I brew, you brew, hopefully we don't spew: The Beer Thread

[Paul le Fou]

You neglected to name your fave brewery there Cyrael (though admittedly it's probably academic if they don't distribute far).

Meanwhile I just put on a crockpot of chili to cook and this time I added in Southern Tier's Cold Brew Coffee Imperial Pumking because why not.

This gave me the idea to make beer bread with a pumpkin beer (and add pumpkin spices)...

 

[Kirin]

Yesssss, do it.

 

[Rufferto]

La Fin du Monde is good.

La Fin du Monde is good. It was my introduction to Unibroue, and I have to say, it's a high hurdle to clear. Also, this past year I've tried a bunch of different belgians and haven't had a bad one so far. One standout in particular is St. Bernadus's abt 12. Really quaffable for something so potent.

 

[Rufferto]

Like, I can't imagine living a life of austerity, but if I had to live during the middle ages, it could get a whole lot worse than chugging trappist beers and hanging with the boiiiz to touch the face of God.

 

[Paul le Fou]

St. Bernardus Abt 12 is one of my all-time favorites! As far as Belgians you can actually drink more than one of, my favorite is probably Pauwel Kwak, which has the added bonus of coming (if you're in a place that knows their stuff, and they better) in a neat round-bottom lantern glass with a wooden stand.

 

[Patrick]

Oh man, I used to have my own lantern glass. I can’t remember if the stand or the glass broke, but I don’t have either anymore.

 

[Cyrael]

Kwak is awesome. There was a belgian-only place in Colorado called The Cheeky Monk that used to serve it just so.

 

[Violentvixen]

I also grabbed their Black Is Beautiful collaboration. Excited to try it.

Also of anyone is on Untapped, my handle is the same there as it is here.

I had one from Worthy Brewing that might have been one of the best beers I've ever had. So good.

I'm Annui on Untappd, sent a friend request!

This gave me the idea to make beer bread with a pumpkin beer (and add pumpkin spices)...

Oh shit, report back with results!

 

[Kirin]

St Bernardus makes great stuff.

Another really interesting beer I had recently was a porter from local brewery Fullsteam that's infused with lavender and Earl Grey tea (which is to say bergamot). It's really forward on those flavors, which is pretty unusual, but it turned out very nice! May have to see if I can track down more of it before it goes away, I suspect it's a one-off batch.

 

[Daikaiju]

Apparently that Miller mini bar giveaway was in response to another Brewery's promotion.
Via The Takeout

Original post, August 3, 2020: Back in May we wrote about how the beer company Natural (Natty) Light, that infamous mainstay of college parties and poorly thought-out late night revelry, was hiring a ridiculously well-paid virtual intern. Little did we know that that marketing campaign was just the tip of the company’s creative advertising iceberg. Now, Natty Light has announced the prize in its latest contest: an actual portable dorm room (i.e., a shed built on a trailer) and a semester’s worth of cheap low-calorie beer, to “preserve some of the freedoms of on-campus living” for those who won’t be returning to college dorm halls this fall.

There are a few things worth nothing about this contest. The first is that the “dorm room” is a surprisingly nice looking red-and-blue painted structure that comes complete with lawn flamingos (as seen here), a neon “Natural Light” window sign, and, in the company’s parlance, a “semester’s worth of beer money, sick tv, heat/AC/electric, chill vibes, mini fridge, [and] no noise complaints.” While Natty Light doesn’t provide any photos of the interior of the room, the eaves of the structure appear to be a lofted sleeping area, and it also looks like it has ample skylights, making it significantly nicer than the studio apartment I used to rent when I lived in Chicago.

The second thing worth noting is the “semester’s worth of beer money” component, which grants the winner a “$180.00 pre-paid card that can be used to purchase two (2) 24 packs of Natural Light beer per month for three (3) months.” While Natty Light isn’t exactly the most substantial beer in the world, that is still a considerable quantity, so whoever wins this will not be short on cans. The winner of this contest also gets to keep the trailer and its contents, which are valued at $40,180.00, and yes, you will have to pay taxes on it.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Anyone out here tried cannabis-beer? I see it all over the place, but it sounds very suss from a flavor standpoint.

 

[zonetrope]

I haven't, but weed food is generally better the less that you can taste it, so I'm extremely suspect of a beer where the flavor is the selling point.

 

[Cyrael]

I am getting ready to ferment up some hard cider here in the next few days. Deciding to try a dry hop w/ Citra or Chinook on the last 2 days of fermentation and then carbonate and serve out of a keg! We will see how it goes overall.

 

[Kirin]

Anyone out here tried cannabis-beer? I see it all over the place, but it sounds very suss from a flavor standpoint.

The one time I tried it was when I was at an arena and so many things were sold out it was down to like that or Bud Light.

I should've gone for the Bud Light.

 

[Cyrael]

First Cider experiment was a f a i l u r e.

I think it ended up fermenting at too high of the range my yeast supports. It was drinkable but had a bit of an odor to it that wasn't great. I could tell partway into the fermentation cycle that it wasn't gonna be great so I left the hops out. Dumped it yesterday and will be trying again this weekend with even more strict temperature control.

 

[Violentvixen]

I signed up for this digital beer fest that focuses on female brewers. I've been having a beer a night this week and it's fun! When I signed up several of these were TBD and they ended up being IPAs which is a bit of a bummer but they're still less hoppy than the average PacNW IPA so that's good. Probably wouldn't do it again but the cost was what I had budgeted for the local brewfest that's usually in August so glad I tried a new thing.

 

[Paul le Fou]

I had a Black is Beautiful collaboration the other day, I think by Pelican brewing, and it was really good! See if I can't hunt down more, but that's the only one I saw at Total Wine & More.

I also discovered Bombastic Brewing, and had some really good strong beers from them, including a banana imperial stout that I really liked. I also like their graphic design, plus the ones I got had birds on the cans. They're from Idaho, but I really want to track down more of their stuff.

 

[Kirin]

I signed up for this digital beer fest that focuses on female brewers. I've been having a beer a night this week and it's fun! When I signed up several of these were TBD and they ended up being IPAs which is a bit of a bummer but they're still less hoppy than the average PacNW IPA so that's good. Probably wouldn't do it again but the cost was what I had budgeted for the local brewfest that's usually in August so glad I tried a new thing.

Neat! Pity I"m not in one of their "target states" they're shipping beers to.

 

[Violentvixen]

I had a Black is Beautiful collaboration the other day, I think by Pelican brewing, and it was really good! See if I can't hunt down more, but that's the only one I saw at Total Wine & More.

Ooh nice. I had one from Worthy Brewing that was fantastic.

Several of the other local breweries here seem to have decided to make black IPAs instead because seriously the PacNW has a hop addiction and needs help.

 

[Paul le Fou]

Several of the other local breweries here seem to have decided to make black IPAs instead because seriously the PacNW has a hop addiction and needs help.

Seriously. It's time to stage an intervention.

I like an ipa now and then (though I vastly prefer hazy to, uh, non-hazy?) but it's just out of control. One time I got angry and got a clicker for counting. Out of ~115 beers at my corner store, over 50 were IPAs - and that wasn't counting the regular pale ales and ambers that have so much hops in them because of escalation/arms racing that they're just as hoppy and bitter as an ipa.

Also, has anyone heard of Tavour? Because Bombastic's website pointed it out to me and I think it's an app for rare craft beer delivery???

 

[zonetrope]

Living in Michigan taught me that Bell's Two-Hearted is the only IPA that needs to exist. I can't think of a single other one that's made me think "wow, that's a good beer!" instead of "wow, that's a lot of hops!"

 

[Cyrael]

IPA's can be great, it's just that everyone is making one so standouts are hard to find.
Stouts can ALSO be great, but it felt like everyone around here was doing 'Barrel Aged' - which is fine... but they all start to taste the same.

I took a pic at the DABC Store (State Run Utah Liquor store) a few weeks ago and we have about..... 30-40 different beer options. So knowing that you guys have variety fills me with longing.

Edit: 30-40 Different beer options that are NOT REFRIGERATED by the way... And some of them are at least 2 months passed by the 'best by date'

 

[Paul le Fou]

I don't really understand why anyone likes stouts, as to me they all taste like cough syrup.

I really am sorry about this, but the law says we have to fight now.

IPA's can be great, it's just that everyone is making one so standouts are hard to find.
Stouts can ALSO be great, but it felt like everyone around here was doing 'Barrel Aged' - which is fine... but they all start to taste the same.

I took a pic at the DABC Store (State Run Utah Liquor store) a few weeks ago and we have about..... 30-40 different beer options. So knowing that you guys have variety fills me with longing.

Edit: 30-40 Different beer options that are NOT REFRIGERATED by the way... And some of them are at least 2 months passed by the 'best by date'

Although yeah, I have to admit that barrel-aged can be great, but the barrel taste usually dominates the beer rather than complements it, and makes all of them taste more similar than distinct.

 

[Violentvixen]

I really am sorry about this, but the law says we have to fight now.

 

[spines]

there's a brewery near my work which does mostly sours and ipas, and since i used to go by there a lot i'd often try whatever new ipa they had. obviously haven't been lately :/ it's definitely not one of my favorite styles, but i'm fine with most things and for a single beer (whether i'm out or can grab a loose can/bottle) i'll usually give something a shot, especially if i like the brewery.

i used to be way into porters and stouts and since a lot of coffee flavors (which are a pretty safe bet for me) are in those styles i still get a fair amount, but i guess i feel like right now i lean towards witbiers, saisons and fruity sours. i guess part of that is just the local store (which has tons of those all the time, along with obviously all the ipas i won't usually buy), but

 

[Paul le Fou]

I've made some peace with IPAs lately, but I much prefer them when it's hot. I like porters and such more when it's cold than when it's hot, but I'll never turn one down, while I'm just not interested in IPAs for much of winter.

I like a few sours, mainly Flemish red sours (like the Duchess!), but I haven't been a fan of the berlinerweisse/american wild/farmhouse sours or saisons that are getting really popular lately. I appreciate them for what they are, they're just very rarely if ever what I feel like drinking.

 

[Kirin]

I used to think I didn't like IPAs at all, until I realized that the NE/hazy ones and to some extent DIPAs often have more flavors going on than just "as much bitter hop flavor as possible". Since I started getting into those I *can* drink most kinds now, but I still prefer ones that are citrusy.

Always been a big fan of stouts and porters and will happily drink them in any weather, though I can certainly see why some people shy away from a beer that's a thick dark meal in itself when it's hot. Lately I've been getting into fruity sours, and I like the Flemish reds too. Saisons are extremely hit or miss for me, I've had some I like but it all depends on the combo of added flavors and whatever wild yeasts were used.

 

[Violentvixen]

If any Portland peeps want to join a take-home beer fest, tickets are open for this winter beer one. I'm hoping to take part but may not be able to make that pickup.

 

[Kirin]

Just snuck in under the wire a pre-order for a nearby bottle-shop's yearly craft beer advent calendar, so looking forward to that!

 

[Paul le Fou]

It's just from Costco, but I did get a German craft beer advent calendar. It had never occurred to me to look for these before, and I hadn't heard of them until now, but I feel like this will probably have to become a tradition...