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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Beer Thread

Ft. Collins is great for beer!! (Long!!)

Can I just say that out loud? I love Fort Collins. It's the third of March and it is a beautiful 65 degrees outside. No wind and no clouds. Doesn't get much better. But I think some beers might make it better. So, here's my lunch adventure:

I'm the ONLY person in my office today for various reasons, so my motivation is understandably low. At about 11:30, I take off for my lunch. It's going to be a liquid lunch and on foot! I take off down the trail that runs along side the creek in the back of my office and head towards Old Town.

My first stop is Odell's Brewing. And lo and behold, what is that on the first tap? It's the NEW Imperial Stout on cask!! Apparently one 1/4 barrel left over from the Firkin Rendezvous in Colorado Springs. It's beautiful and black with hige coffee and chocolate flavors.

And in talking with my bartender, I get the scoop on the Odell's upcoming adventures. The regular Imperial Stout (non-cask) will be on tap next Friday (03-10). They are only getting 3 half barrels that are supposed to last three months. All of the rest of this beer is being bottled! Look for it about 13th or 14th in local stores. The cask version will stay on until gone.

There is a new ESB/IPA (he wasn't sure) that will be on tap next Tuesday, but only at the brewery and select places (Choice City)!!! Made with Palisades hops from Yakima. He said test pours were very tasty and maybe the hoppiest thing they have done at Odell's.

The Imperial Pilsner is finished and came out at 7.2%. It's not scheduled to come out for a little while, so they are re-doing it. Apparently they really want it at about 8.1%. Expect the first version to be on tap at the brewery and the second version to get bottled.

Finally, if anyone is planning on hitting the Boulder Strong Ale Fest, Odell's is working on a NEW barleywine, based on the 90 Schilling recipe that should come in at about 11 or 12%. Curmudgeon is only 10%, so the brewers are really excited and have already done test batches on their smaller system.

As I walk out of Odell's, my next stop is a mere 5 minute walk to New Belgium. A glass of Eric's Peach Lambic and a glass of La Folie and I'm in heaven. I talk to the bartender there about the new Skinny Dip that is coming out April 1st. Two employees' descriptions kind of contradict each other, with one saying a hoppier version of Loft and the other saying a version of Loft that leans towards Blue Paddle. I'm more excited about the first interpretation, but they wouldn't give me a taste even though it was on tap within touching distance of my seat! Bummer! I think I have a bottle waiting for me this weekend though! Ssshhhh....

My walk continues from New Belgium to Coopersmith's Brewpub. Two new beers on tap that I hadn't had before. Doppel Jabi and Cappy's Hop Top APA. Look for reviews, but briefly, the Doppel Jabi is a 9% Double version of Punjabi, so a Double IPA. The spelling seems odd to me, but whatever. Very tasty! The Cappy's APA is based on the same malts as Punjabi but with almost exclusively American Glacier hops and served on a nitro tap, complete with personalized dry hopping in the form of a tea bag filled with Glacier hops sitting on top of my pint glass! It floats perfectly on the beer's head and smells great. Beautiful

I guess I need to get to work now and see how long I make it into the afternoon!
 
The One said:
Ok, I'm on a mission to find a good Arizona Micro Brew for Cyburbia......:p
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Flagstaff has a couple, Tucson also has a couple of good ones, but the best is definitely Papago or Four Peaks in Phoenix! Check them out if you are in the area
 
prana, you son of a bitch...

Here I am stuck in the office being on call...:-@

Dead today, nothing to do...:-@

And you are out drinking! You coulda called, I would be able to write it off as a business lunch

I guess after dealing with the engineering dept. yesterday (sorry) you'd have to.

Did they still have 5 Barrell Pale and Cutthroat Porter on nitro at Odell's?

I'm going climbing in Boulder tomorrow. Any beers at Walnut to recommend? (This is the after-climbing stop my buddy always goes to, so I am going)

BTW, New Belgium on Saturday was fun. With two more sour beers to try and great chow.
 
JNA said:
From the Indy Star's Cool dot com column:
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I can't quite make out the name in that ad... is that Stanski beer? Cool!

It seems that every time I get to sample a Polish beer it tastes like its an OLD bottle that sat in the sunlight for at least a week and hasn't aged well at all? I've yet to try a Polish beer I particularly liked.
 
Maister said:
I've yet to try a Polish beer I particularly liked.
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Try Okocim Porter! Great beer. They also do a pilsner. I'm not much of a pilsner fan, but the Polish couple that I know drinks the hell out of it.
Zywiec is another brand that does both a porter and pilsner but I think the Okocim is a little better.
 
prana said:
Try Okocim Porter! Great beer.
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I will have to pick some up next time I see it.
prana said:
They also do a pilsner. I'm not much of a pilsner fan (snip)
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and you call me strange for not wanting to chow down on a Snickers bar while quaffing a Kalamazoo Stout? Now I ask, what could possibly go down better after mowing the lawn on a hot summer day than, say, a nice cold Staropramen?
 
Maister said:
Now I ask, what could possibly go down better after mowing the lawn on a hot summer day than, say, a nice cold Staropramen?
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Wow- You got me stumped on that one! I had never seen that brewery until I just looked it up! Nice...I'll try it if I ever see it. :b:
 
How come some breweries like to serve their beer semi- warm and others serve it really cold? I guess traditionally microbrew is supposed to be served somewhat on the warm side? I like my beeer nice and cold!!
 
imaplanner said:
How come some breweries like to serve their beer semi- warm and others serve it really cold? I guess traditionally microbrew is supposed to be served somewhat on the warm side? I like my beeer nice and cold!!
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It depends on the style of beer. Generally speaking the warmer the beer the more it 'opens up' the taste of it. When a beer has a light body or made from cheaper ingredients (e.g. adjuncts like corn, rice or other grains to 'stretch' the mash at lower cost) really cold beer is a Good Thing because it partly masks the flavor. On the other hand, beers with heavy body and complex/subtle flavors can be appreciated more by serving at warmer temps.

It's a little more complicated than what I just explained (didn't get into IBU's and all that), but that's the general idea. For fun, you might want to do a little test and try drinking Miller Lite at room temp and then try drinking Guinness at room temp and see which flavor holds up best. Repeat, but serve both really cold.
 
Maister said:
It depends on the style of beer. Generally speaking the warmer the beer the more it 'opens up' the taste of it. When a beer has a light body or made from cheaper ingredients (e.g. adjuncts like corn, rice or other grains to 'stretch' the mash at lower cost) really cold beer is a Good Thing because it partly masks the flavor. On the other hand, beers with heavy body and complex/subtle flavors can be appreciated more by serving at warmer temps.

It's a little more complicated than what I just explained (didn't get into IBU's and all that), but that's the general idea. For fun, you might want to do a little test and try drinking Miller Lite at room temp and then try drinking Guinness at room temp and see which flavor holds up best. Repeat, but serve both really cold.
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I have found that I like my beer served at right about 40 degrees (I have a kegerator :-D )

Even with good beer- I guess I can see how warmer beer would show off the complexity of the taste better I just tend to like the refreshing feeling you get from drinking cold beer. Do yuo know what temperature good beer is ideally served at?

For fun I am going to try that with some coors I got in the fridge and some micro we have on tap. :)
 
imaplanner said:
I have found that I like my beer served at right about 40 degrees (I have a kegerator :-D )

Even with good beer- I guess I can see how warmer beer would show off the complexity of the taste better I just tend to like the refreshing feeling you get from drinking cold beer. Do yuo know what temperature good beer is ideally served at?

For fun I am going to try that with some coors I got in the fridge and some micro we have on tap. :)
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Prana could probably tell you for sure, but I think ales are supposed to be served at 55 degrees and lagers around 46 degrees. Stouts, porters and heavyweight barleywines can be served at slightly cooler than room temp. and still taste yummy as ever.
 
Yeah- those temps sound about right. I think the general American public will like them better colder,because it hides the flavor, like you said. I keep my beer fridge at about 45 and usually let them sit on the counter for about 30 minutes before popping the cap. The bigger alcohol beers; Belgians, barleywines, imperial stouts; really do improve as they warm up. Drinking them out of big snifter ( New Belgium Globe ) really lets you warm it up in your hands and swirl it to take in the aromas.

Something like a '98 Thomas Hardy served too cold just tastes average at best. Kind of like a glorified brown ale. But once it warms up, you get all kinds of oak, brandy and deep resiness (is that a word?) flavors.
 
prana said:
Yeah- those temps sound about right. I think the general American public will like them better colder,because it hides the flavor, like you said. I keep my beer fridge at about 45 and usually let them sit on the counter for about 30 minutes before popping the cap. The bigger alcohol beers; Belgians, barleywines, imperial stouts; really do improve as they warm up. Drinking them out of big snifter ( New Belgium Globe ) really lets you warm it up in your hands and swirl it to take in the aromas.

Something like a '98 Thomas Hardy served too cold just tastes average at best. Kind of like a glorified brown ale. But once it warms up, you get all kinds of oak, brandy and deep resiness (is that a word?) flavors.
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Good info. I'm going to experiment. I've got Elysian Immortal IPA on tap currently. I will try serving it warmer than the 40-42 degrees its at now. Even at those cold temps its pretty tasty !!
 
The One said:
Ok, I'm on a mission to find a good Arizona Micro Brew for Cyburbia......:p
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Any advice on where to find a good microbrew in south florida from an ex-pat? Or is south florida microbrew any oxymoron?
 
hilldweller said:
Any advice on where to find a good microbrew in south florida from an ex-pat? Or is south florida microbrew any oxymoron?
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Looks like Crown Liquors in Miami is a decent place. But South Florida is a big place. try here: Florida
 
I Second The Motion!

prana said:
Can I just say that out loud? I love Fort Collins.
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Pran: Your narrative was one of the best posts I've ever read on Cyburbia; it really encapsulates the richness of the beer scene and it gave me a template for my next visit to Ft. Collins!

I see the Colorado Brewers' Festival is slated for 6/24-25; we ought to send a Cyburbia delegation!

FYI - I was at the Falling Rock a few weeks back for an Avery event featuring their superb "Rajah" IPA. Pure heaven!

I'm headed over to the Strong Ale Fest Sat. afternoon in Boulder. If you & the Mrs. are going, I'll keep an eye out for you!:b: :b: :b: :b: :b:
 
Miles Ignatius said:
I'm headed over to the Strong Ale Fest Sat. afternoon in Boulder. If you & the Mrs. are going, I'll keep an eye out for you!:b: :b: :b: :b: :b:
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I will be part of a group of about 6-10 that are heading down from Loveland on Saturday! Afterwards, cruising around Boulder until we feel the need to head back to the Outlook Hotel and partake from our coolers of goodies! Rooms at the hotel are only $59 if you tell them you are there for the beerfest. Sunday morning may not be pretty, but that's what my Sunday's are for!

And yes, the Maharajah is pretty tasty this year. A little more drinkable than last year. Ahhhh....I love the Falling Rock! I need a trip to Denver. Where does that damn light rail stop near Loveland?

Stone Imperial Stout is being released April 17th this year instead of in June because of the Vertical Epic coming out in June. This is one to definitely pick up because it won't last.
 
prana said:
Ahhhh....I love the Falling Rock! I need a trip to Denver. Where does that damn light rail stop near Loveland?
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I was at the Falling Rock last Saturday. Great Place.

RTD is on strike, so the mystery light rail from Loveland aint running...;)
 
Sorry- I feel a little +o( . I was fine and then +o( someone mentioned +o( Obe:victory:ron! :victory: :victory:

For all of the great beers that Bell's produces, I just can not wrap my head around this one. Oh well...enjoy it
 
:victory:
prana said:
Sorry- I feel a little +o( . I was fine and then +o( someone mentioned +o( Obe:victory:ron! :victory: :victory:

For all of the great beers that Bell's produces, I just can not wrap my head around this one. Oh well...enjoy it
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Finally something beerwise we agree on (although +o( might be a little too strong of a negative reaction in my book)
 
Maister said:
:victory:
Finally something beerwise we agree on (although +o( might be a little too strong of a negative reaction in my book)
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I've tried this beer on several occassions in the bottle, fresh and later in the summer and then tried it on tap at the brewery. I still don't get it.
prAna's review! I'll stick with Two Hearted, Third Coast Old Ale and KZoo Stout
 
It's probably been mentioned in this thread before- but I just tried some Dale's Pale Ale in the can. Wow- for a canned beer that stuff is very very good. I guess it better be when a six pack of cans is 8 bucks.
 
Has anyone here ever heard of a beer, brewed in German, named "Palmbraeu"? It is brewed by Zorn, Inc. (or equivalent) in Eppingen, Germany, and it is without a doubt the best beer in the world:b: . My father used to sell it at the American Legion Post No. 79 (John Wayne Post 79, Heilbronn Germany), which he owned.
I grew up there and tasted many, many beers (drinking age is 16). This was always my favotrite. Too bad I can't buy it here....:-(

Close second was always "Sanwald Kristall Weizen". The only decent brand I can get here is "Tucher", which does not even come close...
 
nope but I used to be a big fan of De Konink from belguim. And of course the imfamous Chimay which will get you Chimayed.
 
I'm slowly working an the conversion af a friend of mine who thinks Budweiser is the best beer on the planet. Last year, I got him drinking the local microbrew's pilsner, but failed at Pale Ale and the Brown. Well, I got him a Michelob Ultra Amber and now he says, "Hey that pretty good, I may start drinking this." Next is Michelob AmberBock, then I just start putting AB labels on different beers....;)
 
Now that I am making my third post here at Cyburbia, I feel comfortable to admit something to everyone here:

I LOVE HOPS. :)

On Saturday, I went down to the local hot dog & six pack establishment here in Pittsburgh's East End and made some selections from the beer cave. They claim to have 900 beers available for mixin' and matchin' in their sixers. I've been working my way through the IPAs for the past few weeks.

This weekend I picked up a bottle of Hops Infusion Ale, brewed in Easton, PA by Weyerbacher. It was good stuff - it had that citrusy, spicy punch-in-the-face thing going on that most hoppy IPAs have, but it was different somehow. Might be related to the complexity of using seven varieties of hops, as they claim on the bottle.

Anyway, it's up near the top of my list of favorites, somewhere near the Dogfish Head 90 Minute. Haven't seen the Weyerbacher mentioned in this thread, and if you are a hophead, I definitely recommend it.

Cheers! :b:
 
A Song In Honor Of Beer!

*Sung to Do-Re-Mi, from The Sound of Music*

Do - The Stuff that Buy's me beer
Re - The Guys who sells me beer
Mi - The one who drinks the beer
Fa - A long way to get beer
So - I'll have another beer
La - I'll Have another beer
Ti - No thanks I'm havin' beer

That will bring us back to Do for Beer
 
jmac said:
Now that I am making my third post here at Cyburbia, I feel comfortable to admit something to everyone here:

I LOVE HOPS. :)
:b:
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Hi jmac... don't worry, we will not look down on you for loving hops. fact is most of us love hops too. In fact, some of us have even tried to grow hops.
 
donk said:
TP is not going to like this news, the "hipster ironic" beer of the moment is my favourite "regular" beer - Labatt 50.
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As an aside. I drank a lot of Labatt Bleu in Canada, so when I got home I thought I'd order me a sixer. Man. I was disappointed. That stuff is foul. Do they do something funny to it when they export it?

My favorite light beer right now is Fat Tire.
 
michaelskis said:
Too much shade on my balcony... I might try on the roof of the new Condo next year! :p
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I'm planning to grow some on a trellis in our new backyard (we close in a few weeks!). Now I just have to convince my fiance that, since both are flowers anyway, hops make just as much sense on the trellis as roses would.

Will that work? :-D
 
jordanb said:
My favorite light beer right now is Fat Tire.
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Fat Tire is good... it's one of those not quite so micro, micro brews.

Some of my more snobbish friends don't like it because their production level is too high, and they predict them as being the next "Sam Adams sell out" from the Microbrew industry. But I like it, It's Good Quality and available all across the country.
At least it's not a Fake Micro brew like Blue Moon (made by Coors).
 
jordanb said:
My favorite light beer right now is Fat Tire.
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Light? ^o)

Big Green Scott said:
Fat Tire is good... it's one of those not quite so micro, micro brews.
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Really? Why do you say this? Because of wide distribution? Popularity?

Anyways, speaking of Fat Tire, we took some out of town guests on the brew tours in Fort Collins this past weekend. Well, they aren't necessarily tours, but sitting in the sample rooms drinking for free.
The first stop was New Belgium, known for the above named beer. There were a couple of beers that were new that I had wanted to try and selected them.
One was Skinny Dip, a summer seasonal brew. This brew, according to Men's Health magezine, is supposed to be low-cal/low carb, but it does not taste at all light. A lighter, but still with ample taste, beer with a slight citrus (more lime than anything) taste made this a favorite of mine for the next coming months when the weather in Colorado can get hot. I filled my grwoler with it and drained it at home soon after.
New Belguim also had a new organic whit called MotherShip. Now New Belgium always has beers that this planner enjoys, even if they are not my favorite types, but this beer has to be the worst from this establishment I have ever had. This left me dissappointed and the sample glass full, which is a first for any tasting at any brewery. The taste was, well I cannot even describe it, but I would assume is similar to dog urine in a glass (not that I have tried that). NOT my favorite.
They were out of LaFolie for a couple weeks...:(

prana, you had any? What say you?
 
Big Green Scott said:
Fat Tire is good... it's one of those not quite so micro, micro brews.

Some of my more snobbish friends don't like it because their production level is too high, and they predict them as being the next "Sam Adams sell out" from the Microbrew industry. But I like it, It's Good Quality and available all across the country.
At least it's not a Fake Micro brew like Blue Moon (made by Coors).
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You know I never really liked fat tire. Loft is pretty darn good tho.
 
Big Green Scott said:
Fat Tire is good... it's one of those not quite so micro, micro brews.

Some of my more snobbish friends don't like it because their production level is too high, and they predict them as being the next "Sam Adams sell out" from the Microbrew industry. But I like it, It's Good Quality and available all across the country.
At least it's not a Fake Micro brew like Blue Moon (made by Coors).
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New Belgium is the farthest thing from a "fake" micro like Blue Moon. I know the point you are making but I can't even put it in the same category as Sam Adams. Jeff & Kim Liebisch (sp?) started in their 200 sq. ft. basement and sold "homebrewed" bottles out of his garage before bringing Peter Bouckaert (former Rodenbach brewer) over from Belgium to really get things going. Yep, they've expanded from the basement to an old train station and now to a state-of-the-art facility, but their focus on employee ownership, environmental causes, sustainability and philanthropic endeavors puts them as one of the most unique business models out there, regardless of the industry.

Fat Tire is simply a mechanism to be able to afford to experiment with offerings like La Folie, Eric's Peach Lambic and who knows what will be next. I'm not a fan of Fat Tire, but the Abbey, Triple, soon to be re-released Grand Cru :-D and the truly world class La Folie are magnificent. Here's a little read on La Folie that was posted some time ago in this thread : La Folie article

And trust me, this style of Flanders Sour Ales is the next up and coming trend. Get ready for some super tasty American wild ales, full of Brett, from New Belgium, Russian River (CA), Pizza Port (CA), Jolly Pumpkin (MI), Bristol (CO) and others!

As far as the MotherShip, I haven't had any yet. I have been told by those that work for New Belgium that many of the employees are even a little disappointed in it right now. I will have to get up there and see what you are tasting that is so close to urine. Generally, I bet it is a Belgian style wit, which could have some funk to it, but shouldn't be that much.
 
prana said:
...[snip]...soon to be re-released Grand Cru :-D
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Grand Cru was out for tasting on Saturday. I completely forgot about that one. :-$

Good rebuttal, prana. Well stated.
 
zmanPLAN said:
Good rebuttal, prana. Well stated.
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Thanks, but I really wasn't trying to make it a rebuttal in an argumentative or debatable fashion. Just throwing out my opinion. But I do understand the point about them possibly selling out and becoming too large. They seem grounded, but there are rumblings from inner circles that I haven't heard in the last 5 years. No sense spreading rumors here though!

Speaking of New Belgium...did anyone else see the commercial? I've seen it a few times during SNL, Leno and then during some prime time show on Monday night. You can find all of their commercials on their website too. It's definitely not your typical beer commercial...in a VERY good way!
 
I've found that a really good beer for a warm summer(ish) day is Pyramid Curve Ball. I think its a Kolch (sp?) style ale? I wonder what that means. It's good though :)
 
I found Blue Star Brewery in San Antonio to be of average grade. Nothing special.

The Stout was very un-stout-like. Not a lot of bite. Did taste better once warmed up.

The Pale was fine with me, a bigger hit with others. A little sweet IMO.

The lager was good. No other thoughts on this one.

Also I had some Lone Star, and Shiner Bock in San Antonio. Both pretty good.
 
boiker said:
Also I had some Lone Star, and Shiner Bock in San Antonio. Both pretty good.
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I enjoyed visiting the Shiner booth at the Great American Beer Fest last year. :p
 
imaplanner said:
I've found that a really good beer for a warm summer(ish) day is Pyramid Curve Ball. I think its a Kolch (sp?) style ale? I wonder what that means. It's good though :)
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I've never sampled Pyramid Curve Ball, but if it's a kolsch style beer, as you indicate, then it's probably an excellent beer for warm summer days. Kolsch style beers originated in Cologne, Germany. And they're type of top-fermenting beer (meaning the little yeasties ferment at higher temps). Similar body and color as a pils, but a little bit sweeter.
 
Never expect to purchase beer in a convenience store in Jackson County FL on a Sunday. Can't be done. Trust me on this one.
 
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