What Beer are you Drinking Spring 2010

[foxflyer5]

i tend to drink a lot of the pale ales and IPAs, so if sipping those alongside a bourbon, i tend to go with something mellower like JBW or something from the Wild Turkey catalog.

but back to the beers, I like Gordon's a lot but that can get pricey. I like the Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale and when im down south i drink myself silly on Palmetto Pale Ale and Sweetwater 420.

[Martian]

Moose Drool Brown Ale. Nice body and very tasty. Perfect with just about any meal.

[unclebunk]

Moose Drool Brown Ale. Nice body and very tasty. Perfect with just about any meal.

I had that a few months ago for the first time and really enjoyed it. Now I can't find the stuff!

[Special Reserve]

Yesterday I had a Chimay Blue in a trend but very good restaurant in Los Feliz with my daughter who received her PhD from USC Annenberg today. Good times.

[harshest]

Had some Wild Blue Blueberry Lager last night. It is pretty good, real light with a strong blueberry flavor. My wife loves it and it packs a pretty good punch at 8% ABV

[CorvallisCracker]

Yesterday I had two summer seasonal offerings. From my blog:

Two Summertime Brews

Warm days are coming (I keep telling myself that), and we all need to be prepared. You don’t want to end a day of strenuous outdoor activity with the unhappy discovery that all you have in your refrigerator is chocolate porter. You want something light and refreshing, but with enough going on that you know you’re drinking real beer (don’t go into the light beer! Stay away from the light beer!)

Already waiting for you in the beer aisle are two very good summertime brews. The first, Sierra Nevada “Summerfest”, is a Pilsner-style lager. Gold-yellow in color, it tickles your nose with lemon, spicy hops and a hint of fresh-cut hay. On the palate it’s crisp, and you get lightly sweet malt, with the hops kicking in at the finish.

Somewhat darker in color and fuller in body is Deschutes “Twilight”, but it’s still lighter in both color and character than most pale ales. Like the “Summerfest” it’s got citrus and herbal elements in the nose, but more orange than lemon and more grass than hay (and maybe a little pine in there too). On the palate, the hops are more forward than with the Sierra Nevada, and the malt is similarly sweet with just a hint of toast.

The two brewers have taken different paths to achieve the goal of producing a light, refreshing beer for warm summer days, with the Sierra Nevada being a lager (bottom fermented) and the Deschutes being an ale (top fermented). Which is better is a subjective matter (checking www.beeradvocate.com I see that they get almost identical scores, 3.69 for the Deschutes and 3.64 for the Sierra Nevada). If you want to keep your dollars in Oregon, go for the Twilight, but speaking for myself I think I favor the Sierra Nevada, which, with its snappy aromas and crisp character, seems the more refreshing beer.

Now, if summer would only arrive…

[craigthom]

Has anyone tried Shock Top? I haven't, because I assume it is just AB's answer to Blue Moon and is similarly well-made but without distinctive character, but I could be wrong.

I got there thinking about Sierra Nevada and, while they aren't local to most of us, they are still the coolest national brewer, which led me to think about Red Hook and Goose Island, which now have national distribution, but that's because they made a deal with the devil (InBev), which reminded me that I'm seeing this latest of their products everywhere now.

[OscarV]

Has anyone tried Shock Top? I haven't, because I assume it is just AB's answer to Blue Moon and is similarly well-made but without distinctive character,

Damn!

Well I guess this weeks pay-check is in the toilet!

(Keep that stuff to yourself,...OK?)

[Special Reserve]

Had a Leinenkugel 1888 Bock at Doc's Sport Retreat after work. Does that place have the distractions.

[dean_martin]

Yesterday I had two summer seasonal offerings. From my blog:

Two Summertime Brews

Warm days are coming (I keep telling myself that), and we all need to be prepared. You don’t want to end a day of strenuous outdoor activity with the unhappy discovery that all you have in your refrigerator is chocolate porter. You want something light and refreshing, but with enough going on that you know you’re drinking real beer (don’t go into the light beer! Stay away from the light beer!)

Already waiting for you in the beer aisle are two very good summertime brews. The first, Sierra Nevada “Summerfestâ€, is a Pilsner-style lager. Gold-yellow in color, it tickles your nose with lemon, spicy hops and a hint of fresh-cut hay. On the palate it’s crisp, and you get lightly sweet malt, with the hops kicking in at the finish.

Somewhat darker in color and fuller in body is Deschutes “Twilightâ€, but it’s still lighter in both color and character than most pale ales. Like the “Summerfest†it’s got citrus and herbal elements in the nose, but more orange than lemon and more grass than hay (and maybe a little pine in there too). On the palate, the hops are more forward than with the Sierra Nevada, and the malt is similarly sweet with just a hint of toast.

The two brewers have taken different paths to achieve the goal of producing a light, refreshing beer for warm summer days, with the Sierra Nevada being a lager (bottom fermented) and the Deschutes being an ale (top fermented). Which is better is a subjective matter (checking www.beeradvocate.com I see that they get almost identical scores, 3.69 for the Deschutes and 3.64 for the Sierra Nevada). If you want to keep your dollars in Oregon, go for the Twilight, but speaking for myself I think I favor the Sierra Nevada, which, with its snappy aromas and crisp character, seems the more refreshing beer.

Now, if summer would only arrive…

The SN Summerfest has been in my summer beer rotation for the last 3 years. Summer, as in hot, lasts through the middle of October down here so it's a great tailgating beer for college football in Sept., especially when the tailgating starts early and the game is late.

Last summer I added Bell's Oberon and Great Divide's Denver Pale Ale to the mix. Neither is as crisp as SN Summerfest. They lean to the malty-sweet side. This year my first warm weather beer is Dale's Pale Ale. Thought I'd never keep beer in a can around on a regular basis, but I'm enjoying it.

[unclebunk]

Trader Joe's added some new stuff to their beer section at my local store, so I decided to grab a few bottles to sample the latest arrivals. First up was Lost Coast's "Downtown Brown" which had a beautiful rocky head, decent body and a nice mellow finish that I like in my brown ales. I was less impressed with their "Eight Ball Stout" which was tasty enough but lacking in overall character. I'm going to give that one another try tonight while watching the Blackhawks game, as the temps are going to be a bit cooler this evening which makes for perfect stout-drinking conditions. But tomorrow we are going to start our first real heat wave of the year with temps near ninety degrees and high humidity, so I'll be busting out the IPA's and cold, crisp Czech lagers this week.

[woody]

Tried Kentucky Ale, and Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. They both kind of fell flat for me. First one was in a long neck, the latter was draft. I tend to like my beers hoppy, so maybe just not my thing. Not bad, just not for me.

[nor02lei]

Me, Yvonne and my mother did split a 65 cl bottle of duganA IPA from Avery before outdoors grilling yesterday. It was very pungent and we all liked it a lot. Very surprisingly as my 80 year old mother never ever been into beers. Later Yvonne and me had Brooklyn black chocolate stout with the chocolate mouse for dessert and it was a good match.

Leif

[smokinjoe]

I've been on a steady diet of leftover Mexican Beers from our annual Cinco de Mayo party. So, I decided to change it up, and dug deep in the beer fridge for a Founders KBS Stout Ale Aged in Bourbon Barrels. My impressions of my first bottle of this a couple of months ago was just so-so. But, I now attribute that to being Stouted out from the Winter. Now, it's absolutely lip-smacking D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!!! The coffee and dark chocolate notes are perfect. It's very rich, and packs a punch at 11.2% ABV, but still remains very drinkable. I'm trying to remember, but, did I pay $18 for the 4-pack? :eek: 'spensive yes, but worth it.

Now, if I can just talk our buddy Leif into a return trip to the USA with some of that chocolate mousse, soft chocolate cake, or Hazelnut cake to go with the KBS, I'd be set. :yum: Of course, that would mean doubling up my run tomorrow.

[craigthom]

Tried Kentucky Ale, and Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. They both kind of fell flat for me. First one was in a long neck, the latter was draft. I tend to like my beers hoppy, so maybe just not my thing. Not bad, just not for me.

In my opinion (and, I think, the opinion of others), the Alltech beers are not, well, too challenging for those accustomed to mainstream American pilsners.

I believe that the brewery was founded by a desire to make beer, not just a desire to make money. I respect that. Unfortunately, it's just not very interesting beer.

[Lost Pollito]

Tonight I had an Alpha King from Three Floyds, and a pint of 2 Hearted from Bell's. :cool:

[Hawg73]

Tonight I am enjoying Stone Brewing Ruination IPA. Mmmmmmm hops!!!

[Lost Pollito]

Aprihop, 2 Hearted, and a Resistance IPA. A day of Hops.:cool:

[woody]

Aprihop, 2 Hearted, and a Resistance IPA. A day of Hops.:cool:

2m hearted ale is the bomb, and one of my favorites. If you can find it, try the Bell's Hopslam. It's awesome

[cowdery]

Here is an ode to keeping an open mind. If someone had said, here try this, it's a weiss beer mixed with lemonade, I probably would have passed. Instead I grabbed a Leinenkugel Summer Shandy out of a tub at a party, at random, didn't look at the label, and I love it. It doesn't taste much different than a weiss with a squeeze of lemon, but it works, as a light warm weather refresher of course.

[doubleblank]

I've not tried any of the packaged shandy's Chuck so I'll look for that one. I enjoy a 50/50 mix of beer and ginger beer/ginger ale on hot days. I don't care for those made with soda's like Sprite. Lemonade works well too. I had many of these in Ireland a few years ago when they were experiencing a hot spell in May.

Randy

[Gillman]

The original term is shandy-gaff, whose origins (the words themselves) I find mystifying.

I can dig the kind of mixture you mentioned, Randy, but I thought you preferred 11% ABV Imperial stout by the poolside of a Saturday afternoon...

Gary

[smokinjoe]

Grilled some filets on the grill for lunch, and washed it down with the remains of a Sierra Nevada "Southern Hemisphere" Harvest Fresh Hop Ale. An excellent combo. I expected more hoppiness than I got from this, but it was a very satisfying drink, nonetheless. A sixer of Bell's Oberon is on ice waiting for 5 o'clock somewhere.

[Gillman]

I had that fresh hop beer recently and thought it was one of the best beers I ever had. It had this silky almost "creamsicle" taste, really good. I had read for years that you shouldn't use new hops, they are too harsh, they need curing for a least a month, etc. etc., all apparently wrong.

A lot of the old lore is buncum, I think. Maybe in bourbon too (I keed).

Gary

[smokinjoe]

I had that fresh hop beer recently and thought it was one of the best beers I ever had. It had this silky almost "creamsicle" taste, really good. I had read for years that you shouldn't use new hops, they are too harsh, they need curing for a least a month, etc. etc., all apparently wrong.

A lot of the old lore is buncum, I think. Maybe in bourbon too (I keed).

Gary

I agree, Gary. When I wrote that I expected more hoppiness, it was that pungent harshness that I was expecting. Rather, it was very balanced and nice. I don't necessarily mind a hit me in the nose hopschmack, but all in all, this is a very nice brew.