What beer are we drinking this week ?

Creamy Goodness

Grayditch wrote: »

Best Christmas Beer ever!

I'll always associate it with Christmas. And it's made by monks. They love a bit of Jesus' Birthday.

t'is why I'm cracking one open with me turkey and ham. goes so well with it.

Ravelleman

Seaneh wrote: »

They aren't rebranded.

Those are the bottles that were sold as part of the "bricks" almost 2 years ago.

Same bottles as always, but for the gift packs they had them printed.

Ok. That's interesting. They're very elegant bottles.

Lovely Bloke

Here's my Xmas Selection, to share with my Brother and Dad



McHugh's had 2 more mini kegs left on display about 15 minutes ago.

Grayditch

Dogfish Head/Birra del Borgo "My Antonia". I really like this.

Insect Overlord

Ravelleman wrote: »

Ok. That's interesting. They're very elegant bottles.

The glasses are lovely too, if a bit small. Perfect for sharing!

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Here's my Xmas Selection, to share with my Brother and Dad

Hopplehammer and Buried At Sea => instant jealousy! Nice selection.

Creamy Goodness

I must post up my Christmas selection/beer cabinet (really just on a table top) later on.

I keep my westy in my parents house so I can't be tempted to drink it.

Seaneh

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

I keep my westy in my parents house so I can't be tempted to drink it.

Mine are in my grandmothers attic, probably for the same reason

Ravelleman

Insect Overlord wrote: »

The glasses are lovely too, if a bit small. Perfect for sharing!

I have a glass too but only one so, conveniently for me, there can be no sharing!

Seaneh wrote: »

Mine are in my grandmothers attic, probably for the same reason

I keep mine in the attic as well. Out of sight and kind of out of mind.

BaZmO*

The attic is probably not the best place to store beer lads. Over the summer months the temp can get too high, and then during the winter the temp get can very low. So over the course of a year the temp fluctuations can be too severe.

Grayditch

First of the Stone's, the Pale Ale is a very good pale ale. Not worth ever getting again, at the price it is, and they do have a "disclaimer" on the bottle saying it's one of their first and as a result quite tame. Lovely mouth feel, though.

Heroditas

Had a shot of Tactical Nuclear Penguin last night.
Pity I was hammered when I had it. Thought it was quite sweet with almost a caramel texture.
It utterly finished me off after the feed off pints. I was not a well man earlier

Grayditch

Kelpie Seaweed Ale. There's a decent flavour going on in there somwhere, but man is it a tame ale. You really have to get a good mouthfull and swish it around a bit. Pours almost jet black and has the roastyness of a stout.

ciaran76

Modus hoperandi is a really good beer. Wish i had got more than 6.

Very well balanced IPA has a bit of everything. Sweetness/ bitterness smells nice too.

adamski8

Damn have to get some of that modus!

Just had a westy 12 and now enjoying a jameson stout.

Grayditch

Yeah, I've had two Modus Hoperandi now and I like it a lot. I love it's biterness. I kinda wish I'd gotten more at 2 quid a can, but if it went to 2.50 say (someone said it will come back dearer next time), something like Founders Centenial would be ahead of it for me.

Ravelleman

Grayditch wrote: »

Kelpie Seaweed Ale. There's a decent flavour going on in there somwhere, but man is it a tame ale. You really have to get a good mouthfull and swish it around a bit. Pours almost jet black and has the roastyness of a stout.

I first tried this in a nightclub and was convinced it was a stout - and a tasty one at that. I had it again recently in a different setting and thought it was quite plain. To be honest, I wouldn't really be a fan of William's Brothers range in general. Their lemon beer is awful and Midnight Sun left me a little cold too. Very stylish presentation but ultimately meh.

Grayditch wrote: »

Yeah, I've had two Modus Hoperandi now and I like it a lot. I love it's biterness. I kinda wish I'd gotten more at 2 quid a can, but if it went to 2.50 say (someone said it will come back dearer next time), something like Founders Centenial would be ahead of it for me.

It was marked down from €3.50, although I'm not sure if Drinkstore had ever sold it at the higher price before. I wouldn't pay that for it but I thought €2 was just about right.

Grayditch

Still not sure why they don't call that Seaweed ale a stout!

Having a Widmer Brother's "BRRR". Had one last year, but have no memory of it. It's thick and syrupy and is quite sweet and not all that amazing. 7.2%, it may be my last one for the night.

BaZmO*

Ravelleman wrote: »

It was marked down from €3.50, although I'm not sure if Drinkstore had ever sold it at the higher price before. I wouldn't pay that for it but I thought €2 was just about right.

I don't think they've ever sold it in Drinkstore.

Apparently what happened was that the UK wholesaler forgot to do his stock rotation and as a result they had a lot of close to 'use by' dated beers. So DS got them at a reduced rate.

The problem for the wholesaler is that the brewery always put a ridiculously short date on their beers so the mistake was punished quicker.

When they do get it back in I'd say it will be at the originally planned price, unless of course everybody now has a taste for it and they can buy in a moxy load of it to keep costs down.

MrGee

Ravelleman wrote: »

I have a glass too but only one so, conveniently for me, there can be no sharing!



I keep mine in the attic as well. Out of sight and kind of out of mind.

Ive had many a bottle of westy 12 over last 2 years. Nice beer but it doesnt meet the expectations. ( which are set very high) id drink a chimay bleu just as quick

Knifey Spoony

Currently sipping on a Leann Fileann Barrel Aged. Not to much of the Leann Fileann taste making it past the whiskey and oak, but it might be a bit too cold yet. I'll let the rest of the bottle warm up a bit before I have a bit more.

Gonna be dipping into my beer closet over the next few days, sampling various beers I've collected during the year. I have some Fran Well Citra IPA, Coffee Porter and Jameson Stout (including one bottle of the original 2012 batch). Also have all of the 8 degrees Back to Black series, along with an Amber Ella and a couple bottles of Kindred Spirit. To round things off, I then have a Narwal Imperial Stout, Rochfort 10 and Westmalle Triple.

Plenty of homebrew left over as well including my Christmas brew, vanilla whiskey stout, and a Cascade dry hopped IPA.

Merry Christmas lads!

MrGee

Ive tasted as much as i can find in the month of december. Im gone spend tomorrow after work clearing my homebrew stout pile up.

adamski8

Spooney: i dont think o haras barred aged is actually leann follain in a barrel, afaik its a different stout recipe

Knifey Spoony

Makes sense. Not really getting any Leann Foileann as I'm making my way through the bottle or any of the base stout really, just the whiskey and oak.

adamski8

Yeah ive heard that alot about that beer and its the reason i havent tried it. Im sure its nice if you really like that harsh whiskey/oak taste. Much wiser to go for a few bottles of leann follain.

Had had wrasslers last night i really enjoy it. Surprised there is a distint lack of talk about PH beers on here. Do people not like them or are they not as excited now that people want to have new ones. I really like hophead (although it can vary) wrasslers, oyster. Plain is good too.

BaZmO*

PH beers are so established at this stage that they are rarely talked about, other than their seasonals and once offs.

Their Devil's Acre got a lot of mentions recently. Beautiful beer. In the top 3 Irish beers for me this year.

Gavmurphy07

Pilsner Urquell my favourite, 5 for €10 in O'Briens deal of the century! happy christmas to all!

BaZmO*

Having a Brew Dog Santa Paws. Absolutely gorgeous. Says it's a Wee Scotch Ale (a style I love) but I'd say it's more like a porter.

Seaneh

BaZmO* wrote: »

The attic is probably not the best place to store beer lads. Over the summer months the temp can get too high, and then during the winter the temp get can very low. So over the course of a year the temp fluctuations can be too severe.

It's a conversion, so it's properly insulated. I spend many a night sleeping there in all seasons and it's no more hot or cold than the rest of the house, but there's a lot of storage space

Ipso

Lagunitas Imperial Stout, very nice if a bit bitter. It's 9.9% abv but goes down very easy.

Seaneh

BaZmO* wrote: »

Apparently what happened was that the UK wholesaler forgot to do his stock rotation and as a result they had a lot of close to 'use by' dated beers. So DS got them at a reduced rate.

That's really not what happened.

Ska date their cans 4 months from the canning date, so the ones dated "best before jan 17 14" were canned on september 17 2013".

Ska don't usually export, this was probably one of the first batch of cans sold outside the US. Their export cans were meant to have a canned on date and a best before of about a year later (only because EU law required a best before).

They arrived to the UK with a short date and then the Irish and UK importers, along with Ska, worked out a deal to shift them quickly.

The Irish and UK importers have been working together over the last year or so to secure a LOT of beers that have either not been available here before or haven't been here for a long time, such as founders, stone, ska, and so on.

The next batch of Ska beers for sale will be canned in Feb and hit the shelves here sometime in march.