I actually like the white the best. But the blue is pretty awesome too

Yeah it's really smooth. That big bottle is just right. Enough but not too much.

I've never aged beer for more than a few months before, but I might need to find another level of patience. A friend of mine had several left from last Spring, when I was in Omaha last.... I've had a couple of of Bourbon County Stouts that have been fantastic, and I'm drinking an Oak Aged Espresso Yeti right now that's smoothed out from almost all oak to a nice balance of coffee and oak... really damn good.

I've always read great reviews after aging stouts for a year plus and have had the intention of aging a few... I'll definitely be sending one or two to the basement for now on.

had a couple interesting ipas

mikkeller nugget single hope ipa

Good, but not great or particularly interesting. A little thick and malty for my preference. A Euro attempt at an American ipa.
http://thefullpint.com/wp-content/up...single-hop.jpg


New Belgium Fresh Hop IPA

Awesome. The smell/nose is incredible, like hops were dipped in the beer right before you drink it. It smells like you are walking through a forest of pine. Crazy and delicious (and I've never been a big fan of New Belgium).

http://beerpulse.com/wp-content/uplo.../Fresh-Hop.png


I have some Boulevard Double Wide (750ml) to take to a thanksgiving party tomorrow. But wish I had purchased another New Belgium Fresh Hop as well.

happy thanksgiving all

Okay, I will pick up the nbipa from your recommendation. I highly, highly recommend 2XMas from Southern Tier. Got to be one of the smoothest drinking Christmas ales ever. I'm also drinking Mother's 'lil Helper at this moment and enjoying it. Not really a new choice but it's always very drinkable. Saved a little Tank7 and some other stuff I've forgotten for the holiday.

I didn't even know about the 2XMas. Their 2XIPA is one of my favorites.

For some reason, Tank 7 has been available in Georgia for 5 bucks. Not a sale...just 5 bucks. I was going to ask if they had it priced wrong, but just bought it instead.

The New Belgium is not crazy hoppy*. But it is very piny in aroma and taste.

* ok, it is pretty bitter...but the smell kind of distracts you, and i have a high tolerance for bitterness

I picked up some Boulevard Reboot White IPA today, they sold out BBQ here this morning... :(

That New Belgium started good for me, but the last drink gave me the worst bitter beer face I've ever had...

yeah, it is pretty bitter...i was a bit drunk when i opened it, but it works your palette over pretty good

I'd buy all the Tank 7 I could find then. I buy it at 8.99 at my liquor store and 7.99 when Costco has it. Lately I have taken a dislike to NB products. Don't know what's going on with it. Drinking Goose Island Matilda ATM. One of my favorites.

Have a bottle of BBQ for today.

Mothers Fancy Pants is delicious. It tastes like an extra hoppy 80-acre. Therefore, I'll never buy it again at $10 a four-pack, I'd much rather drink 80-acre.

SAMS club has had Tank 7 for $7 the last few weeks.

Gonna have to get a buddy to pick some up for me.

Tell the wife every week when she goes that if it's still 7, pick up a few.

Tell her to get me some. I don't do Sams.

Been on a brew hiatus to shed some lbs, so today was the first I've seen Boulevard's Imperial Stout 2013. I picked up a few for xmas.

On recommendation of a local beer blog, picked up a sixer of Sierra Nevada Celebration.

Yum.

Because of this post, I picked up a six as well - along with a case of Lagunitas Sucks.

Lagunitas is quickly catching Bells as my favorite brewery.

A case of Sucks? This will be a quality month for you.

Yep.

I've been "getting by" with Little Sumptin, but when I saw Sucks available, I had to grab some.

Would have bought more, but at $40 a case....ouch.

Drink the Celebration ale up first, maybe. Celebration Ale is a single IPA whose recipe hasn't changed in 30 years. Sucks is a juicy double IPA.

Which isn't to say anything bad about Celebration Ale. I buy a case of it every year and I'm drinking one as I type this.

I know I'm getting off topic, but Weihenstephaner just makes great beer. Excellent beer in fact. I haven't found one I dislike. However, their Oktoberfest was a bit disappointing, but that is because I was expecting perfection.

So what do you local guys make of this?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/201...-brewerys-tale

When Craft Beer Goes Global: A Kansas City Brewery's Tale

by Frank Morris
December 16, 2013 2:50 AM

from

3 min 29 sec

Boulevard Brewing Co. has become a staple of the Kansas City community since its founding in the late 1980s.

Boulevard Brewing Co. has become a staple of the Kansas City community since its founding in the late 1980s.
Frank Morris/KCUR

Kansas City residents are proud of their barbecue, their Chiefs football, their national champion soccer team and Boulevard Brewing, a local brewery that has built up quite a local following since its launch in the late 1980s.

"It's our thing. You know, like la cosa nostra, it's our thing," says Char O'Hara, a Kansas City, Mo., resident who, like thousands of other local 20-somethings, grew up with Boulevard.

But soon, it will be a Belgian thing, too. Any day now, Belgian beer maker Duvel is expected to finalize its purchase of the Kansas City brewery.

The deal to buy says a lot about the transformation of the American craft beer industry — and just how much the world now values a product with a firm sense of place.

O'Hara is a little leery about Duvel taking over her brand. "These people came from the outside, and took something that's native to us, and it's kind of a bummer," she says. "It makes the future uncertain."

But John McDonald, Boulevard Brewing's founder, sees things differently. "I think a lot of people were kind of shocked at the news, and I kind of knew that would happen."
Boulevard Brewing's lineup includes seven year-round beers, five seasonal beers and 13 beers in its Smokestack series.

Boulevard Brewing's lineup includes seven year-round beers, five seasonal beers and 13 beers in its Smokestack series.
Frank Morris/KCUR

He's been building Boulevard's brand loyalty since the company's conception in the late 1980s, and he helped make the American craft beer industry from scratch.

"We didn't have a lot of rules about the types of beers we made. So, we stole ideas and invented things from every brewing culture in the world, we mishmashed them all together," he says. "We're all pushing ourselves to keep in the cutting edge of that."

The reputation of American brewers is that they will try anything: spices, nuts, coffee, bacon, aggressive combinations of hops and malt and elaborate production techniques. They have to. American beer lovers have come to expect and demand top quality and creativity.

"Twenty years ago," McDonald says, "I would tell you that Belgium was the greatest brewing country in the world. And today I would say it's the United States."

, a beverage industry analyst, says there are now at least 2,500 American craft breweries, and some are challenging the European masters. U.S. craft beer exports jumped more than .

"It tells you how much it's changing, that you've got a Belgium brewer coming in and snatching up an American craft beer with the intention of taking it global," Crecca says.

Most of the bottles of Irish Ale that jostle down the Boulevard production line today will stay in the Midwest. But Simon Thorpe, who runs , the American arm of the Belgian company buying Boulevard, says Kansas City's identity will help sell this beer worldwide.

"People really want to know where things come from," he says. "They want to have an emotional connection to the brewery."

But when the local legend goes global, what happens at home? Loyal customer Sam Anderson is pondering that over a glass of ale in Boulevard's tap room.

"You know, after I heard more about the details and the company that bought them and everything like that, it seemed like, well, it's OK," he says. "I still hated to lose a pure Kansas City product, but it's OK."

Duvel promises to help Boulevard make and sell more beer. But otherwise it pledges to pretty much just leave Boulevard alone, as it tries to strike a delicate balance between marketing Boulevard beer to the world and keeping it real at home.

Love that we get the Boulevard sampler packs with Mid Coast IPA and Westside Rye in them. Like both those beers. Throw 80 Acre and Unfiltered Wheat into the mix, and this sampler pack ranks up there pretty high.

Had an opportunity to try Delirium Tremens last night at dinner and passed.

Did I make a mistake?

If you like strong Belgian beer then yes, you did.

Not sure I've had a strong Belgian ale. What does it compare to that I might know?

*Reaper will be here shortly to chastise me.

There was a discussion in another thread about Belgian yeast/spice, which for me, ruins any beer. If you like the spice/peppery taste of something like Tank 7 or ZON, Boulevard-wise, it's pretty much all I got out of it.

It has pretty good reviews on beeradvocate though, so I guess it's good for the style.

Duvel, Chimay, etc....

Not exactly the same but Tank 7, Boulevard Saison, and Saison Brett are all Belgian strong ales.

John McDonald sold to Duvel because of his love of Belgian beer and the family owned dedication to beer making and craft style brewing.

DT is very popular strong Belgian.

Has a hint of banana flavor from the yeast which is interesting.

Almost forgot Leffe Blonde is pretty good too.

I had my first Delirium Tremens while I was living in Toronto in 2006. I had three pints in about 40 minutes and I nearly fell off the stool-it's much stronger than anything I had drunk before.

Pretty damn good :thumb:

Either you like Belgian beer or you don't really, its very distinct.

I personally love it over anything else though I like all beer styles.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Jewbelation Reborn, 17% ABV. oy vey.

In my humble ****ing opinion. If you don't like Belgian beer, you don't like real beer.

Jesus.

That ABV is higher than most, if not all wines.

Avery Beast is 18% - I had a bottle of that once, but it was only 10 oz.

We should be precise. Delerium Tremens is much, much more like Duvel than it is like Tank 7. Delerium Tremens is NOT a saison. There's lots of specific attributes of saisons that have nothing to do with Belgian Strong Pale Ales. Saisons are dryer, more attenuated, often have wheat/spelt/oats in the grain bill, and the yeast flavor (albeit similar) is distinct.

But what you said is also true: if one likes Saisons, then you should probably also like Belgian Strong Pale Ales.

Huge Saison-Brett fan. I'll definitely try this the next time we visit that restaurant.

Also had a shot at Goose Island Matilda and passed. Guess I need to sample this as well?

If you like Boulevard's Saisons, I would suggest familiarizing yourself with more Belgian and Belgian-style beers. Matilda isn't a world-beater, but it is good. It ages in interesting ways, too. Last summer I did a 7-year vertical tasting of Matilda from 2013-2007.

I'm into the Belgian ales big time lately. Delerium Tremens and Nocturnum are both very good.

Oh, I forgot. I got a sampler of St. Bernardus for my birthday in July. It included this:

http://belgianbeershrimper.files.wor...rdus-12-v2.jpg

That was some damn fine beer!

Anyone receive/give any beers for xmas. I got:

Crooked Stave Cranberry & Spices (Vieille)
Crooked Stave St. Bretta (Summer)
Trinity Damn, It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta
Trinity TPS Report

I sent my brother a BBQ and he sent me back a Whistling Andy Hibiscus-Coconut Rum (you Montana folks).

I wish I got some Crooked Stave bottles. Sheesh.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/29/butarevu.jpg

Magic Hat. Great beer.


The downside of Magic Hat:

Worst Beers: Magic Hat 9 - Bringing up the rear of the "Worst Beers" list is Magic Hat 9. Tipping in at 153 calories, Magic Hat tastes like apricots but is probably not quite as healthy for you as the fruit. One or two surely can't hurt though.

I even got a sticker for the fridge.

If you're very lucky, you might see Hopslam on shelves in Missouri this week.

Rye on Rye due out this week too. Been drinking the heck out of Deschutes Red Chair this week since they put it on tap at my hole.

Picked up a few Rye On Rye last week. Got a pastrami curing since xmas to pair with it for the Super Bowl.

Picked up a few tonight to hang onto for a while:

Rogue double chocolate stout
Cuvée Van De Keizer Blauw (Blue) - Brouwerij Het Anker
Dogfish Head Bitches Brew I really enjoyed the first year's

Still trying to talk myself into picking up The Bruery's Rueuze

Had a 2011 vintage bottle of Rodenbach this week. Just outstanding.

Just Rodenbach Grand Cru? I think their stuff is flash pasteurized and doesn't really improve with age; no live yeast cultures or bacteria. But that doesn't really matter because their beers are delicious regardless.

No, the limited edition Barrel No. 95.

Ahhh, fantastic beer. The vintage versions are delicious, as well as Rodenbach Alexander. I'm pretty sure the vintages are still pasteurized, but they're still freaking delicious.

May be pasteurized, not sure. I don't see anything on the bottle saying either way. In any case, it's oak aged for a couple years before it's released.

Had a bottle with a buddy at the World of Beers in Columbia, SC, last week, bought one to take with me on the spot and bought a second bottle before I left for the night.

Are you the person that put me in the sours rabbit hole? 'cause if so, **** you, buddy. ;)

D-line should do some lateral motion and see if the o-line jumps. They are trying to bait them every down

I'll have to try a bottle.

Yep, probably me. I've been on them for years, hard to get out!

Nah, being pasteurized doesn't really matter, it just means it won't develop any more in the bottle. Rodenbach does the Flanders Red like no one else. I've never been disappointed in any of their beers.

I've been pretty limited in what's available down here, there just isn't a lot. I don't know if I posted about it here or not, but there's a taphouse in Wilmington, NC, that makes a sour and keeps it on tap. I spent a week in that town last year and hit that place I think four of the five nights I was there.

Let me know when you're in town for a game next season or something; I'll dig into the cellar and we can have something super sour.

You got it! :thumb:

The only thing I can find consistently here is the Duchesse De Bourgogne, which I do enjoy. Other than that, it's a hit and miss mix of gueuzes and lambics.

Duchesse is good, but it's pretty sweet. I really enjoy Lindeman's Cuvee Rene Geueze, cheap and ages well. Tilquin Geueze is also very good. I can't leave out the obligatory mention of both Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen when mentioning lambics; anything these two breweries put out will be top notch.

You might try to find Cuvee Des Jacobins around, that stuff is on point. Super sour.

Got some new stuff at Whole Foods in Houston this afternoon. I kept seeing you guys mention Lagunitas in this thread, and while I don't think it's the exact one you guys were talking about, I couldn't pass up on grabbing the only one I've ever seen in a store around here.

Don't know much about the Smoke on The Bayou" either. It's from Buffalo Brewing Company in Houston. Figured I'd give it a try.

The Boulevard I bought simply because I like their beer and this one has a couple of beers that it says were only samplers at the brewery. Those two are in the second picture. Can any of you KC guys tell me anything about them?

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/21/ytubajyh.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/21/emy8u9y3.jpg

Both the Mid-Coast and the Rye are excellent, drinkable beers. I got lucky they were both there this summer when I went and I had several of each. the Mid-Coast was my favorite at that time.

Thanks. I'm not usually a big fan of IPA's, but they've been growing on my lately. I've got a friend that's big into them, there's three in the box, so one will go to him. Hopefully this Boulevard matches up well to his California standards.

I drank my one and only bottle of Rye-on-Rye last week - like Thursday. Then I proceeded to drink everything in the house I had at acceptable temperature. Then I passed out in my recliner without pounding water. I drank a lot, lot, lot of high ABV beers - especially for a Thursday night. I was dehydrated when I woke up in the morning and felt like ass - I don't think I've ever once experienced a beer hangover so I drank a bunch of water to get through it. Bad idea. Two hours later, the water decided it had been inside me long enough...

I'm taking a drinking break. Gonna be a few weeks. I got stupid for a minute and that's not cool. My wife says when I quit chew, I start drinking, when I stop drinking, I start eating... So I guess I'm gonna be a fatass.

I drank that Lagunitas tonight. Really enjoyed it.

I don't know that it really will. It's been 5-6 months. It wasn't overwhelming like many California IPAs are. It's just a pleasant drinking beer for me. Both were that way - nothing extraordinary, which is probably why they didn't put them into full-blown production but they were good and I enjoyed them.

Eyeball? Never seen it around here.

Ahh...makes sense. No biggie. Won't hurt for him to try it anyways. I had a sampler pack a few months ago with Boulevards normal IPA in it, and he liked that, so he knows they're legit.

I think my expectation was that I would like the Westside best but it turned out just the opposite, I enjoyed the MidCoast best out of the two. I think that may have been the trip during which I was introduced to TankTops as well - it's a black & tan using Tank7. Man, I enjoyed lots of those.

Yea...I suck at describing beers, but I did like it. Like I said, it's the only Lagunitas I've ever seen in store, so I bought it.

Lagunitas has a very distinctive hop flavor in all of their offerings. I'm a beer snob but I'm not a complete beer nerd. I can't tell you about different types of hops and recite all the brewing styles. But I can pick a Lagunitas beer out of any crowd. I think they grow their own hops too.

Yeah, I'm good for one of those every couple years. I've been on self imposed sanctions since a holiday party where I happened to run into my junior high PE teacher. It was like Mr. Woodcock without my mom being involved. I'm told we may have had a footrace in the street.

Good news is that my cellar is stocking up.

a beer bucket list without Westevleteren 12?

really been enjoying a lot of Old Rasputin and Pranqster lately. Also enjoyed the Evil Twin Molotov Cocktail, but at 13%ABV, can't do that too often.

Sorry, but Westy 12 is overrated. I've done blind tastings and found that I prefer the cheaper, more readily available St. Bernardus 12 to Westy.

Don't get me wrong, Westy is worth a try for certain, but you won't find me spending $80+ for 4 12 oz bottles and a cheap glass (which is how they sold them in the US last year).

I agree that it is overrated, but I've always preferred Westy 12 to St. Bernardus Abt. 12, ESPECIALLY in blind tastings. Westy is so good because of its mouthfeel. Rochefort 10 tends to beat both in blind tastings among most people, though. More flavor.

Fun Facts for the Thread: St. Bernardus (Watou, Belgium) & Abbey de Saint-Sixtus (Westvleteren, Belgium) are just 20 minutes apart, both towns/breweries located outside of Poperinge, Belgium (where all of Belgium's hop farms are located).

There was a period of time where Westvleteren beers weren't being brewed at the Abbey. The St. Bernardus brewery (not Trappist affiliated) opened up and brewed beers very close to the old Westvelteren recipes, along with making new beers. St. Bernardus still uses the old Westy yeast strain. When the Abbey de Saint-Sixtus resumed brewing, they used Westmalle's yeast (and still do to this day).

Jelly Belly releases beer flavored jelly bean
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2014/...e-their-debut/