The Beer and other drink thread!
 

So All you hopsheads from the foodie thread come on down! The delicious and nutritious heavenly brews! The homebrewer, (whose yeast always seems to die), the localist micro, the German supremacy drinker, the good, the old, the light and the bold! Even the wine and scotch guys are encouraged to stop by (I am also a scotch guy).

BEER! The third most consumed beverage in the world! (after tea and water)

According the Brewers ***. there are over 125 recognized styles of beer. and not all of them are good.

I will start off by saying that typically I prefer a top fermented beer. Such as ales.

And we all have heard Grandpa's rule of beer, "If you can see through it, don't do it!"

Discuss the 8th through infinitith wonder of the world, BEER!

and wine, scotch, mead....-okay alcohol.....but mostly beer......:tup:

I will start, I think this is my new favorite beer!


http://thenextbarstool.files.wordpre...ck-40-bock.jpg

Typically, I am not a bock guy, and this wonderful brew blew away....by not blowing me away. See, I think the reason I am not a big bock drinker is because they can downright overpowering in flavor. I don't like to sip a sledge hammer. Balance is the most important value to me in brewing and this is just so well balanced. This is almost too balanced for me to consider it a bock.

Its more malty than hoppy. But its still more hoppy than most bocks. It pours like copper in sunset light with red hints in color. Its not smokey per say, but definitely toasty. It seems to strike that perfect balance of full body while not being a loaf of bread in a bottle. Tiniest hints of fruit stop by for a short visit just to let you know that they were there at one point. Towards the end the nuts and spices smooth out the horizon and let you pretend that don't live in a city with a loud Hmong family living above you but are sitting on a porch, looking at your own back 40 acres.

The head is like a cream from a much maltier beer than what lies underneath in this glass.

9/10 overall
9/10 appearance
9.5/10 taste
8/10 mouth feel
6/10 aroma (due to not having the right type of glass for this bock, I can't judge this one accurately thus leaving it out of the average for the overall score)

+1 on the New Glarus choice although personally I prefer Spotted Cow by New Glarus. Everytime I have to go to Wisconsin for work I have to make sure I get some.

Spotted Cow is their staple. And its a good american style beer. A good alternative to draft beers. It is my go to, but it is rather plain. Good for what it is though.

Leinies Creamy Dark is what I drink out of WI, I tried the spotted Cow when I was skiing a few years ago and didnt really see what the hype was.






DAN

You really can't compare the two since leinenkugel's creamy dark is not a corn based farm house ale. If I recall the leinie's is a bovarian style dark lager. Apples to oranges. Leinenkugel's are good, when I lived in ohio and I wanted a taste of wisco without coming here, I would enjoy their summer Shandy. Which is like a lemonade style beer. Really really good especially on a hot day after some hard work! Leinie's Honey Weiss is also quite good.

Is it bad that I live in New Glarus, and I really don't care for most of thier beers? I like Snow Shoe, and Staghorn. Snow Shoe is an older red beer they used to have in winter. Not recently though. Two Women is ok. I really liked staghorn, but this years batch had a strange soda water flavor to it. Back 40 I can agree on being pretty good. Leinies on the other hand. Yummm. Leinies Red is my fave from them. Samual Adams Red Tasman has to be maybe the best beer I have ever had. I would have taken a picture of it, but it was too good to even bother looking for my camera.

Not a big beer drinker, I usually indulge in Vodka, Whisky. But I stick with the regulars for beer, Bud, Sam AD. But my fav is def Corona.

Favorite Vodka: reyka (and sometimes goose)
http://www.gayot.com/images/spirits/...eyka-vodka.jpg

Favorite Whiskey: Johnnie Walker

http://johnnywalkerblue.net/wp-conte...2e91bc8c61.jpg

Favorite Beer: Corona

http://designlovr.com/wp-content/upl.../02/corona.jpg

Johnnyn walker is one of my preferences too. its good stuff and a decent price. Only ever bought two bottles on blue though, The last one still has half left. Bought it when my Goddaughter was born.

And everybody has different preferences, I really enjoy most things from new glarus. I enjoy Half of Leinies, and a few select from sam adams.

When it comes to beer and drink, everyone is a winner! :happydance:

agreed. :tup:

Probably the best beer in IMO is Yuengling Lager. I feel sorry for all of you who have never had it but if you're ever on the east coast you'll have to try it.

When I was stationed in VA, my roomate was from new hampshire. All he drank was yuengling, its good. Its quite good for what it is, but I prefer others over it. Plus, if I drink a lager, it better at least coppery if not darker.

They just started selling it here in Ohio so maybe it'll end up just being "another" beer after awhile.

I like bold beers, watered down lagers that can be chugged are not for me.

Probably my favorite brewery right now is Pretty Things, not an every day beer but a great treat. Beers available vary by season but of special note I like the Babayaga, Baby Tree, Fluffy White Rabbits (probably in part because of the name) and the East India Style Porter (EIP). Plus they have some pretty cool artwork on some of the bottles. Might have a hard time finding them outside of MA, NY though.

http://www.prettythingsbeertoday.com...s-babayaga.png

so just opened up my first bottle of new glarus apple ale and before i even tasted it, the aromas made want to crawl into the bottle and live there! will update!

brown ale made with Cortland, Jonathan, and Macintosh apples!

served lightly chilled. definitely a niche beer. but great for what it is.

And slicks, Mass. has a beer scene to rival mich. and wisc. Not only that but that pretty things is brewed by woman yes? I'm not sexist, but in ancient times, beer was brewed by women. And I feel they still tend to do it better than men. Don't know why, but I believe female brewers tend to be better. The new glarus brewery that I rave about is run by a woman. Funny thing.

The problem is we have all these beer laws that make the best beers only able to sold in same region as their brewed. like coors in smokey and the bandit and yuengling. Its a shame too, cuz Americans do beer better than the Germans! Thats right I said it!

Corona....hmmmm, my drink of choice!

It's a man and a woman partnership. Their beers always have good balance.

In most states it is illegal for the seller to transport across state lines without a proper distributorship in place. This makes it very difficult for the small boutique breweries to expand their market. Some have done okay like Stone and Rouge but it slows down the growth rate. Slowly this silly old laws are changing - heck 5 years ago we couldn't even buy beer on Sunday here in MA.

When Mass was first established it was illegal to kiss in public IIRC :P

If you saw those puritan woman you'd make a similar law. It would have taken many tankards of cider to make them palatable. :icon17:

Ahhhhh, a beer thread. I feel right at home:tup:

Well there already was a food thread and an AA thread :ughdance:

So has anybody else homebrewed?

I don't, but I have a friend who does it who is actually pretty amazing at what he turns out. I helped him do a back to back brew session, whole grain process, quite involved. Took a lot of time, but in the waiting we sampled his 6 beers on tap :) The last time I was there for a party he had 12 going. I've tried to talk him into going commercial, his stuff is that good.

I love my Shiner and Chimay Red for beer. For liquor, Crown Black or Jameson.

My girlfriend got me a Mr Beer home brew kit. I had one when I was a teen and me and my buddy brewed less that acceptable beer with it. I know its a cheap cruddy kit but I had to brew it again anyway. This time we will see what the patience and skill of an adult can produce with this thing. Im brewing a pale ale. Bottling stage is next tuesday.

The simple kits do okay if you keep the beer simple, should be pretty safe with a Pale Ale. Stay away from the darker beers as there isn't any good equivalent for roasted malts in a bottle. Also make sure you give a little extra bottle conditioning time over what they say, things get better with an extra week or two. Condition cool (e.g. basement) but doesn't have to be refrigerated.

I wasnt trying to compare the two (Leinies and Cow) I know they are two completely different types... I was going on just pure taste of the two seperatly saying creamy dark is my favorite and that I tried spotted cow and didnt get the hype :)



I to love Jonnie Walker I have green label in my cabinet now :)






DAN

Yah, keeping it simple. I just hope it produces something decent. I plan on letting it bottle condition for two months.

Do the Dew!
 

Do the Dew! The Irish Dew that is.

I am not sure what the Irish make other than great adult beverages, but that contribution to the world is enough in my book:

http://www.the370z.com/members/black...al-reserve.jpg

It's smooth and inexpensive.

:tup: Not a big whiskey drinker but when I do indulge its JW.

Yeah, blended Scotch is pretty good. I was going on a camping trip and made a last minute liquor run wanting to get some Glenfiddich. They were out of the 12 year stuff, so I opted for the 18 year...nectar of the gods! For a single malt it was extremely smooth suprisingly.

In on delicious thread

:tup:

I wish it wasn't illegal to make hard alcohol...i would definitely try my hand at scotch!

Apparently there is a loophole that allows you to produce it as fuel in small quantities, still need a license though. The process for making Scotch is exactly the same as the process for making beer, just adds the extra step of distillation at the end. Given the expense and the yield it is still far cheaper just to buy it ready made :)

This is one tasty beer. Check out the beergeeknation review on youtube if your interested. They gave it an A. It's a very bold beer. If you like Red Ipa check this out!

My favorite (lately) has been a really hoppy IPA. I just got back from England and you can probably guess my favorite beers are ales. I really like the session IPA's (low in alcohol but very big on taste).

Now trying to find that flavor in Canada is difficult ... but fun trying!

Def gotta try this one!

MMMM, I used to be super into IPA's. Nowadays they tend to give me a headache unfortunately. Two of my all time favs though are Victory Hop Devil and Troegs Nugget Nectar. Both are heavenly.

Homebrewing woohoo! I have a Bavarian Pumpkin Wheat in the primary fermenter right now. Should be ready in about three weeks. Made a tasty English Style Bitter and have 6 bottles left in the fridge. :tup:

Talk about delayed gratification...the three years of aging that you would have to wait would be torture! I guess you could drink a lot of off-the-shelf whisky during that time.

Another reason why I need to get a house with a basement...