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Post 02 Sep 2014, 6:40 am

Every year for the past 9 years, I take a few days in August to play games with some friends in a cabin we rent in the country. Because of the massive amounts of beer drunk, this year the organizer decided to get a keg (I guess a quarter keg?). At the prodding of another player, he got some overly-hopped nasty, bitter, IPA, which I find as drinkable as bug spray, and I wasn't alone in this opinion. Of the seven guys who played that weekend only four would drink the beer in the keg, and only two were serious about drinking.

I remember the days when you had a keg, and you had a red cup, and you never had to worry if the stuff in the keg was actually drinkable, because it was, to everyone. But now, you've got to watch out, because what IPA lovers call beer, is what many call undrinkable swill. Of course, in the end, much of that keg was drunk up by the good black earth of Michigan's thumb, which made no complaints.
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Post 02 Sep 2014, 8:32 am

I agree, if going with a keg I would go with the standard swill most will be at least okay with. It's for mass consumption so the quality is less important?
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Post 02 Sep 2014, 9:48 am

I love IPA's but even I wouldn't buy a keg of it for a party unless I knew everyone would like it. Even then, if I'm drinking all day from a red cup, give me some plain adjunct beer from the macro breweries (and some tomato juice to add to the first one in the morning).

George, that guy owes you all big time...
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Post 08 Sep 2014, 11:25 am

I had a very nice change of pace when visiting a friend:

http://www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk/home/our-beers/ales/wells-banana-bread-beer

It was excellent, smooth and full of flavor. Of course many would deride it as not beer at all, but it was sure tasty. I went out to the beer store kitty-corner from me and got myself a 4-pack. At $3.69 a bottle, it's a only a sometimes treat, but I'm glad it exists.
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Post 08 Sep 2014, 11:52 am

geojanes wrote:I had a very nice change of pace when visiting a friend:

http://www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk/home/our-beers/ales/wells-banana-bread-beer

It was excellent, smooth and full of flavor. Of course many would deride it as not beer at all, but it was sure tasty. I went out to the beer store kitty-corner from me and got myself a 4-pack. At $3.69 a bottle, it's a only a sometimes treat, but I'm glad it exists.
It's not a massive banana hit, a nice malty and sweet beer. First time I had some was my 30th birthday when a friend brought it round, and it was very well received. I guess it's expensive to import (just as decent US beer is quite expensive - £2.30 for a 10-oz of Anchor Steam!). With the main US knowledge of English beers being the likes of Bass and Newcastle (even the name is wrong!), it's nice to know you can get the decent stuff once in a while.

As bread and beer have a common ancestor, it's not to be derided really - I have had banana flavoured beer from the Caribbean which tasted very artificial.

Also, Youngs (before it merged with Wells) was where I had my first legal drinks in a pub, at the brewery tap in the old brewery in Wansdworth. The beer was off and my body rejected it an hour or so later...
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Post 09 Sep 2014, 11:04 am

Tis the season?

I also had a flavored beer over the weekend, I got quite "giddy" when I noticed my first Pumpkin Ale of the season! Sam Adams Pumpkin Ale is pretty darned yummy. Some here (Randy) would scoff at flavored beer but the pumpkin stuff is very subtle and quite delicious!

To make things even more goofy, a lady at church of all places told me she recently had a pumpkin ale and it was served with the rim of her glass dipped in some sort of graham cracker, cinnamon, caramel coating. I didn't have those exact ingredients but decided to try something different and WOW, simple and TASTY...

I have Cinnamon, I also have a pumpkin pie spice (a mix of several spices like allspice, clove, cinnamon, etc). I took a bit of both and blended them with some sugar on a napkin. How to make it stick? (no caramel plus that would be a mess) hmmmm, my wife had some caramel flavored coffee creamer in the fridge. I took a BIT of the creamer in a shot glass, dipped my finger in it and ran this along the rim of my pilsner glass. Then I dipped the edge of the rim into the spice mixture and it stuck fairly well. Poured the beer and DAMN, it was a very pleasant surprise I WILL do again, I even timed it perfectly drinking around the edge section by section so the beer ended with the very last section of this "rim treat" (similar to a margarita)

You gotta try this, it was pretty damned AWESOME!
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Post 26 Sep 2014, 4:29 pm

I've probably tried 3 or 4 pumpkin ales over the years and I my experience with them was poor. They seem to have a vague pumkiny taste that makes the beer taste, well... awful.

I was browsing Wines & More and the place looks like Halloween threw up inside. Pumpkin beers everywhere. Giving in to the overdone theme, I asked an employee what they would recommend. He said Alewerks is supposedly the best but that sold out almost immediately. He then suggested Southern Tier's Pumking and a Dogfish Head offering. Since Southern Tier sells it in a bomber and I know they make great IPA's, I went for it. I figured if I don't like it at least I won't have five more sitting in my fridge for six months. So....

Wow - this is not beer. It is desert. It tastes like pumpkin pie... a lot. Spicy, rich, pumpkin, malts, and some booziness.
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Post 29 Sep 2014, 5:28 am

I have friends over this weekend and I know they like Pumpkin Beer (I do as well) and guess what I bought just yesterday for them ... Southern Tier Pumpking!
I had it last year and yes it is something very different. I do like it a lot but can only drink it a bit at a time, almost like a dessert wine. I know this blows away most if not all the competition on Beeradvocate.com ratings for the style.

FYI, this stuff is quite expensive
I got a pint (16 ounces) for $8 and some change
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Post 31 Oct 2014, 11:31 pm

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http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf/20 ... 14_an.html

"Fireball, a cinnamon flavored whisky that has rallied in the last few years to replace Jägermeister as the default shot for college kids and/or people who have lost their sense of taste in tragic pizza accidents, was recalled recently in several European countries because the beverage contained too much of a chemical used in non-toxic antifreeze.

Finland, Sweden, and Norway have recalled all bottles of Fireball whisky on the shelves over their amount of sweetening ingredient, propylene glycol."
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Post 06 Nov 2014, 6:51 pm

Kilt Flasher Scotch Ale from Devil's Backbone. I am liking this one a lot. I can't say it's as good as Founder's Scotch Ale but close. Smooth & malty with some booziness.

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Post 07 Nov 2014, 1:37 pm

One of my seasonal favorites, and I look forwards to the new art each year on their products.
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Guess it's good this one wasn't kilts wide open.
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Post 10 Nov 2014, 6:32 pm

Haven't tried any winter ales yet. I think I need snow for that.

Another scotch ale today. King's Mountain from Heritage Brewery in Manassas, VA, a very small micro-brew that distributes locally.

Another good ale, especially if you like the alcohol hidden. I don't taste it at all, unlike the previous two scotch ales I tried. Very smooth & malty although the flavors are not quite pronounced enough.

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Post 02 Dec 2014, 12:12 pm

A couple gems discovered over the weekend...

First, I know we have a lot of IPA lovers here, wow did I have a real good one.
"game night" at my neighbors on Saturday he had bought a sampler pack of beers from Smuttynose (New Hampshire) and he dislikes IPA's I dislike the Porters and Stouts, what a perfect pair we make!?
I went right for their supposed flagship IPA, "Finest Kind"
Before even tasting it I had a citrusy grapefruit aroma hit my nose, And that grapefruit flavor came through in spades in taste! Wow, this was really awesome stuff!

Very hoppy, citrusy armoma
nice golden color
Crisp and smooth with that hard hitting citrus/grapefruit taste
I highly recommend to IPA lovers!

To those who do not like IPA's STAY AWAY, this is not for you.
That includes randy of course and speaking of him...
While this had a nice grapefruit taste it is not a flavored beer, no grapefruits were harmed in the production of this brew! The taste comes from the hops!

The second "find" (speaking of "Flavored Beers")
I am no big fan of Blue Moon, it's not exactly bad on the whole but ...meh, it's fair
Beats Bud and it's sister Coors and is nothing special.
Wellll, my brother in law bought me a sampler case to thank me for having him over our house over the holidays. Again, no fan, but I will drink almost anything...

Among the winter samples was one called "Cinnamon Horchata"
Now this one IS a flavored beer. I am generally not a fan of most flavored beers (Pumpkin being one exception). This one was a big shock to me, it was very different and surprisingly good!
It's not for everyone, it's also not a "session beer" to drink one after another but for that one off "dessert beer" it hit a special place for me.
The aroma was full of cinnamon and kind of pleasing, almost like a scented candle (weird huh?)
Then the taste can you say Cinnamon? maybe some vanilla? some pepper maybe? It was quite sweet and dessert-like. Well worth a try but do know this is a flavored specialty beer and don't try to compare to your favorite standard fare, think of it as a unique oddity and you may also be quite happily surprised?
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Post 13 Dec 2014, 5:24 pm

Excellent beer poster https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0211/ ... f.jpg?8482
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Post 16 Dec 2014, 5:43 pm

At the end of the day you're still looking at a can, but...
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2 ... llery.html