Hated the voodoo doughnut, didn't even finish the bomber which basically never happens...way too much smoke flavor and the maple/sweet flavor tasted weird

The smokey flavor was pretty strong for sure and it was lacking balance there.

If I had to place it out of 10, I would say 5 because of the price.

I hate pretty much everything from rogue other than the Shakespeare stout. And I never buy any of their bottles anymore. They have used up all their chances with me for this life.

harsh.

+1 on not really digging Rogue.

Yearly deezy post on Oberon being back. Warm weather soon (hopefully really soon)

Ok, I got one.

Victory's Old Horizontal BW.

Thought the Voodoo Donut tasted like a fake-y campfire. I'm ok with a good Smoke/rauchbier but it just tasted odd imo.

Voodoo sounds terribly bad, that chc stout looks good, I know I like Samuel smiths pale ale, not sur I have had any others.

Victory is a good brewery IMO, I picked up 2 variety packs for like 16 a pop, 12 beers, good deal IMO. Sipping headwaters pal ale now which I enjoy. Can't say I have had that old horizontal though

We took one over to a friend's place and accidentally spilled a good amount on their counter. The entire kitchen smelled like a campfire the rest of the night (and maybe for a day or two afterward, not sure on that -- but it was strong).

I hated that beer. Which is kind of weird, because I love the smell of campfires.

The actual Voodoo maple bacon bar is spectacular, however.

We have different tastes. Grabbed a couple of these on the basis of your post. Not my favourite - def too sweet. Lots of chcocolate, vanilla & sweetness. Too much of em imo.

gawd, I wish the sierra nevada anniversary stout would be back on the shelves.

GAME. OVER.

Small Town Brewery's (Wauconda, IL) "Not Your Father's Root Beer"
10% ABV
92/100 on Beer Advocate
Not yet sold in bottles but I read somewhere that they are in the process of getting the licensing to begin bottling it
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24798/86622

I give it a 10 just for the name!

have a friend from chicago that wont drink anything besides bud light (lol, women) and she said that root beer is incredible. Very little alcohol taste/burn for 10%. I hope to try it when i'm up there in May.

My friend was in California for a few days and said Pliny the elder is hard to find on shelves even In San Francisco. True?

I had to hide my disappointment when he came home with none for me.

Pliny is one of the few beers I'm still dying to try. Anyone want to trade for a couple?

Very true. I have a local store that only gets 12 bottles, and doesn't take reservations. They get it on Thursdays only at random times during the month. You just have to walk in at the right time.

Oh wow, when did Wauconda get a brewery?

I used to eat 1-2x a month there on the lake, a brewery would've been so key there. Micky Finn's is probably 20 min east and they make some good brews.

Just popped open a Stone vertical epic 10.10.10. Seems like a Final Four beer to me.

My current fav: Lakewoord Brewrey's The Temptress: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29656/86132

Brewed in dallas. Looking to try more imperial stouts.

Tried Big Eddy's Russian imperial stout recently, liked it: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/710/39334

I visited Tired Hands for their most recent bottle release yesterday, limit one per person of ArtiSnale.

I had only visited for a growler once before but yesterday my wife and I went for the bottle release then dinner and beers. Its a really cool place with amazing beers, with some funny names. I had had FarmHands and HopHands before, both are very good session beers.

But the highlight of the show for me yesterday was a beer called The Light That Spills Out of the Hole in your head. Its an amazing Pale Ale with the juice of Clementines, citrusy, grassy, aromatic an amazing beer.

I bought 2 bottles of ArtiSnale, an American Stout brewed with Escargo Shells, of their bottles releases this one I am the least excited about but it sounds interesting. Jean was the one selling the beers and told me its the best its been right now in the bottle after about 6 months of conditioning.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28383

Had Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Break on tap this past weekend. Fantastic stout. Really enjoyed this one, would love to get a hand on a few bottles.

For the homebrewers, anybody have any success on getting a ton of fruit aroma/flavor in a beer? I've read just about anything and everything on the subject and tried adding to secondary, boil, etc, but can't get a flavor like New Glarus. They seem to have some knowledge nobody else has but they won't share a thing.

Pliny, can you post an example of a recipe you've tried in the past. Is there any specific fruit or style that you really want to go for? What's the best one you've tried from NG? I'm no expert in this area, but I'm just trying to ask questions to learn more about what you're trying to learn.

Raspberry tart from NG was liquid raspberries. So much so that one glass was more then enough for me. I'm looking at fruiting a berliner weiss. I've tried raspberries and pineapples in the past in a BW, the raspberries turned the beer pink but that was about it. The pineapples (diced, in secondary for 1 week, 1 pineapple/gallon) gave off a slight aroma and a little taste at the end.

I want to try watermelon (juice a watermelon, rack 1 gallon onto this), peach (I know these are notoriously hard to use in beer) or raspberries again.

When using something like raspberries in secondary, what quantity are we talking about for a standard 5-gallon batch? Fresh? Did you treat them at all (sterilize, purée, etc)?

~48 oz for 2.5 gallons. Frozen organic raspberries pasteurized to kill off any bugs and pitched directly into fermenter for a week.

Did you happen to listen to Schmaltz Brewing on The Sunday Session? I'm pretty sure it was them: they talked about avoiding using any heat with fruit in secondary by treating the fruit instead with some kind of chemical process. A sulfite maybe? They might also mention quantities/rates of usage which could be helpful. I'll try to check back and find it if you haven't heard it yet.