Beer

MOL, I find Lagunitas very overrated (GASP, BLASPHEMY!).

Went to Maine with my girlfriend this weekend for a cheesemaking class at a small family-owned creamery in Cumberland. Ended up going to Ebenezer's Pub in Lovell (aka the place voted as "best beer bar in the world" many times over who has a really good relationship with many Belgian brewers such as De Struise et al) with her aunt and cousin... service was initially horrible but once we were taken care of and felt accommodated it was much better.

Had an Italian gose and a new beer made by the Lively Brewing Co. (aka Ebenezer's co-owners' own new brewing venture out of Brunswick, ME) which was called "Hoppy Bogart". It was a 4.5% session IPA with a twist... it was fermented entirely with French farmhouse ale yeast for a weirdly "bier de garde"-esque farmy and rustic back-end. Super interesting, very hoppy and nuanced on top of the light funk and chewiness from the yeast... loved it. My bacon cheeseburger was crazy good too (two thick hunks of local sharp cheddar instead of boring cheese slices, ftw!). Overall, was satisfied, but I'll go in and get bar service next time instead of going with a party because the wait was horrendously long (like 20 minutes for someone to come notice us, blah).

Later that night Ashley and I struck out alone to a place called Bray's in Naples where we were staying with her aunt for the night. One of the best bars I've been to in quite some time... eclectic and interesting taplist, but I was interested in what wasn't on the list, namely a tap-handle for Founders with a small post-it reading "BOLT CUTTER"! So I asked for a glass of that, and the bartender assured me "that ain't no normal Founders", to which I responded "I'm familiar, I'll take it." After finishing that (and after Ashley finished her Blithering Idiot by Weyerbacher), I spied a few bottles of Founders KBS on the top shelf of the bottle fridge in my peripheral. $10 a bottle, but sooooo worth it... what a fantastically lush, intense and smooth brew. My second time having it and I can't say enough good things. So, overall, I had a great time :p
 
Bolt Cutter is so fucking good. I've had KBS several times, and each time I'm kind of underwhelmed by it. Maybe it's the hype machine, but yeah...I've never really gone out of my way to get it.

Received a trade today. DEFINITELY looking forward to the Toppling Goliath PseudoSue and Light Speed. The others (Surly and Three Floyd's Apocalypse Cow) are some pretty nice extras the guy threw in.

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also for the record, I've never been impressed by anything Lagunitas has done. They're okay but eh
 
:( I like Lagunitas quite a bit. Generally their bombers are more reasonably priced than most for comparable beers. Hairy Eyeball, Brown Sugga, Gnarleywine, Shutdown ale, etc, are all solid IMO, and NightTime was one of the best american black ales I've had.
 
I think Lagunitas is pretty overrated too, but I don't mind dropping $4 on a bomber now and then. Of course, this is still a bit foolish in general, as per ounce this is equal to a $12 six pack, which will pay for tons of terrific things. I was really hoping that the new facility would drop their sixer prices to the $7.99 range, but that was wishful thinking. Lil' Sumpin Sumpin still runs $10-12 here, which is crazy for a beer that's just not that great.

Had a few interesting beers tonight so far. Smuttynose Summer Weizen, a pale wheat with chamomile, is the first Smuttynose beer I'd think about purchasing again. I think they're really mediocre in general. The grocery store had an Anchor beer takeover, and they poured the Zymaster Harvest and Mike's Mild ales. Both were solid and obviously Anchor products, but the Harvest ale really stood out. Great hop flavor with traditional Anchor malt flavors.

I picked up a Shock Top Honey Bourbon Cask. It's dire. Super artificial. Thin body, stale malt, vanilla extract as a substitute for bourbon. Avoid.
 
I guess. It's just not top tier for me, particularly since hoppy wheat is far from my favorite style. The wheat is barely noticeable other than the appearance of that beer anyway.

I drank a Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat. It was weirdly metallic/medicinal. Did not like. Then I had a Kronenbourg 1664, which was super forgettable. There's no reason to ever choose this beer. Indistinguishable from other 2nd tier Euro lagers.
The last beer I had tonight was Anderson Valley Summer Solstice. I can't explain in properly, but this beer was on drugs. It was so good. The maltiness of it seemed to hit my umami spot. It was creamy and caramelly, but finished dry and with a hint of bitterness. It was rich on the mouthfeel, but not heavy. I'll definitely buy more of this soon. Hop Ottin is also one of the finest IPAs out there, if not a little too expensive. All hail Anderson Valley.
 
Yeah, most of the hopped up wheat beers are what i call "tropical" IPAs.

That Harvest Ale sounds interesting, i've only tried their flagship beer and their porter, and enjoyed both quite a bit.

So recently one of my friends has been buggin me about trying "Mr. Pineapple", so i decided to give it a shot...

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... an okay session beer for a hot summer day, but the pineapple juice basically takes over. Not my thing.
 
I find wheatwines have a lot of tropical notes (pineapple, coconut in particular). It sets the style apart from barleywines, which are often just amber IIPAs. I think it was de Proef that had a beer called Tropical Tripel that was really good.

I'm totally down for a summer fruit beer if it's done well. Pyramid Apricot is a favorite of mine. Temps haven't gone above 75 this month, so it's been too cool for the true thirst quenchers, but maybe that will change in August.
 
Went to one of the best bottleshares I've been to in a long time. Three beers stood out to me. Horal's 2013 Oudw gueuze, which is a blend of all the lambics made in Brussels, and two beers from Cisco provided by a Cisco rep himself, Pechish Woods and Monomoy Kriek... holy fuck these blew me away...especially the kriek. Goddamn
 
If you get the chance, you need Lady Of The Woods which is the "base" sour beer for the other Cisco sours. It is without a doubt one of the most bracingly tart, complex and satisfying beers I've probably ever had. Fantastic stuff.
 
Yeah the rep that was there brought Grey Lady which was the base for one of the sours. It was super herbal with loads of chamomile which the brewers pick themselves apparently
 
Not an IPA, but still a hoppy pale... gonna be drinking my first of Brewmaster Mike's Otter Creek Overgrown pale soon... cheers!
 
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