Best (and worst) beers you’ve ever had - redux

[McLoofus 35,182]

Not the most beautiful shot, but boudin from Best Stop in Scott and CCB's Cosmik Debris for the Oscars (of which I only watched the first half). I went with the Debris over Hopslam the other day, but might go back for some Slam. 

 

Also, if you happen upon some Get Comfortable, the CCB + Allagash collab, jump on it. Belgian IPA that is just a perfectly crafted beer. Balanced, great body, pillowy head... If somebody told me Orval consulted on this beer, I wouldn't bat an eye. I hope they still have some when I go back today. Which I wasn't planning on doing at all but that beer is so damned good. 

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

6 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Not the most beautiful shot, but boudin from Best Stop in Scott and CCB's Cosmik Debris for the Oscars (of which I only watched the first half). I went with the Debris over Hopslam the other day, but might go back for some Slam. 

 

Also, if you happen upon some Get Comfortable, the CCB + Allagash collab, jump on it. Belgian IPA that is just a perfectly crafted beer. Balanced, great body, pillowy head... If somebody told me Orval consulted on this beer, I wouldn't bat an eye. I hope they still have some when I go back today. Which I wasn't planning on doing at all but that beer is so damned good. 

Link is broken(pun intended?)....But I gotta love any potential pic with BS boudin in it....

 

And that beer sounds amazing.

[McLoofus 35,182]

11 minutes ago, Tiger Refuge said:

Link is broken(pun intended?)

Ahh. I C&Pd from Google pics. I'll have to remember not to do that in the future. But it's not a great pic anyway.

Funny with the "link is broken" b/c it was Best Stop party links... but the twist in a couple of them had come undone... so they look more like weird normal sized links... but my gawd they were so good. 

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Ahh. I C&Pd from Google pics. I'll have to remember not to do that in the future. But it's not a great pic anyway.

Funny with the "link is broken" b/c it was Best Stop party links... but the twist in a couple of them had come undone... so they look more like weird normal sized links... but my gawd they were so good. 

Dammit, now I got boudin on the brain. May have to make an order. Once you’ve had Best Stop, there’s no going back.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Dark lager blind taste test/ranking. Posting here because Great Raft and Wiseacre both made the top 10...

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2020/02/best-dark-lagers-blind-tasting-ranked.html

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Dark lager blind taste test/ranking. Posting here because Great Raft and Wiseacre both made the top 10...

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2020/02/best-dark-lagers-blind-tasting-ranked.html

I freaking love the Reasonably Corrupt. Their description is spot on. Super nice, roasty flavor. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

[WeaglWeaglWDE 599]

Lol "Where da Gold at?!?" https://www.al.com/life/2020/02/can-of-gold-crichton-leprechaun-inspires-beer-label.html

Edited February 14, 2020 by WeaglWeaglWDE

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

Hopslam for the win tonight.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

On 2/22/2020 at 8:14 PM, Tiger Refuge said:

Hopslam for the win tonight.

We sold the s*** out of that. 8 cases gone in just a couple weeks. 

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

1 hour ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

We sold the s*** out of that. 8 cases gone in just a couple weeks. 

It’s a nice departure from all the haze. Definitely not their best variant, but still solid af.

Edited February 24, 2020 by Tiger Refuge

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

52 minutes ago, Tiger Refuge said:

It’s a nice departure from all the haze. Definitely not their best variant, but still solid af.

It’s solid for sure. When I’m going non-hazy lately I’m grabbing Monday Night Brewing Slap Fight or CCB Jai Alai. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

10 hours ago, Tiger Refuge said:

It’s a nice departure from all the haze. Definitely not their best variant, but still solid af.

100%. I've enjoyed it this year much more than I expected. Maybe it's because my taste buds are raging against the haze lately. But also, I kind of quit thinking of it as an IPA. It's actually really interesting to me that Two Hearted doesn't even call itself an IPA on the packaging but Hopslam does. Anyway, $17 for a sixer of really great 10% beer is a bargain these days. And my spot has cases of it stacked on the floor.

By the way, my buddy and his wife are down in Nola for Mardi Gras. He insta'd a picture of Nola's "Old Man Yells at Cloudy IPA"... which makes me feel attacked... especially since it's a cloudy IPA.

9 hours ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

It’s solid for sure. When I’m going non-hazy lately I’m grabbing Monday Night Brewing Slap Fight or CCB Jai Alai. 

Finally found some White Oak Jai Alai and, whoa, I forgot just how burly it is. Slap Fight is good, too. And I still enjoy all of the classic West Coast IPAs and pale ales.

That CANarchy mixed 12-pack is definitely one of the better samplers I've come across. 4 good IPAs and pale ales at a reasonable price. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

@Tiger Refuge... having smoked boudin and some very smoke-heavy, salty, spicy gumbo tonight. What kind of beer do you recommend? I'm thinking about just grabbing some Abita Mardi Gras bock. 

This is the gumbo recipe. I used tasso from Best Stop. Fantastic recipe, although next time I might dial back the tasso and sausage and backfill with shellfish. I used Conecuh and a Georgia-made hot "andouille". 

https://www.theblackpeppercorn.com/smoked-sausage-gumbo/

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

51 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

@Tiger Refuge... having smoked boudin and some very smoke-heavy, salty, spicy gumbo tonight. What kind of beer do you recommend? I'm thinking about just grabbing some Abita Mardi Gras bock. 

This is the gumbo recipe. I used tasso from Best Stop. Fantastic recipe, although next time I might dial back the tasso and sausage and backfill with shellfish. I used Conecuh and a Georgia-made hot "andouille". 

https://www.theblackpeppercorn.com/smoked-sausage-gumbo/

Sounds like a damn fine pairing to me! Something not too heavy that’ll cut through and smooth that spice. 
Adding-Voodoo APA, because....gris gris.

If your buddy is a big beer fan, tell him to try to get down to All Relation brewing. They are killing it lately.

Edited February 24, 2020 by Tiger Refuge

[McLoofus 35,182]

9 minutes ago, Tiger Refuge said:

Sounds like a damn fine pairing to me! Something not too heavy that’ll cut through and smooth that spice. 
Adding-Voodoo APA, because....gris gris.

If your buddy is a big beer fan, tell him to try to get down to All Relation brewing. They are killing it lately.

Much obliged as always, mi amigo.

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

49 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Much obliged as always, mi amigo.

Man, you’ve got me seriously pheening(sp?) for some Best Stop meat products. My Mardi Gras game is way behind this year. Traveling for a meeting tomorrow is seriously putting a damper on it. I’m mean seriously! Who schedules a damn meeting on Fat Tuesday?! 

[McLoofus 35,182]

8 minutes ago, Tiger Refuge said:

Man, you’ve got me seriously pheening(sp?) for some Best Stop meat products. My Mardi Gras game is way behind this year. Traveling for a meeting tomorrow is seriously putting a damper on it. I’m mean seriously! Who schedules a damn meeting on Fat Tuesday?! 

Send me name and location. Cancel your flight. I'll handle this. Operation Laissez Le Refuge Roulet initiated. 

(I'm hurriedly finishing off my last order from BSIS- yes it's been in the freezer well beyond what any FDA employee would recommend, no I don't care, the kids won't/don't get to eat any of it anyway- so that I can order more.)

((PPSS- The jalapeno chicken burgers are surprisingly good. The most surprising part is that I'm pretty sure the "chicken" is at least 33% bacon. God bless those angels in Scott, Louisiana.))

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Send me name and location. Cancel your flight. I'll handle this. Operation Laissez Le Refuge Roulet initiated. 

(I'm hurriedly finishing off my last order from BSIS- yes it's been in the freezer well beyond what any FDA employee would recommend, no I don't care, the kids won't/don't get to eat any of it anyway- so that I can order more.)

((PPSS- The jalapeno chicken burgers are surprisingly good. The most surprising part is that I'm pretty sure the "chicken" is at least 33% bacon. God bless those angels in Scott, Louisiana.))

I love all of this. All of it.

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

Man, some of these “slushie” beer flavors are just ridiculous. Hey, just go get a daiquiri. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

12 hours ago, Tiger Refuge said:

Man, some of these “slushie” beer flavors are just ridiculous. Hey, just go get a daiquiri. 

The beer bro scene is incredibly annoying right now. It's like a giant birthday party for a damned six year old. 

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

19 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

The beer bro scene is incredibly annoying right now. It's like a giant birthday party for a damned six year old. 

...wearing  sparkly jeans while driving a bro dozer, no less.

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

Dat Braincake. Holy schnikeys. Serious citrus action here. If I didn’t know better, I’d say this tastes just like the first hazy version of GITM. Absodamnlutely delicious.

[McLoofus 35,182]

On 2/28/2020 at 6:53 PM, Tiger Refuge said:

Dat Braincake. Holy schnikeys. Serious citrus action here. If I didn’t know better, I’d say this tastes just like the first hazy version of GITM. Absodamnlutely delicious.

"Double wheat". Very interesting. I'd be curious to know exactly how that alters the profile. 

It would be fun to do a side-by-side-by-side with no wheat, single wheat and double wheat. Because, duh, three beers. 

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

"Double wheat". Very interesting. I'd be curious to know exactly how that alters the profile. 

It would be fun to do a side-by-side-by-side with no wheat, single wheat and double wheat. Because, duh, three beers. 

You know, I'd be hard pressed to tell you how it altered the profile as well, without a side by side comparison. So, beers it is!

 

But seriously, my brain wants to make that double wheating result in a "softness" perhaps? Or maybe a "smoothing" effect. This beer is waaaaaay too damn smooth for a damn near imperial sized ABV. My serious guess is that all the years of experimenting with different styles and fine tuning of all the IPAs/IIPAs that they have concocted has resulted in a damn treasure trove of information on the beers they can brew.