Best New Beer You've Tried Recently?

[FBMphil]

I picked up a bottle of Southern Tier Pumking while I was out and about today. Been wanting to try to GOOD pumpkin beer ever since I had Dogfish Head Punkin Ale a while back and picked this up since it's highly-ish rated.

UGH.

It smells awesome, but I'm ready to pour it down the drain. Maybe I got a bad bottle?

[Shawn O]

I've had a few people tell me that. Its beer, not sure what people expect, liquid pumpkin pie?

[FBMphil]

I certainly don't expect liquid pumpkin pie, but the diacetyl taste was so bad that I did end up pouring half the bottle down the drain

I expected something similar to Lagunitas' Brown Shugga with a pumpkin pie spin. Oh well.

[3dw]

Had to have been a bad bottle...

That's one of the only Pumpkin beers that I like. Never any diacetyl flavors in the bottles I've had.
Just yummy graham cracker crust goodness!

Going to grab a bottle of Elysian Pumpkin Stout today. Review to follow if it's any good.

[Shawn O]

I brought my brother a bottle of Voodoo Maple Bacon Ale to try at a party recently. A few of his friends (drinking Bud) were eager to try it out. They all said "this beer tastes nothing like bacon or donuts. It tastes like beer". Of course it does....its beer!

Also can't wait for Lagunitas' Brown Shugga to release again very soon!

[pat_ernzen]

Worst beer I've had in a long time: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/jw-lees...-sherry/34436/

I've never had it fresh, but I had a 2006 bottle yesterday and I have to assume that it just went so very far south. Tasted of raw green bell peppers and other, salty vegetably flavors. I was splitting the bottle with two friends, leaving each of us with only 3oz to drink, but it was a drain pour for all three of us. I want to say it was almost ten dollars for that miserable little 9oz bottle, too. Fortunately, other good beers were had (in order):

Lagunitas Undercover Shut-Down
New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red (split 3 ways)
Southern Tier Jahva (split 3 ways)
Southern Tier Creme Brulee (split 3 ways)
2006 JW Lee's Harvest Sherry (drainpoured 3 ways)
2007 Avery Samael's (split 3 ways)

And, while finishing the Belgian Red and getting ready to pour the Jahva, a glass I was wiping shattered in my hand. Giving me a nasty cut between my thumb and index finger. Pretty gnarly, but it seems to be healing alright. Sucked, because I just bought the damn glass.

EDIT: Oh, and there was a Breakfast Stout in there somewhere, too. Forgot about that one.

[rdubVr6]

I picked up a bottle of Southern Tier Pumking while I was out and about today. Been wanting to try to GOOD pumpkin beer ever since I had Dogfish Head Punkin Ale a while back and picked this up since it's highly-ish rated.

UGH.

It smells awesome, but I'm ready to pour it down the drain. Maybe I got a bad bottle?

No, that stuff is the worst pumpkin ale I've tasted. Unless i got a bad bottle as well....

I brought my brother a bottle of Voodoo Maple Bacon Ale to try at a party recently. A few of his friends (drinking Bud) were eager to try it out. They all said "this beer tastes nothing like bacon or donuts. It tastes like beer". Of course it does....its beer!

Voodoo tastes like partially carb'd maple syrup w/ liquid smoke....lol idk how you can get the taste of beer from drinking that



i found this over the weekend and popped it open, holys*** if you are a hophead i highly suggest this

[kweetech]

I believe there is no good pumpkin beer...every one I've tried..as much as I've tried to like them..have sucked.
I'll just keep drinking octoberfest's with my pumpkin pie...works out better

[John@Roc-Euro]

I believe there is no good pumpkin beer...every one I've tried..as much as I've tried to like them..have sucked.
I'll just keep drinking octoberfest's with my pumpkin pie...works out better

Aye, agreeing here. Can't do it. Had DFH. Punkin in a mug with melted brown sugar on the rim. Best I've had, too sweet still, but interesting. I try all the pumpkin ones every year and can never get behind any of them. Boooooo.

[n0rdicalex.]

aww yeah, in the fridge chilling now:

[pat_ernzen]

Ack!



http://valleyofthesuds.tumblr.com/po...-of-new-glarus

[kweetech]

fwiw..it wasn't the drought that did in the WI cherries...it was the early warm spring (80's in march), early blossoms, than several hard frosts right afterward that wreaked havoc on our fruit crops. Apples, cherries, etc...all hit hard.
The drought was just an added bonus

I'll have to find that NG beer..sounds interesting.

[phingding]

Hill Farmstead Ann was one of the better ones in the last month.

[phingding]

Imperial Biscotti Break by Evil Twin was really tasty as well.

[Nogaro-Green]

Ann, Serendipity! You guys are jerks! J/K!!!

Best beer I had recently was Steel Toe Before the Dawn. Huge Barley Wine, aged in Templeton Rye Whiskey Barrels, kicked my butt!

I am assuming some of you folks are on Ratebeer/Beeradvocate?

[kweetech]

Ann, Serendipity! You guys are jerks! J/K!!!

Best beer I had recently was Steel Toe Before the Dawn. Huge Barley Wine, aged in Templeton Rye Whiskey Barrels, kicked my butt!

I am assuming some of you folks are on Ratebeer/Beeradvocate?

I need to try some more of the Steel Toe beers..had the IPA, super good.

[Nogaro-Green]

I need to try some more of the Steel Toe beers..had the IPA, super good.

So far I have had Before the Dawn, Lunker, Size 11, Size 7, and Rainmaker. Been fairly impressed with what they have been putting out. BTD, Lunker, and Size 11 are HUGE... 11% - 14.4%.

I feel pretty happy after having just one bottle from them.

[pat_ernzen]

Ann? Woah. Serious whale right there. Did it live up to the hype?

And, yeah, I'm on RB with the same username. Though, I've never actually rated anything.

[John@Roc-Euro]

Alright so I've been lurking too long on this thread to not post.

Apologies on that front, but here are some of my favorites over the past couple months:

#1

Aged Rogue's Double Chocolate Stout.
Could have given this to kindergartners for a lunchtime snack. Like the best chocolate milk you've never had. It stopped a room of people several high-quality beers in. They are rereleasing this in a couple weeks. I have ordered a case.

This one surprised me. Better than I expected. Not a huge fan of japanese beers.


My Local corner store is basically a local cornercraftbeerstoreemporium.
Small shout out to them: http://www.nathanielsquare.com/
Picked up a 2010 World Wide Stout, properly aged and only cooled for that day. Worth it.


Went to The Local in Saratoga Springs ( http://www.thelocalpubandteahouse.com/ ) and had this Heady-Topper from Alchemist.

Damn good. Hard to find because I guess their place got wrecked in serious flooding a year or two ago. Good to see them coming back strong.

Was in Saratoga Springs for the NAMJam car show, and got to sample one of the guys... wifes family?'s own brews.. I had the Hurricane, but everyone reported back proper deliciousness.

So should you ever find that- get it. Brewed in Kingston NY. Awesome, love NY craft beer. http://www.keeganales.com/

Ignore the business card- I was testing out my little tykes car card holder
But for a light, summer beer that you can sucker your friends into trying, in an effort to prepr them for meaner beers?

Southern Tier's Eurotrash Pils. Bet you can tell why we picked it up. Summer in a bottle. Seasonal.

If you ever get the chance to do Firestone's union Jack on tap- it's great. Way different than the bottle, just smoother and slightly sweeter.


I like licorice and chocolate and coffee.

Never had a better combination. However, we tried this one, aged 18 months. Sadly, i do not recommend it aged. Just got sugary sweet, followed by bitter. Bummer.

Barleywines- I like them, but only when they're really good, haha.

This one knocked it out of the park.

Brothers Reserve BRRRBON actualyl disappointed me.

Hard as hell to get, and just did not do enough. And I am a fan of barrel aged. Good, I'd still say try it if you can find it, but watching a couple of these bottles go for $35-45 is not worth it.

Anywho. I'll stay more current moving forward

[kweetech]

Brothers Reserve BRRRBON actualyl disappointed me.

Hard as hell to get, and just did not do enough. And I am a fan of barrel aged. Good, I'd still say try it if you can find it, but watching a couple of these bottles go for $35-45 is not worth it.

Really?? My local grocery had a bunch of this just sitting on the shelf forever...never bought it cuz widmer never has really impressed me. I'll have to go check and see if they still have it...,make some $$

[rdubVr6]

Alright so I've been lurking too long on this thread to not post.

Apologies on that front, but here are some of my favorites over the past couple months:

#1

Aged Rogue's Double Chocolate Stout.
Could have given this to kindergartners for a lunchtime snack. Like the best chocolate milk you've never had. It stopped a room of people several high-quality beers in. They are rereleasing this in a couple weeks. I have ordered a case.

best chocolate stout evar!!!!

[dunhamjr]

Firestone Walker Parabola Imperial Stout...
http://www.firestonebeer.com/beers/products/parabola

pretty much makes everything else I have drank prior to it taste like piss AND... it packs a major punch sitting at 12.5%

[kweetech]

Just grabbed a 4pak of the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.

Store had Clown Shoes for the first time too...so picked up a bottle of Imperial Stout.

[leitmotif]

Just grabbed a 4pak of the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.

Store had Clown Shoes for the first time too...so picked up a bottle of Imperial Stout.

Bourbon County Stout is one of my all time favorite beers. I think I like the coffee version better than Black Tuesday.

[leitmotif]

Firestone Walker Parabola Imperial Stout...
http://www.firestonebeer.com/beers/products/parabola

pretty much makes everything else I have drank prior to it taste like piss AND... it packs a major punch sitting at 12.5%

An excellent beer!

[pat_ernzen]

This one surprised me. Better than I expected. Not a huge fan of japanese beers.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ma...y0so1_1280.jpg

It's a solid beer for sure. Not the best coffee stout I've ever had by any means, but a good one. Last bottle I had was fairly old and it definitely faded. Think this one is probably best fresh.

Picked up a 2010 World Wide Stout, properly aged and only cooled for that day. Worth it.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9...y0so1_1280.jpg

Wow, don't know that I'd pay that much for WWS, even aged, but that's not a HORRIBLE markup... I'm looking forward to finally cracking my November 2008 bottle. Thinking I'll wait another year on it, so that it has five years on it. Have a feeling it'll be nice and smoothed out by then.

Went to The Local in Saratoga Springs ( http://www.thelocalpubandteahouse.com/ ) and had this Heady-Topper from Alchemist.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5...y0so1_1280.jpg
Damn good. Hard to find because I guess their place got wrecked in serious flooding a year or two ago. Good to see them coming back strong.

I've had two cans of it and it's so damn good. My favorite IPA/IIPA. Really need to get my hands on more of it.

I like licorice and chocolate and coffee.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2...y0so1_1280.jpg
Never had a better combination. However, we tried this one, aged 18 months. Sadly, i do not recommend it aged. Just got sugary sweet, followed by bitter. Bummer.

That's a shame. GREAT beer when fresh. Seriously underrated/under-appreciated, IMO.

Brothers Reserve BRRRBON actualyl disappointed me.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2...y0so1_1280.jpg
Hard as hell to get, and just did not do enough. And I am a fan of barrel aged. Good, I'd still say try it if you can find it, but watching a couple of these bottles go for $35-45 is not worth it.

Agree with the other guy. $35-45? Really? Like he said, I can go buy bottles of that right now. Well, maybe not right now, as it's 11:30. Never tried it, but I feel like great Widmer beers are far and between.

[pat_ernzen]

Drank this and was actually surprised that I didn't absolutely hate it.



This bottle was about a year old, so maybe age actually helped it out a bit. I don't know.

Earlier today, before the Rogue beer...

One of the best beers out of Arizona, Four Peaks Hop Knot. I'm all for IPAs in cans.



Bell's Third Coast Old Ale is always good, but this one is even better because it was a Batch 9970 and almost two years old. That 10.2 % ABV was completely undetectable. So tasty.




Earlier today I bought two New Belgium 16oz globes for $.49ea. This is why Goodwill and Savers are my goto for glassware.



All of these are from Instagram, hence the squareness and such. I'm curious if anyone else uses Instagram/Twitter for this kind of stuff. Find it to be kind of a fun way to see what else is out there and what other people think about what they're drinking. I'm @valleyofthesuds on both if anyone is interested in that sort of thing.

Currently drinking a delicious New Glarus Enigma. Been a while since I've had a sour beer and this is such a good one, IMO.

[SSj4G60]

I've had a few people tell me that. Its beer, not sure what people expect, liquid pumpkin pie?

Had that on tap tonight and that's exactly what it tasted like.

[Burnin8r]

Weyerbacher updated their label this year... same awesome beer.

[pat_ernzen]

Wishing I was at GABF, man.

[12v Dub]

[BattleRabbit]

Well, today I went to Bomber's Burrito Bar in Schenectady with Run Dub and had UFO Pumpkin ale served in a cinnamon-sugar rimmed glass. It was glorious.

This though, I am even happier with:


Good, simple red ale. It tastes loud(which is a weird adjective) and is so darn good.

[FBMphil]

I love that stuff. Lakefront Brewery itself is awesome, too: real dingy, old school, piecemeal brewing facilities with a kickass beer hall above it

[phingding]

Ann? Woah. Serious whale right there. Did it live up to the hype?

I thought so. It was very, very good.

[12v Dub]

Had Sweetwater IPA on draft last weekend, has a nice hint on orange and bit of citrus in it. very smooth too, doesn't leave a bitter after taste