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Next Craft Beer Phenom

Josh — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:56:00 GMT

Where did I say yeast doesn't impact the flavor of the beer?

Magic Hat in cans

SP1 — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:29:31 GMT

And IMHO, anything from Slyfox, Oskar Blues, or 21st Amendment is faaar suprior to Magic Hat. Not even close.

Nice crisp and refreshing but not flat beer for summer

ItalGreyHound — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:00:12 GMT

Me too! Spend too much $$ there... :)

Tasting Feedback

RB Hound — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 05:17:03 GMT

"Surprisingly the Almanac #3 was the big hit of the evening. Didn't expect so many newbies to take to a sour like that." That's because it is good.

Trying another interesting Sierra Nevada

jpc8015 — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:16:12 GMT

I just wish I could find Pliny the Elder. Found it one time in an obsure market in Portland, OR.

Almanac Beer

Fig Newton — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:19:21 GMT

I was able to taste the #2, #3, and #4 on tap last week at The Library Alehouse in Santa Monica. Almanac had had a tap takeover there on Wednesday night, and I went in and tried a flight on Thursday. #2 had a good balance, and I found the fruit to be the least identifiable of the three. Low carbonation. I'm always looking for good sours to use when introducing friends to sours, and this seems like it would work for that purpose. #3 was very fruit forward, with the fresh strawberry scent and flavor jumping out of the glass. I wonder what would happen with this beer with time -- and whether it would go toward the awesome rotten strawberry funk that you get in The Bruery's Ichigo Highway. Overall, this was a refreshing, drinkable beer but I think I prefer #1 and #2 better. #4 was very lemon forward, with the same sort of freshness I was getting in #3. This would be a great food beer, as the acid would help elevate some foods. All three beers were relatively low carbonation, but that wasn't a huge surprise to me. I would love to get my hands on a couple of bottles of all 4 of these beers and see what they do over time ... but at this point, I would hunt down 1 & 2 over 3 & 4. All super interesting and fun to taste, for sure. I also had a small taste of the single hop Chinook IPA. I tend to find single hops more an interesting academic exercise than a super enjoyable glass to drink. They're great for teaching your palate what particular hops taste like, but I found the balance to be pretty in-my-face with the hops and bitterness. I would have liked something to help round it out a bit. (full disclosure: I know the founders.)

Full Sail Session Black Premium Dark Lager is worth a try...

The Professor — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:56:05 GMT

I see your point...and yeah, you're probably right. I guess I was confusing between "black lager" and "dunkeles" which is dark, but not _as_ dark as a schwarz. The sweeter malt aspects would be more evident in the dunkeles.

The 8 Best Beer Towns in America

Insidious Rex — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:35:56 GMT

Agreed. Especially if its your local scene. Always encourage pushing of the envelope. But at the same time we shouldnt judge everywhere based on the best available and too many beer snobs do that these days I have found (whether its beer or beer locations). Sure Hawaiian beaches are amazing to visit but they dont keep me from enjoying my occasional trips to Virginia Beach or Rehobeth.

Beer that Tastes like Beer ?

PoppiYYZ — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 23:46:15 GMT

Thanks for the clarification. This 'plains things a bit about ownership too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesee_Brewing_Company Locals there told me "something" changed May 31st this year. Maybe just the parent company. In any case, Cream Ale still rocks and the in house IPA is great !

Have we overdosed on the Hops? Well, probably.

jpc8015 — Thu, 30 May 2013 04:23:56 GMT

There are of course beers designed to be overly hoppy. THere are also beers designed to be overly malty. I had an English mild where the IBUs were somewhere around 5. It was really bad.

Barleywine Blind-Tasting Showdown: Foghorn vs. Bigfoot

The Professor — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:58:46 GMT

I'm on board with that suggestion for sure. This July it will be 43 years since I began homebrewing. Sporadically at first, but since the late 1980s I've brewed every 3 to 6 weeks (unless I'm the road with a show). It's true that you can equal or better the efforts of commercial brewers (particularly the micro/craft guys) once you get accustomed to the procedures. After all, most of the current crop of brewers started off as homebrewers.

Seeking malty, golden, lightly hopped beer

jpc8015 — Sat, 18 May 2013 04:34:23 GMT

I don't like mussels.

Best of the Trappist Beers

aventinus — Wed, 15 May 2013 02:24:27 GMT

Westvleteren 12, then Rochefort 10. This was my opinion back when I could buy Westvleteren 12 at Whole Foods, and before I was familiar with its status, so it has nothing to do with its difficulty to find today.

Maple Sap Beer ?

Davydd — Sat, 11 May 2013 00:58:31 GMT

As a past home brewer and also a tapper of Maple trees to make Maple syrup I have a little experience with both. In fact I use much the same equipment. Maple sap is mostly water. It looks like water. It feels like water. It has a faint, very faint Maple taste. It does leave a little bit of sticky feel to your fingers. You boil it down 40 to 1 to get the syrup content that is left by boiling out the water. So I suppose you could just add the same amount of pure Maple syrup to your brew to get a similar result. Basically what the article is saying is that that end of season sap produces too dark of a syrup to sell commercially so just use it to make beer same as water. Is there any magic to using sap over tap water? Well, its totally untreated water for what that is worth.

Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye.... WELL worth a try ....

Paprikaboy — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:10:45 GMT

Anchor Steam beer was the first beer I had from the US (v. early 90's) that wasn't Bud, Coors or Rolling Rock. It showed that the US did make interesting beers it's just that we didn't get any of them in the UK. Now of course a lot of bars and pubs in London have Sierra Nevada Pale ale on tap and Goose island and Brooklyn beers in bottles. Also many local London micro breweries are making American style IPAs (the most English of institutions Marks and Spencers even has a single varietal IPA called Citra on sale) but Anchor was something of a pioneer.

Craft Beer Bottle Size - NYT Article

Chinon00 — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:12:09 GMT

The volume is "not big" for beers w/ average abv (i.e. <7%) I agree.

Beer Pairings with Easter Dinner

jpc8015 — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:15:48 GMT

I drank a home brewed English style bitter with my Easter dinner. It worked wel..

Best non-alcoholic beer???

Bellacoolaman — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:00:32 GMT

When I was about 15 and first tried beers that ranged from Pilsner Urquell to Michelob I thought they all tasted the same too. Experience develops a palate, refines tastes and allows distinctions to be made where the rank beginner sees no differences.

Can't find Dinkel Acker in New Jersey anymore

Cheese Boy — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 02:26:57 GMT

Dinkel Acker Dark is excellent ... the empties add to my mancave decor. Just sayin'.

Summit Organic

LStaff — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:35:18 GMT

It seems that certain hop varieties cause me to have an allergic reaction. Only variety I can pinpoint is Amarillo. YMMV

Hard cider -can it be resealed/saved to another day?

c oliver — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:33:44 GMT

Thanks SO much. This is a new taste treat for me but maybe not for Bob so 500ml may be more than I want in one sitting. Or not :)

Budweiser Black Crown

Whisper — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:53:48 GMT

Good example Jim. Goose Island was acquired by InBev and thankfully they do still put out some nice beers, BCS probably being the best of the lot.

The strangest beers in America - Bon Appetit

PoppiYYZ — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:57:01 GMT

Maple Sap Beer. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/05/15/152694105/vermont-beer-makers-bring-back-old-time-maple-sap-brews

Rare Bay Area appearance by Dogfish Head 120 Minute

Pius Avocado III — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 17:03:04 GMT

Around here it's IPA week 24/7/365. While we're at it, I don't get beer week- what's different besides the hype and crowds?

BPA in cans

Wiley1 — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:16:55 GMT

OK so no BPA to worry about, but has anyone noticed a strange taste in some cans of beer that I call (don't laugh) a taste like the smell of baby powder? I often can't finish the beer when I get this flavour, and don't believe I've ever encountered it in bottled beer.