There are quite a few good breweries here in NC. The competition is fairly stiff, so there's very little room for mediocrity.
I used to live near the Fullsteam Brewery in Durham. They make an unbelievably good porter called Hogwash. It's still one of my favorites. Last year they had an impressive beer that used 8 pounds of black pepper per batch. Weird, but appealing.
Duck Rabbit (Farmville, NC) makes an excellent milk stout.
When I can't get my hands on the good stuff, I'll drink Guinness.
Welcome aboard!
I miss being able to get beer & wine at grocery stores/TJ's/WM/etc.
PA liquor laws suck.
:P I can buy rum, whiskey, and vodka at the local grocery store, because California is chill like that.
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Blech. Samuel Adams Juniper Ale is pretty bad. It tastes like pine trees, and that is not a pleasant flavor.
:P I can buy rum, whiskey, and vodka at the local grocery store, because California is chill like that.I miss being able to get beer & wine at grocery stores/TJ's/WM/etc.
PA liquor laws suck.
I lived in Charleston, SC for a while, and their liquor laws were...different. Their liquor laws forbid stores from selling anything but wine and beer after 7pm. Also, up until about 5 years ago, if you ordered a mixed drink at a bar, the bartender would hand you mini airplane bottles and you'd have to mix your own drink.
I'm from a Florida spring break town, so it was a little weird when I realized that Walmart didn't have a liquor store up there :P
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Sounds like a similar experience from when I moved from New Orleans to Philthadelphia. I went from a city where a bottle of booze might as well be the official city flower, to "what do you mean the grocery stores and gas stations don't sell beer? What, I can only buy wine in big state stores? Beer by the case?"
Thank the gods I got out of that cesspool .
Philly has loosened up a little. The "bottle shop"(technically a bar but retails good beer in smaller quantities at a reasonable cost) has become pretty common. Besides, there are some really good, local brewers, and a fair few bars that can compete with anywhere, ie. The Grey Lodge, Monks, Eulogy...
PA's blue laws are pretty ridiculous...
NJ is better, but still could improve.
One thing Philly has going for it is Yard's Brewing. Finally got my case of Founders' "Ales of the Revolution" last night and cracked a Jefferson's Tavern Ale -- very smooth, and you can taste the honey that went in the recipe, although the beer itself is bitter rather than sweet. I very much look forward to trying the other varieties.
You know, I really want to enjoy Sam Adams, but the Boston lager is a little heavy for me unless I'm drinking it with red meat. I do really love the winter lager, though.
I think my favorite beer lately has been Fat Tire amber ale - it's really smooth and easy to drink.
I feel like the first two have been extremely variable over the past decade. Winter lagers at least have a "good year" or an "off year", but the standard Boston Lager is a total crapshoot. I've definitely had them at a bar or out of a 12-pack and it's been totally sublime, but I've also had long stretches where every one, even fresh bottles or on draft, is like chewing malt.
Fat Tire is solid. That's like all I drank when I was in Seattle.
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Blech. Samuel Adams Juniper Ale is pretty bad. It tastes like pine trees, and that is not a pleasant flavor.
Heh. Steer clear of Gin then.
For this one, Kels, you got exactly what it said on the label. :)
...if you ordered a mixed drink at a bar, the bartender would hand you mini airplane bottles and you'd have to mix your own drink.
Okay, that sounds really annoying but also kind of fun.
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Thank the gods I got out of that cesspool .
Yeah, I just dove into it... but Mrs Gersen's extended family is all here; and, in case my father's health takes a down-turn, it's a much shorter drive there -- and we allowed our affinity for family to outweigh our affinity for alcohol.
It was a close decision, though!
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Philly has loosened up a little. The "bottle shop"(technically a bar but retails good beer in smaller quantities at a reasonable cost) has become pretty common. Besides, there are some really good, local brewers, and a fair few bars that can compete with anywhere, ie. The Grey Lodge, Monks, Eulogy...
Yeah, a few months before I moved, the owner of the beer store around the corner from my house rented out the space next to his store and opened up Bottles, Packs, and Growlers. He had a bar and some limited food, which allowed him to sell singles, etc. And he had a great selection.
In fact, I once read that Philly was considered one of the top cities for beer lovers, and I can damn sure believe it.
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Tonight, however, I'm trying my first new Dogfish Head in forever. Since I moved I hadn't been keeping up with their new stuff, but saw this when I was in the grocery store getting dinner this evening.
It's called Sixty-One: The Continuously-hopped India Pale Ale brewed with Syrah grape must. 6.5% ABV. Got an interesting taste. According to the write-up on their website they got the idea when Sam Calagione mixed some red wine with 60 Minute IPA.
Tonight was Sam Adam's White Christmas. It is supposed to be spiced, but I can't taste any. It takes like the wheat beer it is. Nothing special or memorable, but not horrible either.
Blech. Samuel Adams Juniper Ale is pretty bad. It tastes like pine trees, and that is not a pleasant flavor.Heh. Steer clear of Gin then.
I'll keep that in mind. I'll probably have to try it eventually, Anglophilic boozehead that I am, but I'll be sure to try it in a bar, not buy a bottle.
For this one, Kels, you got exactly what it said on the label. :)
*Shivers* It said "piney character", not "tastes like you bit into a pine needle". I did that to figure out whether my grandmother got a real or fake Christmas tree this year. This beer tasted exactly like that.
Tonight, however, I'm trying my first new Dogfish Head in forever. Since I moved I hadn't been keeping up with their new stuff, but saw this when I was in the grocery store getting dinner this evening.
It's called Sixty-One: The Continuously-hopped India Pale Ale brewed with Syrah grape must. 6.5% ABV. Got an interesting taste. According to the write-up on their website they got the idea when Sam Calagione mixed some red wine with 60 Minute IPA.
If you liked it, try to find Victory Red Thunder. It's a baltic porter aged in red wine barrels.
I think it is better, but I'm always game for another opinion.
Tonight was Sam Adam's White Christmas. It is supposed to be spiced, but I can't taste any. It takes like the wheat beer it is. Nothing special or memorable, but not horrible either.
Really? I had it the other day, and all I could taste was nutmeg & cinnamon. I thought it overpowered the light citrus taste of your typical wheat.
Lobo Negro by Pendernales of Fredericksburg TX is a pretty good black lager at 5.5% ABV.
I've been drinking a Saranac (out of NY) variety pack. Saranac beers are usually pretty decent and the variety packs always have some interesting styles. All have been pretty solid so far.
I went back to the store last night to pick up some Turbodog and Rodenbachs for the holidays and ended up getting a six pack of Widmer Bros. Alchemy Ale. Very good. Years ago, I remember a friend bringing over a 12 pack of Widmer Bros. Hefeweizen and everyone who drank a bottle from it got sick (thinking maybe it gone skunk)- but their Pitch Black IPA is one of my favorites now and the Alchemy Ale is quite good too so I'm really turning around on them. Like the Pitch Black IPA, the Alchemy Ale has got a lot of depth and taste to it.
My first black IPA ever - the Kala (Hindi for black?) from Saltaire Brewery. Very hoppy, very bitter - not really getting the 'black' part of it so far, but perhaps I just need to drink more of it...
Lately I've been picking picking up Long Trail's Limbo IPA; I think it's got a pretty nice flavor, but it's 7.5% ABV, so by the second bottle it's just a really terrific beer, man!. (Yes, I'm a sloppy, affectionate drunk.)
yesterday, at a christmas market in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany they sold "Glühbier" ( Mulled Beer) 0.0
made by Freiberger, they make a good Pilsner.
Glühbier is beer with cherry-juice, cinnemon, sugar and some more spices and heated up
it was not bad but I will stay with mulled wine or hot Applewine as " hot alcoholic winter drink of choice"
yesterday, at a christmas market in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany they sold "Glühbier" ( Mulled Beer) 0.0
made by Freiberger, they make a good Pilsner.
Glühbier is beer with cherry-juice, cinnemon, sugar and some more spices and heated up
That sounds positively disgusting.
Heavy Seas' Loose Cannon Hop3 IPA, tonight.
I just had a "Fiedler Bockbier" a dark Starkbier with 6.1 % from the Ore Mountains
it was quite good
I just had a "Fiedler Bockbier" a dark Starkbier with 6.1 % from the Ore Mountains
it was quite good
Sounds good.
I'm really enjoying, of all things, Bud Light Lime, and watching football with my Dad. I tend to enjoy dark rich stouts, but for some reason I really enjoy BLL after a hard day of yard work and moving heavy objects.
Go figure. :)
Trying the new Dogfish Head. Piercing Pils
Very crisp. I can dig it.
Devil, have you ever had their Peche Festina? I loved it (haven't seen it in a few years, actually, but my local packey just started carrying Dogfish again, so maybe this summer), but everyone I ever tried to share it with told me that it tasted like "Nail polish remover mixed with pickle brine." That's an actual quote; it's a very dry beer.
I have had Festina. I was not a fan. I need to give it another try this summer.
Festina is very sour, and that's a style I struggle with.
I wouldn't say you need to do anything, I was just wondering if you'd tried it. ;)
Last night, I had a bottle of Mint Chocolate Stout brewed by Shipyard (out of Maine). I thought to myself, as a lover of mint, that it could be either really good or really bad...it was really bad. Tasted like stout mixed with spearmint mouth wash. After a little while, I got kind of used to the taste but at first I wasn't sure if I was even going to be able to take another sip. Too bad, really, because Shipyard usually has some pretty good beers.
Had Slumbrew's Yankee Swap on tap tonight. American Strong Ale brewed with maple syrup and aged in rum barrels. Incredibly well balanced and flavorful. Sips more like a fine hard liquor at 12% abv. Highly recommended.
2 more beers I tried on my visit at wifes family in Saxony:
Sternquell Bockbier from Plauen, 6.5%
a bit to sweet for my taste, I much more enjoyed the Fiedler Bockbier
Freibergisch 1863 Jubiläums Pils
a Pilsner to celebrate the 150th birthday of Freiberg Brewery, a good beer
question for German speakers:
how would you translate the taste "herb" or "würzig" into English ???
2 more beers I tried on my visit at wifes family in Saxony:
Sternquell Bockbier from Plauen, 6.5%
a bit to sweet for my taste, I much more enjoyed the Fiedler BockbierFreibergisch 1863 Jubiläums Pils
a Pilsner to celebrate the 150th birthday of Freiberg Brewery, a good beerquestion for German speakers:
how would you translate the taste "herb" or "würzig" into English ???
"Herb" would be "tart", I think.
So long as it's not "gift." :P
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Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer.
Comes in 750ml bottles and is far, far too easy to drink.
Insanity by Weyerbacher
Not for those afraid of bourbon. :)
2 more beers I tried on my visit at wifes family in Saxony:
Sternquell Bockbier from Plauen, 6.5%
a bit to sweet for my taste, I much more enjoyed the Fiedler BockbierFreibergisch 1863 Jubiläums Pils
a Pilsner to celebrate the 150th birthday of Freiberg Brewery, a good beerquestion for German speakers:
how would you translate the taste "herb" or "würzig" into English ???
The way wurzig was explained to me, is that it's spicy, but without the "heat". We have sort of the same thing in English, when we say hot and spicy. So it's spicy, but not hot. No "heat".
Not sure if I'm helping. Maybe hit me up here or with a pm with some specifics.
OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM ANCHOR.
2 more beers I tried on my visit at wifes family in Saxony:
Sternquell Bockbier from Plauen, 6.5%
a bit to sweet for my taste, I much more enjoyed the Fiedler BockbierFreibergisch 1863 Jubiläums Pils
a Pilsner to celebrate the 150th birthday of Freiberg Brewery, a good beerquestion for German speakers:
how would you translate the taste "herb" or "würzig" into English ???
The way wurzig was explained to me, is that it's spicy, but without the "heat". We have sort of the same thing in English, when we say hot and spicy. So it's spicy, but not hot. No "heat".
Not sure if I'm helping. Maybe hit me up here or with a pm with some specifics.
That is a pretty apt description.
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That is a pretty apt description.2 more beers I tried on my visit at wifes family in Saxony:
Sternquell Bockbier from Plauen, 6.5%
a bit to sweet for my taste, I much more enjoyed the Fiedler BockbierFreibergisch 1863 Jubiläums Pils
a Pilsner to celebrate the 150th birthday of Freiberg Brewery, a good beerquestion for German speakers:
how would you translate the taste "herb" or "würzig" into English ???
The way wurzig was explained to me, is that it's spicy, but without the "heat". We have sort of the same thing in English, when we say hot and spicy. So it's spicy, but not hot. No "heat".
Not sure if I'm helping. Maybe hit me up here or with a pm with some specifics.
I agree, it descripes it quite well.
Thank you Magnum CPA
and now everyone knows what "würzig" means and I can in the future just write "würzig" and everyone knows.........and knowing is half the beertle ;-)
Stewart's Root Beer. Not gonna defend it. Its what I like.
