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RelentlessOblivion

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It was something like 14 F reading in my car this morning. I realize that's tee shirt and shorts weather for Zack, but for Maryland, fucking cold. I like red wine. I like cabs, that said I like it approximately 100 times less than a good beer or even whisky. I like wine, but when I'm thirsty, after exertion or warm, fuck wine.  

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Hahaha, it's 8° right now at around midnight, going down to a low of 1° by 7am. I wouldn't care so much if we had adequate heating and insulation and the pipes weren't going to freeze leaving us without running water. I do have some bottled drinking water and a few 5 gallon pails of bath water set aside to flush with if need be, but still having no running water is a fucking pain in the ass. Stove is cranking out heat in the corner but it's 55° at my desk in the living/bedroom right now, which is cool but he's under the covers and I'm bundled up in 5 layers with a blanket over my legs so I'm reasonably comfortable. It was 36° in the kitchen two hours ago and that's not pleasant, if you stay in there too long you won't be able to feel your fingers. I was just heating up some delicious Italian Wedding soup from the deli in the microwave to warm me up, and I grabbed a beer to go with it, but I didn't stay in there any longer than I had to. Insulation guys say they're coming Tuesday, so we'll only have to make it through tonight and then 3 more nights of this frigid bullshit. Hilarious that they close everything down in FLA for temps above freezing in the mid 30's. That's too cold for your kitchen, but it's really not bad at all for outside. Maybe no one has any kind of heat down there?

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7 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Hahaha, it's 8° right now at around midnight, going down to a low of 1° by 7am. I wouldn't care so much if we had adequate heating and insulation and the pipes weren't going to freeze leaving us without running water. I do have some bottled drinking water and a few 5 gallon pails of bath water set aside to flush with if need be, but still having no running water is a fucking pain in the ass. Stove is cranking out heat in the corner but it's 55° at my desk in the living/bedroom right now, which is cool but he's under the covers and I'm bundled up in 5 layers with a blanket over my legs so I'm reasonably comfortable. It was 36° in the kitchen two hours ago and that's not pleasant, if you stay in there too long you won't be able to feel your fingers. I was just heating up some delicious Italian Wedding soup from the deli in the microwave to warm me up, and I grabbed a beer to go with it, but I didn't stay in there any longer than I had to. Insulation guys say they're coming Tuesday, so we'll only have to make it through tonight and then 3 more nights of this frigid bullshit. Hilarious that they close everything down in FLA for temps above freezing in the mid 30's. That's too cold for your kitchen, but it's really not bad at all for outside. Maybe no one has any kind of heat down there?

Yeah that's the thing. We don't have the equipment for cold weather. No salt/sand for the roads, no snow plows, we don't have furnaces, most have a warm jacket you guys would think of as light. 30° is the low end of the normal temperature range here that we see 1-2 times a year, so there's really no need. And most people don't know how to drive in snow/ice. That's why shit closes down. We have tons of bridges here which tend to ice up when it gets that cold, so better to shut down than have a mass casualty event I guess. People still go out and do their regular business, so it's really just a free day off for schools and government workers.

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On 1/21/2022 at 8:41 AM, Sheol said:

Somewhere am entire generation of French sommeliers are centrifuging in their graves. No, you're not supposed to chill red wine. It usually taste like ass and kills all the flavor nuances. If you don't like the acidity of red wine perhaps a sweet dessert wine might be an option. Or just drink Port LOL!

Thanks for the ideas Sheol. Desert wine I do prefer and port too.😋 The red wine was a freebie from work. You'd be right if it was a good wine, chilling it would be as much a waste i reckon as  mixing a great single malt whisky with coke. For a budget wine  I think even some sommeliers might agree that to chill it is a ok option. I think cooking with it would be worse too as Id taste even less of it. I have on occasion drunk a good red wine and have enjoyed it so could just be wine in question 

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Kicking back with some overpriced small batch Willet bourbon that I got on sale. Very smooth, on the sweet side. Cool lookin' bottle. 

Willett Pot Still Reserve 🥃 Straight Bourbon Whiskey | Caskers

Morbific/Ominous Sleep of Putridity. Next up, Cerebral Rot. I find OSDM and bourbon pair quite well. the putridity of DM balances the smoothness of the bourbon. I'm getting traces of vanilla oak and rotting flesh. Sounds weird but it just works. 

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12 minutes ago, markm said:

Kicking back with some overpriced small batch Willet bourbon that I got on sale. Very smooth, on the sweet side. Cool lookin' bottle. 

Willett Pot Still Reserve 🥃 Straight Bourbon Whiskey | Caskers

Morbific/Ominous Sleep of Putridity. Next up, Cerebral Rot. I find OSDM and bourbon pair quite well. the putridity of DM balances the smoothness of the bourbon. I'm getting traces of vanilla oak and rotting flesh. Sounds weird but it just works. 

I guess it is overpriced but it's still really nice. Their rye, now, that's another story, I remember it being fantastic. Been years since I bought any worthy sipping liquor. I can see the pairing... Maker's Mark will always remind me of Burning Witch.

I'm currently drinking some Sierra Nevada Celebration IPA. I've gotten back into the hazy fresh-hop New England IPAs over the past year but I look forward to this one every winter. Big classic oak door of malt and bitterness.

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25 minutes ago, markm said:

Kicking back with some overpriced small batch Willet bourbon that I got on sale. Very smooth, on the sweet side. Cool lookin' bottle. 

Willett Pot Still Reserve 🥃 Straight Bourbon Whiskey | Caskers

Morbific/Ominous Sleep of Putridity. Next up, Cerebral Rot. I find OSDM and bourbon pair quite well. the putridity of DM balances the smoothness of the bourbon. I'm getting traces of vanilla oak and rotting flesh. Sounds weird but it just works. 

Willet was one of the first bourbons I really loved. Good choice! I'm probably going to go with a little Eagle Rare tonight which is my current favorite.

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1 minute ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Sierra Nevada Celebration IPA

Every year I tell myself, even though I'm not an IPA guy, I need to get a bottle of that, just to try it, and every year I seem to get distracted by something else. The number of local breweries popping up and releasing new and interesting things has gotten to a point I can't keep up, let alone hit up the old standbys like Sierra Nevada

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1 minute ago, SurgicalBrute said:

Every year I tell myself, even though I'm not an IPA guy, I need to get a bottle of that, just to try it, and every year I seem to get distracted by something else. The number of local breweries popping up and releasing new and interesting things has gotten to a point I can't keep up, let alone hit up the old standbys like Sierra Nevada

If you can appreciate a classic old-school IPA it's really enjoyable. Malty without being cloying, bitter without being chalky. It's kind of a comfort-food winter beer for me.

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The only Sierra Nevada I've had that I liked was at the brewery itself. Nothing they offer in stores. Shame because they can make good shit, but the stuff they sell widely is meh and about a touch better than the mass market stuff. My best buddy lives about 2 miles from the brewery. Still there's about 6 other breweries we'd rather hit when I'm there. If you're ever in Asheville, Mills River is where it's at.

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Sierra used to make some pretty special limited edition beers (I feel like I remember one particular harvest ale being absolutely amazing) but I haven't seen any in years. Probably not since they opened their east coast branch. Their regular old Pale Ale was my go-to for a long time. I guess I have a soft spot for their particular flavor balance. Can't really drink it like I used to. I was a big IPA fan for a long time, lost interest for a while, but since my sense of smell got half destroyed by Covid I've redeveloped my love for the fresh hoppy flavors as something that really cuts through.

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1 hour ago, FatherAlabaster said:

If you can appreciate a classic old-school IPA it's really enjoyable. Malty without being cloying, bitter without being chalky. It's kind of a comfort-food winter beer for me.

Yeah, I've heard nothing but good things about it. I know a lot of beer fans swear by it during the holidays. I just need to find that rare intersection of being in the mood for an IPA and not getting distracted by whatever new barrel-aged malt bomb just came out this week

@navybsnOh man...I really enjoy some of their stuff. Narwhal is a good, solid RiS with a great price point, and the barrel-aged version is fantastic.

Also tend to find their Oktoberfest to be a nice solid rendition of that style of beer

@FatherAlabaster I think one of the reasons that's happening here in my area is because local stuff is forcing a lot of out-of-state brewers off the shelf. Maryland used to get a lot of stuff from outside the state, but over the last few years, as local breweries have popped up more and more, we just don't see those beers anymore

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On 1/22/2022 at 4:17 AM, markm said:

It was something like 14 F reading in my car this morning. I realize that's tee shirt and shorts weather for Zack, but for Maryland, fucking cold. I like red wine. I like cabs, that said I like it approximately 100 times less than a good beer or even whisky. I like wine, but when I'm thirsty, after exertion or warm, fuck wine.  

Hello markm. In Cambridge UK weather doesn't really get that cold fortunately. 24 f is temperature in work van other day. The Thermal socks I got recently made boots more comfortable especially as my work is outside based.When my family went to Budapest few years ago they got themselves thick insulated boots as temperature was -10 f and they said they were worth it.

Re alcohol. Agree with you I think whisky is better than wine. Blended scotch is mostly what I drink e.g. Whyte and Mackay, famous grouse, Johnny walker red etc. 

My sister got me Woodford reserve bourbon which I liked. Have you tried this bourbon? Also the willets stuff you got has interesting bottle. Would you buy it again if not on offer?

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11 hours ago, SurgicalBrute said:

Yeah, I've heard nothing but good things about it. I know a lot of beer fans swear by it during the holidays. I just need to find that rare intersection of being in the mood for an IPA and not getting distracted by whatever new barrel-aged malt bomb just came out this week

@navybsnOh man...I really enjoy some of their stuff. Narwhal is a good, solid RiS with a great price point, and the barrel-aged version is fantastic.

Also tend to find their Oktoberfest to be a nice solid rendition of that style of beer

@FatherAlabaster I think one of the reasons that's happening here in my area is because local stuff is forcing a lot of out-of-state brewers off the shelf. Maryland used to get a lot of stuff from outside the state, but over the last few years, as local breweries have popped up more and more, we just don't see those beers anymore

The two things that annoy me about beer shopping where I am in MA are that it's hard to find a decent selection of anything besides IPAs, and that so many of the otherwise awesome IPAs on the shelves are way out of date because everyone stocked too much and couldn't move it all. It says Keep Cold And Drink Fresh and it's been sitting on a room temp shelf since last May. I could really go for a barrel-aged malt bomb about now.

I don't want to complain too much, I'm a 15 minute drive from the place that makes the best production mead I've ever had. Good cider up here too.

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1 hour ago, blaaacdoommmmfan said:

Hello markm. In Cambridge UK weather doesn't really get that cold fortunately. 24 f is temperature in work van other day. The Thermal socks I got recently made boots more comfortable especially as my work is outside based.When my family went to Budapest few years ago they got themselves thick insulated boots as temperature was -10 f and they said they were worth it.

Re alcohol. Agree with you I think whisky is better than wine. Blended scotch is mostly what I drink e.g. Whyte and Mackay, famous grouse, Johnny walker red etc. 

My sister got me Woodford reserve bourbon which I liked. Have you tried this bourbon? Also the willets stuff you got has interesting bottle. Would you buy it again if not on offer?

Good wool socks are a must. I've been buying these overpriced but killer socks made in Vermont called Darn Tough that come with an unconditional lifetime guarantee. I'll look for them if I can get them on sale especially at a LL Bean and R.E.I. stores, which I'm luck enough to have stores close to where I work. 

Woodford Reserve is one of the best known brands. In metal terms they are a mainstream brand of whisky. They're like the Metallica and Iron Maiden of whisky and they're a fine place to start. I don't love WR but enjoy it as a kind of rail or house brand for making cocktails like an Old Fashioned or mixed with a splash of ginger ale or ginger beer. I've had their higher end Double Oaked in the $60 range, but there are better choices for that much coin. 

For a good well priced high octane sipping whisky, the go to brand has got to be Knob Creek. If you're new to whisky and want to try something nice without breaking the wallet, give Knob Creek. At a 100 proof a little goes along way \m/   

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4 minutes ago, markm said:

Good wool socks are a must. I've been buying these overpriced but killer socks made in Vermont called Darn Tough that come with an unconditional lifetime guarantee. I'll look for them if I can get them on sale especially at a LL Bean and R.E.I. stores, which I'm luck enough to have stores close to where I work. 

Woodford Reserve is one of the best known brands. In metal terms they are a mainstream brand of whisky. They're like the Metallica and Iron Maiden of whisky and they're a fine place to start. I don't love WR but enjoy it as a kind of rail or house brand for making cocktails like an Old Fashioned or mixed with a splash of ginger ale or ginger beer. I've had their higher end Double Oaked in the $60 range, but there are better choices for that much coin. 

For a good well priced high octane sipping whisky, the go to brand has got to be Knob Creek. If you're new to whisky and want to try something nice without breaking the wallet, give Knob Creek. At a 100 proof a little goes along way \m/   

Knob Creek, especially the small batch and single barrel, are excellent for the price and even stand up very well to much more expensive bourbons. Another fine choice is Four Roses. The single barrel is my favorite but the small batch is very good too. Both brands are fine places to start. I do like Woodford and Willet, but agree there are much better choices out there.

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The best bang for your buck on the Rye side is High West. Their entire line of blended whiskeys both ryes and bourbons are solid and they're all around $30 - $35. But their double rye is exceptional. I grabbed a bottle of their limited release rye not too long ago for $60 and it was very nice. I hadn't realized how much it was till the dude rang me up but when I got it home and tasted it I wasn't mad. That said I do have bottles of both Knob Creek rye and bourbon here as well as some Woodford rye which is better than their bourbon imo.

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1 hour ago, FatherAlabaster said:

The two things that annoy me about beer shopping where I am in MA are that it's hard to find a decent selection of anything besides IPAs, and that so many of the otherwise awesome IPAs on the shelves are way out of date because everyone stocked too much and couldn't move it all. It says Keep Cold And Drink Fresh and it's been sitting on a room temp shelf since last May. I could really go for a barrel-aged malt bomb about now.

I don't want to complain too much, I'm a 15 minute drive from the place that makes the best production mead I've ever had. Good cider up here too.

This has just become an issue in general with craft beer...especially now that those Hazy/NE style IPA's have taken off in popularity. I'm lucky enough to live in an area that has a couple of really well-stocked stores, so I'm never too hard-up for choices, but even with that I usually move on to basic styles like browns, Belgians, or bocks (when I can find them) in the spring and summer because once the weather starts to warm up, it's like a 1/9 ratio of dark beer to Pale Ale/IPA releases for the next 6 months.

My understanding is that part of the reason stores, especially if it's a mom-and-pop shop, need to buy a lot of those beers is so they can develop enough of a relationship with the distributors to get a hold of the more limited releases

EDIT: Let me know if you're ever looking for something specific though. Might be able to work something out where I can get something up to you every once in awhile

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14 minutes ago, SurgicalBrute said:

This has just become an issue in general with craft beer...especially now that those Hazy/NE style IPA's have taken off in popularity. I'm lucky enough to live in an area that has a couple of really well-stocked stores, so I'm never too hard-up for choices, but even with that I usually move on to basic styles like browns, Belgians, or bocks (when I can find them) in the spring and summer because once the weather starts to warm up, it's like a 1/9 ratio of dark beer to Pale Ale/IPA releases for the next 6 months.

My understanding is that part of the reason stores, especially if it's a mom-and-pop shop, need to buy a lot of those beers is so they can develop enough of a relationship with the distributors to get a hold of the more limited releases

EDIT: Let me know if you're ever looking for something specific though. Might be able to work something out where I can get something up to you every once in awhile

That's super cool of you to offer man, much appreciated. It's weird to me how hard it can be to find good dark beers up here, you'd think these long New England winters would inspire more of them. 

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Yeah I remember the time Victory brought out that collab with High West, Victory at Sea barrel aged porter. Had some a few times when I lived out in Denver and it was absolutely the most delicious beer I had ever tasted. But then I couldn't find it anywhere when I moved back east to rural Jersey where it seems like all they drink is Bud, Miller and Coors and maybe Heineken. Surge got a case of it for me from his local bottle-o and when I was coming back from seeing the family down in FLA a few weeks later I detoured to swing by his house and grab it. This was April '18, I still have 2 bottles left. Can't bring myself to drink them 'cause then it will all be gone forever.

And yeah rural New England is the same way. We go camping up in western Maine every year the first week of August. And no matter how many different stores I go to up there looking for beer they almost never have any dark stouts and porters in stock besides like just Guinness. I've tried some various Allagash stuff up there but haven't really liked any of it. So in recent years I have resorted to just bringing my beer for the week with me. Nothing like a nice stout under the stars by the campfire when you're out in the woods miles away from civilization.

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16 minutes ago, FatherAlabaster said:

That's super cool of you to offer man, much appreciated. It's weird to me how hard it can be to find good dark beers up here, you'd think these long New England winters would inspire more of them. 

Thing that always blows me away, at last in my area, is how fast some of them will sell out. I know the style isn't as popular as the various IPAs, but at the same time, barely any of them sit around long enough to really become shelf-turds, so there's obviously a demand. You'd think there'd be more brewers trying to leverage that a bit more

@GoatmasterGeneral Surprised you don't like the Allagash Black...always thought that was a pretty solid, basic stout myself.

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Frustrated about not being able to get the barrel aged stouts I crave, I talked to the owner at my local beer and liquor store. His name is Patrick, he's from Ireland and he told me that he drinks stouts and porters himself, so he's always on the lookout for some. But he said they're hard to get. He said the distributor's salesmen come in to get his order and they'll have 92 IPA's n shit on offer for him to choose from and he's lucky if they'll have 1 porter, sometimes they won't even have one. Maybe it's the specific distributors he deals with.

 

@Surge: Actually I have some Allagash Nocturna in the cabinet right now, a barrel aged porter thats very good. But they never had anything dark like that available in the stores of westerm rural Maine. Even though the brewery is located in Maine, they only had the golden beers on hand up there, nothing dark. Maybe it doesn't sell well up there with the locals. Everything good I've ever had from Allagash I got down here.

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