Originally Posted by HonestChieffan (Post 7116378)

Toss in an Erdinger...a great German Wheat...

Lucas will have more than you can haul. Lucas at Martin City is excellent and has beer smart folks.

Originally Posted by dirk digler (Post 7116381)

Will do. Is that off 150?

Originally Posted by Reaper16 (Post 7116379)

Awesome? It looks pretty awesome to me. HCF should be applauded for his beer trips.


What is my attitude? Civil? Fair? I think so. If only that were actually trendy.

I don't know what turdcorn is, but that sounds like an accurate description of Milwaukee's Best. Yeast infections are bad. Beer can certainly get infected though any number of bacteria. You don't want infected beer; it's gross. There are classic beer styles over a thousand years old (lambic, guezue, some Saisons) that are spontaneously fermented b the yeast in the open air. These beers have naturally occurring Brettanomyces yeast which causes funky, barnyard, horseblanket flavors (this yeast is absolutely feared by winemakers. Funk is a definite flaw in wine, but in beer it can be something transcendent) and they can also have some bacteria, such as lactobacillus or pediococcus, that cause lactic or acetic sourness in a beer. When controlled, those bugs can do nifty things in beer. But you don't want your bottles or brewing equipment to get overtaken by those bacteria; that's how infections happen.

Originally Posted by Reaper16 (Post 7116346)

Yeah, you're at the super n00b level in terms of what your palate will likely be able to fully appreciate at this point. Thankfully, I remember my super n00b days. Here's five beers that helped me along back when I was a n00b in 2007:

Boulevard Bully! Porter -- it helped me to appreciate the darker malt flavors and was instrumental in getting me to appreciate roasted malt character. It's also a good beer to show off how hops can be an important part of a beer even when the beer isn't trying to show off the hop flavors.

Bell's Two Hearted Ale -- the first India Pale Ale I fell in love with. It happened on first sip. All those floral and grapefruit hop flavors. This is a stellar beer, period, and a great way to appreciate high alpha acid beer.

Rogue Dead Guy Ale -- A wonderfully balanced beer. It's brewed in the Helles Bock lager tradition but it uses ale yeast, so its something of a hybrid. This is a great example of a full-flavored beer that shows off what malt types and hop types that play well with each other can do together.

Goose Island Matilda -- this is a Belgian Pale Ale. It isn't nearly as hoppy as an American Pale Ale; the yummy Belgian yeast is the major player here. Brewing spices, airy malt, some grassy hops, wonderful fruit flavors of lemon, pear and white grape, and a lively effervescence. This beer is very refreshing yet complex. And it is insane to pair with all kinds of food, from grilled salmon to a simple turkey sandwich.

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier -- this is the gold standard of German hefeweizen. You're not going to find a better straight-up German wheat beer. Again, refreshing, easy-drinking, yet rich with complexity.

Not only will those five beers help your palate along in different ways, they are each deep enough to keep revisiting. They will get even better the more you learn and grow.

Originally Posted by HonestChieffan (Post 7116854)

Chimay Blue...fun to watch someone not familiar, slam like its Coors lite grab a second and do it again, see the eyes dull, roll back into the hole where their mind used to be.

But....it is a great brew.

Originally Posted by HonestChieffan (Post 7116218)

Hard to throw rocks at a day on Omaha Beach, two days later visiting Gen. Patton's Grave, a lunch in the Huertgen Forest...a great venison stew and a local brew and a couple hours discussing what the hell the object of Rugby is with an Irishman who played on his town team for 20 years and why soccer is so boring to American Football fans.

...

Beer Time..Hofbrau Munich

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...t/DSC01104.jpg

Originally Posted by The Pedestrian (Post 7118568)

I have that mug. Best 8 Euros I ever spent.

Originally Posted by CrazyCoffey (Post 7118577)

I got that mug in Vegas....

Originally Posted by The Pedestrian (Post 7118606)

That's kinda cheating...it's like collecting all 50 state magnets/spoons/whatever at the same airport or gas station.

Originally Posted by Saccopoo (Post 7118645)

I did a personal IPA taste testing this week, and Anderson Valley's Hop Ottin' IPA was the clear cut winner - at least for what my pallet prefers in an IPA.

The hops, while obviously noticeable as the style demands, was extremely well integrated into the ale, creating a very pleasant and enjoyable alternative to what is typically an over-hopped style that leads to single note obnoxiousness in the nose and on the pallet.

Typical American IPA's are reflective of the brash and raw nature of what the brewers think of this style. They tend to remind me of the incredibly over-oak chardonnay's that came out of California over the past two decades. An overall lack of finesse and layering permeate this beer style, particularly in the US, but the Hop Ottin' went against the typical brutish and raw offerings and provided detail, ambience and style.

Originally Posted by Reaper16 (Post 7118672)

There are a lot of people that prefer the East Coast style of IPA to the abundantly-hoppy West Coast style IPA. It's fine to flat-out dislike the super-hoppy, unbalanced IPAs. But to say that they are one-note is indicative of one of two things: 1.) your palate specifically can't handle the hop bitterness at those high levels, so the nuances are lost to you (I know a few beer drinkers that I respect who have this particular palate sensitivity) or 2.) your palate just needs time to adjust.

The most complex IPAs are the ones that you might describe as "one-note." Some of the west coast IPAs do amazingly intricate things with lupulin. No one is going to say that Pliny the Elder or Alpine Nelson (or Hell, even Midwest IPAs like Bell's Two Hearted Ale) are one-note.