The "secret" it refers to is that originally this style of altbier was supposedly created from time to time on accident when the brewer would accidentally put in too much hops or malt and then have to load up on the other as well for balance, thus creating a higher in both taste and alcohol beer. It was then supposedly whispered through word of mouth from person to person the secret that the beer out of this brewery was something special. Seems it then became tradition to do this on purpose at certain breweries on certain days. Now, of course, the brewing method to produce it has been standardized...and is delicious.

I may have gotten a little bit here or there wrong, but I think that's the story in a nutshell.

And I drank it at a bar, but found a liquor store with it that I will be stopping at on my way home this evening.

Ugh. Please mail me 6 of those.

If you'd have voted Stripes instead of Arcade Fire, they would be on the way.

shitfuck

This is a bad man, but I totally understand and would have taken the same position.

This beer ruined what should be a perfect Golden Ale with too many fucking hops on the front-end. Seriously, if I wanted my beer to taste like weed, I'd just drop a nug into a Budweiser.

Stu is that the sister brewery of the guys that make Fat Tire?

new belgium makes fat tire as well.

Ah. I thought I recognized the shape of the bottle.

It's getting on to autumn. Time to change over to something a little heartier.

(I guess this belongs here)

So this past weekend, motocamping in VT, we went and checked out the Long Trail brewery in Bridgewater Corners, Vermont.




They make some decent beers, nothing amazing and nothing bad, but I have developed a serious soft spot for the Double Bag, which is

1. Pretty damn good, actually
2. 8.9%
3. Priced like regular sixpacks

So we scooted on over there on Saturday to check it out. Here's the scenery:




You go inside around back to the right, into a large indoor / outdoor beer garden.





And then there's a stairwell you can climb to go look over the actual brewery, with some informational signs to read.


This is a New Glass machine a lot like the one I used to run in Germany:


Each new level of glass is swept off, the spacer plate of cardboard is suctioned off, and then the fresh glass is directed downstream into the filler line qeue.


Mash tun and lauter tun on the right, where barley wheat and water are cooked into wort, and then storage tanks on the left for fermentation, filtering, and finishing before it gets piped over to the filler/capper/label line:




Aaaaand the finished (delicious) product. Fresh Double Bag for squirrgle.




(made for a nice change after the old coors lights we found in the woods)

You could say that about fermented reindeer piss, as well.

Yes, you certainly could.

What do Coors Light and sex in a rowboat have in common?

Both are fucking close to water.

By the way, when I went to pick some up on the way home, they also had a version called Doppelsticke. This one is higher alcohol content with a stronger yet similar taste, a bit richer and darker. I'd say my preference here may be for the regular Sticke but both are quite good.

I tried to drink the bar dry of miscellaneous Belgian beers last night- FAIL, but hoo boy, it was fun.

[img][375:500]http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/5610/dscn0393f.jpg[/img]



Tuckerman Pale Ale, (from Conway New Hampshire), enjoyed yesterday at Newport Beach, Rhode Island.


I've had something else by these guys once while camping about 4 months ago, and I recall liking it. I got this one from a neighbor lady downstairs, for whom I installed a tricky bathroom mirror. She and her sister knocked Saturday evening and gave me a 6 pack and a 4 pack, each mixed half and half with different good local beers as an entirely uneccessary thank you. Fucking awesome. Anyway this one was good, much better actually than a lot of other local stuff, which isn't saying much.

Grabbed these for tonight:

I picked up a 4 pack of this thing Sam Adams is doing, their "Imperial" series. I grabbed the imperial stout, which was actually very very good. 9.something% acohol, and it's definately on the sweeter side of stouts. Lots of caramel and butter flavor, plus the banana and burnt toast you're expecting. I liked it.

My weekend was full of quality beer, except for the three MGD's I had at the concert.

They have a Nebraska Craft Brew Tent at the State Fair. My only actual purchase was Red Shadow Fallfest.

Then I purchased a mix and match six pack of beers after Hall and Oates featuring:

Singa
Schell Zommerfest
Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale
Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA
Mad River Jamaica Red Ale
Acme California Ale

agreed, tasting right now and...while I like a hoppy beer this might a bit much.

[img][136:500]http://www.nwmicrobrews.com/Left_Hand/Polestar_Pilsner.jpg[/img]

I can't wait to try it.

I just went in on a case of this with 2 buddies...



I've had it before and it's pretty damn good and it better be for $75.00 a case of (12) 22oz bottles..It's the Stone's IPA made with Belgian yeast..