Beer

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
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Why the hate Josh? It’s like the Belgian Budweiser…easy to drink and ubiquitous around here.

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Bill,

AFAIK, Thomas Hardys is still around these parts … let me know if you want me to do some beer hunting for you.

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I made quite a few inquiries a couple of years ago and was told it was no longer being imported into the states. If there is some on the West Coast, I would be VERY interested in getting my hands on some.

TIA

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I think you summed up my argument perfectly! I’m all for the occasional cheap beer, and the availability issue is clearly why people drink so much Sam Adams, SNPA, XX, Pacifico, Negro, etc. But I draw the line at Bud/Miller/Coors/Corona/Stella…

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Last time I checked I could still get Thomas Hardys (nice pick BTW).

Roberto, have to agree with your Belhaven pick. Really nice Scottish Ale.

Brian, the Gueuze on the other hand, not so much. I’ve never had the Drie Fonteinen but the other Gueuze (and regular Lambic) I’ve had is just too funky of a beer for me. I don’t mind some funk in my red wine, but I just can’t handle it in a beer for some reason.

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[good.gif] I’d rather go dry.

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will do! thx for the rec Bob. i am also a big North Coast Brewery fan up in Ft Bragg…

http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/

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Favorites:

  1. Kasteel Tripel
  2. Westmalle Tripel
  3. Leffe Blonde

Most commonly consumed:

  1. Leffe Blonde
  2. Fin du Monde
  3. Saison Dupont
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Don’t drink much beer but will have/purchase the occasional Lagunitas IPA since it’s pretty widely available.

We do have a very cool pub nearby called the Trappiste which has an excellent selection of beers - bottled and on tap.

Some faves - Chimay, Westmalle Tripel, Saison, Duvel, Bear Republic Racer, and occasionally Stella Artois or even, gasp, Amstel Light if I want a light beer. Of course if I am at a baseball game on a warm Sunday afternoon…gotta go cheap, Bud Light!!!

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Favorite - Stone Brewing’s Arrogant Bastard and Smoked Porter

Regulars - the same, since we don’t consume beer all that often, any more

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Favorites -

  1. Unpasteurized Pilsner Urquell
  2. Westmalle Tripel
  3. PBR from keg
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For the record, that Geueze ROCKS! And THIS:

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock

is just insane! We used to take the BUS up to Bamburg from Ansbach where I was stationed (couple hours) JUST to drink that beer and eat sausages. Our notes:

Up in Smoke!

Unlike the horribly misguided but influential Italian wine critic Luca Maroni (who criticizes some truly amazing wines as being “contaminated” with smoky, brambly, earthy flavors when, in fact, that is what makes them A) great and B) unique), we first try to figure out what a producer is TRYING to do before trashing them for not making a standardized “product” just like everyone else. Well, what THESE guys are trying to do is push the envelope of the food friendly whiff of smoke or tar by actually SMOKING their raw materials before fermentation. The Schlenkerla is one of our absolute favorites with sausages, Thai food, great cheeses, Jack in the Box Bacon Cheeseburgers or BBQ. Don’t be afraid, they won’t hurt you:

Brauerei Heller Aecht Shlenkerla Maerzen Rauchbier, Bamberg Germany
Brauerei Heller Aecht Shlenkerla Ür-Bock Rauchbier, Bamberg Germany
Made from Beechwood smoked malt, this literally smells like a great smoked sausage (and we mean that in a VERY good way) and has been a tradition in Franconia for centuries where the locals recommend it as a fine morning pint, a delicious light lunch or a stimulant to good conversation and note that the 2nd and 3rd pints are not as shocking as the first.

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“I don’t mind some funk in my red wine, but I just can’t handle it in a beer for some reason.”

Once we were doing a trade tasting after I made Don from Vanberg & Dewulf get a new distributor and one of the salesmen asks, “What’s that SMELL?” as we poured Saison Dupont’s Holiday biere. Don answered “Decay…maybe even entrophy…isn’t it WONDERFUL?”!!!

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I’ve really enjoyed the Saison Dupont “La Foret”

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I love beer. So happy to see this thread. Tomorrow I will get pencil and paper and write down some of these suggestions.

So far, two I have truly enjoyed are the Blue Chimay (the tall one with the cork please rather than the six pack) and the Wolaver Oatmeal Stout from Vermont (if we are picking a 12 oz size). I’ve learned that I love Belgian or even Belgian-styled beer which can be just as good as the Belgian beer IMHO. I’ve been dying to try a beer I’ve read about called Black Albert, but as of last year, it wasn’t imported into the USA. I may have to look into that again as I would really love to give this a try based on reviews I’ve read from beer geeks (there’s a beer advocate BTW). Currently, in the refrigerator to try in the near future are, (1) Delirium Noel, (2) Affligem Tripel, and (3) The Lost Abbey, “Lost and Found”. Hope you guys keep posting reviews, as I love trying brand new brews!! Did that rhyme?

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I will look around to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.

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it’s a love it or hate it type of brew … i don’t blame you, just your genetics.

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Aecht Schlenkerla makes a wheat rauchbier as well … my preference is first the urbock, then the marzen, then the weiss — all of 'em are good, but that urbock is something else — i think half a pint goes great with scrambled eggs and bacon for a saturday breakfast.

Roberto, we need to do a beer and hot sauce OL sometime … like I always say, “it’s alright if i’m sweating while i eat … good excuse for a great beer!” (this got me into serious trouble at a Thai restaurant one time … i think they turned the spice in my dish up to an eleven [heat.gif] … went through 3 pints during the meal and my tongue was on fire for a good half hour afterwards — it was too much)

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I realized tonight Beachwood BBQ has this on the menu. If we weren’t sampling from the on tap selection before I saw it I would have sampled one. But that should indicate that it is distributed in these parts.
[cheers.gif]