What beer are we drinking this week, too?

Ipso

Jfla wrote: »

Did you get your hands on that in Ireland?

No, in California. I've heard some places in Ireland get Bear Republic which is of a similar size to Lagunitas and from the same area, maybe it will make an appearance in the near future.

Jfla

I hope so, Langunitas lil sumpin sumpin is my all time favorite. What a beer!

BaZmO*

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Earlier this week I found McGargles Pale Ale and Pilsner in my local Dunnes Stores.

I hope you left them there.

Redsoxfan

BaZmO* wrote: »

I hope you left them there.

No,I thought I'd give them a try. Is it the taste or something else that has put you off?

Ipso

Jfla wrote: »

I hope so, Langunitas lil sumpin sumpin is my all time favorite. What a beer!

That's lovely, it's the first of theirs I tried. I've had the regular IPA and Imperial Stout also, there is a Cappucino Stout I've seen that I must try.

ciaran76

Wells Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale -
Quite sweet caramel: toffee flavour. Also getting a buttery feel of it too.

drumswan

Jfla wrote: »

I hope so, Langunitas lil sumpin sumpin is my all time favorite. What a beer!

I love that beer.

Sipping the last Racer 5 from Redmonds stock

Heroditas

Redsoxfan wrote: »

No,I thought I'd give them a try. Is it the taste or something else that has put you off?

They've taken the mantle from Tom Crean's lager.

cunnifferous

Just tried one of these



First black ipa I've drank. Have to say I thought the coffee and malt flavours wouldn't balance with the bitter, floral hops. It's delicious thought, one of the nicest beers I've had in a while.

drumswan

Picked up Independent Brewings Gold & Pale Ale, looking forward to giving them a try

Grayditch

Breaking my drought for a few tonight. Brewdog Jackhammer is real good.

Insect Overlord

I haven't seen that anywhere.^ Must try to pick one up.

I introduced 2 friends to Narwhal and Samichlaus last night. They were both impressed.

Finally got an Erdinger Schneeweisse to enjoy at home today. It's rare enough in the shops this year!

SpannerMonkey

tried a few of aldi and lidls finest

Hobgoblin ale
Spitfire ale
Bisiops Finger ale
Old Speckeled hen ale
Perlenbacher Pils

all in all i would buy the hobgoblin and perlenbacher again , the rest were fine just didnt like them enough to go back

Grayditch

After drinking a lot of IPA's and distinguishing between a few different hops, the Nelson Sauvin and Centennial hops are my favourite.

Ruben Remus

I had a bottle of Porterhouse whiskey barrel aged Celebration stout when it first came out and thought it was excellent. The only flaw was a touch of alcoholic heat from the 11% ABV.

So I set aside a bottle for two years and had it last weekend on the basis that a beer of that style and strength would get better if left for a year or two. Sadly, this theory proved incorrect. It tasted fine, and the alcohol was less noticeable in the flavour, but overall I didn't like it as much as I did the fresh bottle.

snowblind

Kernel brewery in London was a great visit, recommended for all London visitors - it's only open on Saturdays until 4pm though. Tried an IPA (can't remember the hop combo on that one) from tap, which was great and cheerful. Oak Aged Saison tasted so much like cider that I had to do a double take on the blackboard to see if they had any ciders on that could have ended up in my glass instead. Nope. Tasted like a nice cider though, and the beer was pretty good, not great.

Got some bottles too - Imperial Brown Stout London 1856 was excellent and one of the better Imperial Stouts I've had. Would buy again, and relatively often too. Galaxy + Mosaic IPA was pretty good. The 4C Double IPA was bad - should have checked the bottle before buying as it was 3 months old even when bought from source. The age wasn't even half the story I don't think - it was just very sweet and lacking in complexity. Also it was 4 (or was it 4.50£?) for a small bottle....which makes it more than the much complained about OFAF!

My favourite UK IPA I tried was Partizan Centennial. Very strong hops but well balanced.

Brew By Numbers Nelson Sauvin Saison was ok, probably great if you like more wheaty tasting saisons.

Green Flash Barleywine was excellent, though a bit of an unnecessary splurge on my part.

Omnipollo Nebuchadnezzar was probably my favourite IPA altogether in London - a Swedish one, surprisingly enough, on tap at Craft Beer Co Islington. The other beer I had there was a Magic Rock Salty Kiss - a lime goze. That was the worst, my tastebuds disagreed with it heavily and it reminded me of a bacardi breezer.

Lagunitas Little Sumpin Sumpin was very nice also, draught in Euston Tap. Magic Rock Cannonball was also suggested by the barman, and seems to have a great rep but lacked a lot IMO compared to better IPAs on my trip.

The best deal going for me was a Stone Double IPA in Weatherspoons at Gatwick for 1.99£ for half a pint. Wasn't as good as the Omnipollo but for that price it was fantastic.

snowblind

Grayditch wrote: »

After drinking a lot of IPA's and distinguishing between a few different hops, the Nelson Sauvin and Centennial hops are my favourite.

Same. Plus Citra!

Grayditch

snowblind wrote: »

Same. Plus Citra!

I love that too, and Columbus. Those 4 seem to make me take notice.

irish_goat

snowblind wrote: »

The best deal going for me was a Stone Double IPA in Weatherspoons at Gatwick for 1.99£ for half a pint. Wasn't as good as the Omnipollo but for that price it was fantastic.

I was undercharged in my local spoons and got a half pint for 95p. :pac:

BaZmO*

3 year old Home Brew........cider-y!

Firehen

Just had a Mikkeller Xmas Porter. Yum!

Herb Powell

Klosterbräu Neuzelle Schwarzer Abt.

Another shyte, old-cola flavoured abomination masquerading as a "Schwarzbier". Two sips and twas down the drain.

Avoid at all costs.

jsa112

Birrifico del ducato ipa, quite nice, good yeasty taste to it

matrim

Galway Bay releasing a limited edition 10% imperial stout in their Dublin pubs tomorrow. Only 900 bottles being released and are €7.50 a 500ml bottle (7 with beoir vouchers). Might head to the brew dock for one after work tomorrow.

Ipso

Grayditch wrote: »

After drinking a lot of IPA's and distinguishing between a few different hops, the Nelson Sauvin and Centennial hops are my favourite.

What's the story with Amarillo hops, are they a recent "creation"? I had Deschutes Chasin' Freshies which made a big deal of having them but wasn 't overly impressed.
Does anyone know what are in Racer 5? It's like teams of glorius hops playing basketball in your mouth, there's something very distinctive about it.

Ruben Remus

Ipso wrote: »

It's like teams of glorius hops playing basketball in your mouth

Great description...

jsa112

According to their site

"This hoppy American IPA is a full bodied beer brewed with American pale and crystal malts, and heavily hopped with Chinook, Cascade, Columbus and Centennial"

I like centennial and cascade myself. They get used in brewdogs hardcore afaik. I think I had a brewdog ipa is dead/single hop columbus which wasn't good at all.

irish_goat

Ipso wrote: »

What's the story with Amarillo hops, are they a recent "creation"? I had Deschutes Chasin' Freshies which made a big deal of having them but wasn 't overly impressed.
Does anyone know what are in Racer 5? It's like teams of glorius hops playing basketball in your mouth, there's something very distinctive about it.

Loads of the big American IPAs use hops that are a new breed. The US Department of Agriculture has a breeding program in the north west USA where they're breeding loads of new varieties and constantly testing them in brews and keeping the ones that fare well. On top of that the private hop farms have their own breeding programs so if they happen to end up with a particularly good hop they can patent it and the price and rarity value can then create a bit of hype so if a brewery can get their hands on it they'll make a big deal of it. Course that doesn't mean they'll make good beer with them. Metalman Pale Ale was originally going to have Amarillo in it but they switched to Summit hops when they had trouble with guaranteeing supply.

Racer 5 has Chinook, Cascade, Columbus and Centennial. Always a good mix.

cunnifferous

jsa112 wrote: »

According to their site

"This hoppy American IPA is a full bodied beer brewed with American pale and crystal malts, and heavily hopped with Chinook, Cascade, Columbus and Centennial"

I like centennial and cascade myself. They get used in brewdogs hardcore afaik. I think I had a brewdog ipa is dead/single hop columbus which wasn't good at all.

Had a founders pale ale recently which, according to the bottle anyway, is almost exclusively cascade hopped. While it enjoyed it, it wouldn't be my favourite ipa. I found all of the hop flavour is on the grapefruit/bitter end of the spectrum compared to other ipas which i find can have hints of melon/passionfruit (tropical fruit).

BeerNut

Ipso wrote: »

What's the story with Amarillo hops, are they a recent "creation"?

First produced in 2000. They're quite highly prized because they're a proprietary breed and only one company produces them.

The_M

I'm in Maine and just had a Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA. Very nice. 7.25ABV, nice hoppiness balanced with some sweetness by the addition of maple syrup. Very drinkable!

jsa112

I found all of the hop flavour is on the grapefruit/bitter end of the spectrum compared to other ipas which i find can have hints of melon/passionfruit (tropical fruit).

Am sure somebody with more technical information will pipe in, but seems like cascade/centennial/colombus are used with 7-9% DIPAs, giving that strong harsh flavour. The grape fruit flavours around 5% range coming from Chinook, Simcoe, Ahtanum, Nelson Sauvin hops.

I really enjoyed racer 5 as it seemed to be in between an ipa and a dipa. Grapefruit flavours but strong too.

Ipso

I read on Beer Advocate that there are hops from New Zealand that are starting to get popular.

BeerNut

Ipso wrote: »

there are hops from New Zealand that are starting to get popular.

Nelson Sauvin is certainly a biggie and Motueka has a bit of a cult following. Green Bullet, Pacific Gem and Pacific Jade have been around a while.

cunnifferous

Ipso wrote: »

I read on Beer Advocate that there are hops from New Zealand that are starting to get popular.

Had a tuatara apa from New Zealand which uses exclusively NZ hops. Very impressed, quite bitter on the aftertaste but not eyewateringly so and with lots of floral and pine notes. Not sure what malt was in it but it also had quite a sweet caramel taste too. Well balanced I guess is what I'm trying to say.

Ipso

Firestone Walkers Velvet Merlin Stout, really liked it but I thought I was buying the Velvet Merkin which is supposed to be very good.

drumswan

Ipso wrote: »

Firestone Walkers Velvet Merlin Stout, really liked it but I thought I was buying the Velvet Merkin which is supposed to be very good.

You lucky git

matrim

matrim wrote: »

Galway Bay releasing a limited edition 10% imperial stout in their Dublin pubs tomorrow. Only 900 bottles being released and are €7.50 a 500ml bottle (7 with beoir vouchers). Might head to the brew dock for one after work tomorrow.

Went to try get one of these at 6. The brew dock was already sold out of the 48 odd bottles they got at 1. Expect more next week.

Having a foam and fury instead. Seems to have slightly less body that I remember from before Christmas but still lovely

Grayditch

Porterhouse Celebration Imperial Stout. Lovely stuff.

BMJD

Porterhouse - The Devil's Halfacre

wouldn't be my cup of tea tbh, tastes more like a barleywine/porter mishmash rather than black IPA

BaZmO*

BMJD wrote: »

Porterhouse - The Devil's Halfacre

wouldn't be my cup of tea tbh, tastes more like a barleywine/porter mishmash rather than black IPA

Yeah the description is quite misleading but at 13.5% it's hardly gonna be light like a Black's Black IPA

Heroditas

Folks, what's the selection on tap like in the Porterhouse these days?
Thinking of heading out for a few pints tonight but probably won't be going to the likes of Black Sheep etc (need to maximise the couple of hours but be near to the 25a/66 bus route to get the last bus home)
Cassidys seems to have a decent selection, judging by what I saw when I was there in December.
O'Neills, of course, has an impressive selection but I'm tempted to try somewhere slightly different. Is Farringtons good, as in, it has a good selection?

BaZmO*

Heroditas wrote: »

Folks, what's the selection on tap like in the Porterhouse these days?
Thinking of heading out for a few pints tonight but probably won't be going to the likes of Black Sheep etc (need to maximise the couple of hours but be near to the 25a/66 bus route to get the last bus home)
Cassidys seems to have a decent selection, judging by what I saw when I was there in December.
O'Neills, of course, has an impressive selection but I'm tempted to try somewhere slightly different. Is Farringtons good, as in, it has a good selection?

Farringtons have a great selection, and I've always quite liked the place. Bonus is that if you don't like it there you can pop around to the Porterhouse or Bull & Castle.

Heroditas

Will it have any of that diddly-eye nonsense though?

MonstaMash

BMJD wrote: »

Porterhouse - The Devil's Halfacre

wouldn't be my cup of tea tbh, tastes more like a barleywine/porter mishmash rather than black IPA

BaZmO* wrote: »

Yeah the description is quite misleading but at 13.5% it's hardly gonna be light like a Black's Black IPA

Can't get enough of the stuff...my liver hates me :eek:

Heroditas

Wrasslers is €1 a bottle in Drinkstore at the moment. They have a load of it in the bargain bin. Definitely worth grabbing a few!

drumswan

Rascals ginger porter, a bit unremarkable

Heroditas

BaZmO* wrote: »

Farringtons have a great selection, and I've always quite liked the place. Bonus is that if you don't like it there you can pop around to the Porterhouse or Bull & Castle.

Right, settled down in the place and they have a very good selection!
Pity about the guy doing cover versions on the far side of the pub but here's hoping the amp breaks...

EDIT: having a pint of Chameleon. Really starting to like this beer.

penev10

My current favourite has become La Trappe Dubbel. Like a milder St Bernardus 12 or a more flavoursome Delerium Nocturnum.

BaZmO*

To Øl Carnage. An IPA made in collaboration with Buxton Brewery. Cracking beer. I could drink buckets of this beer!