The Beer connoisseur thread

[WildDan]

I opened this thread assuming nobody would mention the Delirium series. I was wrong. First beer listed, cheers NateDogg.

Noel is my favorite, then Tremens, then Noctornum. But they're all awesome.

[El Diablo]

All,

This was mentioned above, but I tried the Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout yesterday. I think it was $8 for 4 bottles at Whole Foods. Enjoyed it a lot. It was very rich and smooth, I think people who haven't tried a lot of stouts would probably enjoy this one as well.

http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/ras.htm

[Los Feliz Slim]

Grunching so I don't know if this beer has been covered, but at my local store tonight I saw a $15 750ML bottle of beer. I believe that you get what you pay for, so I bought it.

It's apparently called the Brewmaster's Collaboration Signature Ale. It's labeled with the names Tomme Arthur, Port Brewing; and Dirk Naudis, De Proef Brouweru.

There's a goddamn book written on the back of the bottle that I'm not going to summarize, but this beer is fantastic. Smooth and solid but with a little bite, it's got a little of everything I like. Even at this price I think I'll buy more.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

hmm, sounds great, but $15 for a 750ml is verrrrry expensive. you can buy a fantastic Belgian Dark Ale (which this sounds like for) for $6 or $8. Examples being an Ommegang Abbey Ale, or 3 Philosophers, or Chimay Red Label, or something like that.

[jackflashdrive]

Wow it would be great if this thread came back to life.

I've been in the suburban wasteland that is central florida for the last month and the only place I've been able to get decent beer is -- get this -- Barney's Coffee and Tea (which I think is a national chain).

Barney's had the following available: three different sierra nevada beers (pale ale, brown, and ipa i think), a couple Sam Smith's (which I love as far as mass market brands go), Anchor Steam, and a few other solid beers. Sure on the West Coast this means nothing but for FL this is like finding filtered water in the desert (particularly the Same Smith).

[Kneel B4 Zod]

can you get beer shipped to you in FL?

[ReDeYES88]

Did somebody say hops? Here are some beers on my recent rotation. Nothing "exceptional", but all very worth drinking.

Pyramid Thunderhead IPA
Terminal Gravity IPA
Full Sail LTD #2
Full Sail Vesuvius Belgian Golden Ale
Anything on tap at the nearest New Old Lompoc pub

Well, it's almost October, which means that Pyramid Snow Cap will be hitting the streets soon. God, I like autumn...and living in Portland. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[kris_p]

Easily my favourite beer is Double Maxim
http://www.dmbc.org.uk/
Not sure how easy it would be to get in America, its pretty awkward to find sometimes in Britain, mostly seems to sell just in the North of England.
I dont really know how to describe flavours, so if someone else knows this beer, maybe they could describe it.

Black Sheep is also very nice, again, not sure how easy it would be to get hold of in America
http://www.blacksheepbrewery.com/Bee...kSheepAle.aspx

[Josem]

Some good Australian beers I really enjoy:

Very Widely Available:
Carlton Premium Dry. Very "open" flavour, and it is smooth and good all the time.

Widely Available:
Coopers Pale Ale - A great unfiltered beer, but it makes me sad when I'm out at a pub or something, and they open the bottle for you, while letting the sediment sit at the bottom.

Rarely Available:
Just about anything from Matilda Bay Breweries, esp. Rooftop Red. That has got to be my favourite beer... I can't describe it well, but it is always perfect - not too harsh, not too dry, just perfect.

Very Rarely Available:
Living in North-East Victoria in Australia, there are a handful of microbreweries that only sell their beer at the brewery, and Bright Brewers do a great beer they call their Australian Ale. I had two bottles of the stuff, they warned me that one was underdone (and I should leave it for a couple of weeks before drinking) and I love the individual flavour of each bottle.


Honourable mentions:
Kirin. I find that it has a bit of bite, and as a Tooheys beer (distributed by Tooheys in Australia) it's a great choice when Carlton Draught isn't available.

[crashjr]

Great bump. With Michael Jackson's recent passing, I'll tip a pint to the homebrewers out there and acknowledge that the state of beer in the US would not be what it is today without him.

[ QUOTE ]
All,

This was mentioned above, but I tried the Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout yesterday. I think it was $8 for 4 bottles at Whole Foods. Enjoyed it a lot. It was very rich and smooth, I think people who haven't tried a lot of stouts would probably enjoy this one as well.

http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/ras.htm

[/ QUOTE ]

El D,

I just read this thread (not sure how I missed it). Russian Imperial Stout is one of the few beers that will cellar well. Cellering beer has nothing to do with bottle conditioning as was stated previously in this thread - it has to do with alcohol content first and foremost - alcohol acts as a preservative. Other factors are temperature control and exposure to light, but alcohol content of ~10%+ is required for a beer to age well.

Barleywine is another beer that ages well. I have done blind tastings of aged barleywine, both Mad River Brewing's John Balreycorn and Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot, and the sweet spot was about 3-4 years in the cellar. The hotness of the alcohol has tamed significantly and the hop flavor is still forward. The older beers (went up to 8 years old) had lost some of the hop characteristic and the malt flavor was overpowering.

I haven't tried this with a Russian Imperial Stout, but I will start saving them up and let you know in 8 years or so [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]