The Beer Thread

walkonby wrote:
i asked that same nice lady, so "what's up with all of these beers in cans now?"  i hate beers in cans, but i did not tell her that.  she really did not have an answer, wondering that herself for awhile she confided.  she thought it more than likely was the not having to worry about sunlight hitting the beverage, but then you can't store beer in cans.  i don't like it.  i like bottles.  it tastes better.

I think it might be a hipster thing to drink beer in cans.  Only other thing is you can't take bottled beer everywhere as broken glass is a danger.

i've been listening to a lot of brewing-related podcasts recently, and a lot of breweries are excited about moving to cans.  they protect from light better than glass, and the seal is better - bottle caps can leak.  ability to take them camping, tailgaiting, etc is another advantage.  they are cheaper to ship since you can fit more beer in cans on a truck than you can in bottles (more efficient because better use of space).  cans don't break.  marketing is another reason: some people just like beer in cans, it makes them more like mainstream brews, new form factor = new markets, etc.

i cracked open my bottle of Blue Mountain "Local Species" this weekend.  from their website:

Local Species
Belgian-inspired, American-hopped, barrel-aged pale ale

Different. Secret. Native. A creation of deep-drawn well water, special barley malts, American hops and Belgian yeast. Aged in charred American White Oak bourbon barrels. A beer as original and beautiful as our native Brookie.

james, i haven't put together my top 10 beers of 2012 yet, but this one is definitely on it (along with heady topper).  what an outstanding beer.  belgian yeast + hops doesn't work for me, but apparently belgian yeast + hops + barrel aging does.  to be fair, i didn't feel that the hops were over-done - this isn't an IPA.  when i saw the $9.99/bottle price at TJ's i raised an eyebrow, however the beer lives up to the price.

any of you brahz on uptappd?

had two rare-style (but underwhelming) tasters at CK this weekend.

Professor Fritz Briem 13th Century Grut Bier and Piccolo Birrificio Chiostro.

13th century was basic herbs/spices, had way too much ginger.

Chiostro was brewed with wormwood, but you could barely tell.

i like the idea of using other herbs/spices to achieve bitterness in a beer, and hope to see more of these styles on draft, but these two were too basic to really push any sort of limits. 

James wrote:
Stone (Mostly) Complete Vertical Epic at ChurchKey

unless things get crazy at work on wednesday, i will be at this.  would love to meet up with anyone else going.  i need to read up on what the recipes were for each year.  if i remember correctly 10-10-10 was made with hot chilies… not my thing.

Yada wrote:
any of you brahz on uptappd?

i've been meaning to check this out, so i just signed up.  my username there is same as here.  i don't like the fact that this app wants to track how many beers i've had <insert guilt>.  we'll see how much traction this app has with me.

sweetcell wrote:

James wrote:
Stone (Mostly) Complete Vertical Epic at ChurchKey

unless things get crazy at work on wednesday, i will be at this.&nbsp; would love to meet up with anyone else going.&nbsp; i need to read up on what the recipes were for each year.&nbsp; if i remember correctly 10-10-10 was made with hot chilies… not my thing.

Yada wrote:
any of you brahz on uptappd?

i&#039;ve been meaning to check this out, so i just signed up.&nbsp; my username there is same as here.&nbsp; i don&#039;t like the fact that this app wants to track how many beers i&#039;ve had &lt;insert guilt&gt;.&nbsp; we&#039;ll see how much traction this app has with me.

I only use it to keep track of unique beers, not keep track of every beer I drink!!

my liver does that for me . . . no app for that, yet.

11-11-11 was the one with chilis.

sweetcell wrote:

James wrote:
Stone (Mostly) Complete Vertical Epic at ChurchKey

unless things get crazy at work on wednesday, i will be at this.&nbsp; would love to meet up with anyone else going.&nbsp; i need to read up on what the recipes were for each year.&nbsp; if i remember correctly 10-10-10 was made with hot chilies… not my thing.

Yada wrote:
any of you brahz on uptappd?

i&#039;ve been meaning to check this out, so i just signed up.&nbsp; my username there is same as here.&nbsp; i don&#039;t like the fact that this app wants to track how many beers i&#039;ve had &lt;insert guilt&gt;.&nbsp; we&#039;ll see how much traction this app has with me.

James wrote:
11-11-11 was the one with chilis.

sweetcell wrote:

James wrote:
Stone (Mostly) Complete Vertical Epic at ChurchKey

unless things get crazy at work on wednesday, i will be at this.&nbsp; would love to meet up with anyone else going.&nbsp; i need to read up on what the recipes were for each year.&nbsp; if i remember correctly 10-10-10 was made with hot chilies… not my thing.

Yada wrote:
any of you brahz on uptappd?

i&#039;ve been meaning to check this out, so i just signed up.&nbsp; my username there is same as here.&nbsp; i don&#039;t like the fact that this app wants to track how many beers i&#039;ve had &lt;insert guilt&gt;.&nbsp; we&#039;ll see how much traction this app has with me.

see?  this is why i need to read up!

Missed this, sold out in Laurel and Towson:

Beer aficionados are pouncing at the rare opportunity to buy one of the world's most elusive and revered beers for the first - and perhaps only - time in the United States.

It is called Westvleteren XII, and it is often hailed as the "world's best beer" by reviewers and fans.

Westvleteren XII is produced by Trappist monks in Belgium and sold at the abbey of Saint Sixtus in the Belgian countryside. The beer can usually only be purchased by reservation at the abbey - and reservations are extremely hard to come by.

But when the abbey found itself hurting for money for an expensive renovation, the monks reluctantly made the decision to sell the beer outside of the walls of the monastery on a one-time-only basis.

"I think it will be the last [time]," Westvleteren Brewery spokesman Mark Bode told NPR. "They say, 'We are monks, we don't want to be too commercial. We needed some money to help us buy the new abbey and that's it,' Back to normal again."

Beginning today, limited quantities of the beer are being sold in the U.S. and abroad. A number of stores have been sent "bricks" of the beer, which include six bottles and two glasses from the monastery. The gift box retails for $84.99.

"The phone has been ringing off the hook," Megan McBrayer, manager at New York City's Beer Table Pantry, told ABCNews.com. She said the store received 24 cases of the beer and has already sold many of them.

McBrayer said beer lovers are taken with "the whole mystique about it and the rarity of it."

"It consistently rates as one of the best beers in the world," she said. "It's been something that [beer lovers] have wanted for a long time, but it's been completely unattainable."

All verticals still available as of 6:30. Skip the barrel aged '10, otherwise it's all Belgianesque tastiness. barreled 09 is my fav so far.

Actually the 2002 was gone when I got there at 4.

I had five. All the non-barrel aged darkies. In order of preference:

2012
2009
2006
2005
2003

Maybe the fresher the better for me?

Did anybody spot the same "celebrity" i did?

sweetcell wrote:
All verticals still available as of 6:30. Skip the barrel aged &#039;10, otherwise it&#039;s all Belgianesque tastiness. barreled 09 is my fav so far.

i'm pretty sure they didn't have the 02.  see your post on previous page listing the offerings - the 02 isn't there.  the 02 has become something of legend, they didn't ramp up the vertical program until 2003 so very few bottles of 02 were made. 

agreed that the darks were better than the blonds, but the 08 was a great saison.  overall my fav was the barrel-aged 09 (belgian stout)  the aged 09 isn't listed on the previous page so there is some discrepancy there… the 04 was merely ok, and as noted previously the aged 10 was not particularly good.  i didn't try the 12 since i'm hoping i can score a bottle.  so my order of preference was

09 aged
05
08
03
04
10 aged

place was packed something silly when i got there at 6:15 but i somehow got a spot at the bar.  james, if sam calagione is the "celebrity" you had in mind, then yes he was there.  dogfish head was launching two beers last night and sam got up on the bar and gave a quick speech about them before tossing hats into the crowd.  i got one ;D

Anybody seen any BCS Coffee around the area?

BrettnotBritt wrote:
Anybody seen any BCS Coffee around the area?

Magruders had some… James Ford won't tell you his secret location.

I stand corrected about the 02.

Yes, it was Sam that I was referring to. When he and his posse entered, he was fiercely chomping on gum, which magically disappeared once he had a beer in had. He, and I think the rest of his posse, all ordered Dogfish beers. He must have been holding them all at gumpoint.

P Street Whole Foods had GI Nightstalker (which I declined) yesterday, but I didn't see any BCS Coffee.

They also had Ballast Point Victory at Sea Imperial Porter, which is an amazing beer available in this area for the first time. Grabbed one of those.

circle liquors in DC has BCBS coffee - pricey though - $21 a pop

Sterling Total Wine has Coffee Stout for $11.99. One per customer, so bring a friend or loved one.

I also picked up Stone 12.12.12. I really enjoyed it at Churchkey.