Gimme a HELL YAH for Stone brewing company.

OK, where do you live? Assuming I haven't made an irredeamable jackass of myself, you can't be far, and maybe we should investigate beers IRL. In any event, IPA is a light (colored) hopy, strongish beer. It's not tied to a specific brand. In Cali, atleast, you have to call it an ale (as opposed to a beer) because its >5%. Fat tire, Stone, or Sierra Nevada are all excellent west coast beers, Gordon is up there, though he doesn't have an IPA(but yummy fries).

HELL YAH (though Sierra Nevada is still better).

True story....

I went on a massive Costco run. I'm struggling to get everything out of my trunk, around the corner down the alley from my apartment. Some random person goes "Do you need help?". "No". "I don't want you to break that beer". "I woln't". "I really don't want you to break it, because I'm the head brewer... please let me give you a hand." "Well, I got it". "Well thanks for buying it". "Well thanks for brewing it. Damn good beer!".

Too bad I'll be kicking Texan ass during the Stone brewing festival.

Sorry, dupe

Yeah, I am of the same belief here. I keep the guildbank on my account as well with the only access to it. Not to mention the name is Exigencebank which sort of suggests that it is a banking character.

IPA's -

They are much hoppier and more alcoholic (minimum 6%, but I've seen 9's and 10's), which allowed them to make the journey across the sea from Britain to India. The number and length of the hoppings can change their flavor considerably. IMO IPA's are very different from other ales - you can't really mistake them for anything else and they are definitely an acquired taste.

Ripper - What part of MT are you from? I'm actually planning on taking the spring semester off to ski with a buddy up in Big Sky. Never been, but heard it's great up there...

mmm Sierra Nevada. That reminds me to book my biennial trip to the Coastal Towns of LA for this November.

Any recommendations for people who don't like beer?(or maybe never tasted good beer :P) Someone said Hoegaarden is good for people like me, I'll try that.

I recommend that you fill out your profile. It's already past 8am and I haven't banned anyone yet.

I'm a long time reader but this topic forced me to create a profile and start posting. I've been brewing for a few years and Ripper is right on the money with that Rumination being a fantastic IPA. I tend to be a much bigger fan of stouts and porters, so I can highly recommend Stone's Russian Imperial Stout.

Any of you guys had any Vertical Epic from this year or years past?



www.arrogantbastard.com

I saw Brickskellar mentioned, and if you're in the DC metro area, for Metro access, there's no excuse to not go there at least once.

I might try taking some of the bottles home with me, because He'brew Jew'bilation would look great on a shelf somewhere :)

Hefewiezen are pretty near and dear to my heart.

Franziskaner, Paulaner, and Hacker-Pschorr are German imports that are pretty typical of the style. They are widely available here in the US. Hacker-Pschorr is my sentimental favorite of the bunch, mainly because it is the first wheat beer I ever had.

I haven't found a domestic beer that has the same complexity of flavors as the German imports, but Summit makes an ok wheat beer. Blue Moon is a unfiltered wheat ale from Coors, of all people, that gets tremendously wide distribution and isn't terrible for a mass-market commodity beer.

Anybody reading this thread who finds themselves in Atlanta must go to Five Seasons Brewing Company:

http://www.5seasonsbrewing.com/

They are the one and only contender for best brewpub in the Atlanta area. They make a Big Blonde Hefewiezen that is absolutley out of this world. They brew seasonally, only keeping four or five styles on the menu at a time, and I've never had a beer there I didn't like. Their food is really great, too.

Another vote for Stone brewers, Ruination and Arrogant Bastard. 22 ounces, ftw, as well.

http://www.thebrewworks.com/

here's Bethlehem, Pennsylvania's brew pub, and I quite enjoy it.

Their flagship beers are all pretty good, and on the current seasonal brew menu, I've had both the Hefeweizen and Monkey Wrench and would recommend them again.

Two years ago, they had "Blastberry Wheat" and I wish it'd come back :(, the description is still there though.

To be honest, I never stray far away from our german beer for long, regardless whether its weizen or pilsener. Hops, malt and water is all a good beer needs :)

I think you'll find good beer also needs yeast (unless it's a lambic, but then it's not a German beer now is it?). ;)

Unibroue is a little brewery just outside Montreal. They're my favorite brewery in the world. They make so much good stuff it's actually rather scary. Fin du Monde is the best beer I've ever had, and believe me I've had a lot of 'em. Chambly Noire, Ephemere, and Terrible are also amazing. Really anything done by them is good, though.

Aside from Unibroue's stuff, I like witbier, hefeweizens, and pretty much anything dark. To be honest Stone brewery's stuff doesn't do much for me. I guess I'm not enough of a bastard. Seems like they just bump up the hops and ignore the rest of the beer's flavor.

I'll second the Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout, though I find Young's almost as good. Young's also puts out a Triple Chocolate Stout that is incredibly good.

Franziskaner and Paulaner are my favorites of the style. Paulaner Hefeweisen from a fresh keg is magical.

You forget the yeast; I'd say it's somewhat important.

Fin du Monde is exceptional, but I have honestly been less than impressed with a lot of their other stuff. It's not so much that the rest of their beers are bad, they just don't seem to be exceptional within the style for the rest -- at least compared to Ommegang and Chimay, my two favorite breweries.

Damn! I had him beat but didnt know the guild bank thread turned into a Beer thread!

http://forums.elitistjerks.com/viewtopic.php?id=8039

Yeah, I saw your post. It was just in the wrong thread!

This thread makes my mouth water. :(