xpost from Lounge beer thread


Bout to make the visit to Brickstore Pub (basically beer drinker's dream pub)

Currently ranked #2 in the world by Beer Advocate for beer pubs, this famous Atlanta spot has a pretty epic list. The current rotation in the Belgian Bar draught list is (yes, they have an entire beer dedicated to belgian brews):



BLAUGIES SAISON D'EPEAUTRE Saison Belgium
.3L 6% $7.00

CARACOLE NOSTRADAMUS Strong ale Belgium
.25L 9.5% $6.00

DELIRIUM NOEL Strong Dark Belgium
.3L 10.0% $7.00

GOUDEN CAROLUS HOPSINJOOR Belgian IPA Belgium
.25L 8 $7.00

KASTEEL CUVEE DU CHATEAU Quadruppel Belgium
.25L 11.0% $8.00

LA CHOUFFE Strong Pale Belgium
.3L 8% $7.00

RODENBACH VINTAGE 2008 Flanders Red Belgium
.25L 7.0% $7.00

ST. BERNARDUS ABT. 12 Quadruppel Belgium
.25L 10.0% $7.00

The belgian bottle list is too massive to post (http://www.brickstorepub.com/bottledbeer), but I plan on having an Orval Trappist Ale as well as the Pannepot Quad (personal favorite)

As far as those drafts, St Bernardus is the only one I've tried. They rotate regularly (altho St Bernardus is usually a staple).

Maybe try the Kasteel quad? Not leaving for an hour or two so if anyone has tried any of these, suggestions greatly appreciated.


I'll post some pics and trip report sometime soon...

I would scrap the orval, and just get stuff that is super obscure that you can't find at a store imo. Orval is amazing beer, but isn't terribly hard to get at a good beer/liquor store.....not gonna look at the list, but I'd try the rodenbach if you like sour ales. Also, usually bars like this will let you sample whatever is on tap before you buy it.....DEFINITELY get the Gouden Carolous IPA

Personally im a big fan of Rogue Dead Guy Ale and Arrogant Bastard Ale(especially the double bastard)

Rouge Hazlenut brown nectar is really good imo, but is tougher to find than Dead Guy ale

Pretty sure I can get hazelnut at my local grocery store. Can't find Chipotle Ale though.

Ridiculously jealous. I've been passively looking for the top and the bottom for years and have never found it.

Def. try gouden carolous. Kasteel is just ok i think unless you're really big on quads. Haven't had the belgian strong, but all the others are run of the mill good for me.

Londoners:

Favourite shops to pick up some decent beers?

Best pubs north of the river?

You are correct. It is the alpha acids from the hops (and beta acids, to a lesser extent) that are dissolved in the beer and produce bitterness.

I'm a beer nut and have been homebrewing for about two years. It's so awesome to be able to clone your favorite commercial brews and not have to pay 10 bux for a 22oz bomber.

Lot of great beers mentioned in this thread so far, I'll try to chime in with some great beers after reading more of this thread.

I got on the craft beer kick after spending the summer in cali. The local store to get micro brews here doesn't get a ton of the super popular micro IPAs I really like. Can you guys recommend some beers like:

Dogfish Head's 90min
Three Floyd's Dreadnaught
Grand Teton's (I think) Lost Continent

Had a bottle of Southern Tier Creme Brulee Milk Stout last night.

Jesus Christ that thing was rich. It tasted, not surprisingly, like creme brulee. Nice dessert beer, but definitely something you want to share.

It's the most wonderful time of the year indeed. Christmas ales are here, people, try them. They are only available like one month per year. Just had me some Corsendonk Noel the other day.

For the bargin hunter Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale, a very nice IPA, can be found for around $13 to $14 a 12 pack. At 6.8% ABV you get your monies worth.

Avery Maharaja and Avery DuganA are both very good double IPA's that I would say are "similar" to the 90min. They're made in CO so I would assume you would have a better shot at the local joint carrying these opposed to the great Cali IPA's. I live in SC and all of the various Stone Brewing IPA's are readily available everywhere...if this is the case for you then pick up some Ruination or any of their seasonal IPA's in the bombers....they're typically excellent.

I'll check those out thanks man.

+1 to Celebration Ale.

Just got back from Cuba where I just drank far too many of these:



Expected Cuban own brand beer to actually be terribad but this and its weaker brother Cristal were actually not bad. Very sweet at first (they both have more sugar than hops in them from what I could see lol), but it's Cuba so everything is way too sweet and the sugar is incredibly nice compared to Western sugar so all is forgiven. Still nicely hoppy despite the sweetness and very crisp, not overly gassy like many beers of this style (I think this is something to do with Cuba in general - all the own brand soft drinks share this too).

Working at 5.4% it reminded me a great deal of the Portugese beers such as Super Bock only sweeter, and worked well with light food and was generally a good beer that I will def be trying to track down in the UK. A good one for those with a sweet tooth and a craving for pilsners to drink on a beach somewhere or just at home with a big plate of freshly caught seafood.

I know dick about upper end beers but inspired by this thread, picked up these.

From England - Abbot Ale:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/470/2137

From Belgium - Leffe

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/470/2137

I thought both of these were delicious. I paid about the equivalent of about 3 US dollars a pint for both of these.

Would be interested to hear how those more knowlegable rate these beers and if this is a reasonable price to pay,

Both are good work horse introduction beers to British ales and a key style of Belgian beers respectively. If you liked either there are beers in both classes that will probably interest you more, depending on the exact parts of these beers you liked. Abbot is very strong compared to many UK ales, so possibly trying some of the weaker UK ales may help. Deuchars IPA is a good beer with a conflicting style that is easy to get and prob worth a look if you are not familiar with many different UK beers and want to compare some styles.

Belgiam has a vast array of beers to choose from so you are probably better off just buying as many different ones as you can until you start finding a certain class that you really like. My current favs are the Rochefort beers (particularly number 6 - which I did in this thread somewhere) but there are so many it is really hard to say - Leffe is a nice beer but there are many Abbey beers out there with much greater depth and substance if you like Leffe imo.

Re: Leffe

Costco now has a mixed Belgian 18-pack. Leffe, Stella Artois, and Hoegaarden. Runs about a buck a bottle.

I don't know much about english beers, but if you enjoyed the leffe, I'd check out some more serious belgian beers. If you have a store with a nice selection, I'd recommend you pick up some duvels, and a westmalle tripel. Make sure you drink them out a glass, and pour them slowly with glass at an angle. If you get around to trying either of those, make sure you post ITT with your thoughts.

This guy disagrees with your pouring method.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqEJ5og89po

Pouring slowly with the glass at an angle eliminates the head. Beer should have a head.

Ty for the replies. There are very few high end beers available here as far as I know. Like a grand total of maybe 10 different beers and that's it. I am going to buy a few more bottles for christmas season, not sure if I will stick with the ones I tried (and enjoyed very much indeed) or try something new.

I think I remember the names of a couple of beers that are available at about the same price.

Speckled Hen
Spitfire

Any thoughts on those and how they compare with the ones I tried?

The selection here is non existent and I don't even know what duvels or westmall tripels are. I remember there was some Belgian dark beer that was over 8% alcohol. It was also the most pricy beer available but I may buy myself some for christmas.

Sick reading about how Stella Artois and Leffe are a buck a bottle at costco. Those cost about twice that here. I like Stella Artois but wouldn't pay that much for it when I can buy Heineken for half that. I just love that Leffe though, if I could get that for a buck a bottle I would buy many cases!

I was talking about those beers in particular. If you don't pour a duvel slow at an angle you get 90% head. Also, with beers that are unfiltered, I pour at an angle, and when there is just a little bit left, I swirl the bottle around and dump the rest in....this makes sure I get all the good stuff in the bottom, and that I get a nice amount of head.

guy in video pours duvel from a bottle