So jealous. FW is one of my favorite breweries, and Sucaba is ****ing amazing. Parabola isn't far behind.

I'd kill to get FW distribution in MN...

But how do you feel about Sucaba? I'm assuming you meant Parabola is amazing, and you'd be right.

Oh, ha. Sucaba is actually my favorite of the two, meaning Parabola isn't far behind. :) I'm a huge fan of both...

Interesting. I've tried to develop a taste for barleywines, and while I don't mind them, it's certainly not a style that excites me.

FWIW, Wookey Jack is my favorite Firestone Walker offering, though Parabola is a close second. I think that is only because I've had a number of great RISs, but the Wookey stands head and shoulders above any other black ale/black ipa I've had. Admittedly, it's not a hugely popular style.

Ommegang Three Philosophers last night. Super good.

I haven't had Sucaba yet but Parabola is out of this world.

I like Wookey Jack a lot too. The Uinta Dubhe (Imperial Black IPA) is phenomenal too.

Have you tried both American and English Barleywines? Despite being a huge hop-head, I prefer English BWs, which are much sweeter/smoother than their American counterparts. Barrel age an English BW, and I'm in heaven.

Sucaba is definitely my favorite BA BW, and Parabola is definitely in the running for my fav BA RIS, but that's a much more crowded field.

I think most, if not all, of my experience has been with American Barleywines. I've currently got a Boulevard Harvest Dance Wheatwine in my kitchen. Not sure how similar that is in style to a Barleywine.

You just can't go wrong with any Firestone Walker barrel aged beer. Period.

Southern Tier Creme Brulee was a big ol' bust. Not enough like a beer for me, not enough like a dessert for my wife. Eck.

Deschutes Red Chair - amazing on draft. Moderately decent in the bottle. Wouldn't hesitate to drink again from a tap. Probably won't buy another six pack.

Currently enjoying some Bell's Expedition Stout. Hitting the spot on this cold night.

I'm worried that this will be the case when I finally find Lagunitas Sucks in a bottle.

I liked it last year but I guess not very much. I haven't bought it again but that was entirely subconsciously decided. I didn't even have any internal dialogue about it until your post. By the same token, there's a reason there are 10,000 different flavors of beers. Everybody likes their stuff just a bit different.

Deschutes Freshly Squeezed IPA just came out in 6 packs. Rejoice!

Tried a Gose for the first time last night (McCoy's tap). I probably would've preferred it more on a warmer day, but I did enjoy it. Will explore others.

That's definitely one of my favorite beers for drinking outside on a warm day!

Tracking down a six of Schlafly American IPA for tonight. I've heard good things.

It's good and hoppy. I also really like their Tasmanian IPA.

Yeah. The local beer reviewer talked about the Tasmanian in his review of the American as well. I really want to try it, as the hops sounded really interesting from the review.

Yep, 100% Australian Galaxy hops. Lots of grapefruit, pineapple and mango notes. Very tasty, very drinkable.

Really excited about this - drank the shit out of those bombers last year...

Evil Twin Brewing?

Bought some for the first time.. the Biscotti Break Imperial Stout and Imperial Doughnut Break. Might open one for the KU game.

Still hoarding Yeti Espresso... pretty sure I'm like one of 10 people in the metro area who buys Great Divide.

I avoided the doughnut break because I'm trying to avoid sudden onset diabetes.

But Imperial Biscotti Break is essentially flawless.

Heh, I read reviews along those lines... seems similar to the over the top/gimmicky nature of Creme Brulee (but rated higher on beeradvocate).

I generally agree with beeradvocate and Biscotti Break is a 98, so I'm looking forward to that one.... I believe the only 100 I've seen is BCS coffee, and if I had to pick one beer as a favorite, that would be it.

The barrel aged Biscotti Break....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, pricey but oh so worth it.

Well, that's the second 100 I've seen... :hmmm:

Pretty sure I would have noticed that one, but might have to make another beer run just to be sure.

I think it was about $22, but totally worth it. I'd rebuy it at that price over and over.

Very tasty, indeed... picked up a couple more when I checked for the bourbon barrel aged stuff. Probably should have tried it first, at $15/bottle, but definitely not disappointed.

Been drinking Stone's new Go To IPA, their entry into the increasingly crowded field of "session IPAs." It's probably the 2nd best wide-release session IPA I've had, next to Lagunitas DayTime IPA.

Wait, I forgot about Terrapin Recreation Ale. THAT'S the best session IPA.

Had no idea what a "session IPA" was....had to look it up. How do these compare in taste to traditional IPA's and Double IPA's? That was my only problem with Lagunitas Sucks. I could have stayed their drinking them and conversing with the wife all night, but after four of them(and one other beer I had prior to finding Sucks on the menu) I was pretty much good to go. Now that I'm more into IPA's, I'd love to find one with all the taste and hops but lower in alcohol so that I could make a long night of it. Do these sessions you mentioned above do the trick?

Yes.

Yup, that's exactly the idea. They're all 4.something % ABV but have pretty massive hop aroma and plenty of hop flavor.

What they lack is malt flavor. There's almost surely some rice going on too as an adjunct grain. They don't taste like pale ales, they taste like IPAs where the malt body has disappeared. Not for everybody, but they are really refreshing.

El Hopadillo Negro from Karbach Brewing company.

Black IPA, just alright.

Phobia, you were in Houston at one point, right? Any Karbachs I should be drinking?

I'll be on the lookout for some. Thanks for keeping me schooled up.

Sorry. No habla.

Cheap beer reviewed by a wine expert:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/JCpLerLKD2k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Had this today. Freaking fantastic, and it got better the longer it sat in my glass.

I'm not a big time beer drinker, but this is the best I've ever had.

I had one tonight too. Been drinking it for 15 years. You'll like virtually any Unibroue. Start with Tres Pistoles.

This list is disappoint.

Does not have Big Flats 1901 from Walgreens.

Is that a real beverage?...

It is. A Walgreens exclusive. Good enough for a float trip or a tailgate. At $2.99 a six pack, you can't beat the price. Not something I would drink regularly, but is surprisingly drinkable.

Carry on.

Nice to know there's some depth I have yet to plumb...

Wow, that's almost free.

I love this review from Beer Advocate.

I had a Ratsalad (Imperial IPA) from 2nd Shift Brewery (New Haven, MO) on Monday. I enjoyed it quite a bit and would definitely drink again.

You can't go wrong with 2nd Shift. I also really like El Gato Grande, Art of Neurosis and Albino Pygmy Puma. I know, weird names, but all solid IPAs.

They also have an imperial stout called Liquid Spiritual Delight that is really, really good. And to top that, they do a variant of it with Blueprint coffee that's probably the best coffee stout I've ever had (yes, even better than Bourbon County Coffee).

ISO: Blueprint LSD

I'm not sure what he expected for .50 a can. I've had really, really awful beer and this ain't it. Like I said, it's not something I would choose to drink every day. It's not THAT bad though. I think he's being just a tad melodramatic. It's cheap beer. Would love to read his review of Cook's beer. Now THAT's some horse piss. Do they even still make that brand?

Went to pick uo the Schlafly American IPA this weekend and my store didn't have it. They did have the Tasmanian though. Score! That's what I actually wanted to try anyway. Holy shit delicious. Yay for galaxy hops.

Perennial's coffee imperial stout, Sump, hit the shelves in KC today. Man, it's good.

Sucaba will be here later this week, hopefully.

I've been impressed with just about everything I've tried from there. I've been meaning to get out to the brewery, but it hasn't yet happened.

The bar we played at tonight had Pale Ale on special. After drinking different beer after different beer the last few months, it was nice to get back to an old staple. I had forgot how good of a beer it is.

Boulevard Pale Ale definitely holds up even though its a 20 year old recipe. The beer world, even the pale ale world, has changed dramatically in 20 years. But beers like Boulevard Pale Ale and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale will always hit the spot.

Found Blvd Tank 7 on tap in Portland today. Legit beer. Had Schafleys Tasmanian a couple months ago at KC flying saucer. Great beer.

Yea, I bet Tank 7 on tap is the tits.

I've been on a dark beer kick lately and would like to find a couple of strong coffee or smokey flavored dark beers as opposed to a chocolate flavored one.

Thanks for any suggestions in advance.

I hear Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout is wonderful. I've got a bottle in the fridge right now. Gonna try it tomorrow.

I honestly don't think Tank 7 loses much in bottling. They're very, very close.

I guess that's easy to believe. It's damn good out of the bottle.

I've never even considered it before it was brought up tonight. With many, many beers, there's a 10-25% falloff from tap to bottle. I'll admit I kinda like blue moon on tap. It's pretty good. But it's horrible in the bottle.

Yep. I'm a beer noob compared to most of you folks, and I can sense the drop off from tap to bottle.

I've never really enjoyed Blue Moon itself, but before I started really looking into beers I enjoyed their seasonal Winter Abbey Ale. Now that I've learned more about beer and tried some of the better ones, it's fallen way down my list. I'll still drink it, but it's pitiful compared to most I've tried over the last year.

This really doesn't make sense since its that exact same beer either put in a keg or bottle. It shouldn't taste any different if you drink it out of a glass. One possibility is keg beer can be fresher which helps many styles where bottled beer could be rather old. But that's a circumstance of age not the beer actually being better.

The the big exception is bottle conditioned beer is not available in kegs or is different from because they don't add yeast etc...to the kegs like they do in the bottle.

Duvel is a great example of this. Its actually a lower ABV in tap that out of the bottle.

Aside from aging and conditioning that may take place in a bottle actually making the beer better in the bottle there is no reason keg beer should taste better unless its simply fresher.

I bet you could do a blind test and wouldn't know the difference out of glass at the same temp etc....

Shit I just remembered something, carbonation level can be different and most likely will be different out of a keg vs bottle with bottles usually having higher carbonation so you could see a slight difference there.

I like the Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout. Usually not a fan of stouts, but I can get down with this one.

I'm a big fan of that one and the Great Divide Espresso Yeti, especially once they've sat in my basement for at least 6 months.

Tried the Evil Twin Doughnut Break the other night... not as sweet as Creme Brulee, but still over the top (not in a bad way, IMO).

I actually had that Lagunitas cappuccino stout on Saturday night myself, and I thought it was pretty damn good.

Additionally, the size of the container can help (or hinder) certain beers, for some reason I don't quite understand. Compare a 12oz. bottle of St. Bernardus 12 with a 750mL bottle; the 750 is noticeably better in aroma and flavor.

So I can see some beers tasting fuller because of the size of the keg.

I don't understand why keg beer is better but I bet I would know the difference in at least half the beers that I drink on any kind of a regular basis. I'm guessing there are a few that taste very, very similarly but there's a lot that taste very different.

Nerd beer anyone?

http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2014/03/26/...g/?hpt=hp_bn11

The boozy dreams of the Star Trek faithful have finally come true.

Sadly, no, the transwarp drive is eons away and that holodeck is nowhere in sight, but we can finally drink like the ferocious Klingons.

The Federation of Beer, working with Star Trek’s blessing, has licensed and brewed a Klingon beer called “Warnog” – the first Star Trek-themed beer to come to the United States.

I'm gonna have to look for the Espresso Yeti. If it's comparable to the Lagunitas, then I'm down with it.

That Creme Brulee was just too sweet for me. I like Southern Tiers Pumking, though.

Red Stripe.... Hooray beer!!

Off the shelf, there's a lot more oak than espresso, but it blended well over time. Lagunitas was fairly subtle, too, but aging brought out the flavor in that one, too.

Think I'll open a Bourbon County Stout tonight... celebrate Kansas not losing on my birthday this year. :/

Happy Birthday, Bearcat. Hope you enjoy.

Enjoying my last '13 BBQ tonight. Was trying to save this one until the next batch came around, but the time was right.

I'm heading in to Houston tomorrow to take the kid to the Aquarium and to stock up on beer. Also gonna see if the Flying Saucer still has some Sucks on tap. I'd like to have a glass.

What time of the year does the BBQ come out?

Dude, Thanks!