IPAs can be fragile, but a bottle of a normally fine beer that turns into a drain pour is a true rarity.

It has definitely happened to me. Bought year+ old Two Hearted Ale on sale (after it had been on sale for about 2 months) and it was pretty bad. I ended up giving the last 4 bottles away. My roommate at the time didn't think it was so terrible, but that was before I turned him into a complete beer geek.

Cross post from the politard drinking thread:

Since we were talking about it I made this my beer of choice for this evening and came to the same conclusion.

It looks great and smells great. Taste-wise it is a little thin and a bit one-dimensional, although it has a great coffee aftertaste and you can't taste the alcohol at all. Great carbonation as well. A little sharper and less rich than the best Imperial Stouts I've had though.

Its definitely a successful RIS though, so it is a pleasure to drink even if it doesn't hold up to the very best ones.


Adding: reminds me a bit of Victory Storm King. Biggest difference is that a 6-pack of that usually costs me $12 (and on Friday cost me $10) and this was on sale for $8/500mL. I also slightly prefer the Storm King.

Confirmed. The Storm King is a little more bitter and a bit less, not even sure, sour? Has every bit as much carbonation as well. Doesn't quite match up with the Nøgne Ø IS in terms of nose and aftertaste, but it still wins overall. For me anyway.

Surly Abrasive better than both though. Easy

A co-worker found an article on the Best Beers of 2010 and on a whim decided to shop around until he found the top 3, none of which are sold locally. I asked him to pick up a bottle of each for me, so if they're as good as advertised I'll mention them here after they're consumed.

They are:
Angel's Share Grand Cru, The Lost Abbey
Pursuit of Hoppiness, Grand Teton Brewing Co.
Monk's Blood, 21st Amendment Brewery

Shouldn't IPA's hold up better than most styles due to the relatively high alcohol and hop rate and the fact that most are well attenuated? (less unfermented sugars to spoil) The style came about to withstand the long sea voyage from England to India.

The hop flavor and aroma starts to fade the second it gets bottled.

That makes sense - but it wouldn't normally result in a dumper. At least not for a very long time. (Ok I see in your first response you essentially said the same thing regarding a true rarity.)

This is actually somewhat of a myth.

From wikipedia:

As was said, IPA's, no matter how strong, are a completely different beer with age on them. I suggest just finding a local easy-to-find favorite and putting a bottle aside until a fresh batch comes out and testing them.

This is the biggest reason I wish every brewery put brewed-on dates on bottles, because to me nothing beats a super fresh IPA.

That's only one source, Terry Foster, that I've ever seen call it a myth. I've read many other accounts that claim it's historically accurate.

It seems plausible to me considering:

1) They were slightly stronger (And Foster is saying the myth is they were much stronger he's probably correct as most beer's were bigger then)
2) They were more highly attenuated meaning less residual fermentables sugars to spoil
3) They were more heavily hopped which would act as a preservative
4) They were dry hopped which again acts as a preservative

It seems strange that these 4 things could be an accident since they would all help preserve the beer longer, and the beer was designed first primarily as an export before it caught on in England.

Plus it's a cool story so I hope it's not a myth.

Picked up a single 12oz bottle of DFH World Wide Stout for appx $10.

I really want to cellar it but I will probably end up drinking this one, buying another to cellar. This particular beer is 18% ABV incase anyone who isn't in the know wanted to know why I would pay that price for a single 12oz.

Here are my new friends I purchased earlier.. My first sixer for 2011 of Bells Hopslam which came out last week for their seasonal limited edition of this year.

This is one great tasting Double IPA at 10% ABV

I am jealous of everyone who has gotten there hands on that, haven't seen any of it in NY

But alas, I have secured the DFH world wide stout and a pic is necessary.



I have a friend coming in from out of town so I figure this one will have to be opened some what fresh, and I will just have to get another one to put in my basement for 5 years, muahah.

Haha. Very nice!

I had Brooklyn Brown Ale last night and Allagash White.

I loved the Brown Ale. I used to think I wasn't a fan of these kinds of beers but now I have a lot of respect for them. For the price it was a damn tasty beer. I'm a big fan of Newcastle Brown Ale and I thought that was the only kind of brown ale I liked but I was wrong. The Brooklyn had a more profound flavor and went down surprisingly smooth.

I really liked the Allagash White as well. Very aromatic and had a great crisp refreshing taste.

Recently had a Monk's Cafe which I guess is a Flanders Red. For those of have tried this and other Flanders Red's how do you think it rates? This is the only Flanders Red I've had but I thought it was pretty good.

Yeah, after researching around for a while I guess it does seem mostly plausible that this is true, I wasn't aware of how well hops actually preserve. Plus I agree, it is a cool story either way.

Monk's Cafe was one of my first introductions to the Flanders and then sours in general (I love them now). It has a touch more sweetness then some of the other more common examples, but the variation in what people think of the flavors in it is wild...I've had people think it was nasty sour and others not think there was any sourness at all, all depends on what you like.

Look for Duchesse de Boergogne and Rodenbach if you want to try others, both are pretty common.

Thanks I'll see if I can find those two.

I definitely thought Monk's Cafe was sour but in a kind of tart refreshing way - not a mouth puckering sour.

I'm very excited, I'm bottling my porter tomorrow! It's a Sam Smith's Taddy Porter clone.....I still have to finish 4 bottles of my chocolate stout tonight though in order to have enough bottles !!!!!

Just walked 2.2miles in 0°F (-13°F if you count the wind chill) to get a 6 pack of Bell's Hopslam that was $17.00.

This better be worth it.

It was worth it.

It's definitely in my Top 5 all time favorite beers.

I just wish they had it around longer then February each year and that it was a bit cheaper obviously

Walking 2.2 miles out there in that cold is quite the commitment

It reminds me a ton of Ballistic IPA by Ale Asylum. Except Ballistic is a bit more grapefruity and a bit thiner I think.

As hard as it is to admit, Hopslam has moved to #2 in my hierarchy behind the latest batch of Surly Abrasive.

I haven't had that on so can't compare it but from what I read that makes sense.. It has slightly less alcohol too so a bit thinner/less complexed seems likely but it Ballistic IPA could be an easier "session" beer then Hopslam even though I could finish a sixer of it if I wanted but have decided to nurture the ones I have and get more soon

Looking for fruity/sweet beer suggestions for my wife.

I have a kegerator and one of the stipulations upon building it was that she got one tap for a "beer" she liked. I had lindemans framboise in there (one of her favorites), but they only come in 1/4 keg (the fat/short ones). Unfortunately, after installing the final 3 of 6 taps, the size of my kegerator means I need to order 1/6 (the corny kegs/homebrew keg size - tall and skinny) kegs to get all 6 taps running. One of her favorites is Hornsby's Amber Draft. But, I think they only produce amber "draft" in bottles, since we say Hornsby's at a beer festival and they only had bottles. But, she has tasted other apple ciders she really didn't like, so pretty particular here

Can anyone think of a beer we can try that comes in 5 gallon kegs that would be along the lines of a framboise (she also likes the other flavors - kriek and peche and what not) or cider?