Weihenstephaner Vitus and Weihenstephaner Korbinian are my favorite beers of their respective styles, and their Hefeweizen is great too. I have yet to try their Festbier, however.

Drank that bottle of Piraat Privateer. It was pretty tasty stuff, and sort of remarkable how the tart fruitiness of it sort of drifted away as the beer warmed up, being replaced with a stronger sense of spiciness and of course alcohol warmth. The beer was pretty sweet from start to finish, pretty much cloyingly so. It was an interesting beer for sure and I'm glad I got the opportunity to try it (apparently there are no plans to import it in any quantity, and what little was brought over is hard to find) but it's far from the best Belgian Strong Pale I've had and I won't likely pay the $5/33cl premium to drink it again should I come across it.

I really like the stuff that Weihenstephaner puts out, but I wasn't terribly impressed with the Festbier. It was decent, but I didn't think it was anything special. My friend had one with me and thought it was fantastic, though, so maybe it's me.

A few things I recently picked up (sorry, no pictures):
Southern Tier Warlock
Three Floyds Broo Doo Harvest Ale
Goose Island Halia
Hoppin' Frog Barrel Aged Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale
Rouge Pumpkin Patch
Pipeworks Game Of Jones
Pipeworks Ninja Vs. Unicorn Pajama Party Black IPA

Ninja Vs Unicorn is a good if straightforward DIPA, but I've never had the Black version. Next time they make it, I highly suggest you seek out Citra Ninja. So delicious. Also, next time they make Raspberry Truffle Abduction...stuff is just bursting with raspberry flavor.

LOL!


I have heard about this beer. How was it?


I drank it once but REALLY much years ago.

Ok, I tried those two this last saturday:
-St Sebastian Grand Cru:
http://www.sterkensbrew.be/brands.htm



-König Ludwig Weissbier:
http://warsteiner.com/partner-brands/konig-ludwig-weissbier/



I did NOT really like any of those cause I feel I'm in the mood for belgian dubbels since I went to Belgium last year.
P.S: Post about beers in my blog:
http://viviendoapesardelacrisis.blogspot.com.es/2013/10/cervezas.html

After almost a month of not drinking due to having to take a physical fitness test and wanting to get at least a silver award, I had almost a whole tower of Stella and it was goooooood~

A friend's bar has Stella and Hoegarden on tap, can't complain.

I got a couple of 22oz bottles of Guinness Extra Stout yesterday - my favorite budget beer. Dark, delicious, and $2.79 a pop.

So the company I used to work for does these art opening/beer tasting events twice a year, and they've asked me to come lend a hand with their fall event again this year. I had no hand in picking out the beers this time and they've chosen a really...eclectic variety of imports, most of which I'm not familiar with at all. Any words of wisdom regarding any of these would be helpful as it would be nice to have some idea what the hell I'm talking about when serving this stuff to people.

Rinkuškiai Alaus Darykloje - Žaibo - this is listed as a Lithuanian Euro Strong Lager, but it's got shitty reviews so I'm guessing it's basically an Eastern European version of malt liquor? It's 9.5% ABV.
Ölvisholt Brugghús - Lava - Russian Imperial Stout from Iceland. I'm actually really looking forward to trying this one. Hopefully it's as tasty as it sounds.
Frederic Robinson Limited - Old Tom - English Strong Ale that I've never had before.
Huvila - ? - I've got no further info on this, so I'm assuming it's one of the Finnish beers, maybe their porter or X-Porter? Never had anything by that brewery.
Harviestoun - Old Engine Oil - This one I've had many times and thoroughly enjoy, so at least for this beer I won't be talking out of my ass.
Adnams - Tally-Ho - English Barleywine that's wholly unfamiliar to me.
Nils Oscar - IPA - Swedish IPA? This'll be a first for me.
Brasserie Dieu de Ciel - Rigor Mortis - No word on the specific variant, but it's probably the ABT Quad. I've had some of their beers before, but not this one.

This stuff was all special ordered from a high-class store in DC. I'm not sure I could even track down most of this stuff before this Sunday to give it a try and even if I could, I'd be throwing down some major cash just to get one of each. Maybe I could talk my former boss into picking up an extra bottle of each so I can do a bit of research ahead of time. Y'know, as part of my fee...

Interesting selection of beers there, hope they taste good.

Bought these two while partly drunk at an eleven people full, limo driven, beer-fueled birthday bash at the local vineyards about an hour from me.



Samuel Smith's imperial stout, and a St Peter's honey porter. Quite keen to sample the Samuel Smith, as the beers I've had from this brewery have all been damn tasty. The same I will say about St Peter's, but I haven't seen this one around until now.

Oh my a Sam Smith Imperial Stout?? Holy sweet witches tits, that sounds absolutely delightful. I am a huge fan of their Oatmeal Stout and Taddy Porter. They know how to make a great dark beer!!! You'll have to post your impressions in the thread, friend.

oh man. i'm going to find that honey porter.

Sam Smith Imperial Stout is tasty stuff indeed. I've had pretty bad luck with St. Peter's; could just be the curse of the green glass but I've always had a really high ratio of skunked beers by them.

Guess I've been lucky with my St Peter's then? We'll see how this one goes when I crack it... really looking forward to the Imperial Stout though.

Batman, I've had that icelandic imperial when I was in reykjavik. Typical imperial stout, good quality shit, the usual pitch black tar and bitumen sort of stuff. Perhaps a bit more import stout-y than straightforward Imperial, bit more ash-y, less coffee overtones and shit. Having trouble remembering it perfectly though as it has been 3 years, but sounds like you're in for a fun day

Well, naturally, my former boss is a goddamn idiot. He sent that list to me based on stuff he found on the inventory list at the beer store, but they had virtually none of it in stock once he actually called to place an order. So, like is par for the course with him, he's going to run around like a maniac last-minute and throw some shit together. Times like these I'm kinda glad I got laid off, hah.

Snake Venom, the strongest beer in the world. at 67.5%APV was just released.

I want some
http://www.therealalecompany.co.uk/snak ... ister.html

Having my first glass of Delirium Tremens right now. It's not as mindblowing as I'd hoped it'd be, but it's very solid stuff. Sort of a robust light Belgian ale... it's good, but I was hoping for more sweetness, complexity and richness. Expensive stuff, too Eh, at least I have my scotch shelf restocked now. It's almost past beer season for me. Once it gets cold out I kind of lose my enthusiasm for ales and such.

Yeah I've been tempted by DT's high ABV before but if it doesn't have the taste to justify the price I won't bother. If I want high ABV beer I'll stick to Imperial Stouts and whatever gimmicky shit Stone comes out with.

I think a large part of DT's price tag is the bottle itself. It's by no means awful but it's not something I'd spend money on, now that I've had it.

That's funny, I find the bottle kinda ugly. I like the whimsical label, but the actual bottle? Ugh. And for high-APV beer, I could've bought four bottles of Bigfoot for what this cost and come out with better beer AND more alcohol.

Oh I don't think it's particularly attractive either, but it's gotta be much more expensive to manufacture than regular glass bottles.

Not sure if you need the info anymore, but anyway:

Zaibo - Yes, Europe's answer to malt liquor is what these things are. Carlsberg does Elephant, Finnish breweries have their IVBs and at least the Baltics do this stuff as well. Some Eastern European countries are nice enough that instead of a hooch lager, they do a decent bock instead. And well, in all honesty, Carlsberg, Sinebrychoff and some of the Baltics have a good Baltic porter in their selection.
Old Tom - I think it's an old ale if you want to get technical. Aged in... something. Quite chocolatey, a bit boozy, lots of dark fruit. Good fresh, but doesn't age that well (forgot one bottle in the cellar for a couple of years). Not that complex, but good for those freezing Finnish nights.
Huvila - If you're looking for the beer in RB or BA, it's done by Malmgård these days. The current Huvila brewery is different from the one before. It's a brewpub that only operates during Summer and doesn't bottle at all. So the beer is either Malmgård Huvila X-Porter or Malmgård Huvila Arctic Circle Ale - both done in Malmgård. The former is a good, strong porter, solid stuff. The latter is... Well, it takes some notes from the Finnish traditional ale sahti, but it is pasteurized and filtered unlike sahti, and does use proper ale yeast as far as I know (sahti is baker's yeast). A lot of juniper and rye in this one. Finns at least tend to like it, but I'm not fond of it as I'm not fond of sahti either.
Nils Oscar - Swedes really have a big microbrewery scene that mostly does stuff for the domestic market. They're weird in that sense. Nils Oscar's IPA is solid stuff when fresh. The bottles you get there might be a bit old
Adnams - Tally-Ho is good, but it's been a while since I had it. Adnams are always solid though so.
Rigor Mortis - Boozy barleywine. Not really good in my opinion.

For Delirium Tremens, it's a regular, decent blonde Belgian strong. Not sure what you expected, but it's rather simple like they tend to be. Like Duvel or La Chouffe.

I reckon you missed it, but probably zero of those are actually going to be served since my former boss is a total fuck-up. Here's his most recent list:

North Coast Old Rasputin
Sinebrychoff Porter – Finland 7.2
Baltika 9 – Russian Lager 8%
Weyerbacher Old Heathen Imperial Stout – PA 8%
Lucifer – Belgian ale 8%
Brooklyn Monster barley wine 10%
Morhouse Pendle Witches Brew 5%

and either the Harviestoun Old Engine Oil or that Old Slug Porter.

I've had all of those except that Finnish porter. Any word on that?

The Sinebrychoff Porter - even though done by a macro - is excellent stuff. It's more of an imperial stout than a porter really and is done with ale yeast, rather than lager yeast and is not lagered like Baltic porters. Chocolate and coffee are strong in the flavor.



Before you go wasting your money, let me tell you that their previous "strongest beers in the world" have been found to be around 10% ABV in laboratory tests.

I urge you to do so, it's bloody delicious. This was very tasty indeed! Nice malt balance and body, and then a wonderful smooth honey aftertaste that lingers on the palate. Loved it.

I had some St Bernadus, Satan Gold and Wychcraft King Goblin last night, all great stuff. The latter is my favourite from Wychcraft because of how deliciously thick and bitter it is.

St. Peter's Honey Porter was awful actually, the last time I tasted it. All honey and sweetness, no porter - or much of anything else. Honey and water. Blech.

Sounds disgusting MacMoney

That Sinebrychoff porter was super tasty. Yeah, basically a British-style Imperial Stout. Really nice helping of stone fruit to balance out the typical roasty stout/porter flavors. For some reason it wasn't the biggest hit at the tasting; people absolutely adored the Old Engine Oil, the Weyerbacher imperial stout, Brooklyn's monster ale and of course Old Rasputin. Kind of surprising really, since usually there are a fair number of people who have that dumb "dark beer? NO THANKS" mentality.

I had a year-old Sierra Nevada Narwhal recently. Definitely a bit fruitier than it was fresh and much fruitier than this year's batch. Look forward to waiting even longer.

Whole Foods in SF on 4th and Harrison carries it along with a pretty big selection of St Peter's stuff. I tried it a few years back and remember not enjoying it but not much else beyond that as it was one in a line of things we were tasting. They've got some decent brews, I may have to revisit it and see what the hubbub's all about. They can fuck right off with that Oyster Stout though.

.. oyster stout.

There's actually an oyster stout made with bull testicles. Not even joking. I think the brewery's name is Rocky Mountain but I could be wrong.

That is too perfect for you to not be speaking facetiously

I'm going to try and track that honey porter down. I had some Jim Beam Honey bourbon last week and damn, that was the first time I was able to drink bourbon neat or on the rocks. I mean I have done it many times before, but because I was already drunk and I would have drank vinegar neat.

Drank that Sierra Nevada 2012 Beer Camp #65 (the imperial red ale). Being a year old or so I guess the hops had mellowed out quite a bit, leaving this a subtly hoppy but very bready, malty brew. Tasty tasty. Almost reminded me of a rye ale but more subtle. I'd have loved to try this fresh. Too bad it was a one-off thing.

Also drank a bottle of Ommegang's BPA, which I honestly can't remember if I'd had before or not. It's a pretty straightforward, no-nonsense Belgian pale ale, and not really as memorable as the somewhat similar Rare Vos. For sessionable Ommegang stuff I think I'll stick with Hennepin, as that's a always a good bet.

Why? It sounds horrible. It's just brewed to be the world's strongest beer and nothing more.



It's not like more alcohol means a better beer. There's a reason why Delirium Tremens won the award of the best beer of the world. To me, Bigfoot is no competition for Delirium Tremens. In fact:

Well yes, of course . But it does get you fractionally more drunk. It's scientific.



That sort of award was the reason I basically blind-bought it in the first place. I figured there must be some astonishing quality there to justify the hype, but...eh... I notice Founder's Breakfast Stout rests at #18 on the list of The World's Top 250 Beers at BeerAdvocate.com, and that's on sale just across the street from where I bought the DT, which in turn I notice doesn't even appear on the list I think I know what I'll be picking up next time I'm in the neighborhood...

Meh I dunno, more alcohol typically means there were more fermentables in the pot in the first place, which means more flavor.

I'm probably in the minority, but I don't really like being drunk. The lack of control and inhibition, but especially the inability to really concentrate on doing much of anything productive. Even a couple of small bottles of (fairly) strong beer is pretty much enough for me. While I by far prefer Bigfoot to Delirium Tremens and I really like the former, I don't think I could have two bottles in a row due to the high amount of alcohol, even if the flavor is complex and pleasant enough to be enjoyed in lager quantities - Unlike Delirium Tremens. While I sort of agree with batman, higher ABV usually means a larger amount of malts and hence more flavor - and often more complex flavor - it is not in itself a good thing. Beers like DT, La Chouffe and Duvel have rather high amounts of additional sugar in them for more fermentable sugars without adding that much more flavor (as well as sugar being cheaper and easier than malt) so they tend to be the kind of beers that aren't really appealing to me.

As for beer awards in general at festival or wherever, I wouldn't really go by those at all. They're never much of a guideline for anything.