What's on your mind?

[GoatmasterGeneral]

1 hour ago, AlSymerz said:

Beer should taste like beer not a fruit bowl....at least it doesn't taste like a fruit salad.

Alright, but thrash is fruity and you love that. And Iron Maiden, they don't come much fruitier than that. Seems like a bit of a contradiction from where I sit.

[AlSymerz]

I never said I don't like fruit.  Just that it has no place in beer.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

1 hour ago, AlSymerz said:

I never said I don't like fruit.  Just that it has no place in beer.

There is no fruit in the beer. Hops, barley, malt, yeast.

I don't like fruit. Blueberries maybe but that's about it.

3 hours ago, Thatguy said:

Or he's found the VB...which is piss by the way.

Don't you Ozzies call all beer "piss" even the good stuff?

[AlSymerz]

 Any beer that tastes like a fruit bowl is a travesty, all booze is piss and too much booze is pissed.

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

8 minutes ago, AlSymerz said:

 Any beer that tastes like a fruit bowl is a travesty, all booze is piss and too much booze is pissed.

 

There is no fruit in the beer.  

Yanks could never adopt your Commonwealthers' usage of "pissed" because pissed already means angry over here. So if one of your bogan juicer mob says I got home late and she was pissed, it'd mean she'd been hitting the sauce while you were out and now she's sloshed. If we Yanks say I got home late and she was pissed it means she was waiting for you with a blunt object and/or she's changed the locks, and/or she's thrown all your clothes out on the front lawn and set them on fire.

[Thatguy]

38 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Don't you Ozzies call all beer "piss" even the good stuff?

Yeah, nah. We certainly go on the piss, but piss is also weak and watery beer, like, XXXX.

[AlSymerz]

15 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

There is no fruit in the beer.  

Yanks could never adopt your Commonwealthers' usage of "pissed" because pissed already means angry over here. So if one of your bogan juicer mob says I got home late and she was pissed, it'd mean she'd been hitting the sauce while you were out and now she's sloshed. If we Yanks say I got home late and she was pissed it means she was waiting for you with a blunt object and/or she's changed the locks, and/or she's thrown all your clothes out on the front lawn and set them on fire.

We can attach more than one meaning to many words we use. We can be pissed, drink piss and have a piss. All three can be related but they don't have to be. Often beer is called piss water but generally (by those who drink it) they are referring to light beer not full strength. Fruity beer has always been drunk by man bun sporting, whispy bearded inner city yuppies. But it's all still piss in general because if someone is hitting the piss the are drinking alcohol of any sort.

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

2 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

Yeah, nah. We certainly go on the piss, but piss is also weak and watery beer, like, XXXX.

We call all that weak watery stuff piss water. But if you said to a Yank someone's 'on the piss' we'd probably think you meant they were in the dunny or they'd pissed their pants or something. We don't say piss up or piss artist or anything like that.

I have heard the phrase "piss drunk" a few times, but never just pissed all by itself. We do have pretty much all the other dozens of slang expressions you'd use for drunkenness over here, just not pissed.

[AlSymerz]

Spend a Friday night out here and it's not uncommon to see someone who has been on the piss all night and come midnight he's as pissed as a maggot which can easily been seen by the fact that he's pissed his pants because all he drank all night was fruit flavour beer.

 

[FatherAlabaster]

4 hours ago, SurgicalBrute said:

Funny you say that because my understanding of hazy ipa's are that they're typically not very bitter. That was supposedly the reason for their popularity... they caught on with the more casual market who wanted to be seen drinking trendy beers, but didn't like the bitter taste of the west coast style.

 

Bittering depends on the beer. "Hoppy" doesn't necessarily mean "bitter". The hazy New England pale ales keep the later flavor and aroma hop additions much more forward. That's what I loved about them when I couldn't smell things properly, there was enough there for me to latch onto. I don't love hop bitterness for its own sake (don't mind it but don't seek it out) and I really don't like that back-of-the-throat chalky quality that comes with using overly hard water. Talking about trends, there was a trend in overbearing bitterness for a while before the new school hazy style caught on, and I'm glad that one died back. I'm looking for balance and fresh hop flavor/aroma when I drink IPAs.

It's slim pickings for the West Coast style up here and harder to find it fresh. We get Stone and Sierra Nevada, that's about it. I used to enjoy them but they can't compete with the local stuff for my dollar. They're just not as good. I also think Sierra has fallen off in general, I don't know if it's just their east coast brewery or my tastes changed or what, but they used to be my favorite all around brewery and now they're just kind of meh. I do look forward to their Celebration Ale in the winter, that's about as close as I get to a west coast IPA anymore.

 

[navybsn]

25 minutes ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Talking about trends, there was a trend in overbearing bitterness

I believe that is what really turned me off to IPAs. Like Surge, I won't turn down a perfectly good beer if someone is handing it to me, but they're never my first choice. Down here, breweries either try to see just how bitter they can make a beer as some kind of badge of honor or how many weird ass fruit combos can be added. It's akin to the hot wings trend, let's make these perfectly good chicken wings inedible as some test of manhood by adding 43 ghost peppers and top it with a scotch bonnet. People claim to enjoy them, but I can't see how.

And it's all fine and good. Plenty of beer out there to like for everyone. Just annoying that every brewery has to have 60-75% of the menu dedicated to the same variation of style. In stores, seems that's all they carry anymore and most just suck (the ones you mentioned, Voodoo Ranger, Space Dust, 420, the list goes on). Many started out good, but over the years got bought out by conglomerates or over expanded and the quality dropped. Stone was sold several years ago and had never been the same.

Everyone has their own preferences. I personally don't like German beer. Lukewarm on IPAs and Pilsners. Will never seek one out, but will never turn down a freebie.

[FatherAlabaster]

22 minutes ago, navybsn said:

I believe that is what really turned me off to IPAs. Like Surge, I won't turn down a perfectly good beer if someone is handing it to me, but they're never my first choice. Down here, breweries either try to see just how bitter they can make a beer as some kind of badge of honor or how many weird ass fruit combos can be added. It's akin to the hot wings trend, let's make these perfectly good chicken wings inedible as some test of manhood by adding 43 ghost peppers and top it with a scotch bonnet. People claim to enjoy them, but I can't see how.

And it's all fine and good. Plenty of beer out there to like for everyone. Just annoying that every brewery has to have 60-75% of the menu dedicated to the same variation of style. In stores, seems that's all they carry anymore and most just suck (the ones you mentioned, Voodoo Ranger, Space Dust, 420, the list goes on). Many started out good, but over the years got bought out by conglomerates or over expanded and the quality dropped. Stone was sold several years ago and had never been the same.

Everyone has their own preferences. I personally don't like German beer. Lukewarm on IPAs and Pilsners. Will never seek one out, but will never turn down a freebie.

How does it feel to be part of the basic-bitch casual crowd that can't handle the throat-eradicating, tongue-petrifying bitterness real men crave?

I think part of the reason they're everywhere is that they're easy to do an ok job on quickly, and the hop flavor and bitterness can cover up a lot of little flaws and inconsistencies that would ruin a more nuanced beer. But that doesn't make for a great experience. They are not all like that. 

If you're ever up this way, like for Messe Des Morts, lemme know. Too much good beer up here for you not to try some.

[navybsn]

26 minutes ago, FatherAlabaster said:

How does it feel to be part of the basic-bitch casual crowd that can't handle the throat-eradicating, tongue-petrifying bitterness real men crave?

Pretty good actually. Glad to not have enough hair for a manly man bun or grizzly adams beard too.

Definitely a regional thing. I'm sure there are plenty of good variations in local areas. The mass produced stuff always disappoints no matter the style. Beer should be local, like food in my opinion.

[MacabreEternal]

After recent health scare and the fact that any amount of alcohol now induces crippling anxiety for at least 24 hours afterwards, I quit drinking around 3 months ago.  I have any zero alcohol option "beer" that is on offer in whatever place we are in at the time but the taste of these tings varies wildly from borderline tap water to completely OTT flavourings that are not well balanced.  Erdinger and Leffe are the pick of the bunch with San Miguel coming a distant third.  

Increasingly, when in bars with microbreweries or specialist draughts I find the zero alcohol stuff sells out pretty quickly suggesting they order/produce minimal amounts.  Prefer a green tea nowadays to be fair though.

[navybsn]

Non-alcoholic beer is actually a big trend with the kids and breweries are ramping up production to match. Personally, I don't see the point, but whatever floats their boat. If I want something non-alcoholic, many better choices. But hey, for folks with legit medical reasons to avoid alcohol but still want to enjoy a beer, it's a boon.

[SurgicalBrute]

I don't know if it's worth a damn, not having tried it, but I've seen in my local that several of the better known foreign brewers like Paulaner and Weihenstephan are making non-alcoholic versions of their beer. If anyone can pull off a reliably decent tasting non-alcoholic, it's probably going to be one of them.

1 hour ago, navybsn said:

The mass produced stuff always disappoints no matter the style.

What's interesting about those breweries though, is because their beer is so "blah" in flavor, their quality control is absolutely topnotch. It has to be because being so lacking in actual flavor any deviation would be incredibly noticeable

[navybsn]

2 hours ago, SurgicalBrute said:

What's interesting about those breweries though, is because their beer is so "blah" in flavor, their quality control is absolutely topnotch. It has to be because being so lacking in actual flavor any deviation would be incredibly noticeable

Manager: Quality Control, make sure all that shit beer tastes exactly the same. Bland and unoffensive.

QC: Got it sir. No problem.

[SurgicalBrute]

5 minutes ago, navybsn said:

Manager: Quality Control, make sure all that shit beer tastes exactly the same. Bland and unoffensive.

QC: Got it sir. No problem.

I mean, you have to respect their commitment to being mediocre 😆

[RexKeltoi]

13 hours ago, Thatguy said:

Or he's found the VB...which is piss by the way.

True, and is Thatguy approved.

But fruit flavoured beer is not beer. It's just nasty.

Having problems with my computer lately it is a 20 year old IMAC, that is my excuse and I am sticking with it 

5 hours ago, SurgicalBrute said:

I don't know if it's worth a damn, not having tried it, but I've seen in my local that several of the better known foreign brewers like Paulaner and Weihenstephan are making non-alcoholic versions of their beer. If anyone can pull off a reliably decent tasting non-alcoholic, it's probably going to be one of them.

What's interesting about those breweries though, is because their beer is so "blah" in flavor, their quality control is absolutely topnotch. It has to be because being so lacking in actual flavor any deviation would be incredibly noticeable

Weihenstephan is without a doubt one of the best beers I have ever tasted about $6 a bottle here but worth it. That being said I try to avoid beer as much as possible and stick to clear alcohol when I drink, I lift weights and don't need those estrogen bombs in my system moobs and dickey do's are the last thing I want to be rockin. Vodka straight up with lime and soda water or Single Malt Scotch neat, vodka martini's and Black Russians are tasty too 🤘  

[AlSymerz]

3 hours ago, navybsn said:

Manager: Quality Control, make sure all that shit beer tastes exactly the same. Bland and unoffensive.

QC: Got it sir. No problem.

Make all beer taste like shit seems closer to the truth.

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

9 hours ago, navybsn said:

I believe that is what really turned me off to IPAs. Like Surge, I won't turn down a perfectly good beer if someone is handing it to me, but they're never my first choice. Down here, breweries either try to see just how bitter they can make a beer as some kind of badge of honor or how many weird ass fruit combos can be added. It's akin to the hot wings trend, let's make these perfectly good chicken wings inedible as some test of manhood by adding 43 ghost peppers and top it with a scotch bonnet. People claim to enjoy them, but I can't see how.

And it's all fine and good. Plenty of beer out there to like for everyone. Just annoying that every brewery has to have 60-75% of the menu dedicated to the same variation of style. In stores, seems that's all they carry anymore and most just suck (the ones you mentioned, Voodoo Ranger, Space Dust, 420, the list goes on). Many started out good, but over the years got bought out by conglomerates or over expanded and the quality dropped. Stone was sold several years ago and had never been the same.

Everyone has their own preferences. I personally don't like German beer. Lukewarm on IPAs and Pilsners. Will never seek one out, but will never turn down a freebie.

Exactly. It was the extreme bitterness of the several IPAs I'd tried that turned me off to it. And like you say, the fact that 70% of what you find out there in the stores is in that one specific style is really annoying. I know they can't literally stock everything, but come on man. But just like you & Surge, I'll drink an IPA if you hand me one. But when I'm headed out to the store to buy stuff to drink at home on my own I'm basically gonna be looking for barrel aged stouts and porters. Harder to find in recent years, I seem to only be able to find the same handful of options whereas 5 or more years ago there seemed to be a plethora of options in that barrel aged niche. I've been assuming that part of my inability to find variety had to do with the fact that I've moved out to a more rural area now where it seems the local farmers and redneck tradesmen are perfectly happy drinking the cheapo major brand piss water. Nothing else to add other than everything I've ever tried from Stone brewery has always been ass afaic. That's just how business works though, any moderately successful small town brewery will get bought out by the majors sooner or later, it's inevitable.

 

32 minutes ago, AlSymerz said:

Make all beer taste like shit seems closer to the truth.

If you just don't like beer, (and there's nothing wrong with someone not liking beer) then why join in on the beer convo? We get it dude, you've made your point. You don't like or drink beer anymore. OK great, thanks for stopping by with that informative PSA.

[AlSymerz]

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Big motherfucking Lebowski, one of my very favorite memes. I love the way he just stirs that drink ad infinitum 'til the end of time. Or 'til the end of the internet, whichever comes first. That also happens to mirror the exact look on my face while I'm reading most of your posts! 

I also like this one quite a bit...

 

And this one...

 

And of course this all time classic...

[AlSymerz]

Awe, now you're just being mean and making it personal.

[GoatmasterGeneral]