TLDR Beer Club

[dcb777]

I am attempting 50 bud lights in 24 hours at 170 IBS, I know not premium beer but what do you guys think?

[Fishwhenican]

[ QUOTE ]
I am attempting 50 bud lights in 24 hours at 170 IBS, I know not premium beer but what do you guys think?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that it's pretty damn stupid!

[steelcmg]

So a buddy of mine who is a total beer buff ended up at this little bar in Philly called Monk's Cafe he told me it was one of the best places he has been for food as they cook everything in beer.

They ended up having St. Bernardus Abt 12 on tap which he has now told me is his favorite beer surpassing Duvel... I have not been able to find this beer around here yet. I was wondering if anyone has tried it and what they think of it.

PS. I plan on trying Monks Cafe out and there beer selection here in the next month or two and will give a review.

[MrWookie]

Steel,

I have a bottle of the 12 in my fridge right now awaiting review. Given its reputation, I'm awaiting a somewhat special occasion, though. I await your other reviews.

All,

I think I'll do another beer review tonight, but first I'm going to report back from my trip to DC this weekend. Mostly, this trip was for dancing, but after all the dancing, we hit up Capital City Brewing, a brewpub on New York Ave. Their selection on tap was pretty impressive, even at first glance. They had a koelsch, a hoppy amber, a porter, "trippel/double," a "Belgian ale," and an imperial stout. I got a 10 oz goblet of the imperial stout and the trippel/double for myself, and I tried samples of the Belgian ale and the amber from my friends. Some notes:

Amber -- This was more strongly hopped than most self-described amber ales, and the hops were delicious. They were flavorful without being overly bitter, and the malt was rich (by non-imperial standards) without being too sweet. An excellent well-balanced beer. I'll give it a tentative [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], but I can't really give it a solid rating without having a full pint myself.

Belgian Ale -- The description in the menu made me expect something like Ommegang's namesake ale, but instead it came out more of a golden color. Unusually, this beer was also hopped. It was a little drier and less spicy than, say, a trippel, but the flavor was good. My impression was 3.5-4 hearts, but I'd really need a full pint to be fair to this beer.

Imperial Stout -- According to the menu, this beer is finished with espresso beans, and it showed in the flavor. The coffee flavor was bolder than pretty much any imperial stout I've had. Unfortunately, there wasn't too much more than that. There was a little bit of chocolate and sweetness, but I missed the light to moderate hopping common to many imperial stouts. MaxxDaddy should avoid this beer, but for other people, I'll give it a respectable [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. It's not my favorite imperial stout, but it was still a tasty treat if you like the coffee flavor.

Trippel/Double -- Again, the menu really didn't seem to provide an accurate description of what this beer was. They made it sound like, as you'd expect, a blend of a trippel and a dubbel, so you'd expect a beer, oh, golden-brown, with some of the fruit and spice of a trippel and some of the earthiness of a dubbel. Instead, I got a goblet of very light beer, almost like a white. When I took a sip, my very first thought was that this beer was what I wanted the Chouffe Trippel/IPA blend to be. This was a strongly hopped trippel, and I don't know why it had "double" in the name. Compared to the Chouffe, the hops were bolder and more flavorful, and the character of the trippel was more pronounced, too. It was missing the fun, billowy head (all the beers we got had almost no head), but the flavor more than made up for it. In spite of the confusing description, this beer was the standout from this brewery: not only tasty, but a unique style. I'll give it an enthusiastic [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][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]. I would have liked just a little more from the trippel side and a little more head to give this beer a perfect score. Nevertheless, if you're in DC and love beer, look this one up.

[MaxxDaddy]

Monk's Cafe is supposed to be the #1 beer place in Philly from what I'm told. I'm actually sitting on 750s of St Bernardus Abt 12 and Abt 12 Special Edition...waiting for some friends to help me out with the comparison, as over 50 oz. of 11% ABV doesn't bode well for a man of my size (5'6" 150 lbs.). If you feel like stocking up on good beer while in the area, I can not endorse Capone's in Norristown enough. It's a restaurant/bottle shop. They have tons of amazing brews, including Three Floyd's, Bell's, even some Russian River the only time I was there. And it's surprisingly reasonable given PA's liquor laws.

Whew...time for a review. A few days ago I tried the Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter, which clocks in at 9% ABV. Although I didn't purchase it, it apparently goes for $12 a 6-pack.



It poured a beautiful brownish-black with a decent amount of tan head. Great aroma of biscuity malts along with touches of raisins, chocolate and dark fruits. This bodes well. Flavor is more of the same, really get the raisins in there, with a little chocolate and alcohol in the background. The finish is good also, ending with more of a roasty, coffee flavor...more on the sweet than bitter end. Moderate to full palate with little carbonation. This is a truly awesome beer. It's too bad it's all the way down in North Carolina and I can't get a regular supply. I'd hoard this stuff if I had the chance, as $12 for 6 of these is an absolute steal. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [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]

[MrWookie]

My proper review tonight will be of Anderson Valley's Dubbel. I bought a 22 of this beer on sale for $4.33, as you might be able to see in my pic. It packs a hefty 9% ABV, on the high side for dubbels.



It pours a nice dark brown. The head is fairly light.



The aroma of this beer is typical of dubbels. It's dark, earthy, somewhat sweet, and somewhat of dark fruit. The flavor is a little sweet, malty, and, well, of earth and dark fruit: raisins, prunes, and figs. I'm missing a little of the spice I love in Belgian beer. 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]. As dubbels go, this is a solid one, and the price is good.

[Hoya]

Wookie,

Hope you made it to the Brickskeller!

[MrWookie]

Nope, I'm back in Rochester. I'll have to see about hitting that one up next time I'm in DC.

[MrWookie]

Tonight's review is Lagunita's Lucky 13, their 13th anniversary ale. The bottle indicates this is something like an ueber red ale, so I'm anticipating a hop bomb. I paid a relatively modest $4.55 for a 22 oz bottle of this beer, and it wasn't even on sale. Since it weighs in at a fairly beefy 8.3% ABV, even a mediocre beer would be a decent buy at this price purely from a buzz for your buck standpoint.



This beer pours a clear reddish gold without much head. In spite of the small head, it does manage to lace my glass.



The aroma of this beer is deliciously hoppy. They smell of the flower and citrus flavors I like most in hops. The flavor matches this nicely. The hops are quite strong, bordering on overly bitter, but walking the line pretty well. This beer is a little less sweet than some imperial IPAs and other strong hop bombs. Personally, I could have used just a hair more sweetness in the malt behind the hops, but if you'd say the DFH 90 is syrupy, this would be right up your alley. I'll give this beer [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. I haven't been overly impressed with some of the Lagunitas beers I've had, but this is a great one. Hopefully it'll stick around for a while.

[MrWookie]

I'm coming back to the Southampton brewery tonight with a bottle of their Grand Cru. I loved their double white, so I have high hopes for this one. Apparently I'm supposed so. This beer ranks as the #48 beer in the world according to beeradvocate.com. I paid $9.89 for a 750 mL bottle of this 9.5% ABV beer.



I'm still not really sure what it means to be a Grand Cru. Avery's Grand Cru was very dark. It was reminiscent of an English style barley wine. Allagash's was light brown. This one pours a nice, cloudy, medium gold color that reminds me of a trippel. The head is big and billowy, as should be expected of a sweeter, bottle-conditioned beer, but unlike the Chouffe, I could at least keep it under control with careful pouring. It laced my glass as expected.



The bottle indicates that this beer is brewed with orange peel and coriander seed, hallmarks of Belgian beer, but also star anise. I'm actually not sure if anise is a common ingredient in Belgian beer, or if this is something unique to Southampton. However, anise is one of the all time classic alcohol flavorings -- absinthe, sambuca, anisette, Pernod, et al. -- so perhaps I should be surprised that it hasn't made its way into beer all that much. I can't say I've tasted black licorice in any other beer, so we'll have to see how this one does it. The smell of this beer is again like a good trippel. There's a sweet malt and the usual Belgian spice with the orange and coriander. I don't really smell the anise. The flavor of this beer is first class, no doubt. The orange and coriander come through nicely, along with the usual hint of clove flavor that presumably comes from the yeast. There's a little bit of lemony tartness. The malt is sweet, yes, but it's not quite as sweet or fruity as Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde. Oh, there's the anise flavor. It's very slight, and long into the finish. If you drink this beer too quickly, you'll miss it. There's even a little mint hiding in there. The only question with rating this beer is whether to give it 4.5 or 5, and I went back and forth between the two quite a bit. I'm starting to think, though, that I'm a little too stingy w/ my perfect scores, and since I've been drinking so much excellent beer over the past year, I'm becoming too difficult to impress. I'm going to award this beer the rare [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. It's a classic, and I encourage any and all lovers of Belgian beer to track down a bottle by any means necessary.