I really like the designs. I also can't wait to be able to buy Tocabaga year round, it's one of my favorite CCB beers.

Wraths, I'd love to try some other homebrew if you ever wanted to do a swap. I don't have any friends that brew so I've never tried anybody else's.

I don't have anything worth swapping right now. An oktoberfest should be done soon enough but I am getting married this weekend and will be pretty busy the rest of this week and next week so I probably won't be able to bottle for a few weeks.

If anyone else is interested in doing beer/homebrew swaps send me a PM.

Ill do a swap with you Pliny.

What are people's thoughts on Longtrail and what are some of the better winter samplers I can get?

I haven't had Long Trail or heard much about them.

I am a big advocate of the Sam Adams winter sampler. Boston Lager, Coffee Stout, Old Fezziwig Ale, Winter Lager, Holiday Porter and Chocolate Bock. They're all different and pretty solid brews.

We have a Large Rare Beer Stein that our family is selling at auction if your interested - http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/9963891
It also has a "Music Box" located in the top of the lid. Here is more information from a postcard that we have...

MONTE'S RATHSKELLER
John R and Milwaukee
Detroit, Michigan

The largest known Stein in the World. It is a
unique Stein, the Reproduction of David Tenier's
Masterpiece, Marvelous in Workmanship. and one
of the best examples of Ceramic and Pewter Art
in the World.

(Reference • Encyclopedia Americana)

Thank you for your time or if you know anyone else that might be interested.


Cheers,

Larry

long trail is really bad, im not sure who they have working for them at the brewery, but none of their beer is any good. i also have a friend that works for them so this is the only time i can say stuff like this. their ipa is one of the worst ever.

I gotta say...that stein is hideous and I have no clue why someone would need/want something like that in their home.

That was a bit rude, I apologize. To each his own.

Totally disagree. I don't go out of my way to buy it, but I've drank a ton of LT in my day.

Blackbeary Wheat is a summertime favorite, so much so that they started brewing it year round. It's not for everyone as it's very much on the "spritzer" end of flavored beers.

Double Bag is a very, very good Altbier.

Long Trail Ale is a very solid, standard Ale.

Harvest is an excellent Brown.

They're not going to have people in California or Oregon clamoring for trades, but Long Trail is a very solid, very established brewery that has multiple beers I could drink all day long.

Seconded. Had the 60-minute IPA with lunch today and my god it was amazing.

Wasn't a blunt-force IPA like a lot of them are, was more mellow but still packed that IPA punch.

Delicious.

This is what made me try their variety pack. I wasn't really impressed. Good beers but not something I'll buy regularly.

Brewed a Fat Tire clone this weekend. I had better efficiency and hit my target gravities a little better this time.

On another note, I'm getting Surly (Furious, Wet, Bender) and Odell (IPA, Myrcenary, Black IPA) in trades this week. Anybody tried these?

I have never tried anything from Surly but I would really like to...

surly furious is a pretty great ipa. i traded for some a few months ago. if only they distributed to massachusetts, i would be cracking those cans at a much higher rate

Here are my scoresheets I promised from the recent competition I entered a few beers in.

This is for the Blonde Ale that took a 1st place ribbon in the light/hybrid category

Imperial Pumpkin Ale

American Wheat which took 2nd only to my Blonde Ale in the same category.

Let me know what you guys think.

I think you owe Bryan Pylant a sixer. Good work.

Yea I wish he would have reviewed my Pumpkin beer,

Seconded on the Furious. Just fantastic stuff. Hoping to try Abrasive (Surly's double IPA) sometime. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Surly distributes anywhere outside of Minnesota.

Myrcenary is great as well.

Going to try to clone Three Floyd's Pride and Joy this weekend, take a look and let me know what you think or might tweak?

16.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 80.0 %
2.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
1.0 lb Crystal 60--5%
1.0 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 5.0 %


Hops:



1.0 oz Warrior 60 min

1.0 oz Warrior 15 min

1.0 oz Centennial 0 min

1.0 oz Warrior 0 min



Dry hop with Centennial 2 oz


Wyeast 1968 London ESB .

10 gallon batch right?

You just so happen to be using 2 of my 4 fave hops so this looks awesome to me. I love dry hopping with Centennial.

Ive never had the original so I cant say if that looks right or not, but looks like a nice to me.

If anyone is looking, The Abyss (Deschutes) is now on shelves in the Seattle area. Probably the best imperial stout I've ever had. Not sure how the 2011 is, but the 2010 was excellent.

Seems like most stores that get limited releases got two cases.

We are doing 10 gal and splitting it.

The original is very good. I'm not an IPA fan, this is supposed to be a mild ale that's "overhopped", but when I first had it, IPA definitely came to mind. It's quite a bit maltier though so that's probably why I like it so much.

I saw a recipe and then a writeup from a friend of the brewer on beeradvocate, so I tweaked the grain bill--the first recipe I saw didn't have the Crystal 60 in it. I also saw a small amount of wheat in a different recipe but that didn't sound right.....

I didn't see a mash schedule on the internet when I looked for the recipe, and my buddy's got ProMash so we should be fine, but I'm guessing its 15 min at 135, then 45-? at 152--sound right?

Supposed to be shooting for 1.04 OG I think.....

Thanks for the heads up. I missed on this last year even though I saw it in a store. I'll get my folks to pick up a few bottles in SoCal, hopefully.

And anyone within a couple hours of Portland (and I assume Bend) should get to their pub ASAP for the Abyss on nitro. Absolutely sublime beer.