Hit up new brewpub Edmund's Oast in Charleston last night. Very impressed with the beer and food selection and the place looks awesome.

Made another attempt at getting into sours and was greatly rewarded. I think it was because it was a mild sour/red ale...but it was delicious. First time I've ever wanted a refill of a sour. Ommegang Rouge 2009:



Also had a very tasty Stillwater Once in a Lifetime:



Also had one of their house brewed dark ales, Nameless City, and it was great. Highly recommend if you're in the area.

2/25/2014 7:27:15 AM

Any clue when ill be able to start finding hopzilla in stores?

2/25/2014 7:34:05 AM

@mbrown, no need for dual temp. just wait 5 min from opening (or throw in refrigerator) if you want it to adjust temperature.

nearly all my cellarable beer is cellared at 50'F and served in the 45'-55' range.

this is a really old picture of my fridge, but NOW what I do, is for my TOP ~40 beers (being cellared long-term -2+years) beers, I store them in this:

i figure if i'm drinking a beer <2 years from bottling date, the difference between the ambient 65'F in my basement constant year-round vs. the fridge really isn't going to impact the aging that significantly.


GE Profile Wine Fridge with metal racks taken out and a single 3/4" MDF board placed for shelf instead.
http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SpecPage&Sku=PWR04FANBS

They now sell this which I really like b/c the shelves support adjustable height and laying down certain bottes like corked bottles in a dry climate such as Denver (to keep corks from drying out):
http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SpecPage&Sku=GVS04BDWSS

[Edited on February 26, 2014 at 12:26 AM. Reason : .]

2/26/2014 12:19:45 AM

Just did a side by side of Hopslam vs NoDa's Hop Drop and Roll. NoDa wins, this beer is so fucking good.

3/7/2014 9:45:44 PM

Agreed...a damn fine beer.

3/7/2014 11:49:37 PM

went to maui brewing's brewpub a few times this past week

i've known about them since having their canned coconut porter at a stone brewfest several years ago but was pleasantly surprised with the ipas they had on tap, would definitely recommend if you find yourself on maui...

their tap list was quite extensive as well given that they only can like 4 or 5 beers, good stuff

3/8/2014 10:25:28 AM

Forgot about this thread . . .

Favorite so far in my Year of Beer:




Though DuClaw Sweet Baby Jesus is a strong second.

3/8/2014 10:28:30 AM

^The Architecture was good too, really funky saison, loved it.

February turned out to be a ridiculous month for distribution and beer releases.





And a nice trade this week:


[Edited on March 8, 2014 at 12:02 PM. Reason : .]

3/8/2014 12:00:59 PM

Forgive my ignorance...but where can NoDa be found? Anywhere in/around Raleigh?

3/10/2014 8:59:53 PM

Beer in class . . . I missed this in undergrad.

3/12/2014 8:04:12 PM

Quote :

"Forgive my ignorance...but where can NoDa be found? Anywhere in/around Raleigh?"

Bottle Revolution and Bottlemixx have both had it in the past. I don't believe it's distributed, so the shopkeeps have to pick it up themselves from Charlotte - so availability fluctuates.

3/12/2014 9:52:57 PM

NoDa HDnR can normally be found at Ridgewood. Also, Tasty, BtlRev. They all have to go pick it up so it's not always there, but most of the time I see it at Ridgewood. Also, better prices there.

3/13/2014 2:47:36 PM

I've been to NoDa and Wicked Weed now. Raleigh needs to step it up. The beer at Trophy last night ain't even close.

Wicked Weed needs to get on it. So much potential.

3/22/2014 10:22:43 AM

Picked up 2 four packs of hopzilla last night (being that they are 15 bucks a pop I didnt want to get the other 4 that I really wanted). Looking forward to having one whenever I have a free moment!

3/22/2014 6:33:28 PM

3/22/2014 6:41:39 PM

This thread is mostly a "What did Prospero spend his money on today?" thread

3/22/2014 9:15:19 PM

Got to go to Belgium briefly last week . . . walking into a beer store there is like walking into PetSmart on puppy sale day . . . you just want to take them all home.

This one in particular was phenomenal though:




This was solid too:

3/25/2014 3:32:18 PM

^Where were you? I am thinking about going next week.

3/26/2014 4:28:21 AM

http://www.yelp.com/events/raleigh-casks-on-fools-at-crank-arm-brewing

Quote :

"Tuesday, April 1st 3:00 PM Casks on Fools is the kick off party in Wake County for North Carolina Beer Month! 15 casks from 15 Wake County Breweries will be participating. All local beer, all in one place! Featuring beers from: Crank Arm Brewing Aviator Brewing Big Boss Brewing Bombshell Brewing Boylan Bridge Brewery Carolina Brewing Fortnight Brewing Gizmo Brewing Lonerider Brewing Natty Greens Brewing Raleigh Brewing Trophy Brewing White Street Brewery Sub Noir Brewing Portion of the proceeds will benefit the Lukemia and Lymphoma Society and the NC Brewers Guild"

Anybody else gonna try to check this out?

3/26/2014 7:49:42 AM

I've being turned off by the Westbrook Gose, I think I'm back on the sour bandwagon. Went to Edmund's Oast last night and had some delicious beers.

One sour:



This one I had for desert:



And their house-brewed peanut butter and jelly beer...which smelled like a straight up peanut butter and jelly sammich...and slightly tasted like one...was very drinkable:



I would go to this place on the weekly if it weren't so pricey. It's worth it...just not in my budget.

3/27/2014 10:10:22 AM

Raleigh Beerfest next weekend. I. Am. Excite.

3/27/2014 12:09:07 PM

brewgaloo > world beer festival

or maybe i just got tired of the world beer festival and have enjoyed something different (and significantly cheaper, with all NC brews)

3/27/2014 3:17:28 PM

I'm all about the packaging, and I fell in love with Thomas Creek today. It's beautiful. I dig all of them, but this was my fave:

3/29/2014 7:31:31 PM

[Edited on March 29, 2014 at 9:07 PM. Reason : pic]

[Edited on March 29, 2014 at 9:13 PM. Reason : russian river redemption]

3/29/2014 9:04:32 PM

AHA, it took a while for your picture to come up. I was expecting something way prettier than that.

3/29/2014 9:12:08 PM

$9.99 for a four six pack of 90 minute



[Edited on March 29, 2014 at 10:29 PM. Reason : .]

3/29/2014 10:28:44 PM

kroger has like 8.99 build your own 6 packs. two hearted sells for $11. get 5 two hearteds and one other beer and save 2 dollars

3/29/2014 11:45:39 PM

Fun little birthday tasting:





A couple that are hard to tell by the label -- Pappy Frosted Frog, Kopi Speedway, 7sue, Coolship Resurgam, and '09 BCBS

3/30/2014 2:08:59 PM

Easily the best beer festival I've ever been to.


-

-

4/12/2014 8:11:16 PM

Evidently Lonerider is expanding their distribution territory. I'd never seen it in Richmond in the 1.5 years I've lived here, but I had a Shotgun Betty draft at a local sports bar over the weekend and I found both it and Sweet Josie at the grocery store tonight.

RVA has a better local beer scene than I thought it would, by far, but it's still nice to see some NC beers appearing as well. Previously the only ones available seemed to be Foothills and Highland, and usually only a variety or two of either.

[Edited on April 16, 2014 at 10:41 PM. Reason : seen]

4/16/2014 10:39:06 PM

I am now stocked up on Deschutes' Mirror Mirror. <3

I've gotten a few other rare finds recently, too. Some of my recent bottles I'm looking forward to:

Monkish's Apophatic anniversary beer
Schneider-Weisse Aventinus Cuvee Barrique
Firestone Walker Parabola, Sucaba
Almanac Dogpatch Sour
Nebraska Sexy Betty
Rogue Creamery 80th Anniversary
To0l Muscatel-aged Mine Is Bigger Than Yours
To0l Brewmance
Mikkeller Funky E Star sauternes-aged
Alesmith Olde Ale

4/21/2014 7:19:14 PM

Had a Foothills Jade IPA on Sunday...that was a tasty IPA.

Also split an Evil Twin Low Life growler with the wifey. Was very pleased with that one as well.

4/29/2014 1:11:16 PM

love the foothills Jade

Wicked Weed has a gluten free IPA out that actually doesnt taste like dog shit (most do)

4/29/2014 1:15:15 PM

So Alesmith dropped in the Triangle last week, I dug the Speedway Stout and the IPA but wasn't as keen on the Grand Cru. Word on the street is that we should see Troegs and Sixpoint in the next couple of months. It's going to be a good summer for beer in NC.

5/21/2014 7:06:12 PM

So I picked up a sixer of this, since I've never had it:


I expected it to be like the Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout, which is godawful sweet. I was surprised though, because it's not that sweet but still has distinct peanut butter and chocolate notes with a dry finish. It has artificial flavors though

[Edited on May 21, 2014 at 8:31 PM. Reason : ]

[Edited on May 21, 2014 at 8:32 PM. Reason : ]

5/21/2014 8:30:37 PM

I have really enjoyed the beer since I have been living in Germany. Must say that the Pils and Wheat beers are much better and smoother than anything I have had before.

So, why is it that the German beers are not so big in the States? Why do we import more Belgians (not including Becks or Heineken)?

5/22/2014 1:11:18 AM

because ales >>>>> lagers

5/22/2014 5:13:25 AM

most all German beers are brewed according to Reinheitsgebot or the "German beer purity laws". Basically water, hops, malt, and yeast. and that's it. no additives or preservatives. So German beers are really meant to be drank as fresh as possible and close to the source. Truth is, a lot of german beers just can't make the trip to the States before skunking. Even the freshest Warsteiner is still swill compared to it's counterpart enjoyed in Bavaria.

It's one of the reasons that OMB held off for so long on going to 12oz bottling and is still holding out on statewide distribution. Fresh and close to the source is the best way to enjoy those types of beers.

5/22/2014 8:30:17 AM

Yeah, I was going to say that. The freshness is something that is hard to quantify, but it is like some Bavarian went out to a sacred waterfall overflowing with beer just to fill you up a glass. But it is amazingly difficult to fine a hoppy beer here. There are basically only pils and wheat beers, and that is it.

5/22/2014 4:47:20 PM

Well also, German Pils & Wheat beers are a small part of the story.

Maibock, Doppelbocks, Dunkels, Helles, Vienna Lagers, we have a ton of these in Colorado.

Oh and this also came to Denver this week

5/22/2014 8:36:08 PM

Had beer twice in the last 7 days. Haven't had it for a long time.
Crank Arm Brewing is a good place.

5/22/2014 10:13:26 PM

For once, China-man, you are correct...

5/22/2014 11:58:50 PM

Quote :

"Maibock, Doppelbocks, Dunkels"

While these beers do exists (and I have found some tasty ones), they are difficult to locate and they are not that popular in Germany as far as I can tell, at least in comparison to Pils and Wheat. Most Germans refer to any dunkles bier (which is just german for dark beer) as girls beer, because they are typically sweeter. helles bier is very tasty, but these are mostly only produced in Bavaria and taste fairly similar to a pils.

Germans just don't embrace variety like Americans do. It would be like a wine snob that insisted on only drinking Syrah and refused to test anything else.

[Edited on May 23, 2014 at 3:35 AM. Reason : j]

5/23/2014 3:33:10 AM

German food itself is very bland with little to no spices added. It's just their culture. (Not knocking german food, as i enjoy it myself, but it's true)

5/23/2014 8:38:53 AM

nothing exotic but picked up some Unibroue Terrible this weekend. Always a good brew.

5/23/2014 9:03:11 AM

speaking of Pils and the like, i've really grown to enjoy Mother Earth's "Park Day" bohemian pilsner. perfectly refreshing in the summer heat.

to be honest, my days of beer chasing and ticking off the rare ones are long behind me. i'm enjoying the sessionable, consistent beers with good flavor profiles these days. though i did pick up a few 2014 La Folies. because Sours!

5/23/2014 9:26:29 AM

@BanjoMan, I was simply replying to your quote:

Quote :

"So, why is it that the German beers are not so big in the States? Why do we import more Belgians (not including Becks or Heineken)?"

.. by saying there are a lot of German-styles of beer here in the states, and I for one drink a lot of German Berliner Weisse and Gose. You may just not have noticed them before, but they are here and very popular among those who are looking for classic examples. Also Belgian lambics, oud bruins, and flander's reds are all typically much harder to replicate than German styles, so we brew more German styles than Belgians in the states.

Quote :

"(Maibock, Doppelbocks, Dunkels) While these beers do exists (and I have found some tasty ones), they are difficult to locate and they are not that popular in Germany as far as I can tell"

That's because they are seasonal (and/or special occasion beers) in Germany.

Also, Munich Dunkel /= Dunkelweiss, yes both are dunkel = dark beer... but one is a dark lager and the other is a dark wheat ale. I'm thinking like Warsteiner Dunkel which is probably just as popular as Warsteiner Pils... not really a fan of either but there's a difference.

[Edited on May 24, 2014 at 6:46 PM. Reason : .]

5/24/2014 6:40:04 PM

So yeah, there are some seasonal Bocks, but they are still not nearly as popular as the lighter beers. I have been living here for almost a year now, and I can definitely say that all of the people from my region drink basically just one type of beer (which is pilsner). The diversity in beers is much smaller than in the states. You basically have to travel to different regions to get some diversity.

And to answer that ^, it could just be that I was in Austin, but Belgians are very popular there in terms of imports and microbrews. Never really came across much German beer unless it was a warsteiner, and that is really just German export beer like a Heineken. I have never seen a german drink it honestly. Also, if you just scroll through this thread, a majority of the beers discussed or American IPAs or Belgian style beers.

[Edited on May 30, 2014 at 4:01 AM. Reason : z]

5/30/2014 3:57:10 AM

I splurged again today, but I'm really looking forward to all of these:

2 Bruery Sucre (6th anniversary beer)
1 Deschutes Not the Stoic
1 Clownshoes Billionaire
1 Firestone Walker Stickee Monkee
1 Russian River Consecration


Yum!

6/3/2014 11:13:15 PM

I know I'm an amateur and whanot, but I really enjoyed tonight's Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

6/3/2014 11:14:16 PM