LOL.

 

Glad its widespread though. For awhile there you had the same beers on tap at every hotel I stayed at around the country unless you went to Colorado or the west coast. Now everyone has their own beer selections and its great for the consumer and the small business.

 

There are so many places I go to in Memphis where the closest to "craft" you see on tap is Samuel Adams (I actually like some Sam Adams, but that's beside the point). Alcohol sales and distribution are extremely restricted here and its too bad because I think the market would consume as much or more as comparably sized ones if things weren't so restricted.

I'm the same - fri/sat usually drink to drunk one of the nights, don't drink the other. Bears games I always have a beer in hand. And then I usually have a few beers once or twice during the week. That'll change a little when Illini basketball comes back to weekday nights. Do more heavy drinking when nervous/anxious

 

I will usually stall my drinking until I'm done with my main tasks for the day -- class, work, homework...so I get the drink as a reward. Occasionally I'll have a drink midday if I'm a bit stressed. I usually won't have more than 3 in a day, but it seems like there aren't many days that I don't have one since I've gotten energized about beer. Now that I've discovered the craft scene and the fact there are things that taste better than Bud Light I've been really enjoying myself. Normally, it seems like I drink more or less depending on the variety of things I want to have that night. Last night, I brought 3 new six packs home and of course I had one from each . Tonight, I don't feel like drinking anything new so I may just have one or two.

 

I keep a stash of a few things to try out in my "cellar" aka closet shelf/refrigerator drawer

I find myself pounding beers every buckeye game, dont even mean to. All of a sudden I've exhausted my 12 pack and I'm walking my dog down to dominicks to pick up another.

Ah, so you're the guy with the dog chained up outside the door. Always wondered who that was.

Ah, so you're the guy with the dog chained up outside the door. Always wondered who that was.

Probably a good chance. She's about 60 pounds and has a chicago flag collar on. When Marianos opens in 16 days ill be over there.

I find myself pounding beers every buckeye game, dont even mean to. All of a sudden I've exhausted my 12 pack and I'm walking my dog down to dominicks to pick up another.

This is me during Redbird games. If I'm nervous, I'm hammered.

Probably a good chance. She's about 60 pounds and has a chicago flag collar on. When Marianos opens in 16 days ill be over there.

I thought it was 6 days?

I thought it was 6 days?

Whoops. Glanced at my gmail calendar and I hadnt refreshed it. Brain fart.

 

My buddy is building it, its almost killed him how much of a headache its been, however I know he'll still shop there since he lives right next door.

Went to a high-octane beer event this evening and we enjoyed the following:

 

• Sam Adam's Griffin' Bow Barleywine (11.5% abv) — Excellent and well-balanced barleywine style, with good, wine-like flavor notes and just a touch of oak age character.

 

• Thomas Creek Up the Creek Extreme IPA (12.5%) — Vanilla and oak notes that are subtle at first but dominate the flavor profile with successive sips. Decent enough to try if you come across it.

 

• Shipyard Bourbon Barrel Aged Double ESB (13.2% abv) — Over the top vanilla sweetness throws off the balance on this one. Not awful, but not spectacular. I wish breweries would start doing some wood aging in sherry casks or something else besides reclaimed bourbon barrels. Compared to proof spirits, even a high alcohol, high hops beer gets pretty quickly overpowered by the sweetness of the used barrels.

 

• Palo Santo Imperial Brown Ale (12% abv) — This one was outstanding. Great roasted barley chocolate/black patent malt accents compliment a good malt backbone and solid but understated hoppiness. This beer does not drink like a 12% beer, you could have a few of these before you realized you had made a big (but delicious) mistake.

 

I did not have a Dogfish Head 120 (whopping 20% abv this year) — among my favorite of the American high gravity special releases. I wanted to try some of the others I had not had. . . and wanted to not get completely wrecked on a school night.

I've never had a barleywine...but the way they're described, they sound absolutely delicious.

I've never had a barleywine...but the way they're described, they sound absolutely delicious.

 

You probably have without even knowing it. Barleywine and old ale are pretty interchangeable categories. Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot is a barleywine.

 

The Sam Adams Griffin's Bow is very much a traditional English style barleywine. 45 IBUs puts it at the low end of the hopping spectrum even for traditional barleywines, while most American style barleywines start at 70+ IBUs and many go 100+. I think Bigfoot is around 90 IBUs.

No doubt. It's really taking off. Sun King is great. Triton too. The up and comer Flat 12 is also turning some heads. Then you have Upland in Bloomington that is fantastic. 3 Floyds in Munster. Peoples... could go on forever. Craft beer in Indiana is huge.

Not only do they make some killer beers, but Upland was my favorite restaurant in Bloomington, too. Great bison burger.

Edited October 25, 201213 yr by farmteam

I just had some Founders Dirty Bastard for the first time...

 

 

Delicious. Complex, stronger than I'm used to (big wimp), but not offensive at all. I will probably get a four-pack of this over the holiday.

I just had some Founders Dirty Bastard for the first time...

 

 

Delicious. Complex, stronger than I'm used to (big wimp), but not offensive at all. I will probably get a four-pack of this over the holiday.

 

That's a great scotch ale. Also, highly recommend Oscar Blues Old Chub (which I believe is now available in Chicago).

Edited October 26, 201213 yr by G&T

That's a great scotch ale. Also, highly recommend Oscar Blues Old Chub (which I believe is now available in Chicago).

 

I'll check that out.

 

Drinking some more Yazoo tonight, Dos Perros (a Brown Ale) and possibly some more from my sampler from them. Good brewer from Nashville, for sure. I'll probably be low on things to sample that are out of the ordinary for a while since I won't be in IL for another month.

 

Had a Sam Adams Octoberfest with dinner tonight at Outback. I really like that beer. Tried my friend's Foster's, not such a big fan of that brew

Interesting article for those interesting in the business of beer. This kind of thing generally motivates me to stay away from AB InBev -- remember that now it isn't as obvious as a "Budweiser" label.

 

The Plot to Destroy America's Beer

Interesting article for those interesting in the business of beer. This kind of thing generally motivates me to stay away from AB InBev -- remember that now it isn't as obvious as a "Budweiser" label.

 

The Plot to Destroy America's Beer

There's an interesting documentary called Beer Wars that explains a lot about the beer industry. You can watch it instantly on netflix.

There's an interesting documentary called Beer Wars that explains a lot about the beer industry. You can watch it instantly on netflix.

 

I've heard of that too. If you've watched it and want to hear a critique check this out. It is actually a critique from the pro-craft side, so it may clear things up even further about the state of the beer industry. I wish this guy's blog was still active.

Not beer, but a yummy snack

 

My gameday brew

 

My gameday brew right now is a 30 pack of PBR.. Hey it was 11 bucks at Jewels and it came with a frozen pizza for 1 cent extra, couldnt beat that deal.

My gameday brew right now is a 30 pack of PBR.. Hey it was 11 bucks at Jewels and it came with a frozen pizza for 1 cent extra, couldnt beat that deal.

 

I don't know if I've ever had PBR. I've had very few Adjunct Lagers because the ones I had weren't very appealing and had pretty much convinced me that I didn't like beer. I had a friend tell me to try out craft beers and different styles and now I'm drinking beer like it's water. I'd guess the most mainstream beer company that I like is Sam Adams...lots of solid stuff from them.

Looking forward to trying this.

 

Looking forward to trying this.

 

 

Indeed.

A good solid supply of Bulmers Irish Cider to keep me going from now until the end of the Giants/Tigers game.

Las Foremost on Milwaukee and California just got a shipment of Bourbon County from Goose Island. It's one of the best stouts there is. I grabbed a 4-pack, btu it's very expensive now, and frankly their manufactured shortages are getting ridiculous.