Murr

Thanks for the SD suggestions - moved out here about a month ago so those are some great options. Been meaning to make it up to Stone brewery but Escondido is a small drive so that's deterred me so far.

 

◊ Praetorian

Stone is definitely worth the drive. It's a beautiful place (large outdoor garden, etc.), the restaurant there actually has fantastic food, and they have a huge beer menu that goes well beyond Stone's own stuff. It's the perfect place to spend a sunny weekend afternoon.

 

BrauChief

ahh BEER. I make the beers. If you want to try lots of samples of varying styles I would go to Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) and browse the styleguides and suggested examples.

 

elessar

I am going to be at Oktoberfest this year. I am curious if anyone else is making the trip?

 

Monocle

I managed to drop by the good beer store in my area this weekend, and ended up with a lot more stuff then I intended to buy. My area finally has gotten Stone's Levitation Ale, so grabbed a six pack of that. Only 4.4% ABV's, pretty low compared to most of Stone's stuff, I will be trying it out this weekend and see how it goes.

Hoptimus Prime is on the shelves again, and the Dogzilla Black IPA finally has shown up on the Eats Coast too. I had to order that one from Liquid Solutions before. Speaking of Black IPA's, Southern Tier now has one too, called Iniquity. I did try that one this weekend, and it was very tastey! Was a bit more complex then a standard IPA, but it is a hybrid style. Didn't notice the alcohol at all in it either.

Store Beer buyer told me they should be getting the reissue of Stones Black IPA soon, I may have to get a case of that one. I am just happy more companies are now making Black IPA's.

 

NykylaiHellray

Ah beer, a fun and enjoyable pastime.

One brewery I thoroughly enjoy is Hogs back, an british brewery in surrey.

TEA is a refreshing and creamy ale, thats bittersweet and goes down well. OTT is a really nice dark ale, that reminds me of treacle =).

Another brewery close to me is fallen angel in sussex. Though I dont share the same love that I do for Hogsback. After trying a wide varierty of there ales, I decided that none of them met my tastes.

Though I did recieve a good laugh when my father chugged down half a pint of there black death chilli beer. Who swipped it from me and my friend who were tasting it, without prior consent (the sudden relisation of what he had done was priceless).

 

Knoway

If you're feeling a bit adventurous and enjoy stouts, I'd suggest giving Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout a try. After the brewing process is finished they age it in bourbon casks for about 3 months. The end result is a beer with an abv of just over 12%, a mouthfeel akin to motor oil, and a flavor that manages to combine whiskey with beer (and even a bit of coffee) in a really enjoyable way. I love the stuff, but I rarely drink an entire bottle by myself.

 

lavis

Wow this sounds amazing I'm going to buy some tomorrow for the weekend.

Thanks!

 

Wyred

One beer I'd suggest (any Germans reading will already be familiar) is Erdinger, either their weissbier or dunkel. The first is similar to a lager, though much cloudier and strangely sweeter. The dunkel is like a stout or a porter, and I really recommend this one. Be warned though, both varieties are lethal. I have vague memories of me and some American guy called Geoff standing next to the river Spree in Berlin at 5am wondering where the hell our hostel was.

 

Gumibear

I've been holding onto a Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA for a special occasion. I passed my series 7 license exam on Monday so that seemed like a good reason to pop it open. That beer kicked my ass, in a good way. It started off almost spicy to me but got smoother.

 

Alerian

Got my first Summerfest of the year last weekend and it was as good as last year.

Also picked up Elysian Brewing's ESB. Very delicious and everything an ESB should be.

 

Denogran

Grabbed a Green Flash Le Freak at Stone's Movie night last night( Stone Brewery, the Big Lebowski, and beer - honestly it only needed scantily clad women serving me drinks to be any better ). Le Freak is a Belgian IPA, a confluence of two types of beers that I really enjoy, and I honestly thought it was done very well. It had the strong, sweet flavor of an IPA combined with the overpowering hops that Green Flash puts in all of their beers. Good stuff.

 

Monocle

Have you tried Stone's IPA that is made with the Belgian yeasts, Cali-Belgique? It is really good as well. It's one of the beers, along with Bear Republic's Hop Rod, that I make sure to pick up a couple when I go to my really good beer store. I can only find it in one location in these parts. It is not as strong as some of their other stuff, but is a nicely complex beer. Not as hoppy as the Le'Freak though, that's an Imperial right? Been awhile since I had one.

 

Denogran

I actually had one of those at the brewery back in December - was quite tasty. I haven't actually seen it in Bevmos around here since though. Le Freak is an imperial - much more toward the IPA genre. Plus it's from Green Flash, I think they must get some kind of volume discount on their hops or something. Never had a beer of theirs that I wasn't hopped to high-heaven( Not that I'm complaining of course ).

 

Feyna

Great Divide out of CO makes one along these lines too, called Belgica. Had it the other weekend, very very good. Not sure how it compares with Stone's, but worth trying. Perfect blend of a belgian and an IPA (sounds a little weird at first, but it was so damn good). Not exactly a very hoppy beer, so if you're out for pure hops avoid it, but it is an incredibly tasty beer.

 

Apate

I had no idea that there were 2 Dogfish Head licensed alehouses in the DC/Baltimore area. i.e., 10 minutes away.

Dogfish Head Ale House | Beer - HOME

See you, auntie.

 

Maligne

There's even an iPhone app that will display a photo of the Ale Boards at each location!

Inform your dealers and whores of my credit, and pour me a goddamned drink!

 

• Daler

They're basically Applebees/kitschy crap on the wall family restaurants with a better menu and beer list. Wholly disappointed in both of them last time I made the trek.

If you want the experimental or not very widely available offerings, you still have to go to Rehoboth. Neither alehouse offer anything special that you can't generally find in DC.

 

Manbearpig

The first one might taste a little different to a lager because it's an ale.

 

Masataka

Man I love Erdinger especially their dunkel sadly I can only get it at the german resteraunt up in sunny NC, but oh man it is sooo worth dropping the 80$ I usually spends on beer alone there there's a link somewhere in this bible of a forum not sure what page... I want to say mid 50-ish well worth it and I believe they might be a chain? Anyways I got a beer run planned for this weekend so I'll post what I find if anything is good.. OH! and out of all places a gas station has decided to carry Fat Tire finally I can't wait!

Why don't Brothels offer First Time Buyer Incentives?

 

◊ Kaubel

Oh man, I can't wait.

On another topic, is there anything by Brooklyn Brewery that isn't good? I've tried the lager, the pale ale and the brown ale, and they're all kick ass.

 

Westvleteren

Try Local 1 and Black Chocolate Stout if you'd like to up your opinion of them even further

 

Apate

That's the one! I knew I'd had something delicious from Brooklyn Brewery. I can second the Black Chocolate Stout

See you, auntie.

 

Monocle

Brooklyn's stuff usually end up as my standard bar beer here in NY, most bars at least have the Lager or Pennet Ale on tap so I get at least to drink something good.

Brooklyn also owns Post Road, which they use as the brand for their Pumpkin Beer. One of the better drinking pumpkins out there.

I still need to try their Local 2, have not gotten around to grabbing it yet.

The Imperial Chocolate Stout is fantastic, but it is also a beer that can really be dangerous. Pretty strong, and it can really creep up on you if you are not careful.

 

qiin

haha, its not available in Australia!