TLDR Beer Club

[RunDownHouse]

We've had a couple Stone 11 reviews lately. So, when confronted with the choice, I decided to pick up Unibroue's 16th Anniversary offering instead.

The beer came in a 750mL and poured a medium-light sort of amber. It is cage-corked, and there were no hijinx necessary to get a good head. Plenty foamy right out of the bottle. Taking a whiff, I thought it was pretty fruity. My first thought was "white grapes," but there seemed to be a ton of other fruit smells in there as well, including apples. My gf thought more white grapes than apples, but I may have biased her.

On first sip, my first thought was that the taste was way more yeasty than the smell. The fruit flavors are definitely still there, but a lot of yeastiness/breadiness comes through, along with a bit of malt. The alcohol - the bottle lists at 10% - warms the taste, but isn't nearly as noticeable as you'd think from a beer this big. As the beer warmed, I think the alcohol started to become a bit more present, although it gets a bit hard to tell with a beer this big in a bottle this big. In any case, its really drinkable. It finishes pretty crisp. I have no idea how they hopped it, but it works, whatever it is.

Overall, I liked this beer. Even though I'm not super familiar with Belgians, this seemed like a really solid offering. For $7.99 for the 750, and for a unique, one-time issue, I think its a really nice special occasion beer. Complex from the open to the finish, its definitely enough to keep you alert.

[MrWookie]

I looked through the index for other reviews of Belgians from you, and I didn't see any other than the Don De Dieu. Does this beer bear a resemblance to any others you've had? How do you like it compared to any other Unibroue beers you've had?

I think for me, the Unibroue 750s are about the same price as yours, with the anniversary ales being a little pricier than their regulars like the La Fin Du Monde, Don De Dieu, Maudite, and Trois Pistoles. I was pretty let down by an earlier anniversary ale from Unibroue, so I didn't bother with any others when I could get one of their regulars that I liked more for less money.

[RunDownHouse]

I know I've had LFDM and liked it, and I could swear I've had Tres Pistoles as well and thought it interesting but didn't like it as much as LFDM, which I loved. I guess I've had a decent range of Belgians, but its something I rarely buy at the store to bring home, so my impressions are less focused than styles with which I'm more familiar. I definitely like the characteristics of typical Belgian yeast strains, but its not something I'd pick out to watch an afternoon baseball game, ya know? I think I'm with you in that LFDM is my best option, but the difference in price is so slight that I wouldn't shy away from the 16th Anniversary just to try it out.

I'm going to the cheapest place in Nashville tonight so I'll check prices there, but at the place down the street all Unibroue 4-packs are 10.99. On a side note, Dickel #12 is 26.99 there and Beam 4 year is something like 23.99. What a no brainer.

[kidcolin]

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The best I've had is the one from Post Road, which is actually being put out by the Brooklyn brewery. I doubt you can get it out your way, unfortunately. I haven't heard of your two.

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Shipyard is a Portland, ME brewery. I haven't tried much of their stuff. Just this and their Chamberlain Pale Ale, which was fairly solid. Buffalo Bill's Brewery is somewhere here in CA and I don't know much else about them.

I'll be back east the first week of November. I'll keep an eye out for any pumpkin ales I can find and report back. I'm generally not a fan of "flavored" beers, but for some reason the pumpkin really does it for me.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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BeerAdvocate is hosting a Belgian Beer festival Oct 26th-27th in Boston.

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I went last year, it was a blast (I'm away on vaca this year). don't worry too much about tickets, last year I went and scalped. it took me mb 15 minutes, but I found people selling. I paid just below "face value".

[Skipbidder]

Hello all. I thought I might join you in your reviews. The main reason that I haven't done so in the past is that I have no camera and wouldn't know how to include a picture even if I did have one.

Here are the beers that I've had over the last week:

Founder's Blushing Monk. Labeled as a Belgian Ale with Raspberries. I thought this might be like Ommegang's Three Philosopher's which I quite like. It really was more of a fruit beer to me, so that's what I'll compare it to. 12.3% alcohol. A scandalous $17 for the bomber bottle. Pours a dark pink, almost red. Sweet raspberry smell. Surprised me by the taste, which I expected to be much sweeter. This is pretty tart and dry taste. I'll give it a 4/5. New Glarus Raspberry Tart would be a 4.5/5. If you'll let me go to cherry instead of raspberry, then New Glarus Belgian Red is a 5/5.


Bayhawk Chocolate Porter. 5.4% Alcohol. Bomber bottle was 3.99, I think. This beer is foul. Stay away. Vinegary tasting. I thought it was spoiled. I have no idea why they call it a chocolate porter. It didn't taste like chocolate and it didn't taste like a porter. I thought that the bottle might be off. I looked it up on ratebeer afterwards to see how they felt about it. Similar reviews made me think that it wasn't spoiled...it's just a bad beer. 1/5. My 5/5 for porters is Fuller's London Porter. A 4.5/5 would be Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald.

Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner. I have no idea why I bought this...7.99 for 4 pack of 12 ounce bottles. Advertised as an intense hop experience. Well, it was intense. No taste other than hops. Ridiculous. I was in a room with 7 other people who all like beer. I passed the glass around trying to get somebody to like it. Everyone declined. I brought the other three home. I did find a friend of mine who liked it and gave her the other bottles. Be warned that you had better really like hops before you buy this. It doesn't feel fair to rate this, since I should have known better than buy it in the first place.

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale. $10.99 for a six pack of 12 ounce bottles. Alcohol 9.6%. This is a lovely beer. 4.5/5 for me. (Great Divide's Old Ruffian is the 5/5 and my favorite overall beer). This is a seasonal winter beer. This represented the last sixpack at my local good beer store. (I had long ago depleted their supply of Great Divide.) Maybe I should have rated the Sam Adams Imperial Pilsner, since the Bigfoot is a beer with a lot of hops taste to it that I actually like. The malt is also very evident. I like the bitter, intense flavor. The only slight problem is that you can clearly taste the alcohol, which is a touch offputting. Beer-snobby friends have suggested that this is a great beer to cellar...but I never seem to have the self-restraint to leave it.

Avery's The Czar Imperial Stout. Bomber bottle, 11.04% Alcohol. Don't remember my price. I decided to give this brewery another chance. I've got a couple of friends who rave about it, but I've never been overwhelmed. I give this a 3.5/5. This one is too sweet for me. Maybe some anise flavor in it? This one needs to be cellared. Seemed highly carbonated, big head that took a long time to settle. (My 5/5 is Great Divide's Oak Aged Yeti. a 4.5/5 would be Sam Smith's)

[MrWookie]

Pictures in reviews are strictly optional. You're more than welcome to post w/o them.

These are some good reviews, though. You seem to like a very broad variety of beer, and you've definitely noted some of my favorites as your favorites. My kind of guy [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

[MaxxDaddy]

Hey Skip, what year was your Czar? I've heard that it needs some time before opening and I have a 2006 in the fridge.

As for actual beer ratings, I have a few quickies from my most recent bar trip, where they were having "Hoptoberfest," with all sorts of hoppiness abound. I had 3 double IPAs, the first of which ended up being the best: Lagunitas Hop Stoopid. Don't think this one is in bottles, but it was $6 for a goblet, as were the other two I got after this one. No doubt about the style of this beer. Big grapefruity hops in this beast. A nice golden cloudy color with ample white head. The taste was just a big hop bomb, but had enough malt in the back to keep it from being too unbalanced. I truly can't believe my personal taste transformation since I started posting here. I'm a full-fledged hops fan now. This was a solid IIPA and one I'd certainly try again if it ever came back around these parts. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Second was a personal and local favorite of mine: Captain Lawrence Captain's Reserve IIPA. For whatever reason, the bartender decided to put a hop flower in the glass along with the beer. My friends took turns smelling it and I couldn't smell a thing; wonder what that means? As for the beer, not quite as big in the hops department as Hop Stoopid, and slighlty tilted toward the malt side of the spectrum. Piney hops in the taste and finish, with a relatively thick mouthfeel. A solid IIPA from Westchester, NY. 3.75 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Last was Stone Ruination, which I've never bought before, but certainly has ample opportunities to do so. Well, if you know Stone, you know they enjoy their hops, and this is most definitely not an exception. This was just short of Hop Stoopid in the extreme hops department, but definitely welcome as the capper to my bitter evening. At this point I think my tastebuds may have been shot, but I do know I enjoyed this beer quite a bit. Until I buy a bottle for real rating, I'll hold off on the hearts for this one.

[RunDownHouse]

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For whatever reason, the bartender decided to put a hop flower in the glass along with the beer. My friends took turns smelling it and I couldn't smell a thing; wonder what that means?

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Wow, I can't imagine a bar even keeping those around. That's pretty cool. If it didn't have much odor, it is probably just a bit old and/or not stored cool. Hops, especially whole flowers, do go "stale" after a while. I think its something to do with the oils evaporating. If you freeze hops they can last a good while, and hop pellets generally last longer than whole hops.

[MaxxDaddy]

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For whatever reason, the bartender decided to put a hop flower in the glass along with the beer. My friends took turns smelling it and I couldn't smell a thing; wonder what that means?

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Wow, I can't imagine a bar even keeping those around. That's pretty cool. If it didn't have much odor, it is probably just a bit old and/or not stored cool. Hops, especially whole flowers, do go "stale" after a while. I think its something to do with the oils evaporating. If you freeze hops they can last a good while, and hop pellets generally last longer than whole hops.

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Yeah, I know breweries and brewpubs keep them around for show, but I've never seen that in a bar. As for the flower itself, it looked pretty yellow and old, but my friends said they could get a pretty good whiff of it. I didn't get a damn thing. Still interesting though. By the way, for any New Yorkers, definitely search for Captain Lawrence beers. The ones you'll see in stores are St. Vecent's Dubbel and Xtra Gold, their take on the hoppy tripel.