Beer/Ale/Lager Appreciation Thread

[RelentlessOblivion]

^^^

 

[FatherAlabaster]

Sweet lord, I feel like Luke right now - walked right into that one...

[RelentlessOblivion]

Obvious puns avoid you cannot hmm

[FatherAlabaster]

When all this delicious beer you drink, and then in the morning up you wake, feel as good you will not. 

[RelentlessOblivion]

Hangover to aspirin: "If you strike me down I shall return more powerful then you could possibly imagine"

[BlutAusNerd]

Their Pale Ale is a classic. It's a go-to of mine. I'm also fond of their Celebration and Kellerweiss. Torpedo isn't my favorite double IPA, but it's alright. The really good stuff is in the big bottles, for me, especially their Estate Harvest (for which they produce every ingredient themselves) and some collaborations. But also, you're more into the malty and dark side of things, which I wouldn't call their specialty. 

I'm a hop head as well, I really enjoy tons from both sides of the spectrum. Sierra Nevada just strikes me as a Rogue tier middle of the road brewer with mostly decent offerings, but too few really strong beers to edge out their local competition and set them apart. Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[FatherAlabaster]

I'm a hop head as well, I really enjoy tons from both sides of the spectrum. Sierra Nevada just strikes me as a Rogue tier middle of the road brewer with mostly decent offerings, but too few really strong beers to edge out their local competition and set them apart. Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

I guess I can understand that, if you're looking for something that'll really blow you away. They tend to focus on balance and drinkability. They're one of the forerunners of the craft brewing boom, and their Pale Ale has remained remarkably consistent over the years. To my understanding, it's actually the benchmark by which the American Pale Ale style is judged. I love the way they balance their yeast and malt profiles. They don't go in for the extremely bright fresh hop flavors that have become popular recently; to me, they're an old favorite that I can count on when I'm not in the mood to explore. As much as I enjoy Green Flash, Ballast Point, Stone, and some Lagunitas, I'll frequently reach for Sierra Nevada first. Try a fresh bottle of Estate Harvest, it's pretty great. FWIW, I don't get much out of Rogue either; I think they're trying too hard to be unique.

Had one of these last night - an Anchor Christmas ale. Anchor is another old-school mainstay of West Coast craft brewing, with a style benchmark of their own - Anchor Steam, the California common ale. The Christmas ale is slightly different every year. This one isn't quite a winter warmer at 5.5% ABV, but it's a very pleasant dark ale with a nice malt sweetness, only a hint of roast, and a spice profile that suggests traditional gruet beers more than the expected mulling-spice flavor I'd associate with a typical Christmas spiced ale. Not a great beer, but certainly well made and likeable. 

[RelentlessOblivion]

I would quite like to try some of these beers. We don't get many, if any, of them over here for some reason.

[BlutAusNerd]

I would quite like to try some of these beers. We don't get many, if any, of them over here for some reason.

Well, if you ever make it to MDF, rest assured that the beers will flow, and our crew tends to pack a good variety.

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[FatherAlabaster]

Tonight's game-changer - the "Berserker" Imperial stout from Midnight Sun in Alaska. Alcohol warmth and whiskey/vanilla notes are dominant, giving way to a moderately rich malt flavor well-balanced between sweetness and roast. Thankfully there isn't much of the slate-like bitterness that these beers can exhibit if they're more strongly hopped. I don't love this as much as I did the barrel-aged Bell's porter that I had, but it's very good. If you're going to drink this, you should probably like whiskey.

[BlutAusNerd]

Just polished this off. Very sweet and malty, large alcohol flavor and scent, lightly hopped, lots of chocolate on the palette. Usually I have a hard time with beers this sweet, but it fairly balanced in a way that I can't really describe, not the least bit overwhelming, despite how my description sounds.

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[FatherAlabaster]

Nice, Oskar Blues is good stuff. 

[MacabreEternal]

Theakston Barista Stout - not that much of a "barista" experience as it wasn't poured by an Eastern European teenager however I got more vanilla than coffee. Decent enough and the bar that serves it is across the road from my hotel, this ends badly!

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[BlutAusNerd]

Tastes like drinking a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie. Awesome.

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[FatherAlabaster]

Wow, a pumpkin beer BAN likes! Cool. I've never even heard of that brewery.

I'm pretty disappointed with Southern Tier's "Old Man" winter ale - despite its higher than average ABV, it doesn't really function as a warmer. The malt quality is dominated by a bitter roast flavor that's compounded by a mostly bitter hop profile. It's not quite balanced and there's no particular character that it defines for itself. 

Thankfully I can fix most of the issues by dumping a slug of rye whiskey in the glass with it.

[BlutAusNerd]

Wow, a pumpkin beer BAN likes! Cool. I've never even heard of that brewery.

I'm pretty disappointed with Southern Tier's "Old Man" winter ale - despite its higher than average ABV, it doesn't really function as a warmer. The malt quality is dominated by a bitter roast flavor that's compounded by a mostly bitter hop profile. It's not quite balanced and there's no particular character that it defines for itself. 

Thankfully I can fix most of the issues by dumping a slug of rye whiskey in the glass with it. [emoji3]

There is a pretty great one from the local brewer Uinta called Jacked that I really like. It's a strong dark pumpkin ale with all kinds of kick, I think it's around 10% ABV and tasty as hell.

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[RelentlessOblivion]

Summer time here so if I were drinking regularly I would be moving into pale ale and IPA territory. As it turns out I'm exclusively drinking socially and very little even then. Might have a glass of wine with my Christmas dinner.

[MacabreEternal]

Got back to basics last night with a Newcastle Brown Ale.  Been one of my favourite tipples since I was a teenager (except I got to drink it out of my dimple glass pint pot so looked about 50 drinking it).  There's a cupboard full of booze already for the sister in laws' 40th although the tone got lowered yesterday when the gf's younger brother confirmed he was attending (hooray my favourite person) and we had to buy Carling - or "piss in a glass" to give it the scientific name! 

[RelentlessOblivion]

For a second I had to double check as that description also applies to both fosters and west end draught. Those "breweries" (and I use the term very loosely) are doing their best to ruin the reputation of Australian beer.

[FatherAlabaster]

That's roight mayte! Fowahstuz! Austrayleeun fow beeyuh! Haven't had that for years. We don't get a lot from your side of the world. There's a promising New Zealand brewery called Renaissance, and I keep wanting to try their stuff, but all the bottles I can find at my grocery are expired. 

[RelentlessOblivion]

We have a couple of average to good breweries. James Squire is one of the better ones but can be hit or miss (their IPA is pretty good but their Lager is awful). Admittedly I don't know as much as I should about Aussie beer (or beer in general) but I also like James Boag's (exclusively a Lager brewery).

[MacabreEternal]

Tonight's Trappist poison. 9.5% but not overpowering.

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[FatherAlabaster]

That's yummy. I've had a few days off the sauce, but I'll probably have a beer or two at the show tonight. 

[BlutAusNerd]

That gets my vote for best trappist tripel ever. The perfect blend of malt, spice, and flavor. Great mouthfeel and head too.

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[MacabreEternal]

Enjoying a Meantime Yakina Red at present, very citrus in flavour but balances against an otherwise overwhelming bitterness well.  Have an Icelandic porter to try later and a black barley wine also.