The Beer Thread

James wrote:
Duvel acquires Boulevard. Sorry, I'm two weeks behind on the news.

Are they going to ruin Boulevard the way AB-InBev has ruined Goose Island (they haven't)?



http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/business/belgian-brewery-buys-boulevard-a-us-craft-beer-maker.html?_r=0

Nope. They operate Ommegang and it's basically been run the same it was before they purchased it. They just have the financial backing of Duvel. I'm not worried in the least about Boulevard's quality slipping.

sweetcell wrote:

James wrote:
Duvel acquires Boulevard. Sorry, I'm two weeks behind on the news.

Are they going to ruin Boulevard the way AB-InBev has ruined Goose Island (they haven't)?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/business/belgian-brewery-buys-boulevard-a-us-craft-beer-maker.html?_r=0

duvel acquired Ommegang and haven't ruined them, so i'd say "probably no".

and i'm not sure that In-Bev ruined GI.  matilda and sofie taste just as good to me and GI is coming up with some great one-offs and seasonals.  a beer distributor that i spoke to at CBC was of the opinion that GI is now better than pre-acquisition: after the buy-out, the head brewers left but all the assistant brewers that were instantly promoted were highly motivated to prove themselves… hence the burst of creativity.

i've come around on this issue, despite my hate of inbev.  bourbon county will now be available in all 50 states, a very impressive expansion. 

stevewizzle wrote:
i've come around on this issue, despite my hate of inbev. 

that's the thing… i want to hate InBev and everything they do, but it looks like *some* big guys have figured out the formula: acquire a craft brewery, give it access to capital and a distribution network, but stay the fuck out of the brew house.

sweetcell wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:
i've come around on this issue, despite my hate of inbev. 

that's the thing… i want to hate InBev and everything they do, but it looks like *some* big guys have figured out the formula: acquire a craft brewery, give it access to capital and a distribution network, but stay the fuck out of the brew house.

yup. and the more barrel-aged beers, the better.  that shit takes capital, and we are a long way away from meeting the demand on these barrel-aged stouts and sours.  people line-up all day for these types of beers. 

sweetcell wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:
i've come around on this issue, despite my hate of inbev. 

that's the thing… i want to hate InBev and everything they do, but it looks like *some* big guys have figured out the formula: acquire a craft brewery, give it access to capital and a distribution network, but stay the fuck out of the brew house.

InBev is great for Goose Island.  I can get it at the ball game.  I can get it every little bar now.  And it tastes great.  Better than Sam Adams or Fat Tire. 

That's what I said until I tried Victory DirtWolf. And Victory IS making DirtWolf a regular offering.

sweetcell wrote:
1)  if Flying Dog makes this a regular offering it will be my go-to. 

I tried a taste of that and found it truly repulsive.

sweetcell wrote:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1924/88269.  tried one last night and wasn't impressed.  the taste was ok but the aroma was off-putting.  i'll give it another chance tonight, maybe that was a bad bottle. 

I tried Warlock by Southern Tier this weekend and loved it.  And I typically hate pumpkin in beer




Anyone making there way to Bluejacket this week…

Stopped in at maybe the best beer store I've been to in the city in a long, long time…

Who'da thunk Petworth would have an amazing beer store?

http://www.yelp.com/biz/lions-liquor-washington

Definitely need a bullet proof vest when visiting walky.

James wrote:
That's what I said until I tried Victory DirtWolf. And Victory IS making DirtWolf a regular offering.

sweetcell wrote:
1)  if Flying Dog makes this a regular offering it will be my go-to. 

thanks for the heads-up.  will keep my eyes open for this one.

EDIT - no wonder this one is a winner, from Victory's webpage for Dirtwolf:
"Hops: Whole flower Citra, Chinook, Simcoe and Mosaic hops" <– 4 excellent hops that taste excellent together.  gotta be an expensive beer to make, except for chinook those hops aren't cheap.

$8.49/ four pack at Total Wine. $9.99 at Whole Foods.

8.7abv

sweetcell wrote:

James wrote:
That&#039;s what I said until I tried Victory DirtWolf. And Victory IS making DirtWolf a regular offering.

sweetcell wrote:
1)&nbsp; if Flying Dog makes this a regular offering it will be my go-to.&nbsp;

thanks for the heads-up.&nbsp; will keep my eyes open for this one.

EDIT - no wonder this one is a winner, from Victory&#039;s webpage for Dirtwolf:
&quot;Hops: Whole flower Citra, Chinook, Simcoe and Mosaic hops&quot; &lt;– 4 excellent hops that taste excellent together.&nbsp; gotta be an expensive beer to make, except for chinook those hops aren&#039;t cheap.

Did anybody have a chance to try DC Brau Alpha Domina Mellis? Not saying it's as good as OTWOA, but we tried it side by side with Maine Beer Company's Zoe at Churchkey Saturday night and it was every bit as good as that beer, which itself is excellent.

its disgusting beyond belief

its also their biggest selling beer and they are expanding capacity to brew more of it - I guess there no accounting for taste

James wrote:
I tried a taste of that and found it truly repulsive.

sweetcell wrote:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1924/88269.&nbsp; tried one last night and wasn&#039;t impressed.&nbsp; the taste was ok but the aroma was off-putting.&nbsp; i&#039;ll give it another chance tonight, maybe that was a bad bottle.&nbsp;

I cannot bring myself to even try that beer.  People seem to really love it though.

I want my beer to taste like BEER.

Right now, I'm really loving Southern Tier Harvest and I've been in a Guinness mood recently too.

The guy doing the tasting described it as "going down like a Tootsie Roll and finishing like a Reese's"

I actually just had this beer:

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/triple-digit-chickow/187696/

…which tasted like liquid Nutella, and it was actually quite good.

K8teebug wrote:
I cannot bring myself to even try that beer.&nbsp; People seem to really love it though.

I want my beer to taste like BEER.

Right now, I&#039;m really loving Southern Tier Harvest and I&#039;ve been in a Guinness mood recently too.

i've had it.  there were a bunch of pretty decent homebrewed variations of peanut butter porters at the national homebrew conference, so i decided to try it at churchkey when i saw it.  i digged it, but only could do a taster.  i remember really enjoying it when it was cold, and then it warmed up and wasn't so tasty.

brennser wrote:
its disgusting beyond belief

its also their biggest selling beer and they are expanding capacity to brew more of it - I guess there no accounting for taste

James wrote:
I tried a taste of that and found it truly repulsive.

sweetcell wrote:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1924/88269.&nbsp; tried one last night and wasn&#039;t impressed.&nbsp; the taste was ok but the aroma was off-putting.&nbsp; i&#039;ll give it another chance tonight, maybe that was a bad bottle.&nbsp;

well, i now i have 4 bottles that i'm not going to drink… so i'll bring them to the next bottle share ;D

James wrote:
$8.49/ four pack at Total Wine. $9.99 at Whole Foods.

8.7abv

sweetcell wrote:

James wrote:
That&#039;s what I said until I tried Victory DirtWolf. And Victory IS making DirtWolf a regular offering.

sweetcell wrote:
1)&nbsp; if Flying Dog makes this a regular offering it will be my go-to.&nbsp;

thanks for the heads-up.&nbsp; will keep my eyes open for this one.

EDIT - no wonder this one is a winner, from Victory&#039;s webpage for Dirtwolf:
&quot;Hops: Whole flower Citra, Chinook, Simcoe and Mosaic hops&quot; &lt;– 4 excellent hops that taste excellent together.&nbsp; gotta be an expensive beer to make, except for chinook those hops aren&#039;t cheap.

according to http://flyingdogales.com/beers/the-truth/, The Truth is a year-round offering.

hops: Warrior (most likely for bittering only), Summit, CTZ, Citra, Amarillo… oh yeah.

it hasn't appeared in VA yet. I got mine when it first came out in DC. Haven't seen it since then. Not that  I do that much beer shopping in DC, beyond Whole Foods.

sweetcell wrote:

James wrote:
$8.49/ four pack at Total Wine. $9.99 at Whole Foods.

8.7abv

sweetcell wrote:

James wrote:
That&#039;s what I said until I tried Victory DirtWolf. And Victory IS making DirtWolf a regular offering.

sweetcell wrote:
1)&nbsp; if Flying Dog makes this a regular offering it will be my go-to.&nbsp;

thanks for the heads-up.&nbsp; will keep my eyes open for this one.

EDIT - no wonder this one is a winner, from Victory&#039;s webpage for Dirtwolf:
&quot;Hops: Whole flower Citra, Chinook, Simcoe and Mosaic hops&quot; &lt;– 4 excellent hops that taste excellent together.&nbsp; gotta be an expensive beer to make, except for chinook those hops aren&#039;t cheap.

according to http://flyingdogales.com/beers/the-truth/, The Truth is a year-round offering.

hops: Warrior (most likely for bittering only), Summit, CTZ, Citra, Amarillo… oh yeah.

Picked up four packs of Dirt Wolf and Breakfast Stoudt last night, lookin' forward to diggin' in.

Has Harvest Ale by Founders popped up anywhere?

Disregard that question, it has landed in DC.