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

[TitanTiger 20,481]

Still can't get into IPA's.  90% of them taste like they were brewed with soap.

That said, this Twitter quote about the Bud Light Super Bowl ads was on point:

"Based solely on Twitter, it sounds like the Super Bowl was a long, boring battle in which two beers nobody should drink fought about the inclusion of an ingredient that no beer should contain. Is that about right?"

[AUDub 11,148]

44 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Still can't get into IPA's.  90% of them taste like they were brewed with soap.

Tried any NEIPAs? We're still playing catch-up here in Alabama, but they are getting more frequent.

Lot of good low bitterness IPAs out  there nowadays. If you see any of Parish Brewing's stuff, give it a go. Bloom and Ghost in the Machine are amazing. Cloudy, fruity and almost no bitterness. 

Quote

That said, this Twitter quote about the Bud Light Super Bowl ads was on point:

"Based solely on Twitter, it sounds like the Super Bowl was a long, boring battle in which two beers nobody should drink fought about the inclusion of an ingredient that no beer should contain. Is that about right?"

Apt.

I did have a chuckle when the Mountain crushed the Bud Knight's head though. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

15 hours ago, AUDub said:

Amazing what a variety pack or two will do for the appearance of the beer fridge 

Guess I'll have an IPA. 

(Actually drinking Dino S'mores)

I have mad respect for your OCD. Dead serious. Very satisfying pic. Well, except that messy water packaging. Damn, son, tighten up. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, TitanTiger said:

Still can't get into IPA's.  90% of them taste like they were brewed with soap.

That said, this Twitter quote about the Bud Light Super Bowl ads was on point:

"Based solely on Twitter, it sounds like the Super Bowl was a long, boring battle in which two beers nobody should drink fought about the inclusion of an ingredient that no beer should contain. Is that about right?"

I don't remember which, but the one claiming high ground was bragging about containing rice. 

[AUDub 11,148]

15 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I have mad respect for your OCD. Dead serious. Very satisfying pic. Well, except that messy water packaging. Damn, son, tighten up. 

I'm so OCD about it that I'm kicking myself for not putting the Torpedo up top with the rest of the Sierra Nevada brews and  moving the Dino S'mores to the bottom. 

Speaking of the Dino S'mores, I recall paying $8ish for a single at Hop City a couple of years ago. 4 pack at the Pig ended up being 18 and change. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

5 minutes ago, AUDub said:

I'm so OCD about it that I'm kicking myself for not putting the Torpedo up top with the rest of the Sierra Nevada brews and  moving the Dino S'mores to the bottom. 

Speaking of the Dino S'mores, I recall paying $8ish for a single at Hop City a couple of years ago. 4 pack at the Pig ended up being 18 and change. 

Oh wow, that's not bad. Not sure if we get that in GA or SC. Will check.

[TitanTiger 20,481]

51 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I don't remember which, but the one claiming high ground was bragging about containing rice. 

Right.  Bud Light is crowing about their ingredients and the main ingredient besides water is rice.  Rice is a cheap adjunct ingredient brewers use in lieu of more expensive barley.  It's used to impart less distinctive, bland flavor and a hint of sweetness.  In other words, it does exactly what the corn syrup does - supplies more sugars.  But it doesn't belong in real beer.

[McLoofus 35,182]

5 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Right.  Bud Light is crowing about their ingredients and the main ingredient besides water is rice.  Rice is a cheap adjunct ingredient brewers use in lieu of more expensive barley.  It's used to impart less distinctive, bland flavor and a hint of sweetness.  In other words, it does exactly what the corn syrup does - supplies more sugars.  But it doesn't belong in real beer.

And so many consumers were like, ooh, rice, natural, vegetables, whole grain, I bet my doctor would say it's good for me.... 

THIS is why beer geeks get up in arms about buying ABInBev products. It's not because they're not hyper-local or small batch or hoppy enough or any of that. It's because they're literally anti-beer. 

[AUDub 11,148]

45 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Oh wow, that's not bad. Not sure if we get that in GA or SC. Will check.

It's a great stout. Lives up to its name. Doesn't flow down here often, so I snapped it up when I saw it.

Found Shock's comment on it in the old thread.

It was $8.99 for a single when he purchased it 3 4 years ago. 

Glad they dropped the price. Anything more than $5 a single is really hard to justify to Mrs. Dub.

Edited February 4, 2019 by AUDub

[McLoofus 35,182]

3 minutes ago, AUDub said:

Glad they dropped the price. Anything more than $5 a single is really hard to justify to Mrs. Dub.

I agree with her. That's the beauty of the current market. You can almost always find something as good or almost as good for a reasonable price. Very few unicorns anymore IMO. Seems beer is stabilizing like wine did. I love saturation!

[fredst 9,064]

On 2/4/2019 at 9:37 AM, McLoofus said:

And so many consumers were like, ooh, rice, natural, vegetables, whole grain, I bet my doctor would say it's good for me...

I’m a doctor but I would tell them that it’s s****y beer, lol

[ShocksMyBrain 9,364]

On 2/4/2019 at 7:31 AM, TitanTiger said:

Still can't get into IPA's.  90% of them taste like they were brewed with soap.

That said, this Twitter quote about the Bud Light Super Bowl ads was on point:

"Based solely on Twitter, it sounds like the Super Bowl was a long, boring battle in which two beers nobody should drink fought about the inclusion of an ingredient that no beer should contain. Is that about right?"

s***ty IPAs taste like soap.

Good-excellent IPAs should be tropical or citrusy. Or piney...I guess 😑. 

I’ve found that hazy or New England IPAs appeal more toward the “non-IPA” crowd. Because of the mouthfeel. You get all the hop flavor, but the bitterness is slammed into a silky, smooth finish. Like @AUDub said, get you some Parish. 

We sampled some Diamond Bear IPAs the other day and they were just offensive. And I’ll typically drink any IPA you put in front of me. 

Edited February 7, 2019 by ShocksMyBrain

[ShocksMyBrain 9,364]

Wicked Weed finally hit the market this week. I had to try the French Toast stout and the Milk and Cookies Stout. Kind of meh on both. Built them up way too much in my head. 

Pernicious-solid straight forward IPA

Lt. Dank-not my preferred style of IPA, but serviceable

Lychee Burst session sour-meh

Astronomical-very good, and my favorite of the bunch. Tastes like a widely available NEIPA. Very reminiscent of Hazy Voodoo Ranger, Devil’s Harvest, and Salad Days.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,364]

On 2/4/2019 at 9:28 AM, TitanTiger said:

Right.  Bud Light is crowing about their ingredients and the main ingredient besides water is rice.  Rice is a cheap adjunct ingredient brewers use in lieu of more expensive barley.  It's used to impart less distinctive, bland flavor and a hint of sweetness.  In other words, it does exactly what the corn syrup does - supplies more sugars.  But it doesn't belong in real beer.

What’s hilarious is people in the craft community are laughing at the corn syrup while their favorite pastry stout factory is dumping a thousand pounds of twinkies into their next blond stout. 

Look up Omnipollo and just look at all the stuff they throw in their beers. They’re constantly being meme’d about, and I think they’ve become aware and have started just trying to put the craziest s*** out there because of it. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

What’s hilarious is people in the craft community are laughing at the corn syrup while their favorite pastry stout factory is dumping a thousand pounds of twinkies into their next blond stout. 

Look up Omnipollo and just look at all the stuff they throw in their beers. They’re constantly being meme’d about, and I think they’ve become aware and have started just trying to put the craziest s*** out there because of it. 

It's almost like craft beer is on 2 divergent paths, one towards "meme-ness" and the other towards actually doing classic styles properly. I'm on that 2nd bandwagon, hard. The more words you put on the label, the less likely I am to want to try it. 

[Tiger Refuge 6,663]

1 hour ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

What’s hilarious is people in the craft community are laughing at the corn syrup while their favorite pastry stout factory is dumping a thousand pounds of twinkies into their next blond stout. 

Look up Omnipollo and just look at all the stuff they throw in their beers. They’re constantly being meme’d about, and I think they’ve become aware and have started just trying to put the craziest s*** out there because of it. 

Exactly. Great Raft’s Cheat Day stout  had like 35 dozen donuts in it...

[Tiger Refuge 6,663]

Just now, McLoofus said:

It's almost like craft beer is on 2 divergent paths, one towards "meme-ness" and the other towards actually doing classic styles properly. I'm on that 2nd bandwagon, hard. The more words you put on the label, the less likely I am to want to try it. 

I can’t remember what beer did that to me last year, but I hit a wal with all the wordage. I am definitely enjoying some of the good, clean beer. I know several LA breweries are dialing back on some of the complex offerings and pushing more classical styles.

[McLoofus 35,182]

5 minutes ago, Tiger Refuge said:

I can’t remember what beer did that to me last year, but I hit a wal with all the wordage. I am definitely enjoying some of the good, clean beer. I know several LA breweries are dialing back on some of the complex offerings and pushing more classical styles.

And it shows, at least in the beers that I've tried. (Thanks, bro!)

There are definitely some folks out there pushing the envelope and creating good beer, but so much of it is just sugar bomb garbage. Might as well dump bourbon on your Cap'n Crunch. 

Hmm. That didn't come out as awful sounding as I anticipated. 

 

[Tiger Refuge 6,663]

8 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

And it shows, at least in the beers that I've tried. (Thanks, bro!)

There are definitely some folks out there pushing the envelope and creating good beer, but so much of it is just sugar bomb garbage. Might as well dump bourbon on your Cap'n Crunch. 

Hmm. That didn't come out as awful sounding as I anticipated. 

 

*makes mental notes for Saturday morning

[ShocksMyBrain 9,364]

51 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

It's almost like craft beer is on 2 divergent paths, one towards "meme-ness" and the other towards actually doing classic styles properly. I'm on that 2nd bandwagon, hard. The more words you put on the label, the less likely I am to want to try it. 

I’m a little bit of both. I do like the crazy stuff when available, but I also appreciate a good classic style beer. A well done traditional RIS is just as good or better than a mocha vanilla latte coconut cream imperial stout. Because guess what? With a well done RIS, you should be able to pick up notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, etc. without adding all the adjuncts. I don’t want the diabeetus.

My biggest gripe about the breweries in Memphis is that they’re ALL doing traditional stuff. And it’s good they got those recipes dialed in because they’re mostly solid. However, I want some crazy milkshake IPAs on the reg to go with my clean every day IPAs. 

Edited February 7, 2019 by ShocksMyBrain

[ShocksMyBrain 9,364]

29 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

And it shows, at least in the beers that I've tried. (Thanks, bro!)

There are definitely some folks out there pushing the envelope and creating good beer, but so much of it is just sugar bomb garbage. Might as well dump bourbon on your Cap'n Crunch. 

Hmm. That didn't come out as awful sounding as I anticipated. 

 

Southern Grist Broconut comes immediately to mind. I love their IPAs and their stouts. But that one seriously tastes like they dumped 3 pounds of sugar and coconut into a keg and called it a day. My wife and I had to split a 2oz taster of it because it was so sweet. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

7 minutes ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

A well done traditiona RIS is just as good or better than a mocha vanilla latte coconut cream imperial stout. Because guess what? With a well done RIS, you should be able to pick up notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, etc. without adding all the adjuncts.

Exactly! Btw, I'm guessing that New Realm doesn't distro outside of GA yet but their RIS is gangster. Huge roasty, dark chocolate notes. But very clean. Wonderful beer. 

8 minutes ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

My biggest gripe about the breweries in Memphis is that they’re ALL doing traditional stuff.

Good point. I suppose you do need some variety. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

26 minutes ago, Tiger Refuge said:

*makes mental notes for Saturday morning

Please give my most sincere apologies to Mrs. Refuge!

[ShocksMyBrain 9,364]

Sierra Nevada Narwhal is a classic example of a Russsian Imperial Stout that has all the notes of bitter chocolate, coffee, and still is yet creamy and pours like motor oil. 

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy, just the same.

If you serve me an “imperial stout” with crazy adjuncts that I can see through, that’s gonna be a no from me dawg. Because you know that bitch is gonna be thin and a waste of ABV. That was my biggest gripe with the WW Milk and Cookies and French Toast...I could see the other side of the glass while I was pouring it. Either dump more adjunct into it, or clean it up and call it an imperial brown ale. 

Edited February 7, 2019 by ShocksMyBrain

[McLoofus 35,182]

Just now, ShocksMyBrain said:

Sierra Nevada Narwhal is a classic example of a Russsian Imperial Stout that has all the notes of bitter chocolate, coffee, and still is yet creamy and pours like motor oil. 

If you serve me an “imperial stout” with crazy adjuncts that I can see through, that’s gonna be a no from me dawg. 

YYYYYYYUP.

And Sierra Nevada is an example of a grown ass brewery that makes beer as well as any in the country and does it without gimmicks. Sure, they'll get a little funky every now and then, but there's no, "Duuuude, what if we put <one of the few remaining desserts nobody's tried> in it!!!"