What has the Alcohol Forum helped you discover?

[MrWookie]

Alright guys, by this time tomorrow, the Alcohol forum will finally be closed. Another mod has finally spoken up to want his turn and should be rolling with it come Wednesday. I won't announce his theme and steal his thunder, but it looks to be like a good theme with some staying power. Just as a reminder, the threads in this forum are not in any way going to be lost. The bulk of the threads here are going to be moved to TLR, although the ZOMG I"M DRUNK posts and a few odds and ends will be moved to OOT. If you want to post something here in the waning hours, feel free. It'll live on. I plan on bumping a few of the best threads in here after they're moved with some follow up and to stir up discussion in the other forums.

Regardless, I decided to do a couple things to wind down this forum. One I just came back from. I decided to go on a spree at Beers of the World and pick up a whole host of beer that had been recommended here that I hadn't tried yet, along with a few impulse buys [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. Here is a trip report (if you're not interested about listening to be buy beer, skip to the line):

I went in, and I had planned on going straight for the Belgium section. However, on the way there, I had to walk past Germany, and I couldn't help but remembering RDH's love of Bavarian wheat beers. I thought about getting Paulaner, but the Julius Echter right next to it was on special. I picked up a 16 oz bottle of both the Hefeweizen and the Dunkel. I'll have to see what these are like, because I'm not familiar with the brand.

With that out of the way, I was finally on to Belgium, and here, I knew exactly what I wanted. I picked up a 330 mL bottle of the Rochefort #10. One of the nice things about BotW is that they'll sell you single 12 ounce bottles. They charge a premium for them, but it's still cheaper than buying a sixer. And then if you fall in love, you can pick up a full case of just about anything that will be at a pretty good price. Next, I grabbed a single of the Orval that kicked off that thread. That was my mission, but when I turned around, I made another couple of impulse buys. I picked up a 750 mL bottle of the Chimay blue, which I remember had been extoled here. And then I picked up a sixer of Sterken's White, which is the first Belgian beer I'd ever tried. A friend of mine brought it to a beer tasting party I hosted, and I loved it, getting me hooked on Belgian, and Belgian-style beers from that day forward.

With that out of the way, it was back to the large USA section to find the Avery brewery. I saw Miles liking a lot of their beer, so I planned to go nuts. It turns out that it took up half of one shelf, and Dogfish Head the other half. Previously, I had only been getting the DFH and ignored the rest. I'll probably be visiting that shelf a whole lot. Here's what I settled on:

A 22 of Maharaja Imperial IPA
A 22 of the Czar Imperial Stout
A 22 of the Reverend Quadrupel
A lone 12 of the Beast Grand Cru (15% ABV? Sure!)
A sixer of Ellie Brown, to see how their "ordinary beer" holds up

After that, I resisted the very, very strong temptation to blow a wad on some DFH beer, but I wanted to get mostly new things, and my cart was already getting expensive. I did pick up a case of the Brooklyn Brown, though, which is my current staple beer. I didn't want to get all 22 oz bottles of strong beer. I want to have some ordinary stuff that's simple and good, and also I can drink w/ dinner and not be smashed when I'm done. If anyone has a good recommendation for beers in this genre, I'll listen, especially if you've tried the Brooklyn Brown and like something else better.

At this point, I thought I was done, but I looked over the shelf and spied the Great Divide Brewery section. I had tried their Yeti Stout and liked it alright, so I went to check out their other offerings. I was immediately drawn to the Oak Aged Yeti right next to it, and had to pick up a bottle. For a second bottle, I settled on their Ruffian Barleywine. Both were 22's.

On my way out, I made another impulse buy. I strolled past the section belonging to the Ommegang brewery of Cooperstown, NY. They brew entirely Belgian style beer that holds up very, very well against the stuff from Belgium. I've had their Rare Vos golden ale and their namesake Ommegang abbey ale (darker, stronger), and they're both great. I settled on getting their Three Philosophers blended ale, which is a Quadrupel blended with a cherry lambic. It sounded interesting, and it's something like 11 or 12% ABV.

My total came to $147.99. Ouch, but I knew what I was getting into. I'm really excited to try all these new things. I'll probably post a review of the Reverend later tonight [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img].

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The second thing I wanted to do, as sort of a "forum in review" thread, is ask people what is the best thing that this forum pointed out to them that they subsequently tried and liked? Who tried a new beer or three and found a new favorite? Anyone try out a new cocktail? Start homebrewing? Invest in Bordeaux futures? Discover that Grey Goose really isn't all that?

For me, while it might be fitting to name a beer, I think the honor pretty clearly goes to the Germain-Robin XO brandy, which Ethan helped me locate. That stuff is just amazingly good, and I would not be at all surprised if I never drank anything that good in the rest of my life. I will, however, be keeping my bar stocked with it for special occasions [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

Cheers guys, and I look forward to spreading the love here into the other forums.

[MrWookie]

Reverend Quadrupel review:

Really, this beer isn't all that good, especially not for the price. I paid $6.79 for a 22 ouncer, and I'm disappointed. It doesn't have too much flavor besides some sweetness (it's not even as sweet as some to help make up for its lack of flavor elsewhere) and some alcohol (10% ABV). There's a little bit of the maltiness in there, but very little of the characteristic flavors I've come to expect from Belgian and Belgian-stle beers. I guess I can speak kindly of its appearance. It has a good head without requiring excessive care in pouring to avoid getting all foam and no beer, it has good lacing, and it has a nice amber color. In conclusion, though, I would strongly recommend against buying this beer and would point anyone considering buying it in the direction of the Ommegang abbey ale, which is much better. The Ommegang has much more of the flavors that this is trying to have, in addition to a few new ones. I suppose this beer does have one other plus side. I haven't even quite finished it, but I'm already feeling its effects. It's nice, but I would have preferred to get here with something actually good. I may consume another one of my purchases tonight and post another review (possibly a ZMOG I"M DRUNK post, depending on which beer) so that I review something I really like.

[Peter Harris]

i'd just like to say a big thanks to wook for putting this shindig on; because of it i've drank more cider than i usually do, realised i select the best bottle most of the time, and have been generally amazed by the standard of mixology knowledge from several quarters.

I'm sorry to see it split, but if a Food + Drink one ever gets established, we'll have a home.

Thanks again wook!

[MrWookie]

Czar Imperial Stout Review:

I thought about going with a beer from another brewery, but I decided to repeat the Avery because I really wanted to like this brewery. The Czar was decent. As far as Imperial Stouts go, I like this much more relative to its peers than I liked the Reverend to its Belgian peers. Really, though, it's suffering from a lack of flavor. It's more colorful than the Reverend, but still nothing special. It's got flavors of caramel and coffee, as any good Imperial stout should, but I'm underwhelmed. It's neither as sweet nor as hoppy as other imperial stouts. It's not as thick or as dark as its peers, nor does it have comparable head or lacing. In summary, this is a decent example of the genre, but I would point someone looking at Imperial stouts towards the Yeti stout from Great Divide or the World Wide Stout from DFH before I'd recommend this one.

Sorry guys, I really wanted this brewery to be good, but so far, it's been barely mediocre. I'm going to drink the Ellie Brown next. I really, really hope that I like it better than the much cheaper Brookly Brown, its peer, but I don't have my hopes up. My current thoughts are that this is a brewery to avoid.

[MrWookie]

In other news, I've put away about 8 typical beers worth of booze, and, well, zomg, I'm drunk! Altough I'm not quite drunk enough to be spelling bad.

[MrWookie]

Ellie's Brown Review:

OK, here we go. Now this is a beer. A little bit of maltiness, hoppiness, the advertised nuttiness, and general goodness. The more relevant question, at least for me, though, is, "Is this better than Brooklyn Brown?" And my answer is "No!" This beer has the nice nutty flavor, but it lacks the rich malty sweetness of the BB. Considering that it's more expensive, I'm not going to buy it again. As much as I wanted to like this brewery based on the recommendations of this forum, i'm sorely disappointed. I would not recommend anyone that reads this to buy their beer. There are better offerings available, and usually for less moolah.

[poincaraux]

Thanks, Wookie.

[snowden719]

not sure if you have it where you live, but alesmith makes the best beer in the world, and all the beers are fantastic, especially the old numbskull, IPA, yulesmith IPA, and the speedway stout.

[Peter Harris]

[ QUOTE ]
not sure if you have it where you live, but alesmith makes the best beer in the world, and all the beers are fantastic, especially the old numbskull, IPA, yulesmith IPA, and the speedway stout.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's so intriguing how IPA has taken hold of the world when it was originally invented as a stopgap solution for the colonies. I've got nothing against it, but I don't think any of the best beers i have ever tasted were IPAs.

[Spy Dog]

Thanks for a good forum, Wookie. I thought I couldn't get good Belgian beer on the west coast of Ireland, but I found Beermania (which ships them from Belgium). It's a little pricey, but I shelled out 150 euros for the following beers:

ABBAYE DES ROCS? BROWN? 33CL? 4?
ST BERNARDUS ABT 1BROWN? 33CL? 4?
ORVAL? TRAPPISTE? 33CL? 1?
CORSENDONK (AbbayeBROWN? 33CL? 3?
CHOUFFE (Mc)? BROWN? 75CL? 1?
MOINETTE (Abbaye)?BROWN? 33CL? 1?
BUSH CHRISTMAS? SEASONAL? 25CL? 1?
TRIPLE KARMELIET? BLONDE? 33CL? 1?
BOON FRAMBOISE? LAMBIC? 25CL? 1?
ROCHEFORT 10? TRAPPISTE? 33CL? 4?
ROCHEFORT 6? TRAPPISTE? 33CL? 2?
ST BERNARDUS PRIORBROWN? 33CL? 4?
SAISON DUPONT? SAISON? 33CL? 1?
GOUDEN CAROLUS? BROWN? 33CL? 3?
CHOUFFE (LA)? BLONDE? 75CL? 1?
MOINETTE (Abbaye)?BLONDE? 33CL? 1?
HERCULE? BROWN? 33CL? 1?
RODENBACH GRAND CRBROWN? 33CL? 1?
CORSENDONK (AbbayeSEASONAL? 25CL? 2?
GORDON SCOTCH? BROWN? 33CL? 1?
ST FEUILLIEN? BROWN? 33CL? 1?
ROCHEFORT 8? TRAPPISTE? 33CL? 4?