I had this on draft last night and it was labeled as a 3 brewer collaboration with nobody getting top billing. This was a fine Saison.

Go with imperials. A good imperial stout is going to run you $12-16/6 but it is going to be 9-12% alcohol and be delicious.

To the Guinness is the worst beer I've tasted guy, did you never go to college? Top selling beers in the US:

These beers range from basically water (Coors Light) to downright offensive (Natty Light). These are also the kinds of beers I would consider to be Guinness' competition, even if they all are pale/light lagers and it is a "stout."

I have a big bottle of 2010 Firestone Parabola aging in the fridge, just the one bottle cost more than that. But it came in a cool box so I got that going for me.

Yeah, I mean obv. if you want a really good one you'll pay more. I was talking about the few that are produced year-round and semi-widely distributed. Like Victory Storm King or North Coast Old Rasputin.

Weirdly enough I'd take all of those over Guinness without thinking. Those are all bad beers but are mostly tasteless to me with slight amounts of gross in them. Guinness on the other hand I can't stand at all. If I was at a party and all they had was natty I'd be ok with it, if the party only had Guinness I wouldn't drink. It's a combo of foul taste with nitrogen head that really makes me loathe it.

For background, my favorite kind of beer is imperial stout. My top 5 beers would be

1) Alesmith Speedway Stout

2) Westvleteren #12

3) Lost Abbey Angels' Share

4) 3 Floyd's Darklord

5) Alesmith Yulesmith (winter)


The only other beers that are like Guinness that I think are not worth drinking in any context are three philosophers from ommegang and lost abbey's ten commandments

Had Sculpin's IPA, payed a good amount for a 22oz of it. I guess it was worth it, maybe I did not drink it cold enough but it was nothing spectacular.

Sick life, huh?

Beer drinkers, I need your help:

So, I bought a JetBlue all you can jet pass because I'm unemployed and have nothing better to do than spend September flying all over the country. I will be going to:

Pittsburgh
Boston
Los Angeles
Seattle
Portland
San Francisco
Chicago
New York
Tampa
Washington, DC

I'm definitely going to try to tour a few of the breweries in Portland since I've heard that it's a great beer town. I won't necessarily have enough time in all of these places to tour many breweries, but I at least want to know if there's any local beers in any of these areas that are especially worth trying (or if there are any brewery tours you highly recommend).

FWIW, I'm no beer expert, but I tend to like hefeweizens or things along that line. I also drink Abita Amber quite a lot. I'm not a fan of the darker stuff--I tried Guinness once and hated it. When I'm forced to drink cheap big-name American stuff, I prefer Miller High Life or Coors Light. I hope that helps.

yes!

also im really excited about this week for beer. Founder's Breakfast stout, bell's oracle double ipa , Founder's Nemesis, great divide oak aged IPA, weyerbacher 15th anniversary smoked stout, imperial pumpkin, and terrapin/de proef collaboration red flanders ale all came in to liquor stores in Minneapolis this week!

This may be my favorite post of this thread so far. Wait, not maybe. Definitely.

Is someone going to have all of the above?

WAT

three philosophers

How in the world is 3P like Guiness? No wai.

San Francisco - Magnolia
Chicago - Goose Island
New York - Brooklyn Brewery. Also hit up the Blind Tiger and The Gingerman in Manhattan.
Tampa - Cigar City Brewery, Brooksville Brewing Company (mine!), Tampa Bay Brewing Company (in Ybor City.)

Do you know somebody in Pittsburgh that youre visiting? There really are alot of places to go other than Pitts, like Philly!!!

Come to Philly and tour 3-4 breweries in one day. Then finish the weekend with a drive down to Dog Fish.

Got some Oracle last night. Didnt think I was going to be able to with how limited it is. Very grateful. Drank one last night. Its quite tasty and the alcohol is extremely well hidden for 10.5%, but overall it doesnt compare to Hopslam. Nothing does though.....

FYP

Not saying they're similar in style, just that they're both undrinkable for me. Don't know what it is exactly as I know a lot of people really like 3P but I've tried it twice and it's just been awful

This is kind of old news but for anyone who doesnt already know. Discovery channel should be premiering a new show called "Brewed" hosted by Sam Calagione of DogFish which I am quite excited for.

I read about it like a 2 months ago but still have yet to hear a date for when it is airing.

I quoted this because it was the only post that returned a hit for "sweetwater" and I wanted to talk about Sweetwater IPA. Also, I found it interesting that RDH mentioned Flying Dog Pale Ale which was one that I really thought was a good, interesting beer. I feel vindicated.

Anyway, this Sweetwater IPA was......surprising. Never had anything from Sweetwater, but I'm on vacation, saw they were from Atlanta, got a good score on BeerAdvocate, so I bought 6.

These things smell awesome. I could open one up and use it like a candle.

When I tasted it, one word came to mind: Grapefruit. I couldn't place the smell, but I finally placed the taste. It's not overpowering...but it's close. Kind of on the edge, but still great. I like how the citrus taste seems to take you halfway through the dry finish. It kind of cushions the fall, much like a Dodge Charger (this will make no sense in a month).

Anyway, I look forward to trying more of their stuff.

Also, I got the brew kit in today.......and then I went on vacation for 4 days. I really, honestly thought long and hard on how I could fit all that **** into our car and bring it with me. I could not convince my wife that brewing beer in the condo was a good idea though, so it'll have to wait a few days, gdi.

Plus transporting that carboy via car or air whichever mode of transportation you used might have gotten sloppy.

Whats the first batch gonna be?

I racked my Weizenbier this morning, had to squeeze it in before my afternoon flight to Vegas (Brag?). When I get back I'll be doing 2 batches next week, a Racer 5 clone and a Brown ale recipe kit from NB.

Bottle Conditioning: PSA IPA, Weizenbier
Primary: Oktoberfest
Secondary: Empty
On the docket: Racer 5 Clone, Caribou Slobber Brown Ale (lolz)

I leave for Vegas Sunday (brag!) but I'm just gonna leave the three brews I have going until I get back. Got a Chimay Red clone and Munich Dunkel in primaries and a Dortmunder in the secondary. Between those and the next batch to be brewed, gonna be busy when I get back! I guess I'll just give the Dunkel a week-long D-rest because it'll be too late by the time I get back.

First batch is going to be a Fat Tire clone. Nothing too fancy. I hope.

Could I get some recommendations for pumpkin beer.

have heard pumpking from southern tier is supposed to be one of the best. im not a big fan of pumpkin beers, so i cant really comment.

had some 2010 founder's nemesis today. its like a dark barleywine with big pineapple flavored hops. a little hot right now fresh. i would like to put a few of these in my cellar and see how they turn out. unique beer. 3.25 out of 4.

going to try out some bell's oracle later may post up a quick review of that



i am brewing my first all grain batch (3rd batch overall) with my own recipe next weekend. brewing a saison with pils malt, a bit of wheat, caramunich, and table sugar to dry it out. then hopping with magnum and amarillo (wyeast 3711) and then possible adding a brett packet during fermentation. hope it turns out. just started brewing in general a few months ago and its surprising how easy it is if you do a little bit of research and prep work.