Beer Thread!

[CelticG1]

This is definitely one of my favorites....

[fairweatherfan]

Figured it was about time to rebump this with some good seasonals.  Some winter favorites:



Anchor Steam Christmas Ale. Delicious.  Pick up a 6er of this wherever you see one, you'll be glad you did.



Troeg's Mad Elf.  Be warned, the elves are overworked and cranky this time of year!  This stuff is 11% ABV and is not for everybody.  But I love it.

[Lucky17]

So, Katherine and I went down to the Holiday Ale Festival this afternoon. Here's a link of the participating breweries:

http://holidayale.com/mitem-2009-beer-lists/mitem-2009-standard-release-beers.html?db4cc88de6a33bf999c840e985dfcf51=08117a90cc4aeebda536bae0e7deae9b

Great time, went down early afternoon, before the crowds got completely unmanageable. A great atmosphere, holiday music, tons of people in the mood, on a sunny and crisp day in the Rose City.

I tend towards the Belgian ales and IPAs, but tried basically anything that struck me. Here are my findings:

Brasserie DuPont, Avec Les Bon Voeux 09:
a very nice Saison

Rock Bottom, Blitzen:
excellent Tripel style Belgian

Sierra Nevada, Estate Brewers' Harvest Ale 09:
one of the best of the day, a lovely IPA

Black Diamond, Winter Ale:
surprisingly good, fruity and sweet

Upright Brewing, Holy Herb:
medicinal and different, a split decision

Pelican Brewing, Bad Santa:
nice surprise, a black IPA

Seven Brides, Drunkel:
would not have tried this had we not bumped into one of the brewers; very sweet, holiday spices

Redhook, Roggenhammer:
delightfully hoppy

McMenamin's Brewery, Elvin Conspiracy:
nice Tripel, one of the day's favorites

Rogue Brewery, Mogul Madness:
another hoppy offering, quite enjoyable

Stone Brewery, Bourbon Barrel Aged Arrogant Edited for profanity.  Please do not do it again.:
top-5 for the day

New Belgium Brewing, La Folie
vinegary and disappointing, easily the worst of the day

Ninkasi Brewing, Unconventionale
a lovely stout for the holidays

Not sure how many of these will be available on the market outside of the Pacific Northwest, but hopefully, you'll run into them during the holiday season.

[hwangjini_1]

beer thread? always happy to see one. 

if the topic now is seasonal beers....

then i would nominate sam smith's winter welcome.

very good indeed.

[cdif911]

picked up the magic hat mix pack - their ipa is good, their winter is ok (pretty dark, has some choclatey/coffee notes to it) their odd notion, not so good - kinda sour....

[Fan from VT]

Glad someone else likes the Anchor Holiday! Best seasonal beer around.


-Magic hat winter mixer. Agree, Odd notion is terrible. The winter howl though, is very good.



-Berkshire brewing is fantastic. Anything. Had the River Ale tonight.


-Smuttynose makes great beers. Had some of the winter seasonal tonight, quite good. A little malt flavor, but dark too.  Their old brown dog ale is GREAT.

[Redz]

After a long day of teaching followed a by a long night of grad school I popped in to the liquor store to shop for a brew or two.  I spotted a whole row of Michelob ales and was intrigued.  It seems Michelob is taking a stab at some Sam Adams type action (there were 5 or 6 types available).  I grabbed a six pack of the Porter.  It definitely lacked in the boldness, but you really wouldn't expect that from a Michelob.  It was lighter than your average Porter, but still had plenty of flavor, and the the flavor wasn't bad at all.

I'm not sure I'd rush out to buy more of it, but it's a decent alternative for a premium beer at a few dollars less per sixer.

[cdif911]

round 2 of brewing my own begins soon....