The Beer Thread

atomicfront wrote:
When I was in Portugal people drank wine all day long.  If you didn't order wine with your lunch they would look at you were nuts.  But guess what they had the best food I ever tasted. 

i was in portugal last august, and they had, on the whole, some of the most disappointing food i've ever had while traveling.  the missus and i are small "f" foodies, and we had a hell of a time finding really great food.  it was quite the disappointment since food is one of the things we look forward to when we travel.  the missus speaks portuguese so we thought we had an "in" to finding the good stuff, but we couldn't get any recommendations that panned out be they from books, online, or from locals.  we did have one amazing meal in the port-producing region, at a really high-end organic restaurant (and paid a lot for the food - worth it).  the wine was good and we had amazing port… but overall the food was mediocre.  to put this back on topic: the beer was boring to horrible.

sweetcell wrote:

atomicfront wrote:
When I was in Portugal people drank wine all day long.  If you didn't order wine with your lunch they would look at you were nuts.  But guess what they had the best food I ever tasted. 

i was in portugal last august, and they had, on the whole, some of the most disappointing food i've ever had while traveling.  the missus and i are small "f" foodies, and we had a hell of a time finding really great food.  it was quite the disappointment since food is one of the things we look forward to when we travel.  the missus speaks portuguese so we thought we had an "in" to finding the good stuff, but we couldn't get any recommendations that panned out be they from books, online, or from locals.  we did have one amazing meal in the port-producing region, at a really high-end organic restaurant (and paid a lot for the food - worth it).  the wine was good and we had amazing port… but overall the food was mediocre.  to put this back on topic: the beer was boring to horrible.

Best seafood I have ever eaten.  The Oysters I had were like twice as big as the biggest I ever had before.  Grilled Sardines were delicious.  The Pastries in Belem in Lisbon were out of this world. 

Never been to Portugal, but liked the food in Madrid, Seville, Barcelona and Granada, even with vegetarian+seafood restriction.

How does the Portuguese food compare to Spanish food?

negra modelo . . . especially on draft, on a hot summer day, when you finally have a day off, is very nice.

James wrote:
Never been to Portugal, but liked the food in Madrid, Seville, Barcelona and Granada, even with vegetarian+seafood restriction.

How does the Portuguese food compare to Spanish food?

Far less creativity… lots more cod.  I traveled to the Azores and had great food while I was there.  But in general, I don't think the Portuguese are known to have world-class cuisine, generally. Wine, Bread, Cod, Pork.  They do those right, though.

I did 2.5 weeks in Spain last year and the one meal that stood out was the one at our hotel restaurant in Barcelona - Cram Hotel.  Amazing.  Otherwise the food was merely great throughout the entire trip.  Beer? Not so much.

We found a good Belgian beer bar in Barcelona around the corner from our hotel the last time we were there. Although I don't think we used it, ratebeer.com is always helpful for locating those

---

kind of things.

http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/Country/Cities/barcelona/183.htm

Stillwater wrote:

James wrote:
Never been to Portugal, but liked the food in Madrid, Seville, Barcelona and Granada, even with vegetarian+seafood restriction.

How does the Portuguese food compare to Spanish food?

Far less creativity… lots more cod.  I traveled to the Azores and had great food while I was there.  But in general, I don't think the Portuguese are known to have world-class cuisine, generally. Wine, Bread, Cod, Pork.  They do those right, though.

I did 2.5 weeks in Spain last year and the one meal that stood out was the one at our hotel restaurant in Barcelona - Cram Hotel.  Amazing.  Otherwise the food was merely great throughout the entire trip.  Beer? Not so much.

At Churchkey Wed:


Wednesday, June 26 at 6 PM:

The Ultimate De Struise Tap Takeover: 17 Rare Drafts + Meet Founders Urbain Cotteau & Philippe Driessens!

ChurchKey is proud to present nearly 20 De Struise brews on draft next Wednesday night, June 26th!

This is by far the most De Struise kegs ever tapped simultaneously in our region, and this massive tap takeover will serve as a fitting welcome party for our old friends Urbain Cotteau & Philippe Driessens, the founders of de Struise from West Flanders, Belgium! This is a can't miss opportunity to taste some of the most impressive Belgian-brewed craft ales in the world, and to hang out with two of the coolest guys in the business. For this very special event, we will be pouring two brand-new De Struise ales, Weltmerz (Session Sour of 3% abv) and Ypres (Flanders Oud Bruin), the fresh batch of De Struise-3 Floyds collaboration Shark Pants, Bourbon Barrel-Aged XXX Rye Tripel, as well as some old favorites like Cuvee Delphine, Black Albert, Pannepot Reserva 2010 and Sint Amatus!

There is no admission fee for this event and all De Struise drafts will be priced individually in 4 oz. pours and by the glass.

Oh…and word has it that the De Struise team will also be conspiring with our very own Bluejacket for some future collaborations while in town …

The De Struise Tap Takeover List!
De Struise Weltmerz
De Struise Ypres
De Struise & 3 Floyds Shark Pants
De Struise Bourbon Barrel-Aged XXX Rye Tripel
De Struise Cuvee Delphine
De Struise Black Albert
De Struise Pannepot Reserva 2010
De Struise Sint Amatus
De Struise Pannepeut
De Struise X
De Struise XX
De Struise XXX Rye Tripel
De Struise XXXX
De Struise AA Blond
De Struise Rosse
De Struise Witte
De Struise Roste Jeanne

About De Struise:
De Struise Brouwers (DSB) is a microbrewery located in Oostvleteren, Belgium. Owners of a nearby ostrich-raising farm in Lo-Reninge with accommodations for vacationers, Urbain Coutteau and Philippe Driessens developed an interest in making distinctive regional beers to serve to their guests. In 2001 they began doing so with help from local wine maker Carlo Grootaert, and this project eventually developed into its own independent commercial concern. Upon its inception in 2003, Struise produced beers at the Caulier brewery in northern Hainaut. Since 2006, they have been made at the Deca brewing facility in Woesten-Vleteren in West Flanders. Today, Struise?s own microbrewery and tasting room is currently open & operational located in a renovated school building in Oostvleteren, Belgium.

At Churchkey Monday:


ChurchKey is honored to be among a cadre of craft beer bars competing in the 2013 Stone Most Bitter Bar contest, and we are throwing a huge Stone bash on Monday night, June 24th, to launch our candidacy!

We will be featuring a number of hopped-up Stone brews from June 21st until June 30th, all in the name of being crowned the Stone Most Bitter bar champion, but–on Monday the 24th–we will go all out and feature a bevy of bittered brews, many of which we will be pouring for the very first time!

So come out and support CK and Stone, and get your hands on some incredible new IPAs released specifically for participating Bitter Bar contestants, like Ruination: Tropical Heat Edition (brewed w/ Mango and Habanero peppers) and Stone IPA Double Dry-Hopped with El Dorado & Target hops! We will also be featuring a super-fresh keg of Ruinten, the re-brewed batch of Ruination 10th Anniversary (which happened to be one of the absolute most outstanding Imperial IPAs of 2012)!

No admission fee! All Stone drafts priced individually by the glass and in 4 oz. taster pours!

The Stone Most Bitter Bar Event Draft List!
Stone Ruination: Tropical Heat Edition
Stone IPA Double Dry-Hopped with El Dorado & Target
Stone Ruinten
Stone IPA
Stone Ruination
Stone Cali-Belgique
Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

currently drinking an Avery Salvation.  verdict: this is a great "intro to belgian beers" beer.  not too dry, not too strong on the esters, some spice but not too much, etc.

James wrote:
At Churchkey Wed:


Wednesday, June 26 at 6 PM:

The Ultimate De Struise Tap Takeover: 17 Rare Drafts + Meet Founders Urbain Cotteau & Philippe Driessens!

i'm headed to philly on wednesday for NHC, otherwise i'd be soooooo all over this.

i am so excited about NHC.  3 days of seminars, meeting brewers, vendor expos, geeking out with other beer geeks… and drinking a lot of amazing beer, both homemade and commercial.  summer camp for beer dorks ;D

James wrote:
We found a good Belgian beer bar in Barcelona around the corner from our hotel the last time we were there. Although I don't think we used it, ratebeer.com is always helpful for locating those

---

kind of things.

http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/Country/Cities/barcelona/183.htm

Stillwater wrote:

James wrote:
Never been to Portugal, but liked the food in Madrid, Seville, Barcelona and Granada, even with vegetarian+seafood restriction.

How does the Portuguese food compare to Spanish food?

Far less creativity… lots more cod.  I traveled to the Azores and had great food while I was there.  But in general, I don't think the Portuguese are known to have world-class cuisine, generally. Wine, Bread, Cod, Pork.  They do those right, though.

I did 2.5 weeks in Spain last year and the one meal that stood out was the one at our hotel restaurant in Barcelona - Cram Hotel.  Amazing.  Otherwise the food was merely great throughout the entire trip.  Beer? Not so much.

Now that you mention it, we did find a place in Seville with a good list. Mostly All Belgian and German.  It was a gem in the midst of 2.5 weeks of Cruzcampo and San Miguel.

Its called Cerveceria Internacional after looking it up.

James wrote:
Never been to Portugal, but liked the food in Madrid, Seville, Barcelona and Granada, even with vegetarian+seafood restriction.

How does the Portuguese food compare to Spanish food?

I thought the food in Portugal was much better.  I mostly ate seafood in both countries.  I think the only time I didn't have seafood in either country for lunch or dinner I had duck breast at our hotel in Coimbra, Portugal which was amazing.  The restaurant was Michilin star rated what ever that means. 

Anyway great seafood in Portugal.  I ate a lot Paella in Spain.  No restaurant I went to in Spain did the people speak English.  And they had English menus but the waiter couldn't read the English menu so it was pretty much useless.  I did have a delilcious Cod dish in Merida, Spain and but it was a Portugese recipe. 

In portugal I usually asked the waiter to recommend the food and the wine.  I figure they would know better than me.  I would ask for their recommended red win and their recommended seafood. 

So I went to Union Craft on Saturday. I enjoyed their beers.  I especially liked their Balt Altbier, Blackwing Lager, and Oatmeal Stout.  I got a couple of six packs of Altbier and a growler of their Lager.  They seem to know what they are doing and they are so close to my house that I can stop by any saturday and fill up a growler or two which is nice.

I did head to Max's on Saturday.  The bar was full and there was one table open but they dont' have waiters there.  And they only had some of the beers each day.  I didn't really see anything on the list I wanted to drink on draft.  The bottles were around 20 bucks a piece.  They had stuff like beers that had 1.5 percent and another beer with habrenaro in it.  Also there was no eye candy there.  Mostly old people with metal frame glasses.  Anyway we left and went to the Admirals Cup had a few Flying Dog in heat wheats and some oysters and crab cakes outside.  Beautiful day. 

nothing worse . . . than old people in metal frame glasses.

atomicfront wrote:

James wrote:
Never been to Portugal, but liked the food in Madrid, Seville, Barcelona and Granada, even with vegetarian+seafood restriction.

How does the Portuguese food compare to Spanish food?

I thought the food in Portugal was much better.  I mostly ate seafood in both countries.  I think the only time I didn't have seafood in either country for lunch or dinner I had duck breast at our hotel in Coimbra, Portugal which was amazing.  The restaurant was Michilin star rated what ever that means. 

Anyway great seafood in Portugal.  I ate a lot Paella in Spain.  No restaurant I went to in Spain did the people speak English.  And they had English menus but the waiter couldn't read the English menu so it was pretty much useless.  I did have a delilcious Cod dish in Merida, Spain and but it was a Portugese recipe. 

In portugal I usually asked the waiter to recommend the food and the wine.  I figure they would know better than me.  I would ask for their recommended red win and their recommended seafood. 

yeah but the "eye candy" in portugal leaves a lot to be desired.. a serious contender for ugliest women on earth (along with cape verde)

Well kudos to you for at least giving the Max's thing a shot.

At least they titled it correctly, "Rare and Obscure Beer Fest". Looked like some of the stuff sort of appealed to a niche audience and some of it was from smaller, lesser known breweries. Neither of which is going to appeal to a mainstream beer drinker like yourself.

atomicfront wrote:
So I went to Union Craft on Saturday. I enjoyed their beers.  I especially liked their Balt Altbier, Blackwing Lager, and Oatmeal Stout.  I got a couple of six packs of Altbier and a growler of their Lager.   They seem to know what they are doing and they are so close to my house that I can stop by any saturday and fill up a growler or two which is nice.

I did head to Max's on Saturday.  The bar was full and there was one table open but they dont' have waiters there.  And they only had some of the beers each day.  I didn't really see anything on the list I wanted to drink on draft.  The bottles were around 20 bucks a piece.  They had stuff like beers that had 1.5 percent and another beer with habrenaro in it.  Also there was no eye candy there.  Mostly old people with metal frame glasses.  Anyway we left and went to the Admirals Cup had a few Flying Dog in heat wheats and some oysters and crab cakes outside.  Beautiful day. 

James wrote:
Well kudos to you for at least giving the Max's thing a shot.

At least they titled it correctly, "Rare and Obscure Beer Fest". Looked like some of the stuff sort of appealed to a niche audience and some of it was from smaller, lesser known breweries. Neither of which is going to appeal to a mainstream beer drinker like yourself.

atomicfront wrote:
So I went to Union Craft on Saturday. I enjoyed their beers.  I especially liked their Balt Altbier, Blackwing Lager, and Oatmeal Stout.  I got a couple of six packs of Altbier and a growler of their Lager.   They seem to know what they are doing and they are so close to my house that I can stop by any saturday and fill up a growler or two which is nice.

I did head to Max's on Saturday.  The bar was full and there was one table open but they dont' have waiters there.  And they only had some of the beers each day.  I didn't really see anything on the list I wanted to drink on draft.  The bottles were around 20 bucks a piece.  They had stuff like beers that had 1.5 percent and another beer with habrenaro in it.  Also there was no eye candy there.  Mostly old people with metal frame glasses.  Anyway we left and went to the Admirals Cup had a few Flying Dog in heat wheats and some oysters and crab cakes outside.  Beautiful day. 

Yeah I am the mainstream beer drinker who drinks Union Craft beer.  It appeals to old short  dudes in metal framed glasses.  I don't think 1.5 percent beer is going to appeal to too many people.  Mainstream or Niche drinkers. 

If you're saying it won't appeal to people because it lacks taste, I'm with you.

If you are saying it won't appeal to people because of the low ABV, you lost me. I would love it if all of the 10% beers I drink could be cut down to 1.5%  (and have the calories chopped as well) and maintain the same taste.

And Union Craft makes a lager, a pale ale, an oatmeal stout, and an altbier. It doesn't get much more mainstream than that, does it?

atomicfront wrote:

James wrote:
Well kudos to you for at least giving the Max's thing a shot.

At least they titled it correctly, "Rare and Obscure Beer Fest". Looked like some of the stuff sort of appealed to a niche audience and some of it was from smaller, lesser known breweries. Neither of which is going to appeal to a mainstream beer drinker like yourself.

atomicfront wrote:
So I went to Union Craft on Saturday. I enjoyed their beers.  I especially liked their Balt Altbier, Blackwing Lager, and Oatmeal Stout.  I got a couple of six packs of Altbier and a growler of their Lager.   They seem to know what they are doing and they are so close to my house that I can stop by any saturday and fill up a growler or two which is nice.

I did head to Max's on Saturday.  The bar was full and there was one table open but they dont' have waiters there.  And they only had some of the beers each day.  I didn't really see anything on the list I wanted to drink on draft.  The bottles were around 20 bucks a piece.  They had stuff like beers that had 1.5 percent and another beer with habrenaro in it.  Also there was no eye candy there.  Mostly old people with metal frame glasses.  Anyway we left and went to the Admirals Cup had a few Flying Dog in heat wheats and some oysters and crab cakes outside.  Beautiful day. 

Yeah I am the mainstream beer drinker who drinks Union Craft beer.  It appeals to old short  dudes in metal framed glasses.  I don't think 1.5 percent beer is going to appeal to too many people.  Mainstream or Niche drinkers.   

Red wine with seafood? You really are a rebel!

atomicfront wrote:

James wrote:
Never been to Portugal, but liked the food in Madrid, Seville, Barcelona and Granada, even with vegetarian+seafood restriction.

How does the Portuguese food compare to Spanish food?

I thought the food in Portugal was much better.  I mostly ate seafood in both countries.  I think the only time I didn't have seafood in either country for lunch or dinner I had duck breast at our hotel in Coimbra, Portugal which was amazing.  The restaurant was Michilin star rated what ever that means. 

Anyway great seafood in Portugal.  I ate a lot Paella in Spain.  No restaurant I went to in Spain did the people speak English.  And they had English menus but the waiter couldn't read the English menu so it was pretty much useless.  I did have a delilcious Cod dish in Merida, Spain and but it was a Portugese recipe. 

In portugal I usually asked the waiter to recommend the food and the wine.  I figure they would know better than me.  I would ask for their recommended red win and their recommended seafood. 

James wrote:
If you're saying it won't appeal to people because it lacks taste, I'm with you.

If you are saying it won't appeal to people because of the low ABV, you lost me. I would love it if all of the 10% beers I drink could be cut down to 1.5%  (and have the calories chopped as well) and maintain the same taste.

And Union Craft makes a lager, a pale ale, an oatmeal stout, and an altbier. It doesn't get much more mainstream than that, does it?

atomicfront wrote:

James wrote:
Well kudos to you for at least giving the Max's thing a shot.

At least they titled it correctly, "Rare and Obscure Beer Fest". Looked like some of the stuff sort of appealed to a niche audience and some of it was from smaller, lesser known breweries. Neither of which is going to appeal to a mainstream beer drinker like yourself.

atomicfront wrote:
So I went to Union Craft on Saturday. I enjoyed their beers.  I especially liked their Balt Altbier, Blackwing Lager, and Oatmeal Stout.  I got a couple of six packs of Altbier and a growler of their Lager.   They seem to know what they are doing and they are so close to my house that I can stop by any saturday and fill up a growler or two which is nice.

I did head to Max's on Saturday.  The bar was full and there was one table open but they dont' have waiters there.  And they only had some of the beers each day.  I didn't really see anything on the list I wanted to drink on draft.  The bottles were around 20 bucks a piece.  They had stuff like beers that had 1.5 percent and another beer with habrenaro in it.  Also there was no eye candy there.  Mostly old people with metal frame glasses.  Anyway we left and went to the Admirals Cup had a few Flying Dog in heat wheats and some oysters and crab cakes outside.  Beautiful day. 

Yeah I am the mainstream beer drinker who drinks Union Craft beer.  It appeals to old short  dudes in metal framed glasses.  I don't think 1.5 percent beer is going to appeal to too many people.  Mainstream or Niche drinkers.   

To me drinking 1.5 percent beer would be a waste of time.  As for Union Craft, Black Lager is not mainstream, oatmeal stout is not mainstream.  And Altbeir is not mainstream.  I don't know where you get stuff from. 

As for Red Wine and seafood.  I don't like white wine.  So I would never have it with any food.  Red wine is healthier for you as well. 

I too prefer red wine. And if it tasted good and was 1.5% abv, I'd still drink it.

I've seen black lagers, oatmeal stouts, and altbiers at my local Giant grocery store. A grocery store that sells very, very limited supply of craft beer.

However, I've never seen any flanders red ales, flanders oud bruins, american wild ales, berliner weisses, rauchbiers, bier de gardes, or wee heavies at my local Giant. When Union Craft starts making some of those, I'll drop the "mainstream" tag. ;)

atomicfront wrote:

James wrote:
If you're saying it won't appeal to people because it lacks taste, I'm with you.

If you are saying it won't appeal to people because of the low ABV, you lost me. I would love it if all of the 10% beers I drink could be cut down to 1.5%  (and have the calories chopped as well) and maintain the same taste.

And Union Craft makes a lager, a pale ale, an oatmeal stout, and an altbier. It doesn't get much more mainstream than that, does it?

atomicfront wrote:

James wrote:
Well kudos to you for at least giving the Max's thing a shot.

At least they titled it correctly, "Rare and Obscure Beer Fest". Looked like some of the stuff sort of appealed to a niche audience and some of it was from smaller, lesser known breweries. Neither of which is going to appeal to a mainstream beer drinker like yourself.

atomicfront wrote:
So I went to Union Craft on Saturday. I enjoyed their beers.  I especially liked their Balt Altbier, Blackwing Lager, and Oatmeal Stout.  I got a couple of six packs of Altbier and a growler of their Lager.   They seem to know what they are doing and they are so close to my house that I can stop by any saturday and fill up a growler or two which is nice.

I did head to Max's on Saturday.  The bar was full and there was one table open but they dont' have waiters there.  And they only had some of the beers each day.  I didn't really see anything on the list I wanted to drink on draft.  The bottles were around 20 bucks a piece.  They had stuff like beers that had 1.5 percent and another beer with habrenaro in it.  Also there was no eye candy there.  Mostly old people with metal frame glasses.  Anyway we left and went to the Admirals Cup had a few Flying Dog in heat wheats and some oysters and crab cakes outside.  Beautiful day. 

Yeah I am the mainstream beer drinker who drinks Union Craft beer.  It appeals to old short  dudes in metal framed glasses.  I don't think 1.5 percent beer is going to appeal to too many people.  Mainstream or Niche drinkers.   

To me drinking 1.5 percent beer would be a waste of time.  As for Union Craft, Black Lager is not mainstream, oatmeal stout is not mainstream.  And Altbeir is not mainstream.  I don't know where you get stuff from. 

As for Red Wine and seafood.  I don't like white wine.  So I would never have it with any food.  Red wine is healthier for you as well.