
BigDTBone |

houstonderek wrote:I guess the wizard brought the IPA?Probably he was hoping to undermine our credibility. Intentionally serving IPA to discerning guests is only a step below ordering PBR at bars. When I end up with some in a variety pack, I end up saving it for Mrs Gersen's younger cousins.
There was a guy in my college apartment complex known for crashing parties with a case of keystone and then drinking the good stuff in your fridge.
He got away with it for a good 2 years before he was infamous enough to cause himself trouble.

Kirth Gersen |
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How can you not like IPA?
Overly-glib answer: I'm not a trendy hipster.
But, no, seriously, I don't mind the style as it used to be -- Yard's IPA is a great example of one I actually enjoy. It's got a lot of hops, but it would still be a very good beer if you took them away. What I despise is the more recent trend of "hop blasting" to the point where there's no attempt at balance and the hop-water "beer" just tastes like some over-eager kid brewer is trying to win a bet.

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Pan wrote:How can you not like IPA?Overly-glib answer: I'm not a trendy hipster.
But, no, seriously, I don't mind the style as it used to be -- Yard's IPA is a great example of one I actually enjoy. It's got a lot of hops, but it would still be a very good beer if you took them away. What I despise is the more recent trend of "hop blasting" to the point where there's no attempt at balance and the hop-water "beer" just tastes like some over-eager kid brewer is trying to win a bet.
Ah ok yeah I can certainly see that. There is also a trend on right now to turn every style of beer into an IPA. I have seen Rye-PA, White-PA, Red-PA, etc. I don't mind the style at all but things have gotten to ridiculous proportions. Now that you mention it I have been shying away from IPAs at the pubs a bit since its difficult to find a decently balanced one.

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Recent discovery: Old Chub stout. Tastes a bit like Guinness with a sweeter aftertaste and a kick to the head with its 8.7 ABV. Found this beer at GenCon, drank WAY too much of it at Claddagh, and recently found it on sale at a liquor store nearby. This could be dangerous.
Also tried the Paulaner Oktoberfest offering, a duppelbock. Another strong one (8-something), but doesn't advertise its alcoholic nature. I quite enjoyed it.

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You're absolutely right, MEL. Since it's a darker beer that has a head like Guinness and is sometimes sold in cans with nitro to induce that head, I just made the mistake of thinking it was a stout.
Whatever it is, it's delicious, and I'll be bringing a six-pack to a friend's party on Sunday.

BigNorseWolf |

Grabbed a make your own sixpack of hard ciders the other day
Hornsbys Hard amber: you're supposed to take your socks off before you squash the apples. Tasted like someone had set them on fire.
Woodchuck hard cider with the orange label: Pretty good. I think this is supposed to be the "Dry" tasting one.
Strong bow: pretty good
Strongbow Apple and Honey: mmm.. sweet. Tastes sweet, feels like you're drinking water with just a little bite. I think i could down this by the gallon.

Mythic Evil Lincoln |

Woodchuck hard cider with the orange label: Pretty good. I think this is supposed to be the "Dry" tasting one.
I suspect you've happened upon the 802 (some regions label it as "Dark and Dry") which is in my opinion one of the best ciders out there.
Maybe it's because it's almost like a beer. I've noticed that my friends who drink cider because they don't like beer don't like this one. Actually, that's how I found it -- they drink the ones that taste like candy and leave the 802 for me.
802 is the area code where the cidermill is in Vermont, I believe.
Good stuff, and off all of the woodchuck ciders, regrettably the hardest to find. If I could find whole six packs I would partake.

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Really? It's my favorite cider. Most ciders are a bit sweet, making them dessert drinks. Strongbow is more apply than Green Apple Jolly Rancher apply, and I think it's a bit more complex than say Woodchuck or Angry Orchard. (However, Angry Orchard's cinnamon apple cider is pretty damn good.)
Also, try Ace of Spades' Pear Cider. That's crisp and delicious. Best pear cider I've ever had. (Of course, I've only found two, so I'm not sure how strong that claim is...)

Kirth Gersen |

I assume ADH is a movie theater that serves alcoholic beverages? We have them here in the twin cities but the price is so outrageous I am not willing to spend the money. I'll just catch a drink after the show.
Alamo Drafthouse had alcoholic beverages and food, but also had an awesome movie-geek vibe that other places lacked, with pre-show screening of all kinds of classic and/or horrible related TV and movie spots. You never needed to worry about obnoxious kids (no children under 6 and no unaccompanied minors at all), and they were ruthless in expelling cell phone abusers. It was an oasis of pure awesome amidst the general rut of theatres.
Tickets were comparable in price to regular theatres, because they made a lot of revenue from beer sales.
Minnesota looks to be Alamo-less, but there's apparently one in Kalamazoo, MI.

Fabius Maximus |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Really? It's my favorite cider. Most ciders are a bit sweet, making them dessert drinks. Strongbow is more apply than Green Apple Jolly Rancher apply, and I think it's a bit more complex than say Woodchuck or Angry Orchard. (However, Angry Orchard's cinnamon apple cider is pretty damn good.)
Also, try Ace of Spades' Pear Cider. That's crisp and delicious. Best pear cider I've ever had. (Of course, I've only found two, so I'm not sure how strong that claim is...)
I agree that most ciders are too sweet. I'm partial to Bulmers (Magners outside of Ireland; don't drink the English swill). I think it's more intensely flavoured than Strongbow while having a nice balance between sweetness and tartness.
We don't get any US ciders in old Europe, sadly. I heard some good stuff about them. As for pear cider: I liked Koppaberg's. Their apple cider tastes very artificial, though.

Kirth Gersen |

That looks like the parkway theater here in town
Their advertisement for "cult classics" and "special programming" makes me think so.

Kirth Gersen |

Ok the vibe you mention makes it sound awesome. The alcohol selling theaters I know of are like regular theaters so no cool vibe at all. Just really expensive drinks and movie tickets.
Yeah, I've been to ones like you're describing, and am not a big fan. Alamo was a whole different thing; it's one of the things I miss most about Texas (along with restaurants, feeder roads, grocery stores, availability of liquor, and warm weather, to name a few...).

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I have just returned from Oxford Beer Festival, which I enjoyed very much.
The highlight was Gallipoli (a fantastic stout/porter with really rich flavours), from a tiny local brewery. Blue Sky was also excellent (very fresh and crisp) and so was Stormcrow (dark and licquorice,with extra points for a LoTR reference).
I wish all of my beer was fresh from the cask!

Limeylongears |

Black Sheep Brewery's Riggwelter'
To be honest, I'm not normally all that keen on Black Sheep's stuff, but this is alright, if not as dark & bitter as I might like. Easy to find, too, so will make a good standby.

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Pan wrote:Ok the vibe you mention makes it sound awesome. The alcohol selling theaters I know of are like regular theaters so no cool vibe at all. Just really expensive drinks and movie tickets.Yeah, I've been to ones like you're describing, and am not a big fan. Alamo was a whole different thing; it's one of the things I miss most about Texas (along with restaurants, feeder roads, grocery stores, availability of liquor, and warm weather, to name a few...).
Considering how much you b+%~!ed about Houston and Texas quite a bit of the time you were here, this is music to my ears ;-)
Edit: why does Apple's auto correct suck so badly?

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Over the last week or so, I've managed to get a number of people hooked on Abita Turbodog.
I have actually toured their brewery, way back in '95, when they were a mere pup of a thing. Got plastered on the very first batch of their Christmas ale EVER the Thanksgiving weekend I spent in New Orleans. A friend of a friend was the night watchman/brew keep an eye on-er guy, so he let us in after hours and we partied like it was going out of style.
Good times.

aeglos |

Misroi wrote:Really? It's my favorite cider. Most ciders are a bit sweet, making them dessert drinks. Strongbow is more apply than Green Apple Jolly Rancher apply, and I think it's a bit more complex than say Woodchuck or Angry Orchard. (However, Angry Orchard's cinnamon apple cider is pretty damn good.)
Also, try Ace of Spades' Pear Cider. That's crisp and delicious. Best pear cider I've ever had. (Of course, I've only found two, so I'm not sure how strong that claim is...)
I agree that most ciders are too sweet. I'm partial to Bulmers (Magners outside of Ireland; don't drink the English swill). I think it's more intensely flavoured than Strongbow while having a nice balance between sweetness and tartness.
We don't get any US ciders in old Europe, sadly. I heard some good stuff about them. As for pear cider: I liked Koppaberg's. Their apple cider tastes very artificial, though.
I looove irish Bulmers

Kirth Gersen |

There is an Abita I haven't tried yet, "Pecan Harvest." I like pecans, but I don't know if I like beer that tastes like pecans...
I often travel to MS for work. There's a pub in Columbus, MS that serves a very nice pecan beer as the house special draft. I was highly skeptical, but the stuff was quite tasty.
In my younger days, I was contemptuous of anything not brewed in accordance with the 1516 Rheinheitsgebot. As I get older, I find that I'm a lot more accepting of different ingredients, styles, and so on.

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Bottling my bourbon barrel porter tonight. Then I need to start thinking about what's next, any ideas?
I also scored huge this weekend. This woman I work with had a roommate a few years ago. I guess they had a falling out and the roommate took off but left some things he never came back for. She told me it was beer bottles I might be interested in.
12 quart bottles with wired bottle toppers
3 empty growlers for my favorite local microbrew (yay return deposit!)
2 6 gallon primary carboys
1 5 gallon secondary carboy
Yeah I was interested :)