Fuckin' KÖLSCH!

I had a couple of interesting brews last night. Had a bottle of New Glarus' Raspberry Tart, which I've had before and is a pleasure to drink. I also had a bomber of Full Sail's Bump in the Night, which is marketed as a "Cascadian dark ale". A bit on the dark side, but this is definitely an IPA. Pretty tasty stuff, though, and if I can manage to find more of their beers around here I'd definitely be interesting in trying some more.

The most interesting beer of the night was this: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14603/33950

The bottle looked a bit different than the one in that picture. It also had a weird metal cap with a pull-ring so that you could pull it off without a bottle opener. All in all, the beer was really hard to categorize. It was pretty dark but not quite porter dark and was very sweet. I guess it sort of reminded me of something between a milk stout and a wee heavy, or something like that. Anyway, despite its fairly low ratings, I was pretty pleasantly surprised by it. The local beer store I've been frequenting has really expanded their selection and had plenty of strange foreign brews available, so I'm pretty eager to try out some more. I've just gotta decide whether my next one will be the Ethiopian beer or the Turkish beer.

I tried that banana beer posted a few pages back this weekend, it's really a tasting beer because getting drunk off that would be nasty. Also I accidently drank one of them when it was warm and it killed me a little bit inside.

Kilt Lifter, Sam Adams Black Lager, Arrogent Bastard Ale

Cellaring: Yeah, done it. Some in my closet, building a storage at my parents' place right now, right next to my wine section in their cellar. The hoppier beers definitely mellow out and I'm not sure if that's generally a good thing. Sure, on some it works: Nøgne ø's #100 while on some it doesn't: Nøgne ø's #500. Both more or less DIPAs, but the former has more of an IS or BW profile to it underneath while #500 is just a basic DIPA and generally not much to my liking either though. I'm no expert on American barley wines, but I'd go so far as to say that Sierra Nevada's Big Foot is better without aging, with the excellent hop profile being still fresh while I'm not sure about Anchor's Foghorn yet. Most English strong ales probably benefit a lot from it as probably do English barley wines as well as imperial stouts. Most Belgian strong dark ales I'd put definitely in the class that benefits from it. Becoming more mellow and the dark fruitiness of the dark ales and quadruples becoming more pronounced. Dubbels and tripels are more of a touch and go, depending on their profiles, I imagine you wouldn't go wrong with aging any of the Trappist tripels at least, but I wouldn't be so sure about Chouffe's Houblon or La Chouffe. The easiest definitely are the Chimays, especially considering that the blue has the year of bottling printed on it. I've got one from 2007 waiting for an occasion. I recently tried a Left Hand Imperial Stout from a keg that had been in storage for four years I think and it was wholly different than the fresh stuff. Instead of the roasted malts and liquorice, it had tons of cocoa in it. Not chocolate, cocoa.



Lambics are awesome. However, Timmermans isn't a real lambic. You're not supposed to add sugar into framboises, gueuzes, krieks or really any lambics, except faros. Timmerman's and Lindeman's are pretty much sweetened into soda/juice territories. Also, they're blended with actual juices of the fruits instead of just using the fruit in the brewing. Proper lambics are superbly sour and also dry. Not sweet at all. They also make for good cellaring beers.

Just had a couple more Guinness Foreign Export stouts, which are still tasty. I also shared a bomber of Heavy Seas' Below Decks barleywine. It's been a while since I've had it, maybe a couple of years, so it's hard for me to say whether the current incarnation (where it's only available as a somewhat expensive bomber) is really any better than the 4-packs it used to come in. It was good but it was good before, so I feel like it's really just a price hike. I also had a bottle of Baltika porter, which was very tasty. Real nice, smooth mouthfeel on that one, too.

I also had a couple of beers out at the local microbrewery/alehouse, Growler's. They used to feature maybe 4-5 house brews, with all but one of those being their standard lineup and one being a rotating small batch or seasonal beer, but they've stepped it up to eight or so house beers on tap. The stout is pretty darn tasty and definitely one of the better American stouts I've had that didn't get into imperial territory, but it was the Amber that really impressed me. It's pretty big, at 7.5%, and had a nice fruity sweetness to it. Almost more like an apple-ish alt than your typical amber ale.

Anyone into Strongbow Cider ? First time I drank that stuff it went down really easy, so I thought nothing of having another pint or 6. By the end of the night I was ambling around yelling "GAN(my surname) SMASH !"

I love the taste of it but my stomach can´t handle it, throw up bonanza the morning after

Indulging in some Coopers Best Extra Stout right now (thanks Bezerko!), and gotta say, it's a whole lotta Rosie! Quite full in flavour, and alcohol content with a wonderful, dark aftertaste. Not as smooth as other, more premium stouts that I have had, but extremely satisfying none the less for a large brewery

Thats whats great and bad about cider, it goes down easy and most of the time doesn't taste all that strong, but then next thing you know your stumbling all over the place calling everyone a bastard.

As for Strongbow it used to be all I drank because of how cheap it is (a 2 litre bottle for a few quid, get in!), but after quite a few bad nights on the stuff I now rarely drink it.

Was on a work trip in Amsterdam so had a chance to try good beer for cheap. If you haven't been there, there's a bar called Beer Temple that specializes in American beers so had a bunch of those since it's very difficult finding most of that stuff in Finland. Also ‘t Arendsnest was a place I frequented a lot, it specializes in small Dutch breweries. (30 drafts in both) Two excellent beer stores rounded up the trip (The Cracked Kettle and De Bierkoning). Highlights were probably La Trappe's Quadrupel Oak-aged Batch #5, aged in fresh oak and Chardonnay oak barrels, Great Divide's Espresso Oak-Aged Yeti and Anderson Valley's Hop Ottin' IPA. Of course, being in the Netherlands, I had a couple of Heineken's with foam cut off with a ruler, however I take pride in the fact that I never paid for them. Some souveniers if anyone's interested.



Stronbow is a pretty bad 'cider'. Try something like Ecusson or Aspall instead for a proper one.

Strongbow's pretty shite, yeah. Much too sweet for my liking.

I went to Amsterdam and drinking in bars was pretty expensive, but then again, if you're used to Finnish prices...

Well, I don't know about the prices in Scotland... How much does a pint (or whatever you use) cost there? Is there a difference between your hometown and college town? I couldn't say about the beer prices in regular bars, but at these places, 25cl from draft varied between three and 4,5 euros, 40cl from draft was 4,50-6, I think. I didn't really pay that much attention. The bottles were a bit more expensive though that depended more on the brew itself. That was at Beer Temple with American beers. Didn't check the bottle prices at Arendsnest. I imagine you can get Amsteel or Heineken for a much lower price at some places, but I don't really want to drink that at all. For the kinds of beers at Beer Temple or Arendsnest, you have to pay from... seven euros and up at Finnish bars, I think.

A lot of people have a certain drink which they dont drink anymore because of that one night where they drank far, far too much of it and spend the whole next day with their head in the toilet, and since then even just the smell induces queasiness!

Strongbow cider is that for me, at least strongbow sweet is.

In all honestly its not that great of a cider anyway.

The price of a pint in Glasgow varies from £1 to a bit over £3. Of course, the cheapest ones are the lagers that are useful only for binge drinking. Then again, there are places in which a pint of Guinness is £1.70, so not bad at all. IPAs are also quite cheap, starting from £1.50.

So basically, it's heaven for Finns. I normally have some beer at home before going to pub/bar, but in Glasgow it wasn't unusual for me to go to a pub sober and then falter home in the morning.

Red wine for me Can´t smell even the expensive/good stuff without feeling queasy

Tried an ale called Skullsplitter the other day. Apparently its a microbrew from the Orkneys. It had a very strong, nutty flavor and went down very smooth, but hd somewhat of a bitter aftertaste. No alcohol taste for the 12.5% though, so no complaints there. God, I wish I was 21 right now, I'd kill for a tap beer instead of more cans of keystone or natural light.

Its not the best, but a 6 pack of 18 oz cans can get you shitty for like $7, and it really starts tasting good by the 3rd or 4th.

I hate to break it to you, but Skullsplitter is only 8.5%. Solid beer though, for sure. Come to think of it, I haven't had it in a while. I should rectify that.

Yeah, you're right. I must've been thinking of something else. Still, I gotta love 8.5% perfectly masked.

Also, just tried a pint of Hofbrau hefeweizen for the first time. Definitely up there on my favorite beer list. Any other must-try wheat beers?

Weihenstephaner. Hefes don't get better than that. Well, maybe Ayinger's Ur-Weisse is up there and well, there probably are some good American craft hefes (Sierra Nevada? New Glarus?). At least there are a couple of good ones in here from small breweries. Karhupanimo's (even if it's a micro owned by a macro) Cascade Weizen (hopped with Cascade so gives it that piney and passionfruity sting which goes well with the banana, wheat and bubblegum) as well as Koskipanimo's Amarillo Weizen (same here, though with a bit different flavor profile). Also, Schenkerla's Rauch Weissbier is pretty distinct as well as excellent. If you like smoked beers that is.

There's of course Paulaner, Franziskaner, Hacker-Pschorr, but while they're good, they're pretty much inferior to Weihenstephaner and Ayinger. Maybe Schneider's TAP7 might be up to the task of rivaling those two.

I like some of the Wychwood Brewery beers: Hobgoblin, Hobgoblin Dark, Golliath. Tried a local one the other night Blackjack Porter was very nice! Also a pub near me had a 'goth beer' night last haloween and had 2 beauties (tried about 8) which were: coffin dodgers and dracula's soup.

Used to drink lagers but since drinking ale just can't stand the taste of lager at all!!

Two new pale ales for me this week. Cascade Pale Ale and James Squire's 150 Lashes Pale Ale. Both Australian style pales. Only had one of the Cascade, and it was straight from the bottle, but seemed quite good. Will certainly endeavor to pick up a six pack for further tasting. The JS is pretty quality. Very refreshing, nice hop flavours, though not as strong as an American pale. Awesome post-work beer.

Terrapin anything from Terrapin or Dogfish Head is awesome

Yeah, New Glarus is is right by where I live. As for Hacker Pschorr, I like it but it pales in comparison. I'd rank it just above average on the wheat beer spectrum. Thanks for the suggestions though, the truck is going to be finding them.

Belhaven Wee Heavy and Twisted Thistle IPA. Most ales are weak in comparison to those two.

Yeah, Belhaven is an extremely solid brewery. The Twisted Thistle is one of my favorite British-style IPA's, and the Wee Heavy is like an altar dedicated to the worship of malt. Plus, it looks absolutely gorgeous in the glass. One of my favorite beers for sure.

My favourite before I tried Wee Heavy was Brother Thelonius. Almost the same taste, but much more expensive.

Tonight dear readers, I tired possibly the greatest stout I have EVER had. It's form a Western Australian brewery called Little Creatures (who make some excellent beer, and I rate them highly), and it goes by the foreboding name of The Dreadnought.



This is fucking smashing. Rich, potently dark with full, smokey malt overtones and a silky smooth feel on the palate. Plus this wonderful beast packs a 7.4% alcohol content. Not overly strong compared I guess to some European stouts, but none the less it smokes, and all for $8 a pint. Truly glorious.

Sounds awesome.

Though you know.... The Dreadnought.... makes me wonder why there hasn't been a brewery based on a Warhammer 40k theme yet.

Yes it is, I mean I had three of them, from the tap, and they were pulling on my brain fairly heavily good stuff, packed full of flavour.

Oh, and who doesn't want to drink a beer that has the trapped soul of a particularly valiant, courageous (and damn handy in close combat) soldier, whom shall face every battle before them with unflinching resolve...

Who else hates beer snobs? Not singling anybody out on here, but since this is a beer topic it has to be addressed.

I dunno, beer_snob's a pretty cool guy.

Had a couple of neat beers from small local breweries yesterday:

Baying Hound Ales out of Rockville, MD do a "Mild Pale Ale" and an American stout. The pale ale definitely needed work as there was just something completely off about it. Bad yeast batch, maybe? I can see what they're going for with the aesthetic, though, and I'll give this one a go in a year or so after they've nailed their recipe a bit better. The stout, on the other hand, was really fantastic. Very huge flavor and tons of body for a 6% beer. If it's not too expensive I'll have to stock up on it, as I'm always interested in powerful-tasting stouts that remain sessionable.

I also tried a port by a new Alexandria, VA brewery called Port City Brewing. They really nailed that middle ground between paler ales and dark roasted stout territory like a good porter should. Very easy drinking, which would be deadly considering the 7.5% ABV. I'll be buying this often, I can tell.

Lucky bastard, Belgium is awesoooooooome.

Sadly, the only beer i can afford these days is Pabst Blue Ribbon so i can't contribute much.

So apparently Google is starting to make their own beer. Not sure what to think of it, but the flavours sound quite interesting.

had a few new beers recently: waggle dance, a sweet and very very drinkable honey beer, almost like a bright ale? very tasty.

strong suffolk vintage ale; probably the best non-stout beer I've ever had. Just so full of flavour. Burnt caramel, a bit of of toffee. Easy to drink but really flavourful, really flavourful! Highly rec'd.

Young's bitter- er, good ale? It's been a few weeks since I had it. Tasty, though.

Sierra Nevada summer ale- well, its not going to change your life. It is what it is, a nice refreshing ale for summer.

Twisted thistle IPA- like most IPA's it didn't change my life but it is a nice drop nonetheless. Like a good IPA? I dunno, I'm not much good at write ups.

Sierra Nevada Stout. Well, it's a stout, and it's not a bad stout, but the fact that I don't remember much of this shows that their wasn't really anything tremendous about it either way.

Drinking this little beauty tonight:


White Rabbit Dark Ale. Quite a nice drop this, and looks good in the glass.

Utter, utter gash. Doesn't deserve to be called cider, but it's widely available unfortunately. Real cider can be hard to find (particularly in Singapore I'd imagine) but luckily I'm back in Devon now so it's ok for me!

If you think that´s bad cider you shouldn´t come to Sweden :,(


It´s basicly soda with alcohol in it that get´s passed off as cider