Glad to hear someone else dug it.

This weekend:

Abita - Amber Ale

I picked up an Abita mixed 12-er with high hopes. Haven't had anything buy these guys in AGES. The amber is... light. Very, very light. It's not bad, and I sometimes like a beer that I could chug 4 of in a row, but there's no need to go to LA to get one. I feel like I opened it, took a few swings, and it was suddenly done. Hopefully the Turbo Dog and Purple Haze are as decent as I remember.


Pretty Things - St. Botolph's Town

This odd brewery is in western Mass, and they always have really busy, whimsical label artwork. I've only seen bombers, no 12 oz bottles. This is a "Rustic Dark Ale," and it's well made. At first I thought it was also gonna be kinda boring, but it developes a bit after a few chugs. It's not bad, which for New England breweries is like saying "Wow, damn!"


Biere sur Lie - Blanche de Namur

A nice, light, unfiltered Belgian Witt, perfect for a picnic by the Charles river. If you know the style, you know what to expect. Great sunny weather beer.


Cisco Brewers - Summer of Lager


Speaking of sunny weather beer, this was EXCELLENT. Fired up the parking lot grill, opened the beer, called Busty, and started the chicken. It's got a lot going on - it's spicey and herby and such, but doesn't feel too busy to me. I don't know what the content was but it felt like about 6%, maybe 7. Probably the best "summer" beer I've had so far this year. Didn't taste as much of the silty well water flavor as I normally do with these guys.

i think the only beer of Abita's i've had is the Purple Haze and i enjoyed it the first time i had it but the 2nd time around i could only drink 2 before the raspberry flavor got to me and i needed something not as fruity.

I went to more than one keg party in undergrad that had this as the keg.

bleagh.

I used to like Turbodog and the Abita amber. Haven't had either in a really long time, though.

Just fucking wow.

I really like Turbodog. Amber to a lesser degree.

I am reeeeally curious. The marketing and name says "I'm a can of hot garbage." The content % says "I'm really POTENT hot garbage."

Did you drink this / these?!

No, just saw the pictures in a list of bad beers and was somewhat stunned.

On appearance only, it would seem to be to beer what Cisco is to bum wine.

Squirg, do you rate beers on beeradvocate.com? Seems like you enjoy trying new brews, so even if you don't rank, it'd probably be a good resource.

My friend brought me back some Sweetwater IPA on the way back from Athens a week ago. Been enjoying that immensely. Been hankering for that since the summer. Seriously, you ATL boys are lucky to have that in yr backyard.

I know that site exists but I never check it. I probably should, huh?

Sweetwater's good, but I suspect the local boys are all tired of it. Slim pickins for local breweries in GA - I think it's them and Terrapin now...? Double Barrel in Athens and Redbrick in ATL used to be around but I feel like I haven't seen/ heard of either in a few years.

Redbrick is still around, but I think they're the worst of the bunch. They may have a few good brews, but they've definitely got some awful ones.

Sweetwater Festive Ale is good, and I should probably give the IPA another shot.

I got a sixer of Affligem Blonde this weekend. It was better than I remembered -- I think I like it better than Leffe Blonde.

That's because it's much better than the Leffe (IMO). In Belgium, Leffe is kind of what Miller Lite is here- it's available everywhere, and given the option of sobriety or drinking it, you drink it, but you don't necessarily want it known outside your immediate family.

Yowch. But fair enough. The experience also reminded me that Belgians are always better out of a glass.

Had this last Thursday night. 9.2% abv according to the label. Very smooth, so I agree that it definitely can be trouble. Great packaging with the cork and twist tab, as you noted.


Not a great photo, but I had this at a Thai restaurant on Saturday night. Tasted great with pad thai. A nice change of pace since it was something I hadn't had before (or seen before, for that matter). It was a solid dark lager that I'd try again if it was available.

Oh man, I might come out of retirement for that Sierra 30th Anniversary. Holy fuck.

Indeed. Also, the only native beer I ran across that was lower tier than Leffe was Maes- I won't call it nasty, but it was not pleasant- this is the stuff you find in the hotel self-serve fridge. On the very bottom shelf. If Leffe was the equivalent of $4 U.S. a bottle, Maes was a buck seventy five.

Same here Cap'n. Phish was on the stereo.

Abita's Turbo Dog is one of my Top 5 beers.

Awesome, seems like thai places get reeeeally funky distribution. I can always find some wierd shit to drink at a thai place. Hell, one in Athens used to be the only place that carried Bitburger (where I used to work).

I've never been to Belgium, but I can state conclusively that Palm Ale is significantly assier than Leffe. Tastes like fruited dishwater.