My experience has been that hops grows like most weeds. I planted a single bunch of it and every year it keeps sprouting and climbing up my walls and all over the rest of the garden, choking everything it can wrap its little tendrils around. I have to keep cutting it back. I forget the type of hops now, it was years ago. I want to say Saaz. I don't actually use them for anything these days but I never got around to trying to dig it out. At the end of the year it just fills up the composter with a terribly aromatic mass of leaves, vines and buds.

This is just outside of Toronto, for climate reference.

WoW is the same way, really. Outside of theorycraft, and heavy raiding, it really is watered down to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but I also recognize that there are games that more specialize towards a certain genre of people.

I am Lowest Common Denominator. I'm okay with that. But you can keep your BMC.

For those of you that cook up yer own beers, do you bottle or keg? I've started a little kegerator project at home, have a two faucet tap, and a minifridge. I'm waiting until I get off deployment to pick up the corny kegs. Do you CO2, or keg carb? Ball-lock or pin-lock?

Yeah, I'm on homebrewtalk too, but you know, since I'm already here....

I just started my first batch ever of some American pale ale, using the most basic kit that I picked up at the local brew shop. I'm going to be bottling all my beers because it seems like less hassle than kegging, and less resources needed. Out of curiosity, do you guys do full boil or partially boil when you brew? Does it make a difference other than saving some time?

Whether or not you have a full boil depends on what you are cooking with. What you are cooking with depends on the space you have available, and how easily you can control your temperature. If you have a turkey fryer, outside, then it's real easy to do a full mash brew (more complicated, but you have more control), if you are cooking on your stovetop in your apartment, then you really need to stick with extract kits (already been through a hot break, so it doesn't need a full boil), or a partial mash. There are a lot of good extract kits. I still cook them up for something fast and easy, but stick to partial mashes for my more "flavor complicated" brews.

Bottles are easier, but when you are doing 10 or 15 gallons at a time, well, that's a lot of bottles. And besides, how cool is it to have your own beer, on tap, in your house?

Sierra Nevada's Early Spring Beer (ESB) has returned in all its delicious glory. I also picked up a new offering, or at least one I hadn't seen before-- SN Torpedo IPA. Pretty damn good as well.

Also, Bell's has finally resumed distributing here after a 3+ year drought (disappeared as soon as I moved here). I finally got to try the Expedition Stout. Oh my.

So jealous... one day i'll get my hands on expedition *dream*

I've tried a few new things lately... Last night I had some Dogfish Head India Brown ale. I liked it a lot... nice hop nose, a smooth and silky mouthfeel. A place nearby is doing growler fills of it, I have to go grab one.

Tried Old Engine Oil, can't remember the brewery but they were in Scotland I think. I've seen it labeled as either an Old Ale or a Black Ale. It was ok, wouldn't get it again I don't think. It wasn't bad or anything, there's just so many other things to spend my beer money on.

Had Weihanstephaner's Dunkel. I'm a huge fan of their normal Hefe, the Dunkel was great. I will get this again for sure. I was very glad to finally see it in a store, I hope they keep stocking it.

Tried Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout. Not so good. Really thin, has an odd taste to it. I'm not sure if it maybe was a bad 6 pack or what.

I have a bottle of Green Flash double stout up on deck next.

I was more excited to see the SN Bigfoot available than the ESB. They announced the Torpedo a while ago, but I don't think it has made it through all of the distribution channels yet. At least I haven't seen it make its way into my neck of the woods (SE VA).

I have a request for anyone who might live in Michigan or has access to any of Founder's beers.

I have scoured the package stores within 50 miles of me and can't find any of their beers nor can any of the package stores special order them.

I really love their Breakfast Stout, Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Canadian Breakfast Stouts. I also am a really big fan of the Reds Rye.

If you have access to any of these beers and would be willing to ship them to Connecticut or know how I can get them shipped here otherwise please PM me. Willing to accommodate you for your troubles.

Also, if anyone knows, are Portsmouth Breweries beers only available in New Hampshire? I live close enough (connecticut) but cannot get any of their beers. I particularly really want to try their kate the great russian imperial stout.

I just bought a 4-Pack of Founders Breakfast Stout but I live in NC . Haven't sampled it yet but I hear it's amazing. Also getting ready to try a few bottles from SKA.

Founder's Breakfast Stout is one of my absolute favorite beers. It has such a complex yet soothing array of flavors and tastes, really a beer that you'll enjoy (I hope you like coffee!).

I recently had a bottle of Dogfish Head Midas Touch. What a grand experience, a little sweet, but not overpowering with a beautiful golden color and a wonderful aftertaste that just left me wanting more! Dogfish Head is truly a great brewery!!

Yeah, Founder's Breakfast and Kentucky Breakfast are on my stout wish list for sure. Along with Expedition, and Kate the Great... and dark lord.. and the Abyss... and Surly Darkness.. and Beer Geek Breakfast/Brunch... and Aphrodisiaque... and Närke Stromaktsporter... and Struise Cuvée Delphine...

Man, life could be so much better...

I tried the Green Flash double stout last night, it was pretty good. Oddly enough, I had longtrail imperial coffee stout last week and it was really good. I was super surprised by it.

Some of the Sam Adams Imperial beers are pretty good. I saw a Double-Bock recently that I need to pick up next time I'm around.

I don't know if they are retailing the triple-double, but I hope so.

For the Founder's beers you might have better luck finding someone that can special order them. They are brewed in Grand Rapids, Michigan, so distribution might be pretty shoddy all the way down in the Carolinas.

I have yet to try the Bell's Expedition Stout this batch. I had a bottle of it a few years ago and it was delicious, but Bells has a way of making each batch of beer unique and different.

Also the Sam Adams Blackberry Witbier sounded like a bad idea and turned out to be a horrible idea. Avoid at all costs.

(Quoting an ancient post)

Russian River recently released Pliny the Younger, which they bill as a triple IPA. Essentially that means it's hopped three times more than their standard IPA. My neighborhood beer bar scored a keg of it, and sweet merciful crap it is hoppy. Much more hop resin and lasting bitterness than pretty much anything I've tasted, yet it still maintained some semblance of balance. I drank a pint over about half an hour, in part because of its strength and in part because it cost something like $8. Definitely a must-try for any die-hard hophead.

Somebody some god knows how many pages back had posted some kind of link for a brewery finder (I believe) and where they distribute which I thought was pretty cool because it listed alot of package stores not too terribly far into NC for me to be able to pick up, and someone else had linked like an online Beer shippery (is that a word?) where you could pratically order ever beer under the sun and for an ungoldy shipping amount get said beers delivered to you, sorry for the rambleing but I think my first thought was really the second. The link was cool n all but I felt havin to cough up 60$ for less than a case of beer was a bit extreme.

Had an Elysian Perseus Porter last week for the first time. Wonderfully dark and smooth. They have a few pubs around the Seattle area, but I never seem to have time to get to one. Their Dragonstooth Stout and Immortal IPA are both very good as well.

I tried some Sierra Nevada ESB and Bigfoot based on a couple recommendations above, and I have to say that I enjoyed the Bigfoot quite a bit more than the ESB. My problem with the ESB was that it was just way too overpowering with the hops bitterness to taste anything else, not very balanced at all. I think I'll stick with Redhook for ESB.

From the Sam Adams Imperial series, I quite enjoyed both the White and the Double Bock. I detect a bit more alcohol than I might from a similar ABV (~10%) from another brewery, but it wasn't overwhelming. Aside from being imperials, each beer is tastier than your average Sam Adams and provides a solid example of the respective styles.

I had trouble getting through even 1 of the Sam Adam's Imperial Whites. I have 3 still sitting in my fridge from over a month ago.

I think that if they ever decided to make Banana Nyquil they would model it after the taste of the Imperial White. It was very unpleasant to me along with the very potent alcoholic aftertaste. It was too much, even for an Imperial.

I really think the Sam Adam's Imperial series is a lazy attempt. The packaging is bland and unassuming. The bottles are boring and the beer itself, to me, is not a very good effort.

On the other hand I recently tried Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout which turned out to be one of the better RIS's I've ever had.

If you like the Old Rasputin then you should give the Old No. 38 a try, it's another stout from Northcoast, and it's very well done, its not as strong as Old Rasputin, but definitely full on flavor, and a good bit of a chocolatey after taste. The Brother Thelonius from Northcoast also comes highly recommended, it is a great Belgian style ale.

Hey it's St. Patrick's day, everyone go out to your favorite pub and get yourself some Guinness!