Whatcha drinking?

[Isgrimnur]

I actually prefer the Captain Morgan Black to Kraken. I'm not thrilled with the development, but de gustibus non est disputandum.

[Kraken]

Apostasy.

[Lassr]

Discovered there is a guy in one of our Arts and Entertainments districts that makes Whiskey. Tried a sample there and it was very smooth and good so I bought a bottle. He labels each bottle. I have Bottle 299 of 600 from Batch 16.

http://ironsone.com/

[LawBeefaroni]

Buying Slane and Jameson Black Barrel by the case these days.

Cheaper than going to the bar.

[Xmann]

I picked up a bottle of the new JD bottled in bond and I really like it. I am not a OG JD fan, but the BiB is a good sipper.

Sent from my SM-S906U1 using Tapatalk

[Jeff V]

Was at a suburban festival yesterday (Romeoville) and one of the vendors was Metal Monkey -- they make one of my all-time favorite DIPAs -- Furious George. It's got a face-puckering bitterness (110 IBU IIRC) that I so love. Unfortunately, they did have. They did have (without looking up all of their pet names):

IPA - Citra hopped but dank, which is not a flavor profile I'm fond of.

Habanero Pale Ale - Habanero isn't all burn -- it has a distinct flavor which is why I like using them in cooking. This beer had the heat, but none of the habanero flavor.

Pineapple Gose - Got a sample for my wife to try. I agreed with her assessment -- mostly sour with a little salt, hard to pick out the pineapple.

Pilsner - my favorite pilsners have a deep honey and malt flavor that belies their piss-yellow color. This beer...more piss than anything.

Oktoberfest - Heat index yesterday reached into the low-100's. Too damn early for it, but I thought it to be a barely passable Marzen.

My last two Uber rides yesterday were couples going to the Wheaton Beerfest. Probably I'd have done better there...but something something kids something...

[Daehawk]

My last bottle of kraken rum has been sitting around so decided to open it. Last bottle I have. Maybe its me...maybe its sat a long time...but WOW this bottle is peppery...I mean STRONG black pepper taste....and spice burn. Never seen that before.

[Scuzz]

So we traveled the California-Oregon coastline up into Portland a couple weeks ago to visit my daughter. Been two years so we thought it was about time. I did get in some beer tasting,



Fall River Brewing in Redding, Ca. Hexegenia IPA. This is a really good beer. A good West Coast style.



7 Devils Brewing in Coos Bay, Oregon. Groundswell IPA. I liked this one as well.



Rogue Brewery in Newport, Oregon. This is a West Coast style. Not as good as the Hexegenia.

We tried to get into the recommended McMenamin's but the wait was way longer than we were going to put up with.

We also had lunch at Deschuttes Brew Pub Restaurant in Portland. Nice place and good beer as always.

[Alefroth]

Sounds like a good trip, beer and scenery wise. I would have had to hit Pelican, though.

[Kraken]

I brought back a trunk full of Heady Topper and Focal Banger from Vermont a few weeks ago, since The Alchemist still doesn't distribute much beyond 50 miles from their brewery. I was surprised that I like Focal better and sorry that I bought so much more Heady. Gonna have to take another drive out that way. Heady's still a world-class IPA but 8% ABV is too boozy for me these days, and it's all hops. Focal is a friendlier 7% and has a nice malt backbone.

[Scuzz]

Sounds like a good trip, beer and scenery wise. I would have had to hit Pelican, though.

Where is that? We will probably be doing this every year now.

Okay, I looked it up. That is much further north than we went on the coast. But I will remember that for next time.

I ended up bringing back more than a case of various beers.

[Isgrimnur]

[disarm]

I brought back a trunk full of Heady Topper and Focal Banger from Vermont a few weeks ago, since The Alchemist still doesn't distribute much beyond 50 miles from their brewery. I was surprised that I like Focal better and sorry that I bought so much more Heady. Gonna have to take another drive out that way. Heady's still a world-class IPA but 8% ABV is too boozy for me these days, and it's all hops. Focal is a friendlier 7% and has a nice malt backbone.

I agree that Focal Banger is a considerably better beer than Heady. They're both very good, but I find Focal much easier to drink. Fortunately, Alchemist did start some short range distribution during the worst of the pandemic, so I can now get those beers from time to time at my local store five minutes away in northeastern CT...and my neighbor owns the store, so I can make sure not to miss out

[Alefroth]

Sounds like a good trip, beer and scenery wise. I would have had to hit Pelican, though.

Where is that? We will probably be doing this every year now.

Okay, I looked it up. That is much further north than we went on the coast. But I will remember that for next time.

I ended up bringing back more than a case of various beers.

I didn't realize they were that far north, either. I think they have a consistently solid lineup, but sadly, they seem to have fallen out of favor with my regular purveyors.

Fort George is another solid brewery if you ever get to Astoria.

edit: The Pacific City location is the original brewery, and not as far north as Cannon Beach.

[YellowKing]

Going to a fall/pumpkin beer tasting tonight. Got some good stuff from Sand City that a buddy brought down that should be a treat.

[Jeff V]

Going to a fall/pumpkin beer tasting tonight. Got some good stuff from Sand City that a buddy brought down that should be a treat.

I had the Elysian pumpkin beer this year, it's alriight. The Oswego Brewing Company version is more pumpkin than pumpkin spice (which I like).

[YellowKing]

Yeah I just got the Elysian Pumpkin Pack that has their 4 pumpkin varieties. Haven't cracked into that yet but it has Night Owl which is one of my favorites.

The two Sand City that we tried last night were THE CRYPT-KICKER FIVE which is a 9% Imperial Pumpkin Ale, and GRAVEYARD SMASH which is a 7% Pumpkin Ale. Both are pretty similar in flavor. I rated both a 4/5, as they are mild on the spice with good flavor and not overpowering like a lot of the cheaper pumpkin beers.

I also had two Oktoberfests:

Highland Brewing Clawhammer Oktoberfest, which was really good. For some reason I wasn't expecting much out of it but I'd buy it again.

Then a new-ish (2018) local brewery, Mad Mole Brewing's MOLETOBERFEST. This one was really tasty, and I'm becoming a big fan of this brewery. They're just starting to really make a name for themselves now that they're expanding distribution. If you ever find yourself in Wilmington, NC, I would highly recommend checking them out along with my other two fave local breweries, New Anthem and Edward Teach.

[Jeff V]

I've been having a lot of Oktoberfest/Marzen beers lately as well. Anyone else here use Untappd and want to be friends on that app?

[disarm]

I've been having a lot of Oktoberfest/Marzen beers lately as well. Anyone else here use Untappd and want to be friends on that app?

I sent you an Untappd friend invite. We met in real life a couple times many years ago, so might as well share beer scores!

[Jeff V]

Invite accepted!

Today I had a Dragon's Milk Bourbon Aged White Stout by New Holland Brewing, New Holland, MI. I get the bourbon barrel, and a strong hint of vanilla. But otherwise it seems more an ale than a stout. I think I'll work ok in my chili (which is why I bought it), but at a paltry 6%, it's a pale shadow of the original Dragon's Milk.

[disarm]

My most recent interesting beer was a 2020 Goose Island Bourbon County Caramella Ale that had been 'aging' in my beer fridge for almost two years. I'll start with the brewer's description...

A wheatwine aged in Larceny Wheated Bourbon barrels with apple, cinnamon, and natural caramel flavor added after aging...It’s nostalgia-inducing flavors are reminiscent of a caramel apple.

That description pretty well sums it up... sweet, caramel and just a hint of the bourbon barrel aging. Likening it to a caramel apple is pretty spot on. My initial reaction was that it was interesting in a good way, but I didn't know how much I could actually drink due to the sweetness and high ABV (14.6% in a 17oz bottle). After a few sips, however, it really started to grow on me. It's not something that I'm likely to pay the Bourbon County premium for if they make it available again, but I'm glad to have tried it and do think it's a really good beer for the right occasion and good company with whom to share it. My original intent was to share this potent bottle with my wife, but she didn't care for it...so I ended up finishing the whole thing myself and sleeping very well that night

[Jeff V]

I still have a 2014 Two Brother's barley wine. I probably should drink it some day.

[Kurth]

Sounds like a good trip, beer and scenery wise. I would have had to hit Pelican, though.

Where is that? We will probably be doing this every year now.

Okay, I looked it up. That is much further north than we went on the coast. But I will remember that for next time.

I ended up bringing back more than a case of various beers.

I didn't realize they were that far north, either. I think they have a consistently solid lineup, but sadly, they seem to have fallen out of favor with my regular purveyors.

Fort George is another solid brewery if you ever get to Astoria.

edit: The Pacific City location is the original brewery, and not as far north as Cannon Beach.

These are all great recommendations, especially Fort George. Also, their brew pub in Astoria is great! Good food and a really nice location.

If you find yourself in Portland again, here are a few of my favorites (all have restaurants with pretty decent pub food):
- Ex Novo
- Rogue
- Hop Valley
- Breakside
- Ancestry (a little south of Portland a bit off I5)
- Zoiglhaus (focus on German-style brews and food)

[Scuzz]

I should have asked before we went. My daughter lives across the street from a nice shopping area in Beaverton that had a place called, if I remember correctly, The Growelerie. It had all kinds of local beer on tap.

[Daehawk]

Just because my sister gave me one.

[Jeff V]

I had a Dragon's Milk White Stout the other day. More like an ale than a stout, it gave my chili an interesting flavor.

[Alefroth]

That seems like a big gimmick. A stout is an ale. An ale made with black patent malt and roasted barley. Ingredients that are bound to color the finished product.

[Jeff V]

I should clarify then and say it was more like a flavorful pale ale. Much more hoppy than any stout tends to be, and the booze is far closer to a pale ale as well, a paltry 5% (the original Dragon's Milk is in the low teens -- 14% I think?) At $2.50 for a half-liter can, I can't complain about the price. You get what you pay for I guess.

[Scuzz]

I had my first Celebration Ale today. Good stuff.

[Kraken]

Today was my packie's fall beer tasting. I haven't been to one since the pandemic started -- of course several were canceled, but this is their third one since we all decided to ignore the pandemic and the first one I had planned to risk. Twelve breweries pouring 65 beers, plus free noshes from The Sophisticated Swine. This morning I tested negative for covid after having endured it all week. I was SOOOO tempted to go...damn my stupid social conscience, who even has one of those anymore?

Well, their Cohasset location's tasting is next weekend. It's a bit of a drive, which I don't like to do when drinking is the objective, but I'm SOOOO tempted. Maybe Wife will take me. She just got flu and covid shots and I should have natural immunity until the next variants become dominant.

[Jeff V]

I've not been to a beer tasting since before the pandemic. I don't think those have returned around here, Binny's used to shout from the top of the mountain (metaphorically, there are no mountains in Illinois) whenever they had one, and I've not been spammed with emails of that ilk.

The next best thing is my local bottle shop with quickly rotating taps. They always have stuff I'm not interested in (one of their 15 taps is always root beer, they usually have a sour, sometimes barley wine or mead, and one or two pastry beers. And recently it took them more than a month to get rid of an abomination called "Malort Spritzer"). Still, every time I go there, I can usually have 4-5 different beers I've not tried before. They sell them in as small as 5 oz glasses, which is just fine for tasting.

[Rumpy]

I remember having a white stout somewhere before, but I didn't know what to think. It's one of those beers that end up confusing the palette. It was thick and frothy with vanilla notes, but made me want a dark stout instead.

[Isgrimnur]

Day 1:

[Isgrimnur]

Day 2:

[Daehawk]

I was looking for my usual, Killians Red, at Walmart. But seems Walmart does not sell it. Weird. They redo their entire store then get less selection of beer than the food stores up the street from them.

Anyways Tried Shiner Bock. I like Amber Bock so why not. And ya know what?...Its gooooood.

[Isgrimnur]

From Texas, and they’re a staple

[Isgrimnur]

Beer Advent Day 3:

[Isgrimnur]

Day 4 (I'm behind)

[Isgrimnur]

Day 5:

[Isgrimnur]

Day 6: