Tonight I'm having a Celebrator Bavarian doppelbock from Ayinger brewery in Germany. Robust medium roasted malts, slightly sweet and slightly hoppy. Very enjoyable after a loooong days work.

Speaking of beer serving temperature from previous posts, who has tried 'cask' conditioned beer? It's usually served around 55 degrees and isn't injected with carbonation (though it does have natural carbonation from fermentation.)

ajrod27 wrote:Tonight I'm having a Celebrator Bavarian doppelbock from Ayinger brewery in Germany. Robust medium roasted malts, slightly sweet and slightly hoppy. Very enjoyable after a loooong days work.

Speaking of beer serving temperature from previous posts, who has tried 'cask' conditioned beer? It's usually served around 55 degrees and isn't injected with carbonation (though it does have natural carbonation from fermentation.)

Ayinger makes good stuff. Polarbear, my husband and I once had their Eisbock on tap, it was awesome! I drink cask ale somewhat regularly, there's quite a few beer bars within a 30-40 radius of me.

darlenee1 wrote:Ayinger makes good stuff. Polarbear, my husband and I once had their Eisbock on tap, it was awesome! I drink cask ale somewhat regularly, there's quite a few beer bars within a 30-40 radius of me.

That eisbock was one of the best beers I ever drank. And it wasn't just the company.

ajrod27 wrote:Speaking of beer serving temperature from previous posts, who has tried 'cask' conditioned beer? It's usually served around 55 degrees and isn't injected with carbonation (though it does have natural carbonation from fermentation.)

I've had a lot of excellent cask conditioned beers. Living in San Diego, it is somewhat easy to find a place serving a cask conditioned special brew from one of the local breweries. Some have been amazing, some I haven't cared for. The one that really stood out for me was a cask conditioned Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point before they ever even considered bottling it.

Outside of Belgium beers, I really haven't been in love with European brews although I've obviously had some good ones. Not sure if Ireland counts as Europe, but I'm a huge Guiness fan as well.

Has anyone been drinking barley wines? It seems to be an aquired taste for many, but I'm hooked and have several in the wine cabinet for a bit of aging.

sdwindansea wrote:Has anyone been drinking barley wines? It seems to be an aquired taste for many, but I'm hooked and have several in the wine cabinet for a bit of aging.

The only barley wine I've had was Stone and I didn't care for it. However, I love almost everything else by them. Mmmmm.... Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale.

kylemittskus wrote:The only barley wine I've had was Stone and I didn't care for it. However, I love almost everything else by them. Mmmmm.... Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale.

The new Stone Brewery (full brewery operations) is opening up only 2.5 miles from our house. That is walking distance! Yes, I may be in trouble.

sdwindansea wrote:I've had a lot of excellent cask conditioned beers. Living in San Diego, it is somewhat easy to find a place serving a cask conditioned special brew from one of the local breweries. Some have been amazing, some I haven't cared for. The one that really stood out for me was a cask conditioned Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point before they ever even considered bottling it.

Has anyone been drinking barley wines? It seems to be an aquired taste for many, but I'm hooked and have several in the wine cabinet for a bit of aging.

I only know of one microbrewery near me that serves cask conditioned beer and I'm a regular there; Faultline Brewery, Sunnyvale, CA. My first pint is always whatever they happen to have on cask!

I like barley wines but they're a bit too heavy for me as an everyday drinker.

cjsiege wrote:bkarney! Dude! Blast from the past! HTH are you?

Yo cj! doin mighty fine, how bout yourself?

bkarney wrote:Yo cj! doin mighty fine, how bout yourself?

I'm still travelling like a mad-woman, but not as many frequent flier miles. Send me E-mail and fill me in on the latest from iguana-central!

On topic for a change... I'm not fond of beer, but I do like hard ciders. Should investigate lambics? Or would that still be too much of a beer?

Unibroue Don-De-Dieu tonight. I don't think I've ever had a bad Unibroue beer, and this one held up the family's honor. Very tasty.

Guiness in Ireland is far better than Guiness in the U.S., which of course blows away much of what Americans call beer. But one of these days, to honor my home town, I'll have to have a Genessee Cream Ale.

Enjoying an Anchor Porter tonight. Anchor makes decent beers all across their line; nothing too complex but I kinda like it that way. I don't feel the need to analyze their beers like I do when I have a Trappistes Rochefort.

Barley wine
Trappiste Rochefort
Unibroue
Ciders
My favorite barleywine is Dogfish Head Olde School. I have several I've been aging for years now. I love Barleywine, except Sierra Nevada's, which I found lacking.
Trappiste Rochefort is great. We have the 8 and 10 that we've been aging for three years. Every September my husband and I work at a beerfest to raise funds for downtown revitalization in Waterbury, CT. We always work the Begian tent because: 1. people that pay the extra money to come in to it are true beer lovers and not just drunks and 2. we get to bring home the leftovers!

As far as Unibroue goes, I have loved every beer of theirs I've ever tried, except I'm not crazy about the Ephemere when they add currants to it.

Ciders can be very interesting. For something simple and refreshing, I love Woodchuck 802, the dark and dry one. I recently went to a cider and cheese tasting, featuring french ciders from Domaine Dupont. The owner, Etienne, walked us through a tasting of eight of their products. It was an amazing opportunity to discuss the nuances, craft, and styles. I had no idea ciders like this existed. So if you want to try some good cider, keep an eye out for this: Dupont Ciders

Took a flyer on this. It wasn't too bad, butit wasn't to great. Worth seven bucks.

Paulaner Salvator Double Bock, tonight.

It has an aroma of honey and toffee. The mouthfeel is full and lovely. It is a little sweet on the palate, which I don't mind, with toffee and lots of great malt flavors.

ajrod27 wrote:Paulaner Salvator Double Bock, tonight.

It has an aroma of honey and toffee. The mouthfeel is full and lovely. It is a little sweet on the palate, which I don't mind, with toffee and lots of great malt flavors.

I love double bocks. This is a great one. If you like the toffee/malty goodness, try Black Boss. Baltic porters are amazingly rich and sweet, great dessert/sipper beers and fantastic QPR.

Sam Adams summer ale
Sam Adams Belgian session
Sam Adams imperial stout

cortot20 wrote:Sam Adams summer ale
Sam Adams Belgian session
Sam Adams imperial stout

I really enjoyed the East-West Kolsch that was available in the summer mix pack! The light jasmine scent/flavor was perfect with the Kolsch. Of course, my favorite tea is jasmine, so I'm partial to the flavor (it's also my favorite candle/incense smell).

darlenee1 wrote:I really enjoyed the East-West Kolsch that was available in the summer mix pack! The light jasmine scent/flavor was perfect with the Kolsch. Of course, my favorite tea is jasmine, so I'm partial to the flavor (it's also my favorite candle/incense smell).

Is one of my favorites as well. Not great with a meal but great on its own.

cortot20 wrote:Is one of my favorites as well. Not great with a meal but great on its own.

Agreed. It's my "boat beer." Recently had some of the beers from the fall variety pack. The pumpkin was good, as was the Hazel Brown. Best new beer my husband and I discovered this weekend: Alltech Brewing Kentucky Bourbon Ale. Freaking smooth and delicious. I don't think it's distributed here in CT . We had it in RI. Also, I've been loving Fruli. It's a Belgian Strawberry Wheat. Very quaffable!

ajrod27 wrote:Speaking of beer serving temperature from previous posts, who has tried 'cask' conditioned beer? It's usually served around 55 degrees and isn't injected with carbonation (though it does have natural carbonation from fermentation.)

I had my first cask conditioned ale in London circa 1995. I learned two things that night: Pubs close relatively early (10pm, iirc) and you can buy 2 liters of beer in a take away container resembling a milk carton.
The next morning I realized it is damn near impossible to find a cup of coffee in London but tea is plentiful.

There's a local outfit that sells pretty decent cask conditioned ale:

http://www.englishalesbrewery.com/

There's also a few brewpubs around that do the same thing. I'm fond of it, but have to be in the mood. To me it seems better suited to a foggy evening tossing darts indoors than a warm day in the outdoor beer garden.

anyone have experience with this?. It's cheap enough I may take a flyer on it anyway, but TJ's is just far enough out of my way that it'd be a special trip and I have a five and a 1 1/2 year old I'd be dragging with me.

Sam Adams noble pils

Had a Liefmans Goudenband - a 'provision ale', meant for aging. This was only a year old thought.

Had developed some sour apple notes - almost like eating a Granny Smith.

Was decent, but probably won't buy again.

Had a Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale last night from the tap. My favorite beer right now.

kylemittskus wrote:Had a Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Aleasr night from the tap. My favorite beer right now.

based on the name, i'd have never guessed that

bhodilee wrote:based on the name, i'd have never guessed that

Damn iPhone!

kylemittskus wrote:Damn iPhone!

dude, you missed it. I wasn't making fun of the spelling of ale ;)

Go back and look again!

bhodilee wrote:anyone have experience with this?. It's cheap enough I may take a flyer on it anyway, but TJ's is just far enough out of my way that it'd be a special trip and I have a five and a 1 1/2 year old I'd be dragging with me.

If you are going to Trader Joe's, their Mission Street Pale Ale (blue label) is a great beer for the price. $6 a six pack in Michigan. It is a crowd pleaser, too. Most people, even people not into beer, like it.

This is what I am drinking.

bhodilee wrote:dude, you missed it. I wasn't making fun of the spelling of ale ;)

Go back and look again!

That was my first thought. Knowing you, I shouldn't have second guessed myself.

We did a beer tour of VT last weekend. Six breweries and three brew pubs. Had cask ales in the brewpubs.

Favorite was a Double IPA from Alchemist called Heady Topper. Only local, and hard to find there. Recommended by Corrado.

We also picked up a growler at Otter Creek of a collaboration between them and Saranac.

Nice cider from Harpoon. Lighter than most other ciders, but good flavor. Also a growler of their Ginger Wheat, which was part of their 100 series, where a brewer gets to make a small batch of something they like, but only a one time offering. I missed when it was in bottles.

And I learned that Magic Hat will re-introduce their Heart of Darkness stout. I really liked that beer many years back before they stopped making it.

Oh, and we hit a winery that was pretty decent, which was much better than I expected for VT. Can't be all beer now can we?

wkdpanda wrote:Had a Liefmans Goudenband - a 'provision ale', meant for aging. This was only a year old thought.

Had developed some sour apple notes - almost like eating a Granny Smith.

Was decent, but probably won't buy again.

I got one of those from my local grocer's beer club and had the same impression. Too much like a cider, not enough like a beer. I definitely wouldn't buy again.

kylemittskus wrote:That was my first thought. Knowing you, I shouldn't have second guessed myself.

Tonight I'm having one I made at a local U-Brew...nutella porter I named I'm Nutellin' ... so tasty!

papamochi wrote:Tonight I'm having one I made at a local U-Brew...nutella porter I named I'm Nutellin' ... so tasty!

Let us know how it turned out. I've had Rogue's Hazelnut Brown on a few occasions and enjoyed it mightily, but you need to be in the mood for dessert.

SmilingBoognish wrote:Let us know how it turned out. I've had Rogue's Hazelnut Brown on a few occasions and enjoyed it mightily, but you need to be in the mood for dessert.

Been enjoying them for a few months. Nice and subtle nutella flavor and enough apv to knock you on your tail if you drink the full 23oz bottle.

strongry wrote:This is what I am drinking.

Is it Founders that has the breakfast stout? The one with the kid on the front?

wkdpanda wrote:Is it Founders that has the breakfast stout? The one with the kid on the front?

Yes, but I think Red's Rye is their best beer. The breakfast stout has many followers though.

polarbear22 wrote:We did a beer tour of VT last weekend. Six breweries and three brew pubs. Had cask ales in the brewpubs.

Favorite was a Double IPA from Alchemist called Heady Topper. Only local, and hard to find there. Recommended by Corrado.

We also picked up a growler at Otter Creek of a collaboration between them and Saranac.

Nice cider from Harpoon. Lighter than most other ciders, but good flavor. Also a growler of their Ginger Wheat, which was part of their 100 series, where a brewer gets to make a small batch of something they like, but only a one time offering. I missed when it was in bottles.

And I learned that Magic Hat will re-introduce their Heart of Darkness stout. I really liked that beer many years back before they stopped making it.

Oh, and we hit a winery that was pretty decent, which was much better than I expected for VT. Can't be all beer now can we?

I love the Alchemist. Is Otter Creek up and running with food now? Harpoon makes a delicious beer called Chrystal Wheat that Steve buys up when it's available at the brewery. My favorite brewery to visit up there is Long Trail. I just love the vibe at that place. However, Burlington can't be beat for sheer volume and quality (lucky Corrado!). I'm hoping to head there in the near future, there's a new place called the Farmhouse I'd like to get to.