i've been laying off the beer for a while, but I decided to have some this weekend. Here's a couple of quick reviews.

Shipyard's Smash Pumpkin - It's a specialty brew, a step up from their pumpkin ale, which I don't like very much (no real pumpkin, too fizzy, sorta like a weak pumpkin soda). I figured I'd give this a shot. 9% alc. It was good, a lot better than their pumpkin ale, but not amazing. Nice spiciness to it, nutmeg very apparent. A solid 3.5 's.

Lagunitas Hop Stoopid: 102 BIUs. Very hoppy. Very delicious. I'm not a major of a lot of Lagunitas stuff, but they did this one very nice. Nice full, airy head. Golden straw color, i.e. it's not as malty as some big hop brews. Reminded me of Racer 5 a bit (my favorite IPA). Really good stuff. Only downside is drinkability. It came in a 22 ozer, the first glass was ezpz and delicious, but about halfway through the 2nd it lost some of its allure. Still, 4 s.

It's not that hoppy at all imo. WAY exaggerated. Furious is 99 IBU, Wet is probably closer to 60-70 in my bets estimation.

The bets double IPA I've had is Hopslam from Bells which is sooooo dank. It's like eating hops.

Hopslam is yum. My fav. is still Great Divide's. I need to find some more though.

Anyone have any good suggestions for Pumpkin ale's? I've been digging DogFishHead's 'Punkin' recently, and am craving for moar like it.

Post Road Pumpkin Ale is my favorite.

Cheap review alert:

Really liking Two Bros - Heavy Handed IPA. Great taste, 65 bittering units, 6.7%. Very good flavor, smooth finish, a very good beginers IPA, and almost session like. I could probably put away 6 of these w/o effort. 4

Almost tried their double IPA over the weekend but instead just stuck with Two Hearted. I might have to give it a try.

Have you tried their Domaine DuPage?

I don't think I've ever had any of their beers, which is what lead to my decision to not try the double IPA. In retrospect that decision doesn't really make much sense.

Ok, Beer newbie here.

What's the difference between Guinness Stout in a bottle and Guinness Draught in a can?

Which is better?

The Draught can is mixed with nitrogen. Gives you that different mouthfeel, head and carbonation. Slightly different taste.

The can is going to taste a bit more watery imo, and have that nitro feel to it, it's almost indescribable. If you've had other pub style ales that do that (Boddingtons, Old Speckled Hen, etc) you'll know what I'm talking about.

The Stout bottle is also very good, but has a slightly different taste/feel. More like a traditional non-nitro Stout. More robust and malty with more flavor characteristics.

I like them both equally.

Aren't they actually different beers as well? The bottle is the export stout, which is higher alc, or am I making this up?

I believe this is true as well. I know the Draught Stout is only like 4.1%. I thought the bottled stout was around 6.

Just started a new Irish stout batch. After that might do a lager since the colder months are coming up.

Didn't have time to read this all 100+ pages of this thread, so don't know what has been covered lately, but....

What I've been digging lately:

--1) Avery Brewing Co's "Demons of Ale" series.

I had these beers when they first came out, but didn't really get to fully come to appreciate them because I was on a budget at the time. Made a note to delve into them more when I had a chance. Luckily, my local liquor store has them on sale right now, so I've been buying the chit out of them.

Mephistopheles

Of the 3, I like the Mephistopheles the best. It is a rich, full bodied, incredibly complex stout. It is black as the abyss' a$$hole and has very subtle hints of cherry, chocolate, and slight espresso taste. Definite hop presence, probably in the 100 IBUs

15.1% ABV

The Beast

Of the 3 in the series, I liked the Beast the least. Don't get me wrong, it is an exceptional brew that would kick the crap out of most brews out there, but being the worst of the series is simply a testament of how good this series of brews really is, not a testament of this beer sucking at all. Rum drinkers will really like this one, as it has many characteristics of a really good rum, imo. It is a Belgian Grand Cru ale that has a deep burgundy color with hints of honey, nutmeg, and a citrusy fruit finish. Heavy aroma.

ABV: 14.9%


Samael

This one comes in at the middle of the pack imo. Very caramelly, malty, oak aged English strong ale. It is the least hoppy of the 3. Has a hint of vanilla in the finish. Very enjoyable. Nice copper color.

ABV: 14.5% *


Another beer that I have been enjoying lately just because I recently found a place that serves it on tap is Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. Delicious, strong coffee and chocolate finish Imperial Stout. It is amazing what a difference you can taste between out of the bottle (which is also great, imo) and out of the tap. 9% ABV

Just drank (as of this post) a Weihenstephaner Korbinian Dopplebock. It is definitely an enjoyable Dopplebock from a brewery that claims to be the world's oldest brewery. If you enjoy Dopplebocks, give this one a try. 7.4% ABV.

I haven't had many Avery brews that impressed me much, but I might give Mephistopheles a shot. How does it compare to other imperial stouts you've had, like, say, the Old Rasputin?

My favorite beer bar recently had the Old Rasputin on a nitrogen line. Really awesome on the nitro. The creamy texture blew that of a nitro Guinness out of the water, and underneath the head was a much better beer.

I love the Korbinian.

This just reminded me of how damn good Old Ras is.

6 pack of Victory Storm King for $11.99 or 4 pack of Old Rasputin for 7.99, I can't decide. It's been a while since I had Storm King, but remember it being good. Is Old Rasputin that much better?

Wow, great prices. OR runs me $9.29 for a 4 pack. I prefer the OR, but the Storm King is a little drier and hoppier, so if that's your bag, you may go for it.

See, I'm just the opposite. I've enjoyed pretty much all of Avery's stuff. Some are heads above the rest, though, and I'd say the Demons line are my favorite so far.

As far as how Meph compares to OR, I'd say OR has a much more pronounced coffee/chocolate finish, while Meph definitely has a really great subtle fruit character, so I guess it really comes down to what you prefer in that respect. I'm usually not much for fruity finishes in many beers, but this one I can definitely get behind. In terms of hoppiness, they are very similar, imo. The Meph is obviously a bit more "stout" with an ABV of 15%, and comes with a much higher pricetag.

I'm not sure if it was a nitro line that I had when I had it on tap, but it was excellent. Definitely smooth and creamy.

Guinness is still my go to beer when it comes right down to it.

I enjoyed it. I intend on trying some of their other beers soon.

Weihenstephaner's hefeweiss is peerless, and their dunkel is also outstanding.

Jah, I was gonna try the dunkel next actually.

I also recently had Schmaltz Brewing Co.'s HE'BREW ReJewvenator. It is a half Dopplebock half Belgian Dubbel. Pretty good. Will probably try their other ones soon.

Yeah, I had a few of these over the Summer and they are works of art. A good Dunkel on a warm day is just wonderful.

QFT. The great part is you can buy their yeast so making a clone isn't all that difficult. I have a hefe bubbling away in the fermenter and I'm going to harvest the yeast and make a dunkel clone when it's done. Can't wait!

It's also weird how my beer drinking has gone in cycles. I used to not really understand the obsession w/ German beers and now I'm absolutely obsessed w/ them. I'm drinking a Franziskaner hefe right now and can't believe I thought it was a mediocre beer before.

^ Hey loos

Were you still going to ship out some of your home brew? If so I'm still in and can pay for shipping. Let me know!

Yeah I'd like to. I recently moved into an apartment and don't have the space to do big batches anymore, but I'll prob still brew once or twice a month at my brother's house so hopefully I'll have some ready in the next few months.

The line-up will prob be a Weihenstephaner hefe, a dunkel, a czech pilsner-like ale that I'm pretty excited about, and a Rogue Hazelnut Brown clone that was pretty spot on last time we did it. This time we even have Pacman yeast, so it should be very very close to the real thing.

Keep bugging me whenever you can remember because I do need to get off my lazy ass and keep brewing.

What yeast are you planning on for the Pilsnot?