Fascinating on the sours, BG. Makes sense, too. I can imagine Vinny just downloading to them a whole treatise. Did I tell you about my newish boss, moved here from CA? Likes beer, asked me about what CA beers I knew, and when Russian River came up I mentioned Vinny Cilurzo. And he stopped dead - "CILURZO? Is his father Vincenzo?!" (or something like that) Apprently Vinnie's dad made the best something or other, a red wine, that my boss likes. Like his favorite ever ever ever. I assume it must be the same guy, given the location and last name, and that Vinny grew up in a winery, I think?

Is this the same guy who gave you a bottle of his favorite beer and it was some LA brewery I've never heard of? That's not saying its not great, I just thought it odd that I'd never even heard of it let alone tried it. Can't remember if that was your boss or just a co-worker.

But yeah, you're right that he grew up on a winery. Probably same guy. Here's more info:

http://wineormous.com/vince-audrey-cilu ... e-country/

I've never had any of their wines or any wine from Temecula for that matter. A friend of mine swears that there is good wine being made there. I always just assumed that it couldn't be as good as the wine from the larger and better known wine regions (Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara, etc).

Yep that was my boss. It was a stout, "Daniel Irons" I think?

Yeah that's it. I made a mental note to keep my eyes pealed for Enegren (the brewery) after you posted about that. I've seen them listed once or twice since as being at events that I didn't go to, but I've never tasted, heard anything about or found any of their beers. Was it good?

awesome...glad you enjoyed. like i said, i haven't had that one yet so will definitely be on the lookout.

and almost on queue with my earlier Perennial/Prairie comparison, i stumbled across their collaboration just before Thanksgiving (had it on t-day and it was as excellent as expected):

from the timing of this i would guess they brought some bottles out for a small distribution in advance of the Shelton Brothers Festival.

every year here before/during GABF in the fall and CBC in the spring, some shops get a couple small allocations of beers that don't distribute here but will be pouring those festivals.

is that all they had brought? what did you think? while smoked beers are not typically my thing, i thought this one was pretty restrained and well done. probably my least favorite thing i've tried of theirs, but i have not had a chance to try the Imperial variation.

sorry - should have just made these all one post. it's been a while, i'm rusty.

anyways, a couple noteworthy recents for me

Cascade Brewing - The Vine

i was excited to finally try something from Cascade and this was really very good, but i just can't allow myself to spend that kind of money on beer...very often

Avery - Tweak

not a misprint, 17.81%. but absolutely smooth and delicious...drinks more like a 10 or 11%-er! i'd put this up against BCBCS any day

I don't remember it that well specifically now but I know that while it wasn't one of the standouts of the day, I know I liked it.

This is the full list of what they brought:

Bangerang • Questionable Origins #3 • Imperial Coffee and Cigarettes • Jezebel

Not all beers were available during each session. I can't remember what my choices were for cellarmaker. I'm usually not a big fan of smoked beers either. I drank so many saisons and sours at the festival though that when I saw something interesting that wasn't a saison or a sour, I often opted for it just as a change of pace.

I'll have to look for Tweak. I haven't had that but I love Avery's Uncle Jacobs Imperial Stout. It's pretty much the same ABV.

I picked up another Perennial recently:

Perennial Ales/ Solemn Oath Brewery "Stefon" Dark Rye Saison w/ Brett, Missouri 750ml

but haven't tried it yet.

I'm currently drinking Super IPA, the collaboration between Alpine and New Belgium. It's okay, but hardly up to Alpine's IPA standards

yeah it was a very good barrel stout. Not as good as Burb Co or KBS, but certainly very good. If I could find that, and close to home, I'd probably be stocking up on it. If it was raining Burb Co, then I go for Burb Co.

Have you noticed any decline in Alpine standards since they merged with Green Flash? I've always hated Green Flash beers so I've been a little worried that they would decline in quality a little.

and on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, it's the best hoppy thing New Belgium has ever done!

i actually haven't had this latest incarnation of Super IPA -- it's draft only this time here -- but the bottles they put out a few years ago were really good IMO.

Had growlers of Nelson and PH a few weeks ago and they were as tasty as ever.

I haven't drank a really good beer in awhile.

Had the latest Stone Enjoy By 12.26.14 last night (first one of those in a while), and I was struck by how citrus-y? or grapefruit-y? it was. Don't recall the previous versions being like that, but could be wrong.

Curious whether anyone reads Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine:

http://www.beerandbrewing.com/

Apparently, it was just launched in 2014. They were giving out copies of the magazine at the Shelton Brothers Festival and I picked up the summer and fall issues. Just getting around to reading it and strike me very impressed. It's easily the best beer magazine i've seen, by a large margin. Most beer magazines I've seen are pretty superficial, cheerleading publications pretty thin in substance and with reviews that are either broadly too generous or not my taste with tons of adds and not much non-review content other than maybe a short feature on a region and a very short superficial interview with a brewer.

At least judging from the one issue I've spent time with, this one goes in depth on subjects. Includes features on breweries and brewers that most of us are probably interested in. Has lots of homebrewing recipes (seemingly advanced at cursory review). Has reviews and ratings that seem pretty accurate and inline with my taste for the most part based on the beers that I know. And has features on interesting topics.

For example, the Summer Issue has:

20 pages on Saison (3 page introduction to the style, a section on the philosophy of leading craft brewers with brewers (from Prairie, Pretty Things, Trinity, etc), leading brewers (from Hill Farmstead, Boulevard, Victory, Ommegang) pick their favorites, and 9 pages on homebrewing saisons & bier de gardes including sections on fermentation and brewing belgian style, homebrewing recipes including one provided by the head brewer at Funkwerks
7 page article on blending with a long interview with Firestone Walker's head brewer
3 page article on new hops with a sidebar from Crooked Stave's brewer on hops used in Saisons and short blurbs on 12 new hop varietals (only two of which I've ever heard of)
a short article on dos and don'ts for cellaring beers
A profile on the Burlington, VT beer scene
A guide to reading beer date codes
etc

I'm thinking about subscribing with the only reticence being that I already subscribe to more magazines than I have time for reading and it seriously cuts into my book reading. If I were someone like Squirg or Promethium though who both mainly drinks beer and also homebrews, I'd be all over this.

I had a couple pints of Nelson at a bar a couple weeks ago. At first taste it seemed the same but as I drank it's greatness started to wane. I think I might just be psyching myself out. But I do have concern about Green Flash

Shit, this sounds incredible. I only subscribe to the Fretboard Journal right now, which is quarterly. I could work this in. Thanks man.

First there was civet poop beer then there was beer made with yeast cultivated from a beard so I guess it only makes sense that there would need to be a human poop/pee beer:

http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/drink/or ... kable-beer

Sorry, to simply drop by and promote something. I will try to check in more frequently, and catch up with a few folks as well. I just wanted to give a heads up to a few beer geeks about this beer. Mikkeller brewed it in honor of one of my friends, Pat Clinch. He was a local musician here in Lincoln who died of Pancreatic Cancer earlier this year. Matt Dinges, formerly of Shelton Brothers, is a native Nebraskan and was one of Pat's best friends in high school and arranged for this beer. He has since returned to Nebraska to start up his own beer distribution company and assist another of my friends in setting up his brewery.

p.s. Kyle, I noticed a thread in regards to you brewing at least one batch of beer at a brewery. I'm curious to hear how it went and what you brewed. I am suppose to have a recipe in Zymurgy magazine in the January/February 2016 edition. I won my first best of show medal in October for a Rye Ale. It is essentially a Roggenbier brewed with a blend of ale/lager yeast instead of Weizen yeast.