Oso planning to go pro
Just had a couple of Surly Smoked. Good golly, that was some darned tasty brew. Num num.Smoked would pair well with Sonoran Habenero.
Had a 25 oz bottle of The Crooked Hobo, a Baltic Porter from Ahnapee Brewery in Algoma, WI. Whiskey barrel aged. Veeeery good. And I have no clue what makes it a "Baltic" Porter. Or what that even means.
At this point I believe it's marketing, a baltic porter used to be a stronger version of the standard porter that was sent from Norway/Sweden to the Dutch(across the North Sea) in the 1700s. I don't think there is any particular function to the name any more. Sort of like there is functionally no difference between a porter and a stout that I can determine.
Anyone whose been abroad have any recommendations for decent British Domestics? Month out from going to London and just kind of realized that I won't have Miller Lite out there.
Miller Lite and decent are colliding in the same thought??? I suppose it could be worse, could have been Bud Lite or Ice House or something
I spent this past weekend up in Portland Maine. Great coastal city with great food and an awesome craft beer scene. I think there are 11 breweries in town most notably Allagash and Shipyard. Allagash white is great and widely distributed so I'd give it a try if you haven't already. I tried a bunch of other local brews from several different breweries in town and they were all really good. I'd recommend a visit to Portland if you're ever in NE in the summertime
Any of you Sophisticats hit up the Beer Spa in Prague or Budapest? Nice to relax in the public baths in a hot tub of barley, malt and hops with a free flowing tapper within reach.
Love Shipyard's Pumpkin....my favorite of the autumn seasonal beers.
Pumpkin does not belong in beer at all IMO. The fall bastardization of beer is at ridiculous levels.
There is definitely some truth to your statement but I look at it from two perspectives: can there be good beer even if the style is over commercialized and do these styles bring more people to the yard so to speak.Like with any style the Yam beers can be over-created and over produced as a marketing scheme but there are definitely some very good yams and they aren't any more or less worth of being beers than some IPAs(grapefruit anyone?), Shandys(Raddler) or a Marzen. I happen to think some really good yams worth having are Shipyard(especially the Imperial version) Pumpkin Down by Ballast, Pumking by Southern Tier and Pimp[KY]n from Avery. Are there some really bad ones or overhyped, absolutely but that doesn't invalidate the style any more than a bad IPA, etcAs far as the usefulness of the style/commercialization, I think the yams are very good even though some may look down their nose at them. The Pumpkin and Marzen's are how I got my wife into beers and now she drinks all sorts of different beers...it was a gateway drug of sorts. In fact, she was pregnant last fall so I had to run out and buy a bunch of her favorite fall beers so she could have them when our son was born in November. Took up a whole shelf on my basement FoMB(Fridge of Many Beers pronounced like tomb). To me that's awesome, and it's great that new drinkers can be brought into the fold. I hate fruity beers generally and fruit IPAs specifically....but I totally get why they exist and would never poo poo them.Just my opinion I guess. {steps off soapbox}
My brother who lives in Milwaukee just visited me here in Charlotte last week. We went to a couple great bars who had some of the area's fantastic craft beers on tap.My effen brother ordered effen PBR every time.Heartbreaking.