Quote :

"Fuller's Vintage Ale is amazing. I had a 2004 version tonight."

I got a bottle of the 2005 a few weeks ago for aging...I think I'm going back to get a few more if it's worth it.

What say ye?

[Edited on November 13, 2006 at 2:30 PM. Reason : PAGINA CUATRO]

11/13/2006 2:29:54 PM

mmmmm....2006 old stock even bigger this year @ 13.25%. up from 11.4% in earlier versions.

11/14/2006 7:37:15 PM

having the brooklyn black chocolate stout
it's nice this year

11/14/2006 10:54:50 PM

drinkin this Allagash Interlude 2005

it's nice, but not as nice as I expected

11/14/2006 11:08:10 PM

been drinking ommegang lately - yummy

11/14/2006 11:14:25 PM

good stuff...i've been especially enjoying their Three Philosophers lately

11/14/2006 11:27:34 PM

Quote :

"I got a bottle of the 2005 a few weeks ago for aging...I think I'm going back to get a few more if it's worth it. What say ye?"

YES, get some more. But don't take all of the ones at Whole Foods, I'm planning on getting a few bottles of the 2005 and aging them myself

Whole Foods also has the Corsendonk Christmas Ales. I picked up a nice little gift pack with 8 little bottles and a glass. It's good stuff.

Has anyone seen any more of the Duck Rabbit Baltic Porter around Raleigh? I only have one bottle left...I'd love to grab some more...

11/15/2006 1:28:45 AM

While you're looking for the baltic porter, I'd like more of the wee heavy, please.

PS: better get to whole foods fast before i clean out their remaining fuller's 2005

11/15/2006 1:36:29 AM

when it came out, College Beverage had the wee heavy for the cheapest price around

i think they reopened recently...worth a shot

11/15/2006 2:10:37 AM

Hah, good luck finding more of the Wee Heavy. I wouldn't expect seeing that around here until next Spring. I can't wait until they release their Imperial Stout again...mmmm.

11/15/2006 2:40:59 AM

some pics from my brewery tours out west:








thanks for the advice - these were great.

[Edited on November 15, 2006 at 1:29 PM. Reason : more pics]

11/15/2006 1:27:30 PM

A few weeks ago I placed an order for beer online at http://www.belgianshop.com/

2 bottles of Westvleteren 12: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/313/1545
1 bottle of Westvleteren 8: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/313/857
1 bottle of Westvleteren Blonde: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/313/1808

11/15/2006 3:05:38 PM

Ok, guys...who's interested in a group buy?

http://shop.belgianshop.com/acatalog/Westvleteren.html

Scroll all the way down to the case...

Buying one bottle at a time they are $20 each, but in the case deal they are $17 each (minus the $25 wooden case).

As a FYI, this beer is known as one of the best, if not THE best, in the world. It's nearly impossible to get because there is no distribution network. The only place to buy it is from the monk's abby and all distribution from there is unofficial. So that being said...

Anyone else interested?

11/15/2006 3:55:56 PM

^Not really interested right now...money is kinda tight, especially after spending 96 bucks on four bottles of beers.

Had the Westy Blonde tonight...I wrote a review for it and posted it on beeradvocate.com...you can read it if you click the link for the beer in my previous post. Short review: AMAZING.

[Edited on November 16, 2006 at 12:19 AM. Reason : .]

11/16/2006 12:18:45 AM

The rest of the site was pretty impressive, too. They have some nice gift boxes with glasses out right now.

11/16/2006 9:17:52 AM

The monks are laughing all the way to the bank abbey.

11/16/2006 10:36:34 AM

^Actually the monks don't sell it outside of the abbey. The guy who runs belgianshop.com goes to the abbey to buy some, and then resells it himself.

The monks only charge something like 30 euros, and only keep as much profit as they need to live. They donate the rest to charities.

11/16/2006 12:07:30 PM

had some of stone's 2005 old guardian (yum!) and 10th anniversary tuesday night

just arrived in germany this afternoon and actually haven't even had a beer yet -- no more stone for me for awhile, but i'm sure i'll find something to take its place...

11/16/2006 1:33:34 PM

^please report back on your finds

11/16/2006 2:56:27 PM

^^Weihenstephaner!!!!!

11/16/2006 3:22:23 PM

unibroue quelque chose.

this is quite an interesting beer. very very little co2. strong flavor of cherry. quite sweet. this is a must try atleast once. and make sure you try it both cool and hot (approx. 50F and 120F)

ladies would love this beer.

11/18/2006 1:20:24 AM

^The Quelque Chose is indeed quite interesting. Strange having a Unibroue beer that is flat, since most of theirs are very lively in the carbonation department. I haven't had one hot yet, but after reading what you wrote, I'm thinking about picking up another but just for that purpose.

As for me, tonight I finished up my stash of Storm King, and now I'm on my last Duck Rabbit Baltic Porter.

11/18/2006 1:29:00 AM

haven't had a weihenstephan yet, but tried the local brew haake-beck (i'm in bremen)

just picked up a erdinger weissbier for later, it's chilling at the moment

^^ drinking that beer hot sounds weird (and gross), strange concept

11/18/2006 10:31:16 AM

isin't haake-beck non alcoholic?

11/19/2006 10:29:24 AM

no

i suppose they might make a non-alcoholic, but i had their pilsner

11/19/2006 11:26:36 AM

if you're looking for a good scotch ale, i like McEwen's. it's imported from scotland. very good.

i like edenton brewing company a lot

11/19/2006 11:31:51 AM

I had one of my bottles of Westvleteren 12 last night. I can honestly say it's the greatest beer I've ever had, definitely worthy of all of the hype. Here's a link to my review on BA.com http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/313/1545/?ba=drumline

11/19/2006 5:08:37 PM

drank my last stoudts double ipa tonight. overal its a really good beer, but its not what i look for in a double ipa. to sweet and seriously lacking in bitterness.

11/20/2006 11:30:59 PM

weyerbacher's eleven (triple IPA) was quite good. in the past 2 weeks ive blown through 2 six packs of both victory storm king and sierra celebration ale - this is why i love winter

11/21/2006 2:32:10 AM

had a couple Anchor Christmas 2006 tonight

They were pretty damn good, maybe a little more roasty than last year's. I really like the woodiness.

12/2/2006 1:19:25 AM

just had a Fantome Circus and De Rocs Gand Cru at Raleigh Times, and a Koenigshoven at the saucer last night. all were excellent. supposedly the circus was contract brewed for a London beer bar, and a couple cases wound up in the US by mistake.

12/2/2006 3:25:26 PM

tonight..trader joes vintage 2006 brewed by unibroue. i think its a second rate unibroue beer but not bad at all...especiallly at 5 bucks a bottle.

^i dint see anything about fantome circus at the time bar last night. the only new beeer i tried there was roxy rolles by magic hat... which leads me to my next point, magic hat is good for nothing but free rubbers at beer fest. imo all the beers i have tried fromthem are sub par..especially #9.

also carolina old 392 barleywine is a solid beer this year. and i cant wait for d-r barleywine.

ps. bells please hurry and get here. and bring the expedition stout soon. kktnx.

12/3/2006 1:54:16 AM

youve go to ask the bartenders about the "reserve" list. hes got a bunch of fantome beers that arent on the regular list

12/3/2006 12:20:12 PM

my gf bought me a sixpack of Anchor Steam the other day.

heaven.

[Edited on December 3, 2006 at 6:35 PM. Reason : best beer ever dood]

12/3/2006 6:35:11 PM

had a few today

goose island bourbon county stout
lake louie - louie's reserve strong scotch

12/3/2006 7:06:19 PM

Corsendonk Christmas - 8 pack plus free chalice at Whole Foods for like $16

12/14/2006 2:21:35 PM

picked up some of the Duck-Rabbit Barleywine tonight

I've opened one bottle, and it kinda blows...hopefully it's just a bad single

Bell's is around, also

12/14/2006 9:23:21 PM

this is kinda like the emo kids with their music

12/14/2006 10:41:14 PM

yeah, totally

12/14/2006 10:45:52 PM

no, really.. maybe my taste buds are dying off from all the tobasco sauce, but i havent had any beers i felt like paying 13+ dollars for unless it was for an occasion and i knew everyone else gon be snobby. even then i bring steel reserve half teh time just to piss em off.

i mean there are a lil better tasting beers and there are lil worst tasting beers, but i never drank a beer that made me go " wow this shit is mindblowingly better than all the others"

someone enlighten me please

12/14/2006 10:50:25 PM

i also picked up some duck-rabbit barleywine. its quite interesting. it tastes like grape juice and a menthol cough drop. i am not sure if i like it. i honestly expected more from this beer. i am a little disappointed. personally i think my barleywine is better than this.

and now i am drinking bells kalamazoo stout. its very nice.

12/14/2006 10:50:41 PM

I must be the exception...because I loved the DR Barleywine. It seemed to be less hoppy than other barleywines I've had...more like an European BW instead of an American BW. Very easy to drink...the 11% abv is hidden well. Still not the best DR Seasonal. I enjoy the baltic porter and wee heavy more than this one.

I also picked up:

Sam Smith's Winter Warmer
Victory Hop Wallop
Dogfish Olde School Barleywine
Bell's Kalamazoo Stout

Haven't had any of those yet....

[Edited on December 15, 2006 at 12:59 AM. Reason : .]

12/15/2006 12:58:03 AM

had these tonight as well

Hop Wallop - Nice double IPA. Not the best I've had, but definitely up there.
Kalamazoo Stout - WOW! This is amazing stuff....glad to see Bell's has finally arrived in NC. I'll be looking forward to enjoying this many times in the years to come.

12/15/2006 2:28:32 AM

Quote :

"having the brooklyn black chocolate stout it's nice this year"

yeah, i had this at the (charlotte) saucer last weekend - very tasty. It's 10.6 % alcohol this year. I checked a bottle from last years batch - it was 8.6%, so they dialed it up a bit. It took me about 30 minutes to finish a pint

but yes, very good this year

12/15/2006 8:01:45 AM

What would it take to go from homebrewer to starting a microbrewery as far as licenses, etc? We've been homebrewing for a little while, and people who have tried our stuff have told us, in all seriousness, that we should distribute it. Any clue?

12/15/2006 9:26:59 AM

^No idea about the licenses, but you better be willing to brew just about every damn day. It's a lot of work I hear, with a big initial investment. Just curious, do you guys do all grain or extract?

12/15/2006 1:46:59 PM

Quote :

"What would it take to go from homebrewer to starting a microbrewery as far as licenses, etc? We've been homebrewing for a little while, and people who have tried our stuff have told us, in all seriousness, that we should distribute it. Any clue?"

alot of money, time and hard work.the craft brewing industry is tough. very high fail rate. alot of my friends tell me the same thing about my beers. hell i have even won some ribbons for my beers in homebrewing contests. how long have you been brewing. there is a big different between friends liking ur beers and the general public likeing them.

Quote :

"^No idea about the licenses, but you better be willing to brew just about every damn day. It's a lot of work I hear, with a big initial investment. Just curious, do you guys do all grain or extract?"

all grain, but occasional extract batch when i just wanna get something on tap. but my system is setup for all grain and its can be more truable for me to make an extract batch. out of my 25 batches (135 gallons) of beeer i have brewed, only 3 have used extract as the base malt source. all the others have been all grain or partial mash.

i am considering breing on sunday if anyone wants to have a brew day.

12/15/2006 4:43:07 PM

What type of sparging do you use? My buddy and I are going to go all grain after the New Year, and we're planning on building a continuous sparging system, with a stainless steel hose manifold in the mash tun.

Quote :

"i am considering breing on sunday if anyone wants to have a brew day."

Sorry, got a lot of studying to do on Sunday for finals.

12/15/2006 7:31:25 PM

Quote :

"What would it take to go from homebrewer to starting a microbrewery as far as licenses, etc? We've been homebrewing for a little while, and people who have tried our stuff have told us, in all seriousness, that we should distribute it. Any clue?"

I suggest picking up this book: http://store.dogfish.com/item/Brewing_Up_A_Business/744/for_your_reading_pleasure/40/index.htm

I'm reading it now...very insightful.

12/18/2006 3:25:31 AM

Horniblow's has a coffee stout on right now that is pretty damn good



[Edited on January 11, 2007 at 1:44 PM. Reason : they'll also have a bock and a dipa before too long]

1/11/2007 1:40:52 PM