I've seen bottles on Ebay, but it's not worth the price...at all. I mean buy a bottle just to taste, but it's very, very similar to a Rochefort 10 imo and like 2 - 4x as expensive. even in Belgium they are expensive.

(edit: on ebay there is 2 bottles now, currently priced at $56...crazy)

try St. Bernadus 12, that is great and easy to find

3 Philosophers from Ommegang is another good quadruple

on a completely different note, I've been sampling some of the Trader Joe's private label beers. "Frugal" is basically a better version of Budweiser, and cheaper ($4 for a 6 pack of bottles iirc). not a bad hot weather beer at all, not great but good for the price

also some of the other TJ's labels are decent beers for the price. $6 for a 6 pack of bottles is a good price point for these beers. for $8 or $9 I wouldnt buy them though

Where in the Midwest? I'm in Chicago, and have seen it around a lot lately. On tap at some places.

I live in Minnesota.

Guys, vB now has tables. This is a very good thing for this thread. Observe:

Beer	Brewed In	ABV	Reviewer and Link to Review	Rating
American Red/Amber Ale
Bell's Amber Ale	MI, USA	5.8%	SL_72	3.3/5
Ithaca Cascazilla	NY, USA	6.5%	MrWookie	3.5/5
Victory Hop Devil	NY, USA	6.7%	MrWookie	2/5
Befast Bay Lobster Ale	ME, USA	5%	pryor15	"worth trying"
Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale	CA, USA	5.8%	kidcolin	3.75/5

If you want to see how to make your own tables, just quote this post and see for yourself.

The implications of this are many.

1. We can have our index back! I had a nice tabulated index on UBB, but vB took that away when we were no longer allowed to use HTML.

2. In light of #1, I'm instituting the "Adopt a Beer Style" program. If you'd like to help out with remaking the index, pick a style of beer, search this thread for reviews of that style, and combine the reviews that have been posted into a table like the one above and post it in here. I will then be able to combine them into a master index that compiles all the collective beer knowledge of this thread.

3. When you make a review in the future, please include a line at the end that will make it easy to append to the index. For example:

I've heard that they've sold TJ-labeled belgians in (I think) 750s that are actually Unibroue brewed, so keep your eyes out for those. Of course, since they're above 6%abv, we can't get them in TN TJs.

Wow Wookie, that is pretty win.

Well, I had something like that a year ago, but when we upgraded software, the table and all the links broke

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...&postcount=682

Now with the latest upgrade, we have the power to make it again.

I saw you live in MN. I live in Indiana and I regularly buy cases. It is brewed in Munster, IN. I predict that it won't take long before 3 Floyds opens its channels of distribution. Their entire lineup is top notch.

They definitely distribute this at least a ways into Wisconsin but I'm not sure it makes it any further than Madison. Gumballhead is definitely solid, but I'm not a huge wheat beer guy. If you have a chance also try Alpha King, which I get the impression is their other semi-widely distributed beer. It is phenomenal.

Just bought a case of Alpha King 2 minutes ago.

Jealous. Although as long as I can keep buying Surly Furious and Bell's Two Hearted my "beautiful hoppy ale" craving tastebuds will probably stay satisfied.

^ god damn, I could swear a bar I frequently go to (Mac's Industrial in NE MPLS) sometimes gets Alpha King, I am probably wrong though.

I had a glass of Maharaj from Avery Brewing Co. out of Boulder, CO. WOW, what a ****ing beer. If the bartender told me it was Surly Furious I probably would've believed him, they taste very similar. Furious happens to be one of the best IPAs in the world, so I had to love the Maharaj from Avery.

It's an American/Imperial Double IPA that weighs 10.24%, and is super potent. It has a ton of hop characteristics, as well as good fruit flavor that all great IPAs have. Has a nice golden orange color, and smells very pungent. Just a damn good beer.

4's

First of all, I want to brag that I got to buy Mendocino's delicious white ale on sale for $14/case. That's less than Labatt Blue, even. I bought three .

Second of all, I have some brief reviews of some beers made with ginger I picked up at the same time, thinking they might go well with the Thai food I was making last night. Both were about $4.50 for a 22 oz bottle.

First up was Trade Route's Ginger Pale Ale, 5% ABV from Seattle. It was delicious. There was no mistaking the Asian character brought by the ginger and mandarin orange peel. I give it a solid and a half , if this is the sort of thing you might like.

The next was Shouboushi Ginger Pilsner from Pennichuck Brewing in NH. I don't know the ABV. In contrast, this was a dud. It was a sweet, syrupy mess, and it didn't taste very much like ginger. .

Trade Route Ginger Pale Ale | WA, USA | 5% | MrWookie | 3.5/5
Pennichuck Brewing Shouboushi Ginger Pilsner | NH, USA | ?? | MrWookie | 2/5

My beer store just got in Goose Island brews, and after having enjoyed Matilda, I got Sofie to review tonight. A 22 oz ran me $8.50 for a 6.5% ABV beer. I'm not sure what style this is exactly other than that it's Belgian, but the bottle says it's 80% Belgian style ale, and another 20% Belgian-style ale that's been aged in wine barrels. Cool. The beer pours a very pale straw color that's just slightly cloudy, much like a white. The head is thick and fairly persistent.

The aroma is something like a white, but there's a hint of something I smell that I can't place. After taking a swig, it's grapefruit. This isn't like the grapefruit of the hops in, say, Arrogant Bastard. This is like real grapefruit. The grapefruit is fairly mild but distinct. This is kind of odd, because the bottle says it's been brewed with orange peel, not grapefruit, but this tastes more like grapefruit to me, along with some lemon. Unlike many whites, and unlike many beers that prominently feature orange, this beer is fairly dry and crisp. It may be the fact that this isn't as sweet that makes this feel more like grapefruit than orange. It's not nearly as sweet as, say, Blue Moon, or the Mendocino version I enjoy. That said, like the Matilda, I miss some of the spicy and yeasty flavors of other Belgian-style offerings from other brewers. It does have a light wheaty malt much like the Allagash white, my favorite white, that's delicious, but it's still a little short of perfection for me. This is a good beer, but it's more crisp, light, dry, and subtle than the stronger, sweeter, bombastic beers I most often go for. The grapefruit is fairly distinct, though, so this gets some points for uniqueness. For me, it's about a and a half beer, but I could see giving it 4, depending on your preferences and mood. Unfortunately, the price means I probably won't be getting this again. There are other beers I prefer more consistently to this for the same price.

Goose Island Sofie | IL, USA | 6.5% | MrWookie | 3.5/5

yeah I have had some of those a while back, they are v good for the money, iirc like $5 or $6 or so.

they seem to be short production runs tho, whoever they are contracting from must run out of capacity or something. my new closest supermarket is a TJ's so I will be going a lot more often now

for people near Boston:



I've been before, this is an amazing event. iirc it was $25 or $30 a few years ago, so this is expensive...but you can drink as much as you want and if you are a beer geek its fun. fairly unique event

Yeah, that looks fun, but it's definitely spendy.

Yeah it is a little $$ but I also highly highly recommend any of the Friday night sessions of the BA events. They are without a doubt the best run beer events I have been to. Total package of amazing beer, food, and friendly people. Last time I was at one I shot the **** with a drunk Jim Koch for a while, fun stuff. FWIW, he said that the Friday night session of the Extreme Beer fest (in Feb I think) was the best collection of beers in one place he had ever had.

My last shopping trip, I recalled this conversation, and I looked and saw that there were several Norwegian beers available. I picked up two: Nøgne Ø and Haand Bryyggeriet's Dark Force. It's the latter that I tried first. The Dark Force is and Imperial Wheat Stout, they claim the only beer of this style in the world. I certainly was curious what a difference the wheat would make in an imperial stout, so I picked it up. It's 9% ABV and ran me just under $10 for a half liter.

The beer was very good, but I'm not sure I would have been able to pick it out of a line up of imperial stouts playing "one of these things is not like the others." It tasted richly of coffee, with a little chocolate and a moderate hopping -- less than, say, Victory's Storm King but more than the Old Rasputin. The only distinction I could really pick up on was that the sweetness seemed a little lighter. It may not have been quite as syrupy, and the caramel was more subdued. I don't think I'd go out of my way to find this over any other delicious imperial stout, as it didn't really feel like a distinct style. Still, as I said, it was delicious, if a little pricey. and a half .

Haand Bryyggeriet Dark Force Imperial Wheat Stout | Norway | 9% | MrWookie | 4.5/5

Jesus...look at that color!

^ that looks like tar, and that looks goood!

New beer, new brewery, pics.



I picked up a bottle of Grand Teton Brewing's Howling Wolf Weizenbock because it was new and because it comes in a massive 1 liter bottle. That liter ran me a hefty $14.79, but at 8% ABV, it's a better buzz for my buck than the above imperial stout. Let's see about flavor, though.



The beer pours a reddish gold with a thick head. It was disappointingly clear at the beginning, but when I got to the bottom of this huge thing, I could finally swirl in the sediment.

The aroma is heavy and sweet, and the flavor matches. It tastes of caramel, and it's a little syrupy. It also has the flavor of cider, a little spicy, apples, and wood. This beer is clearly in the same vein as Schneider and Victory's weizenbocks, and not like Sierra Nevada's or Weinstephan's weizenbocks, being darker. The sediment added a little more flavor, but that's pretty much it. This is tasty on an absolute scale, but it's disappointing for the style. I could pick up a sixer of Victory's Moonglow or two half liters of Schneider's Aventinus for less money, and either would get me at least as drunk and taste better. This is about a and a half beer, and I like it, but it's a poor value selection for this style.

now if only there was an easy way to import my entire blog onto the thread in a "snapshot of beers i can get in the north of england" stylee. oh well.

I'd love anything you do manually. I'll incorporate it into an official index.

For my second Norwegian imperial stout review, I got the Nøgne Ø. It's 9% ABV, and ran me $9.59 for a half liter, a shade cheaper than the Dark Force.

This beer pours expectedly very thick and very dark, but the head is even thicker and darker than you'd think for this style.



There's a little smokiness in the aroma that's uncommon for the style. I also get coffee, caramel, and prune. Wow. This beer is very smoky. It's almost like a rauchbier. It also is very strongly hopped and tastes much drier than expected. This beer seems so dry that it doesn't linger as well as other beers of this style that have more sugar to stick to your tongue. The hops are in the finish, along with some coffee, but not a tasty sweetness. This isn't really my style, but if you prefer drier imperial stouts, look this one up. I'll give this .

Nøgne Ø | Norway | 9% | MrWookie | 4/5