It was my first Stone product, so I have nothing to compare it to. Really enjoyed it, didn't realize it was over 9% ABV. Realized about halfway through the 2nd.

LMAO

As big of an IPA fan as you are, I'm surprised this was your first Stone product. They were on the forefront of the lets make the biggest, most in your face IPA possible movement. About 5 years ago they released a 10th anniversary Ruination that was just intended to be a one off niche product, but became so popular that they produce it annually. Goes by the name Ruinten now. Look for it next fall. It's a monster though, so be warned. I want to say they doubled the amount of hops relative to the ruination and the abv is around 11%.

Oops, it's a summer release. I don't know why I was thinking fall.

Thanks for the heads-up. I've really enjoyed 12.25, so I'm sure I'll be trying more of what Stone has to offer.

Had a Founders Project PAM on tap tonight. Really loved it.

Stbc Choklat for me tonight

I really enjoyed this beer. It was a bit different than I expected; didn't taste the maple at all, even at room temp. Lots of bourbon barrel character, but nothing like the other maple bourbon barrel beers I've had from Founders.

I have to agree. I picked up a bunch of vanilla and the sweetness of the barrel but didn't know about the maple until I read the description. I really enjoyed it though, all 2 of them.

Not a bad haul. Got a case of BBQ, but I knew that was coming. Also got a couple of IPAs that I have wanted to try but only recently moved within distribution, Fat Head's Headhunter and 3 Floyds Arctic Panzer Wolf. Admittedly, I've heard that the Panzer Wolf isn't as good as some of the other FFF IPA offerings, but that's ok. Also got a Stone Enjoy By Black IPA which I didn't even know was a thing.

Panzer Wolf is no Permanent Funeral, but it's still a great DIPA. FFF IPA's are all about their freshness, imo.

I'm not a huge black IPA fan, but that Stone Enjoy By was one of the best ones I've had. Nice haul.

Yeah, black IPAs are hit and miss with me as well. Wookey Jack is one of absolute favorite beers, but I've yet to have another that I have liked as much. Unfortunately, it would seem that I am getting sick for the first time in 2015, so I'll probably wait a couple days before I break in.

I'm dying to crack my BBQ, but I still have 6 pounds of beef tenderloin to smoke. Would prefer not to hear how I got ****ed up and ruined dinner.

So, Two Hearted it is.

LMAO

Weihenstephaner Dunkels all night....fell down stairs.

Drinking the gingerbread stout right now. Pretty damn good. Tastes like sweet ginger upfront then a bit of typical stout bitterness that turns quite naturally to a blackstrap molasses flavor.

I'm glad you enjoyed that one, man. I'm a fan of Buffalo Bayou, for the most part. They do good beer.

Have you had the chance to try it yet? I tried it last night.

Very interesting beer. I see it as a beer that someone is going to love or hate. I think very few people will come away thinking, "Meh, it's okay. I'll take it or leave it."

At first sip, I got a saltiness up front (hard to describe, but it's similar to what I tasted up front with sucaba). I got cherries right after that, and then it finished with the chocolate. I was impressed with how prominent each flavor was. I hated the first sip, but after taking two more, I ended up liking it a lot. Wife took a sip, and hated it. Even more than she hates most other beers.

I had to see other opinions on it, so I went to beer advocate. Some people swear it isn't boozy, others definitely claim the booziness. To those that say it was smooth and unboozy, **** that. That shit is boozy from start to finish.

Also, Golden Ale? No, sir. I wouldn't call it a Golden Ale at all.

Overall, though. I'd definitely drink again. I wish I would have bought another bottle to let sit for a year or two.

Also, Marcellus was nice enough to send me one of his home brews. A blackberry Brett saison. Very impressed.

I tasted it next to a Real Ale blackberry saison that I had in the fridge. They both ppured a beautiful reddish brown, due to the blackberries. That's about where the similarities stopped, though. Marcellus's blackberry brett was way better than the store bought saison, which had a sage flavor to it as well. I love brett, and it went well with the mild blueberry flavor.

I've always said that I wouldn't have the patience or skill to brew anything better than what I could purchase in the store, but obviously Marcellus has that ability. A ton of props to you, sir. And thanks for letting me try it.

I tried it earlier this month and liked it for what it is. It's a one off, high abv, celebration beer meant to taste like a chocolate cherry cake. I thought they captured all of those flavors in a super boozy, fun beer. Granted, I shared it with my wife on her birthday after a nice meal, sort of like a dessert, which is how I'd recommend drinking it to someone else. I thought about putting some age on it, but the golden ale thing threw me and I thought it might be better fresh. There's still some individual bottles on the shelves up here, but I don't think I would buy it again.

I think the people that hate it probably had different expectations for it. I think its a specific beer for a specific occasion, similar to barleywines for me, and not something I'd include in a drinking session or during a Chiefs game or something.

Glad you enjoyed it and I appreciate the feedback.:toast:

Good job Marcellus.

Do you do it all in house?

Wlso, FIL got me some yuengling from the east coast. Pretty good beer

Yuengling is great cheap beer. Their Black & Tan is good too.

Tonight is Franziskaner and Aventinus.

I'm drinking my last bottle of Ghost tonight. :(

What're you wearing?

Let's move this to the dating thread, kthxbye.

Tried Ruination 2.0 last night, really enjoyed it.

Popped a Love Child #3 last night from 2013. I wasn't sure what to expect and was a bit worried that I let it go too long but it was exceptional. Like drinking a sweet tart. Plan to pop a #4 later today.

You've probably already seen this if you've had an issue, but it appears Goose Island had a couple of their 2015 Bourbon County variants, coffee stout and barleywine, that "drifted outside their target character" and "developed flavors not consistent with our expectations". It doesn't appear that the entire batches of those variants are infected but they are offering refunds on all coffee and barleywine bottles purchased.

http://www.gooseisland.com/blog.html?id=post_11

I never saw a coffee variant on the shelf here, thanks Chicago, but I have a couple barleywines in the closet. I've read there's no time limit on the refund, so if they do turn out off, I might give them a call.

Anyone had NB's Citradelic yet?

New Belgium releases don't really excite me much these days, but a readily available, affordable citra IPA sounds pretty good. Worried that the tangerine will be overstated, though.

I've always leaned on Fresh Squeezed to fill that gap, but this doesn't sound too bad either.

If you have any friends in Iowa, have them send you some PseudoSue from Toppling Goliath. Just an awesome single hop Citra pale ale.

PsuedoSue is high on my list of beers to try. TG has distro to about an hour away from me in Wisconsin, but knowing my luck they'd be wiped out by the time I made the drive.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I woke up to my wife telling me I had multiple packages packages from the mail, sitting on the counter. One was from NewChief, and the other was from KCUnited. They were kind enough to send me some quality beer in return for the Ghost I sent in November.

New Chief sent me a Coffee IPA (you read that correctly) from Fossil Cove Brewing Company, and a Hardwork Pale Ale from Ozark Beer Company. KCUnited sent me a Spotted Puffer DIPA from Pipeworks Brewing Company. Pics below pulled from Google.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/16/01...1b8d817dae.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/16/01...0b909efe20.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/16/01...3655cacf8a.jpg

I tried all three on the same night, and found all of them enjoyable.

I started with the Coffee IPA, because to be honest with you, I figured it would be a novelty type beer. I mean, I'd never heard of coffee in an IPA before, and how could it be anything more than something you try once and never go back for more? I admit that I didn't like coffee at all when I started drinking beer a couple of years ago. Since then, I've grown to enjoy it in stouts and porters. But an IPA? C'mon. Well, it was good. I think the key to it was making sure neither flavor was overpowering. You get a decent shot of coffee, and then it finishes with an IPA flavor that certainly isn't hopped out west coast style. It was a surprisingly good balance. I saw some people online mentioning that there wasn't much coffee flavor, but I disagree. I also found out that there are quite a few Coffee IPA's out there.

Then I tried the Hardwork Pale Ale. NewChief mentioned that this was his almost daily drinker, and I can see why. If it was at a decent price it would be a great everyday drinker. It also had a balanced flavor to it. Good malt, and subdued hops. It would be really easy to sit in front of the TV one night and run through about 13 of these things. I drank one the night they came in, and was gonna share the second one with a buddy, but after tasting it, I didn't really want to share it anymore. So I drank the second one after the Chiefs beat Houston.

Now, the Spotted Puffer. The artwork on that bottle was freaking awesome. I was excited to try the DIPA, to compare it to Abrasive and Ghost. If you read the description of the beer from the company, then it's going to taste exactly as you would expect. Honey, passion fruit puree, and Citra hops. This thing was very sweet, I thought (maaaaaaybe a tad to sweet). If they came off the honey just a little bit, I think the beer might be even better, but as it is, it's still a great beer. It had a juicy, refreshing flavor to it. When I first tried Ghost, I thought it might have something more tropical in it, such as passion fruit, but after tasting this one, I know I was wrong. You can certainly taste passion fruit in this beer. With this beer (and the hardwork pale ale), I found myself taking continous sips, rather than taking a sip and setting them down. Solid, solid beer.

Thanks to KCUnited, and NewChief. You guys rock.

Listen guys, when I decided to send those Ghosts out, I didn't want anything in return. Not that I'm complaining. It paid off big time. You guys sent me stuff from your areas, including Marcellus's home brew, that really tasted great. Really though, the Ghost was meant as a thanks for introducing me to craft beer. It was this thread that piqued my interest in craft beer. It was the scramble for the Boulevard Chocolate Ale a few years ago that got me into the game. I just mentioned that I'd like to try it, and Mikeyis4dcats was nice enough to PM me, and offer to ship me a bottle. I thought that was awesome, and since then he's sent me a few other beers that I can't get here. On top of that, I've learned a ton about beer from this thread, and have PM'ed Reaper with questions about Farmhouse Ales to the point where I thought he might block me. So, the Ghosts were my way of saying thanks to you guys. Obviously I couldn't send one to everybody, because I wanted to drink a bunch of them myself, but if there's any beer from this area that any of you think I can grab for you, let me know. It would be my pleasure.

Happy you liked the Pipeworks. The honey adjunct is kind of their signature in their fish labeled IPA series and they certainly don't skimp on it. It plays better in combination with a more bittering hop in some of their other DIPAs (Square Grouper). They rotate another, similar DIPA, Sure Bet, with a mango puree instead of passion fruit that I like even more.

Cheers, dude! :toast:

The thing about beer people is that they love to share. For me, that's a big part of the fun. When I go to Darkness Day at Surly, people walk around with insanely rare beers, and just pour tasters for random people, or invite you to hang out at their campsite for a while and partake. I have a pretty decent cellar going with some pretty amazing beers in it, but I very rarely crack any of them open unless I have a buddy or two around to share it with. I'll save particular beers to share with particular people, because i think they'll really like it. For whatever reason, it seems to be a common theme amongst beer people, and it's awesome.

I can't speak for the others, but I certainly didn't feel obliged to send anything back, but it was a great opportunity to share one of my favorite local beers with someone new.

Thanks again for the beer, it was tasty! Let me know if you're ever needing anything local to KC; I'd be glad to pick up an extra or two for you.

Oh, and if you're ever in KC, let me know. I'll open up whatever you want out of the cellar. I've got tons and really am always looking for an excuse to open things.

Shoot, I've been bringing fun bottles to my local watering hole on Friday afternoons for about a year now and it really hasn't even made a dent in all the dang boxes downstairs.

I gotta say that I've become a big fan of Old Chub. I've only ever tried a couple of Scotch Ales. The first time was several years ago when Sam Adams did their holiday mix pack. Loved their Scotch Ale. I wonder if I could get my local store to get just 6ers of that. Anyway, so I was over at a friend of a friend's and he had a stocked beer fridge with a great variety of beers. Saw Old Chub Scotch Ale and had to try it. I've been a big fan ever since. :thumb:

My wife picked up a 12 pack assortment of Oskar Blues beers and that was one of the selections. I agree, pretty good stuff.

IMHO, Sue is a shell of what it once was. Back when TG was small and fairly unknown, Sue was up there with Zombie Dust - an unbelievably tasty Citra pale ale. It was one of my favorites. Unfortunately, when they moved locations and brewhouses, it took a step down. Now, most of it is contract brewed out of FL, and it's decidedly average. Unfortunate what's happened to that beer.

If you really want to try it, I can get it local and send some your way.

NTTAWWT

Hmm, I've heard a few others say the same, but most everyone I know here still talks it up quite a bit. I've had similar experiences with spot batches of ZD, but that may be FFF quality controls.

I sent you a PM.

You made it clear you didn't want anything in return which was very generous, that's just not how it works with beer guys.:toast:

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hp...43521335_n.jpg

So ****ing good. Not overly sweet like most milk stouts and very well balanced.

I haven't posted one single time in this thread. But now I have!

Wow, six weeks since this thread's been bumped.

Anyone get any Hopslam? I have a six pack I'm going to sit on until later this spring.

Also, anyone try Incarnation IPA by Four Hands Brewing out of St. Louis? Damn good stuff.

Why are you sitting on the Hopslam? Drink that shit fresh.

I've had it on tap a couple times this year - tasty, as always.

Was only able to get a six pack this year, wanted to save it for better weather/special occasion/whatever.

I'm usually able to get a case so I'm not real picky about it.

Had Hopslam over the Super Bowl and I agree that it's probably best fresh.

Enjoying a Todd the Axeman for the Hawks game this afternoon.

Damn. I didn't get my hands on any until 2/18.

Todd is such a fantastic beer. Hard to get, even here in MN.

I grabbed the last 4 pack at my shop on Friday. I read they upped production this year similar to Abrasive. Abrasive was around Chicago for a couple months so I'm hoping for the same with Todd.

Don't sit on it, especially if you only have a 6 pack, its gets worse with age. IPA's should be had early in their life, within 120 days and thats a stretch.

Just curious, but wasn't the additional hops used to create IPA's put in as a preservative?

Shouldn't they actually last longer than other beers?

Yes, the reason why it was called India Pale Ale is because the British were shipping it to India in the days before the Suez.

I don't think anyone is saying that Hopslam won't "last" as long as other beers. What we're saying is that the flavor of a fresh IPA is leaps and bounds above the flavor of an old, stale IPA.

Over time (and due to light exposure), the alpha acids in IPAs break down and you're left with a beer that's much more malty and sweet, with no bitterness or hoppiness to balance out the malty sweetness. That's not to say it's no good or that you can't drink it, but the beer just isn't as good.

As a fun flavor experiment (and due to a friend having a ton of old hoppy beer), we have tried verticals of Hopslam back to the mid 2000s. They're surprisingly tasty still, though there is zero hop presence; they all kind of taste like an orange peel American strong ale or barleywine. We have fooled a few people with this description, but only after they gave a visible look of disgust when we asked if they wanted to try an old bottle of Hopslam.

With all IPAs, fresher is better.

Phish nailed it, its why most of Stone's big IPA's are called Enjoy By XXXX.

The bigger the IPA, the more hops, so the faster the slide.

I'd like to recognize 18th Street Brewery in Hammond/Gary, IN for their fantastic beers and unique taproom experience. I was driving back from a Michigan work trip last week and stopped in the Hammond, IN location to wait out the rush hour. Kind of felt like I was in the movie Judgement Night. Most metal brewery I've been to.

http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/...psvzvxdemw.jpg

I just had a beer from 18th Street Brewery on Friday, Imperial Blud. It was awesome!

There's a lot of 18th St hype around here so I decided to check them out. I had a full pour of Galaxy Slayer which I thought was outstanding and a small pour of a bretted IPA fermented in wine barrels, which I'm still trying to process. I also had a barrel aged famerhouse from their Sour Note side project, which again was outstanding. Had I not been driving and worried about the hubcaps on my rental, I would've stayed longer. I did grab some stuff to-go.

Well, **** special occasions. Decided to crack the Hopslam.

Excellent as always.

Im in Wichita on a business trip, River City Brewing Co. Has a pretty good Red Ale

Sounds familiar, but nothing on their website rings a bell... pretty sure they were at a KC beer fest a couple years ago.

So...

Has anyone tried Rye on Rye on Rye?

Oh yes, I've had a bunch of it.

It packs a serious punch. 15% ABV worth.

Had a couple of new beers last night.

All I can say about the Nightmare on Brett is Oh My God! Damn thats a good beer.
http://res.cloudinary.com/ratebeer/i...eer_246727.jpg

Lolita was good, not great IMO.
http://media1.picsearch.com/is?cr6XU...LNg&height=240

Nightmare is very tasty and the variant versions are as good or better. They've done that beer in brandy barrels, wine barrels, whiskey barrels, etc. All are top notch.

For anyone local, give Torn Label's new IPA a shot; it's called Magic Magic. Amazing beer.

Had a couple Crooked Stave's last night that a friend sent me as well. L'Brett D'Cherry and Motif Reserva (Leopold Bros). I enjoyed both. I also really enjoyed their Hop Savant IPAs that I've been able to try.

It's SOOOO damn good. Shame the taste I got last week in KC will probably be my last.

Reaper hooked me up with some solid beers from Tired Hands Brewing Company out of Ardmore, PA.

I got to try the Hop Hands Pale Ale and the Alien Church IPA. Both were pretty good beers. They both poured an awesome looking cloudy yellow, and had great aroma. I'm not great at picking out distinct flavors like some of you, but I know I got some lemon out of it. They were both crisp and fresh as well. Thanks Reaper!

Marcellus also showed off some home brewing skills again. Sent me an IPA that had a good balance. It had more of an East Coast feel to it than the super hopped out West Coast IPAs. I believe he mentioned that he tried to balance it out with the malt, so that makes sense. He sent me a saison that was good as well. Thanks, man!

Just picked up four bottles of War Hammer from 4 Hands, and a sixer of Lagunitas' The Waldo's Special Ale.

DIPA's FTMFW.

Had a great IPA earlier today... (Despite the long ridiculous name)

Holy shit it's delicious....

Firestone Walker Luponic Distortion Revolution No. 001

http://i68.tinypic.com/2edz3x2.jpg

You guys are sending this shit to each other in the mail?

Made the pilgrimage to Vermont this week to celebrate my 40th birthday. Flew into Boston on Weds and drove up to Hill Farmstead for some bottles. Drank my way through Waterbury to Burlington with many great beers. Definitely a lifetime trip, but my palette is like still plugged in Terri Schiavo right now.

Jealous. Love me some War Hammer. I'm missing all of my StL favorites having moved out of town.

First time having it, I typically drink Incarnation or City Wide. Enjoyed it. I'd give it a solid B.

Now, the Lagunitas Waldos Special? Good grief. If you like big ass double IPA's, I can't imagine you wouldn't like this 12% ABV beast. Solid A, maybe +.

My favorite IPA that I had in Vermont was HF S&S #4, followed closely by HF Susan.

Surprise of the trip were the Foley Brothers IPAs I had, mainly because I had little knowledge or expectations of them, but man, they were nice. On par with Heady, imo, depending on which order I drank them ;)

http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/...pswmaswbmb.jpg

I need y'all to recognize who is finally distributing to us all the way down in Louisiana. I about shit when I saw it in the shoppette on the army base where I work.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...5416b8588a.jpg

Traded a buddy of mine a sixer of Alpha King from 3 Floyds for a sixer of the Waldo's Special. Pretty damn amazing.

IMO, Alpha King is better; much more balanced.

Yup! We're finally getting some of the big missing breweries down our way as well. I just saw Ballast Point across the border in Missouri last week as well.. so it may not be too far off either.

Within the last year or two, Arkansas has gotten:

Oskar Blues
Victory
Clown Shoes
Sixpoint
Founders
Summit
Prairie Artisan Ales. Stone
Bells
Lagunitas

It's absurd that Missouri doesn't get Clown Shoes, Sixpoint or Victory......