They're everywhere...

This guy.

Big Meany

The setting: Sun falling in the sky, post-run muscle soreness, a bit of apprehension on whether this beer has survived a brief freezing, and "Business Time" via the Conchords is kickin' on the t.v. Enter Mean Manalishi. This beer has crazy scents going on. Fresh hops, jalapeno baked bread, caramel/coconut candies that you get from those big bins (Brach's?), and some other mystery scent that I've spent twenty minutes sniffing for. Help...suggestions? Complex. Chewy mouthfeel, alcohol well hidden in taste, spicy (jalapenos again), malty and caramelly. I want to drink this often, as there is something about this beer I can't place.

4.4/5

Further analysis needed

Question-Freezerization

My happiest purchase has led to a mini-nightmare. I bought a small beer (solely for beer - I plan on having a rotating six pack selection at my house and a beer menu to boot) fridge last week, which made me extremely happy. I plugged it in, turned it up, added many tasty beers, left for the weekend, and returned to an exploded Tricerahops and many nearly frozen bottles. Are these beers now dead? The bombers are very icy, most of the singles have returned to all liquid. Any chance these beers regain their form?

Stone abounds in the distributors in State College. Barry, you should come to State College. I'll buy you a case.

The same place sells Oskar Blues sampler cases for $31. Definitely the next purchase.

Coffee trilogy

Beer #1:

Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! Péché Mortel - Péché Mortel means Mortal Sin in French. This is probably the most coffee-y coffee stouts I've ever had. The nose is coffee, the taste is coffee, the finish is coffee...coffee, coffee, coffee. Despite being a bit one-dimensional, it is quite good. The one was a left over from beer fest.

4.7/5

Stone Ruination IPA

Smells yummy, pours to light orange and mantains a thin head throughout. Loads of hops, slight taste of a bread or biscuit, faint tastes of citrus fruits, and a long bitter finish of pine and hops. Not a typical double ipa, but very, very tasty. Hoppy as hell and very drinkable, pehaps dangerously so. I might get ruined.

4.7/5

Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale - Is this post name long enough for all you knuckleheads?

Beer bills itself as using hops from New Zealand - no word on whether Brit approves, Jemain, however, digs the hops. I would describe this as chuggable and slightly sweet with a malty backbone that is dominated more by hops than malt. Strangely, despite its hoppiness, it's not particularly ipa-ish. Pretty tasty and good for those not big into ipa but liking an easy drinking summer beer offering more than that shitty "I'm a summer beer" taste.

3.9/5

Lambic weirdos

All you weird lambic drinkers, just saw this on the Upland website:
http://www.uplandbeer.com/news/displaynews.php?id=27
September 1st is the day to reserve lambics...if anyone wants some, let me know and I'll pick them up for you.

Barryborth coincidence

I too had a Barryborth last night, and echo all the positives. Every sip I had I enjoyed it more and more. Amazingly tasty and refreshing as well. I think I actually strongly prefer it to the Anchor steam. I had both a Devil over a Barrel and a Barryborth and loved them both. 4+ indeed.

Barryborth Steam

Enjoying a Barryborth Steam. Very solid beer. Sweet and refreshing. Perfect carbonation. I'd like to compare to an Anchor Steam but I don't have one at hand.

Many many times better than the first brews I ever made. We should brew a batch together. My only complaint - and its a large complaint - is that the bottle wasn't completely full. Good thing I took two from IUBF.

4+

Blasphemy Oaked Quad by Weyerbacher

Tried this Weyerbacher (maker of the double Simcoe IIPA) last night and it's pretty much true to the label: oak flavor and a quad. While the head died instantly, the Blasphemy remained fizzy when swirled. Nice color. Hot tasting, like a glass of Yukon Jack. Not my cup of tea. Would have preferred to split it. Not bad. 3/5

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

Carey and I just hit up Tyranena to try their new Scurvy IPA.

I thought it was really tasty. A good combination of orange peel bitterness and hop bitterness and orange peel citrusness and hop citrusness. An almost perfect summer IPA.

4.5/5

Duff Gardens....HURRAH!

Went with the Satin Solstice last night. I think I actually liked it better than the Storm King, believe it or not. A little more coffee flavor. Thumbs up. 4.3/5

Note the intense concentration on Pete's face here. "Must...get...beer...ranking...correct!"

Has Dark Lord ruined all stouts for me?

Answer: Quite possibly. Had a Storm King last night and was kind of unimpressed. Good, but kind of un-lord like. I think I prefer the more chocolate-y, oatmeal-y stouts. Final verdict: 4.0

Am currently debating the following for my Thursday evening beer: Barryborth, Sposborth, Summer Solstice, Brother Theloneous. Am kind of in a stout mood, and kind of in a belgian mood. We'll see what wins.

We didn't take many pictures over the weekend, but I'll try to post a few in the upcoming days.

Question-Refrigeration

So, I am beginning a beer cellar collection. I envision great things! In going through my collection, I noticed two beers with labels requiring refrigeration, namely Moylan's IPA and Hoppin' Frog's Mean Manalishi. Both these bottles were purchased off the shelves, unrefrigerated. What's the deal? Can I not cellar these beers? Will they lose flavor if left warm? Your opinions/expertise are welcomed.

When in doubt, pound a stout!

Before complaining about the quality of this picture, this was taken with my camera phone and beamed to the laptop via infrared. Fancy, eh?

AleSmith Speedway Stout - One of the advantages of travelling for work is that I get access to beers that I would not normally have access to. Point in case, the Speedway Stout. This is an outstanding colossal imperial stout. This one has a great coffee taste (brewed with coffee beans) and a roasty malts at the finish. Top notch. I'd say this is not quite on the level of the Dark Lord, but solid indeed.

4.8/5

Golf

I'm jonesing for another round of golf...anyone feel like turning around and coming back here this afternoon?

Last minute requests?

I will be making my final trip to the store(s) on Tuesday and Wednesday and will consider all final requests. Look forward to seeing you all soon.

Training day

Devoted today to training for next week...the stats: 1 Dogfish 120 minute IPA, 1 Oaked Arrogant Bastard, 1 glass of Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine and 1 Founder's Devil Dancer. I'm guessing this will be half an evening come Wednesday.

Non-oaked Yeti

Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout - I figured I would follow in Chris' footsteps and try the non-oaked variety of the Yeti. I guess that Great Divide isn't distributed in Wisconsin any more, but Jenifer Street Market still had it. The bottled date was April 2006, so it may well have been sitting in the fridge for 2 years. Luckily, this did not seem to affect the beer in any negative way.

This is much more of a bruiser than it's oaked cousin. The strong malts dominate in a great way. Coffee too. There is a pleasant hop bitterness to balance this one out too. Outstanding. I like I like the Oaked version a bit better. Just a bit.

4.6/5

I'm ruined on summer beers

Lake Louie Prairie Moon Belgian Farmhouse Ale - I just don't think I can enjoy summer beers any more. This wasn't bad by any means, but it can't compare to a bruising stout. Nice and spicy, but with some weird bitterness that I didn't love. Saisons are not my favorite style either.

3.5/5

The future possibility of rainbows

Will there ever be a rainbow? Only if it stops raining. This is Kirkwood Ave in Bloomington yesterday, the equivalent of Madison's State street. I'd recommend bringing 2 of every kind of beer for this trip, and we'll make an ark (or at least some form of crude raft) out of empty bottles.

Questions

What will be the best beer of beer fest?

Will we finish the beer we bring to beer fest?

Will there ever be a rainbow?

What have you done to me?

What have you people done to me that I'm now stocking this in the fridge as my casual session beer. Enjoying one now, and I do mean enjoying. Solid.

My list is no longer fluid :)

Here is my final list (barring special requests). I just added a Tyranena stout growler. That one should be good to drink in quantity, since it is not imperial :) Barry is going to get the other Wisconsin beers that people had request I think

Duane will bring:
Bell's Expedition Stout (2x)
Westvleteren 12 (2x)
Westvleteren Blonde (2x)
Tyranena Hop Whore (4x)
Tyranena Dirty Old Man (4x)
Tyranena Devil Over a Barrel (4x)
New Glarus Unplugged Imperial Weizen (4x)
Gouden Carolus Cuvee van de Keyser (bomber)
Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout (bomber)
Spezial Rauchbier (1x)
De Dolle Oerbier (2x)
Struise Pannepøt (1x)
Struise Mikkeller (2x)
Founder's Kentucky Breakfast Bourbon Aged Stout (2x)
Three Floyds Alpha Klaus (bomber)
Cantillon Classic Gueuze (750 ml)
Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper (750 ml)
St Bernardus Christmas Ale (750 ml)
Hair of the Dog Adam (2x)
Struise Pannepot (2x)
Alaskan Smoked Porter (bomber)
Alesmith Yulesmith Winter Holiday Ale (bomber)
Stone Imperial Russian Stout (bomber)
Nøgne Ø Imperial Stout (500 ml)
Nøgne Ø #100 DIPA (500 ml)
Tyranena Pretty Damn Black Stout (growler)

boom. boom. boom. BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!

That was the sound of an electrical transformer exploding some twenty feet from my porch nearly an hour ago. I had called the fire dept. since the same transformer played make-believe Roman candle roughly a half hour prior to that. The explosion didn't really excite the firemen much and they mostly leaned against their supervisor's SUV watching for the adjacent trees to catch fire. Happily the trees have not caught fire.

On to the Green Flash Brewing Co.'s Hand-Crafted IMPERIAL India Pale Ale....

I like it. It has a nice tartness and solid malts. Aromatic, this beer is not. And something magical and beautiful happened when I decanted this brew. The color is brilliant. Somehow this beer is exactly what I want from an IPA. This either means I have exquisite taste, or that the Green Flash is merely run-of-the-mill.

I would certainly drink this again. 4/5

Make mine a Smutty

Smuttynose Imperial Stout - I've really been tearing through the stouts recently. But when most of them are good, why argue. More piney that most Imperial Stouts that I've had, but a little lacking on malt side. Overall, pretty good, but not in the same league as some of the others I've had recently.

4.1/5

We will all be far too drunk at Beerfest

Dogfish Head's Burton Baton Oak Aged Imperial IPA is good. It pours nice and deep with a big billowy head that dissipates quickly like most big beers. Smells deep of caramel and hops and alcohol. Tingly moth feel smacks of grapefruit bitterness, malt, vanilla, and, again, alcohol. Oak adds a boozy wine quality. Intoxicating yet restrained. A should try.

Beers of Pennsylvania (and several other, lesser, states)

If you zoom in you can see some of what I'm a bringin'. Still plan on picking up some Hoppin' Frogs and Cincy beer. And whatever else I can find.

By the way, for those folks who will be in the vicinity in August or who would like to make a trip, the State College Brew Expo takes place on August 16th. You are all invited.