Pale ale fans,

I’ve said this before, but Modern times fortunate islands is really good. Only 5% but packs a ton of flavor.



Heh, that used to say “hoppy / tropical / wheat.”

There were quite a lot of Seattle suggestions and reviews the last few pages, I'd read back first.

Ah thanks, I saw some of these posts but somehow missed a couple of the really good ones.

I'll work off the previously posted lists, will post a TR if I find anything particularly noteworthy.

Prarie Paradise -

OK, this is a lot more like what I'm used to from the stout side of the universe. Enjoyed it a ton more. Probably my porter education goes on pause. Thicker, sweeter, more coconut, more chocolate, more vanilla. Generally excellent *except* (if this is a bad thing) quite boozy! 13% for the *non* bourbon version. Woof! But yes, not subtle at all about the booze in this one. It's on the nose, it's on the palette, it's on the finish. Pretty strongly on the nose. Weirdly, it seems most reviewers feel that it is surprisingly UN boozy at 13%. Maybe I've been drinking too many things that do a good job masking the booze. Bourbon Paradise is "only" 16% so hopefully I can track it down to compare.

At $10/12oz this is not at all "cheap" but I've got Paradise > Death by Coconut > Victory at Sea Coconut, even accounting for price per oz.

The booze in Prairie Paradise really mellows out if you let it sit for ~6 months. I usually keep one in my cellar and grab another to rotate in when I drink one. Bourbon Paradise tasted less boozy fresh iirc.

Please do: I'll be there in May and will appreciate it.

Sour beer fans,



New Belgium Oscar blackberry

Damn tasty!

Based off this and recommendations for locally available farmhouse style beers, picked these up. Probably won’t make it past this summer before opening the Paradise it’s one of my favorites.

Goofy, spider:

Turns out the 2014 rye barrel old stock rang up at 14.99, not the labeled 10.99. Still better than 21.99 at Whole Foods. I grabbed one for now, will try it this weekend.

How dare they!! But yeah that beer is usually pretty expensive, it's rare to get it under $1/oz. Hope you like it!

All you bay area people better be attending this, looks like a great lineup: https://www.hopculture.com/event/juicy-brews-westfest/

Sounds great and reasonably priced, but only 600 ****ing tickets! What the hell? If I were in the neighborhood..........

Followed your advice on Jester King, minus your dislike of smoked beers. This was fantastic.



Smelled like this.

Hit masonry in Fremont for the Anchorage cans (on site) that they just got in as well. Teku is another craft beer bar that will have TV's. Usually worth hitting stoup too if you are at Reuben's.

Couple of beers from 450 Norths last release. Citra Nuggets is my favorite from them so far because I'm a whore for citra hops, but pot o gold is up there with their best efforts so far. Hopefully these pours are KC approved.

That's a sweet glass.

I only have two beers I feel like reporting on. My package store had Fiddlehead Second Fiddle (Vermont dipa) recently. I'd only ever had their regular IPA on tap which I liked. Second Fiddle is awesome. Quite bitter. I loved it. Ended up plowing through the 4 pack in 5 days.

And Mystic Brewing's Table Beer is the craft beer I've bought the most of in the past 4 months. 4% pastbier. Just delicious. Need to pay them a visit at some point.

I gotta try that one Colin. I'm always in search of delicious beers that manage to stay under 5%

yeah it's sick, if you like belgian table beers obv. They're also quietly cranking out sick IPAs to fund their expansion.

Their beer is really great. I've been impressed by everything I've had from them lately. Their regular IPAs have been stellar. They did a really good milkshake IPA a few weeks ago and their assorted belgians are always on point. A few weeks ago some friends and I did a brewery crawl starting there and then going to Down the Road, Night Shift, Bone Up, and Idle Hands. Great time and a lot of good beer. The best beer was definitely at Mystic and Idle Hands.

Lfc:
Modern times fortunate islands!

Evil twin fans:

Chili hazelnut biscotti break. Not good. Overpowering sorta artificial tasting hazelnut smell and taste with very slight chili heat in the background.

Maybe I should try the pecan pie Jesus.

My gf and her friend liked sours so they picked on of the bottle list of a place with a really good list. Their first 2 choices weren’t available so the fellow went into the back and brought out a couple of off list choices.

I essentially forced them to order this as we basically never see it around here. Great beer.



My buddy and I went halvsies on a pirate bomb and pirate noir.

Both pretty good. Pirate noir is way better imo. Straight rum barrel punch in the mouth. One of my favorites.

Beer peeps,

Maine lunch

Was excited to try this, but thought it was just fine. Don’t get me wrong it’s a good beer. Just didn’t really stand out as any better than a lot of good ipas easily available in California.

Old stock 2014 rye BA

One person I shared with LOVED this beer. I thought it was ok, but wasn’t a big fan. Too malty and sweet for me. At $15/500ml I thought it was a little pricey for what it is. At $22, which is what it costs at places other than random price target, def don’t want.

New York beer fans, spotted this article over the weekend: Mikkel and Jeppe (Mikkeller and Evil Twin) opening separate facilities in Queens

Yeah supposedly that was a total ****show yesterday when the opened. It’s also in a bit of a weird location. The opening taplist was insane though. Tons of Cantillon, other lambics, bissell brothers, tired hands

Beer peeps,

Chicago and cooler had good things to say about paradox. You guys or anyone had any of these?


Based on spider and hoagie recs, picked up a big bad baptista (I had big Bad Baptist before and enjoyed it)


Then was presented with the widest selection of eclipse 50/50 I’ve seen in a store:



Grabbed the coffee because I love big coffee stouts and there was only one left. If I really love it, maybe I’ll grab one more of the whiskey barrel ones. I dunno, kinda hard to justify spending $27 on this 650ml when BCBS is still sitting on shelves for $12 for 500ml.