The Official Beer Thread

[alexg]

At Mikkeller and Friends in Copenhagen. ******* great, I love the blood orange in it. Gusher though, the bottle has been overflowing for the past 10 minutes...

 

[budapest12]

^ Jealous. Just ordered the following:

1x Rodenbach Grand Cru - 750ML BTL
1x Almanac Golden Gate Gose - 22OZ BTL
1x AleSmith IPA - 22OZ BTL
1x Stone Ruination IPA - 12OZ BTL
1x Rodenbach Classic Flemish Sour Ale - 330ML BTL
1x Mikkeller Simcoe Imperial IPA
1x Mikkeller Grassroots Wheat is the New Hops Brett IPA
1x Mikkeller 1000 IPA - 330ML BTL
1x Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel - 330ML BTL
2x Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge - 330ML BTL

 

[Ken P]

I really liked that Almanac Gose. Good buy.

So I picked up all of these locally. Apparently Epic got short term distro to my state when they came up to EBF. One of those Jesus's is for @hc4thehc.

Then this box showed up. Finally got my hands on a Peche N' Brett. Also really excited to try the Saison Bernice.

This is one of my all time favorites. Although it's a serious gusher. Those of you who have easy access to this are spoiled.

Maybe the first time I've had KBS this fresh. Lots of coffee. I always enjoy this one.

My parents came in to town for Easter with these for me. I'm very lucky.

This was interesting and pretty good. Had a elderberry kind of flavor too it with a lot of malt. Obviously funky and tart too.

Going to try to take it easy on the drinking this week in prep for when I go to Portland (Maine) next weekend. Will be going to the Allagash Coolship Resurgam release as well as Austin Street, Foundation, Bissel, Novarre Res and Bier Cellar. Should be a lot of fun!

 

[hc4thehc]

Holy cow what a loot... So stoked on the Jesus (cause you don't **** with the Jesus)...

Scratch Jam at my house yesterday... Everyone loves Schneider (Tap 5 and Tap 7):

 

[hc4thehc]

5 pm breakfast.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/mikkeller-beer-geek-breakfast-ba-tequila/317448/

 

[fiestaplatypus]



Bend is the better beer city.

I also wouldn't go to Deschutes. A lot of the beers are pretty good, but if you have limited time I wouldn't bother. I kinda think it's the Brooklyn Brewery of the PNW.

My biggest recommendations for IPAs would be to go to Hop and Vine or Green Dragon and look for Boneyard, Crux Fermentation, Block 15, and Fort George

I honestly don't really like 10 Barrel that much, but I've only had a few beers.

For sours my favorites have been from Upright, Logsdon, Block 15, and De Garde. I've also heard so much about Ale Apothecary but not sure how much gets distributed. If you see any I would buy.


non beer stuff in Portland

Spoiler

If you're into cocktails and you're going to Portland on a weekend I would go to Pepe Le Moko, get on the waiting list, and eat at Clive Commons while you wait. His amaretto sour, the grasshopper, and their version of the irish coffee are great. he's a big fan of taking lowbrow cocktails and changing it to make it delicious. I've been to a few of the cocktail bars nearby and while they all have a good liquor and ice program and the training I just don't think they have a good palate and drinks have been generally unbalanced and tend to be too sweet. but they're all extremely friendly and i've been offered free shots or tastes of their favorite liquors just by talking to the bartenders when they're not busy

If you're into spirits all the distilleries are located in a very small area on the other side of the river

Everything on the southwest side of Portland is in a like 5 block radius. Self Edge is nearby and some other small stores that sell Danner's, Wolverine, and your other hyped up SF workwear brands. There's a decent ramen shop in the same building as Self Edge and a hipster jewish deli in front with good pastrami.

There's a massive bookstore (Powell's) nearby that has a massive collection of used and new books. You could spend days in there. It is a little crowded tho, but I thought prices for used books were decent compared to online if you factored in shipping from Amazon

I would skip all the local recommendations for coffee except for Spella Caffe but I prefer coffee that's not enamel melting acidic. I would skip Voodoo doughnuts but if you really want to, don't go to the original location go to their second location that has ample parking and almost no line. Voodoo is extremely sugary to the point where it's gross. Head to Blue Star instead.

If you're into Thai food I don't know what the deal is, but Portland has amazing Thai food. Besides Pok Pok, see you if you can make a reservation at Langbaan. If you want something more laidback and chill head to Nong's Khao Man Gai which is basically a thai Hainanese chicken. It's like $7? for a plate of chicken and rice but goddamn so good.

Also I would check out the Lan Su Chinese Garden and the Portland Japanese Garden. I haven't been to Lan Su but the Portland Japanese Garden is right across from the International Rose Test Garden (free) and $9.50 + $4 parking gets you in. It's really beautiful and a good way to digest and take a nice long leisurely walk.

This is awesome! Thank you so much for the advice and recommendations. Gonna do as much of this as possible.

Thank you to everyone else who has responded as well. I have put together a master list from all this good stuff.

 

[brp2]

I really liked that Almanac Gose. Good buy.

So I picked up all of these locally. Apparently Epic got short term distro to my state when they came up to EBF. One of those Jesus's is for @hc4thehc .

Then this box showed up. Finally got my hands on a Peche N' Brett. Also really excited to try the Saison Bernice.

This is one of my all time favorites. Although it's a serious gusher. Those of you who have easy access to this are spoiled.

....

Going to try to take it easy on the drinking this week in prep for when I go to Portland (Maine) next weekend. Will be going to the Allagash Coolship Resurgam release as well as Austin Street, Foundation, Bissel, Novarre Res and Bier Cellar. Should be a lot of fun!

Damn -- that's some great stuff. The Jesuses I had over the winter were fantastic, and I'd held onto them for a while. I need to get more. Agreed on the Almanac goes. And I had no idea that Epic was popular. It's probably the only beer that I can get my hands on much more easily than anyone else here.

Completely agreed on the Seizoen Bretta. I've got someone passing through the Portland airport soon so hopefully some will be headed my way.

Everything else looks great, and the Portland, ME itinerary seems awesome. I miss Novare Res. That place is tough to beat for beer and corn hole, and Portland's great for food too.

 

[indesertum]

this is by far my favorite thread in all of SF. I love the vibe and the distinct lack of typical SF characteristics like short snarky comments, major nerdiness embar: -> me), negativity, and narcissism of small differences which I contribute a ton of in general but somehow here I dont

 

[itsstillmatt]



Completely agreed on the Seizoen Bretta.  I've got someone passing through the Portland airport soon so hopefully some will be headed my way.

I just picked up a bottle of this on my way home. What should I be expecting?

 

[brp2]

I just picked up a bottle of this on my way home. What should I be expecting?

Maybe be careful -- last one I had was about a month ago and, like @Ken P , it was a complete gusher. I wasn't expecting that. Also, if I recall correctly, it was a bit sweeter than I remembered it, and not as dry / bretty as I thought it would be.

 

[budapest12]

this is by far my favorite thread in all of SF. I love the vibe and the distinct lack of typical SF characteristics like short snarky comments, major nerdiness (

-> me), negativity, and narcissism of small differences which I contribute a ton of in general but somehow here I dont

+1. Plus great beer is super cheap compared to great clothes, shoes, etc…

I save money drinking.

 

[SixOhNine]



Any recommendations on places to check out in Portland, Oregon? Will be there on business in a few weeks (17th-21st) and have a few days before the work obligations to explore the city.

I've heard of Hair of the Dog, Upright, Deschutes, and Cascade and would like to check these guys out.

Are there other breweries that are must-visits?

Other places that I need to check out unrelated to beer?

Thanks.

If you just want a bottle shop, check out John's Market Place. Massive selection of beers, both local and international. Easy bus ride from downtown, if you're carless.

 

[indesertum]



I just picked up a bottle of this on my way home. What should I be expecting?

i really like it but i pref the RR sours and HF sours more

basically it kinda tastes like mildly sweet carbonated malt vinegar with the mother in it.

Spoiler

it's very much american with the sourness and brett levels (ie in your face), but unlike a lot of american ones it's very well dialed in with a nice sweet malt backbone. if you find it i also really like the oak aged variant. the oak adds a nice depth of flavor, everything is more integrated, and the texture is much more velvety vs a little prickly. the pear juice they use for secondary fermentation is there but really not too noticeable. if you taste older aged versions they tend to be drier and more sour. from what i understand the brett continually makes acetic acid from the sugar when bottled. the aged ones i've had have had a more pungent vinegary note, but i'm not sure if it's due to the age or vintage variation. oh and it has that belgian yeast clove, cinammon, a little banana taste. also they use these old european hops like fuggle and golding that give it this odd earthy soil type taste.

after typing this i realize how weird it must sound, but i really really like it. am very happy i can just pick it up randomly when i'm in the mood.




Currently drinking barley brown's pallet jack ipa. i think i found my weekly ipa besides sticky hands

it's a really juice ipa with a nice bitter bite and the sweetness to back it up. slightly filtered for a cleaner texture. kind of what i've been craving. i love the pungent typical NW hops flavor in this. i heard so much about oregon IPAs but so far they've been mostly mediocre. the sours on the other hand are fantastic

+1.  Plus great beer is super cheap compared to great clothes, shoes, etc…

I save money drinking.

yeah and also far cheaper than wine or spirits.


what is everybody's all time favorite IPAs or IIPAs?

ever since tooch sent me a bottle of Galactic Double Daisy Cutter i've been buying every IPA I see with the word galaxy or galactic in it. still have yet to find one that's as good. I think otherwise heady topper, alpine nelson, and any HF IPA are the ones I crave the most

 

[Ken P]



I just picked up a bottle of this on my way home. What should I be expecting?

Maybe be careful -- last one I had was about a month ago and, like @Ken P
, it was a complete gusher.  I wasn't expecting that.  Also, if I recall correctly, it was a bit sweeter than I remembered it, and not as dry / bretty as I thought it would be. 

Yeah, definitely open over the sink!

+1.  Plus great beer is super cheap compared to great clothes, shoes, etc…

I save money drinking.

Wish I could say I save money drinking, haha! Although I feel like I've been a bit fanatical lately. I think after this Portland trip (and a couple subsequent trades of course) I'll have a lot really good stuff set aside for spring and summer and I can take a break from buying and maybe space out my drinking a bit too.

Anybody else notice that these past few weeks have been crazy for releases? Everybody seems to be putting good stuff out at the same time: KBS, Sunday Morning Stout, Framminghammer Variants, Dinner, Coolship Resurgram, Nightshift Anniversary, Trillium Anniversary, Tree House Cans, etc. It's impossible to keep up with. Wish all of these were more spread out.

what is everybody's all time favorite IPAs or IIPAs?

ever since tooch sent me a bottle of Galactic Double Daisy Cutter i've been buying every IPA I see with the word galaxy or galactic in it. still have yet to find one that's as good. I think otherwise heady topper, alpine nelson, and any HF IPA are the ones I crave the most

Pretty much any of the IPA's trillium puts out. (Save for A street and Publick House) HF Double Galaxy and Double Citra (techinically pale ales maybe?) might be my all time favorite for hoppy beers. Tree House Haze and Sap are definitely up there too.

 

[hc4thehc]

I'm with you Ken... Need to stop buying already... ****'s getting out of hand... Another Etre Gourmet order incoming tomorrow...