My favourite from Italy

La Rosa is also one of my favorites. I wish my store had other Italian beers to compare them with.

I've been developing a taste for Guinness lately. I know it's not real unless it comes from a tap in Dublin. But I still like it.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Maine with my girlfriend's family and was able to try a variety of different beers that I hadn't had before. Some of them are available near me, others not.

My favorite one was the Switchback Ale, which is classified as a pale ale on BeerAdvocate but is more amber in color. This had a delicious sweet maltiness to it and a very smooth mouthfeel. Unfortunately, this is one of the beers that doesn't have wide enough distribution for me to find where I live, unless I luck out and one of the brewpubs near me happens to pick it up as a guest selection.

My least favorite was the Geary's Hampshire Special Ale, which was described as having big hops and big malt, but I only really tasted the big hops and the bitterness wasn't very pleasant. Reading the reviews on BeerAdvocate, their experiences don't match mine at all. Maybe mine was a bad batch. For comparison, I also sampled the Gritty's 21 IPA, which had a very smooth, pleasant hoppiness to it; the Geary's HSA was just acrid.

I wound up coming home with a variety pack of Shipyard ales. Shipyard beers apparently known for having a buttery taste to them from the diacetyl produced in the brewing; their beer tends to be love-or-hate because of this. I've only tasted the Chamberlain Pale Ale, and I definitely picked up the butteriness, but I found it to be very pleasant.

Ninkasi's Oatis oatmeal stout is pretty much a clone at half the price if you can find it. I've only ever seen it in bombers but it's never more than like 3 bucks

Had a Gaffel Kolsch the other night at dinner, which was all right. I was hoping for better, but it was just straightforward stuff, nothing special. Sort of like a slightly better version of something like Beck's. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever had a German beer that was particularly impressive. Any brands I should try to shatter this delusion of innocence?

Sounds tasty, but I've never seen their stuff over here on the East Coast. Maybe some day.

Fly over to Germany and have it fresh. Kölsch especially suffers a lot in transport and storage. For hefeweizen's Weihenstephaner's, Schneider's or Ayinger's are pretty stellar, and well, the same goes for their weizenbocks (Vitus, Aventinus and Weizen-bock respctively). Or Ayinger's doppelbock, Celebrator. I think at least doppelbocks handle long transport and storage times fairly well. Not reallysure about hefeweizens or weizenbocks though I imagine the latter do pretty well. Schenkerla's rauchbiers (weizen, märzen and urbock) are pretty great too if you're into that hugely smoked flavor.

Oh, I just remembered one. Spaten Optimator. Very tasty stuff.

Thanks for the recs, MacMoney, I'll try and keep some of those in mind. Rauschbier has sounded pretty intriguing since I first heard about it, but never had the occasion to try it. I have a sneaking suspicion I've had Aventinus a long time ago, but I can't be sure.

Got a few beers from Boston from my sister in Somerville. Pretty Things Brewery is my new god. The quad-bock plum was thoroughly enjoyed last night and several more tonight. Seriously though guys, Pretty Things is one of the best beers I've ever had.

Smoked beers are pretty tasty, but many are just a bit too much for me and I have trouble finishing them. Some more mild smoked porters are ok, but real serious rauschbiers can be tough to drink.

Smoked are only really good when consumed in little amounts or with lots of tobacco. Not a huge smoky fan, you're absolutely right, sometimes they're just too damn thick.

Went to my favourite of the beer bars in town last night for a tasting/release of this new beer ParrotDog BitterBitch, place was fucking packed to the rafters, and the beer was actually delicious. Of the numerous good craft beer houses in the city, this one http://hashigozake.co.nz/index.html is my favourite. The crew has been rockin the tradition of meeting there on the afternoons every week on fridays which is always a delicious, relaxed way to kick off the weekend. Lotso f amazing beers, always different ones on tap.

I'm thinking of opening my Scottish ale pack today. The first to go will probably be Kelpie's seaweed ale; not sure what to expect.

Some of them can be rather too much when consumed on their own. Schenkerla's Urbock can be like that though it does go excellently with ham - christmas, smoked, glazed, baked - you name it. The Weizen is a bit easier, if you like Hefeweizens in general that is. The banana and wheat offset the smoke quite a bit.



It's more or less a regular ale with salt and sea flavor thrown in a bit.

Had a bottle of New Glarus's Wisconsin Belgian Red last night. Really tasty stuff. I was expecting it to be a bit more medicinal than it was and I'm not the biggest fan of cherries, but it was really tasty stuff. The sourness worked really well with the yeasty notes and there was enough malt in the mix to know that you're having a beer. Still, very tart and not at all for those who dislike sweet and fruity stuff. I have a bottle of their Raspberry Tart in the fridge as well, but I've had that one before. I love raspberries and that beer is probably the most potent raspberry-flavored thing I've ever had, so I'm looking forward to having it again.

Anyone ever heard of a beer called Wing Walker? It's a plae ale, and probably the best cheap beer I've ever had. It's about $12 for a 12 pack, and it's damn tasty

I try to stick to local breweries as much as I can, because it uses the least amount of fossil fuel to bring it here, but holy shit Ontario breweries suck ass. They're completely spineless and refuse to give their brews anything approaching a distinct or bold flavour. I want to move to Quebec

The other day I had my first Wells Banana Bread Beer. Oh man this was too good and I only bought one being in a hurry. It's not an overwhelming banana flavor, just right, just perfect.

Oh man...that banana bread beer sounds so good.

Right now I'm drinking a Corona. I guess it's doing the job?

The banana bread beer looks amazing. GIVE ME ONE.

You're not gonna get slapped across the neck with a banana but you will be a satisfied gorilla for those once in a while hot summer days.

I like Budweiser!

Not that American waterlike piss but the real Czech masterpiece! Another good one from the is Urquell which I enjoy the most when it is in a bottle.

Beer with honey is tasty. There is a restaurant called Harald in Finland brewing their own honey beer that is the nectar of the gods.

Also Tsingtao from China is quite good but can be pretty terrible if the intention is to get drunk.

A beer I hate is Vedett from Belgium. Simply terrible. Made from wheat but somehow made to taste like some junkie whores piss. The only good thing I can say of it is the ridiculous bottles

Does anyone here cellar or age beer? Such as barleywines, Belgian abbey ales, imperial stouts, etc.

I had a Gulden Draak Dark Triple the other day, easily one of the most delicious beers I've had in a while.

Try the blue Chimay and any of the Trappistes Rochefort beers (especially Rochefort 10), if you haven't already, they're in the same style.

The best thing about beer here is we get lots of the really good belgian shit in the supermarkets, relatively cheap.

I've tried the three Chimay brews, all excellent. I'll definitely have to give Trappiste Rochefort a try. I pretty much have to drive two hours and cross over into another state in order to get any lesser known European beers, but it's usually well worth it!

Sure, I've cellared a whole mess of beer. It does a lot of things to beer, but most noticeably it really mellows it out, especially on the hops front. A really harshly hopped American barleywine becomes much softer, which allows you to better appreciate the flavor characteristics of the beer without the in-your-face hops bitterness getting in the way. It's not a subtle difference, either. I tried a fresh bottle of Pike's barleywine back to back with a five year old bottle and there was such a wide gulf there that you probably wouldn't be able to recognize it as the same brew unless someone told you so.

Interesting batman. Do you cellar them like you would with a wine? And how does the sediment (if there is any) settle out?

Well, I suppose if you were to cellar a corked beer for an extended period of time you'd want to keep it on its side to keep the cork from drying out. The sediment tends to just cake up real thick and cement-like on whatever side of the bottle is down, which is actually pretty nice in the more sediment-y beers as you're less likely to pour a big gob of yeast in your glass and end up with something cloudier than it ought to be (in my view, suspended particulate is fine but anything that's settled out to the bottom is best left in the bottle if you can manage). If you can get a six-pack of something that'll take well to cellaring, it's fun to drink one of them fresh and then the other five a year apart to see what the age does to it. I've done this with Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout and the results were definitely interesting.

Depending on the living situation, I've "cellared" beer in boxes in a dark closet, just kept it in the fridge for a few years or, for a while anyway, kept it at proper cellar temperature in something like this: http://www.wineenthusiast.com/wine-enthusiast-silent-32-bottle-dual-zone-touchscreen-wine-refrigerator.asp?icid=LNDWNCLLRSBESTSELLERS. Unfortunately, as that one was technically a gift from me to the ex, she laid claim to it when we parted ways. Pretty sure there's still some of my beer in there

Anyway, some of the more borderline beers (in terms of hops and alcohol content, both of which are natural preservatives that dictate how well a beer will cellar) I definitely regret keeping in the dark, room temperature closet, but plenty survived OK. One day, when I actually own a place instead of just renting, I hope to dig a more proper beer cellar.

Drinking some tasty Big Swell IPA to celebrate/mourn the birth/death of the likely end of a 2+ year relationship.

Nice. I agree with you batman, on the whole suspended particulate business - it's definitely best left in the bottle than your glass. I myself would like to cellar a few beers and taste the difference after some time has passed, and given the nature of our summers over here, a refrigerated/temperature controlled appliance would be a must. Might have to clear a place out in my shed for such a thing.

I've never personally tried these Barleywine beers, but they sound intriguing, and I'm a big fan of stouts and porters. Do they mostly cellar well?

Pity you lost some beers out of the ending of that relationship mate

Yes, unfortunately she got most of the glassware, as well.

Tried Southwark Old Stout yesterday. Not too bad, very similar to Cooper's Best Extra Stout, though perhaps not as strong in flavour and bitterness as that magnificent specimen.

Bugger.

Went to the bottle shop and picked these up for tonight's quaffing with the missus.


Never tried any of these, but they look/sound delicious. Especially the Double Chocolate Stout.

I've only had a few aged beers but they convinced me to start cellaring a little over a year ago.

All of these hyperlinks are currently in my cellar (I spend more than my means on this stuff):

Allagash Odyssey
Boulevard Saison-Brett
Boulevard Sixth Glass
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
Chimay Grande Réserve
Deschutes Black Butte XXIII
Deschutes The Abyss 2010
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine
Founders Old Curmudgeon
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
Goose Island Sofie
Goose Island Matilda
Goose Island Fleur
Goose Island Pere Jacques
Gulden Draak
Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van de Kaiser Blue
J.W. Lees Harvest Ale
J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Sherry Cask)
North Coast Old Stock Ale
Ommegang Three Philosophers
Ommegang Aphrodite
Rochefort 10
Eggenberg Samichlaus
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot
Sierra Nevada XXX Jack & Ken's Black Barleywine
Sierra Nevada XXX Grand Cru/Brewers Reserve
St. Bernardus ABT 12
Stone Vertical Epic 10-10-10
Stone Old Guardian Barleywine and Stone Old Guardian BELGO Barleywine
Two Brothers Bare Tree 2010


Most looking forward to Allagash Odyssey, Boulevard Saison-Brett, Stone Old Guardian BELGO and any of the J.W. Lees stuff. The oldest beer (and one of the best) I've ever had was a 1999 J.W. Lees, and that's what convinced me to start cellaring.

I'm normally a cider drinker, cider of the lowest and cheapest quality I can get. But recently I've been expanding into beer more.

Out of what I tasted i'm a big fan of Brewdogs Punk IPA and Trashy Blonde. One of the local pubs near me does a beer called EPA which is cheap and very nice.

I believe the Wingwalker is a contract brew that is primarily sold by grocery stores as an inexpensive non-macro option. A local liquor store was clearing out some of it cheap, and it was pretty good.



I have a limited collection, nothing exceptional but a few that I think will age well:

11x 22oz Stone Russian Imperial Stout - 2009 or 2010, can't recall which
1x 22oz Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout 2009
1x 22oz Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout 2010
1x 12oz Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA 2009
2x 12oz Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA 2011 (actually these are all being consumed this week, not being cellared)
1x 12oz Dogfish Head World Wide Stout 2009
1x 500ml Samuel Smith Imperial Stout 2010

I also have some of my homebrews there, but my brother has a habit of drinking all of the bottles that I set aside for aging.

Wouldn't say i'm a huge fan of Lambi beers, though i don't mind one on occasion. Theyre a little girly and sweet, but had a few of these Timmermans Lambic Framboise lately. Pretty sweet, but nice for a change i guess. Girls seem to love em, and anything to get the gf to drink beer, i guess:

http://www.benz-weltweit.de/derbraeuvom ... x_eng.html


Here's some good beer for all of you. Schorschbräu is probably one of the most reliable brand beers in the world, they've everything from normal party coolers to some very high-grade stuff.