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Beer recommendations


Mike Campbell

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KBS is fantastic stuff.  I'd put it just ahead of Breakfast Stout in my favorite beers that Founders makes.  Maybe in my list of favorite beers, period.

I haven't seen it in bottles in this release cycle yet but I got a notification from Untappd that the gas station that fills growlers close to my home has it on tap, so I might have to make a short trip this weekend...

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Went back to the same place and picked up another bottle of KBS. The 4 pack sitting on the counter was the same one I bought a bottle from last Thursday. Chances are I will be able to buy a bottle a week for the next two weeks to finally kill the pack.

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I am having a serious love affair with Blake's cider lately.  Both the El Chavo (Mango/habanero) and Tonic (cucumber/ginger) are delicious and seriously easy-drinking.  

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I got a case of Sam '76 for my brother-in-law and I to drink tomorrow. I couldn't wait  two days and cracked one open last night. At first I thought it was just a mild regular beer, and nothing really special. But, after a few sips I found myself really appreciating just how good and how well-made it is, for being just a mild regular beer.

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tried my hometown brewery again and went with SouthernTier Thick mint-  a 10% ABV  and you definitely feel it.  Not a bad dessert beer but it is too similar to their Creme Brule beer.

Also tried their Raspberry White  wheat beer which is incredible. For the price you just can't beat it.

Bought a 6 pack of Sweet Baby Jesus  Chocolate-Peanut butter and I have enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  

Also really loving the Guinness Draught. Smooth and easy to drink.  I belong to the amazing.com beers of the month club and have had a few gems from there also.  I am not a big IPA guy though and currently have 20-30 IPA's taking space up in my fridge.  I wish it was legal to sell beer.

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16 hours ago, paintedbynumbers said:

tried my hometown brewery again and went with SouthernTier Thick mint-  a 10% ABV  and you definitely feel it.  Not a bad dessert beer but it is too similar to their Creme Brule beer.

Also tried their Raspberry White  wheat beer which is incredible. For the price you just can't beat it.

Bought a 6 pack of Sweet Baby Jesus  Chocolate-Peanut butter and I have enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  

Also really loving the Guinness Draught. Smooth and easy to drink.  I belong to the amazing.com beers of the month club and have had a few gems from there also.  I am not a big IPA guy though and currently have 20-30 IPA's taking space up in my fridge.  I wish it was legal to sell beer.

 

Oh man, one thing I seriously miss about living in NY is STBC. I never had the Thick Mint, but I loved the Chokolat, Chokolat Oranj, and Creme Brulee. I didn't care much for Sweet Baby Jesus. I think it's a porter thing, most of them seem to have this watery taste to them that I can't get past. The only ones I'm recalling liking offhand are Founders porter and Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald.

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1 hour ago, Mike Campbell said:

 

Oh man, one thing I seriously miss about living in NY is STBC. I never had the Thick Mint, but I loved the Chokolat, Chokolat Oranj, and Creme Brulee. I didn't care much for Sweet Baby Jesus. I think it's a porter thing, most of them seem to have this watery taste to them that I can't get past. The only ones I'm recalling liking offhand are Founders porter and Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald.

I grew up literally 10 mins from the brewery.  My family and I toured it the first week they opened. I still have the glass they gave us. I love their Pumking, Raspberry White, and Chokolat.  If you love the Creme Brulee you will love the Thick Mint. It is also part of the Blackwater Series.  I like a lot of porters. I think STBC makes a decent porter too.  

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SBJ also suffers from being a Duclaw beer, and they've made nary a good one in their existence. I have this suspicion they're starting with not so great water or mash, or that their yeast strains suck, because every one I've had just comes off flatter and less appealing than it ought to. SBJ might be their best beer, which should give a fair estimate of the rest of their offerings. 

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I bought a Sixpoint mixed 12 pack and drank 4 yesterday...The Crisp (very nice lager), Sweet Action (sweet and citrusy IPA), Bengali (a little more citrusy IPA than I like, but doable), and Resin (awesome and STRONG -- 9% -- IPA).  All good in their own special way, highly recommended.

Right now I'm drinking a mostly warm Hop Devil in a dull sports bar in downtown Philly.  We can't win em all.

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13 hours ago, Contentious C said:

SBJ also suffers from being a Duclaw beer, and they've made nary a good one in their existence. I have this suspicion they're starting with not so great water or mash, or that their yeast strains suck, because every one I've had just comes off flatter and less appealing than it ought to. SBJ might be their best beer, which should give a fair estimate of the rest of their offerings. 

Not sure how much you had from Duclaw, but before they closed it I went many times to their brewpub in Bel Air.  While there were some definite misses there were also a ton of winners.  It could be because I was spoiled by always getting them on tap.  But if you happen to come across their Oude Rode Ogen then definitely give that a shot.  We were all absolutely blown away by the taste, especially considering it's a 13% beer.  Their high-percentage beers tend to be some of their better ones, but while names escape me they've had lighter options that were pretty good too.

And @Mike Campbell my wife is all about Sam '76.  She used to hate beer and once she discovered ciders/goses/sours that became the types she'd seek out.  But '76 was the first she's had of that style that she fell in love with.  It's super drinkable and it's one of those rare ones that we're both super into.

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I went to the taproom they have at Arundel Mills on a number of occasions and never came away impressed. I think I've tried every non-IPA they've had on tap routinely (Dirty Little Freak, Misfit Red, Bad Moon, and Bare Ass Blonde for sure) and could do without all of them. Never saw the one you mentioned, though. 

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Tried the Misfit Red. It's ok but nothing special.  If your wife likes Gose's I would have her try the new STBC  Concord Grape Gose sour.  It's really good. 

I also like Boulder Brewing CO out of Colorado.  I am not a big IPA guy but I do like their pulp Fusion Orange  made with blood oranges.

Also for anyone wanting a good low price Amber beer I would try the Newport Storm Brewery's  Amber Ale..  It is an easy to drink beer.  I also like their Spring Irish Red quite a bit.

When it comes to Porters though  I will always, always go with the Breckenridge Vanilla bean.  It is absolutely incredible and I prefer it to Ballast Point even.

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On 4/1/2018 at 5:53 PM, Contentious C said:

SBJ also suffers from being a Duclaw beer, and they've made nary a good one in their existence. I have this suspicion they're starting with not so great water or mash, or that their yeast strains suck, because every one I've had just comes off flatter and less appealing than it ought to. SBJ might be their best beer, which should give a fair estimate of the rest of their offerings. 

 

I've had SBJ and Misfit Red. I liked the Misfit Red a whole lot better, just for not having that nasty aftertaste that I always got from Killians or Sam Adams Irish Reds.

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3 hours ago, Contentious C said:

I went to the taproom they have at Arundel Mills on a number of occasions and never came away impressed. I think I've tried every non-IPA they've had on tap routinely (Dirty Little Freak, Misfit Red, Bad Moon, and Bare Ass Blonde for sure) and could do without all of them. Never saw the one you mentioned, though. 

It appears to be a newer one they have in stores and is well worth looking for.  If you have Untapped you can find stores around you that have it too.

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I had a 19.2oz can of Lagunitas 12th of Never at a hipster-ass bar last night.  You know it's a hipster place when they hand you the can and don't even ask if you want t a glass.  Which is fine by me.  My coworker told me the massive can looked like I should be drinking it from a bag.  But fuck that guy, he was drinking a vodka tonic from a jar.  Anyway, it's a good beer, hoppy and full bodied.  And even though it's a craft beer, you still look like a bad motherfucker drinking a beer from a huge can.  I had a really good lager on draft, too, but I can't remember the name.  Maybe we'll have to go back.

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  • 2 weeks later...

DuClaw was in some trouble last year. They leased out some of their brewing space to the dudes who make the Raven Lager + others and brought in some new brewers, they're attempting a comeback trail thing. Recent beers have been better, but I don't know if it'll be enough. I liked their new Cantaloupe Gose, of all things. SBJ is actually decent for what it is but I feel like the notoriety of it devalued everything else they made. Their best beers, believe it or not, are their barleywines. Hell on Wood is probably the best in the state.

Because I am compelled, I'm gonna co-sign on these previously mentioned beers; Sixpoint Crisp is great. Lagunitas 12th of Never is one of the best modern IPA/Pale Ales on the market, a damned superstar. Founders Porter and Edmund Fitzgerald are giants in their style. There are a lot more bad porters in the market than good ones, it's a damned shame. The all-time underrated classic? Anchor Porter, baby.

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  • 7 months later...

The only one I've had is #4, Wrench by Industrial Arts, but it's damn good. I've been trading stuff with a couple of buddies back east, so I'm becoming well versed with New England IPAs. A couple of weeks ago, my best friend sent me a can of PM Dawn, a Coffee Stout from Trillium Brewing, which is probably the best non KBS/CBS coffee stout I've had. Unfortunately for me, I drank it after watching the Bears beat the Vikings on Sunday Night football, forgetting that it contained Cold Brew Coffee and that it was almost 10:00 PM.

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  • 2 months later...

Let's try to resurrect this topic

Two beers of note that I had recently:

Sierra Nevada BRUT IPA.  This is the I guess trendy new style of "Brut IPA," which is supposed to be more dry and more drinkable for people who may not be into super hoppiness.  I'm not one of those people; I like hoppiness and IPAs within reason; I do draw the line when there's so much hops that the flavor is pure citrus, something like Dogfish Head 120 minute which just tastes like grapefruit juice.  Anyway, I still liked this a lot.  It tastes like a combination of crisp lager and IPA, but not in that "watered down IPA" flavor like Lagunitas Daytime IPA does.  Delicious and really refreshing, but still packing a decent little punch at 6.2%.  If my overlong description appealed to you, give it a shot.  It's apparently Sierra Nevada's "Spring Seasonal" even though I bought it in early February.

Speaking of IPAs that taste like a mix of IPA and something else, I also had Dogfish Head's "Perfect Disguise" a little while back.  It's described as "an IPA disguised as a Kölsch or a Kölsch disguised as an IPA" and that's pretty fitting.  For something described as an IPA mixed with a lighter beer, this is definitely more full bodied and heavier tasting than the Sierra Nevada Brut I just talked about.  That being said, it tastes really good and you'll probably like it if you like IPAs and Kolsches.  Is that plural correct?  Anyway, it's 8% ABV so it might fuck you up a little.  Old pros like me dual wield beers and glasses of water to counteract that.  That's a free protip from me to you.

Edited by Technico Support
typos and assorted bullshit
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I normally hate IPAs because they typically taste awful and are an immediate migraine trigger. There's only one I could recommend and it's probably only available if you're in or around Chicago/NW Indiana. So basically, if you're within a 2 hours drive of Chicago in any direction you can probably find it. Anyway, it's called Zombie Dust and it's put out by 3 Floyds Brewing.

Anyway, if you find it in your area, get it. It's really good. 

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