yeah, you are right on about the Port/Pizza Port relationship. Port bombers have been available here for a long time. i never tried any, but will rectify that soon, maybe with the one Bloor was mentioning above.

interesting about the Golden Road/Great Divide connection. now i'm bummed i missed Eagle Rock too. if i'd had more advanced notice i would've hit y'all up in this thread to get some local rec's. california alone probably had 1/4 of the entire floor - which was split up by regions.

I've also had a Port Brewing Imperial Stout (I think it was Christmas themed) that was aces as well.

Note to Derris: Good price on that Hop 15 at Hop City--I think it was $6.99

oh and speaking of Stone, if you can get your hands on this, you must:



easily the best beer i've had in a long while (including those at GABF). at $8, i should have grabbed a bunch last week because it's already sold out everywhere here. we're talking Pliny-level here...no joke.

ok, slight exaggeration...but it is really fucking good

Come to think of it, I had that wrong. She came from Oskar Blues not Great Divide. Point being was that she had worked for a Colorado Brewer and could pitch that angle to the local press when they were promoting their first trip to GABF. She was a sales manager for Oskar Blues too, not involved in the brewing side. Golden Road's brewer is Jon Carpenter who was formerly an assistant brewer at Dogfish Head.

Like I said, they are a respectable operation. With all the choices you had though, I don't think they are so good that you should regret not trying them. I'm just glad that there are decent to good breweries here in LA. For the first 15 years I lived here there really wasn't.

I always expect to like Stone's beers more than I do. I wasn't all that impressed with their 16th anniversary IPA. I have liked their chipolte and vanilla bean porters more than I expected to.

I find Stone's beers to be incredibly meh, but I'll give that one a shot if I see it because I'm a glutton for punishment (who happens to like beer)

I haven't tried anything on par with what would have been available at GABF, but I'm going to a tapping party for Sierra Nevada Narwhal Imperial Stout tomorrow and I will be attending a virtual meet and greet with the New Belgium Brewer. I'm looking forward to trying La Folie again and the Imperial Chocolate Coffee Stout at that event.

Santa's Little Helper? If so, I agree - that's a good one.

I vaguely remember some discussion on here about what people use to reseal bomber bottles that they don't want to finish in one sitting but couldn't find it with a search. I bought a couple of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Zyliss-Bottle-Sto ... gy_k_img_y

awhile back but don't really like them. I broke one of them saturday trying to get it to close on a dogfish head bomber. I need to find something new. Recommendations?

Had this Dogfish Head Sah'tea seasonal spiced ale.



It was ok but not really my thing - it was a little bitter and the spices didn't really add much. Would have been quite happy to be able to seal and judge it with fresh taste buds the next day but couldn't get it sealed so I ended up just drinking most of it and dumping the rest.

I use a Vacu Vin

I follow the Russian vodka drinking rule of finishing off what you've opened.

I have a similar metronome vacuum sealer for wine but the tops for it don't fit well in beer bottles.

I've had good results with the Vacu Vin though I've admittedly only resealed a handful of bottles.

i got this for Xmas last year, and it has worked well in the few times i've tried it.



it was too small for one bomber i tried it on...but i'm blanking which brewery that was.

I use these but they don't fit everything. If not, I'll just use a wine stopper and make sure I finish it that night. I gave Capn a couple of them.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/112103658/f ... 4AodxlIARA

If it's a standard "sam adams" style brown bottle, these fit really well and work perfectly. I've used them pretty much every week for several years and have zero complaints, strongly recommended.

Today I drank 2 Straight to Ale Lily Flagg Milk Stouts. Very tasty. I remember typing their name after the East Nashville Beer Fest as a brewery whose beers I liked. I guess they're fully distributing to Nashville now

Lily Flagg Milk Stout

A friend told me about Feather Falls Casino in Oroville (CA), so we went over the weekend. They now have their own brewery, the brewmaster used to work at Sierra Nevada and gott-dam they are making some good brews. And they are only $2 a pint.

Fuck yeah!

http://www.featherfallscasino.com/brewing-co

Won enough $ at the penny slots to pay for everything we drank.

Nice. I love a good under-priced beer.

Try milk stout.

Had an Oskar Blues TenFidy draft last night. Was super good, its abv is 10.5, but didn't drink like it. Not a huge fan of imperial stouts--but do really enjoy a good one, and this was good. Wonder if it translates well from the can?

i've actually never had it on tap, but I LOVE IT IN THE CAN.

i was flipping through some pics on my phone and i was reminded of a very interesting bottle my buddy shared with me at his house before we went down to GABF:



the flavor was unreal...a nice sweetness, almost wine-like. unfortunately it was completely flat as well which kept if from being flat out amazing.

no linky pic worky

fixied i hope?

Fixed! And that was a bottle of celebration ale from 1992? I am really surprised it kept. Damn.

Pretty cool and windy here at night, making it stout weather.

I pulled out a Ballast Point Sea Monster Bomber that I bought last winter last night.

It was a really solid but not spectacular stout. I'd probably give it a B+/A-


Ordered a couple De Struise Brouwers "Pannepøt-Old Fisherman's Ale" Ale Brewed with Spices. I need to drink down the supply before I buy too much more though. I'm running out of storage space.