Beer

[gogmorgo]

I should say I don’t mind hoppy flavours, I just don’t think they should overpower the other flavours in the beer. I have enjoyed some more traditional IPAs, but unfortunately in the craft world they’re few and far between, especially where I’m at with heavy west coast influences. And in so many circles when you complain about it, everyone gets offended, and then starts arguing that I should be looking for the distinction between the various strains of hops used... when all I’m saying is that beer shouldn’t taste like I bit into an orange peel. I don’t mind some hoppiness but there’s such a thing as too much.

Day 3 is an organic pilsner. Hooligan, from the Nelson Brewing Co, in Nelson BC. Bit of a hippy town, so I guess that brings on the organic? Pretty sure it’s not an influence on the flavour at all. I don’t buy into the organic thing, but that’s a rant for another time and place.

I guess I should be pouring them into glasses, but it’s just easier to drink out of the can. 
 

This one’s pretty good. It’s a reminder why most of the mass-market beers are derived from a pilsner style. It’s a stronger flavour and a touch hoppier than your typical every-beer, but it’s a good flavour combination, heavy side of medium weight, and I would probably go for if I saw it on tap, or in a store somewhere. The can’s kinda cool too.

[gogmorgo]

And the 4th is Whistler Brewing Co (Whistler, BC) Honey Paw Lager.

 

Pleasant. Mild flavours, on the sweeter side, and the honey comes out in the aftertaste. Heavier than I expected, and that and the sweetness mean it’s not as refreshing as I might have liked after a day at the ski hill. Don’t know I’d get it for myself, but I’m happy enough drinking it.

[87MJTIM]

33 minutes ago, gogmorgo said:

And the 4th is Whistler Brewing Co (Whistler, BC) Honey Paw Lager.

 

Pleasant. Mild flavours, on the sweeter side, and the honey comes out in the aftertaste. Heavier than I expected, and that and the sweetness mean it’s not as refreshing as I might have liked after a day at the ski hill. Don’t know I’d get it for myself, but I’m happy enough drinking it.

 

Honey usually ferments out 100%.  The brewer may have introduced the honey at the end of fermentation when the yeast have gone dormant or at canning.  That is probably why the honey comes through.

[gogmorgo]

Yeah, I was a touch surprised by that. Honey beers usually are a very smooth beer in my experience, but not super sweet or particularly honey flavoured. This one’s finish was like I had honey in my mouth, in both taste and feel. It was different for sure.

 My dad dabbles in making mead, and despite it being the primary ingredient, the end result rarely has much honey flavour to it. It also frequently has pretty high alcohol content. The one batch he made with raspberries, and there must have been some crazy yeast on them or something, because it went into the bottles uncarbonated and came out bubbly. None of the rest is ever bubbly, just that one batch with the raspberries. One 12-oz bottle of that made me feel like I’d done about five shots of whiskey. The rest of them were more like a 9-10% beer.
 

4 minutes ago, 87MJTIM said:

 

Honey usually ferments out 100%.  The brewer may have introduced the honey at the end of fermentation when the yeast have gone dormant or at canning.  That is probably why the honey comes through.

 

[Smokeyyank]

Picked up a Homestyle from Bearded Iris in Nashville. I went to the brewery when I was out there and loved just about everything they had. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised when the local store had a few cans allocated. 

[The86manche]

On 12/3/2020 at 2:00 PM, mjeff87 said:

Hardywood is a local brewery here in Richmond.  Their beers are infamous around here.  Every year, they make a Gingerbread Stout around Christmas time (now....).  It is literally all gone within a week of first sighting in the supermarkets.  I still have 2 bottles left from last year in the fridge.  I usually pick up about 4-6 bottles every year (they are larger bottles, about $12/each).  So, so, so good!

 

If you see the Gingerbread stout there 86, grab at least one on my recommendation.  If you don't like it (not a chance in hell you won't), I'll send you a reimbursement check for what you paid for it  

 

Gotta support your locals!

Ill have to go back and grab them. If its as good as the pancake one ill love it.

There were only a few a packs on the shelf so hopefully they are still there!

[gogmorgo]

Nearly forgot to post the 5th, 

Buena Vista brown ale, by Alley Kat in Edmonton. It’s good, a somewhat generic brown, but I’m putting that down to it being one of the older craft brewers semi-locally to me, so it’s one of the old but gold recipes.

 

But beer number 6 is quite excellent. Péché Mortel, an imperial coffee stout by Brasserie Dieu du Ciel out of St-Jérôme, Quebec.

Literally translated that’s Mortal Sin. The handful of beers I’ve had that made their way out here from the breweries in Quebec have always impressed me, and this one continues the trend. The bottle warns to drink it in moderation and it’s a fair warning. It’s not as heavy as a lot of imperial stouts tend to be, so it’s easy to drink quickly, but it still has the full flavour of an imperial stout to it, with a bitter coffee overtone that balances out the sweetness. It’s delicious. Probably dangerous if I had more than one the one bottle. My favourite so far from this advent calendar, and that’s including the porter I contributed that I haven’t got to yet.

[gogmorgo]

Tonight’s beer is another one of those trendy overhopped  IPAs.

Electric Unicorn, Phillips Brewing and Malting co, out of Victoria. 
I’ve had this one before and it’s not as awful as the can makes it look, there’s still some flavour to be had under the hops, but again it’s not my type.

[gogmorgo]

And day the 8th. Ol’ Beautiful Okami Kasu, from Calgary, AB.

Its a Japanese style lager, a rice brew that includes some that was used in sake production. It adds a refreshing finish to it.

[gogmorgo]

Dec 9th. Lions Winter Ale, Granville Island Brewing, somewhere around Wankouver. 

 

Vanilla and chocolaty flavour primarily, a little bit caramel, and very sweet. The chocolate is definitely added flavour, not from the malt, which makes it seem a bit artificial, but other than that it’s not bad. A little bit like drinking something that came out of a box of chocolates.

[Smokeyyank]

I had to do some "homework" to see what I wanted to get on tap next. Most of the others I sampled were just bad with the exception what I'm waiting on. This was a option on the keg list but comes with a price. Topling Goliath's King Sue from Decorah, IA. Really good double IPA, been on my list to try as a few people have said it was good. Wouldn't say it's spectacular but pretty good all around. Think it would have been better with a fresher can. This was canned 10/16.

 

 

[Dumble_hub]

23 minutes ago, Smokeyyank said:

Topling Goliath's King Sue from Decorah, IA. Really good double IPA

I got a chance to try that last year. I liked it a lot but I can imagine it dulls with age very quickly.

 

I cracked open a few Dry Fly session IPAs tonight. 

 

[gogmorgo]

Kinda felt like I was spamming the thread so here’s not quite a week’s worth.

 

 

The 10th is Banff Ave’s Ride or Dry. It’s interesting in that it’s essentially a light IPA. 4.something % ABV, not much body, etc. It might actually be appropriate for after a big day on single track, at least it seemed more hydrating than most beers.

 

Day 11 was “Razzycat”. Another Alley Kat product, a raspberry sour. I’ve never been that excited about sours, more of the not-tasting-like-beer thing, and this one wasn’t helped by having been at the ski hill all day. It’s definitely not a cold-weather sort of beer. But it was very raspberry in flavour, and not as artificial as the “blue raspberry” sour candy flavour. I imagine it would be well liked by someone who likes this sort of thing.

 

Day 12 is a Pilsner Urquell.

The original Pilsner. I wouldn’t really consider it a craft beer, but it’s not really a mass-market either. It’s good though. Like the Hooligan from earlier it demonstrates why most mass-markets are pilsners. This was better after a day of skiing.

 

Day 13 is from another ski town, Fernie (BC) Brewing Co’s Lone Wolf IPA. Generic overly hoppy craft IPA that I don’t want to rant about any more.

 

Day 14 was a bit disappointing. Spectrum Milk Chocolate Ale. Similar to the Granville Island Winter, it tastes very artificially flavoured. Between that and sweetening it with lactose, it was a bit like drinking a stale low-grade chocolate bunny. 

Although the can’s interesting. 

Today’s is another from Alley Kat, pumpkin spice something or other.

This was my roommate’s contribution to the calendar. I’m not sure how I feel about it. It tastes like a grocery store pumpkin pie, but the aftertaste is like a decent ale. The head is quite creamy, and reminiscent of whipped cream on top of the pie. It wasn’t bad, but not necessarily my prefered combination of flavours. 

[Smokeyyank]

Gogmorgo you got some pretty cool beers to try. Nice when you can have a can to sample versus a full on sixer but I hear what you're saying about the IPAs. Every tom, dick and Harry is brewing them but sometimes they hop the crap of them to cover up bad beer. I've had my fair share of bad ones. I do like pilsners but don't find a lot of good ones. When I was in Czech the plisners there were amazingly good. Just don't feel the states do them that well. I also don't hunt that hard for them. Keep em coming though love seeing what else is out there! 

 

I got my new keg tapped the other day. Odell Myrcenary, love this beer and was surprised to get it in a 8 gal. Stuff is delicious but dangerous. 9.3% and smooth. 

[87MJTIM]

Pick up a 4 pack last year. I have one each new year’s. This is #2. 
 

comparing how the flavor changes from year to year 

[87MJTIM]

Trying another one. 12.2% ABV

 

 

[rylee144]

Got me another pony keg today. 

[Smokeyyank]

Reloaded the kegorator. Picked up Coriolis effect from New Image. NEIPA style that is really good. I got through the Myrcenary quicker than I thought and hallelujah. Good beer but an awful keg choice. At 9.3% I'd have 4 and time transport. New choice is solid though. Crazy thing is the disposable keg it came in. It's like a giant soda bottle but with beer. 

 

 

[87MJTIM]

Flying Dog is a local brewery. It make a lot of “over the top “ beers. This is one of them. 9.5% ABV. It’s a nice stout. Creamy and sweet. It has a mild cookie flavor up front. I was given one. I wouldn’t buy a six pack, though 

[Smokeyyank]

Snagged some Lawson's Sip of Sunshine tonight. Had it a few times but typically only rolls around when GABF is here. Needless to say pleasantly surprised to find it. Definetly one of my top general IPAs out there. Don' mind the awful pour was trying to multitask and hold the baby. 

[Tentrax_Brent]

On 2/20/2020 at 8:08 PM, derf said:

This could be interesting. 

 

https://hiwirebrewing.com/specialty-beers/10w-40-imperial-stout/

 

Picked some of this up at the end of last year in Asheville and actually really liked it. Pretty cool it’s made with coffee from Dynamite Coffee, a local roaster with a very good guy as the owner!

[Tentrax_Brent]

I live in Asheville, so no shortage of beer. Also spent several years in Seattle. 
 

But, still, I can’t get enough of NE IPAs every year when I visit NH and VT. 
 

Hill Farmstead, Fiddlehead, Stoneface...mmmmmmm

 

 

[Smokeyyank]

Happy Colorado pint day! While having a kegorator has been awesome, I do miss the occasional strolling through the beer section. And lieu of having a keg currently occupying the kegerator (because I just blew through it in no time) I took a stroll down to the local store to see what selection they had. Lately been sipping on more pilsners, specifically czech or German style pils. When my wife and I went to Europe a few years ago we were in Prague and some of the best beers I've ever had were there, and they were all pretty much pillsners. WhilebI know I can get some of the bigger European beers in the states none of them taste is good has over there and majority of th craft styles fall short. Closest to anything decent I've had here was a barsman pilsner that it's actually brewed by coors. You can only find it in very select pubs and country clubs, it also takes forever to pour, but is amazing. Well, I found something that has overtaken that. It's a czech style pilsner from Wood Boss brewing in Denver. I can't get enough of this stuff. Super crisp clean and an amazing beer to drink on a warm day, which we've had pretty awesome weather lately. 

[Smokeyyank]

Happy Friday! On my pils kick grabbed a STS from Russian river. Pretty tasty but that Woods Boss has been on my mind. 

[Pete M]

found something tasty at the store today.