Beer

[dwellerINTHEdark]

All good reasons not to drink. If there's any real impact on your professional or social life it's a problem.
Dude a case of beer a night is gonna put you on the express train to cirrhosis. You need to start cutting back because only bad things can come of that.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Yea, that's a lot of fucking beer to be drinking on a daily basis. I definitely would not be able to function if i was knocking down anything close to a case a day.

 

[dwellerINTHEdark]

Even more dangerous if you are able to function with that kind of consumption.

 

[Draehl]

I'm such a lightweight. I tend to just fall asleep before I can even get drunk. 2-3 beers while watching sports is good (Dos Equis w/ lime in summer, Warsteiner Dunkel in winter) or a couple fingers of a decent 12 year single malt scotch and I'm pretty happy.

 

[Krow]

I dont understand how someone can drink a case of beer in a day. After four or five im pissing the rest of the night as is. I wouldnt get anything else done.

 

[unknown]

Yeah same here. I have about 2-3 beers a day...some days I have zero, and on the weekends if I'm with friends I'll have several. Usually never more than 4 or 5 just because I get so goddamn full.

As to the health effects, there are actually some positive health effects from moderate daily consumption of beer: http://www.menshealth.com/health/have-a-beer

 

[dwellerINTHEdark]

Anyone have any Belgian dark ale recommendations?

 

[unknown]

Rochefort 8 is probably my favorite BSDA
Maudite (though if you're a purist, Unibroue is now owned by Sapporo)
Chimay Blue
Alesmith Grand Cru
Avery The Beast
Allagash Grand Cru
Achel Trappist Extra

there are tons of others. The Belgian Strong Dark Ale is kind of a catch-all category

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Hey unknown, you were right .... i found Dirtwolf at Whole Foods. I must not have been looking good enough.

 

[dwellerINTHEdark]

Thanks for the recs! Maudite was awesome so I'll let that Sapporo thing go.

Hope you like the Dirtwolf TB. I'm gonna pick some more up soon along with some Belgian darks.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Maudite (though if you're a purist, Unibroue is now owned by Sapporo)

Who cares; still amazing beer!

 

[unknown]

I don't care either, but I was pretty baffled when I went to a restaurant and ordered one only to be told they just pulled it because of the whole Sapporo thing. Whatever.

I love living in LA as a hophead. I have the following in my fridge:

Modern Times Fortunate Islansd
Modern Times Oneida
Stone/Beachwood/Heretic Unapologetic
Alpine Pure Hoppiness

 

[Nephilim96]

Anyone have any Belgian dark ale recommendations?

Can't drink that today.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

I'm about to crack open a can of Fortunate Islands ... cheers guys!

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

I got the book by the guy who does the sour/barrel program for Modern Times recently, actually Mike Tonsmiere, aka The Mad Fermentationist. As my buddy Pat and I are homebrewers, we hope to eventually try a sour beer once we get more fermenting containers and more knowledge of the craft, which this book will hopefully bestow unto us.

Speaking of homebrewing, we're bottling a bizarre beer next week. Currently in warm dry-hop stage with an ounce of Smaragd pellets, our 100% German hop (Perle, Magnum, Saphir), 40% rye, slightly smoky (from a quarter-ounce of peat smoked malt!) hybrid ale will be bottled next Monday morning. For the night before, I've procured a bottle of Clown Shoes' newest limited release, MA-only beer, a variant of barrel-aged Chocolate Sombrero (cinnamon/ancho chile/vanilla stout) aged in cognac barrels used for Millionaire. Soooo pumped! Cheers, folks.

 

[unknown]

is that Millionaro? If so, I'm jealous. Billionaire was fucking fantastic. Ride the Lion, their BA wee-heavy, is due out this week or next. I'm pumped for that one.

And yeah, Mike Tonsmiere is the man. The Mad Fermentationist is such an awesome blog. I plan to try my hand at a brett infested saison sometime over summer. Dat horseblanket

 

[AlienZombie]

Speaking of homebrewing, we're bottling a bizarre beer next week. Currently in warm dry-hop stage with an ounce of Smaragd pellets, our 100% German hop (Perle, Magnum, Saphir), 40% rye, slightly smoky (from a quarter-ounce of peat smoked malt!) hybrid ale will be bottled next Monday morning.

Everyone has different opinions on peat smoked malt levels, but I'd be surprised if you could even pick up on a quarter of an ounce in the flavor of the final beer. I add 4oz to my smoked porter and that gives a faint smokey flavor.
Speaking of weird, I just brewed a gose: a german wheat beer with coriander and salt.

 

[unknown]

fucking love goses. I'm glad they're having a bit of a renaissance right now. Upright Gose is personally my favorite. The saltier the better

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Goses rule. A place in Vermont called Lost Nation makes one that absolutely rules.

Re: the smoked malt, we took a small sample of the young beer (post-primary before transfer for dry hopping) for a gravity reading and it was pretty smoky, but it was a subtle flavor. Noticeable but behind a big zesty rye flavor and hoppy bitterness.

 

[AlienZombie]

So I've pulled a couple of pints from my gose (just kegged it last weekend) and I like how it turned out. I've had commercial ones that were quite sour in addition to the saltiness, but I used just a pound of acidulated malt so there's really no sourness to speak of. Saltiness is just noticeable; has a "need another sip" kind of quality imo.
Interesting that a quarter ounce was that noticeable. Though I am desensitized to smokiness, I suppose. Rauchbiers aren't even smokey enough sometimes