Beer Review Thread

[Orgazmo]

Drinking Left Hand's Milk Stout right now at scotty's. I have had the pleasure of enjoying this beer in the past a few times, but never from a keg, let alone a nitro tapped keg. Plus it was a long time ago. Now, though? Absolutely delicious. Creamy and sweet to the bottom. I love this beer.

[angry pancake]

And the westy12 is acceptable. So it's brewed by monks. Big fucking deal. So is Orval and that is shit. Fact is there are plenty of Belgian beers on the same level as westy. I'm just fucking glad that this thread has moved on from Sam adams

[Orgazmo]

I enjoyed two legit Bourbon Barrel aged beers tonight (legit means not like the Tyranea bullshit). One was the Kentucky Ale (which I mentioned I had a year or so ago) and the other a Bluegrass Stout (which I've never had). The Bluegrass Stout was delicious, similar to the Schlafly, but not quite as good. I'd prefer the Schlafly in all situations simply because they're basically identical save the Schlafly being more substantial.

The Kentucky Ale version was very, very different. Instead of a facepunch of bourbon, it was much more subdued. Sure, there was zero doubt that I was enjoying a beer with strong bourbon influences, but it wasn't nearly as much of a punch as other bourbon ales I've enjoyed. Personally, if I'm going to drink a beer with bourbon influence, I want to know it. That said, this beer was smooth as a motherfucker and a fair candidate to be a go to for those who are just sorta sold on the whole bourbon beer idea. The Schlafly bourbon beer I mention in my post yesterday remains my favorite in the niche, but I'm very happy to have had the chance to enjoy both of these draft this evening.

HAM.

[thekremlin]

Have been directly inspired by this thread to improve the quality of beers I drink. Step 1 was to go to a belgian restaurant last night. That led to going to this store today with DJFC (Drinkoffulham) and buying 80 pounds worth of good beer, mostly belgian but some english, some irish, some new zealand. Also a huge jug of 7% cider for 6 pounds. Very excited to consume all of this. The guy at the store asked us to review all of it for him, done and done.

[Ugly Bastard]

For several seconds, I thought you meant weight. I was like "does that beer really weigh 80 pounds?!"

[angry pancake]

Some very nice selections there mr. Kremlin. I wish the Rochefort was available here.

[f3lix]

The Schlafly Bourbon Aged Imperial Stout is the best beer I've had.*

It took me back to the same bar 5 times over 10 days to enjoy more of it while the single keg was still available. I bought one bottle to share with Gaz and found it no where near as awesome.**

*I'm still a major newb at microbrews and have less than 50 under my belt
** I don't care for bottled beers and love draft beers.

[Ugly Bastard]

Originally Posted by Orgazmo

Drinking Left Hand's Milk Stout right now at scotty's. I have had the pleasure of enjoying this beer in the past a few times, but never from a keg, let alone a nitro tapped keg. Plus it was a long time ago. Now, though? Absolutely delicious. Creamy and sweet to the bottom. I love this beer.

One milk stout I love (and very likely the only one I've tried) is (512)'s Cascabel Cream Stout. They're an Austin-based brewery. I've had a few of their brews and they were all awesome. Looking forward to being able to get ahold of them easier soon.

But anyway, the Cascabel Cream Stout is made with 20 pounds of cascabel peppers in each tank. The beer is sweet at first but a nice little spiciness builds throughout. By the end, your mouth is actually a little on fire. It's probably the most diverse beer I've ever had. Kudos to them for making something that at first seems sweet and later seems spicy. Unfortunately (512) doesn't bottle, so you have to find their stuff in a bar if you want to try it and I doubt they distribute much outside of Texas yet, but ap should keep an eye out for this one.

[angry pancake]

512 is solid all around.

[thekremlin]

Originally Posted by angry pancake

Some very nice selections there mr. Kremlin. I wish the Rochefort was available here.

Oh Man. You nailed it on this one. This is a phenomenal beer. I am going to buy much much more of this.

Then drink it.

[Ugly Bastard]

Heading down to check out the co-op brewery attached to the apartment I just moved into for the first time (Black Star Co-Op). I hope their beer is at least decent. That's all it needs to be to make me a fan as the whole "it's brewed 100 yards from your front door" thing already has it halfway there. Anything past decent will be a bonus. More to come...

[Ugly Bastard]

Checked out the co-op brewery, Black Star Co-Op, nearby my place last night. Turns out it was the first such co-op brewery in the U.S.

I went there with a pretty low threshold for what it would take to make me love the place. I figured as long as their beers are drinkable, I'd probably like the place and want to go there at least once a week.

The place ended up surpassing that bar by a wide margin.

I'll start with their brews. They currently have five in-house brews on tap. I did two different flights of four beers so I could try all five of them plus three others that they had on tap that caught my eye.



All four of those are in-house brews. From left to right:

High Esteem - This one blew me away. It's a pale ale with a bit of rye and honey added to the batch. As drinkable of a beer as I've ever had. Very refreshing. Awesome session beer. If and when they start selling kegs, I would give strong consideration to just buying a keg of this to keep around the house for whenever I want a drinkable but not that strong or filling beer. Verdict: Awesome, will have lots more of these

Vulcan - A rye ale made with a boatload of hops. Very, very hoppy beer. There are hoppy beers that are great when you're in the mood for a hoppy beer and there are hoppy beers that are just amazing all the time (Ruination, DFH 60 Min). This one falls into the former category. Verdict: Perfectly delicious if you're looking for a hopped-the-fuck-out beer.

Recalcitrant Dockhand - This was on a nitro tap which might be evident by looking at the head. Unfortunately, this one looks a lot better than it tasted. Brewed with a lot of molasses and vanilla, it just didn't quite do it for me. Kind of lacked a certain punch in terms of flavor. It was like it wants to be good but it just isn't. Verdict: Not awful by any means but my least favorite of the four and not one I'll make it a point to drink terribly often.

Moontower - This was by far the best of the four in terms of just sheer impressiveness. 10% ABV, the Moontower is made only during the winter season. Rich in taste full of roasted malts, every sip of this was gd delicious and warmed you to the core. Verdict: Awesome. I will be having quite a few more of these while I still can before they move onto the spring seasonal.

Next flight (foreground bonus: burger with fried egg that I had which was one of the top 20 burgers I've had in my life. All of their food we tried was AMAZING!).



From left to right. The beer on the left was the last of the five in-house brews. The other three are all Texas beers they have on tap. Their selection was amazing. 15-20 beers on tap, another 25-30 in bottles. 80% of them brewed in the U.S., 40% of those brewed in Texas. Only about 25% of which I had heard of and only about 15% of which I had tried, so there's a lot to check out.

Double Dee - Delicious. A lot like the High Esteem only a bit more maltier. Had a nice herbal sweetness to it. Verdict: A solid year-round brew with a nice bit of sweetness to compliment maybe a spicyish food dish.

Ranger Creek's Mesquite Smoked Porter - This... this was a fucking treat. I had never heard of Ranger Creek before last night. They're a San Antonio-based brewery. Based on this and another brew of theirs I tried (see below), I am really, REALLY impressed and intrigued with what else they've got going on. This beer was an absolute treat. The mesquite barbecue flavor came through really strong. There was nothing subtle about this beer. You didn't have to try to find the mesquite flavor. It was right in your god damned face as soon as you put the beer to your lips. Mesquite makes me believe there may be a God. A God who created this delicious tree and instructed us to use its wood to cook food and brew beer with. Amazing. Simply awesome. Verdict: I'm in love. Mesquite porter!! WOW!!

(512)'s Cascabel Cream Stout - I talked about this one a few posts ago. It's a milk stout (meaning lactose is added in the fermentation process) that's brewed with cascabel peppers for spiciness. This was the only one of the eight beers I had tried prior to last night. What I decided about this beer is that it gets an A+ for being intriguing/interesting (it's a spicy milk beer for Christ's sake) but is more like a B- on taste. I'd encourage anyone to try one if they got the chance, but only because it's such a unique taste, not necessarily because it's all that great of a beer. Verdict: Remains as unique of a beer as I've had, but just isn't my favorite.

Ranger Creek's La Bestia Aimable - This is a Belgian Strong Ale, a type of beer that is generally among my favorite. 9.5 ABV, this did not disappoint. I was getting fairly drunk by the time I got through this one. It was absolutely delicious. Had a rich, caramely malted taste to it. This is a fucking meal in a glass. I was very impressed. I'd like to try it again sometime to start off my evening to see what I think when the palate hasn't already been bombarded with a bunch of other brews, a hamburger, and some mac-and-cheese, but I think what we have here is an absolutely delicious Belgian Strong Ale brewed in Texas which puts it all over my radar as a potential huge favorite. Verdict: Probably amazing, but I should try it again to be sure.

I "liked" the brewpub on Facebook today and found out a bit of information that is going to make it pretty impossible not to go back there tonight. They are putting the first tap on their House Brown 660, a beer dedicated to Texas House Bill 660 that would allow brewpubs such as they to sell their beer to wholesalers and distributors. Lots of brewpubs in Texas are participating in this by creating their own House Brown 660. The requirements are only that it be a robust brown ale with 6.60% ABV and 66.0 IBUs. Seems like a worthy excuse to go have a beer, not that one is really needed beyond it being the first tap.

[thekremlin]

Jealousy

[angry pancake]

I'm there next weekend.

[DJ FC]

I love beer.

[Ugly Bastard]

Originally Posted by Ugly Bastard

I "liked" the brewpub on Facebook today and found out a bit of information that is going to make it pretty impossible not to go back there tonight. They are putting the first tap on their House Brown 660, a beer dedicated to Texas House Bill 660 that would allow brewpubs such as they to sell their beer to wholesalers and distributors. Lots of brewpubs in Texas are participating in this by creating their own House Brown 660. The requirements are only that it be a robust brown ale with 6.60% ABV and 66.0 IBUs. Seems like a worthy excuse to go have a beer, not that one is really needed beyond it being the first tap.

Tried this tonight.



I'll be damned if it wasn't delicious. It had a certain brute quality to it. Like they threw together a bunch of shit they knew would make a brown ale with 6.60% ABV and... voila... it made a brown ale with 6.60% ABV. I didn't get the sense that a lot of time went into trying to make a great beer and it didn't need to: this was perfectly great as-is.

[thekremlin]

Does the tabasco go in it???

[angry pancake]

Went to the blackstar co-op this afternoon. Not quite as big of a fan as UB, but as soon as they get their issues worked out, it'll be fine.

Pluses: decent beer selection and some locals that don't make it all the up to fort worth. Enjoyed the 512 black ale. Really reasonably priced. The fish and chips were decent bar food.

Negatives: everybody. I mean everybody there is a goddamned hippy stoner. Fat assed chicks with weird purple hair and face pierced up like pin head. Also. Stoners seem to have trouble getting the order correct. After two tries I gave up on getting the correct burger.

The fundamental flaw with this place is that it's all counter service. Yep the place has chairs for about 130 or so, but every fuckin body gets up to go to the counter. Typically not a problem, if it was efficient, but it's not. You can find the menu because it's at the fucking counter. The line was out the door and the hippies who then get to the counter and have to sort through the menu for what might not even be available.

While the place was crazy crowded, I'm not sure if that is because of the metro stop 20 yards away. It was empty at 5:00 pm and buttsex packed by 6:00 pm. I didn't see any trains, so those might've been day laborers for all I know standing around. The line prevented me from buying more beer. Hey stoners! Hire a fucking waitstaff. I gave up on grabbing a second beer after timing the guy at the end of the for 30 minutes.

AP says check it out if you're baking and not into time. The flying saucer still has a better selection of beer and you can drink til you puke before you get your second beer at the black star.

[Ugly Bastard]

Fair criticism. I def try to avoid going down there at a peak time. Friday at 6:00 is about as peak as it gets I guess; I've never seen the line out the door. The hippie part was pretty funny. Everytime I'm there I'm like, "does no one in this gd city own a razor?!"

[angry pancake]

I'm just pissed at The city of Austin in general right now with the hotel situation and all.

[Ugly Bastard]

Found a really nice sesh beer tonight. Flying Dog's Tire Bite Golden Ale.



I must really like Kolsches because Saint Arnold brewing in Houston makes "Lawnmower", Kolsch-style beer that I just love. Flying Dog is a Maryland-based brewery that distribute pretty well. I've had their Old Scratch Amber Lager before which kicked lots of ass as far as being an Amber Lager. The Golden Ale I'm on tonight is delicious. These dorks gave it a C which surprised me. I must be a sucker for a good Kolsch like I said. Try one (a Kolsch, this one is a perfectly good candidate) sometime and tell me if I'm crazy or if they make a great beer when you're in the mood for lots'o'beer.

[Orgazmo]

Chimay Blue Reserve



I was in a beer cave the other day and a random dude told me to try this. Because I didn't have anything else I was excited about, I gladly accepted his advice and took it home.

I think my only experience to this point with trappist brews is with the Westy 12 I reviewed earlier. Based on that, it makes my decision to crack the Westy sorta amateur without having anything to really compare it to. Ahh well, what can ya do?

I opened this and immediately though to myself that it was very similar to the Westy. Of course, that's to be assumed. It was delicious, though. I shared it to a few folks in the room, a couple of which were real beer drinkers, yet they all thought it was terrible. Fuck them, though. It's stellar.

If you have a chance to try Chimay Blue (or perhaps their other varieties that I haven't had the pleasure of tasting), give it a shot. Especially if you haven't tried a Trappist brew. It's a pleasure you will not regret. Unless you're a faggot.

Dogfish Head Black & Blue



This 10% abv fruit beer left me with a smile on my face. I finished a couple of pints of it about 20 minutes ago and it is what led me to make this post.

It is a mixture of "black raspberry and blueberry puree" that leaves a guy like me, a person who normally hates fruit beers, finishing the drink and wanting one more.

The berry flavor is very secondary, coming to the top at the very end of the flavor and certainly not overpowering the brew.

If you're feeling something high abv but relatively light, give this a shot. It'll be tough to find something as drinkable in the 10% market.

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron.



This is a Dogfish offering that I've sparingly enjoyed over the past few months. The fact that I'm drinking one now is why it's finding itself in this post.

It is a 12% abv beast that tastes like beer more than straight alcohol (like a few high abv shit does). It has a roasty flavor that makes it a little bit of a stretch from "easy drinking," but if you're looking for a sexy flavor that lets you know you're drinking a real beer, it's the right choice.

[Ironic Mustache]

If you like Chimay, you'll probably like this:



It's a Belgian style beer, but based out of New York. They have some other pretty awesome specialty beers, (I remember a particularly decent chocolate beer), but this is my favorite from the brewery. Find it, and drink it.

[angry pancake]

The 512 Black IPA made it to fort worth today. I've never seen their product bottled. Pic to follow.

I'm also a big fan of the Chimay blue lable. As a complete side note, for those who've not experienced the Westy 12, try the St. Bernardus pater 12. It's the same damn beer. St. Bernardus made the westy for most of the 20th century until westy "licensed it out to another brewer under Trappist trademark control." For those of you who think westvleteren 12 is the holy grail, try the saint bernardus 12. They've been making the westy longer.

[Orgazmo]

Fantastic tip, thank you.