The BEER thread.

Another good thing to come from yesterdays game, found my new game day beer.

Mississippi Mud and it comes in a jug

Its a Porter and Pilsner combination, Black and Tan beer.

Reeaalllly good, I highly approve

 

Whoa!!!!

I must have this! Beginning exhaustive search...

 

I had a Black Ops a couple years back and it was a very impressive brew. It's a really big beer.

 

Christmas Bomb was really enjoyable. I'm pretty sure the devil makes Goose Island BCS in his basement.

 

This thread went silent for too long. Let's see if we can rejuvenate it.

My biggest gripe for years is that a wide variety of beers isn't really available in my neck of the woods. Usually standard "domestics" (when most are foreign owned now), a few imports (thank God Guinness is easily found), and the odd microbrewery/craft beer... which is almost always overindulgent in hops, and therefore not to my taste... and not a lot of them nor decent variety.

But I finally have a halfway decent beer garden I can browse at. Not close, it's a long drive, but worth it compared to what I have locally. And I've been collecting.

(Disclaimer: I gave up drinking for Lent, so I have to wait before I can try most of these. Some I've already had and bought because I liked them)

My current collection so far (** next to ones I already know and enjoy... Guinness is always in house, so that's not part of it)

Founder's Breakfast Stout**
Founder's Porter**
Founder's Dirty Bastard (Scotch Ale Wee Heavy)**
Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout**
Newcastle Brown Ale**
Smithwick's Red Ale**
New Belgium Fat Tire**
Troegg's Troeggenator (Dopplebock)**
Breckinridge Vanilla Porter**
Sweet Baby Jesus! (Chocolate Peanut butter porter)**
Evil Genius Purple Monkey Dish Washer (another chocolate peanut butter porter - SBJ is better, but this is good too)**
A few Sam Adams rotating/seasonals**

New Holland Dragon's Milk (bourbon barrel stout)
Einstok Olgerd Icelandic Wee Heavy (scotch ale)
Avery Island Ellie's Brown Ale
Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale
Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout
Blue Moon Cappuccino Oatmeal Stout
Flying Dog Pearl Necklace (Chesapeake Stout / Oyster Stout)
Thomas Creek Coffee Oatmeal Stout
Thomas Creek Honeysuckle Saison
Guinness Blonde (as much as I love Guinness, I'm not expecting much from this one. More trying it out of curiosity)
Kulmbacher Eisbock
Spaten Optimator (Dopplebock)
Southern Tier Dark Roast Porter
Victory Golden Monkey (Triple)
Rivertowne Maxwell's Scottish Ale
Troegg's Hopback Amber Ale
Lagunitas Brown Shugga
Ommegang Abbey Ale (Dubble)
Ommegang Three Philosophers (Quad)

Looking at the list, it looks like maybe I went overboard the past 3 weeks. But it's not like I'm buying cases of these. 750 ml bottles when I can, 4 packs good, 6 packs if necessary. And they let you do a "pick 6" of assorted single bottles (not all brands of course), so ones I'm not sure of, I might only have a bottle or 2. Sadly, I won't be able to make the trip for a few more weeks. On the other hand, I'm trying to be a good boy, so I can't sample these until Easter anyway.

There's a few more styles / brands I'd like to try if I can collect them down the road. I'm hoping they get some Founder's Curmudgeon soon, but I'll take any Old Ale if not. I'd like to grab a Barleywine or 2. There's so many different stouts I'll eventually get around to trying. Maybe Bourbon County Brand Stout.. or find out who I have to sell a kidney to to get my hands on Kentucky Breakfast Stout (more likely, I'll have to get that off the tap at a restaurant). Pirate Bomb if and when I find it. After that? Whatever piques my interest.

And if you noticed there's no IPAs listed there, well, you're not blind. And there's a reason for that. (Hops are fine. But you CAN have too much of a good thing. Balance is key)

 

Yeah. I love Founder's Breakfast Stout, so I'm compelled to buy it whenever I find it. Same for Left Hand's Milk Stout, although this will be my first time trying the Nitro version.

I've never had Dragon's milk, or any BBS for that matter. But one of the guys there said to try it before I buy any other as it's a good "entry level" BBS. That, and it was a lot cheaper than some.

 

A few things happened here in PA since this thread started that has helped me broaden my horizons. They allowed some Supermarkets to sell beer in 6s and 12s. A lot of Supermarkets decided to carry a lot of craft brews to enter a niche many distributors weren't in. And then they passed a law allowing distributors to also sell beer in singles, 6s and 12s. So a few distributors around me are slowly but surely expanding their beer list because there's less risk involved. Prior, they only sold in bulk, so it made good business sense to only invest in time proven, mass market beers. It's how I've managed to keep a small but satisfying supply of Founders Breakfast and Left Hand's Milk for almost a year now. I don't even have to drive very far. Of course, many places think "craft beer" just means IPAs, and they're not really my thing. But if I go to the higher population centers, which might involve a healthy drive, the available variety is really, really good now.

And just like the old six Pack houses here, anyone not a distributor can only sell 2 6s or one 12 at a time. But many places just check you out multiple times.