Wife bought me a NB Spring Sampler. It contained Mighty Arrow, 1554, Fat Tire, and Ranger.

I'm pretty impressed with Mighty Arrow. The rest of them are alright.

I'm a 1554 fan. But it does bad things to my ass. Bad enough that I really have to think twice about imbibing.

Boulevard's Imperial Stout came out today... the place I went to (Bubbles in the Northland) was limiting 1 per person and had 6 left after we bought 2.

I've been trying several Sam Adams beers lately... I really like the Latitude IPA and Scotch Ale. The Cream Stout and Noble Pils are good, too... haven't ever been a big fan of Boston Lager or their winter ale, but becoming a fan of several others. Someone at work just got back from Boston and said the brewery had a Chocolate Bock/Cherry Wheat mix that was really good.

2 per person at Royal on Stateline & 103. They are also selling Boulevard SS glasses for $3 with purchase.

Stella in the big bottles and the Blvd. Irish Ale. Tried the smokestack IPA & didnt care for it.

Go to is still Busch Light.

Someone sent me a link for Stone Brewery, and their beer is hitting the shelves in KC in mid-April... looking forward to trying it.

http://www.stonebrew.com/home.asp

Our store recently got in to Foret Saison. I think I'm going to pick up a bottle for the weekend. Anyone tried it? They also have the Scaldis Blonde Triple and the Scaldis Belgian Special that I haven't tried.

excellent beers across the board...try the Ruination IPA or Arrogant Bastard Ale

going to leave this question here, if anyone has any advice thank you in advance


I want to try out the Saison style(?) beers, what would be a good representative to start with?


I've spent the last year falling love with IPA/double IPA's...but time to branch out...


* and I have access to some excellent beer stores and taps, can find most anything (with some regional limits)

Tank 7 and Saison Dupont are both excellent representatives of the style from what I know. Reaper is, literally, writing a book on the style, though, so he'll have a plethora of recommendations.

thanks, i can get the Dupont...can't find Boulevard in the South yet

that's is very f'n cool re: Reaper....

A bunch of his Saison reviews are on this page and the next:
http://beeradvocate.com/user/beer_re...styleD&start=0

And how far south are you? We get Boulevard in Arkansas, and I think Reaper gets it in Alabama.

thanks for the link, that will probably answer my question...

Georgia...haven't found it there yet

* edit: you were right about the Dupont, reading his review I'm going to start there....

Totally begin with Dupont. It's the benchmark for the style, and it does pretty much everything that you could want from a Saison: a complex but smooth mix of fruity, malty, bitter/hoppy, floral, astringent. It doesn't do sour, but some saisons do feature sour flavors quite nicely. Other good examples to begin with would be: Dupont's Foret Saison, Saison D'Erpe-Mere, Jolly Pumpkin's Bam Biere, & Saison D'Epeautre.

There are a slim number of American breweries that do the style well. Boulevard is king of the American Saison, but the aforementioned Jolly Pumpkin brews some of the most traditional saisons out there. The Bruery puts out a couple of stellar saisons. Southhampton does good work too. Also, Stillwater Artisinal Ales.

cool....thanks....excited about something new, and a farmer's market opens this weekend so I'll be in the kitchen with fresh food