Speaking of off beat drinks the cidery I mentioned was the Julian Cider Company. I originally loved the idea as the mountain town of Julian is locally famous for all things apple related but they didn't have a cider place. Their cider was good but not great and worse none of the apples they use were local. Apparently Julian mostly grows baking apples which are low in water content and so perfect for pies and tarts but terrible if you want to make cider. That was disappointing as was their high prices for a product that wasn't even local.
If they buy the juice and make a good product it is still partially local, don't discount that. Do you know how long it takes to get an apple orchard??? Why shouldn't he make a buck? He's doing it one batch at a time. That's expensive. If you want cheap go get an orchard. This attitude is why there are less farmers these days. Public-"We want cheap food" Farmer-"I cant eat if I sell at that price" farmer sells to big business. Public-"I want local, why isn't there local. Damn you big business."
Flying Dog makes it over there? Stone and Lagunitas seem large enough, but Flying Dog caught me off guard.
They get imported. Actually, Flying Dog has a much bigger market presence in bars in Scotland than the other two. Not a massive presence, but you do see it in a few different bars.
Have you seen any AleSmith over there? Their brewery is in the neighborhood I grew up in and it is routinely rated one of the best craft breweries in the US. Try their AleSmith Speedway Stout and make sure it is the bourbon barrel aged type (there is a cheaper unaged version and then a slightly higher priced barrel aged version). It is named after the local auto racing track; the El Cajon Speedway and it is actually damn good.
Doesnt ring a bell, but most of the good American ones only show up on special in bars. I get them through my mates shop. Speaking of, this is what he's supplied me this week......
This past Friday nite I had this pint glass bottle of this German import that was 15%ABV! It was actually pretty good shite! Flavour was fine. I bought it at this Russian/Eastern European supermarket. The previous high ABV import I had was a 12%ABV that was a Lithuanian import (bought at that same joint)!
This thread has been dead for a long-ass while, I see! Well, I tried a beer this evening that I think deserves a few words, because it's just... just... Well, for one thing, it's dark. Stout dark, but it's not a stout, it's a porter. I think this may be my first porter, so if I seem inordinately impressed, chalk it up to that, but this is really, really good. I'm talking about Borderlands Noche Dulce "Moonlight Vanilla Porter." I don't know. The "moonlight" bit sounds a touch poetic and fanciful. Pop the top, and you get vanilla, caramel, and a lot of milk chocolate -- though, thankfully, not chocolate milk. There's a strong hint of barley standing squarely in the way of that. The mouthfeel is surprisingly light; that much nose, and this much flavor, had me just about cringing at the prospect of a big, oily mouthfeel. It opens with the malt, but the promised creamy notes blossom mid-palate, with the chocolate lasting through a remarkably long finish. I wouldn't suggest this one as an aperitif, but as an after dinner libation, it's damn near perfect.
Welcome to the world of porters. That sounds pretty good, but it is also pretty close to a description of the form in general. There are exceptions, but as a rule, porters are the darkest, richest members of the beer family. And I agree, they are great as a post-meal finish.
I think you're right; I do believe that was my first porter. Surely won't be my last. A beer that's a dessert? Please aaaand thank you!
Hmmm.......kind of like bringing pizza to Italy. They pretty much have the art perfected already. Anyway, you know what I haven't seen recently in stores I frequent? Mickey's wide mouth! Are they still around?
A few months back NPR was talking about how craft beer was catching on in Germany both because foreign craft beers were finally getting distribution there but also because some were opening up in Germany itself either foreign owned or started by young German entrepreneurs.They interviewed both an American company which had expanded into Germany and a German who had opened his own craft style brewery and pub. The German guy said that the quality of traditional German beers was quite high but that it was rather boring with everything kind of set and everyone making the same few styles. He called it a high level of boring and said he wanted to introduce people to inovative new styles of beer as well as traditional foreign styles not typically found in Germany. He said sales were exceeding his original business plan by a wide margin.
I tried the Sam Adams Double Bock tonight. I was a little wary, perhaps unreasonably, remembering the Sam Adams Triple Bock fiasco. Anyway, the wariness was certainly unwarranted. It's a very good double bock, rich in taste and a beautiful ruby red in the glass.
The triple was overpriced, bottled in way too nice a bottle for what it was, and is the only beer that's been described to me--and by multiple people independently--as tasting like soy sauce. It was probably judged a bit more harshly than deserved by most because its taste was so very far from being as advertised or expected.
If people tried it, expecting a familiar beer like taste, they were in for a huge surprise. I thought it was more along the lines of a tawny port, and quite enjoyable if you didn't have preconceived notions of what it should be.
I had to look that up too! SABMiller/brands/brand-explorer/snow-(11p) It looks a bit like melted yellow snow and only has 39 calories.
39 calories per 100ML... a 12 ounce can is almost 355 ML.. so that's almost 140 calories per can!! Budweiser has 145.. Miller Lite has 96. Michelobe has 95 and taste like tap water and only has 2.8% alcohol.
Craft beer store opened down the road. So anyway I bought a 32 ounce "growler" of Anderson Valley Burbon Aged Stout. LOVE IT! Seriously chocolately coffee goodness! Here is what the experts say. From a layman's POV it's expensive but worth it. Definitely a savoring/sipping beer unless you have a lot of money in your beer budget. http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/193/86545/
I had a fantastic bourbon barrel aged stout over the weekend at a brew pub. Although, I had just run for four hours in the mountains, so maybe any beer would have tasted amazing. Still, generally speaking, that's a style I enjoy.
Indeed - smooth but full of flavor. The aftertaste stays with you forever but if it's awesome who could complain about that?
I once brewed a beer out of lawn seed from Home Depot. It tasted great. A few minutes ago I downed some dandelion root coffee I made from my neighbor's yard. It's delicious, but I might go for a slightly darker roast.
