Best beer you've ever had?

[COlineman78]

The beer scene is starting to get better her in OK, but a lot of stuff is hard to find. Anything over 3.2% has to be shipped into the state non refrigerated, so there are things we can't get here.

You should be drinking lots of Prairie. Apple Brandy Noir, a stout aged in apple brandy barrels is probably their best this year. American Solera makes some good stuff too.

 

[COlineman78]

It will change your life

Ryan, you need to get out more... I know the standards up there are pretty low, but damn...

 

[COlineman78]

I'd be very hard pressed to pick a favorite, but everything that comes out of the Ale Apothecary outside of Bend is solid gold.

Or at least they think it's gold. $40 for a 750 is a little overboard. I do have a Sahalie but haven't opened it yet. Another one up there in price that is similar in style is Scratch brewing. I've only had Blackberry Lavender, but it was amazing (top 10 for me, and that's saying a lot).

 

[kaboku68]

EASY! Silver Gulch Osculum Flam- Triple brew Belgium red farmhouse ale with %10.5 alcohol content. Smooth but tasty but will knock the hell out of you if you don't watch it.

 

[LostArra]

They really are. Night Shift is another one and they're right down the road from me if anyone wants to try some...

The Northeast may get it's butt kicked from a hunting perspective, but the beer can hold its own.... In the next couple months I'm going to visit / pick up some from Night Shift, Tree House, Alchemist, Trillium, Lawson's, Hill Farmstead and Maine Beer Co...

When it comes to IPA's the Northeast (or New England) style is much more to my liking than the west coast. Since I can rarely get the premium East coast brews here I've taken to homebrewing (or attempting to homebrew) that style while keeping the abv around 6%.

Any New Englanders interested in a swap? I can recommend some great locals (Roughtail and Prairie Artisan Ales) in exchange for Alchemist or Trillium.

 

[wncbrewer]

Or at least they think it's gold. $40 for a 750 is a little overboard. I do have a Sahalie but haven't opened it yet. Another one up there in price that is similar in style is Scratch brewing. I've only had Blackberry Lavender, but it was amazing (top 10 for me, and that's saying a lot).

You're right 40 bucks for a bottle of beer is hard to swallow, but at the scale he's working with and the time he puts into his fermentations, I'll bet you he still isn't taking much home. I think he made 70 barrels last year. Super small and artisanal, but very niche-y and not a beer I can afford to drink every day lol. In terms of quality, though, of mixed fermentation beers are your thing, he's doing it as well or better than anyone out there.

Haven't had anything from scratch. I'll have to check them out.

 

[COlineman78]

So, full disclosure: I am a bit of a beer snob and have gotten into the beer trading scene (you wouldn't believe how big it is) in order to try stuff from across the country. There are select bottles that go on the secondary market for over $1000 (Toppling Goliath KBBS for example) and a couple that demand even more at $5000-10000.

That being said, I have a beer collecting/trading problem.

However, since I began doing this I have been able to have some of the best beers in the country. My top breweries include:

Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales (Denver, CO) ** My Favorite
Casey Brewing and Blending (Glenwood Springs, CO)
de Garde Brewing (Tillamook, OR)
Jester King Brewing (Austin, TX)
Side Project Brewing (St. Louis, MO)
Fonta Flora Brewery (Morganton, NC) ** They do some weird crap that I'm not always down with
Funky Buddha Brewery (Oakland Park, FL)
Weldwerks Brewing (Greeley, CO)
Wiley Roots Brewery (Greeley, CO)
Scratch Brewing (Ava, IL)

 

[COlineman78]

You're right 40 bucks for a bottle of beer is hard to swallow, but at the scale he's working with and the time he puts into his fermentations, I'll bet you he still isn't taking much home. I think he made 70 barrels last year. Super small and artisanal, but very niche-y and not a beer I can afford to drink every day lol.

My favorite brewery is Black Project here in Denver and they are on a similar scale and effort due to exclusively spontaneous fermentation. Their bottles run $22-34 per bottle (the $34 bottle was their 1-2-3 year blend gueze). I guess that if they did out of state distribution they might get close to the same price point. Their bottling is purely done by volunteers and recently expanded with 100 new barrels (they only had like 20 before).

 

[LostArra]

So, full disclosure: I am a bit of a beer snob and have gotten into the beer trading scene (you wouldn't believe how big it is) in order to try stuff from across the country. There are select bottles that go on the secondary market for over $1000 (Toppling Goliath KBBS for example) and a couple that demand even more at $5000-10000.

That being said, I have a beer collecting/trading problem.

However, since I began doing this I have been able to have some of the best beers in the country. My top breweries include:

Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales (Denver, CO) ** My Favorite
Casey Brewing and Blending (Glenwood Springs, CO)
de Garde Brewing (Tillamook, OR)
Jester King Brewing (Austin, TX)
Side Project Brewing (St. Louis, MO)
Fonta Flora Brewery (Morganton, NC) ** They do some weird crap that I'm not always down with
Funky Buddha Brewery (Oakland Park, FL)
Weldwerks Brewing (Greeley, CO)
Wiley Roots Brewery (Greeley, CO)
Scratch Brewing (Ava, IL)

Do you collect a certain style of beer? I've always assumed all styles don't age well since hop characteristics decrease with time.

 

[COlineman78]

Do you collect a certain style of beer? I've always assumed all styles don't age well since hop characteristics decrease with time.

IPAs, cheaper lagers and wits (sometimes) are the ones that shouldn't be aged. Hops should be consumed within 6 weeks of canning/bottling. Although some people prefer to age certain west coast IPAs like Pliny the Elder. Most of those beers are sours, lambic, saisons (dry hopped and not), and barrel aged stouts. Most beer is unpasteurized meaning that it will change over time. This is intended for some beer styles by some brewers. One of those bottles in there is a 2006 grand-cru called Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien. Another popular technique is called bottle conditioning. This is where the brewer intends the brewing process to continue in the bottle and when a lot of the carbonation is accomplished. During this process any remaining oxygen in the bottle is consumed so that certain bad tastes don't form over time.

 

[COlineman78]

When it comes to IPA's the Northeast (or New England) style is much more to my liking than the west coast. Since I can rarely get the premium East coast brews here I've taken to homebrewing (or attempting to homebrew) that style while keeping the abv around 6%.

Any New Englanders interested in a swap? I can recommend some great locals (Roughtail and Prairie Artisan Ales) in exchange for Alchemist or Trillium.

Colorado has 2 breweries that are making some great IPAs right now. Weldwerks with Juicy Bits (NE Style) and Odd13 makes IPAs of all types. I-P-Alien was their most recent NE style. If you want some Juicy Bits I could send you some for some Prairie that doesn't make it here (like Apple Brandy Noir or BA Christmas Bomb). Funky Gold Mosaic is my favorite from Prairie.

 

[wncbrewer]

I'm gonna take this opportunity to shamelessly plug my own brewery. If any of you guys ever find yourselves in Vancouver, WA , come check us out at Heathen Brewing. Ask for mike and mention rokslide and I'll get you set up.


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[bridgerbenson]

Ice cold Busch light for me

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[Foldem]

If you guys like porters try Oskar Blue's Death by Coconut. So good.

 

[ScottinPA]

I had several good white beers in Germany/Austria last fall. Trying to find something similar here. Fun experiment.
Liking the Sam Adams Nitro Ale but want to get some Southern Tier stuff since there only a few miles from here.

 

[COlineman78]

I had several good white beers in Germany/Austria last fall. Trying to find something similar here. Fun experiment.

I'm assuming by "white beers" you mean Hefeweizen's (literally translates to yeast-wheat), sometimes called Weissbier (wheat beer, not white beer which would be Weissebier) in Germany. A good american hefe is hard to find because IMO the American yest strains don't give you as much banana and clove taste that is the base for a true German Hefe. The German Rheinheitsgebot (beer purity law) states that beer can contain only malted grains, water and hops (yeast was not discovered till later) and therefore all of the flavor for a hefe comes from the yeast.

Your best bet for a similar good beer in the US would be to look at Belgian Wit beers. Wit's are very similar except that most have some sort of citrus (usually orange) to add flavor. The most popular American Wit is Blue Moon, but my favorite that is widely available is probably Avery White Rascal. Other popular ones include Shock Top and Leinenkugel. I believe Sam Adams makes a couple throughout the year but I'm not sure what they're called. The only good American Hefes I've had are from local breweries here in Denver: Prost brewing or C.B. & Potts.

 

[gelton]

So, full disclosure: I am a bit of a beer snob and have gotten into the beer trading scene (you wouldn't believe how big it is) in order to try stuff from across the country. There are select bottles that go on the secondary market for over $1000 (Toppling Goliath KBBS for example) and a couple that demand even more at $5000-10000.

That being said, I have a beer collecting/trading problem.

However, since I began doing this I have been able to have some of the best beers in the country. My top breweries include:

Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales (Denver, CO) ** My Favorite
Casey Brewing and Blending (Glenwood Springs, CO)
de Garde Brewing (Tillamook, OR)
Jester King Brewing (Austin, TX)
Side Project Brewing (St. Louis, MO)
Fonta Flora Brewery (Morganton, NC) ** They do some weird crap that I'm not always down with
Funky Buddha Brewery (Oakland Park, FL)
Weldwerks Brewing (Greeley, CO)
Wiley Roots Brewery (Greeley, CO)
Scratch Brewing (Ava, IL)

If you like Jester King you should have a look at Austin Beer Works - Pearl Snap (German Pilsner) is my favorite but they do it all...

Beer | Austin Beerworks

 

[Murdy]

Right now: PBR! Ask me again next week if Old Style or Special Export is on sale.

 

[ScottinPA]

I'm assuming by "white beers" you mean Hefeweizen's (literally translates to yeast-wheat), sometimes called Weissbier (wheat beer, not white beer which would be Weissebier) in Germany. A good american hefe is hard to find because IMO the American yest strains don't give you as much banana and clove taste that is the base for a true German Hefe. The German Rheinheitsgebot (beer purity law) states that beer can contain only malted grains, water and hops (yeast was not discovered till later) and therefore all of the flavor for a hefe comes from the yeast.

Your best bet for a similar good beer in the US would be to look at Belgian Wit beers. Wit's are very similar except that most have some sort of citrus (usually orange) to add flavor. The most popular American Wit is Blue Moon, but my favorite that is widely available is probably Avery White Rascal. Other popular ones include Shock Top and Leinenkugel. I believe Sam Adams makes a couple throughout the year but I'm not sure what they're called. The only good American Hefes I've had are from local breweries here in Denver: Prost brewing or C.B. & Potts.

Yep, you got it. I was told by my German companions to ask for white or wheat beer. I do have some Blue Moon in the fridge too. It seems a little lighter and more citrus than the Sam Adams Nitro Ale. Shock Top came up on my research also. Thanks.

 

[freediver111]

I don't drink beer much these days since I went paleo/primal, but I do like Caldera IPA from from Caldera Brewing in Ashland, OR.