Leffe Blonde Belgian Ale

[wartyOne]

yup, did pour. I had three mugs stuck up in the cabinet and threw them in the freezer for about 30 minutes. That Pale Bock was about as smooth a beer as I've ever had. If I had to describe it, I guess I'd say it was clean from start to finish. Nothing big and bold. Just a nice smooth beer.

Actually, you shouldn't do this. If you want to taste the beer and get a better feel for what the beer actually has in it, you shouldn't go as cold as possible. The colder the beer, the less volatile the flavor compounds = you aren't tasting what's there.

I blame Coors' marketing campaign for this. Cold beer isn't better beer. For ales, you should be in the 45-50 degree range, or warmer if they're cask-conditioned. For lagers, you should be a bit colder, but if you're hovering around 32 degrees you're missing out.

 

[wartyOne]

try the Brutal Bitter from Rogue too, thats a good 'un

for some tasty IPAs (i'm a hophead also, and always lean more to IPAs)

Ranger Pale Ale - New Belgium
Racer 5 - Bear Republic (i think i already mentioned this one)
Dogfish Head 90 Minute, the 60 minute one is good too
Ruination from Stone has been mentioned
Bell's Two Hearted
Sierra Nevada Torpedo
Nugget Nectar from Troegs

You're gonna have to travel to New Mexico for these (except Marble, which distributes in Colorado, Arizona, and I believe Oklahoma), but Albuquerque's brewing pedigree is starting to gain a national following. It's worth a trip to tour the breweries and sample the wares.

Elevated by La Cumbre (this one is where I work).
Acclimated by La Cumbre (Double IPA; but it's a seasonal and might not be available)
Marble's IPA
Jackalope by Chama River
Wet Mountain by Il Vicino (the brewery is called the Canteen, and is not one of the restaurants, though they do serve great sandwiches here).

Elevated won Gold at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver in 2011 and Bronze at the World Beer Cup in 2012. We're at the GABF this week, and I expect at least one of those two entries to medal again this year.

The others have their share of hardware as well.

If you're planning a trip, plan a beer trip. You won't be disappointed.

As far as other nationals go:

Hazed and Infused, and Mojo by Boulder Brewing Co.
Bridgeport's IPA is just so-so, but if you are on a quest, find it.
Inversion by Mirror Pond
Big Daddy IPA by SpeakEasy (don't know about distro to East Coast, though)
Long Hammer by Red Hook
Odell's IPA
Lagunita's IPA (again, not sure about distro to East Coast)
Union Jack by Firestone Walker (might have to go to San Diego for this one)

That's a pretty good starting point. As you take this journey don't tackle more than one beer in a session. These are really big, really strong beers (by nature of the style). As a result, you will desensitize yourself both with taste and aroma, and you will be missing things that a fresh palate will pick up.

Additionally, there are dramatic differences between British IPA's and American IPA's. And there are differences between East and West Coast IPA's. If you really like citrus and floral notes, and big "hop-bomb" character, you are more interested in West Coast American IPA's. If the hop flavor you like is more earthy/spicy, then you are more interested in British IPA's. If you prefer the citrus/floral flavors, but like them balanced in the background with a more "malt-forward" taste, then you are more interested in East Coast American IPA's (typically; there's a breach in this style that is more closely related to a Brit IPA, but with higher IBU - International Bittering Units).

Happy drinking.

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

alright guys just got back from the market and I saw a number of the beers ya'll recommended. But DAMN!!! I can't make myself pay $15 for a 6 pack (Ruination). Most of the others were about $10 a 6-pack. So I settled on a couple of variety 12 packs again.

One of them I am familiar with and enjoy, New Belgium Brewing and their Fat Tire, Ranger IPA, Red Hoptober, and Belgo Belgian style IPA. The other 12 pack was Smuttynose Brewing and their Shoals Pale Ale, Smuttynose IPA, Old Brown Dog Ale, and Star Island Single.

 

[wartyOne]

alright guys just got back from the market and I saw a number of the beers ya'll recommended. But DAMN!!! I can't make myself pay $15 for a 6 pack (Ruination). Most of the others were about $10 a 6-pack. So I settled on a couple of variety 12 packs again.

One of them I am familiar with and enjoy, New Belgium Brewing and their Fat Tire, Ranger IPA, Red Hoptober, and Belgo Belgian style IPA. The other 12 pack was Smuttynose Brewing and their Shoals Pale Ale, Smuttynose IPA, Old Brown Dog Ale, and Star Island Single.

Ruination isn't 15 for a six pack. Those are doubles. It's basically 15 for an 18 pack. Those are HUGE beers.

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

Ruination isn't 15 for a six pack. Those are doubles. It's basically 15 for an 18 pack. Those are HUGE beers.

they were 12 oz bottles. I don't know if they had them priced wrong or what. I just couldn't commit to that.

 

[Sleepy T]

I need to dig around and find some of this Ruination. Sound superb from what I have read on here and elsewhere.The ABC/Distribution crap here in VA sucks. You can't just go to one place and get anything and everything alcohol-wise.

I like the Smuttynose Brown. Haven't tried all of those beers but you should enjoy some of them.

 

[wartyOne]

they were 12 oz bottles. I don't know if they had them priced wrong or what. I just couldn't commit to that.

Nah, you got the price right. Think of it like this: a 6er of bud costs X, but the alcohol in the bottles/cans is about 4%. A 6er of Ruination costs X+5, but the alcohol in the bottles is about 10%. You're drinking two and a half beers per bottle.

 

[wartyOne]

I need to dig around and find some of this Ruination. Sound superb from what I have read on here and elsewhere.The ABC/Distribution crap here in VA sucks. You can't just go to one place and get anything and everything alcohol-wise.

I like the Smuttynose Brown. Haven't tried all of those beers but you should enjoy some of them.

Them's the distribution rules, unfortunately. And some brewers just aren't good enough to distribute nationwide (I can go into depth here, but I'm smashed at the moment; check back over the next week).

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

Nah, you got the price right. Think of it like this: a 6er of bud costs X, but the alcohol in the bottles/cans is about 4%. A 6er of Ruination costs X+5, but the alcohol in the bottles is about 10%. You're drinking two and a half beers per bottle.

Aha .... I see what you're saying now. I thought you were talking about volume not content.

 

[thecrow124]

This thread got me thinking of branching out and trying new things as well. I stopped in the beer/cigar store today and did some scouting. I did't buy anything but I did see some beers that score really well on beer advocate and rate beer. They are both Founder's beers. One is called Double Trouble and sounds like it might be something I would like. It is an IPA, but has a very high alcohol content and a huge amount of hops. Still it scored 98-100 so I will probably try it out. It only comes in 4 packs, so if I don't like it I''ll haveto find someone to give the rest to. The other one is Founder's Breakfast Stout. I am really unsure about his since the only stout I have ever tried was Guinness and I am not a big fan of that. It also has a pretty high hop rate but in the book I am reading it says that the darker heavier beers the hops would be less upfront and more subtle. I am going to stop in tomorrow and pick these two up, the big question is if I don't like them what should I do with the leftovers?

 

[thecrow124]

Edesto have you found any beers aged in whiskey barrels yet? The only beer I have tried that was of this variety is a Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Wee Heavy Scotch Ale. I am not a big fan of scotch, and there is a lot of scotch flavor in the beer, but overall it was pretty decent. There was just enough beer flavor on the backside to keep the scotch from being overbearing. Having not tasted anything else in this style I have nothing to compare and contrast it with, but it is pretty good. Not something I would buy at an outrageous price, but that is just because of the heavy scotch upfront. I have a 4 pack aging in the basement to see if it fellows a bit over time.

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

Edesto have you found any beers aged in whiskey barrels yet? The only beer I have tried that was of this variety is a Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Wee Heavy Scotch Ale. I am not a big fan of scotch, and there is a lot of scotch flavor in the beer, but overall it was pretty decent. There was just enough beer flavor on the backside to keep the scotch from being overbearing. Having not tasted anything else in this style I have nothing to compare and contrast it with, but it is pretty good. Not something I would buy at an outrageous price, but that is just because of the heavy scotch upfront. I have a 4 pack aging in the basement to see if it fellows a bit over time.

I haven't tried them yet. A good friend of mine and beer enthusiast said I should try some of these. He knows that I love bourbon and he said they have some great beers out there aged in bourbon barrels and I should give one a try. Right now I'm still experimenting, but if I come across them at a decent price, I'll pick them up.

 

[757Hokie83]

This thread got me thinking of branching out and trying new things as well. I stopped in the beer/cigar store today and did some scouting. I did't buy anything but I did see some beers that score really well on beer advocate and rate beer. They are both Founder's beers. One is called Double Trouble and sounds like it might be something I would like. It is an IPA, but has a very high alcohol content and a huge amount of hops. Still it scored 98-100 so I will probably try it out. It only comes in 4 packs, so if I don't like it I''ll haveto find someone to give the rest to. The other one is Founder's Breakfast Stout. I am really unsure about his since the only stout I have ever tried was Guinness and I am not a big fan of that. It also has a pretty high hop rate but in the book I am reading it says that the darker heavier beers the hops would be less upfront and more subtle. I am going to stop in tomorrow and pick these two up, the big question is if I don't like them what should I do with the leftovers?

give it a try, there is a wide range of flavors in stouts, definitely dont all taste like a Guiness

 

[SLY]

Why haven't I been told there was a "beer" forum?

 

[Darkstone42]

Why haven't I been told there was a "beer" forum?

Oh hey, there's a beer forum.

 

[ugafan6612]

I wanna try the Brunettes they have out too. Don't they have 6.5% alc as well? Somethin like that

 

[Eddie_Shack]

This thread got me thinking of branching out and trying new things as well. I stopped in the beer/cigar store today and did some scouting. I did't buy anything but I did see some beers that score really well on beer advocate and rate beer. They are both Founder's beers. One is called Double Trouble and sounds like it might be something I would like. It is an IPA, but has a very high alcohol content and a huge amount of hops. Still it scored 98-100 so I will probably try it out. It only comes in 4 packs, so if I don't like it I''ll haveto find someone to give the rest to. The other one is Founder's Breakfast Stout. I am really unsure about his since the only stout I have ever tried was Guinness and I am not a big fan of that. It also has a pretty high hop rate but in the book I am reading it says that the darker heavier beers the hops would be less upfront and more subtle. I am going to stop in tomorrow and pick these two up, the big question is if I don't like them what should I do with the leftovers?

I live about ten minutes from Founder's, and let me tell you that Breakfast Stout got me into stouts. I never would have picked one up, but the bartender gave me a sample and it was fantastic. Breakfast Stout is now one of my favorite beers, but it is seasonal so grab it now before it's gone. So incredibly delicious. Don't worry about the IBU rating, it's a very smooth beer, and the hops are very subtle.

 

[wartyOne]

give it a try, there is a wide range of flavors in stouts, definitely dont all taste like a Guiness

Which Guinness? Foreign Extra is AWESOME. Draught is garbage. But they're not the same class of Stout.

Stouts are broken into 6 categories, Oatmeal, Dry, Sweet, Foreign Extra, American and Russian Imperial. They are different for various reasons. For a detailed breakdown of the different styles, go here: BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines - Index

Murphy's is a better dry stout than Guinness Draught (in my opinion). Young's Double Chocolate is pretty much the best stout ever made (again, in my opinion). But also try Sam Smith's Oatmeal and Imperial Stouts, Old Rasputin, Black Obsidian, and Left Hand Milk Stout.

 

[wartyOne]

Why haven't I been told there was a "beer" forum?

I've been keeping it a secret.

My bad.

 

[Eddie_Shack]

Which Guinness? Foreign Extra is AWESOME. Draught is garbage. But they're not the same class of Stout.

Stouts are broken into 6 categories, Oatmeal, Dry, Sweet, Foreign Extra, American and Russian Imperial. They are different for various reasons. For a detailed breakdown of the different styles, go here: BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines - Index

Murphy's is a better dry stout than Guinness Draught (in my opinion). Young's Double Chocolate is pretty much the best stout ever made (again, in my opinion). But also try Sam Smith's Oatmeal and Imperial Stouts, Old Rasputin, Black Obsidian, and Left Hand Milk Stout.

I really make an effort to support local breweries, and to this date I haven't found a stout I like better than Founder's Breakfast, but I'll be damned if Left Hand Milk Stout isn't one of my favorite beers out there. In fact, everything I've ever tried from Left Hand has been very delicious.