I bottled the second gluten free batch last night. That led to... (look at batch 5 pale ale fermenting), (realize I need empty bottles in about 2 weeks), (see how many empties I have, it's not enough, where are all my bottles, oh that's right they have flat hoppy tripel in them), what am I going to do with all that beer, I guess I'm going to drink it but maybe I should mix it with something else so it isn't so damned flat.

So I grabbed one, then grabbed a cold can of brooklyn EIPA, and began to mix them both.



I figured, if it's not good then so what, it's better than flat beer and I got a bottle back. But fuck my ass, when I opened the triple, it had full carbonation. I almost shit myself. It wasn't cold, I didn't really want a whole 15 ounces of something strong (shouldn't have even opened the can of EIPA, I was done for the evening), but I still had some just to have it. May be the only one that somehow carbonated, I have no idea. It did taste a lot better, too, but still isn't all that great. Still too sweet, too much of a chewy mouthfeel. Needed to be cleaner.

Lookathat, a fucking head


So now how many more of those fucking bottles are actually carbonated? I won't know on each one til I open it. Guh.

just when you think you're out, they pull you back in.

Hazel's Beverage World just opened in boulder. actually they open tomorrow and today was a VIP "soft opening" of some sorts. Anyways, $40 later:



i was stoked to see a new addition to the Crooked Line series, even though i haven't yet fallen for sour beers. if anyone can convert me, i've got my money on those guys.

i am regretting putting back the Love Child #2 now though...but i'm sure i'll be back sooner than later.

I picked up that Saison-Brett a couple days ago too. I missed it the first time I saw it around here last year. I've seen that Birthday Suit (and the Love Child #2) but I'm not a big fan of sour beers. I've still got a bottle each of their Bourbon Barrel Quad and Rye On Rye.

I grabbed a sixer of Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-down Ale today. I can't recall if I've had it before and the "especially bitter" on the package almost turned me off but I've never really been disappointed by them.

Also grabbed a pick-six of

Pyramid Hefeweizen
Goose Island Pepe Nero
Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel! Corne Du Diable IPA
Tröegs Perpetual IPA
Atwater Brewery Mai-Bock
Weyerbacher Blanche (Belgian Wit)

Let me know how that Birthday Suit is. I've seen it but didn't pull the trigger on it. I love a good Sour but had seen some middling reviews of it and at $14.99 for a 750, just couldn't bring myself to ignore them. I'll say it again re: Consecration, it's the best beer I've ever had. Whole Foods just got a shipment in down here and I leave with two bottles of it every time I enter a WF. You're in for a treat there.

I picked up a bottle of Green's Amber and the Estrella for Fem G a couple of days ago. She hasn't tried either yet though.

I drank a 750ml of Drake's Hopocalpyse DIPA last night. I'd had it once before at a beer festival and wasn't crazy about it. It was the last beer of the day for me though and others there raved about it so I thought I'd give it another try sober. Verdict: Probably very good for what it is but not really for me. I'm not a big fan of the overly bitter hop bomb DIPAs of which this is one at 100+ IBUs. I'm guessing someone like Squirg might love it though because I'm not a fan of the style but I liked it ok just not enough to want another at $8 a pop.

Oh snap, I gotta grab that Birthday Suit. I've literally only bought one six pack of beer since Loogs, Dump Jack and I got back from Alabama--a self imposed month or so of "drink less, live off the reserves and gear up for the rest of the summer" that is mericfully over. I'm pretty much down to nothing save the stouts and other cold weather beers in my cellar.

I now have a stock that'll last me through Fall!

I haven't had the Saison Brett yet, but the Love Child #2 was spectacular. I went to a North Coast Brewing Company virtual tour and tapping party tonight, and happened to meet the President/CEO of Paulaner/Hacker-Pschorr USA at the event. It was a bit strange. I'm not sure why he was in town, but he knows a local distributor that I know, and was drinking with all the local brewers who showed up.
The Bourbon Barrel Aged Old Rasputin XI that I managed to consume in pint form was absolutely divine.

Haven't had much to add here aside from a puking debate, and to skim over homebrew posts, but Derris brought me a 4 pack of these way back when we went to see Lucero. In my hangover fog, I left them in the car of the guy who drove me, and when I got them back, I left them in my cupboard. Finally put in the fridge. HOLY HELL this is a GREAT BEER. I don't usually love brown ales but this transcends a brown ale. It's extremely drinkable, has a good and even flavor profile, and isn't too far to any direction. Near the top of my list right now.

Cool, consider me jealous.


Hoppy Tripel appears to actually be carbonating in the bottles now, at least for the ones I have in the fridge. ...? So Bloor and Derris, toss yours in the fridge if you don't mind. Gonna wait a while longer, because they seem to be getting better as they age. Also I think I mis-judged how much booze is in them - it's up near 10%. I forgot to compensate for the warm temp of the sample when I did the "before" gravity reading. Hotter liquid reads thinner on the scale, which made it look like there was maybe 7.5% in it after all was done. Now that they're carbonating and aging better, the beer 1) tastes more normal and "done" than it did, 2) has some carbonation, and 3) has a serious buzz to it.

There's hope.

Mine has been in the fridge since I got it. (You sent it cold so I decided to keep it that way)

And Loog, Ode To Mercy is totally one of the best beers going right now. I blew the hard-to-impress Busty away with it last spring. Packs a nice punch too.

Busty is a tough customer.

I think that tripel is going to mellow and improve. May be a bit before I say "go for it."

Heady Topper in the refrigerator. Ready for 4th-of-July-retail-7-days-in-a-row after work sippings.

That, at least, made sense to me.

Yeah, I noticed that yesterday morning. I had had a few beers at dinner with friends and decided to have one more (which of course meant 2) The cumulative effect of those 2 was much more than I was expecting the next morning. But hey, whaddaya gonna do?

Craft can alert! 12'ers of Cisco "Indie" Pale Ale now available in GA. Picked some up and I like it--perfect mix of drinkability and bite which is what I like out of a can. Derris maybe can correct me here, but I think this might be the first Cisco beer to be available down here.

Also finally got around to trying the Harpoon Summer Beer in a can...I know you prefer the Brooklyn, Ky, but I gotta say the Harpoon wins for me by a good distance: It just has a little bit more flavor and almost a hint of citrus.

Everything I've tasted of Wild Heaven's is great. They're not in TN yet, but they usually come up for beer fests in Nashville. Their Eschaton was the most in-demand beer at our East Nashville Beer Fest back in the Spring. They had people lined up (including me and my beer swilling pal) for their 2pm tapping of the keg. It was very worth the wait. Nick mentioned that they could be in TN by 2013.

I'm pretty sure they're still outsourcing the brewing process to Thomas Creek Brewery in South Carolina. Can any of you ATLiens verify that they're still in the process building their brewery in Decatur?

I'll be grabbing a stock of all of their brews when I'm in Athens in August.

http://wildheavencraftbeers.com/our-beers/

had one of these BBC Saison last night. It was pretty nasty. I've never had anything I've liked from BBC (femdisco purchased this on a whim)

That's my understanding as well. Surprised they haven't made it into Tennessee and NC yet--they've achieved grocery-store level distribution in the Atlanta area. Shit, even the Kroger in my far flung 'burb carries them.

I've certainly never seen it down here BUT I checked the Cisco website and it shows that a place called Prime Wine and Spirits in Doraville carries their Baileys Blonde, Indie Pale Ale, Sankaty Light Lager, Summer of Lager, and Whales Tale Pale Ale. Who knew?

Cisco's Summer Of Lager is great.

Their Grey Lady is good too if you can find it. I don't think I've ever seen it in cans though.

Field trip to Doraville, then. Bring a weapon.

Whales Tale Pale is one of the ones I sent people in shipments, in cans no less. Never seen canned Grey Lady but Shiv is right, it's a good take on saisons with a more minerally, hard water sort of taste. I'm really, really surprised they're down there, that's awesome.

And I LOVE Harpoon summer, not sure if I prefer Brooklyn or not, I must've at some point, but I sure as hell like the Harpoon.

Recents.

LaChouffe - Houblon Chouffe


This is the one with hops, including Ahtanhum I think, anyway it was one of the bigger new american varieties. I liked it, but the hops weren't as big and crazy as I expected. It's hoppier than the normal fare and obviously really well made but I was expecting more spice at least, if not more alpha acids too.

Craft beer bar Meadhall in Kendall Square, a place I hit once in awhile. If it's a nice day out and I'm going from HQ to my building by bike, and I have no meetings coming up, sometimes I duck in for a quick one. The selection is very good.



Mystic - Saison

These guys are local and I see their bottles a lot, but rarely pull the trigger. This was good, but not amazing. No "problems," very pleasant, but didn't have anything special enough to leave an imprint. Still, it hit the spot.


Pretty Things - American Darling

A lawnmowing beer with a sneaky 7% content. Yessir. This is maybe the best "starter" beer for summertime, to get your afternoon kicked off in style. Fuckinell, these guys make good beer. Hadn't had this in awhile, and it's great. Clean, sweetish, hallertau hoppiness just right, and the booze sneaks in unnoticed. Til you get up.


Pretty Things - Magnifico!

A 3.4% beer that tastes full and delicious. Rich enough not to be boring, but obviously so clean as to be refreshing. Oh man how I wish this came in 24 packs of cans.

I had Bitter American by this brewery a few weeks ago. It's a good pale ale.

I haven't had anything spectacular recently. I bought some Lakefront Wisconsinite Summer Weiss to bring out with me to a lake yesterday, but spent most of the day drinking homebrewed beer and cider. It wasn't bad, but it had a slight sulfuric smell and was a bit dry for a hefeweizen. I bottled a batch of Irish Red Ale before I went to the party, and it seems satisfactory. I didn't do much deviation from the kit recipe, but I did dry hop it with Amarillo.
I'm going to brew again here in about two weeks, but won't be fermenting this batch at my apartment. It will be a more complex all-grain batch done at my friend's house.

I've only been to Meadhall once, right after they opened. I thought it had potential but the draft list was boring and the space was just kind of blah. Maybe it's improved.

I got that Magnifico! today.