~BEER~

[sleewell]

I feel very old saying this but beer started making me feel very bloated. Clothes fit a lot better since giving it up.

However, Bells and Founders make some of the best beers in the country. Two hearted is delicious and deserves all the awards it wins.

 

[la szum]

I am going to need a few days to collect and collate all the great beers I have enjoyed, and still enjoy
from time to time.

 

[la szum]

Ok, it is snowing out and it is winter-time and this is one of my all-time faves. If you can find it
on tap anywhere you will be transported to fermented Heaven. It used to be one beer a night
gigging staple at a few establishments.

It is a seasonal brew.... in bottles .... but I bet Founders churns it out year round for Tap Houses.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I mostly stick to pale/session, IPA, stouts and porters. I'm alright with Hefeweizen and will surely take a lager if it's all that's available. All the sours and such...nope. My taste runs more American and English, some Belgian, less so German etc.

I've got no IPA-beef. But I also am also just not really into "traditional" anything that is food/beverage related.

Personally, I find Dogfish Head 60 minute to be the sweet spot. I can appreciate a tasting-size of the over the top hoppy stuff, but not a full pint, much less multiple. Also not a huge fan of alcohol contents creeping much past 6.5%.

At this point in life, beer is at its best when it is of a flavor profile, alcohol content, and time of day, that I can sit back and drink 2-4 without too much concern about it wrecking my night's sleep.

Also, "favorite beer" is kinda like "favorite amp model in Fractal" for me. Why rank or judge? just drink and enjoy as many as you can.

 

[JasonE]

I know my beer choice is probably one that real beer drinkers will call crap. I am generally a light beer or pilsner drinker. Yuengling Flight for the win for me. I do like an occasional Dragon's Milk though. I typically supplement my beer drinking with either a good Tequila or Bourbon. I am more into those than the beer.

 

[ᛗᛜᛜᚺDᛜᎶ Ꮤᛨᚳᚴ]

I know my beer choice is probably one that real beer drinkers will call crap. I am generally a light beer or pilsner drinker. Yuengling Flight for the win for me. I do like an occasional Dragon's Milk though. I typically supplement my beer drinking with either a good Tequila or Bourbon. I am more into those than the beer.

Welcome to the Gear Forum Jason! Good to see you on this turf!! My next thread will be on Tequila, so we can probably trade some good knowledge there as it is my #1 alcohol of all time!!!

 

[cragginshred]

View attachment 14498

only men with 'beer goggles' would want to touch those lips

 

[cragginshred]

My current favorite is Elysian 'Space dust" IPA

 

[la szum]

Damn thread got me all Breakfast Stouty----alas, none in town.

I snagged some Labatt's and 4 fingers of Guinness. It'll do. We are
getting hammered with our first sizable Winter Storm and I doubt
I will be up early tomorrow anyways.

 

[Sleezy E]

Damn thread got me all Breakfast Stouty----alas, none in town.

I snagged some Labatt's and 4 fingers of Guinness. It'll do. We are
getting hammered with our first sizable Winter Storm and I doubt
I will be up early tomorrow anyways.

A lot of places carry Old Rasputin
It's in my top 5 stouts, give it a try if you can't find the Founders (also in my top 5)

 

[ᛗᛜᛜᚺDᛜᎶ Ꮤᛨᚳᚴ]

Deschutes Brewing Company's Black Butte Porter is a fine choice in the porter world IMO! If you have never tried, give it a go!!

 

[la szum]

That's a good one. Used to get Deschutes here more in the past. Been a minute since I seen any of their offerings here.

 

[Warmart]

Was an eye opening experience when my ship pulled into Gibraltar in the late 80's and I got to try some British bitter!

Since then, I'm primarily a Pale Ale and IPA lover. I used to brew my own, and keg the batches. Just got to be too much of a pita and with the proliferation of microbreweries on seemingly every corner, just not worth the trouble. Plus, I pretty much moved on to Scotch

 

[Trollbait]

Just got to be too much of a pita and with the proliferation of microbreweries on seemingly every corner, just not worth the trouble.

A friend of mine used to brew beer and it was surprisingly good. Is there money savings to brewing your own? Good beer is close to $2 a bottle now.

 

[JasonE]

A friend of mine used to brew beer and it was surprisingly good. Is there money savings to brewing your own? Good beer is close to $2 a bottle now.

One of my brothers really got into brewing his own beer. I don't know if he is still doing it. He had quite the contraption for brewing it. I doubt with the money he had to invest to get to brew it that it was cheaper in any way than buying it. I guess once the equipment is paid for it may start to even out. However, I know he drank a lot more beer because he was brewing his own so there is that. He used to even add things to the water he used to make it match some areas in other countries that had brewed some great things he liked. He even won a local competition with an oatmeal stout and they put his bee on tap there for a while.

 

[Warmart]

A friend of mine used to brew beer and it was surprisingly good. Is there money savings to brewing your own? Good beer is close to $2 a bottle now.

Mine was as good or better than 99.9% of the beer I've tried. I think the freshness of it can't be beat and is a HUGE part of it, another important facet is you don't pasteurize homebrew.

There is definitely an initial investment! Had to buy a large kettle for boiling with a drain valve, a temp gauge, a 6 gallon fermenter, some tubing, sanitation spray, a soda keg(s), a keg fridge with soda keg connections - and misc. stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting. Bottling is for suckers, I wouldn't recommend it!

Then I was spending $45 to $60 for each kit I'd order from various places. Each kit would fill a soda keg - I think they were 5 gallons.

I didn't do any mashing, I used the "Extract" method so the kits would come with extract goo (bottles/bags) that you would boil in water and you'd add hops (and sometimes other stuff) at various times. You had to keep it at a specific temp and ensure you didn't get a "boil over", and anything that touched it, post boil, had to be sanitized. I was anal as all hell about it, which made it stressful - BUT - I never had an infected batch. And I'd guess I did 25 or so batches.

 

[la szum]

Mine was as good or better than 99.9% of the beer I've tried. I think the freshness of it can't be beat and is a HUGE part of it, another important facet is you don't pasteurize homebrew.

There is definitely an initial investment! Had to buy a large kettle for boiling with a drain valve, a temp gauge, a 6 gallon fermenter, some tubing, sanitation spray, a soda keg(s), a keg fridge with soda keg connections - and misc. stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting. Bottling is for suckers, I wouldn't recommend it!

Then I was spending $45 to $60 for each kit I'd order from various places. Each kit would fill a soda keg - I think they were 5 gallons.

I didn't do any mashing, I used the "Extract" method so the kits would come with extract goo (bottles/bags) that you would boil in water and you'd add hops (and sometimes other stuff) at various times. You had to keep it at a specific temp and ensure you didn't get a "boil over", and anything that touched it, post boil, had to be sanitized. I was anal as all hell about it, which made it stressful - BUT - I never had an infected batch. And I'd guess I did 25 or so batches.

That's cool, Dave.

About a year ago the singer in the band I play in built his first home still for making liquor. Now last night
he was all, "I think I need to start making and brewing beer."

 

[la szum]

I feel like I've overindulged for so much of my adult life that I am starting to lose my
thirst/cravings for beer.

I had a few beers one night this week and the next day I was like, "Meh."

Singer tried to get me to have a Beer at practice last night and I passed.; Never really drink
away from home anymore anyways---especially when driving is involved. He rolled his eyes
at me. "Won't even have a Beer with me, Fucker."

I'll always love it, but maybe not always hold it as tight as I have in the past.

Speaking of love it. This brewer changed the game a few years back with the whole Hazy New
England style IPA thing. Get your yeast on! That unfiltered, cloudy brew has a great mouth feel.
Very unique. If you have never tried it and get a chance (and enjoy IPAs) get ya some!

 

[iaresee]

Clicked through to talk about beer but OP said their favorite beer is Samuel Smith so clearly it's a thread about dirty sewer water.

 

[mbenigni]

Favorite beer ever is Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome!!!!!!!

EXCELLENT choice. My favorite for many years as well. And on the off season, when I couldn't get the Winter Welcome, I'd go for their Nut Brown Ale.

Harpoon used to deliver lots of great beers in this area (Dan's Rye IPA* was my personal fave) but lately that supply seems to have dried up. Now it's Bud, Bud Light, and a million craft beers that didn't exist the last time you walked into the liquor store, such that you literally have to guess at what might be good.

A couple of years back I was on my way to jam with a friend, and ran into one such random craft beer called "Supernaut". I bought it for no better reason than I liked the name (Sabbath fanatic). And what do you know, it turned out to be my new favorite beer! It's an IPA made with mosaic hops, and as luck would have it, it's brewed about 15 minutes from my house. For a while it was hard to come by, and whenever I happened on any I'd buy the whole inventory, but now it's everywhere. I can consistently find it at our local grocery store, even. :)

I don't drink a lot of Porters (too sweet for me, typically) but a couple of weeks ago I had a Porter/Ale blend called Allagash Haunted House. It was amazing. But chances are I'll never see it again...

*EDIT: Just did a web search and found this. (But again, I'm not likely to find it without driving to Massachusetts.)

https://www.harpoonbrewery.com/beer/retro-rye-ipa/