Payday beers

[niquejim]

Every other Friday I treat myself with a trip to the local beer mart.
Today I purchased an assortment of brews
Lagunitas IPA
Fullers ESB
Fullers London Pride
Flying Dog Big Gonzo
Schwelmer Alt
Reissdorf Kolsch
MacKesson XXX
Great Divide Hercules DIPA

Which would you save for the last one to taste?
Which one do you like best?

[redfox697]

La Fin Du Monde (or any other selection from Unibroue)
Tripel Karmeliet
Rodenbach Grand Cru
Ommegang Witte

[Chinon00]

Sorry but I recently got drawn into Belgian beer again. Had something called LaRulles Tripel. It was like combining a Tripel with a Farmhouse and a Wit. It was barnyard-y, citrus-y, and rich all at once with a long finish; outstanding stuff. I won’t say that it’s better or the best but Belgian beer is in its own league.

[Josh]

You might like Ommegang's Ommegeddon. It's along those lines. Saison w/ brett.

[niquejim]

I picked up some new beers today, tell me what you think this time.

Original Schlenkerla Rauchbier
Traquir House Ale
Belhaven Scottish Ale
McEwan's Scotch Ale
St. Bernardus Prior 8
Duchese de Bourgogne
St Armand French Country Ale
Hennipin
La Fin du Monde

[naven]

I love love love St. Bernardus Prior 8. La Fin Du Monde and Heneipin are always solid choices. I think McEwan's is an excellent example of a quality scotch ale. Im not a fan of Duchesse De Bourgogne, but sour beers are not my style. I thought it tasted like Vinegar. Im not familiar enough with the others to comment. Enjoy!

[niquejim]

Then that is the best vinegar I've EVER had. It is so complex and wonderful. I didn't know whether to get 1 or a 4pk of them, but I'm glad I picked up the 4.

[naven]

Don't know where you are, but I recommend that you seek out La Folie from New Belgium. It's Vinegar to the 10th power.

http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/new-belg...

[brentk]

Traquair is one of my favorites. You have a nice set of three for a malty Scottish comparison tasting.

[FrankJBN]

He already is saving Belgian beer for last. I'm saving my next for last too.

[niquejim]

Actually, I did the Belgian tasting about a month and a half ago.

My favorites this time... Fullers ESB and Big Gonzo. Both extremely smooth and wonderful flavors.

[naven]

I am not a big fan of most of the beers on your list, but the Great Divide would be my choice. (I'm a bit of hophead though). Surprisingly, the Lagunitas IPA does nothing for me. I do like the MacKesson though.

[MVNYC]

I am a hophead as well but was extremely dissapointed in great divide. i thought it was too harsh and lacked the malt to round it out. now yulesmith is a great 2xipa

[The Dive]

I find Lagunitas to be lackluster overall. I am constantly surprised by the number of devotees they have. Someone I met that brews for another label said that Lagunitas tastes like homebrew to him -- that hits the nail right on the head.

[Bat Guano]

"tastes like homebrew" - is that supposed to be a knock on Lagunitas? I've had some damn good homebrews, including but not limited to my own, some that have been as good or better than the best commercial brews I've had. And of course I've had some horrible homebrewed stuff, too; but not all homebrew is bad.

[brentk]

I agree with your comment about homebrew but I also find Lagunitas to be a mediocre craft brewer. They have put out some real clunkers and I don't particularly care for the image they project, either.

[Jim Dorsch]

A critique from a competitor might not be the most unbiased.

[The Dive]

True, but I found it to be the most accurate description for Lagunitas. Tries to hard, results lackluster.

[Josh]

Such a weird way to label homebrew, though. I've had some amazing homebrews that were far from lackluster. It's also worth noting that a huge number of craft brewers in the US got their start as homebrewers.

[naven]

Agreed. I have had some Homebrew that were insanely good. Im not a huge fan of Lagunitas either, but I thought Kill Ugly Radio was pretty decent.

[The Dive]

Actually Kill Ugly Radio is my only exception. I was surprised that it was fairly interesting. I guess what I am saying is that many (not all homebrews) have an amatuerish quality that I find prevalent in Lagunitas. I didn't mean to knock quality homebrews, but Lagunitas beers tend to lack nuance. They don't really open up, the nose and note tend to be one-note and they kind of just smack you on the side of head.

[Chinon00]

I was being a little tongue in cheek actually. I consider Fullers to be a great brewery from a great brewing nation. I adore both the ESB and Pride. Laguanitas is good west coast IPA (ala Stone, et al) although "Racer 5" is simply an opera of flavor. The rest I'm not really familar with but I am starting to find DIPAs intriguing (Note: I save that for last if only due to shear size and weight of most DIPA)

[Josh]

I like Schwelmer's beers a lot, though haven't had their altbier. Their lager is great.

[Chinon00]

"Which would you save for the last one to taste?"

The Belgian that is missing from your list.

[Josh]

Heh, my thoughts exactly.

Payday beer for me would be something like Cantillon St. Lamvinus, Scaldis Prestige, or Russian River Temptation.

[JessKidden]

"Payday" would be a pretty good name for a beer - if it wasn't already a candy bar.

I remember people thinking that "Chesterfield Ale" was a strange name- "That's a cigarette!" (Not so weird, since Philip Morris did toy with using "Marlboro's name and logo for beer after they bought Miller- I remember seeing test market mock-up labels).

And I remember a publican giving a US tourist a strange look when he asked him if the Tetley ale he'd just drawn was made by the tea company.

But, along the lines of "Payday", I think one of my all time favorite beer names was an economy brand put out by one of the Texas breweries (Pearl or Lone Star) called 'QT" for "Quittin' Time"....(I'm sure it's one of my favorites only because I never drank any...).

[MVNYC]

Yet another reason not to drink Miller

[MVNYC]

Of that group my favourite would be the Kolsch. I think Reissdorf makes a delicious beer. schwelmer alt is good too. I have tried all the other ones except the big gonzo. The only one I dont like of the group is the Hercules. I thoughth the alcohol was way too noticeable and it wasnt too complex.