TLDR Beer Club

[MaxxDaddy]

Yeah, I know what you mean Wookie. I actually purchased Black Sun Stout and Alpha Klaus Christmas Porter over in Philadelphia. For any East Coasters who want to get their hands on some good midwest brews, like Bell's or Three Floyds and are willing to pay a bit more than normal, given Pennsylvania liquor laws, get yourself over to the Philadelphia area and go to The Foodery, or even better, Capones Restaurant/Beer store over in Norristown. Now I just have to find some Alesmith...

[kidcolin]

How about some suggestions for serving temps? With a lot of these fancy beers, I fear I chill them too much. Evidence of that was the 15, which I began to enjoy much more when it warmed up a few degrees. Are you guys just popping all of these in the fridge, and keeping them as cool as everything else?

[milesdyson]

Generally Belgian beers are served warmer. I'm not sure of the temp, but my local beer shop has a fridge specially tuned for only their Belgians. When I buy one that's room temperature, I pop it in the fridge about 2 hours before I open it.

I drink barley wines, big imperial stouts, and big double IPAs like this as well.

[toddw8]

kc,

I used to be really anal about letting my beer warm up before pouring. I always took it out of the fridge a half-hour before I was going to drink it. Now I usually pour right out of the fridge, but if it's a beer I'm trying for the first time or reviewing I take my sweet time with it and let it warm as I'm drinking. It's actually pretty helpful as far as reviewing to sip the beer as it warms and see how the flavors change from fridge temp. to room temp. When I'm drinking more casually I'll normally take out two bottles at a time and let the second one warm up a bit while I'm drinking the first.

Edited to add: As far as tripels, if you're unfamiliar with the style you should try a traditional one first to get a feel for the style. I would start with the Westmalle Tripel, the Chimay White Label, or the Tripel Karmeliet (which I believe is the brew featured on Wookie's "Saints" glass).

[The X-Factor]

This is pretty interesting. I have always liked my beer cold, the colder the better actually. Next time I go down to the flying saucer where they serve lots of different kinds of beer I am going to take my time with it and let it warm up some and see if I like it better that way as some of you have mentioned here.

X

[MrWookie]

I'm not especially consistent with my serving temps. Sometimes I just take it out of the fridge. Sometimes I let it warm up for 5-30 min. Usually, though, I'm drinking the beer at a slow enough pace that it warms up slightly to a better temp by the middle of the glass. Sometimes it makes a difference. Sometimes it doesn't.

[MrWookie]

For my next review, I'm going back to Dogfish Head. I tried their Chicory Stout a while back, but I never reviewed it (I don't think, anyway). I liked it, and I wanted to give it another go and a formal review. I paid $9.99 for a sixer 0f 5.2% ABV beer.



The beer pours on the clearer side of stouts with minimal head.



It smells good. I smell coffee, vanilla, and wood. Its flavor is largely what I smell. The coffee and wood are good, and the vanilla is a somewhat unexpected bonus. It's a hair on the watery side, but I maybe have been drinking too many imperials. It's not as sugary as they are, so naturally it'll be thinner. I'm going to give this beer [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] and a half [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. This is a solid stout offering with a good mix and balance of flavors. It's not quite as bold or thick as an imperial, but it's not really trying to be. It's not hopped all that strongly, so this might be a good pick for someone who likes darker beer but doesn't like hops. Otherwise, I might give a slight nod to the Rogue Shakespeare stout.

[blackize]

I really need to pick up a digital camera for these.

Last night I tried 3 new beers and today 1. Unfortunately I can't remember the details of the Pyramid Hefeweizen I had last night other than I really liked it. It was my first hefeweizen so I don't really have anything to compare to anyway.

North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout:

It smells sweet, with coffee hints, and even a bit of citrus. It poured black with a thick mocha colored head. It had a bitterness to it but not too bitter. I could detect a faint taste of coffee, stronger caramel and chocolate tastes, and as the beer warmed I got a hint of oranges. I only really like the occasional stout, but this was quite complex and tasty. 4 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]'s for this one.

DH Raison D'Etre:

The smell was a fruitiness I had never smelled before. Can't remember how it poured, but it was smooth, malty and had a light raisin taste. An excellent beer. 4.25 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]'s for it.

Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar:

Pours a dark brown with a thick tan head that doesn't linger too long. Smells sweet and nutty. It definitely has a nutty tone to the taste, the aftertaste in particular has a very nutty flavor to it. The taste seems to be balanced with a chocolate flavor. I could be mistaken but I think I detect a bit of smoke flavor as well. 4.25 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]'s for this one.

[MrWookie]

That's two good reviews of the Rogue Hazelnut. Between that and Sklansky's obvious endorsement, I'll have to give it a go.

[blackize]

Tonight I had Anchor's Steam Beer. It pours a rich amber color with a white head. There was nothing remarkable about the smell, it smelled to me a lot like a pilsner or a lager like Yuengling. The beer has a smooth, malty, fruity taste to it. I can't discern the actual flavors except for possibly a light touch of banana. Worth checking out if you can pick up a bottle but not terribly exciting 3.25 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]'s