it's a-ight.

It's labeled a "teutonic india pale lager" but it more or less tasted like a normal-ish IPA to me.

Last night I had a Ballast Point/Kelsey McNair/Stone San Diego County Session Ale:




one of the best beers I've had in a while.

man, that label makes me think of that dogfish, stone & victory saison du buff which was horrible.



this is good, and relatively cheap.

i finished off a 4 pack of dogfish head punkin at the movies tonight, but i was kind of wishing it was the weyerbacher imperial pumpkin ale which i think is my favorite pumpkin beer.

and i found a liquor store that had some victory helios left which is awesome at $3.80 for a 22oz.

holy shit that's cheap

I had low expectations when I got it in the sampler, but it's really nice and crisp. I thought it tasted more like an ESB or something than an IPA. It was a little hoppy, but by Stone standards it was probably milder than anything they've ever released.

Went to a beer tasting the other night, but I was a little drunk when I got there after watching the Phils game. Favorites included Alaskan Brewing Co.'s Winter Ale and New Belgium's Ranger IPA.

Also, I got a bunch of slap-on beercoozies (think two of those slap bracelet things sewn together and insulated) and an Alaskan fishing lure that I am planning on throwing away in the next day or so.

Man, I've been lacking lately in beer drinking. Have been focusing on wine, since hopefully in November I'll be taking a winemaking class. Anyway, in the beginning of November we're headed back home to Bmore to a college graduation party for my bro-in-law, and we're going to hit up this place:

http://statelineliquors.com/beer/beer.htm

Don't know why I didn't know about this place sooner. Some of you that live in a big(ger) city take these types of places for granted. I foresee dropping quite a bit there. Dang. Their selection is incredible! Tons of "A+" ratings on Beer Advocate, too.

this is what i preferred to drink tonight:


It was delicious. one thing that i like about this place is the surprising selection of breweries.

Pretty much my favorite beer out of Nashville:

not sure if i've mentioned before how much i love this beer.
some things are great about being back in ontario.
that's "creemore springs".

I'll try anything 3 Floyds makes. Those guys make some very, very good shit.

Somehow I've only just become aware of the existence of weizenbock in the past few weeks. I mean, I must've seen it around before, but it just never occurred to me how awesome such a thing would be.

Here's what I've had so far:


Ayinger and Weihenstephaner. Weihenstephaner makes my favorite hefeweizen, and so naturally their weizenbock was great as well. I may actually have liked the Ayinger more, though, but it was the first one I tried. I was in love with this stuff immediately. It was one of those "where have you been all my life" moments.

Anyway, this is my new favorite kind of beer. Gonna binge on this shit this fall.

Knocked back a few Dunkelweizen from a local brewery Friday night and yup, the dark yet wheaty beer thing is pretty damn tasty. Not exactly the same style, but similar. If you liked the Weizenbock, you may wanna give some of these a try.

Drink I had that EXACT Ayinger wheat glass throughout college. I loooove that shit. Hard to go wrong with either of those guys, they've been doing it since... there was an "it" to do.

(Not my pick, btw, so I don't have that glass... or any nice glasses at the moment.)

Yeah, I'm gonna try some more of Ayinger's offerings, for sure.

I've also got a bottle of Aventinus weizenbock that I haven't tried yet. I also just saw that Victory makes a weizenbock called Moonglow that I'll probably look for.

And I'll definitely look for some dunkel weizen.

Holy fuck I'm behind on these.


"Recents:"



Sprecher - Scotch Style Ale (oaked)

This is one of the 2 bottles I smuggled back. Busted it out with Neuro back in early September, I think we were grilling out? I remember it seemed like a good excuse. Holy fuck this stuff is special. A+

It Gaverhoppppbbbb - Koerkerslagengefikenewassoldenndassomethin or other

Visiting Chez Busty, saw this in a tiny beer store, looked kinda cool. It was mild and almost dirty tasting for a belgian but the lower alcy content and sunny flavors were nice. B

Napa Smith - Organic IPA

Fuck it's been like 2 months now but I know I enjoyed it. We tore through 4 or 5 of these, and things got fuzzy. B+?


Knot - Industrial IPA

Nooo idea. Good? I'm sure it was ok. ?? None of these stood out, especially after 2 or 3.


Laurelwood Brewing Co - Workhorse IPA

These beer titles had a theme going on... power to the people I guess.


Ale Asylum - Satisfaction Jacksin

Now this one I know... these guys are from the west side of Madison. This one is in high demand from them, it's HUGE and spicey, almost syrupy. Not for the faint of heart. A-


Victory Festbier and Piraat Ale

Leftovers from Shiv watching the dogs. The Festbier was ok, very bocky and malty without being heavy, and the Piraat was really really good, even though it was open and only half was left. I was still fizzy. Don't judge me. B+ and A-


Goose Island - Honker's Ale

As I've said, I'm really digging most of what these guys are doing right now. Even their bread and butter beers like this are hitting me the right way. This had good balance, and was interesting enough without being an attention whore. B+


Southern Tier - Harvest Special Ale

Eeeehhh... another swing-anna-miss from these guys from what I remember. They're always so close, but they never seem to hit the mark. B-


Old Burnside - Ten Penny Ale

Brought this bad boy back from VT and finished it myself. It was wierd, spicey and dry, and didn't taste like anything else. I did not crave more. B-


Sweetwater 420 Bitches!

back in ATL for a week for work. Man I miss this stuff. Solid, sweet and juicey, just a great little IPA. B+


Troegs - Sampler Pack

These were all pretty well made, and solid. I don't think I fell in love with any of them, but it was a nice change to have them around. I think the amber ale was the best if I recall, somehow, but nothing really stood out in a good or bad way. B


Coniston - Bluebird Bitter

Excellent little english bitter, enjoyed here with bbq on the lawn across from George Washington's hq during Dat War (also Longfellow's crib a century later). This is a nice style, subtle and understated, and while I'm sure I'd get bored with it if I was surrounded by it, in small doses it's a great changeup. B


Rogue - Cap'n Sig's Northwestern Ale

I did NOT really enjoy this. It was incredibly spicey, like "rye" spicey, though it listed none as an ingredient. It's obviously well made and thick, etc, but it was so dry and aggressively tart that I had a hard time settling into it and just getting it gone. Drank this yesterday while replacing a motorcycle chain. C+ ...Sorry Rogue.

Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA

A not-too hoppy IPA from Belhaven. Not sure how this would differ from an american IPA...maybe less hoppy? I've had it a few times at the Scottish bar, and kinda dig it.

Abita Abbey Ale

Not bad, but Belgian Ales aren't necessarily what I usually drink. Seems ok to me. 8% abv.

i've been slacking too. i don't even think i can remember everything i drank in the past week or so. i had some beer the other day that was brewed with apples and tasted like it was a mix of beer and cider. it was kind of weird at first but i'd drink it again.

right now i'm drinking.



label art is horrible as usual but this is decent for a brown ale. i just kind of grabbed it because i'd been in the liquor store a bit too long and was getting antsy.

i finally caved in and bought this.



it was $14 but the guy at the store told me awhile ago that it was real good. i'll probably save it for a bit.

this is definitely going to be my next purchase.



speaking of dogfish head, i jumped on that promotion on jetblue of $7 fares from boston to dc and me and a buddy are gonna fly down there in december, drive to the dogfish brewery in DE, take a tour and then go to their brewpub and drive back to dc all in a day.

That trip sounds cool.

I read about this guy in a brewery newspaper like 6 months ago. Some dude from NH who was brewing for friends and then took out a loan or something and got professional. I think he just makes small batch high end stuff. TAKE ME TO WHERE THEY SELL THIS.

This is one of my favorite beers ever, although it's too hard to find/expensive for me to ever have much of it at once. So crisp....

I remember that they had it on tap at Local 44 in Philly, but that was a few years ago....

Nice! I'd never seen it before, Cotton. Well, they sell it close to my house. I sent the wife in to pay for the bbq and told her to surprise me, beer-wise, so I guess she chose wisely.

Lemme know when you wanna go and I'll come get you.