GIVE ME YOUR BEER SUGGESTIONS!!

[shafnutz05]

Oh Lord, I love BCBS. Delicious. Now I'm ready to party

Vegas

what's on deck for you?

Sierra Nevada Coffee Stout. Eliot Ness. Burning River. Yards IPA

[eddysnake]

Drink the coffee stout out of the same bcbs glass!

[eddysnake]

Shafty, out of curiosity what is the alc% of your bcbs? Mine says 14.4%,but I've heard there are different versions out there. No idea why though?

[Tomas]

Well, Northwest Arkansas can have some pretty good breweries - Leg Hound by Core Brewing Company (quite fast-expending company out of Springdale, AR) is a very good Octoberfest-type lager. Only in cans.

[shafnutz05]

Shafty, out of curiosity what is the alc% of your bcbs? Mine says 14.4%,but I've heard there are different versions out there. No idea why though?

Hmm mine was 13.8%

[shmenguin]

There are 2 batches of bcbs this year with 2 different Abv's. I only have the 13.8

[count2infinity]

Warlock and pumping are $5.99 for a bomber at the state college wegmans.

[eddysnake]

Bcbs (14.4%) was fantastic. Really amazed how smooth it was. I keep going back and forth if I liked the KBS better. I felt like the bcbs was fuller and had more bourbon to it, but I think the KBS had more going on with the chocolate and coffee. If anything both are amongst the very best I've had and in no way do I mean to slight one or the other. I certainly wish I had more of each.

[shmenguin]

After a f*** of a weekend, I need something good. Broke into my bourbon county barley wine. Beautiful. It has lighter bourbon notes which gives it a Belgian dark fruit taste. Was hoping for something a little heavier but it'll do.

[Kraftster]

You bourbon barrel aged fans should check out the Lost Abbey Deliverance. I cracked it open last night.

A blend of bourbon barrel-aged Serpent’s Stout and brandy barrel-aged Angels Share, Deliverance is the epic battle being waged between heaven and hell for the souls of mortal men… and your enjoyment in a glass.

Definitely more of the bourbon comes through than the brandy. If anything, I think the brandy barrel-aged Angels Share brings a bit of a sweetness and something like a raisin flavor. The nose is much heavier on bourbon, though. It was surprisingly smooth for being 12.5%.

My only complaint was that this particular bottle smelled a bit old. I have a hard time describing the "old" smell, but its almost as if the oak notes turn into cardboard notes.

[shmenguin]

heh...i thought most BA beer is supposed to age gracefully. "old" is usually a good thing.

[Kraftster]

heh...i thought most BA beer is supposed to age gracefully. "old" is usually a good thing.

That's a good point. I am really trying to put my finger on this particular aroma. I have only experienced it with really old bottles before, so that's why I went to old when trying to choose a word for it. I'm still hoping that someday I'll be able to share a beer with this flavor with someone with brewing know how, who can tell me what the heck it is.

[Kraftster]

heh...i thought most BA beer is supposed to age gracefully. "old" is usually a good thing.

That's a good point. I am really trying to put my finger on this particular aroma. I have only experienced it with really old bottles before, so that's why I went to old when trying to choose a word for it. I'm still hoping that someday I'll be able to share a beer with this flavor with someone with brewing know how, who can tell me what the heck it is.

It might just be the way my nose sometimes perceives oak too. If I really try to get specific, I think it's usually been oak-aged beers that acquire this flavor.

[shmenguin]

heh...i thought most BA beer is supposed to age gracefully. "old" is usually a good thing.

That's a good point. I am really trying to put my finger on this particular aroma. I have only experienced it with really old bottles before, so that's why I went to old when trying to choose a word for it. I'm still hoping that someday I'll be able to share a beer with this flavor with someone with brewing know how, who can tell me what the heck it is.

It might just be the way my nose sometimes perceives oak too. If I really try to get specific, I think it's usually been oak-aged beers that acquire this flavor.

the store near my office has a 2012 deliverance. i'll grab it next time i'm there and give it a whirl. see if i get the same impression. though i think my palate is pretty useless most of the time.

[columbia]

Wasted
How the craft-beer movement abandoned Jim Koch (and his beloved Sam Adams).
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/restauran ... dams-beer/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm not sure what the cutoff age is, but there is a significant segment of beer drinkers, who truly don't know how good they have it.
Sam Adams - which I have ragged on in this forum for all of the brews tasting the same - were definitely "there" for changing the face taste of beer in the US.

[columbia]

As an aside, I had my first truly great beer somewhere in Bavaria, when I was 17 and have been chasing the dragon ever since.

[BigMcK]

Jim Koch should be a welcomed guest at the table to those that love craft brew. The revival came just in time to rescue the masses from more Budweiser product.

His image as a nerdy older brother may hurt him with the hipsters, but he is one dude that would be worth buying a beer for.

The one issue that I have had with Sam Adams products over the past couple of years is consistency of quality. For every, say, 50 bottles of good ale, you get a couple that may have been left too long on the shelf, which can happen when you mega produce the product.

I think my first beer 'glamour' beer was St. Pauli.

[shmenguin]

Are craft beer drinkers characterized accurately in that article? All I see is brand loyalty from people I know. Not this flighty hipster who is obsessed with the shiny new toy of the month. I've also never heard a single person give a hoot about locally grown organic ingredients. That seems like a really really dumb claim.

[canaan]

I think quite the opposite about craft beer drinkers. I don't think there is brand loyalty at all. It's specific offering more so than a brewery, although that isn't to say that it is a sent of that thought process.

Craft drinkers like styles of beer more than breweries in a general sense where as macro consumers have brand loyalty to just miller lite, bud light, etc. They aren't searching out new and different American pilswaters

[MRandall25]

I agree with canaan to an extent. There may not be many people who follow brand loyalty, but I definitely can think.of a few people who prefer certain brands offerings (DFH, Victory, Voodoo, Troegs, etc.) over others for multiple styles of beer. Not exactly "brand loyalty", because they aren't solely drinking just that brand, but definitely "brand preference" for lack of better words.

[shmenguin]

If a new barrel aged stout came out, for instance, I don't think many people would give it an honest chance to compete with KBS or BCBS. Maybe not "brand" loyalty, but I sense beer loyalty to known commodities. And if they do veer into new territory it's usually recommendations from friends - not from following the hip new brewers.

Maybe I don't understand the market but I haven't seen what was described there.

[Pavel Bure]

Drank a mad elf sober... Not a fan.

Still a big fan of Dragons Milk though

[MRandall25]

I recall saying I kind of liked K9 back in December/November.

Had it sober today. Not that good.

[letsgoalpens]

Jim Koch should be a welcomed guest at the table to those that love craft brew. The revival came just in time to rescue the masses from more Budweiser product.

His image as a nerdy older brother may hurt him with the hipsters, but he is one dude that would be worth buying a beer for.

The one issue that I have had with Sam Adams products over the past couple of years is consistency of quality. For every, say, 50 bottles of good ale, you get a couple that may have been left too long on the shelf, which can happen when you mega produce the product.

I think my first beer 'glamour' beer was St. Pauli.

I agree. They make solid beers but nothing that knocks my socks off or even comes close really. I feel like every top brewery pretty much has an excellent flagship beer or two and one or two amazing limited release/seasonal beers. Sam Adams does not have that imo. They have a few solid beers and a bunch of forgettable beers (never had Utopias but it seems kind of gimmicky to me). That commercial where they boast about how many beers they make is the worst because that seems like a really bizarre selling point.

I don't get why he is angry about Row 34 not selling his beers though. Places like that attract people because they offer what you can't get everywhere around town, which is exactly what it sounds like Sam Adams is around Boston.

[shafnutz05]

Yeah, Koch is a hero in the craft beer world, but he's definitely fallen behind the times. The Boston Lager is always solid, but their other offerings are very mediocre.