The Official Beer Thread

[hc4thehc]

Arthur: top 3 material saison-wise. Amazing.

Angel's Share: Lost Abbey just isn't my thing I guess... Brilliant beer, but way too boozy (@12.5%, come on now)...

 

[erictheobscure]

Hmm I had some Hill Farmstead beers for the first time over Thanksgiving weekend. Either the stuff is now ubiquitous in New York or I serendipitously stumbled onto two places that have some. I had the Edward at Thanksgiving dinner, and the Harlan the next day. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I guess I was a little disappointed. The Edward was very good; I didn't like the Harlan as much. But I don't see any need for me to drive to Vermont. (I guess I wouldn't mind trying an Arthur since I prefer saisons to IPAs.)

 

[archibaldleach]

Finally got around to trying Alesmith IPA. Very enjoyable but not my absolute favorite.

 

[OmniscientCause]



Hmm I had some Hill Farmstead beers for the first time over Thanksgiving weekend. Either the stuff is now ubiquitous in New York or I serendipitously stumbled onto two places that have some. I had the Edward at Thanksgiving dinner, and the Harlan the next day. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I guess I was a little disappointed. The Edward was very good; I didn't like the Harlan as much. But I don't see any need for me to drive to Vermont. (I guess I wouldn't mind trying an Arthur since I prefer saisons to IPAs.)

Bottles or draft ?

 

[erictheobscure]



Bottles or draft ?

I think the Edward was on draft and the Harlan was out of a bottle.

 

[OmniscientCause]



I think the Edward was on draft and the Harlan was out of a bottle.

Okay good Shaun doesn't bottle his pales so I was curious if it was an old growler or something. Can't think of any reason why you wouldn't like it, it's a fantastic rendition of the style

 

[erictheobscure]



Okay good Shaun doesn't bottle his pales so I was curious if it was an old growler or something. Can't think of any reason why you wouldn't like it, it's a fantastic rendition of the style

It's quite likely that both my liver and my palate were completely blown out by that point (my Black Friday consisted of tapas lunch with vermouth followed by a visit to a Thai cocktail bar in Queens and Thai takeout dinner with beer; the Harlan was my nightcap back in Manhattan).

 

[JohnGalt]

Opened a 2015 bcbs tonight and it's phenomenal - the best of the past few years.

 

[URALLMORONS]

prop 2015 is a sweet mess

 

[Van Veen]

I drank a Jalapeno Kumquat beer (firkin?) from a respectable brewery that straight up tasted like the juice from a can of Go Goya pickled jalapenos cut with a few tablespoons of Miller Light. I Got What I Deserved for asking for the most hipster thing on the menu.

 

[NOBD]

Elegant. Very nice.

 

[b1os]

Not that big a fan of the St. Bernardus Christmas Ale--actually dumped the second bottle yesterday. Opened this instead:

Great stuff as usual from TAPX.

 

[Ken P]

Here's a bunch from the past couple weeks:

Finally got to try this one thanks to a work friend. Close to a month old so I can't say it definitively but I don't think the hype is warranted with this one. On par with Trillium or Tree House IPA's I'd say.

Decent wild from Trillium but not my favorite. Needed a little more oomph to it. Not sure exactly what.

First time trying this - a dry-hopped variant of Julius. I liked it better than Julius.

One from @ocooney - first time having a Half Acre beer and I was pretty impressed. Very decent.

This is magic. Loved it.

Thanks to @concealed for the tip on where to grab this one. First time having it and it blew me away. Now to find more.

Even More Jesus brewed in Spain. It was decent but nothing too impressive.

Not my favorite Trillium hoppy beer but in general I find that even mediocre Trillium hoppy beers are better than most hoppy beers.

Only managed to grab the regular BCBS this year (and a bottle of Barleywine for @hc4thehc) but I also had a nice relaxing Black Friday free of getting up early and waiting in lines - so I'm happy. (Not to mention it should be pretty easy to trade for the Regal Rye) I'm not a huge fan of the new bottle format. One - I think it looks kinda silly. Two - I liked the 12oz bottles. 500ml of a 14% is just too much for me. Three - Pricepoint is really annoying. I'm paying about $10 for regular and $11 for Barleywine here for one bottle. Last year I could get 4 packs for $20. Frustrating. Unfortunately, I can't really complain about the format because this is probably the best fresh batch of BCBS. I've ever had. In previous years, it's been too boozy for my tastes when fresh. This year is really smooth. There's also a bit more bitterness this year vs last. I think it's welcome though - it's a good way to cut the sweetness.

 

[Portland Dry Goods]

a couple from thanksgiving.

From the NH/ME border, really great apple brandy aged stout. dark with some boozy sharpness but tasty.

Tried as hard as i could to resist this but it seemed like i wouldn't have another chance to try it. a blend of Tilquin and Rulles Brune - drinks sort of like zwet.be, going from malty and mild to bitter to sour with a dry finish. Really interesting as a one off now-and-then beer.

going to try to go easy on purchasing this winter outside of beer-it-forward.... maybe....

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Had cause to celebrate tonight so cracked open the Black Fist.

A wonderful experience but stretching the definition of beer a little...