The Beer Thread

Had this from the tap last night. A truly world class beer. Thankfully not as crazy as the Goose Island Bourbon Stout.



Also had this from the tap. Not in the same league, but still very good.

in the country, if you live there . . . it is difficult to find good beer, sometimes because the snobby owners of the store thinks people in the area only want "whatever" microbrews.  so i was elated when i came across



a few days later, actually tonight, i was in a good mood so i opened up one of

(Not wanting to start a new thread so I'm borrowing this one.)

Hey Seth, this would make a nice addition to your bar selection.

Dixie Elixirs



At the moment, the thing that I'm the most curious about is why the dark brown bottle is taller and the silver/clear one is ever so slightly different in shape.

another score in the country . . . a special limited edition 200th munich oktoberfest mug / beer can combo

finally got around to trying delirum tremens.

people have been talking up DT as if it was the holy grail of beer.  maybe my expectations were too high… or maybe it just isn't my idea of the perfect beer.  it was certainly above average, i liked the creamy feeling each sip left behind, but it was almost too sweet for me.  at that price there are other beers i'd rather spend my money on.

Duvel>Delirium Tremens in terms of Strong Belgian Pale Ales.

sweetcell wrote:


finally got around to trying delirum tremens.

people have been talking up DT as if it was the holy grail of beer.  maybe my expectations were too high… or maybe it just isn't my idea of the perfect beer.  it was certainly above average, i liked the creamy feeling each sip left behind, but it was almost too sweet for me.  at that price there are other beers i'd rather spend my money on.

I've been wanting to try a Delirium Tremens. Sweet and creamy sounds good!

Man, that stuff is not good…

walkonby wrote:

Time of the year for good ole Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale!

And Anchor Christmas!

Has anyone had 21st Amendment Back in Black?  love.

Pretty decent, but the Victory Yakima Twilight is a better model of the same style, imo.

K8teebug wrote:

Has anyone had 21st Amendment Back in Black?  love.

There are probably better winter seasonals, but for value, Celebration can't be beat.

$7.99/6 pack minus $1 off coupon at Total Wines. Didn't quite get why they're trying to sell the 12 pack for something like $16.99…maybe they figured heavy drinkers aren't good at math.

Bagley wrote:
Time of the year for good ole Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale!

This year's Celebration Ale is good but for some reason I wasn't blown away by it.  Not sure why.  I really enjoyed it last year.

Corsendonk's Xmas Ale has been very good in the past as well.  Picked up a bottle but haven't had it yet.

Those were my findings as well.

Though I was drinking it last week in St John, USVI, so that helped the taste a bit.

St John was a craft beer wasteland. I drank Sierra products and Guinness Foreign Extra while there.

The Trader Joe's Vintage Ale is always worth checking out ($4.99/26 oz bottle). It's a strong dark Belgian with a different recipe each year, made by Unibroue. Just had some 2010 Ale while putting up the tree Sunday, it was quite tasty.

StoneTheCrow wrote:
This year's Celebration Ale is good but for some reason I wasn't blown away by it.  Not sure why.  I really enjoyed it last year.

James wrote:
Those were my findings as well.

Though I was drinking it last week in St John, USVI, so that helped the taste a bit.

St John was a craft beer wasteland. I drank Sierra products and Guinness Foreign Extra while there.

Did you happen to catch who brewed the Guinness FES? Carib brews it in BVI. Curious if USVI is getting the new supply from St. James via the mainland or the Carib variety. The Carib version has a lower gravity profile that would be more drinkable for the tropics.

Good question!

I was aware of the difference you are alluding to, but forgot to check the bottle. However, some googling just told me the Carib FES has an ABV of 6.5. The stuff I was drinking in St. John was 7.5 ABV, the same as the stuff we're now getting here. So I would guess it was via the mainland. They sold it in 6 packs for $11.99 (I've only seen it in four packs here), so that was actually one of the few "bargains" we encountered on anything in St. John.

They also had various beers by something called St. John Brewing Company. We had a pretty mediocre six pack of IPA (bought it when we first got there until we discovered a better beer store). Turns out it's just stuff shipped in by Shipyard Brewing Company from Maine.

The one store had a handful of Belgians (e.g. Chimay), but at $29/4 pack (for Chimay) (vs. 11.99/6 pack for FES and Celebration Ale), we passed.

slappy wrote:

James wrote:
Those were my findings as well.

Though I was drinking it last week in St John, USVI, so that helped the taste a bit.

St John was a craft beer wasteland. I drank Sierra products and Guinness Foreign Extra while there.

Did you happen to catch who brewed the Guinness FES? Carib brews it in BVI. Curious if USVI is getting the new supply from St. James via the mainland or the Carib variety. The Carib version has a lower gravity profile that would be more drinkable for the tropics.

did you go to Woodys Seafood??  Great bar and food whenever I'm down at St John  ;D

anybody try this?



i have a four pack i have been sitting on for three years.  for what i paid for it, i'm "waiting" to drink it.

My wife got some conch fritters to go from there.

Other than a few to go meals for the beach, we did our own cooking. We had a cottage with full kitchen and great porch view of Cruz Bay for $700/week, within walking distance of Cruz Bay, didn't even rent a Jeep. Awesome and surprisingly affordable vacation.

wml7 wrote:
did you go to Woodys Seafood??  Great bar and food whenever I'm down at St John  ;D