They also use rice which dials down the flavor significantly and makes the beer much cheaper to mass produce.


Both are readily available over here, but I'll definitely try London Pride should the opportunity arise.

my guts have been playing nice this week. Had a Unibroue Tres Pistoles the other day which was great. Unibroue always pulls through.

Anyone ever have Ithaca Flower Power IPA? This little brew has been upsetting some big names in competitions I guess. It was a treat to try, i'm not a huge IPA fan but really enjoyed this one. (probably because it isn't hopped to all high heck.)

I'm going to have to agree about Harpoon's Leviathan ale. Though as tasty as it was my buddy drinking it with me was right when he said it was "dangerously tasty." I haven't been drinking much this summer and two of these definitely did me in for the night.

I was also able to finally get my hands on Stone's Levitation (the beer store up here in NY gets their beer albeit a month or two after Stone releases it). It was kind of like a lighter Arrogant Bastard but was still pretty tasty. I'm curious how the anniversary beer from them is this year, I'm still waiting for the beer store to get it.

Has anyone come across Köstritzer Schwarzbier in the US, particularly the southeast? This was my favorite beer from my trip to Germany, and I haven't seen it around in the US. It's an incredibly drinkable dark beer, can probably be credited with getting me to like beer in the first place!

Yeah, that one is a good Schwarzbier and it is pretty easy to find nowadays. It started as a limited edition release and was so popular it was brought back as part of the Sam Adams main line up.

Not sure if you can find it in your area, but Saranac also makes a decent one, and it is affordable too. I'd say it is one of the better beers they make. It's not in the category of the big super beers, but it isn't ment to be. I like it a little more then the Sam Adams one. It is called Saranac Black Forrest Ale, and is usually only sold in growlers, except for the few sampler packs they include it in, then it comes in a standard 12 inch bottle. Only problem is the Growler size class tends to be a bit more rare then the standard six packs Saranac ships.

This past week I managed to try Brooklyn's Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse. I'm not really into Wheat based beers, but I really enjoyed this one, and it had a good use of hops in it.

If you can find Fuller's London Pride, most places will also carry their ESB which I have actually come to prefer to Pride. I would definitely recommend giving that a go as well if you can find it.

I think most of what they make is pretty lame, but they really surprised me with their imperial stout. I mean, it's no stone RIS or anything, but for $8 a six pack I used to make sure to have some in my fridge all the time. I hear IPA fans say the same about the imperial IPA.

I'm pretty sure I've seen black forest in 6 packs at my super market, and also in the mini growlers. I've never had it, maybe i'll try it some day.

Well, if you need a little more reason to try it out, how about this?

I recently picked up a bottle of Chimay Blue. As this will be my first time drinking it I was wondering if there were any recommendations as to whether I should cellar it for a while or just drink it now. I have heard it's good both ways but wanted to get some opinions from those that have tried it.

I'd say drink it now! If you like it, go buy another one to cellar.

Apologies if this is common knowledge to you but in case it isn't: If you don't have a large snifter, use an oversized red wine glass (like the one that stout is in above). Remember that there is yeast at the bottom, so be sure the bottle has been resting upright and everything is settled, and try not to pour out the sediment (don't worry too much if you do). You want the beer to be cold, but not too cold. I usually try go for three pours on that size bottle, as the beer sits and gets warmer between each pour it sort of gives me a look at how the taste changes between say 50F and room temp.

Enjoy! Chimay Blue is a wonderful ale. If you like it, I highly recommend trying to find some Rochefort.

I knew I shouldn't have come to this thread while at work! I've never wanted a beer more than I do right now. On the subject of Rochefort I have to agree, specifically 8...I've only had that and 10 but 8 is still on my top 5 of all time but it's very hard to find in the US (at least where I live).