Whatcha drinking?

[Jeff V]

You need to get the regular Beer Hug, 9.9% It's getting pretty ubiquitous on tap here.

[LawBeefaroni]

You guys and your kiddy bright colored cans Id expect cans like that to have kool aid in them.

Saw a bunch of this in the grey area between beer and soda at the local Jewel the other day:



5% ABV drink of some sort. I like Mountain Dew and I love alcohol but that looks disgusting. Zero sugar to boot, which is an abomination.

[Kraken]

Mixing sugar and alcohol is a surefire trip to Hangover City, at least for me.

[EvilHomer3k]

You guys and your kiddy bright colored cans Id expect cans like that to have kool aid in them.

Saw a bunch of this in the grey area between beer and soda at the local Jewel the other day:



5% ABV drink of some sort. I like Mountain Dew and I love alcohol but that looks disgusting. Zero sugar to boot, which is an abomination.

I've had the regular and it's not terrible. I drink diet mountain dew, though, and it tastes similar to that.

[Isgrimnur]

[Jeff V]

That Goose Island Xmas IPA is pretty good, especially when a grocery store here runs it on sale for $12/15 pack. My wife was asking why I had 2 boxes of beer...well, the sale did say I must buy two so...

I've had the Mango Cart a few times. It's a nice summer beer.

Today, Maplewood Brewing Co. was having a tasting at my local bottle shop. My daughter made a picture for them, which the guy took a picture and sent to his colleagues. I do like their beers, and sampled the 5 they had. The dopplebock still did not make me stop pining for Capital's Autumnal Fire, which has vanished in recent years to much sadness.

[Isgrimnur]

[Isgrimnur]

[Scuzz]

My daughter in Portland sent me a box with 6 hand picked Oregon IPA’s. I am currently drinking a Kings and Daughters Cold Moon IPA.

[Sudy]

I love rye aged ales... they're one of my favourites. But this one is way too sweet. Though it seems to be mellowing as it warms. The can says it's "flavoured" but there are no additives in the ingredients, so who knows.

[Jeff V]

I love rye aged ales... they're one of my favourites. But this one is way too sweet. Though it seems to be mellowing as it warms. The can says it's "flavoured" but there are no additives in the ingredients, so who knows.

I once had Thomas Hardy Ale from England. It was sold in 6 oz bottles, and it was recommended to store for 25 years before opening. Well, we wanted to drink now and didn't have that kind of time to waste. The bottle we had were serialized...ours was close to 1000. It was like drinking liquor -- it was actually hard to get down 6 oz.

[Alefroth]

I kept one for 10 years. Didn't improve it all that much I thought, but then I just stored it upright in my fridge.

[Rumpy]

I love rye aged ales... they're one of my favourites. But this one is way too sweet. Though it seems to be mellowing as it warms. The can says it's "flavoured" but there are no additives in the ingredients, so who knows.

If you found that one sweet, you might prefer New Ontario Brewing's (North Bay) 'The Rye's the Limit' which is a Rye Ginger Ale which I found less sweet.

[LawBeefaroni]

Went to Begyle on Friday. Enjoyed some Euchred AIPA from the taps.

On the way out, we picked up some cans of Flannel Pajama Imperial Stout, one 2-pack of Vanilla and one 2-pack for Bourbon Barrel. Around $18 for two 12oz cans but man, quite an experience. Split a can of Vanilla with the wife after dinner, makes for a nice dessert.

[Jeff V]

Went to Begyle on Friday. Enjoyed some Euchred AIPA from the taps.

On the way out, we picked up some cans of Flannel Pajama Imperial Stout, one 2-pack of Vanilla and one 2-pack for Bourbon Barrel. Around $18 for two 12oz cans but man, quite an experience. Split a can of Vanilla with the wife after dinner, makes for a nice dessert.

I love that brewery. Never been there, just greatly enjoyed some of their canned wares sold at Binny's.

[Jeff V]

So a new to Yorkville restaurant, Craft'd, opened here yesterday. They have at least one other location in Plainfield, as well as a sister restaurant, Chop'd (which I've been to before).

A few weeks ago, their Facebook page posted a promotion on swill beers (Bud Light and Coors Light specifically), to which I expressed my disappointment at a restaurant calling themselves "Craft'd" and serving swill that is anything but. I got a response, saying my complaint was noted. OK, whatever. Monday, the day before the Yorkville opening (stagger distance from my house), whoever manages their FB page PM'd me a link to their beer list. They have a half-dozen or so I've not had before, so there's reason to go. I was thinking to stop by today, but their parking lot was packed, so I went to the bottle shop instead and sampled 5 new (to me) beers.
'

[LawBeefaroni]

Went to Begyle on Friday. Enjoyed some Euchred AIPA from the taps.

On the way out, we picked up some cans of Flannel Pajama Imperial Stout, one 2-pack of Vanilla and one 2-pack for Bourbon Barrel. Around $18 for two 12oz cans but man, quite an experience. Split a can of Vanilla with the wife after dinner, makes for a nice dessert.

I love that brewery. Never been there, just greatly enjoyed some of their canned wares sold at Binny's.

[Scuzz]

Sasquatch Brewing Free Couch Hazy IPA

A Portland microbrewery. A 6.9% hazy. I am not always a fan of the hazy but this was pretty good.

[Jeff V]

Was at the bottle shop tonight, having a few I've not tried before. A group of three girls were next to me, one desiring something sweet. The beerman was at a loss, but I suggested a milkshake IPA that had a description akin to a Dreamsicle. That was a miss, but then I suggested Founder's Rubeus (a raspberry ale) and that was a hit with her and her friends. Hopefully they kill the keg, because I'm tired of looking at it (didn't care for it when originally issued in cans).

[Kraken]

I usually don't care for sweets, but local brewer Widowmaker has a peanut butter milk stout called Candymaker that's very good on a cold winter night. I've had quite a few different porters and stouts over the past several weeks. Enough to conclude that I don't much like coffee porters, which is odd since I like coffee. Just not in my beer, I guess.

[Jeff V]

I usually don't care for sweets, but local brewer Widowmaker has a peanut butter milk stout called Candymaker that's very good on a cold winter night. I've had quite a few different porters and stouts over the past several weeks. Enough to conclude that I don't much like coffee porters, which is odd since I like coffee. Just not in my beer, I guess.

I've had some bourbon-barrel stouts in the past few weeks. One, from Revolution, is characterized as barley wine -- you can certainly taste the bourbon in the beer. It comes in at a meek 14.5% ABV, but is really, really delicious. Ryeway to Heaven is the beer's name, it's going for $6/5 oz pour. I've had a couple.

[Daehawk]

That Staffe Hendrik sounds good.

[em2nought]

Not Bud Light, but I'm mostly a teetotaler anyway. I think this is going to go down as a worse idea than "New Coke".

[ImLawBoy]

Can we not infect the drinking thread with R&P please?

[Daehawk]

Instead of bigot at the end they should have use spigot.

[AWS260]

This is really good.

[Kraken]

I've been buying Allagash Hop Reach regularly. Allagash is "a Belgian-inspired brewery," which has always been a strike against them for my tastes, but there's no Belgian yeast taint in Hop Reach.

[Kraken]

Belgium crushes the champagne of beers

Belgium has destroyed a shipment of American beer after taking exception to its maker's slogan that it was "The Champagne of Beers."

Belgian customs crushed the 2,352 cans of Miller High Life beer earlier this week, reasoning that they were improperly labeled as Champagne.

The move came after a trade association for the Champagne industry complained that the term should be used only on bottles of sparkling wine, made using a traditional method in Champagne, France.

By convention, true Champagne -- as in, the French sparkling wine -- can only be made using Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier grapes.

...and the world is ever so slightly better for it.

In the olden times, before craft beer existed in the US, Miller High Life occasionally whetted my whistle. I haven't had one since the early 1980s though.

[Scuzz]

Even American made champagne can’t be called champagne because champagne is owned by the French. Like Chablis, burgundy and other place names. American champagne is called “sparkling wine”.

[mori]

I have been getting more into bourbon and whisky and I have spent way too much money on the spirits lately than I should have. I have been and still am a beer drinker but as I age the carbs is not really something I can handle anymore. I always drink my whisky neat. I am no newbie when it comes to whisky but mostly stayed in the Scotch area with dabbles on the American side. In the Scotch world my money mostly went to Highland Park and Bunnahabhain. Here is a list of what I have bought the last couple of months:
Bunnahabhain Stuireadair
Old Forester 1897
Old Forester 1910
Elijah Craig Small Batch
Barton 1792
Willett Pot Still Reserve
Redwood Empire Lost Monarch
Redwood Empire Emerald Giant
Redwood Empire Pipe Dream
Milagro Select Barrel Reserve (tequila)

I have not received the Redwood Empire products yet. The whisky that left a lasting impression with me so far is the Barton 1792. To me it tasted like cherry vanilla pie. I have had Wild Turkey Rare Breed in the past and loved it and will need to add Wild Turkey 101 to be my cheap, casual drinker.

[Alefroth]

Bunnahabhain 12 is one of my all time faves, but when our state privatized liquor sales, it pretty much got priced out of my range. I was able to purchase an 18 for nearly the price of a 12 when a liquor store wanted to get rid of it and haggled me for it. I liked the 12 better in a blind test.

Elijah Craig SB is really solid and usually in my rotation. I loved the 1792 bottle I had and I knew very little about it when I bought it. It really was a pleasant suprise. I have a feeling you'd like Michter's US 1 and McKenna 10, if you haven't tried those.

[mori]

Nice getting the Bunnahabhain 18 for nearly the 12 price. Have you had any experience with the Redwood Empire products? Not sure if it is only northern California distribution or it makes it up and down the coast. I heard Lost Monarch is fabulous.

[Kraken]

I appreciate good whiskies, but buy cheap ones. I recently upgraded my go-to from Jim Beam to Dewar's White Label. Anybody got a 1.75 liter bottle for $30 that you like better?

[Alefroth]

Nice getting the Bunnahabhain 18 for nearly the 12 price. Have you had any experience with the Redwood Empire products? Not sure if it is only northern California distribution or it makes it up and down the coast. I heard Lost Monarch is fabulous.

No, I've never heard of them. It looks like Caskers, my online purveyor carries them, but I've never noticed them come up in my browsing or searching. I'll consider that Lost Monarch next time I buy.

[Alefroth]

I appreciate good whiskies, but buy cheap ones. I recently upgraded my go-to from Jim Beam to Dewar's White Label. Anybody got a 1.75 liter bottle for $30 that you like better?

Evam Williams Bottled in Bond punches above it's weight. I haven't seen a 1.75l, but a 750ml is $20.

[mori]

I appreciate good whiskies, but buy cheap ones. I recently upgraded my go-to from Jim Beam to Dewar's White Label. Anybody got a 1.75 liter bottle for $30 that you like better?

Evam Williams Bottled in Bond punches above it's weight. I haven't seen a 1.75l, but a 750ml is $20.

Or Wild Turkey 101 which is $40 for a 1.75 liter around me. Evan Williams Bottled in Bond 100 proof is $27 for 1.75 liter. But I would still splurge the extra for the Wild Turkey 101.

[mori]

Nice getting the Bunnahabhain 18 for nearly the 12 price. Have you had any experience with the Redwood Empire products? Not sure if it is only northern California distribution or it makes it up and down the coast. I heard Lost Monarch is fabulous.

No, I've never heard of them. It looks like Caskers, my online purveyor carries them, but I've never noticed them come up in my browsing or searching. I'll consider that Lost Monarch next time I buy.

Come to find out they have a much wider distribution than I initially thought. In fact stores around me recently got a shipment. Of course Lost Monarch was already gone but their other two whiskies were available. I canceled my online order and waiting for confirmation before I pull the trigger on buying them at retail which would be considerably less than buying direct.

[mori]

Bought a bottle of Noah's Mill Bourbon which is from the Willett distillery. I liked Willet Pot Still but this one was eye opening as much as 1792 was. It is floral and sweet with a smooth, lingering finish. It was $60 for a 750ml.

[Kraken]

I appreciate good whiskies, but buy cheap ones. I recently upgraded my go-to from Jim Beam to Dewar's White Label. Anybody got a 1.75 liter bottle for $30 that you like better?

Evam Williams Bottled in Bond punches above it's weight. I haven't seen a 1.75l, but a 750ml is $20.

Or Wild Turkey 101 which is $40 for a 1.75 liter around me. Evan Williams Bottled in Bond 100 proof is $27 for 1.75 liter. But I would still splurge the extra for the Wild Turkey 101.

I'll look for both of those the next time I buy. Just got another big bottle of Dewar's today, so it will be a while.

[mori]

Added a few more bottles to my bourbon collection. One was a 375ml bottle which was on sale which cost $15. They were Michter's Kentucky Straight Bourbon, High West American Prairie Bourbon, and Russell's Reserve 10 year Bourbon. I thought the first two were rather simple and one dimensional, but the Russell's Reserve was another stellar bourbon. Russell's Reserve I came to find out is an evolution of Wild Turkey 101 which I think, as well as many others, offers the most bang for the buck in bourbon. Tastes of caramel apple and the deepest caramel flavors I experienced in a bourbon to date.