Fro, you sent me a Speakeasy, I think it was the Big Daddy IPA, it was very good. All the brews you sent me were very good.

The Sawtooth was particulary amazing. I've been looking for it because we do carry some varieties of Lefthand around here but unfortunately not the Sawtooth. But it was the nuts.

I am so OD'd on Xmas beers right now. I've had the week off and have been drinking pretty heavily and playing Xmen 2 on the Xbox.

Laying low and drinking Hoegaarden tonight.

Tomorrows a big day so need to get back in form, heading up to the Stuffed Sandwich for more Xmas beer adventures. If there is anywhere on the West Coast that still have some Dogfish, he has them squirreled away in his warehouses. His beer menu is kind of misleading...those are the beers that he will sell you with out any questions. But he has most Xmas, Barleywines and various other high alcohol beers for the last few years stored...ageing. But he won't sell them to you if he doesn't think you are worth the beer...if you won't appreciate the beer...if you aren't worthy. Sam's an interesting fellow.

This is whats on tap for tomorrow. I did his vertical tasting last year of Celebration Ale on tap, can't friggin wait for the Anchor vertical.

ANCHOR'S MERRY CHRISTMAS - HAPPY NEW YEAR '2005' ~ U.S.A.
ANCHOR'S MERRY CHRISTMAS - HAPPY NEW YEAR '2004' ~ U.S.A.
ANCHOR'S MERRY CHRISTMAS - HAPPY NEW YEAR '2003' ~ U.S.A.
ANCHOR'S MERRY CHRISTMAS - HAPPY NEW YEAR '2002' ~ U.S.A.
SAMICHLAUS '2000' ~ AUSTRIA
HAIR OF THE DOG DOGGIE CLAWS '2004' ~ U.S.A.
BUTTE CREEK CRANBERRY CHRISTMAS ALE ~ U.S.A.
JACK'S PUMPKIN SPICED ALE - ~ U.S.A.
LOST COAST WINTERBRAUN ~ U.S.A.

that's good stuff.



any WI fbg's know of a place that sells this Dogfish beer? i went around my area and turned up bupkis.

Getting ready to try a Hop Wallop from Victory. Pretty high marks from the BA crowd.

:jealous:

Let us now how it is/was

It was very good, if you like a hoppy beer. It was like their Hop Devil on steroids. My sense of smell is not the greatest, but I could smell the hops from a foot away as I was pouring it into a glass. Nice head and lots of lacing. It didn't look like other double IPA's. They tend to be more amber colored. This was more of a golden color, like a typical lager. Very easy to drink, and after 4 of them at 8.5% I was feeling pretty good. Now I read that it's a seasonal. I'm going to have to stock up before they're all gone.

So I finally tried the Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA the other night. Poured into a snifter, with almost no head. This beer is 21% alcohol, so I was expecting a nice alcohol burn in every sip. I couldnt taste ANY alcohol. No burn of any kind. It was smooth as could be, and easy to drink (sip).

The bad is it was wayyyyyy too sweet. Tasted like a hop dipped in sugar, with the hop flavor taking a backseat. Ive never had a beer that sweet. It almost tasted like pure confectioners sugar. It felt oily and thick (in a good way), and every sip left a coating in my mouth with had a nice hop aftertaste. I think they just kept making it sweeter until the sugar overpowed the alcohol.

Aside form being overly sweet, I was totally amazed that DHF figured out how to totally mask the alcohol in a beer that strong.

Id like to try one that has been aged, but I cant see it being much better. Im glad I can now say Ive tried the legendary 120min, but its not something Id buy again.

After further taste-testing, I've realized that the difference between SN Celebration Ale and Sweetwater Festive Ale is drinkability. Celebration brings out the spices and nuances more, but Festive Ale is much more smooth and drinkable. The kind of beer where you get up to go the bathroom after 3 beers and are surprised that you can't find the bathroom. It doesn't seem that heavy or alcoholic.
Given that I'm not a beer snob, I'll take drinkability.

The only "spice" in Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale is hops.

Wignut, I've got a 750ml of the 120 laying in my basment from the orginal batch... it is going to stay there for awihle though - I imagine the aging will affect it nicely.

Spice, hops, same thing. You can taste the individual components better. Make sense?

Think about the sweetness of that beer at 21%. I am assuming that it has the yeast at the bottom of the bottle, so as the yeastt continues to 'eat' the sugars, the alcohol content will continue to increase.

I can only imagine that the beer will mellow and improve with age.

I suppose... the only reason I pointed it out is that many breweries tend to make an actual spiced ale for thier holiday seasonal offering.

Spices can be a turn off for many people...

Edited to include the quote.

Theres no sediment of any kind in the beer. Its clear as can be.

Ive read that aging beer takes the bite out of hop flavor...tends to mellow it out. If thats the case with this one, it would end up tasting like pure sugar. I may buy another to age and find out.

Had some Lagunitas Brown Shugga yesterday. It is their seasonal release.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/220/2264/

Good stuff. I really like this beer a lot. Despite the name, it is not as sweet as you might expect. It does have some sugar added though, no doubt about that, but it wasn't overpowing like Wingnut's experience. It clocks in at about 9.9% abv, so it can put a hurt on fairly quickly. Well hopped, low on the malt, and about as sticky as you can get. My glass looked abused after just one bottle.

I'm a huge Hop Head and was very dissatisfied with the Hop Wallop. Yeah, it was bitter, but it had no balance. It wasn't even an amber ale. It was like a regular yellow lager that Victory did nothing to except inject with an ungodly amount of hops so it would have extreme bitterness. I thought it was very tinny and thin and the stench was bad.

I'm not a big Hop Devil fan, either -- tastes to me like the only hops in it are on the label.

I live in Maryland, so quaff Dogfish 90-minute all the time. Four-pack goes for about $8 and is very good. I used to like Tupper's Hop Pocket Ale, but found the quality has been inconsistent recently. So my primary brew now is Three Floyds Alpha King. Three Floyds' Dreadnaught Imperial IPA is incredible but had for me to find on the east coast -- they're based in Indiana.

Anyone here familiar with Three Floyds?

Judging by your Hop Wallop comments, I think it is fair for me to say that the only incarnation you've had of it was last year's version? I have heard some similar comments based on that batch. Give this year's vintage a shot - you will be surprised.

As for your comparison to a lager... well, the only way i see that could be in the color - though recently there have been a bunch of "yellow" IPAs floating around.

3F is nice - though I am not a fan of the Dreadnaught... I prefer the Alpha King. It is much more available in PA now than it has been in the past.

Yes, it ws definitely last year's Hop Wallop. Maybe I'll give this year's a shot.

Don't know if you can get Clipper City in PA or not -- they're in Baltimore. The Winter Storm Warning is a decent seasonal brew.

we do, I have seen it at a beer distributor - was hesitant to get an entire case without first tyring it (stupid PA case laws - haha)

Headed to the Anchor Brewery next thursday fot the Anchor Christmas Ale release party. So pumped.

I'll have to try that. I really like small craft warning from clipper.

I havn't checked into my thread here in a while, but a little update...

-My favorite beer by far right now is Dogfish Head's 60 Minute IPA

-I wouldn't say they were bad at all, but I didn't find the Samuel Smith line of beers to be all that special.

- I do not like Porters or Stouts very much at all

-As for normal beer(by that I mean ones that I can find in a gas station) Sierra Nevada is probably my favorite, although I have always been a Sam Adams fan(was my favorite beer when the thread started).

-I had one Chimay....wasn't bad. Would like to try again.

Anyway, knowing that....recommend a few more beers to me. Lately I've been going to the local store and just picking out two or three new ones every few weeks, but I'd like to start getting recommendations again. Anything taste similar to Dogfish Head's 60 minute IPA that I might like?

Stone IPA is very good.

I'd like to thank you for starting this thread. And also to say that the Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (which is generally my favorite) and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale are also my two standard beers. I'd recommend that you take a shot at the Christmas beers, like Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. This is my third year to try them. The first year, I thought they were too much. The second year, I really liked them. This year, I can't get enough.

Somewhere in here I've got a list of my top 50 beers....there we are. I'd recommend the following if you're looking for something along those lines.

19. Anchor Steam
29. Full Sail Pale Ale
39. Sam Smith Pale Ale
42. Breckenridge IPA
44. Lagunitas IPA
Stone IPA


Also, for some reason Victory Hop Devil was in my top 50 that I put together that night. I'd like to remove it and replace it with Stone IPA. I agree with whoever said that there's more hop on the label than in the bottle.

I concur. It's a pretty easy drinking IPA. It's not as big as DFH60.

Tonight I drink a beer that I have been waiting for since I heard it was being created.

Alesmith Decadence. The tenth anniversary beer from Alesmith... An 11% English style old ale in a 750ml champagne bottle

I expect nothing but perfection from Alesmith. After reading reviews on the web, I don't think I will be let down.

Anyone around here try Weyerbacher 'Heresy'? What's it like?

It's a pretty good stout. I had it once a few months back. Definitely worth a try.

DFH 60min and SNPA both are excellent. Im not sure what else youve tried, but Anchor Liberty Ale is pretty damn good, too, as is Titan IPA if you can find it.

Which Chimay did you try? The Grande Reserve (Blue label) is the only one I really like.

As for stouts, you need to try Rogue's Shakespeare Stout and Chocolate Stout. They changed my mind on how I see stouts. Both are so damn good its rediculous.

If you like DFH 60, you should try their ApriHop if you can find it. Its like a mildly sweeter version of 60min, but not TOO sweet. Just enough apricots are used to knock back the hops just a tad.

And like Bently said, Sierra Nevada Celebration is great, especially if you like the Pale Ale. Its like SNPA on steroids. Good stuff.

Add another beer drinker whose 2 go-to beers are DFH 60 and SNPA. A few others I have in my rotation are Celebration Ale, Titan IPA, and Hazed and Infused.

I will be trying Stone IPA for the first time soon, as well as Ruination and Arrogent Bastard. Cant wait.

I forgot about Titan. I discovered Titan after I made that list. I would highly recommend that.

If you like Dogfish 60-minute and Sierra Nevada, I can't stress strongly enough that you should try to find Three Floyds Alpha King. To me, it's like Sierra but crisper and packing a significantly stronger punch of hops.

Very true. I had some spiced seasonal ale several years ago (can't remember which one) and I didn't really like it.

I have tried the DH Aprihop a long time ago...liked it then, will definitely try again.

Tried the Stone IPA...thought it was good but not great, but I'll give it another shot one day.

I think it was a red label on the Chimay

I agree somewhat. I like Sam Smith, but there are seldom my first choice. They taste like what they are. English Ales. And most of the time, that ain't my cup of tea either.

Their Oatmeal Stout is the best. Other Oatmeal Stouts aspire to be as good as theirs.

Mo betta

Cool, just added it to my list for my Saturday beer run.

Made another run to the beer store today. My haul:

New beers to try:

Trappistes Rochefort 8 (9.2%)
St Bernardus Abt 12 (10%)

Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout (9.5%)
Old Rasputin Imperial Stout (9%)

Great Divide Denver Pale Ale (5.6%)
Red Hook IPA (6.5%)

Mendocino 2005 Winter Ale (9%)
Sam Adams Winter Lager (5.8%)


Also picked up some more Rogue Chocolate Stout and Dogfish Head 60min.

Anchor Christmas is due out next week.

I bought some of this in GA a week or two ago......I thought. 2005 version too.

I had two on tap tonight. I'm sure as hell hoping they were 2005.

I mean locally for me.

Mendocino Winter Ale -

Not a usual Winter beer as its not spiced. Pretty much a double IPA, but its really good. At 9% its alot easier to drink than DHF 90min, and I couldnt detect any alcohol. Felt more like 7%.

Cascade, Amarillo and Simcoe hops give this big, smooth beer its intensity. If you like beers like SNPA, SNCA, or Titan you would probably like this one. They should make this one a year round release.

I just popped the cork on an Allagash Curieux. Its a Belgian Tripel that has been aged in bourbon barrels. The oak/bourbon taste is very strong, and is very noticeable in the first sip. Not sure yet how much I like it, but it is a very interesting taste. We'll see how it finishes.

Let me know what you think. I thought it was fantastic, but it is certainly not a session beer. It is one to be savored. I need to pick up another one of these. Their Tripel and their Prior 8 are also very good.

After the Anchor Christmas, I've had a couple Guiness, a Stella Artois, and a Rahr Ugly Pug Ale. I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

Just got some Rogue Shakespeare Stout. Looking forward to it.

Its awesome stuff. One of my favorite stouts.

If you havent had their Chocolate Stout yet, seek it out. If you can find Shakespeare, you should be able to find the Choc Stout.

Im thinking about popping the top on one of my Chocolate Stouts right now.

I can't get Mendocino as often as I like anymore. Do they still do the Yule Tide Porter?

Havent heard of or seen that one, and their website doesnt have anything about it (or the Winter Ale for that matter)