The skunking is probably a combination of 2 things - the long time it takes to boat them over (which eats way into the 6 months TOPS they would have as a shelf life... so when they get to your store they have maybe 4 months left, and then if they don't sell well, you may well be buying a beer that's 90% of the way there), and the fact that the glass is not very dark on them.

Last night


Shipyard - Double Old Thumper Ale




Brewed in conjunction with Ringwood, I guess, and made by the same guy (Alan Pugsley) that made Shipyard's fucking wonderful Porter I had a few months ago. This was somewhere between a scotch ale and barleywine. Not as hopped as a scotch, and not quite as thick and chewy as a big barleywine (most of the ones I've had are like beer flavored booze syrup), this was somewhere inbetween. And lord what a whollop. The first half of the bottle, I was like "I wonder what I'll have next," because I didn't actually see the content % until afterwards. The second half, I just hoped I could stay awake until bedtime. So I liked it, I would get it again (a bargain at under $10), but it isn't life-alteringly good. Big, thick, strong, interesting, malty with even a tiny bit of porter-like roast flavor, medium hops, and not really like anything else. For that reason alone it got on my good side. B+

Squirrgle or Tentoze or anyone, the founder of Brasserie d'Achouffe is doing a tasting here... Should I go?

Yessssshhhhh...

Yeah they're the real deal. If you're into Belgians you should like them just fine.

Yeah, he's bringing kegs and bottles of different stuff. 25 bucks with cheese pairings. Seems like a pretty good deal.

So yeah - Allagash Curieux. Damn, Bourbon-y all up in my grill, but then settles into a fine Belgian-ish white. I could see killing way too many of these.

So, my local brewery has released a Heller Bock, which at 8.75% is a lot stronger than I had realized. Combining it with some Maker's 46 the other night was not advisable.

Nd: Double Mountain Vaporizer (Hood Ricer, OR)

Consistently good beer

Recents


Brasserie Le Febvre - Blanche de Bruxelles (Brussels White)

Derris, you must find this. This is your beer. It is clean, smooth, sweet, tangy, faintly orange'd, and only 4.5%... this is the penultimate Robotable Belgian. The next time you have a backyard event where you need to be at your best, you want to have 2 or 3 of these around. As it was I had to drink mine at night, in 40's weather anyway, so I can only imagine how perfectly this beer would mate up with 70's temps, sun dresses, and shitall to do on a Saturday. But I cannot for the life of me recall a better beer in this category - session Belgian ideally suited for hot weather. Solid A.


Jolly Pumpkin Brewery - Weizen Bam

The label info had me salivating - a wheat beer with belgian influences and oak aging. The results, however, had me pondering whether I really wanted to finish the bottle. It was incredibly sour, to the point that I wondered if it had skunked, but I do not think it had. Not good, not recommended. Damn. Somebody else take that idea and do it right, please. D+


Warehouse Beer

Couple of the fellas in the warehouse got together and brewed a batch of stout with coffee, oats, vanilla, and chocolate. They gave it to me cold, right at the end of the day, and I was on the shuttle that day so I didn't need to drive... so I had it quietly as I rode down the interstate in the back of the tinted company van. Last week was stressful - that bottle never had a chance. twasn't bad, but it reminded me of the shortcomings of most homebrews, they're never thick enough. Still, I got a quick buzz. Thanks boys! B-


Lagunitas - Pils

Sixpack time, finally. I liked their last beer so much I went back for something else of theirs. I enjoyed the hell out of this one too, though it wasn't quite as amazing as the Sumpin'. This is deceptively clean and quick - the flavor vanishes almost immediately - for something with 6.5% content. It has the requisite dry flavors, and has been filtered to perfect clarity. So far these guys are impressing me, but that's only 2 beers sampled. A-

OK beer snobs...suggest to me things that are more malty than hoppy, not too sweet and not a ridiculous amount of alcohol in 'em. Something with a lot of flavor but not so thick and heavy that I can't drink 'em all night.

I think that might have been the Jolly Pumpkin beer that I had too, I can't remember. But yeah, it was really bad and too sour. I like their labels but the taste scared me off from trying them again.

I've had a few other varieties of the Lagunitas too recently. Lil Sumpin Wild, Wilco Tango Foxtrot and The Hairy Eyeball. They've all been quite good.

ok, wife and kiddos gone for one week starting today, i just went and stocked up at Liquor Mart and my pants are now off.

going to watch the game tonight at a pizza joint were they are supposedly tapping a keg of Pliny the Younger. i've been told it will be gone within 20 minutes of tapping. this got me in a Russian River mood so right now i'm downing:

this is going down way too easy. these guys are my new favorite i think. do they even bottle Blind Pig?

others for the week (who am i kidding, i'll have to re-stock in a few days):

GD has yet to lead me astray...really looking forward to this one.


all i've ever seen is the Orchard which for some reason i don't want to try. but this intrigued me coupled with some positive reviews here i believe (kyle?)


some more positive press here + an upcoming trip to chicago has led me to try Sofie already (will be drinking a lot of this this summer) and now i'll give this a try.


part of the new Crooked Line series from Uinta Brewing out of SLC. can't say i've ever tried Uinta, but these both had pretty good ratings from Beer Advocate + i needed a bit of dark beer for the Beef Carbonnade i'm making tomorrow. a little overkill maybe, but better than finishing half a bottle of guiness i guess.

oh, and a +1 on the Lagunitas Pils. an "easy-drinking" favorite around here.

i drank the orchard last week i believe. it was decent but the lavender notes were kind of meh. i'd like to try some of their others though.

anyone had this? i saw it in a store the other day for about $6 cheaper than i saw it in another and fantome had some other bottles at a bar i went to last week that were going for $35.

I haven't had anything new worth of note, but I did try the Limited Montana Release Irish Dry Stout from Big Sky Brewing Co. on Saturday Night.
I will also be drinking Weihenstephaner Original tonight while watching the NCAA title game.

I'll be curious to hear others take on this as well. There seems to be a never ending argument and quest on all the sites and blogs I visit for a beer with big flavor (either hoppy or malty) but a lower ABV so as to be able to session. It seems to be a hard balance to strike with all the award winning beers being these beers with huge, complex flavors and 10% ABV's that will get you shit-hammered with the quickness.

For me, I associate big malt bombs with sweet malts like you find in the Belgian trappist beers but they are certainly not for drinking more than one or two (if socializing is your goal). For IPA's, I've really enjoyed Stone's Levitation ale. A bit more mild than your average IPA and with an ABV around 4-4.5% you can drink a ton of 'em. Not my fave style though. Of course Bell's Oberon is great in the summer.

All that said, if I had to make a recommendation, I'd say check out Weihenstephaner Original. It's billed as a "Munich Helles Lager" but it's nice, light, crisp, and malty without being too sweet. With an ABV of around 5% it has no more booze than say, a Heineken. You can drink a bunch of them and they're delicious and complex. World class even.

5.6% ABV
Great, carmelized maltiness, but light enough to keep on drinking. Dark, ruby red in color, with a good amount of carbonation, so just when you think you are getting too full to keep going... BURP!!! Grab me another!
One of my all-time favorites.

In general terms, that sounds like either a brown ale, an alt beer (if you can find a good one you would LOVE an alt - the germans use it exactly as you describe, as something malty and medium bodied with few hops and very sessionable), or on the lighter side a pale ale (but not an IPA), or maybe on the darker side some porters.

I'm trying to think of what's available in St Louis. Any of these around?

Victory - Festbier
Narragansett - Porter (16 oz cans)
Sunner - Kolsch (imported german singles usually)
Belhaven - St Andrews
Wexford - Cream Ale
Boddington's

...all of those are malty to some degree, good, and not very hoppy.

Like I said, some pale ales are perfect for what you want - like really lightly hopped IPA's - and some are probably too hoppy for you, like Sierra Nevada's. But if you can find an alt beer, that would be my best guess for you.

Yeah, I have liked a couple Altbiers I've tried, and especially a couple Sticke Alts, but they're will like 5 bucks a bottle and only a couple places have 'em. Not the kind of thing I'll drink all the time. A couple porters I've found to be right up my alley as well as a black lager I had recently.

But yeah, the IPAs and APAs and all that aren't really my thing. I can drink 'em, but they're really usually the opposite end of the spectrum from what I like, more hoppy and pale where I pr3efer dark and malty. Sadly, they seem to dominate the beer offerings, around here anyway.

I'll keep an eye out for the suggestions tossed out.

Out of curiosity, how are you on Newcastle?

Yeah.
That Old Peculiar is what you are looking for, I think.

What he REALLY needs is a decent alt bier that comes in an "affordable 12 pack" variety.

Newcastle is OK. A bit bland, but not bad, will usually go with a Smithwick’s before that.

Todd, I will check into that, maybe this evening actually. Need to pick up a six of something.

But yes Cap'n, that is exactly what I need. I'm not saying I won't pay more than Budweiser prices for something decent, but I'm not into buying individual 11 oz. bottles for 5 bucks, making it a $30 six pack either. I wish all these damn craft brewers would knock it off with yet another fucking hoppy ale or stuffing stouts with too much booze and/or chocolate and other bullshit and give us some decent variety.

I hear you. Do you get Victory beers out there? Being from PA they seem to make a shitload of good malty beers, and not fall prey to West Coast Syndrome ("What's better than hops? MORE hops.") That Festbier is one good example.