I know of Crystal malt, but I didn't know there was a crystal hop too. huh.

Cool. Man I miss that world.

Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin'
Bell's Amber Ale
Sweetwater 420
Allagash White

This is in a store near me, and I haven't had it yet. What's the verdict?

Had it on tap, and it was good. A "pale wheat ale" with a hint of citrus. Good color, and pretty refreshing after a 10 minute walk to the bar at 6pm. Didn't notice that it was over 7.0% abv until I just looked it up.

Sold.

That Calabaza Blanca I had started out ok and then got so terrible I dumped out the rest of my glass. It was really tart and started tasting more like cider and not even good cider. Even made the pumpkin ale I had after it taste not as good. bleagh.

Some selections from my "VT General Store With Mysteriously Good Beer Selection" haul this past weekend:



Gose - ...I guess they only make this one kind of beer?

So this looks to have been brewed by a gasthaus / brewpub in the train station at Leipzig?! It was on the shelf in VT, and I couldn't resist. It was plain, pleasant, very german, nothing to get excited about. It hadn't turned yet which was good... I was afraid it'd been on the shelf for years. B-


Orkney Brewery - Skull Splitter

I had heard of this guy before so I was stoked to see it in the flesh. It's a very good scotch ale. Not INCREDIBLE but it does have a slightly different set of flavors than american scotch ales, and it hid its alcohol well. B+

Traquair - House Ale

Another brewpub / gasthaus dealy, from Scotland this time. From the oldest occupied house in Scotland...? Mkay. This one too showed that the scots have a great handle of malt craft, moreso than a lot of american breweries. We seem to be good at cramming shitloads of hops into things, and cranking the alcohol content through the roof. These guys paint a great picture with the malt before hops even enter the equation. This was a good one, I really liked it a lot, and wished I had 16 more. A-


Trout River - Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

Fucking hippies. So many of the little breweries in VT have the right idea, but execute kinda poorly. Usually the offense is "this tastes ok but it's way too watery." This was watery, oh sure. Like, WAY too much so for a stout. But more importantly, it tasted like black liquorice, like menthol, like Vicks cold medicine, like Ben Gay smells. This was bad to the point of being outright offensive. I brought it with me upstairs to give the kiddo a bath, and I was MAD. Like, "wtf am I going to do with this.." I let it sit for 15 minutes to warm up and went back in to see if I was tripping, but no, it was now just warm foot medicine. You don't see me say this much but jesus fucking christ, F-.


Rock Art - White Tail Golden Ale

It's been a lingering question for me, as to what the rest of their beers taste like. Like Shiv I've been scared off by their pisspoor label art - they look like a third-rate operation out of a strip mall. But the Vermonster is by all accounts a good Double IPA. So they can do something right. Thus I grabbed one of these in my sampler sixpack. It was decent, maybe better than decent but not Great. Certainly better than the label would have you believe. As good as Long Trail stuff or better I guess. Decent. Solid. Meh. If you're in VT and you have a cooler of these and you're outdoors doin' shit, this would hit the spot. At home with time to think about what else you could be drinking, it's just sorta ok. B

De Molen Engels English Bitters from Brouwerij de Molen in the Netherlands/Holland

Not a whole lot of info available on it. It was the first time any of their beers were tapped here in the state of Nebraska.
It rates a 100 in style from Rate Beer

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/de-molen-engels/62297/

For a 4.5% ABV it was quite malty and had a formidable taste. I was quite impressed by it. Normally the Dutch seem to perfect somewhat skunky blondes or pilsners, this was certainly of a much higher quality.

i got a 6'er this yesterday. wasn't really into it at first but barely a day later and they're all gone. i'd buy it again.

trying this now. looks kind of flat. tastes alright. it's a little boring after that lagunitus.

I bought another one of those boxed special Widmer Bros beers a year or so ago I think. I don't think I liked it a lot.

Ehhhh.... http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2010 ... ng_wp_cron

The weekend

Harviestoun - Old Engine Oil

'Nother scottish beer from the VT haul. This was the best of that bunch I think. I had heard of this somewhere before, maybe here? Either way I knew the name when I saw it, and it's a great beer name. I really, really dug this. It was thick but not syrupy. The malt was typically scottish - ie, well done, well balanced, and generally more interesting than that in beer from most other places. There was a great little hop smack at the end too, which was a nice touch - kept it interesting to the last. A-

Weihenstephaner - VITUS (Wheat bock)

These guys do what they do better than just about anybody. Timeless german wheat beers in particular. I enjoyed this fella with the Mrs and Neuro (hands pictured below) by the Charles with some BBQ. When you want one, you want one, and there are few substitutes. A

Cisco - Whale's Tale Pale Ale

This is maybe the simplest of their beers, and the best. I think Loogs would like this. It's clean, slightly hoppy but not IPA hoppy, has a clean finish, goes well with fresh air and sunshine, and is brewed in the Motherland of boat shoes and popped collars. B+

I just had an incredibly good customer service experience, and I like to reward that sort of thing however I can.

I got Busty a subscription to a beer of the month club sorta deal last year, from these guys:

http://www.microbeerclub.com

Once a month they send a box with 6x 22oz bombers of good stuff, and the variety has been good from what he's told me (or I've seen when visiting.) I've knew of a few of them before, but nowhere near half. I just had to call them to change his addres cuz he moved an shit, and the guy took care of it in like 14 seconds, and was incredibly nice in the process. I think the price is fair, the beers have been good to great quality, and it makes a good gift. So there. PLUG PLUG PLUG.

probably the worst brewery in portland.

That makes me feel better. But I do like their marketing... nice presentation.

Bring me a case when you come to GA. If I can't come up, stash it in Krauther's gay-rage!

man, i really like victory beers. this might be better than golden monkey.

onto this now...

This next trip is a hybrid of flying and Amtrak, but if we check luggage I may be able to stash this and some Pork Slap in there for ya.

Enjoying some of this tonight



Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale

I had the Nebraska Brewing Company "Wick for Brains" Pumpkin Ale yesterday along with some of this on tap while watching Husker Football at a brewpup:

man, i haven't had a beer in a week now.

got a six of these for camping last night, but we went bowling instead. guess i'll have to start on these this evening

Enjoying this and the Eagles on a fine opening Sunday.



Very smooth for an imperial IPA. Good buy for 5bucks. Don't like all of their beers, but some are very solid.