agree 100% had two already and was really impressed. hoping all their 30th Ann. brews are this good.

I will be reporting you to the Summit Brewing Company.

(Extra Pale just won Gold at the above-mentioned World Cup)

I've been happily guzzling Torpedo for the past few months. It's my house beer. Might go have one now...

^Nice house beer. Taking a bottle of Affligem Noel to my friend's house tonight. Not exactly the right kind of weather for it, but pffft whatever.

^I tried the Torpedo Extra IPA tonight for the first time, and I have to say that it is really damn close to the perfect beer for my personal tastes. I also had the Sierra Nevada Glissade earlier this week and enjoyed it. I haven't decided what I think of it completely yet. I only had one bottle, I need to try a few more and see how it grows on me. Anybody else had that one?

Had a dogfish head Burton Baton last night.
Its a oak aged blended beer, they blend an english strong ale with thier popular 90min IPA. Very tasty complex brew, the oak isnt too overpowering and you get some of that familiar 90min IPA hops that I know I enjoy. Its 10% ABV but the oak aging mellows out the alcohol a bit, so it is very drinkable. Highly recommended.

Burton Baton along with Squall IPA and Red&White are probably DFH's best and most consistent seasonal offerings.

I haven't done a review in a long time. But tonight, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, 13% ABV, and I have no idea how much I paid for it:

It pours jet black with virtually no head.

The wood is immediately apparent in the aroma. Also vanilla, coffee, chocolate, and the alcohol. That alcohol scent is actually a little odd, almost smelling of bourbon, but that's the only negative in the aroma. Damn, this beer is really good. It's not too woody, but it's very rich with more chocolate and caramel and less alcohol than I expected. This isn't too hoppy, but it's not lacking in bold or complex flavors. It might even have a hint of anise. This is an excellent beer. and a half . I'll post pics later.

I haven't seen this in the bay area yet. Sounds fantastic. Will definitely be on the lookout for it... Also, I have that exact same glass.

Had these 3 tonight.

Schneider-Weisse
Delirium Tremens
Moose Drool

Schneider>DT>Moose Drool

Drank Tetley's English Ale a few weeks ago and it was absolutely awful.

Took my first stab at brewing this weekend and also tried out a bunch of new beers. I'll go in chronological order.

Friday night I tried Surly Abrasive Ale at Stub and Herbs. Very Surly attempt at a double IPA and definitely lives up to its name. As far as doubles go this is like the opposite of Hopslam. Huge piney/hoppy flavors, very bitter. Like with Furious there is definitely some distinctly grapefruit flavor. Still manages to be creamy and not too dry. Great beer, 4.5/5.

While there I also tried Great Divide Hercules on tap. I didn't order one though, so no full review, but still loved it.

Saturday a friend and I decided to spend the day brewing a beer for an upcoming party we are having (his wife and I share a birthday so we are having a joint birthday party in about a month).

This was his 2nd attempt and my first ever experience with brewing.

We were just doing a kit that was put together by Midwest Brewing Supplies and Surly. The kit was called Ferocious and the hops smelled deliciously of Furious.

Before stopping by Midwest we also went to a craft brew store called The Four Firkins. Cool little store. Literally only sold craft brews, a couple wines, port, hard cider and some expensive sodas. Not a single light beer in the store. I ended up trying 3 new beers, one of which it appears Wookie was drinking at about the same time as me:

I didn't get any pictures but it was delicious. The smell of Bourbon was very noticeable but even at 13% it didn't taste too strong. Really excellent. The fact that I told the guy at the store that I wanted a good stout and he suggested this earns them some more points. Anyway, I'll second Wookie's 4.5.

The second beer we had was Victory Hop Wallop. I don't think I've ever had a beer that tasted as much of fresh hops as this one. Smelling it almost made my eyes water. I'm going to give this 3.75/5. It was a very good beer but not in the top tier of double IPAs that I've had.

Finally we had a 6-pack of cans from 21st Amendment Brewery. I'd never heard of this brewery before Saturday. Apparently it is a pretty popular brewpub in San Fransisco that is canned in Cold Springs MN. We had the Brew Free or Die IPA. Between the brewery name and the name of the beer I knew I had to try it.



Overall it was a very basic IPA. Good, but not exciting. A little bitter, a little sweet, etc. 3/5.

Your positive take on the Hop Wallop makes me wonder if I got a bad bottle. I reviewed it a ways back, finding it very bitter but lacking hop flavor.

It was def. a very bitter double, but it does sound like you may have gotten a poor bottle because mine had no shortage of hop flavor. Closer to the opposite, it was like drinking hop juice, there was almost no other detectable flavors.

I this. When I'm feeling indecisive, I snag a sixer of these.

I'm also digging all the torpedo love ITT, a solid session IPA, imo.

My last two trips to the beer man found me purchasing Ithica's CASCA ZILLA (red ale) and Ithica's GROUND BREAK (saison).

Loved the casca zilla, a wonderful red. Better than the green flash hop hed red and on par with the lucky 13 from Lag.

The ground break was okay. Saison is NOT my style though and I only purchased it because I've loved the flower power and casca zilla so I'd thought I'd give Ithica's other offerings a try. Actually, it wasn't a waste of a purchase.. the wife enjoyed them!

How sick of a palate must one have to pinpoint anise seed!?!?!?!

So sick Wookie!

If you start talking about Green Flash, it's all about Green Flash Le Freak off the tap. It's a Belgain IPA, combining the qualities of both a Belgain Tripple and an American IPA. Probably my favorite offering from Green Flash.

Split a sixer of harpoon IPA with my friend last night, nothing special that warrants a full blown review, and there very well might already be one.

copper color, grapefruit, twangy citrus notes as well as the hops, but not overly hoppy. 3 of these was probably enough for me, 5.9%. but for $10 a 6-pack (in NY that is cheap) it is hard to pass up, overall a solid american IPA that i would probably purchase again.


Today is 4/20 and i was considering getting a 550ml of Belhaven Wee-heavy my local beer distributor owner brought in for me. he also brought in some Skull-splitter which is one of my favorite wee heavys. He also has two 12oz bottles of DogFishHead 120 minute IPA. I am uber tempted to purchase them as well before someone else does...Oh well we shall see!

Anise is a very easy flavor to detect. It's quite potent.

Would def recommend Deuchars IPA for the summer - 4%, light, hoppy and very refreshing but still with good malt undertones. Great workhorse session beer for when the days are long.

I've had the same problem with hop wallop. Thought it might have been a bad bottle the first time, picked another one up that was fresh and in a store's cooler and had the exact same overly bitter funky skunked taste.

This is so true. It has similar taste characteristics to black licorice.

This is an issue that comes up fairly often in the craft brew world. Production quality control can vary and retail inventory doesn't always churn as quickly as with the macrobrews.

I have noticed variance in Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA recently. I live quite close to their brewery and every local retailer carries this offering. Even under what would seem to be favorable conditions the taste can be quite inconsistent.

Yeah, it is definitely always a concern. I've had to throw away (well, make my roommate drink) whole 6-packs before because I was displeased with the quality. Its a risk you just have to take I guess. I guess if this craftbrew place stays open that should be one of the benefits, that they'll be churning craft brews quickly and should have pretty good freshness.

There is no science behind this but I think the lighter the beer (purely color-wise) the more susceptible it is to going bad. IPAs are generally on the lighter side of what I drink so that is usually where I'm concerned.

This is also the reason I prefer drinking local beers. You will basically never run into a bad can of Surly because they do a good job of handling it, it doesn't ship far and it actually does churn quickly locally.

After a quick trip to the spice rack, you are correct.

Just not something I hear often, lol.

I'm still interested in that magic hat odd notion that was brewed with cardamom seeds.. anyone remember what that was called?

What is a session beer anyway? The kind you are able to pound?

Tried Hop Ottin IPA the other day. Enjoyed it. Gets a weak 4/5.

bingo