Old Peculier is one of my favorites. You certainly have to try it. It's got this faint sour cherry taste that is unique.

I'd recommend trying some beers from Fullers (London Porter, London Pride, ESB, 1845). I love the ESB.

esb is clearly the best of fuller's beers. porters are usually worth a try but imo the pride doesn't travel that well

Cases of Well's Banana Bread just showed up at our distributor's warehouse a couple weeks ago, so it should be hitting TN stores soon as well. Sounds like they may have just started getting it out nationwide.

Wychwood's should be at BotW, as well. I think they're all in clear glass, though, so be sure to check for how long it's been on the shelf.

I haven't done a proper review in a while. Tonight, though, I got a shipment of Deschutes beer I can't get in Rochester from a friend out West. The first one I'll review is the Abyss, an 11% ABV imperial stout that's been barrel aged and brewed with licorice and molasses. A 22 of this cost my friend $11.99.



The beer pours a thick motor oil black with a goodly brown head on it. Beer this strong doesn't usually get a head that big. It hangs around for a good amount of time, too, and it laces my glass.



The beer smells dominantly of coffee and wood with a hint of molasses. The flavor is not nearly as sweet as I'd expect. Most beer this strong is very sweet, but this is one of the driest imperial stouts I've had. That's very unexpected for a beer that says it's made with molasses. I'm not tasting any anise or licorice flavor to speak of, either, so people who find that flavor unsavory need not avoid this beer for that reason, but people looking for that flavor here won't really find it. This beer is moderately hopped, but the hop flavor doesn't jump out as being particularly floral or citrusy. They're more just a dry bitterness in the finish. The thick head and persistent carbonation do give this beer a nice texture. All in all, I'll give this beer a rating. I like my imperial stouts a little sweeter, generally, and this could taste more of the flavors it advertises. However, it's still tasty, and it has a great texture, even if it is a little on the pricey side.

Hi everyone,


I have been reading this thread for a while now. I live in central PA and was wondering if there are any places around me with a wide selection of beer. My local places have very few selections. Thanks

Good luck. I get to the Scranton/W-B area now and then and haven't seen much of a selection anywhere. I don't know if central PA is much better.

Gotta love PA's brainless laws regarding beer sales.

if i was in central PA i'd just be happy i could get yuengling all the time

I just got back from my 5 month project for work in Istanbul. Things have been so hectic these past months that I haven't had a chance to log back on here.

Mr. Wookie,
I'm glad you had a chance to review the Ten-Fidy. I ran down to my favorite beer distributor in Manhattan this past weekend to pick up another pack, along with a few other one's I'm excited to try (Stone 12th Anniversary, Rogue Double Dead Guy, and Stone Vertical Series 08 to name a few). I'll have to throw those reviews up as I sample.

Also, I never got around to posting my review of the Westvleteren 12 from my trip to Poperinge, Belgium. I wrote the review the day of so it should still be accurate. For anyone who's a beer lover, I highly recommend making the trek out to Poperinge. It's a really quaint and fun town. We stayed at a family owned inn that had a great brew pub downstairs serving about 90 Belgian beers or so. Barkeep kept the place open until we were ready to call it a night. The next morning we rented bikes to explore the countryside and make the trek to the Trappist abbey. The bike ride took us past a bunch of amazing farmhouses and the smell of sweet hops permeated the air from all of the hop fields we rode through. Anyone interested in pics, PM me and I can give you my Picasa link.

Anyway, the review:



The pour: Beer served from bottle, poured into a chalice glass. Head is probably a finger deep but less than the 8. Color is a dark black/brown, not much transparency either. Plenty of legging with this beer too, the 11% ABV doesn't hurt with that one.

The smell: The first smell is fruit. Definitely fruit. It ends with a smell of a subtle sweet molasses. The second deeper sniff gives a little detail on the fruit, general consensus is raisins with the same molasses ending.

The taste: Mouthfeel is relatively thick, definitely no watery thinness on this one. The first taste definitely confirms raisins, but there really is some other fruit bit to this that I can't define. The big key was the aftertaste. I don't think I've ever had a quadruple finish with such a smooth aftertaste as this. It's deceptive, a bit dry, and just has you eager to take the next sip.

Overall: It's funny. I've got a pretty strong palette for stouts and IPAs but am such a rookie when it comes to Belgian quadruples like this. It's like I know I'm in the presence of something very special, but just can't fully appreciate it until I try some more Belgians and come back to this one. Needless to say, quite the experience and something very unique that I am sure to revisit again when the time is right.

My next Deschutes review is their 20th Anniversary Wit. This is one of my favorite styles of beer, and we'll see how this great brewery does it. This is a 5.5% ABV beer.

I'd post the pics I took, but it's not worth the effort for this beer. It's pretty flat and light on flavor and missing the yeastiness, spice, and fruit that are the hallmarks of this style. This is one of the most disappointing Belgian whites I've had. .

lol

I decided to start throwing my reviews on my personal blog after some encouragement from a few friends who like to hear my thoughts on beer. This one is taken from the blog (and is the only one up at this point): http://qlcconsultant.com/2008/11/05/...ad-immort-ale/

Date: November 5, 2008
Beer: Dogfish Head Immort Ale



Appearance:
Relatively thin on the pour. One finger of head, with a very light tan/white color, dissipates quickly. Beer is a Turkish tea-colored brown. Some transparency but in general quite opaque.

Smell:
Beer advertises maple, vanilla, and oak on the bottle. The maple is readily apparent on the first smell. Second smell gives some fruit notes to it, for some reason grape first comes to mind but its very subtle.

Taste:
Mouthfeel is very smooth, with a reasonable amount of carbonation but not overdone. The maple makes an appearance again but follows quickly with the wood taste. Aftertaste is very subtle, quite refreshing.

Etc:
This is a pretty unique beer in itself, tough to find a good comparison beer. The closest comparison I can think of is the Stone 11th Anniversary Ale. The Stone is actually much darker in appearance, but they both are ales with a sweet taste that makes one think of a nice porter. Overall, I like the 11th Anniversary a bit better, but that’s also a top 3 beer of mine so the bar is set pretty high. Beer Advocate is calling it a barley wine, I need to dive into that genre a bit more to see if I agree.

Score: 4 out of 5

Wow Jordan, I was gonna comment on this one next. I have one left in the fridge but, it has a red label (same wording).

I really disliked this one though. I tasted the vanilla a bit too much in this and found the aftertaste "musty".

I've liked everything else I've tried from DFH but, gotta pass on this one.

I also picked up a sixer of Green Flash IPA. Very hoppy, had that awesome bitter and grassy bite. I really enjoyed this IPA. Would buy again.

I also had the Chimay Blue but, it has been talked about plenty here and I enjoyed it very much.

Hey Kevroc,
Yeah I think if I had the chance I'd go re-review the Immort Ale. I should've left a disclaimer that it was the first real beer I had since being in Istanbul for 5 months, where your choice of beer is either Efes or Efes Dark. I'd probably downgrade it to 3/5.

Regarding IPAs, I haven't tried the Green Flash yet but have heard only good things. May need to add it to my list.

Review straight from my blog entry:
http://qlcconsultant.com/2008/11/12/...t-wet-hop-ale/

Today’s beer is the Sierra Nevada 12th Release Harvest Wet Hop Ale.



It’s not your standard IPA. The “wet hop” process means they pick the hops and kettle brew the beer the very next day. The fresh hops tend to have a much stronger pine and resin taste than the citric flavors you get after letting the hops dry.

Appearance:
Lots of legging, amber/orange inc olor. Decent head that tends to linger. Well carbonated. Actually quite opaque, could be an unfiltered but difficult to tell.

Smell:
Very fresh, lots of pine in the first sniff, then more subtle resin and some fruit, hints of grapefruit

Taste:
Extreme bitterness from the hops, lingering aftertaste. Not much citrus in the taste, much more of the pine. Middling taste that’s quite acidic or spicy. I’d say black crushed pepper is the best description for it.

Etc:
Really interesting beer. It has the bite of a double IPA but it only has an ABV of 6.7%. Half the hops with the same flavor, pretty nice. A similar comparison might be the Stone Arrogant Bastard since it also has a pretty intense hoppy flavor without going overboard as a double IPA. There’s a Sierra Nevada Chico Estate Wet Hop Ale that would be really interesting to pair with, I may add that to the list for my next run to the beer distributor. I’ve branched away from normal IPAs for awhile, but this one is quite excellent and should get me back on track.

Score: 4/5

Nice reveiw on the Wet Hop, I'm going to scoop some up this weekend (assuming my bev place has it.. they should)

This week I've been drinking Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout, (one a day, not unlike vitamins, lol). I don't normally go for stouts but, this is delicious and I highly recommend it. I havent tasted anything like it before.

I also have a sixer of Bluepoint Hoptical Illusion in the fridge to quell the hop cravings. Can't go wrong with that IPA if you ask me.

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the BCS. It's one of the best values in beer, imo. I drink it all winter long.

Yeah I agree, the BCS is to me the best bang for your buck of almost any beer out there; it's something I'll definitely miss seeing as much being on the west coast now.

I recently had the pleasure of standing in line on a Saturday morning sampling beers and spending (between three of us) $250 on a couple bottles at the Hair of the Dog dock sale. It was a great time and I highly recommend it to anyone in the Portland area looking for some interesting beers.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/173

I picked up half a case of 2008 Fred from the wood, a few bottles of 2008 Doggyclaws (Barleywine) and a few bottles of a 2005 Doggyclaws. I tasted Fred from the wood in line that morning for the first time and was instantly hooked. Off of my hazy memory, it had loads of super ripe dark fruits, a toffy/buttery flavor, a bitter finish, a bit of an alcohol kick, and tons of oak flavor throughout. I'll try to give a better review when I crack open a bottle.

I've been working on getting a 'cellar' together to age what I can, having recently added Deschutes Dissident and the 2008 Abyss. Has anyone else here been aging anything for a while?

ooh, just been on a tour of their brewery just now and it's very, very good. iirc they said they don't bother selling it domestically, they just export it to the states. get some imo although it is ridiculously sweet given the strength.

It's been a while since I posted here, but I'd like to add my love for Brooklyn BCS as well. Probably one of the best values around.

Maybe: How crazy was the dock sale? If I ever make it to Portland, I'd love to visit HotD. Did you pick up any of the new Cherry Adam from the Wood? I'm hoping to get my hands on it, one way or another. I think it's pretty cool they sell vintage stuff as well.

As for cellaring, I hear that the Dissident wasn't bottle conditioned, so it may not be a great candidate for long-term aging. The Abyss should work with a year or two on it. I've actually put some beers away for aging myself. The one I've personally had for the longest is a bottle of 2004 Victory Old Horizontal that I picked up in a six-pack two years ago. I'll be drinking it next weekend.

Maxx: The crazy parts of the dock sale were how early people lined up (there was actually a free breakfast cooked for those who were there before it officially started) and how much really expensive beer people were buying. They had a few magnums and bombers that were up to 80$ a pop, and I saw people wheeling away cases of the stuff. Unfortunately the Cherry Adam was gone before I got to it, it sold out super early. I'm friendly with some of the brewers family, and I've heard rumors of 20 or so cases that are kicking around somewhere unsold, so hopefully I can snag up a bottle somewhere along the line .

As far as the Dissident goes, on the Deschutes website it mentions something to the effect of wishing for more time in the cellar. I figure it can't hurt, especially because I feel it is a beer that I could really love, if it wasn't missing that one 'thing' that hopefully will come out with a little time. Who knows.

Trying out Deschutes' Cinder Cone Red. It's not too exciting. It's fairly hoppy, but the hops are more bitter than they are full of flavor. It's not a bad beer, but there are many better hoppy reds out there. and a half .

I almost forgot how much I love these:

So goddam good.

Hit up the bevvy place for a few more BCS's and also snagged a six of Two Brother's Heavy Handed IPA and Lagunitas' Brown Shugga.

The 2 bros IPA I equate to the Green Flash Brewery IPA.. a wet hop 6-7% ABV "grassy" ale. Very very good.

The Brown Shugga is syrupy sweet but, surprisingly hoppy. I liked this very much and will most likely buy again.

I must say that I am liking everything I've tried from Lagunitas so far.

I was packing up for my flight back to SF for thanksgiving and my new project, and decided I could go for a nice cold one. I had tried the Rochefort 10 when we were in Popenridge, Belgium this summer which was a much darker quadrupel. I think the Rochefort 8 is more of the traditional tripel type, though I’m not sure which it would be (add: it’s actually classified as a Belgian dark strong ale on BeerAdvocate). Nevertheless, it is highly regarded in the beer community, so I thought I’d keep up on my Belgian craze and give it a shot.



The Pour:
Very little head, color dark brown like a flat cola but quite opaque. Most prominent thing is there is a LOT of sediment floating in this one. Confirms this is about as unfiltered as it gets outside of some hefeweisens. Some minor legging to it but not much. Carbonation seems fairly minimal as well.

The Smell:
Very sweet first scent. Powerful caramel and some orange and apricot. Something bitter in there as well though but I can’t put a scent on it (add: I got it! fig!!!). A quick swirl and the second scent releases a lot more fruit. Much more of a berry smell to it than I originally thought. Ironically these fruit smells are actually quite similar to the ones I’d pick up with a cabernet.

The Taste:
It’s very surprising how quick you taste the fruit upon contact. It’s not even in the swallow, but in the actual entrance to your mouth where you can really taste a very sweet citrus. Gradual bitterness though and a bit acidic. The mouthfeel is great, very smooth with just a little carbonation.

Overall:
Oh man, the more Belgians I try the more I fall in love with them. The best comparison that no one’s heard of is the Westlyveren 8. A more reasonable comparison might be Ommegang’s Three Philosophers, but that one tends to have a bit more fruit than even this one. Rochefort 8 is basically a world renown favorite and I can certainly see why. Make sure to save it for a special treat though, my distributor sells it for $6.25 per bottle and they tend to have reasonable prices.

The Score:
4.5/5

Wow. I just had to check that price; around here (Belgium) these cost $2.30 per bottle if you buy 12 ($27.63). You even get about a dollar back if you return a crate of empty bottles. Maybe I should get a new job...

Well I bought just a single and it was a NYC distributor. But yeah, you can imagine how happy I was when I visited Popenridge and Brugge a few months ago.