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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Beer Thread

Picked up an eight-pack of Bell's Oarsman at Meijer Saturday. I was originally attracted to it by the packaging, but was very pleased with the product. Just the right fruity tartness to be pleasing.
 
I didn't have high expectations for Oarsman, and was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't just a knockoff of their own Third Coast, or worse, Bell's Beer, like I thought it would be.
 
Gedunker said:
Picked up an eight-pack of Bell's Oarsman at Meijer Saturday. I was originally attracted to it by the packaging, but was very pleased with the product. Just the right fruity tartness to be pleasing.
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You smug Midwesterners with your easy access to Bell's products, makes me sick.
 
For a while now, Stone has been distributing IPAs that are labeled Drink By 00/00/0000 (that being the date).

The most recent was a tangerine IPA that was Drink By 10/31/2016. Being that, I waited until last night to enjoy it while giving candy out. It was very tasty and smooth.
 
Planit said:
For a while now, Stone has been distributing IPAs that are labeled Drink By 00/00/0000 (that being the date).

The most recent was a tangerine IPA that was Drink By 10/31/2016. Being that, I waited until last night to enjoy it while giving candy out. It was very tasty and smooth.
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Dogfish Head Punkin Ale was my trick or treating beer of choice. I finished out the last of the punkin ales and now it's time for something different.
 
A friend took the day off of work to go to a Founder's takeover at a local bar. After looking at some of what's on tap, I'm thinking I should have followed suit.
 
jsk1983 said:
I think I've seen Bells for sale in the northeast, well Buffaio at least.
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I can get two hearted ale at the better grocery stores around here. It's awesome. I contemplating a run to one of the two bottle shops in the town next door. I am craving sours. I had a New Belgium Fruit Fly a few nights ago, which was my first sour. Any recommendation of sours?
 
Big Owl said:
I can get two hearted ale at the better grocery stores around here. It's awesome. I contemplating a run to one of the two bottle shops in the town next door. I am craving sours. I had a New Belgium Fruit Fly a few nights ago, which was my first sour. Any recommendation of sours?
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I'm all ears because I love the sours too. Unfortunately, I've noticed that if you buy them in bottles they are NEVER as good as what you can get on tap at a brewery or bar. I think sours really benefit from the extra freshness and crispness you can get from a new keg.

Still, there are some good bottled ones out there and I've noticed more of them around this year than last year so I think it's a growing and improving segment. Boulevard Brewing's Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale is my go to at my local store. I see a few other sours that list having a strong grapefruit flavor in them but I'm always hesitant to try them since I am not a fan of grapefruit. Jolly Pumpkin has some good sours and farmhouse ales as well, but it seems like they only bottle them in those big 750 ml bottles and I hate buying those. However, if you're ever in the Ann Arbor, Detroit, or Traverse City areas they are worth checking out. I recall having a really good sour from Anderson Valley Brewing and their "Highway 128" series but cannot remember the exact name and unfortunately cannot find it on their site now.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I'm all ears because I love the sours too. Unfortunately, I've noticed that if you buy them in bottles they are NEVER as good as what you can get on tap at a brewery or bar. I think sours really benefit from the extra freshness and crispness you can get from a new keg.

Still, there are some good bottled ones out there and I've noticed more of them around this year than last year so I think it's a growing and improving segment. Boulevard Brewing's Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale is my go to at my local store. I see a few other sours that list having a strong grapefruit flavor in them but I'm always hesitant to try them since I am not a fan of grapefruit. Jolly Pumpkin has some good sours and farmhouse ales as well, but it seems like they only bottle them in those big 750 ml bottles and I hate buying those. However, if you're ever in the Ann Arbor, Detroit, or Traverse City areas they are worth checking out. I recall having a really good sour from Anderson Valley Brewing and their "Highway 128" series but cannot remember the exact name and unfortunately cannot find it on their site now.
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With sours you may want to give them a chance to 'breathe' a few minutes before drinking - open a bottle before dinner and let it sit on the kitchen counter while you're eating and then drink it afterwards. Warming up just a few degrees really opens up the taste.
 
Maister said:
With sours you may want to give them a chance to 'breathe' a few minutes before drinking - open a bottle before dinner and let it sit on the kitchen counter while you're eating and then drink it afterwards. Warming up just a few degrees really opens up the taste.
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It's been a long time since I drank-what are sours?
 
Maister said:
Beers that are intentionally acidic. Lots of Belgian beers (e.g. lambics, krieks) are sours
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I had my first one in Baltimore a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed it. I think the best description is "if beer and wine had a baby".
 
We need to subvert this thread and pick the best beer for Mskies while he does his diet/exercise thing. Apparently something on the dark porter or stout line.
 
At the 'Good Beer Store' here, they also have 16 taps. Of those, 7 of them are chocolate, coconut or both in stouts & porters. I asked the owner about it and he said this trend is getting bigger - you know session ales were a big thing, then tropical (fruit infused) IPAs and while chocolate & coconut beers have been around, there's more out there.

Here's an Asheville based one:

Wicked Weed Hop Cocoa

Hop Cocoa Brown was crafted to be a smooth porter that packs a potent chocolate punch into every sip. Authentic Dutch cocoa powder combines with robust, dark cocoa nibs from neighbors at French Broad Chocolate Lounge to create a silky smooth balance with a heavy handed hopping process. Marshmallows not included. 6.5% abv
 
Just tried a brand new brew last night. 8 ball stout from Seattle or Portland, can't remeber which. It was fabulous and chocolatey, so glad it was on sale in the liquor mart.
 
The Terminator said:
So, how bout the redesign of them old milwaukee cans?
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Thanks for the heads up. To be honest I wasn't even aware it had taken place. I see they made some changes to their standard packaging but I assume you're really referring to the cans some have dubbed 'retro-sexism' that feature pinup style girls on the cans? Meh, it's not like Mad Men wasn't wildly popular.

images
 
^ The colors on those Old Milwaukee cans look like they would be Budweiser.


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There have long been some chocolate beers that I've really enjoyed but it always seems like it's a 50/50 split between good ones and bad ones. I really like North Peak's Dubious Black Chocolate Stout and Atwater's Decadent Dark Chocolate Stout.I don't know about coconut though. I just saw a newspaper article about a coconut beer here in Michigan that is 15% ABV... I'll pass. That's too much for me.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
^ The colors on those Old Milwaukee cans look like they would be Budweiser.
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I'm sure that's no accident seeing as how they're both likely going after the same market demographic. But I believe Old Milwaukee has had the same colors on their packaging as Bud for decades.

WSU MUP Student said:
There have long been some chocolate beers that I've really enjoyed but it always seems like it's a 50/50 split between good ones and bad ones. I really like North Peak's Dubious Black Chocolate Stout and Atwater's Decadent Dark Chocolate Stout.I don't know about coconut though. I just saw a newspaper article about a coconut beer here in Michigan that is 15% ABV... I'll pass. That's too much for me.
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Atwater's Decadent Dark Chocolate Stout makes my Top 5 personal favorites list.

I got a six pack of some coconut beer (might have been brewed by Short's) some months ago as a gift. One bottle was okay as a novelty but six was way too much coconut beer for my taste.
 
Beer prices at the Braves' new SunTrust Park:

Domestic draft beer: Large (24 ounces): $10, small (12 ounces): $5

Craft draft beer: 16 ounces, $9.50

:not:
 
Bubba said:
Beer prices at the Braves' new SunTrust Park:

Domestic draft beer: Large (24 ounces): $10, small (12 ounces): $5

Craft draft beer: 16 ounces, $9.50

:not:
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Ouch!

One of my bosses is a Pennsylvania native and he goes home to the Philly area a few times each year and we were talking about ballparks and beer. He said he hasn't been to the new Pirates stadium yet and is planning to make a trip there this season. I told him that it's a gorgeous stadium and has the cheapest beer I've ever found at a baseball game. IIRC, you can get a big thing of Steel City Beer for like $3 or $4. His response was something along the lines of, "Yeah, but it's Steel City!"

When my buddy and I had gone to the stadium, even the locals sitting around us told us they could tell we were tourists because we were willing to drink that cheap stuff.
 
Bubba said:
Beer prices at the Braves' new SunTrust Park:

Domestic draft beer: Large (24 ounces): $10, small (12 ounces): $5

Craft draft beer: 16 ounces, $9.50

:not:
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I never know what to say when I hear things like this. Personally, I would never pay those outrageous prices for draft beer, but they must be turning a tidy profit or they wouldn't be keeping those prices up in the stratosphere. Yay for capitalism, I guess.
 
$5 for 12 ounces of budmillcoors swill is not bad, relatively speaking; it's having to pay $9.50 for actual decent beer that's irritating.
 
Bubba said:
Beer prices at the Braves' new SunTrust Park:

Domestic draft beer: Large (24 ounces): $10, small (12 ounces): $5

Craft draft beer: 16 ounces, $9.50

:not:
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Maister said:
I never know what to say when I hear things like this. Personally, I would never pay those outrageous prices for draft beer, but they must be turning a tidy profit or they wouldn't be keeping those prices up in the stratosphere. Yay for capitalism, I guess.
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I wonder if prices are that high - in part - to "help" people self regulate how much beer they consume? I will milk one very expensive beer and perhaps two for the course of the game, but that would be my absolute limit.
 
I get to be a beer steward at the regional beer festival championship this Saturday. There are usually extras which usually means I get to bring home a mixed case of submitted beers. :D
 
$5 for a 12 oz. budmillercoors draft is still too much. Sounds about right for the price of maybe a pitcher these days. Heck, I remember routinely paying $3 for pitchers during college daze.
 
Gedunker said:
I wonder if prices are that high - in part - to "help" people self regulate how much beer they consume?
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I can assure you that has absolutely nothing to do with the price point.

Gedunker said:
I will milk one very expensive beer and perhaps two for the course of the game, but that would be my absolute limit.
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That's where I am now - my days of four or more beers at a game are hazy memories of college.

Maister said:
$5 for a 12 oz. budmillercoors draft is still too much. Sounds about right for the price of maybe a pitcher these days. Heck, I remember routinely paying $3 for pitchers during college daze.
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$5 pitchers of Killian's Irish Red were a bargain back in the early 1990s.
 
So after the radio show this weekend I busted out the last remaining bottle of Thomas Hardy's Ale (2007 series). After a good 10 years of bottle conditioning this delightful barley wine truly achieved greatness. The bottle had been stored in the basement the past decade, and I put it in the fridge for about an hour or so to chill a bit (serving temp 53 - I measured). It was well worth the wait. Strong camel flavor. Somewhat syrupy body. Prominent fruity and floral notes. Complex. A great ale by any measure and one that will go down as a benchmark in my book.
 
When I was in grad school in Detroit we could still get pitchers for $3 - $5 at the bars around campus. This was around 2007 and 2008 and the neighborhood around the campus was still pretty derelict. These days, there has been so much redevelopment in that area that a pitcher of even the crappy stuff is closing in on $8 or $10... such is the price of progress. Of course, now there are a lot more bars in the area of the campus so there are much better beer and food options available. I'm told that one of my old haunts still offers cans of Black Label for $1 though on certain days and that seems like the ultimate bargain.
 
Was in Charlottesville over the weekend and hit South Street, 3 Notch'd & Champion breweries.

The best named was Easter Basket from Champion - it was a DIPA with coffee & chocolate, but those additions were so subtle they weren't noticeable (thank goodness). Nice and light though.
 
Whose Yur Planner said:
You could call it camel piss (a pilsner?) and make a small fortune off of it. People would buy out of sheer novelty.
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Probably not far off. I'm sure many others have noticed the trend over the last decade or so where brewers seem to be competing to see who can come up with the most outrageous/novel names for their beer.

Moose Drool, anyone?
 
WSU MUP Student said:
When I was in grad school in Detroit we could still get pitchers for $3 - $5 at the bars around campus. This was around 2007 and 2008 and the neighborhood around the campus was still pretty derelict. These days, there has been so much redevelopment in that area that a pitcher of even the crappy stuff is closing in on $8 or $10... such is the price of progress. Of course, now there are a lot more bars in the area of the campus so there are much better beer and food options available. I'm told that one of my old haunts still offers cans of Black Label for $1 though on certain days and that seems like the ultimate bargain.
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Damn gentrification pushing hard working planning students out of the neighborhood bars!
 
Wicked Weed brewery in Asheville just got bought by InBev for an undisclosed amount. I really hope they don't try to change things, WW has been fantastic with many different and experimental ales. They were also one of the Asheville beer pioneers.

I'm crossing my fingers.
 
Planit said:
Wicked Weed brewery in Asheville just got bought by InBev for an undisclosed amount. I really hope they don't try to change things, WW has been fantastic with many different and experimental ales. They were also one of the Asheville beer pioneers.

I'm crossing my fingers.
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It's not being well received. Below are a few of the articles written on the subject.

 
Planit said:
Wicked Weed brewery in Asheville just got bought by InBev for an undisclosed amount. I really hope they don't try to change things, WW has been fantastic with many different and experimental ales. They were also one of the Asheville beer pioneers.

I'm crossing my fingers.
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Big Owl said:
It's not being well received. Below are a few of the articles written on the subject.

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I LOVED their sour beers, easily some of the best sours on the market. Their sour brewer just left for the Scotland based BrewDog. That brand is toast. I won't give WW another dime. Pernicious was a solid IPA too, oh well.
 
AG74683 said:
I LOVED their sour beers, easily some of the best sours on the market. Their sour brewer just left for the Scotland based BrewDog. That brand is toast. I won't give WW another dime. Pernicious was a solid IPA too, oh well.
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I like "Mom and Pop" business but I also like access to good quality beer. The reality is that for every Goose Island, Terrapin, Wicked Weed,, and lagunitas that gets bought up by InBev, Heineken, and the like; there are a number of other breweries waiting to be discovered and take their place. I like that I can get a Goose Island IPA in a tall boy can at most convenience store around. Prior to 2011?, I could only find it at a bottle shop or the grocery store a town over with the better beer selection.
 
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