Beer: Liquid Bread

we've done this, but beer is aways relevent.

Sierra Nevada: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (i werked for them back in the day)

Spotted Cow: New Glarus Brewing Company (beautiful ale, with a hint of corn)

Youngers Bitter: Rogue Brewery

Old Style: G. Heilmann Brewing Co.

Any beer will do in a pinch. beer is my drug of choice. and i fully believe it is a mind-expanding experience that can unlock the doors of perception.

Fat Tire Ale is stellar also, don't know who makes it, it's from Colorado.

extra lucky bonus clickage

[Edited on 23/7/2005 by ghostrider]

ain't Elephant a malt liquor ?

For everyday, Rosie & I drink fruit ales. We drink a remarkable amount of Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blond Ales.

When fall rolls around, I prefer Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ales. Buffalo Bill is the only brewer I've ever heard of that is no longer allowed to touch his own beer. He started small, with great experimental ales and lagers, but beer is a science, requiring sterility and medical precision after a certain point. Bill would come into the the Brewery/Restaurant and dump, say, two boxes of unwashed oranges into a 12000 gallon tank in third stage, contaminating thousands of dollars worth of product. Eventually his partners had to take him aside and say, "Bill, you're great in the restaurant, but if you come in the back again we'll drown you in the Vat". Or so I was told. They taste just like a pice of pie. Go great with oatmeal-raisin cookies. There used to be Longshot Hazelnut Brown, but it's been out of print for many years. We really liked those; invented by some people in a State Fair contest of some sort. Our friends thought we were trying to feed them cyanide.

None of these are sweet at all, but made with the actual fruit, and fermented beyond sugar content. Getchu meepered up. Food & Beer are closely tied in my mind and at our table. We are in the midst or fine wine country, yet beer is the supreme beverage. It's a cooking spice, marinade, cook sauce, salutory. No meal is complete without a beer.

[Edited on 23/7/2005 by BeachGoat]

for reference

a month ago i went to belgian bar in philly called eulogy, and they serve like 200+ different beers. i had some old rasputin, some golden monkey, and some chimay reserve. all good meep.

J.W. Lee's Harvest Ale is brewed as a yearly vintage and is nothing short of exquisite.



The ale is technically a barleywine brewed with only malt and barley; there is wild variation in flavor from year to year. The 1997 (pictured below) pours a viscous black; the nose is all musky fig, molasses and burnt caramel. Some of the same flavors hit in the first sip--especially molasses--along with blackcurrant, prune and oak from the casks. It is a big-bodied brew, super thick and creamy, and a serious meep-kicker at 11.5% abv.

The 2003 was very similar in texture, but a much brighter translucent orange. It still retained some of the signature caramel and fig notes, but was otherwise much lighter; a lot of peach and apricot.



Stone's Imperial Stout is another absolutely fantastic brew. Smells like grilled almonds and molasses. The flavors are very serious; deep coffee/espresso, molasses and hints of anise or fennel with a lengthy finish. Coffee lingers and lingers. The texture is heavy and creamy, but not nearly as viscous or syrupy as the Harvest Ales.



For regular drinkability, nothing beats Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA. Dogfish uses beautiful fresh hops, and the difference is amazing. If they used the same meep most breweries use it would be intensely bitter, but instead is very strong with some floral and citrus undertones. I managed to get my hands on a champagne bottle of their first batch; this meep ages extremely well! The complexity and richness of the flavors balanced out over time, creating an immaculate IPA.



There are so many incredible brews available to us lucky first worlders; go out and explore. And report.

Bavaria or moosehead.

Interesting topic title because I have actually made bread with beer.

Beer Bread

beer bread is indeed awesome, this stuff is pretty ace.

mcgarpat: i'm fortunate enough to have a friend that lives up on 34th. we usually just take the subway.

[Edited on 24/7/2005 by mundhra]

at risk of derailing my own thread:

There seem to be a few Philly-swarmers around nowadays. BBPPhilly?

By the way, I wasn't aware of the multitude of Philly microbrews. I will now be on a mission to sample them all. That is in addition to my mission to drink every beer in Europe.

It's gonna take a while.

BTW, don't bother with Spanish beer, it sucks. Nothing special for Italian beer either.

I recommend Arrogant meep to any of the beer snobs out there. Don't let the, um... arrogant persona gimmick fool you -- this is a beer at the top of its class. You're lucky if you can track some down -- we get it around here about twice yearly.

You are now very sad because you do not have this beer in your hand. Or at least you would be if you knew how it tasted.

I'm stuck on this lately:

Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Lazy Magnolia Indian Summer

Bell's had a limited edition beer called hopslam which was absolutely fantastic. I think its only out one month a year, but you should absolutely try it-probably the best IPA I've ever had.

i haven't had a decent beer since christmas (azns dont makem the way we do). Here are the ones i miss the most:

^ this is the last decent beer i tasted and i would pay $50 for a glass of it right now, no exaggeration. If you are anywhere near the northern bay area, go get yourself a growler of this stuff.

^ ive only ever had 1 pint in my life, outside the university of oregon campus, but i can distinctly remember the flavor to this day. they should be distributing outside of oregon by now. dont skip the opportunity if you see it in your grocery store.

^ the ipa on the right is so-so. but the scotch ale on the left is one of my old standbys. i drank enough of this stuff in college that i pissed brown.

^^^ all of these are regional distribution so if youre stuck on the other coast or meep then look for something with wider distribution like Arrogant meep Ale or Rogue Dead Guy Ale.

acheron: Bell's had a limited edition beer called hopslam which was absolutely fantastic. I think its only out one month a year, but you should absolutely try it-probably the best IPA I've ever had.

This is meeping tremendous beer. And packs a serious punch. It is limited release, but still available here (25 miles south of Michigan) for the time being.

I'm currently hooked on their Oberon Ale. If I get a free day anytime soon, I'm going to hit them up for a tour.

Something about hopslam made me unusually happy-I think it had weed in it.

Rogue Dead Guy is good so isnt Arrogant meep. Golden Monkey by Victory Brewery is good, packs a punch.

We dont get Yuengling up here but everyone seems to have a big rubbery one for it. Ill have to try and find some.

Sam Adams Octoberfest is quite good. For darker beers Guiness is the standby along with the lighter Smithwicks, which i acquired a taste for in Ireland.

recent drinks:

slyfox phoenix pale ale - best beer i've ever had out of a can. amazingly well balanced. weyerbacher heresy - a sledgehammer of a russian imperial stout, aged in oak barrels tregs variety pack - nut brown, nugget nectar, pale ale, dreamweaver - everything was very solid guinness 250th anniversary stout - meep tasty

i liked the bell's variety pack i got, but really can't remember exactly what was in it. will definitely have to keep my eye out for hopslam.

i haven't really been impressed with the two kona beers i tried, longboard lager and wailua wheat.

fakeedit oh, and meep uart.

Atwater Vanilla Java Porter is my new obsession. If anyone can get me a drum of it id be most appreciative.

what is supposed to make a beer good instead of meep? i have tried 5 different beers, and they weren't good.

government_death_robot: what is supposed to make a beer good instead of meep? i have tried 5 different beers, and they weren't good.

you'll need to develop a bit of a taste for it.

Avoid meep in cans. 9/10 times it will be terrible.

Avoid beers you see commercials for on TV.

Try different types to try and narrow down your preference - IPA, Stout, etc

JohnLenin:

government_death_robot: what is supposed to make a beer good instead of meep? i have tried 5 different beers, and they weren't good.

you'll need to develop a bit of a taste for it.

Avoid meep in cans. 9/10 times it will be terrible.

Avoid beers you see commercials for on TV.

Try different types to try and narrow down your preference - IPA, Stout, etc

what have you tried, gdr?

mundhra:

JohnLenin:

government_death_robot: what is supposed to make a beer good instead of meep? i have tried 5 different beers, and they weren't good.

you'll need to develop a bit of a taste for it.

Avoid meep in cans. 9/10 times it will be terrible.

Avoid beers you see commercials for on TV.

Try different types to try and narrow down your preference - IPA, Stout, etc

good advice, 'cept sam adams has tv commercials. most people don't like coffee right away, and the same seems true with beer.

what have you tried, gdr?

spaten optimator wasn't too bad for sounding like a transformer.

no one that lives with me is a beer buff, so we went to da liqua sto' and asked the guy his opinions on beer. he recommended newcastle, guiness, and sam adams so we bought a make-your-own-six-pack thing.

haven't tried the sam adams yet; i am too afraid.

edit: oh yeah, 5th beer was keystone. i knew it was meep. i did it for the lulz.

<span class="post_was_edited">On 2009-07-24 at 19:01:10, government_death_robot asked to smell your meep</span>

GDR, the most important thing I think is finding the beer types that you like. For all intents and purposes there are two kinds of beers: Ales and Lagers. Ales are usually sweeter and have more body than lagers, while lagers are usually more alcoholic. Stouts and porters are considered dark ales.

My suggestion would be to not drink main stream American beers, with the exception of Sam Adams, and stick to the micro brewed stuff. It tends to be high quality and pretty unique. Ive noticed recently that people who arent big beer drinkers have been drinking Belgian beers, as they are rather light and wheaty. So look for Ommegang's Hennepin or Witte, Duvel, Stella Artois etc.

I highly recommend Dab. It's a Dortmunder style beer imported from Germany. Fresh and hoppy with a good malt flavor. Sadly it only comes in .5 liter cans and mini kegs in my part of the world.

Try Coors, it is about like drinking water.

:BurtReynoldsFace:

middle_age_man: I highly recommend Dab. It's a Dortmunder style beer imported from Germany. Fresh and hoppy with a good malt flavor. Sadly it only comes in .5 liter cans and mini kegs in my part of the world.

Dortmunder Union dark is some of the finest beer I have ever tasted. My favorite beer story is from Michael Jackson's beer guide (not the dancer) about how in the 1600's each little village had it's own brewery in Germany, and Dortmund got a bit of a reputation, so much so that they began to send barrels by pony to the neighboring towns through the forest. This, of course, pissed off the burgers, so they hired "beer assassins" to hide along the roads and fire arrows into the kegs to cause them to lose their cargo. Legend has it that those who were caught were taken back to the brewery in Dortmund and drown in the vats at the brewery.

Very fine stuff.

<span class="post_was_edited">On 2009-07-25 at 04:02:04, BeachGoat asked to smell your meep</span>

yeah, so the sam adams wasn't meep. good call on that, swarm.

mundhra: i liked the bell's variety pack i got, but really can't remember exactly what was in it. will definitely have to keep my eye out for hopslam.

I think these have like Pale Ale, Two Hearted Ale, Kalamazoo Stout, and Porter maybe?

Most anything Bell's does is a favorite, don't miss Oberon on tap. Two-hearted is always good.

Stone is also good. Arrogant meep, Levitation are favorites. Pale ale is nice, but can be a bit metallic on tap. North Coast does Old Rasputin, a favorite, and the Old Stock which I like.

Not a big Belgian fan (though the local bar has close to 100 of them) but Delerium Tremens is still great.

Dead Guy on tap is my old standby, but the Brutal bitter is also real good. Rogue's Shakespeare stout still tops of my list of stouts, above every Guinness I've had.

<span class="post_was_edited">On 2009-07-29 at 04:28:44, acheron asked to smell your meep</span>

Rogue's Shakespeare stout still tops of my list of stouts, above every Guinness I've had.

agree.

oktoberfest

Kokanee Gold :D Rickards Red , or Rickards White ales (Molson) :) Moosehead :(

Unibroue La Fin du Monde :D Yeti Imperial Stout (hard to find...but meep good stout)

currently drinking New Belgium (guys who make Fat Tire) Hoptober, and its not bad.

Living in colorado, there's so much good beer around here that I find most of my beer money going to local breweries... here's a quick list of what i've been drinking recently.

New Belgium: 1554 Fat Tire Any of the "Lips of Faith" Series(flemish sour... yum!)

Oskar Blues(right down the street from my house): Dales Pale Ale Mama's lil' yellow pilsner Old Chub

Avery: Any of the Demon Series(Samael oak aged ale is my fav) Ellie's Brown Out of Bounds Stout

Odell's: 90 Shilling Cutthroat Porter Any of the "Woodcut Series"

LeftHand Brewing(also right down the street from my house): Smokejumper Smoked Imperial Porter Sawtooth Ale Polestar Pilsner

Other out of state breweries I enjoy include: Deschutes Stone Bridgeport Snakeriver Brewing Company Rogue

That's a very incomplete list of the beers/breweries I frequently ingest. If any front rangers want to get together for a pub crawl sometime... I'm down.