MrWookie-

Sorry for the delay in replying. I would absolutely suggest getting Jubelale the next time you have the chance. As I said, I think it's gone for the year, and will re-appear around Halloween/Thanksgiving. As mentioned above, on tap is great if possible.

Portland is a great beertown, and Seattle is also very good. I do really enjoy the Portland 'beer theatres' where you can enjoy a movie, along with beer and pizza.

I'm sitting here trying to think of another worthy beer to mention.
I'll keep an eye out this weekend, maybe I can add some more local flavor.

I don't blieve anyone has mentioned one of my favorite old-standby beers, which is Deschutes Black Butte Porter. BPP is widely available on tap in the Pacific Northwest, and I have no problem obtaining it in the bottle in Los Angeles (and I can even find it on-tap in one or two places)

I don't believe it has been reviewed in beer club thread, so maybe someone who hasn't tried it can pick it up and set it against one of their favorite porters/stouts. (I'd review it myself, but am trapped in Toronto till Saturday).

Just picked up a six-pack of New Belgium Springboard. Never seen it before. Will try it out and report back as soon as room service sends up a bottle opener and a glass.

I'm pretty sure it has been reviewed in TLDR. If it hasn't, it has at least been mentioned several times. It and Stone's Smoked Porter are the two best porters I've had, but in general I don't really love the style.

This stuff is awesome. Its from my hometown brewery, I'm not sure how far they distribute.

Miles, Jack,

No, I don't think Black Butte Porter has been reviewed in TLDR, but it has been mentioned several times in the reviews of other porters. It was my favorite porter when I was on the West Coast and could get it. Actually, I lied. It was my favorite bottled porter; I liked Elysian's porter better, but that was only available in their pub at the time. Neither is available out here. Also Miles, I must say I'm pretty surprised that someone who likes IPAs and likes stouts doesn't go for porters.

jack,

I like the black butte quite a bit.

Had dinner at Farmer Brown last night.

This is their beer list:

trumer pilsner - berkeley 4
mirror pond pale ale - bend, oregon 4
racer 5 IPA - headlsburg 4
anchor steam - san francisco 4
poppy jasper amber ale - anderson valley 4
black butte porter - bend, oregon 4

Had the BBP last night, delicious. Time before had the Racer 5 IPA, which I enjoyed a lot.

racer 5 IPA is pretty underrated I think. Very solid, and seems to be on tap at a lot of SF bars. I'm not sure where headlsburg is, but it must be somewhat nearby, as a friend of mine did a brewery tour not too far back.

Old good beer thread from Mods Playground:

stouts and bitters

here are a few of my recent favorites:

Anchor Porter: Bursting with dark roasted malt character and balanced nicely by noticeable hop bitterness, and a clean, lasting finish. For some reason this gets overshadowed by Anchor Steam which I think is clearly inferior. One of the best porters in the world.

Three Floyds Robert the Bruce: If you love malt and aren't the biggest fan of the really dark beers, you will love this. Scottish style ale without the metallic finish that plagues many brews of this style. This brewery stopped distributing near me which makes me really sad.

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout: Really hot (strong alcohol taste) when it's fresh, but a fantastic beer nonetheless. Not nearly as sweet as it sounds. Needs some aging to reach its full potential.

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA: The best of the ultra-hoppy beers I have had in some time.

Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel: Startling originality from a Belgian brewer. This is one of the most unique beers you'll find from any country. Exactly what it sounds like. Disgusting in concept, but...yum.

Rogue Hazelnut Brown: Solid, straightforward brown ale that isn't dominated by the hazelnut flavoring. A fine beer for a transition drinker who is bored of bud light but still scared of the 9-10 abv monsters.

Stoudts Double IPA: Another one of those hot beers. Unusually sweet for such a high abv but the hops balance it out. I find when I get a sixer this one goes really quickly.

Lagunitas Old Gnarly Wine: Sure there are better barleywines out there. But I can get this for $4 a bomber and it is easily better than many beers that cost 3 times that much. Very pleasant, drinkable brew and would be a great introduction to this style for those who are skeered.

Bell's Expedition Stout: Oh hot damn. Sweet, merciful Jesus. This is a good beer. Really, really, really good beer. If you love stouts, you have to try it. You will pay for it, but it's worth it. My local place started carrying this brewery and so far I have loved everything I've tried.

Deschutes Obsidian stout is so yummy. You guys should try that as well.

Speaking of Russian Imperial Stouts...I tried Middle Ages Dragon Slayer last year and sans my review above. Best of the style I've ever had.

Cheers m8's.

ps I almost applied for Deschutes internship and am so regretting not doing it.

Hmm, perhaps I should reevaluate my thoughts on Dragonslayer. Oden and Wookie really loved it, but my impression was that there was just too much burnt coffee flavor and that at least for me, seemed a little thin. The fun part about beer is that you can always try again, and maybe you'll taste something different or something you missed before.

Sadly, my favorite imperial stout doesn't exist any more: Southampton Imperial Stout, which used to be made near my neck of the woods in Long Island. I've got a couple of highly regarded impies in the fridge now that I'm excited to try soon: Stone Russian Imperial Stout and Bell's Expedition Stout.

For all you Pacific NW guys, have you tried much from Hair of the Dog in Oregon? I really like their Adam and Doggie Claws.

I just cracked open a bottle of the DFH 90 to enjoy, but I think I got a bad bottle or something. It tastes nothing like I remember. I don't hardly taste the hops. Have I lost my mind that I thought that this was a good beer? They change the recipe? You think they mislabeled this bottle?

Was it a really old bottle, if you happen to know? Otherwise, just hope you got a bad bottle and that it's still as good as ever.

Well, my plan tonight was to review the 90 and the 120, but I'm worried now. I think the bottle was young, but it doesn't have a date on it.

I think that's one of the biggest problems with craft beer today: the lack of freshness dates. I know Victory recently introduced this and I think other brewers should hop on the bandwagon, though getting a labeler could come at a considerable expense. I mean the dates are only really necessary for your smaller ABV beers and your hop monsters, but they could make all the difference. I mean, who's going to want a one-year old IPA?

Regarding hops and freshness: Can anyone guess which beer is hoppier than any other, and always comes fresher than any other? Hint below in white.

Hint:see my first post in this thread (#9081392)

Do hoppy beers actually spoil more than regular beers? I was under the impression that born on dates were largely a marketing gimmick, at least up to a point.

"You are the hops of the beer. But if the hops lose their hoppiness, how can they be made hoppy again?"

Edit: The 120 was still good and somewhat hoppy, but it's overpriced for what you get. It doesn't blow me away, so I'd rather get more beer that's not as potent and I enjoy about as much, or even more.

It's not that they spoil, it's just that the hops disappear.

Wookie,

I've been wanting to try the DFH 120 for a while now. I can never seem to find it. Do you remember how much you paid?

Given your review I might opt for the 90 even if the 120 were available. I have had the 90 on a number of occasions and it is one of my favorite IPAs.

All things equal, I don't regard the 120's high alcohol content as much of a virtue. I remember I had heard such good things about samichlaus, which at least used to be in the guiness book of world records for highest ABV. I bought 4 tiny bottles at Bevmo at 10 bucks a bottle because I was so sure it would be good (or at least decent) given what people have said. Personally, I found it undrinkable and gave 3 bottles away (unlike what I presume of the DFH 120, there were no hops in samichlaus to balance out the alcohol).

But I see that sami has high marks on beeradvocate so to each his own.

jack,

I have a full review in the Lounge beer club thread. I paid $9.95 for one 12 oz bottle, and I agree that I'd rather have a four pack of the 90, which for me, costs the same.

Actually, there are/were two versions of Samichlaus, made by different breweries. Here are the ratebeer entries:

Hurlimann Samichlaus
Schloss Eggenburg Samichlaus

I've been waiting to try this one myself...any other thoughts?

Edit: turns out that it's supposed to be the same beer, yet there's obviously a large disparity in ratings. I guess putting age on it must help a lot. That or just the name might be enough to bump it up.

I saw the Samichlaus in my local grocer, claiming to be the world's strongest beer.. and figured that was there gimmick so I didn't think it was worth buying.

Samichlaus was probably the world's strongest beer at one time, but it's not even close anymore. I believe it's still the world's strongest lager, though.

I'm envious of all you west coast guys ... I'm sure the general level of microbrews available in a place like Seattle or Portland is pretty amazing.

Asheville has developed a pretty solid beer scene over the last decade.

Highland Brewery is the oldest in town, since 1994. Their Gaelic Ale is a robust amber ale that is a standby in Asheville bars and restaurants. It's yummy, but a little heavier than I usually like my ales. My favorite of theirs is the St. Teresa's Pale Ale, a tasty hoppy mouthful. Honestly I can say that every one of their beers is quite good, including their Oatmeal Porter and Mocha Stout.

Highland got their start in the basement of Barley's in downtown Asheville. Barley's has good pizza, a fantastic beer selection, and pool and darts upstairs.

Green Man was the second brewery in Asheville. They opened their doors with the opening of Jack of the Wood, a recommended brew-pub with traditional Irish/English pub vibe, good music on weekend nights that showcases Western NC's burgeoning Celtic / Bluegrass / Ragtime scene. Green Man Ales are also on tap at Dirty Jacks, which is a small pub in the front of their brewery on Buxton downtown. Very cool scene and vibe there. Green Man often has cask ales available which are highly praised.

I always at least like Green Man Ales, but they are a little uneven at times, so they've dropped to the bottom of my local rankings.

Two more breweries challenge Highland for top dog spot. French Broad Brewery is probably my personal favorite. Their Goldenrod Pilsner is a perfect summer beer, light, but crisp and refreshing. Only occasional dips in quality keep it from taking my favorite local brew ranking away from St. Teresa's. Their Wee Heavy and related Wee Heavy-er are fantastic Scotch lowland ales that are perfect in the winter, and they have a solid IPA as well.

Other's, whose opinions I respect, rate Asheville Pizza and Brewery as the best. APB evolved from the Two Moons Brewery, which an aquaintance of mine opened up in the mid-late 90s in an old movie duplex. $1 movies and tasty beer made the place an instant hit, but being underfunded and underorganized meant that their time was limited. They were bought out by then Asheville Pizza Company, which has now opened another downtown location. Good grub, $2 second run movies, and delicious beer make the North Asheville original location an ongoing hit with the locals.

Their beers are consistent and delicious. I'd say their specialty are their hoppy pale ales, including IPA, ESB, and other variants.

If you are looking for a weekend beer oriented getaway, Asheville in the fall for the Brewgrass Festival is a good pick. All the local breweries usually participate, as well as regional, national, and international entries. It's great just for the beer, but if you appreciate bluegrass music, then it's quite fabulous.