^Cool thanks, I'll have to make a trip up to nova in the next week or so. Especially since Stone is releasing Double Arrogant and Oaked Arrogant Bastard this week as well.

10/29/2006 1:06:16 PM

flying to San Diego tomorrow to do a road trip from SD to seattle.

I'm hitting the Sierra Nevada and Rogue breweries, and a small one called Pike Street brewery near my hostel in Seattle. I'm going to miss out on the Stone Brewery since my flight gets in a 4pm and they close at like 5pm

any suggestions for beers i should look for while i'm out on the west coast (ones that aren't available in NC/east coast)?

10/31/2006 10:17:51 AM

Any Russian River brew (e.g Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger, and Red Wheat Ale)

10/31/2006 10:45:24 AM

i would try to hit:

alesmith
pizza port
russian river
north coast
bear republic

if possible.

hair of the dog and full sail in portland would also be a great choices

10/31/2006 11:25:53 AM

stone is distributed really well in california, so you'll be able to find it pretty easily (well, at least their pale and/or arrogant bastard will be on tap at a lot of places)

is beer a main focus of your trip? if you want to try a bunch of different good beers while in san diego, hit up liar's club in mission beach or o'briens out in clairemont -- they are well-stocked (but pretty random places to go for most tourists)

i'm a big fan of pizza port in solana beach, in addition to the beer their pizza is excellent (although i think carlsbad PP makes better beer)

not sure what route you're taking up the coast, but if you take the 101 you should stop at firestone in paso robles (there's also several wineries in that area, if you're interested)

another vote for russian river in santa rosa, haven't been to the brewery myself but i love pliny

have fun in san diego -- it rocks!

10/31/2006 12:01:22 PM

I'm only going to be in san diego long enough to pick up my brother at the navy base in coronado, then we're heading north.

Bakersfield -> monterey -> Chico -> Mt. Shasta -> Eugene -> Newport -> Astoria -> Seattle

is the basic trip route. I'm just heading through Chico and Newport for the breweries, not staying the night.

I've already instructed my brother to have a cooler full of Stone bottles in-hand when I pick him up.

10/31/2006 1:13:31 PM

Is it possible to buy Stone online? I was in VA this past weekend but they don't distribute way out in the boonies.

11/1/2006 2:10:08 PM

Sierra Nevada Celebration has finally hit the shelves in Raleigh.

Picked up a case of this year's batch at Whole Foods Raleigh tonight. Just as creamy and hoppy as I remember it being. Amazing brew.

11/3/2006 1:14:56 AM

I don't remember.

Is the celebration ale an IPA?

Btw, thanks for the tip.

Also, Big Boss>Victory Hop Devil.

Any suggestions for IPA's are welcome as I'm trying to get around to drinking them more.

11/3/2006 2:18:44 AM

Quote :

"Is the celebration ale an IPA?"

yes, and delicious

Mash House Hoppy Hour and Clipper City Loose Cannon are some good IPAs

CBC's is decent

11/3/2006 2:24:19 AM

^CBC's is more like a slightly hoppier pale ale. the mash house IPA is amazing though.

^^try and grab some Big Hoppy Monster. that is stuff is like liquid crack. Great Divide's Hercules double IPA is great as well. and of course Stone Ruination, but you won't find that in NC

[Edited on November 3, 2006 at 2:40 AM. Reason : .]

11/3/2006 2:38:37 AM

This is the time of the year I prefer to drink stouts (Russian Imperials mostly). What are some of your favorites? Right now, mine is Victory Storm King Imperial.

11/3/2006 7:36:48 AM

Anyone ever gotten a dogfishhead brew out of a Randal the Enamel animal?



[quote]He's taking the beer world by storm, the Organoleptic Hops Transducer, aka... Randall The Enamel Animal!

Randall, a pure Dogfish head invention, is an organoleptic hop transducer module.

What the heck are we talking about... We're talking a three-foot-long, cylinder-filter packed with a half a pound of whole leafhops that we hook up to the beer line leaving a keg (for example, of our 90 Minute IPA).


Our 90 Minute IPA is an ideal beer for Randall due to it's high alcohol volume.
The alcohol in the 90 Minute IPA grabss the oils off the hops in the Randall on the way to the tap-faucet inducing the most pungent and glorious fresh hop experience known to man (or woman).

We unveiled Randall at the East coast vs. West coast Lupulin Slam at RFD in
Washington DC. A Randallized keg of 120 minute IPA won the event for the
east coast!

Since his debut, a number of beer bars and brewpubs have already placed orders for a Randall of their own. Randall is great for educating beer lovers on the taste, touch and smell of whole-leaf hops.

Randall is online at Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in Rehoboth Beach, DE from 4-6 pm during our Happy Hour! You can also check the Randall page on the Tangents section of this website for a list of bars across the country that have their own Randall filters.

[Edited on November 3, 2006 at 8:11 AM. Reason : pics]

11/3/2006 8:08:25 AM

I had one of those at this event at Southend...it was very good

As far as imperial souts, Avery the Czar, Old Rasputin, Brookly Black Chocolate, Rogue, Great Divide Yeti and Oak Aged Yeti are all worth a shot. Edenton Winter Cheer just went on tap at Horniblow's.

11/3/2006 12:16:41 PM

the Scout Stout is back on at Asheville Brewing Co.

11/3/2006 12:47:44 PM

mmm...imperial stouts. some of my favorites:

Victory Storm King
Great Divide Yeti
Rogue
Brooklyn Black Chocolate

Winter also means barleywine time for me. Rogue Old Crustacean and Avery Hog Heaven are my favorites.

11/3/2006 1:15:24 PM

Tyler's Taproom

Tuesday Night "Hoppy Hour" with Randall!, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

324 Blackwell St, Durham, NC


I may have to try this Randall thing...

11/3/2006 1:23:43 PM

got this wet hop festival email earlier this week -- might have quite a bit of beer to drink tonight and tomorrow

Quote :

"Friday the 3rd - All Sierra Nevada wet hop ales will be on tap including the first ever CASK of Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale to be served outside of the brewery. We will tap this wet hop gem at 6 pm. The draft line up includes 2005 and 2006 Harvest Ale, 20th Street Harvest Ale (made with estate grown hops) and the ESP - Extra Special Pale which is a stronger, hoppier and wet hopped version of the regular draft pale (more like the bottled version). I also have a very special wet hopped CASK of the Stone 10th Anniversary IPA. We will tap this cask at 5 pm and if it is anything like the first cask we had, it won't last through the night. In addition I will have a number of other California wet hop beers on tap including Port Carlsbad, Port Brewing, Oggi's, and Drake's. All of these are coming in full kegs so they will last through the weekend. Pints will be available for all beers along with 5 and 10 ounce samples. We ask that you please order no more than 4 five ounce samples at a time though. Saturday the 4th, I will have all of the rest of the California wet hop beers on tap including Russian River, 2 from Moonlight, Magnolia, Blue Frog, Rock Bottom, San Diego Brewing and more. In all there are 21 California wet hopped ales (including the casks). We will likely be open later than usual on Saturday as well. Tom Nickel O'Brien's Pub 20 Taps - Tons of Hops 4646 Convoy Street"

[Edited on November 3, 2006 at 3:33 PM. Reason : stone's 10th anniv -- yum!]

11/3/2006 3:32:44 PM

Old Rasputin definately made the Stanley Cup Finals more fun.

11/3/2006 3:52:20 PM

^^totally not fair for you to post that when we're mostly stuck in NC without access to such great events

11/3/2006 4:05:30 PM

Well, at least I can enjoy a beer in my Stone 10th anniversary pint glass.... :/

11/3/2006 4:12:04 PM

Went to the Mash House for dinner tonight. The Belgian Dubbel is back in the rotation and very tasty. It's probably available in Raleigh at Bogart's and such.

11/3/2006 6:30:02 PM

flying fish - oktoberfish

kinda bland, seems a bit light for an octoberfest ale beer.

has a bit of a twinge, but is not bad.

probably wouldnt actively seek out purchasing this again.

11/4/2006 10:21:49 AM

just had Victory Golden Monkey yesterday and it was amazing

it says it was a triple ale on the bottle and had alittle bit of a bite. 9.5% alc and didnt taste much above 6.

2 thumbs up.

[Edited on November 4, 2006 at 10:35 AM. Reason : !]

11/4/2006 10:34:17 AM

i despise golden monkey =(

i may go to Dogfish Head Brewings and Eats tommorow in Rehoboth

11/4/2006 10:43:34 AM

^bummer because its awesome

also Rehoboth is really nice but I didnt go to the brewery because i heard the food was subpar. But the shit is on tap and flows like water everywhere. Its a fun time. Dewey beach is like 5min away and has alot of bars with beach people.

[Edited on November 4, 2006 at 10:47 AM. Reason : but i guess you already know that]

11/4/2006 10:47:01 AM

dewey is pretty great, esp. before labor day.

that sucks the food is subpar, i mean, DFH is on tap EVERYWHERE up here, i was just gonna go more or less to mark it off the list of things to say ive done. ahah


its funny when i walk into a total dive bar, and their only drafts are bud, bud light, miller, then dogfish head ipa, then a season dogfish head.

ha

11/4/2006 10:51:27 AM

the person who told me the food was bad might have been full of shit. I would go and check out the brewery regardless.

also when I went this summer i didnt know it was brewed there and was pretty damn confused when it was everywhere I went

11/4/2006 11:23:04 AM

while you were up here, did you try anything from the twin lakes brewery?

route 52 pilsner and the greenville pale ale are both fantastic.

ive yet to have the tweeds stout, and am looking forward to the jubilitious holiday ale.

11/4/2006 11:35:57 AM

ok, so i toured the Sierra-Nevada brewery in Chico on thursday. It was freaking awesome - i'd say they have about 20 beers on tap there, many of which aren't ever bottled, and most of which i've never seen in NC.

They had Celebration 6-packs/cases at the store. The cases were ~$20, 6-packs for $5.35. How much is it running in Raleigh? Anymore left on the shelves?

They had some amazingly hoppy pale ales. For some reason, their IPA is a "seasonal," but they had it on tap, and it was very good. They also still had Octoberfest, which is not listed anywhere on their website, as far as i can tell.

they had three unique pale ales - Extra Special Pale Ale, Harvest Ale, and Green Hop Ale All of them were dry hopped, and had to be above 50 IBUs. The Green Hop used three hop varieties, all of which are grown on their farm behind the brewery, that had been harvested the day before they were put into the beer. The Harvest Ale was super hoppy too. I would highly recommend all three.

I've also scored a bottle of Stone's 10th Anniversary IPA, which my brother and I enjoyed last night. It was the sort of thing that makes me want to move to California. He also got a bottle of Vertical Epic Ale, 06/06/06. Has anyone tried that yet?

I'll visit Rogue's brewery in Newport tomorrow. Can't wait for that imperial stout....

11/4/2006 7:57:02 PM

Celebration was running about 7.99 yesterday.

11/4/2006 8:01:07 PM

Quote :

"They had Celebration 6-packs/cases at the store. The cases were ~$20, 6-packs for $5.35."

I need to move to Chico

11/4/2006 8:56:16 PM

^thats what i said. their regular beers (the stout, porter, pale ale, ...nut brown?) were all $5/six-pack

chico was only about 2 hours from the Bay area...its worth a visit. the food at the taproom was good too

11/4/2006 11:35:59 PM

ok, i just popped this Vertical Epic 060606 bottle. It's very smooth and malty for a Stone brew, and also has a creamy head like a belgian. the bottle says they used a specialty belgian yeast to brew it (like the 030303) You can taste the 'cedar' flavor as advertised, almost a coffee taste. very drinkable and blended. would drink it again if i can find it.

[Edited on November 5, 2006 at 1:49 AM. Reason : asdf]

11/5/2006 1:45:10 AM

Damnit jdman, you're making me jealous!

11/5/2006 6:35:09 PM

Anyone seen Anchor Our Special Ale yet? I'm drinking a bottle of last year's and it is off the damn hook.

11/6/2006 6:25:02 PM

i saw a magnum of 2001 osa in my fridge a few minute ago, but i havent seen the 2006. sams quick stop has 2005 magnums for like $15.

11/6/2006 7:29:25 PM

jdman - lemme know what you think of the pike once you get to seattle...i got the sampler when i was there last summer, my favorite was the stout, but it was all good...definitely seemed like some of the best beer i'd had in awhile, but then again it was the only beer i had the whole week i was in the area...might have played a part.

oh and damn you all...now i want some rasputin but i don't feel like going out tonight

[Edited on November 8, 2006 at 6:30 PM. Reason : ]

11/8/2006 6:27:49 PM

How long will Big Hoppy Monster be on the shelves?

I love that stuff and if I need to stock up, I will.

11/9/2006 2:15:27 PM

^my guess is not too much longer

I need to pick up some more myself.

11/9/2006 11:10:04 PM

it was ok, but two bottles were enough for me

Had a World Wide Stout a couple nights ago, and a Raison D'Extra tonight. Both were, umm, interesting.

11/9/2006 11:11:48 PM

just had a sammy smith winter welcome ale...not bad, but nothing special - anyone else have any other thoughts on it?

11/10/2006 9:48:14 PM

oh alesmith how i do love the.


speedway stout and ipa...my life is now complete.

11/11/2006 1:29:27 AM

Fuller's Vintage Ale is amazing. I had a 2004 version tonight.

11/11/2006 2:22:38 AM

king's two fisted old ale

meh

11/11/2006 7:41:08 PM

had a pint of bear republic's apex IPA today

was very good, but i think i like racer 5 better

also had a few pints of pure hoppiness, my favorite

11/12/2006 6:35:27 PM

JW Lees Harvest Ale 1999 vintage = awesome

11/12/2006 7:14:13 PM

probably gonna work through some SN Celebration during the Bears-Giants game

11/12/2006 7:23:50 PM

^

Haha. I'm already way ahead of you on that.

11/12/2006 10:42:02 PM

Quote :

"jdman - lemme know what you think of the pike once you get to seattle...i got the sampler when i was there last summer, my favorite was the stout,"

yeah, i liked the stout best. the ipa was ok. their wheat beer was terrible, but i don't like wheats for the most part. the "kilt lifter" amber ale (i think) was tasty too, but the stout gets the highest grade.

i also tried the Bear Republic Racer 5 while out there - what a great beer. i'm sure it's been asked already, but do they distribute into NC?

11/13/2006 12:33:24 PM