TLDR Beer Club

[MrWookie]

Excellent. I knew you guys would come through.

[kidcolin]

Tonight I tried Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter.



Standard porter color. Not much of a head, perhaps a weak pour on my part. Hints of roasted coffee in the nose.

The taste was pretty interesting. I had only tried American porters up to this point. The English variety is notably lighter. Low carbonation. This beer is very smooth, the roasted malt and coffee come through very nicely without beating you over the head with it. Goes down pretty easy with a sweet after taste, and maybe just a hint of the alcohol flavor.

All in all a really strong beer. I give it 3.75[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]'s. On a side note, it went well with my roasted chicken dinner.

Here's a review of Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Barley Wine Style Ale. This is from memory of the six pack I finished off earlier this week.



The color is a bit dark in that picture. It pours reddish amber that is typical of the style. Not much of a head. On later attempts I had to pour very aggressively to get close to a 2 finger head.

Two words: HOP BOMB. Wow. This beer packs a punch, both in hops and in alcohol (9.something%). Lots of flavor. The hops are delicious. Dry, bitter, and citrusy, with hints of grapefruit and pine. There's a decent malt character, too. I wouldn't exactly call this beer "balanced", but the malt adds some complexity and gives your taste buds a break.

I really like this beer. It's not the most drinkable beer in the world, but pretty darn drinkable given the amount of hops they load into this thing.

4.2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]'s.

More to come later.

[kidcolin]

For dessert last night I had North Coast's Brother Thelonius. It's a dark Belgian ale.




The pour results in a rather unimpressive head. The nose is considerably better. Dark fruits for the most part, noticeably cherry. Both tart and sweet. I was intrigued.

Unfortunately, that was about the best part of the beer. Upon tasting, the cherry flavor dominates, and it's wayyyy too sweet. The beer is also very syrupy. Between the flavor and the mouthfeel, each swallow makes you purse up your mouth and lips a bit, really hurting the beers drinkability.

As I progressed through the beer it did get a little better, but not much. All in all, it's not an AWFUL beer, but it's just not that enjoyable. Given the availability of other Belgian style beers for around the same price, I just don't see the point (Maudite, for example, is league's better than this).

Meh.. 2.5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]'s

[MrWookie]

Man, I'm sorry they wasted such a good name on a crappy beer. And North Coast, too? They have been putting out solid stuff for the most part.

[kidcolin]

Yeah the fact that it was North Coast and the bottle looked so cool was the reason I tried it. I checked it out over at beeradvocate after I tried it.. they aren't quite as harsh on it, but many reviews there are of the "good, but not up to par for the style" variety. Could just be a personal taste thing, and maybe I'm being a little too hard on it based on its style.

I don't know much about the place, but North Coast makes a contribution to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz for each bottle sold. So it's got that going for it.

[rockusteady]

Next year I'm going to be a senior, and i've decided with one of my good friends to drive back to school all the way from arizona to new york. but this isn't going to be your typical roadtrip.

We have decided to make it 'The Great US Beer Brewery Roadtrip '07.

We want to stop at the country's greatest microbreweries: drink some pints, watch the hops ferment, and just experience the US of A.

Do you guys have any suggestions? Any particular microbreweries/beers/places you would recommend going?

As of now, there are a few musts on our list: Stone brewery and Anchorsteam brewery in CA, New belgium in Fort Collin's, Brooklyn brewery in NY, and maybe Magic hat in vermont.

any and all suggestions are much appreciated. We want to see this amazing country and be tanked while doing it.

We're looking for places that are somewhat on the way back to NY. We don';t have to make a straight line, but we're probably not going to any breweries in Alaska.

Thanks guys,

[MrWookie]

Well, here are a few of the favorite breweries that have been posted about in this therad:

Stone (CA)
North Coast (CA)
Alesmith (CA)
Rogue (OR)
New Belgium (I forget, actually)
Great Divide (CO)
Three Floyds (IL or IN)
Ommegang (NY)
Brooklyn (NY)
Dogfish Head (DE)
Allagash (ME)
If you're feeling really adventurous, there's Unibroue in Quebec.

There are some recommended brewers in St. Louis, MN, and MI posted about in here, but I don't recall their names off the top of my head.

Of those, Brooklyn and New Belgium don't quite have the reputation of the rest, and Allagash and Unibroue are pretty well out of your way.

Milesdyson actually made a post that's in here from about a 9-12 months ago on beer that's excellent. It contains not only many great beer recommendations, but also some trip reports to some of the breweries you're thinking of visiting.

[MaxxDaddy]

Color me jealous...I'd love to do that some time. You really can't go all that wrong with the stuff Wookie suggested. If you're cool with not going in a straight line, then I'll have to suggest Michigan as one of the top places to go. Within Michigan you'll find the following awesome breweries:

Bell's (Galesburg): produce some awesome stouts, e.g. Kalamazoo and Expedition, among other great brews that I hope to try eventually.

Kuhnhenn (Warren): produce(d) my favorite beer, their Raspberry Eisbock, but also make a bunch of other extreme beers like A Few Shillings Too Many.

Founders (Grand Rapids): produce the famous Breakfast Stout and a Triple IPA known as Devil Dancer, among other things.

Jolly Pumpkin (Dexter): if you feel like going off the beaten path, beer-wise, then look no further. If La Roja and Luciernaga are any indication (by my standards, maybe yours if you get a chance to try them), then any brew they make is quite an adventure.

Outside of Michigan and the stuff Wookie suggested, I'll also suggest the following places:

Victory (PA)
Great Lakes (OH)
Hair of the Dog (OR)

Be sure to post an awesome trip report after you go on your beer trek!

[kidcolin]

If you're up in SF for Anchor Brewery (which I'm not a big fan of), you're pretty close to Sierra Nevada (~2-3 hours from SF). Anderson Valley is about the same distance North of SF, too (might be a little more than that, but I think I'm right). I'm not too familiar with Bear Republic, but they make a great IPA (Racer 5) and I've heard good things about their brewery tour.

[RunDownHouse]

To fill in the stretch between Denver and the east coast, look into Boulevard in Kansas City and Schlafly in St. Louis. There's also a great little brewpub right off I55 in St. Louis called Square One. Last time I was in town I ate there and was really impressed with their beers, and the food was decent as well. I doubt they do "tours" exactly, but if one of the brewers is there I'm sure he'd be ecstatic to show you around and just chat.

I definitely second MaxxDaddy's recommendations if you're going further north, and if you're going further south check out Yazoo in Nashville and Bluegrass Brewing somewhere in Kentucky.