Anybody tried DFH's Chicory Stout? Saw it at the store last week but I was buying cans for tailgating (Dale's, Ellie's Brown and Allies Win The War)

Speaking of Allies, it goes down a LOT better at $6.99/4pk. than it did at $9.99.

I keep wanting to buy the DFH Chicory Stout but I have a feeling I really won't like it.

They're everywhere. The price is good. And I'm bored, and these are usually things I haven't tried.

Oh and there's a new gluten free / hippy sustainable effort out of Colorado. I got the Mrs a 4 pack last night each of all 3 flavors. They contract the brewing out to Fort Collins Brewery, who make no mention of the effort on their own website. Each beer flavor donates a portion of proceeds to a First Mate-friendly charity, (Recycling education, wind farming I think, and one more she would love). I cracked up when I saw those in the cooler... like the satellites have been watching her again. Shit is custom-tailored for her. Hopefully they're decent.

And fuck I just realized I never got a shot / review of it, but a friend staying over bought a sixpack of Sam Adams Latitude 48 IPA, and I had a few, and they were actually pretty good. Right in the "full flavor but still very chuggable" range. I have even *thought* about buying more.

I can understand this. Lucky for me there's enough stuff out there that I haven't tried or am new to and really like, that I haven't had to make the ol' "trip down memory lane" to things like SA.

The grocery store with a really good selection is now about like:
65% = I have actually tried
32% = I have no interest in trying, because they're obvious garbage
3% = I still want to try, and fuck maybe it's more like 3 actual beers vs 3 percent.



The good beer store near by is more like
45% = I have actually tried
32% = I have no interest in trying, because they're obvious garbage
23% = I still want to try

WHAT I DRANK ON MY THANKSGIVING BREAK
by e-stone

For Thanksgiving i went to Norfolk, Virginia for 9 days. This was not by choice, but because that's where the in-laws live. To help me through these times, i took several trips to the Total Wine. Either i hadn't noticed before, or things have really picked up since i've last visited 2 years ago...but i was incredibly impressed with the wealth of options now available. I was able to scratch of a bunch from the "unavailable in colorado" list:

Bell's Brewery:



i wasn't overly impressed with the Winter White, but then again i'm not a huge fan of wheat's anyways. the Two Hearted was as advertised. i would buy the shit out of this if available here.

Founders:



SO stoked to finally try these, and i was not let down in the least. that Red's Rye is the pick of the bunch for me and may just be a top tenner. really excellent. the IPA was a slight step down from the Two Hearted, but still really really good. i was bummed not to find the Breakfast Stout at Total Wine, but fate has it's ways and it showed up on tap at a bar we went to in Charlottesville. a bit of a disappointment as i was expecting to be completely blown away. instead i say it's on par with the Yeti and Ten Fiddy (which is to say some of my favorite stouts). i think maybe what i was expecting would be delivered with the KBS? one day....

and on to what has to be my completely unexpected MVP of the trip, Brooklyn Brewery:



now the reason these guys walk away with the award is because i was completely underwhelmed with what i had tried just a month and 1/2 earlier on my visit to new york (their oktoberfest and i think their lager?). i came pretty close to passing these up because of that, but took a chance on that Sorachi Ace (how cool is that bottle, right?). Incredible beer. i was wracking my brain on how i could get some more of these home with me. out to dinner that same night, i had the Black Chocolate. DAMN, now this was kinda what i was expecting with the Breakfast Stout (though i hadn't had it yet at this point...). the WOW factor. killer stout. Local 1 and 2 didn't wow me as much as these first two, but still excellent beers with 1 being the better. Brooklyn Brewery, you have been redeemed in my eyes big time.

some other randoms, but good 'uns:


out of baltimore i believe? had this off the tap in Charlottesville. i don't recall ever seeing them mentioned here, but this one is worth a try for sure. deceptively smooth for 7%


i've seen these guys at the Total Wine the past few times in Norfolk, but for some reason avoided. you know when the labels just don't "speak" to you? anyways, thought i'd try this one this time as i really believed someone, somewhere has said they make a solid beer. this was good, definitely different for an imperiaal IPA, but maybe a bit too boozy for my likings? i dunno, i will try some other stuff next time back.


had this one off the tap at dinner one night, and it was just advertised as BBC Bourbon Barrel Stout. took some digging to find out what it was. I hadn't heard of them before, but this was another really excellent Stout.

so i found myself actually wishing i had more time there -- i had just cracked the surface at Total Wine. and yes, my in-laws think i'm a functioning alcoholic at this point (not that they werent finishing off a handle of Bombay Sapphire every other night).

Agree with you re: Brooklyn's standard fare is pretty meh but I thought the #1 was pretty great. I'll have to look for that Stout. I've seen that Ace before but my general Brooklyn negativity always kept me away; worth a shot though i guess.

I think you are properly rating the regular Breakfast Stout as the equal to Ten Fidy--I might even prefer Ten Fidy if you put a gun to my head. The CBS is indeed another step up (haven't tried the KBS yet)

KBS is amazing

I bought an airplane bottle of knob creek tonight to sip while the wife is at book club. feel like a derelict.

Arrived today:

Well obviously I really enjoyed your writeup because you agreed with me on everything. It makes me feel like I'm not crazy. Specifically the 2 Hearted, which is probably "Top Obner Sixpackable Beer If You Can Find It" by a landslide at this point, and the Sorachi Ace, which I enjoyed the shit out of last year when I tried it. I need more. Thanks for the reminder.




Shiv and I did a back-to-back tasting earlier in the year with this and Goose Island Bourbon County, and the verdict was that they were incredibly similar, but the KBS was sweeter vs the GI being a tiny bit more balanced. I slightly preferred the Goose, and I think Shiv did too but he can correct me if I'm wrong. If/when it comes back to stores around here there will be some hoarding going on in my cabinets. Well, moreso.

And finally, I got 3 more Boulevard beers to try this week, have had 2 of them now, and sweet jesus people need to be searching these guys out. On par with Founder's, Dogfish, and Bell's. Deep bench, broad range, no misses and some serious hits.

Boulevard is available in Ala-damn-bammer but not Georgia: Paging Dr. LooGAR.

Derris and I are supposed to be sitting down for a KBS vs. CBS showdown at some point. "Looking forward to it" is an understatement.

If it's available, I've yet to come across it. And I fucking LOVE Boulevard. Went to the brewery this summer and e'erything.

Just using the locator thing on their website, it looks like it's available in the Northern part of the state. (Oxford would be the closest place to get it for me). Do y'all have different distributor's for the north and south?

http://www.boulevard.com/beers/beer-finder/

So this liquor store that's RIGHT on my home from work (real office, not the site I've been at everyday for weeks) always looks tempting but they don't take my kind of plastic so I never stop there. Yesterday I was going by, I had 5 minutes to spare (literally), and had cash, so I stopped in. They had a free-standing 5 ft tall display just for Boulevard 22oz corked bottles, and they had ALL of them. There were 2 types I'd never seen / tried, so I got both. They also had more of their 4 packs than I've seen elsewhere.

We have a THREE TIERED SYSTEM.....

But it really all depends on where the reps sell it, etc. It seems to me that some folks try to gain a toehold in one area or another and expand from there, and others take a more shotgun approach.

Like, when I moved to Mobile, you could get Yuengling there, but nowhere else in state. People still drink it as if it were a cheaper micro/import.

I believe they call this "test marketing" - and it wouldn't surprise me if all the smaller breweries here are colluding with their MillerCoors and Bud distribution networks on who tests where and when.

That said, next time I'm up visiting www.backfortybeer.com I'll snag some Boulevards as well.

"Hello American Express? I'd like a cash advance for FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS"

We should tape a podcast at Back Forty.

We could do it for the opening.

I'm down. Will there be someone to drive us home?

<==Have recorder, will travel.

yep, i preferred the GI.

which boulevard beers did you get? i picked up a 12oz of the Dark Truth stout last week at the store that lets you mix and match. i had half a bottle of the Long Strange Tripel last night, which i should've opened earlier in the night because i couldn't finish it and it's in the fridge just calling out to me now.

also, i picked these up last week too.

I got a 4 pack of Dark Truth 12oz'ers a few days back, then yesterday I got 22's of Long Strang Tripel and Harvest Dance wheat wine. Also, just now looking their site up for the second beer's name, I see that the store yesterday did NOT have all their beers. Jesus, there are so many more than I knew about. I had the whole big bottle of Triple last night, alone, and I was a little hungover this morning. Shit was fucking great.

And those last 2 I have not see yet anywhere. I like Maine a lot, the 2 I've had weren't incredible but I'll root for anyone with subtle/tasteful marketing and 1% For The Planet on the label.

Oh man, I wanna get my hands on one of these guys:

The only other ones of theirs that I've seen around are the White IPA and the Saison-Brett (which is probably gone now).