Store is open today, so I went back. I got some of the pricing wrong - Eclipse was 28 while BA Old Rasputin was 20.

Picked up a couple more things and this is what I ended up with:

+1 on De Garde.....everything I have had has been super impressive, and I love the acidity....prob because im a wine drinker above all else. Anyone drinking anything special for xmas?

I opened a couple of IPAs, the Molotov Lite from Evil Twin and a Hardcore Chimera from Finch's Beer Company. Both were good, but I think I rate the Hardcore Chimera a bit higher. It had a nice hop punch that I enjoy, but also was super juicy. I got very drunk, so I can't remember all that I had, but I know I had a Founder's Big Luscious, a Dry Dock Bligh's Barleywine, and a Chocolate Rain. We had a Parabola, a Cantillon Classic Gueuze, a Timmerman's Gueuze, and a 2013 Eclipse Java Coffee in the queue but we were too intoxicated to get through them and I was too hung over this morning to drink them . DAMN YOU CHOCOLATE RAIN!

I found the graham cracker to be extremely prominent and felt it overpowered the vanilla/marshmallow and chocolate components. I did think it was a very unique beer but it was extremely expensive (my 4 pack was ~$18 if I'm remembering correctly) and I was expecting a sweeter and thicker beer.

Drank some two hearted cans tonight with the fam which is pretty standard and also pretty elite. Also tried Short's Juicy Tree which is an IPA with blue spruce tips, juniper berries and cranberries. Bought it because, well its Christmas and was pleasantly surprised.

thanks. I'll check it out at some point, or maybe just get my buddy to make the trip for me.

cracked open my first 2014 BCBS. It's quite good. Going off just memory it seems a little smoother than the 2013.

They need to sell these over the top alcohol beers in smaller bottles, though. This stuff is so low carbonation I could probably get away with capping the bottle after a half pour.

My brother surprised me with 10 growlers of beer from Hill Farmstead.

Blown away. Best gift I've ever received. He drove 10 hours round trip.

To top it off he stood in a 2 hour line at trillium on the 23rd for growlers. The kid doesn't even drink.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Best brother ever?

FYP

I'm not a big stout fan but I'm a sucker for a good pumpkin beer. This was excellent.

I have a sister if he's interested, but only if he visits for the holidays

Pretty sure we've been going to the same shop. Just got more de Garde today to take home, but couldn't bring myself to spend that much on the Eclipse.

Pilsner Urquell from the Czech Republic.

Belmont Zupans FTW

Yeah, I'm trying to branch out and try new stuff, plus I could use Christmas as an excuse. That said, I still haven't had it but it's hard to imagine Eclipse being much better than Tough Love, Abyss or the Roman numeral Black Butte, all of which are cheaper.

I just popped open a bottle of Tart of Darkness. I'm not usually a big fan of sours but I thought I'd try this one because its labeled as a sour stout. Is there anything stouty about this beer?? Tastes like straight sour to me. I guess I feel kind of mislead by the labelling. I'll finish it only because I paid $20 for it, but yea, I certainly will never be buying this one again.

+++1. Same exact sentiments. The marshmallow is not as prominent as I expected and though the beer is by no means bad, the bottle needs to be at least 4 oz bigger or $2 cheaper. ($5.50/12oz)

Despite the price, I poured this down the drain after a few sips. I learned the hard way that I do not like sours.

Tart of Darkness is amazing

Milo with my Porter

Well, I was talking about Belmont Station, but pretty close, I suppose!

Have been under the weather for most of the holiday season, so I've been pretty disappointed in my beer intake. I've had 3 beers in the last week and a half I think:

Goose Island Halia - Belgian style beer aged with peaches. This was pretty nice, supremely drinkable in both flavor and alcohol (7.5%). The only downside was that the peach flavor wasn't there at all, possibly due to age (about 18 months old I think). Had absolutely no problem killing the bottle (750 or 765ml) with pleasure. I'm not sure that any particular aspect stood out, just a very solid beer that I'd happily have again.

Green Flash Road Warrior - an imperial rye IPA. I had 2 bottles of this with mixed experience. The first I enjoyed, the second I dumped down the drain, and I'm not sure how much of that was me being sick. Anyway, definite spicy taste which I assume is from the rye, and is something I enjoy in Hop Rod Rye. But the IPA side wasn't as good - seemed like a lot of piney bitterness rather than the citrus juiciness that I prefer. I have 2 bottles left that I guess I'll open soon.

Fremont Dark Star - Spice Wars. This is the 3rd of the Dark Star variants that I've tried (the base and coffee being the other ones). I thought the base was great and the coffee was just about as good, but the Spice Wars was not nearly as good. Not a huge shocker, since I generally don't like spiced beers of any kind. (A friend of mine brought over some winter warmers that will probably sit in my fridge for all eternity.) But even my low expectations were too high. I opened this one night, drank about 1/4 of it and then capped it. Continued with it the following night and couldn't finish it.

Starting to wonder if I even like beer that much.

If anyone had a better beershare today than the 8 of us I'd be mightily impressed.

Personal favorites were:
Obviously have to say the Westvleteren 12.
NEBCO's Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout.
Alesmith Brewing's Speedway Stout.
Cisco Brewer's Lady of the Woods

Nonfavorites were:
Philadelphia Brewing Company Harvest from the Hood
Alaskan Brewing Smoked Porter

If anyone sees a bottle that intrigues them and want a review let me know and I will see what our notes say on it.

All,

Just had Oskar Blues Ten Fidy imperial stout at a beer and burger place and thought it was really great. Rich full coffee flavor. Maybe just a touch hot. Only small criticism is by the end of the 10oz pour it started to taste just a touch too sweet for me.

00,

Lot of stuff I like there. Curious how you felt the speedway stout held up against some of the other stuff with more intense/stronger flavors.