The Beer Thread

sweetcell wrote:
Founders is expanding yet again, primarily driven by All Day IPA.  lots of interesting info in this article… man, they're growing fast.

Founders Brewing expansion will double size of Grand Rapids company, CEO says
http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2014/07/founders_will_double_in_size_b.html

"Overall sales are up 54 percent over 2013, said Stevens. Sales of All Day IPA, a session ale that Founders spent four years perfecting as a flagship brand before debuting last summer, is up 138 percent over last year.

All Day IPA is not the only Founders beer surging in sales. Centennial IPA is up 63 percent over 2013; Dirty Bastard is up 48 percent, and Founders Porter is up 87 percent, he said.

On Tuesday, July 1, the brewery also announced a new addition to the specialty lineup: Dark Penance, an imperial black IPA that lands in October."

potentially bad news for east coast traders :p

yeah, i got the link from BA and someone there posted as much.

shit, in our last trade i sent you some breakfast stout… dammit.

sweetcell wrote:
yeah, i got the link from BA and someone there posted as much.

shit, in our last trade i sent you some breakfast stout… dammit.

and kbs. and backwoods bastard before that.

Illuminati Release #2

We started with a hop forward pale ale that we transferred into some rye whiskey barrels to which we then added raspberry puree and allowed it to age. Over the course of several months of conditioning, the pale began to take on some of the characteristics not only of the raspberries, but of the rye barrel as well. As the beer continued to age and develop, we began to decide on what we wanted the end product to be. Once we had achieved the flavor profiles we wanted, we then began to do blending tests using different proportions of barrel aged and fresh beer. After making a final decision on the exact blend, we came up with a very delicious, complex, and unique beer that we think you will truly enjoy. It has many underlying characteristics of the pale still intact, with a subtle raspberry component, followed by a soft kiss of rye alcohol. Please enjoy!

Bell's Two hearted Ipa is being produced in 16 oz  cans and it's just as delicious!

Bagley wrote:
Bell's Two hearted Ipa is being produced in 16 oz  cans and it's just as delicious!

Picked some of those up last week when I couldn't find Sculpin cans, will drink again!

SYNEK - countertop tap looks interesting for home brew/growler fans. Says beer stays fresher than a growler. I'm skeptical on leeching from the plastic bag.



Kickstarter campaign
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1620669801/synek-any-beer-ever-made-fresh-on-your-counter

Decent list…I feel like some of these are making the list just based off their name (Dogfish Head, Two Hearted, Hopslam, etc.) and others are off the list because not enough folks have tried them.


http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/news/zymurgys-2014-best-beers-america/

I went to Colorado. We did some great hiking. We did some beer touristing. Vast, very good beer scene in Colorado. Bigger but not as good as Vermont, and not as good as San Diego County. At some point I'll hopefully have time to do a full writeup.

just got back from belgium.  did some beer touristing, and chocolate touristing, and old buildings on cobblestone streets touristing.  drank a lot of great beer.  even arranged a trade with someone there.  i brought some hoppy double IPAs and in exchange got a great selection of Flanders ales.  i brought back a suitcase full of beer, thanks to the kiddos not using their baggage allotment.  the bag was empty on the way there save for bubble wrap.  came back full of bottles.

best beer i tasted: a glass of 2010 Cantillon Lou Pepe kriek.  superb.  the house tripel at De Garre in Bruges was amazing, as was a 2012 rhubarb gueuze from Cantillon.

and in related news - from Cantillon's FB:
"Dear friends, the Zwanze Day 2014 will take place on Saturday 20/09/2014 at 21.00 Brussels time. The list of participant bars will follow in the coming week. Cheers !"

continuing the just got back from theme

just got back from Boston, Portland, Acadia, The Forks (ME) and Waterbury. Saw some fireworks, ate at Meadhall, drank some beer, went to Crarft Beer Cellar in Belmont and bought some beer, went to a wedding in Concord MA just steps from the Old North Bridge without realizing its place in US history, went to Portland, went to Peaks Island (beautiful!), went to Allagash and bought some beer, drove to Acadia National Park and camped and drank some beer and ate lobster, hiked "The Beehive" w family and friends, swam in the Atlantic (brrrrr), drank some beer, went white water rafting (Class III and IV), went fishing, went lake swimming, drank some beer, drove through the White Mountains to Vermont, broke down, got towed 75 miles to Waterbury VT (thanks AAA!), dropped car at garage in Waterbury 50 feet from Prohibition Pig, 8 of us walked into PP at 9.55pm and they totally hooked us up with a great meal, drank Lawsons on tap, camped, went lake swimming, went kayaking, went to Hill Farmstead, queued 1.5 hours, swore to never do it again, visited maple sugarhouses and cheese creameries, saw covered bridges, checked out the Waterbury Arts festical, hit up The Alchemist pop up sale for Focal Banger and The Crusher, got the car fixed, drove back to DC, got neighbors to record World Cup final on our DVR while we were driving, switched off phones, got home at 5 - started watching game, got to end of regulation, realized DVR had not recorded extra time  :o :o, how was your week?  ;D

sweetcell wrote:
just got back from belgium.   even arranged a trade with someone there.  i brought some hoppy double IPAs and in exchange got a great selection of Flanders ales. 

possibly the greatest understatement in beer trading history……..

If you're ever planning on doing any beer touristing in Colorado, here's my cliff notes version, read on. If not, skip this post.

Regardless, make sure you skip taking Frontier Airlines. Nothing like checking in the night before to see your flight is on time only to show up at the airport to find out that your 4:40pm flight has been moved to 1:12am (but don't go anywhere because there's a slight chance it might leave early and if it does, it's your fault, not theirs).

We hit:

Arvada:
Yak and Yeti ( Yak and Yeti Himalayan IPA=best Colorado IPA I had, great Indian buffet)

Boulder:
Avery (lots of unmemorable beers, though admittedly I was sick as a dog, barking constantly)
Backcountry Pizza (pizza was pretty average, awesome that Bilnd Pig is always on draft)

Lyons:
Oskar Blues Brewpub (nice laid back vibe)

Estes Park:
Nothing, despite being there for five days. Cooked our own food in our cabin and drank beer we picked up in Boulder.

Fort Collins:
New Belgium (best tour ever, and i've been on plenty, loved their backstory, the enthuiasm of the workers/guide, awesome how much free (good) beer they gave us, daughter loved the curly slide)
Odell (second favorite Colorado IPA, cool place)
Funkwerks (good saisons but nothing special)
Fort Collins Brewpub (entirely too corporate vibe, terrible IPA, tasty flatbread)

Longmont:
Oskar Blues Brewpub (much bigger draft selection than Lyons but vibe was a bit too slick, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Ray Vaughn at 11 in the morning with my Lost Abbey saison? No thanks.)

Denver:
Hops and Pie (excellent food and nice draft selection, great vibe)
Prost (excellent dunkel, good weisbier, and a kolsch and award winning keller-pils that were entirely forgettable)
Great Divide (only beer i remember was the Oatmeal Yeti which was nothing special. Surprised the place was so small but i heard they are moving to a bigger place)
River North (mixed bag ranging from decent to drain pour (the Quad), far short of Belgian beer actually made in Belgium)
Cheeky Monk (can't beat $6.99 lunch specials with half price drafts, the creamy, tangy penne pasta was amazing pair with a Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge. Wife had a Pliny, which was not half price, understandably)
Crooked Stave (my favorite tasting room visited, Surette and Orgins are both great beers)
Epic (pretty average beer except Big Bad Baptist, which is very good but far short of BCBS)
Falling Rock (no seats available so we actually left two minutes later)
Freshcraft (good food, nice $4 pint special for happy hour)
Dry Dock (maybe the surprise of the trip, drove up not expecting much when looking at its sububan stripmall location (though i had been drinking their awesome hefe while in Estes Park)…seven of the eight beers we sampled were very good to excellent, only one was a miss)
Comrade (my third favorite Colorado IPA, the PGA Seniors Golf and the canned Motown music didn't really seem to fit the "comrade" theme)

boardie beer vacations, ranked:
1. bressner goes to NE (an absurd haul)
2. sweetcell goes to belgium
3. james ford goes to denver
4. atomic's trip to max's in baltimore

wait!  i demand a recount!  i haven't listed the beers that i brought back, i'm sure that will change the judges' votes!!!

sweetcell wrote:
wait!  i demand a recount!  i haven't listed the beers that i brought back, i'm sure that will change the judges' votes!!!

well, consider the list above like the college football pre-season rankings. by no means is it definitive.

i just dropped in to NoCal over the past weekend and spent some time at lagunitas, 21st amendment, toronado, and mikkeller bar. i probably should have included it on the list….  at the #2 spot ;)

did you get to meet smackie, and did you get him to drink beer?

Was atomic celebrating the birth of atomic jr.?

You know, his fictional child from his fictional wife who has been pregnant for about 16 months now?


I'm ok with being #3, but without a doubt my family did the best, most scenic hikes on vacation!

stevewizzle wrote:
boardie beer vacations, ranked:
1. bressner goes to NE (an absurd haul)
2. sweetcell goes to belgium
3. james ford goes to denver
4. atomic's trip to max's in baltimore

sweetcell wrote:
did you get to meet smackie, and did you get him to drink beer?

not this time. going to try and connect during my next trip in two weeks. and unless i'm at toronado, i'd rather grab a glass of wine in SF.

James wrote:
Was atomic celebrating the birth of atomic jr.?

You know, his fictional child from his fictional wife who has been pregnant for about 16 months now?


I'm ok with being #3, but without a doubt my family did the best, most scenic hikes on vacation!

stevewizzle wrote:
boardie beer vacations, ranked:
1. bressner goes to NE (an absurd haul)
2. sweetcell goes to belgium
3. james ford goes to denver
4. atomic's trip to max's in baltimore

that's why i specified "beer vacation" :)

we got atomic to go to max's like two years ago, and he hated it.  the memory should live on.