Alcohol

[Mal]

Vecha, do something like me...

Christmas beer time! A quick note, mines (2012) is just 11% Alc/Vol though. Pictured above should be 2010 and if you haven't noticed, it is barrel aged. This is very different. I really pick up on the coffee and bourbon flavors, though I had to look up this beer to pin it down since it was such a flavor shock. Another thing is the really smooth creaminess. Lastly, I bare notice any hop notes, at least not to my palette. While this beer is pricey at about $12 per bottle, I have to say, its something I would highly recommend for anybody to try (Non-beer drinkers included to give a shock to their system). Do follow their suggestion on having it with some chocolate dessert or even some fruit that would go with chocolate. I think strawberries would work nicely.

 

For comparison, I tried Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout. That one has a sharper note and you can notice the hops.

 

Lastly... surprise, its by Firestone Walkers as well (You can guess by the city/town it came from). Its just their other beer line that they don't seem to advertise much about. After trying this, I'm eying the Anniversary Ales I have and I really look forward in trying them in the future. Hell, I would like to get another bottle to try it this year so I can compare it. I will be trying to get another of Black Xantus to ship to my brother.

 

Edit: Seems like Imgur is being funny. Also, my life currently:

Edited December 25, 2012 by MaliciousH

[deanb]

 

Bought myself two bottles of Riggwelter. £1.95 a pop which ain't too bad. "riggwelter" is a term for a sheep that's fallen on it's back and can't get back over again. Most likely a reference to the fact it's Black Sheeps strongest brew. Also they put it in nearly everything, so riggwelter christmas cake, riggwelter gravy, riggwelter icecream, and so on. It's quite sweet (as far as ales go, obviously not sugary sweet like alcopops).

 

Here's their page with various info and such.

[P4: Gritty Reboot]

I love dark ales. Looks great.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

I drank some Laphroiag Quarter Cask and some Old Rasputin last night and didn't have to pay for a thing!

[Mal]

I have come under the realization that someday I will have to tour the country for a year to try out all the exceptional beers the country have to offer.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

You can apparently make a tasty beer from sugar puffs.

 

"The result is a light but full-flavoured bitter, with a clean hoppy tang and yes, I fancy I can taste the Sugar Puffs. A perfect breakfast beer."

[Mal]

Lagunitas Sucks is a damn good beer. Smells so fantastic and goes down smooth with tons of layers. If I was a girl, I would want this as my scent. Lagunitas have been impressing me a ton since I tried their IPA a month or two back. Yes, their IPAs and such are bitter but they have so much other things going on to balance it all out. They also makes a fantastic imperial stout.

 

Speaking of which, I got myself a 2011 Parabola.

 

With that, I think I'll go broke.

[Mal]

Vodka is water. Never knew Russians can be right... okay, I'm not drinking tons of it (1/8 of a tumbler full) but it really doesn't burn now... then again maybe being Absolute vodka may have to do with it.

 

And now this:

[TheMightyEthan]

Yeah, if you get a good Vodka it can go down so fucking smooth it's amazing.  Absolut is one of the smoothest I've ever had, and it's not even that expensive.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

Oh man, yeah, Absolut isn't even that smooth compared to the fancy shit. Vodka is just that easy to drink.

[TheMightyEthan]

I had one expensive vodka, I wanna say Grey Goose but I'm not sure on that, that was way more expensive than Absolut but also way harsher to drink.

[Waldorf and Statler]

Any confirmation on whether Belgium has the best beers? I keep hearing this and I know it's subjective but like I said, I keep hearing it. If it is true I'd love to go to the country with the best beer on a beer-fest run. WHO'S WITH ME?

[Mr. GOH!]

Find out for yourself. Do a massive beer tour of Belgium, Holland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. I guarantee you'll have fun.

[Waldorf and Statler]

But I want you to come with me. Without you it's just a beer-run of a lonely guy. But with you along for the ride it turns into a EuGOH Trip

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

Any confirmation on whether Belgium has the best beers? I keep hearing this and I know it's subjective but like I said, I keep hearing it. If it is true I'd love to go to the country with the best beer on a beer-fest run. WHO'S WITH ME?

 

America has the best beers. Come at me bro.

 

No but seriously, America has an insane amount of breweries, and covers just about every style possible. Belgian beer is great but due to the popularity of making your own beer turning into a huge amount of microbreweries popping up America has so much stuff that it's impossible to keep up with.

 

Don't worry about the country. Just worry about the beer.

[Waldorf and Statler]

Well I love American microbrewery beers and have them whenever possible. And it'd probably be cheaper on my Wally Wallet.

Edited March 1, 2013 by Waldorf And Statler

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

I would recommend trying some Belgian beers when you can though. Typically expensive but usually worth splurging on now and then.

[Mal]

The United States does indeed have the best beers in the world. Our breweries are not bounded by tradition so they can modify and experiment with different styles (Though some of them don’t really make much sense). Europe is really bounded by tradition. Hell, look at some of the old laws some countries had on what a beer is.

But yeah, to additionally echo FDS, judge beer individually. Don't worry where they came from since even the more celebrated breweries can strike out. Consistency is actually a problem with beers though not as much as wines. Consistency is really one of the few things I can give to macrobreweries.

 

Note... I haven't tried most mainland Europe beers yet. Cost being the main issue.

[deanb]

I think us Europeans are happy with keeping the traditional ways of not watering down the beer. But seriously, what traditions are we beholden too? Pubs round here sell a local strawberry beer, pretty untraditional. I'm pretty sure we've had the discussion of "microbreweries aren't some america only thing" discussion before now.

[Mal]

Its what I feel from across the pond. You guys feels so well established. Some styles also seems locked into place. The brewers over at the US seem to fuck around a lot more. Though I will say that we don't exactly get most of your beers, especially over here on the West Coast. We get your major beers. (I think Samuel Smith's is one. I wasn't impressed but it was good). If you have any microbrews, shoot their names up. It might be hard but its not impossible to trade with an European... I think. American micros seem to be quite in high demand in Europe (Not to mention different regions of the States).

 

Anyways... Stone's Enjoy By _______ is good. It has a date clearly labeled for when you should drink by. The sooner the better since hoppy flavor diminish rather rapidly after bottling. I had not enjoyed a Stone's brew until now. I LOVE IT. $10 a bomber (22 oz). 9.4%. If you see one, grab one since it WILL be dumped on 04.02.13. April 2nd for you monsters of old. These guys got to my area on Feb. 27th. So they are pretty damn fresh. At most a week or so old.

 

Concentrating... hard... also I haven't read the older part of the tread so I wouldn't  know. Besides, I'm bit woozy....

Edited March 3, 2013 by MaliciousH

[deanb]

I had to google "Samuel Smiths". It's not a "major beer" Most of the major beers brewed and sold over here are international companies anyway (mainly lagers too; carling, heinikien, carlsberg etc). The biggy, though not technically UK, is Guinness. I think Newcastle Brown Ale gets a fair amount of export too. Probably John Smiths too (since it's shared brewery with Newcastle Brown these days). As for breweries CAMRA reckons there's 1000 in UK, and for some retarded reason they lock the list up in a subscription/book. It's mainly a case of going to local pub, travelling along hte taps until you hit the ones that aren't the aforementioned large international brands. Normally the ones with the funny logos on. They're usually cheaper too

[Waldorf and Statler]

Funny you mention Newcastle I had some of that yesterday as my friend likes it. It wasn't half bad. I'd drink it again if offered to me but if not I might go with a Sapporo or a Shiner. And then in fall season watch out because it's Sam Adams Octoberfest and many Winter Lagers for this bean

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

I think us Europeans are happy with keeping the traditional ways of not watering down the beer. But seriously, what traditions are we beholden too? Pubs round here sell a local strawberry beer, pretty untraditional. I'm pretty sure we've had the discussion of "microbreweries aren't some america only thing" discussion before now.

 

Stuff like this:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot

 

Also just the fact that there's much history means that there's a lot of people who you can afford who are used to one thing but you want to try something else.

 

@Waldorf

 

Sapporo is terrible. It's Japan's piss beer.

[deanb]

I don't think a past German law is what Malicious meant when stating Europe was bound by tradition. Europe not being Germany for one.

 

Also I'm not sure what you're saying with your second paragraph. Because there's lots of history behind the beers of Europe people can't afford to lose customers that want to try something else? That the breweries want you drinking something else?

[Waldorf and Statler]

Sapporo is what I go for if I'm in a restaurant. Basically it's hard to have a bad draft beer. I've always seen it as a japanese shiner. I don't know why people who drink beer need to say everything that's not to their taste is piss.