The OFFICIAL Craft Beer Thread

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Mar 24, 2016 3:00 pm

I might be different because I like crowds when I'm solo. Solo with only a few other people there makes me feel weird.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Mar 24, 2016 3:24 pm

A_B wrote:I am five beers from 500 unique on Untappd. You guys tell me which of those six is the best and it will be #500!

Oskar Blues is the only one I've tried. Wasn't impressed with the DuClaw beers I've tried.

travzilla · Post by **travzilla** » Thu Mar 24, 2016 9:41 pm

The Sybian wrote: Never been, but Ithaca Beer Co. does tours. Their Flower Power IPA is really good, never had anything else, though. Southern Tier must have tours, and would probably be a good one. You have Ommegang in Cooperstown, too. The Finger Lakes area has a lot of wineries, but it is kind of early in the year for that. If you are taking your time, avoid I-90, the NYS Thruway. It is the second most boring road to drive on, next to the QEW.

Thanks Syb. Ommegang in Cooperstown looks like it will work. Does tours on weekdays and is about the right distance for a place to stop on the road trip (destination: Nova Scotia).

Sabo wrote: If you're coming to Cleveland, there are a couple of local breweries you can try.

- Great Lakes Brewing Co. is the largest and most well known. They have a brew pub in Ohio City, which is just west of downtown. Ohio City is one of the best places for dining and drinking in the city. If you're there during the day, you can also stop by West Side Market, which is the oldest market in the city. In addition to Great Lakes Brewing Co., Ohio City is also the home to Market Garden Brewery and Nano Brew. I've never been to Nano Brew, but Market Garden and Great Lakes are worth visits.

- If you're coming from the west on I-90, you can check out Fat Heads Brewing in North Olmsted. They make a ton of beers, and they also offer a lot of craft beers from around the state. The food is pretty good too, and the sandwiches are massive.

- You can also head down south a little bit to The Brew Kettle. Mrs. Sabo and I go here for lunch or dinner every so often. If you like flavored stouts, get the Kitka stout, which has coconut and chocolate flavors.

As for around Progressive Field, there are several bars and restaurants. I'd recommend the Winking Lizard, which has a lot of taps and some pretty good wings. Panini's is a local sandwich shop chain, and a lot of the locals like it, but I'm not a fan. If you want to have fine dining before the game, go to one of the many restaurants on East Fourth Street. Celebrity chef Michael Symon has a restaurant there called Lola's, and The Greenhouse Tavern is regarded by many to be the best restaurant in the city. All of these places are within a 10 minute walk of the stadium.

Oh, and one tip about attending the Indians game in early April ... dress VERY warmly. At best, the temps will be in the mid-40s, but it will feel colder than that because Lake Erie's water temperature will be colder than the air. As a rule of thumb, downtown Cleveland feels about 10 degrees colder than the announced temperature, and it gets worse when the wind starts blowing off the lake.

Let me know if you have other questions about your trip to Cleveland.

Definitely think we'll try to spend some time in Ohio City for a few hours before the game, and stop in at Great Lakes based on all the love here. Googles says I can park in Ohio City and there's a free shuttle to the stadium, So I'm leaning towards that.
That's probably all we'll have time for, only gonna be in Cleveland for about 16 hours total.
Good to know about the temperature thing. Long range forecast looks cold, so we'll probably have our winter stuff with us anyway, and most likely pretty buzzed by sundown.
Left or Right field bleachers?

Post by **Sabo** » Thu Mar 24, 2016 10:14 pm

travzilla wrote:Definitely think we'll try to spend some time in Ohio City for a few hours before the game, and stop in at Great Lakes based on all the love here. Googles says I can park in Ohio City and there's a free shuttle to the stadium, So I'm leaning towards that.
That's probably all we'll have time for, only gonna be in Cleveland for about 16 hours total.
Good to know about the temperature thing. Long range forecast looks cold, so we'll probably have our winter stuff with us anyway, and most likely pretty buzzed by sundown.
Left or Right field bleachers?

There are bleachers in left field, but standard seats in right and center. I'd recommend the right field seats. They're more comfortable than the bleachers, the food options in right field are MUCH better than left field and you'll be able to see the scoreboard in left field. Also, there's a guy who sits in the last row of the left field bleachers who bangs a drum whenever the Indians have runners in scoring position, and the banging has been known to annoy some people. I don't mind it, but if a banging drum might annoy you, I'd definitely go to right field.

You might want to consider getting a ticket for The Corner, which is a standing-room only ticket but the ticket price includes one beer. I've never been to The Corner, but I've heard it's a good time. Either way, there should be plenty of tickets available because it's an early April game and the Indians fan base sucks (yes, I will admit that). Instead of sitting tight in right field, you might want to walk around the stadium just to see the different angles and then find an empty seat. Trust me, there will be plenty of them (which is a shame, because the Indians could be pretty good this year and Progressive Field is a pretty nice stadium).

I'm willing to head down to Ohio City and meet you for a beer if you're interested. I live about 15-20 minutes from Ohio City, so it's no big deal for me to head down there. I will warn you that parking spaces in Ohio City can be hard to find, but if you can find a park-and-ride shuttle to the game, you're set.

Let me know if you have other questions about Cleveland.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Fri Mar 25, 2016 7:37 pm

That Oskar Blues ipa was strong. Great standard ipa.

He conways is really good too. New holland cabin fever was meh. Sour was pretty goood. Neon gypsy was really good. At least as good as the Oskar Blues.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Fri Mar 25, 2016 11:54 pm

Met PDX and GoodKarma for a beer at a beerhall in Boulder last night. Have to say the Heady Topper GK brought me from home was very very tasty.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Sat Mar 26, 2016 8:17 pm

travzilla wrote:Ommegang in Cooperstown looks like it will work. Does tours on weekdays and is about the right distance for a place to stop on the road trip (destination: Nova Scotia).

Let me know how the tour is if you go. Planning on going to Cooperstown this summer. Tried Ommegang's Grains of Truth last night. It is the first Bière de Garde I've tried, so nothing to compare it to. Made with Barley, rye, wheat and oats. Definitely a Belgian taste to it, probably the yeast. Not my style, but I'd definitely drink this again.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Mar 26, 2016 8:40 pm

So Syb, did you try your own yet?

GoodKarma · Post by **GoodKarma** » Sun Mar 27, 2016 8:51 am

Rush2112 wrote:Met PDX and GoodKarma for a beer at a beerhall in Boulder last night. Have to say the Heady Topper GK brought me from home was very very tasty.

I'm glad the quality survived the trip...it was a challengemto keep it cold.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Mon Mar 28, 2016 1:02 am

Had a Codename: Superfan from Odd13 in Lafayette tonight. Stellar IPA

I also really like the East Coast Transplant DIPA from New Image in Arvada.

CO IPAs don't get the national hype, but there are some beers on par, or better than the big boys here.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Mar 28, 2016 10:15 am

rass wrote:So Syb, did you try your own yet?

Not yet. Reading some Homebrew forums, consensus is IPAs need 3-6 weeks in bottle. Probably this weekend I'll give it a shot.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Tue Mar 29, 2016 6:56 am

like you need a reason...
http://www.bicycling.com/food/nutrition ... drink-beer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Apr 04, 2016 10:19 pm

I fell off the wagon and bough beer today. Where do I turn in my 3 week coin? I was doing so well, even wandered through my favorite stores without succumbing to temptation of new and exotic beers. Then I get an e-mail update from beer menus saying BuyRite has Founders KBS. I specifically vowed not to look for KBS, I didn't check websites or forums for updates. I kept my vow not to call this store or any others, but I took the drive, got a bottle, and couldn't pass up the Stone Enjoy After or this beauty:

I mean it's Westbrook! It's called Siberian, Black Magic, and Panther! How could I not buy it, right? I don't think it is barrel aged, just too lazy to get an accurate image.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Apr 05, 2016 8:49 am

Really looking forward to your review of how it tastes, coming in November 2018.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Tue Apr 05, 2016 9:50 am

Nice snifter.

rass · Post by **rass** » Fri Apr 08, 2016 6:02 pm

The Sybian wrote:
rass wrote:So Syb, did you try your own yet?
Not yet. Reading some Homebrew forums, consensus is IPAs need 3-6 weeks in bottle. Probably this weekend I'll give it a shot.

Pretty, pretty good, man.

I could have sworn you posted that you tried it, but I guess not? Or a different thread?

I'll just say what I may have imagined you said: I wouldn't be upset if I had spent money on this beer.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Sat Apr 09, 2016 8:05 pm

rass wrote:
The Sybian wrote:
rass wrote:So Syb, did you try your own yet?
Not yet. Reading some Homebrew forums, consensus is IPAs need 3-6 weeks in bottle. Probably this weekend I'll give it a shot.
Pretty, pretty good, man.

I could have sworn you posted that you tried it, but I guess not? Or a different thread?

I'll just say what I may have imagined you said: I wouldn't be upset if I had spent money on this beer.

Thanks. I think I just PMed that. I'm happy with it as a first attempt. Maybe Rush can weigh in, but the initial pour has a very thick head that doesn't dissipate. After removing the initial head, it poured normal with a slight head. I bottled in bombers, and the last quarter of the bottle is low in carbonation.

Biggest issue was straining the hops when racking from the fermenter to the bottling bucket, and again when bottling. The last 3 inches of the bottles aren't good. No solid bits of hops, but the color starts getting green due to the hop sediment in the bottle. I only sampled and given away the first bottles. The last couple bottles are probably going to be entirely hop loaded like the the bottom of the early bottles.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Apr 09, 2016 10:20 pm

Oh yeah...PM.

I did notice the head on the first pour, too.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Sun Apr 10, 2016 12:09 am

Hit up WeldWorks the best new brewery in the country according to the official newspaper of the swamp (USAToday for you new folks) had the Juicy Bits IPA (a east coast style) and the coconut variant of their medianoche stout. Both really fucking stellar.

I'd send some out to y'all but most went to the beer nerds this morning (I got there at 4.30 and 2 of the 5 variants were already gone, tapped at noon.)

rass · Post by **rass** » Sun Apr 10, 2016 8:56 am

And, do you want your bottle back Syb?

I'd love to set it aside and argue with my wife about every time she see it until the next time I see you. In all seriousness.

cerrano · Post by **cerrano** » Sun Apr 10, 2016 1:44 pm

The Sybian wrote:
rass wrote:
The Sybian wrote:
rass wrote:So Syb, did you try your own yet?
Not yet. Reading some Homebrew forums, consensus is IPAs need 3-6 weeks in bottle. Probably this weekend I'll give it a shot.
Pretty, pretty good, man.

I could have sworn you posted that you tried it, but I guess not? Or a different thread?

I'll just say what I may have imagined you said: I wouldn't be upset if I had spent money on this beer.
Thanks. I think I just PMed that. I'm happy with it as a first attempt. Maybe Rush can weigh in, but the initial pour has a very thick head that doesn't dissipate. After removing the initial head, it poured normal with a slight head. I bottled in bombers, and the last quarter of the bottle is low in carbonation.

Biggest issue was straining the hops when racking from the fermenter to the bottling bucket, and again when bottling. The last 3 inches of the bottles aren't good. No solid bits of hops, but the color starts getting green due to the hop sediment in the bottle. I only sampled and given away the first bottles. The last couple bottles are probably going to be entirely hop loaded like the the bottom of the early bottles.

Think today will be the day i open up this bad boy. Masters Sunday and all. Still beating a rented Moscow Mule at the moment

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Sun Apr 10, 2016 8:47 pm

rass wrote:And, do you want your bottle back Syb?

I'd love to set it aside and argue with my wife about every time she see it until the next time I see you. In all seriousness.

No need to start a fight over a bottle.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:34 pm

Virginia's Devils Backbone was bought by Anheuser-Busch. Will join the high end line wiht Breckenridge, Four Peaks, Golden Road, Elysian, 10 Barrel, Blue Point and goose island

http://allaboutbeer.com/news/devils-bac ... ser-busch/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sat Apr 16, 2016 12:11 pm

Southern Tier is opening a brewpub in Pittsburgh. Great location, between the baseball and football stadiums. Gamedays should be interesting, with Yinzers drunk on $9 Iron Cities staggering in.

I'm surprised that this isn't more common. I know that a lot of brewing companies have opened second breweries in recent years: Sierra Nevada, Oskar Blues, Lagunitias, etc. Hell, Stone opened a brewery in Germany. But what would the reaction be if those companies opened a chain of brewpubs across the country? You would think that somebody like Dogfish Head could probably pull it off, right?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Sat Apr 16, 2016 4:01 pm

I'm in southern Indiana and there's a liquor store that's supposed to have some crazy amounts of beer. I'm heading here in a few. Heard rumors yesterday that there was some zombie dust bottles trickling out but I am not optimistic.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Sat Apr 16, 2016 8:31 pm

Mr. D (and everyone else),here is your chance to crowd fund a new and innovative brewery!

The first beer, a sour ale, made with the "feminine essence." And by feminine essence, they mean bacteria taken from a vaginal swab. Yes, they are making a sour ale using vaginal bacteria. Personally, I would opt for harvesting a yeast infected vag for fermentation yeast. Maybe that can be my next homebrew attempt. I'm think I'll slip the wife antibiotics to fertilize the terroir.

For a mere 10,000 Euro, they will send you a 60 bottle batch of beer made with your girlfriend's vaginal bacteria. They specified GF instead of wife, because if you are into this, no way you have a wife who isn't buried under the basement. I would love to here the conversation of a guy asking his girlfriend for a swab. The site says this may require a visit to a gynecologist in Poland or Germany.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Sat Apr 16, 2016 9:45 pm

I'll take a case.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 6:38 pm

No zombie dust but got four new beers to try out three from three floyds. Being in Indiana had its advantages.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 7:02 pm

A_B wrote:No zombie dust but got four new beers to try out three from three floyds. Being in Indiana had its advantages.

Beer, unlocked garages and free lawn equipment?

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 9:26 pm

rass wrote:
A_B wrote:No zombie dust but got four new beers to try out three from three floyds. Being in Indiana had its advantages.
Beer, unlocked garages and free lawn equipment?

Can we get an "exalt" button up in here?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 6:36 am

So what am I missing? Did BSF or Duff have some shit stolen?

rass · Post by **rass** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 6:51 am

Yeah (BSF). That was the second time I sort of made light of it, and I feel a little bad about it this morning. Sorry man!

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:33 am

My neighbor gave me a big jar of his home-brew yesterday. American Amber Ale, he called it. It was damned good.

After reading about Sybian's home-brew adventures, and having tasted this, I'm considering it now, too.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 10:09 am

rass wrote:Yeah (BSF). That was the second time I sort of made light of it, and I feel a little bad about it this morning. Sorry man!

Goddamn. That was good. At least made me laugh.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 10:39 am

sancarlos wrote:My neighbor gave me a big jar of his home-brew yesterday. American Amber Ale, he called it. It was damned good.

After reading about Sybian's home-brew adventures, and having tasted this, I'm considering it now, too.

Go for it, it's a lot of fun. I read several books about the process, and it is fascinating stuff. I went on a "tour" of a small local brewery (Climax, for the Jerseyites), and when they explained their process, I could understand it on another level. The two books I liked best separated sections, starting with a basic how-to for the first time brewer. They both say it's going to seem confusing and complicated, but once you go through the process once, it all makes sense and really isn't very complicated. Then they get into more detail on finer points to reduce your risk of contamination and improve flavor. Then more advanced stuff, like brewing with grain, rather than a premade malt extract. Then deeply scientific stuff about the chemical process of grain enzymes breaking down into sugar, the attributes of 2-row vs. 6-row barley, hop breeding to create new hop varieties... These were the two best I looked through.

Joy of Home Brewing, Charlie Papazian. Charlie is considered the Godfather of modern homebrewing, and was the founder of the Association of Brewers, the Great American Beer Festival, and a bunch of other stuff.

How to Brew

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed Apr 20, 2016 3:50 pm

I finally tried a Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. The rare IPA that recommends aging. The side of the bottle says a decade or more. I think it was 1 year old, but I forgot most of what happened before I drank it. I knew it was high ABV, but the bottle didn't say. For some reason, DFH only lists the beer at between 15-20%. It was my second beer of the evening, and I am so glad I didn't open a third. The buzz kept growing for a couple hours. In an ironic(?) twist, the next day I got an e-mail from a beer store that they just got 120 Minute, but by request only.

People either love or hate this beer. I'm in the love column, but completely understand why so many hate the beer. It tastes a lot more like a barley wine than an IPA. The malt is strong, the beer is thick. It reminded me of my old favorite, Samichlaus, but a much stronger hop profile and carbonation. Not as thick, either.

I'm thinking I drink one fresh and age the other 2 I picked up. I have a 2 yo bottle on hand that I am going to keep for several more years to see what happens. At some point, I'll end up dying with a collection of beers I am saving for later.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 8:36 pm

Didn't pick up he boulevard ginger lemon when I saw it this week figuring the local krogers all had it but that was a whiff. Did get the deschutes session hop slice iPad. Solid yard beer. Used to go with light beers, now go with light iPas. It happens.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Apr 26, 2016 7:30 pm

Three floyds dreadnaught imperial iPa is great. 9.5, 100 ibu.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed Apr 27, 2016 9:54 am

A_B wrote:Three floyds dreadnaught imperial iPa is great. 9.5, 100 ibu.

Amongst the top breweries I wish I could get. I doubt they will hit NJ anytime soon, if ever.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Apr 27, 2016 9:59 am

That beer is probably one of my top 5 beers. I also happen to be heading back to southern indiana this weekend. They are fresking expensive but so so so good. Had one last weekend that was a miss...but it was a collaboration brew...Crescendo of Doom.