What Beer Are You Drinking? - Fall 2011

[smokinjoe]

Goose Island "Night Stalker" Imperial Stout landed in my glass earlier. A mighty 11.7% ABV. Dark as coal, and thick as oil. Beautiful beer, with wonderful balance considering what you see upon pouring.

[bad_scientist]

It might be on a thread here, but I read that some of the Goose Islands, like their coffee stouts, are aged in PVW barrels. If so, that's just genius. So many barrel aged beers are astringent or too sweet, but theirs are like crushed velvet.

[sailor22]

Can you compare/contrast that to Bellhaven's Scottish Ale (if you've ever had BSA)?

__________________

Haven't had the opportunity to try it - sorry.

[PJTN68]

Finally found someone that carries San Miquel....been looking for years.

[smokinjoe]

Poured an Oskar Blues GUBNA to accompany our dinner of some spicy cheese brats from my buddy's butcher shop. Grilled them up, sliced 'em, and ate them right of the grill. Stone ground yellow speckled grits as a side. The GUBNA worked perfectly to wash it all down. A great combo.

[Tony]

Had three tasty Dogfish Head Punkin today while watching football and enjoying a cigar.

Best regards, tony

[sailor22]

Cigar City Big Sound with dinner - a good rich flavorful pour.

[stevegoz]

Goose Island "Night Stalker" Imperial Stout landed in my glass earlier. A mighty 11.7% ABV. Dark as coal, and thick as oil. Beautiful beer, with wonderful balance considering what you see upon pouring.

Night Stalker has the same base as Bourbon County Stout.

It might be on a thread here, but I read that some of the Goose Islands, like their coffee stouts, are aged in PVW barrels. If so, that's just genius. So many barrel aged beers are astringent or too sweet, but theirs are like crushed velvet.

You're thinking of the Bourbon County Stout, which comes in a basic variety as well as a Vanilla and "Rare," and perhaps one or two others. The Rare is aged for two years in 23-year-old PVW barrels, and was supposed to be a one-off. I don't know that they use a specific distiller's barrels for the standard BCS, which is aged for five months in the bourbon barrels. These types of stout (and most high-alcohol, non-hoppy beers) can be improved with cellaring, generally for up to five years.

[clingman71]

FFF Alpha King, what a great daily drinker. APA as hoppy or hoppier than many IPAs.

[Yalc]

Scored some Dogfish Head 120 min IPA draft at my local pub last night. Awesome, smooth with a little sweetness on the finish. Glad I tried it but won't be affording that too often, even if I could find it.

[clingman71]

Had a pint of Stone Double Bastard tonight before we broke out the whiskey. It is a great cool weather beer.

[OscarV]

Bells Cherry Stout.

Excellent.

7% good.

17 bucks bad.

Taste great, real MI cherry juice brewed in with the stout.

The cherry does not dominate, it's just right and compliments the coffe/chocolate stout.

[clingman71]

Just had a very fresh pint of Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA on tap. Wow, I always seem for forget how stellar this beer is, especially on tap.

[smokinjoe]

Cigar City "Jai Alai" IPA. Very serviceable.

[clingman71]

Cigar City "Jai Alai" IPA. Very serviceable.

[MarkEdwards]

I'm really sorry that Douglas Adams died - I really love his Octoberfest and Winter Collection beers...

[BradleyC]

I stopped in my local store today to say hello and the beer guy handed me a Lagunitas Gnarlywine 2010 that he had hidden from himself last year. The almost two years in the bottle has really tamed it. Nicely melded together. Big flavor and a long finish. I'm impressed with it.

[smokinjoe]

On a whim, I picked up a 4 pack of Atlanta Brewing Company, Red Brick --Brick Mason Series-- "Smoked Vanilla Gorilla" Ale Aged in Oak Whiskey barrels with Vanilla Beans. Try getting that one out clean at the bar...:crazy: The whim is a result of the last foray I made into two of the funkiest beers I've had in the past couple of years. Firstly, the A-B "Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale that was aged on bourbon barrel pieces and with vanilla beans, from a few years ago. And secondly, a German Rauchbier that I had a couple of years ago at a place in Helen, GA. Both, almost made me gag, but for different reasons. The Winter's BCA was sickenly sweet and way, way way, to vanilly. It took me 6 months to even think of the word vanilla, after that one. And, the Rauchbier that I tried (don't remember the maker, but I posted about it here) was extremely smokey, to the point of being unpleasant. So, maybe I'm thinking, Two wrongs make a right? I think that might be the ticket. This Red Brick is a nice balance of the two. Actually, they really toned down the vanilla in this one, and it's more to the smokey side. The whiskey barrel aging is evident, as well. It has sweetness, without the overpowering vanilla thing. Going in this direction works well, for my tastes. A nice cool evening sipper. Not for every day, but, probably worth a repeat purchase.

[clingman71]

Great Divide Fresh Hop, I love the fall harvest ales that are "wet" hopped and this one is no different.

[stevegoz]

Are any of you using the Untappd website or app for your smart phone? It's a handy way to track your beer consumption. :cool:

[ebo]

Just tried a new one.... to me, anyway. Widmer Bros. Winter Style. Very good stuff.

[Tennessee Dave]

Smuttynose IPA and Founders Breakfast stout

[Ejmharris]

Hibernation Ale from Great Divide. Wishing I could find the oak aged Hibernation but doesn't appear to be close to Cincinnati. Also tried the Big Eddy Russian Imperial last night. Not normally a Leiney fan but I really enjoyed it.

[clingman71]

Cantillon St Lamvinus

[BradleyC]

Hibernation Ale from Great Divide. Wishing I could find the oak aged Hibernation but doesn't appear to be close to Cincinnati. Also tried the Big Eddy Russian Imperial last night. Not normally a Leiney fan but I really enjoyed it.

The GD Hibernation is one of my all time favorite beers. It is a seasonal and usually available November-February. Great divide does oak aging in a giant oak tank and they also age beers in Stranahan's whiskey barrels on occasion. I don't think they have done a regular oak aged Hibernation but there have been 2 releases of the barrel aged done in the past with the most recent being 2009. There are barrels of Hibernation aging as we speak and I've heard it might be ready for bottling in March or April 2012. In 2009 there were only 492 bottles and I don't they were distributed out of Denver. This batch is a good bit larger, but will still be tough to find out of Denver. They bottled the barrel aged yeti about a month and a half ago. I was told that only a handful of cases were sent out to the distributors as thank yous for supporting the product. Not sure if any of those made it to out of state shelves or not. If you can find it, the barrel aged Hibernation is exceptional though and definitely worth some level of effort.