Kevin's Watch

i had some beer tonight. buzzing pretty good right now.

Zarathustra wrote:Cambo, price is the 2nd reason I homebrew. It's a lot of work, but you can make beer just as good as (and in most cases, much, much better than) the best microbrews for less than 50 cents per bottle.

Beer prices are getting nuts. My favorite 6-packs often go for $11. Some of the best (Hopslam, Expedition Stout) go for $17 a 6-pack.

But for the most part it's still cheaper than drinking wine.

Sounds like your beer prices are pretty comparable to here. $17 would be rare, but so is less than $11.

We've got a glut of white wine atm, though, which makes me very happy. Decent bottles for under $10, good bottles for under $30. Gutrot fro as little as $6.

Welcome to the Granite State’s leading craft brewery, located in the historic seaport city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Smuttynose was founded in 1994 by the folks who started the Northampton and Portsmouth Breweries. Our beers - Shoals Pale Ale, Old Brown Dog, Star Island Single, “Finestkind” IPA, Big A IPA, Robust Porter, the Big Beer Series & our seasonal specialties - Summer Weizen, Pumpkin Ale & Winter Ale - are distributed from Maine to Florida.

I miss my local beer

Smuttynose is a great brewery. I wish I could get their stuff here.

New England Breweries

Allagash Brewing Company - Portland, ME
Andrews Brewing Company - Lincolnville, ME

Atlantic Brewing Company - Bar Harbor, ME
Bar Harbor Brewing Company - Bar Harbor, ME

Berkshire Brewing Company - South Deerfield, MA
Buzzards Bay Brewing Company - Westport, MA

Cape Ann Brewing - Glouchester, MA
Casco Bay Brewing Company - Portland, ME

Cisco Brewers Inc - Nantucket, MA
Coastal Extreme Brewing Company LLC - Newport, RI

Concord Brewery, Inc. - Lowell, MA
Cottrell Brewing Company - Pawcatuck, CT

D L Geary Brewing Company - Portland, ME
Franconia Notch Brewing Company - Bethlehem, NH

Harpoon Brewery - Boston, MA
Hornpout Brewing - Lyndonville, VT

Hyland Orchard and Brewery - Sturbridge, MA
Long Trail Brewing Company - Bridgewater Corners, VT

Magic Hat Brewing Company - South Burlington, VT
Maine Coast Brewing - Bar Harbor, ME

Mercury Brewing - Ipswich, MA
New Century Brewing Company - Boston, MA

New England Brewing Company - Woodbridge, CT
Nutfield Brewing Company - Derry, NH

Oak Pond Brewing Company - Skowhegan, ME
Otter Creek Brewing Company - Middlebury, VT

Paper City Brewery Company - Holyoke, MA
Peak Organic Brewing Company - Burlington, MA

Rock Art Brewery, LLC - Morrisville, VT
Rocky Bay Brewing Company - Rockland, ME

Sheepscot Valley Brewing Company - Whitefield, ME
Sherwood Forest Brewers - Marlborough, MA

Shipyard Brewing Company - Portland, ME
Smuttynose Brewing Company - Portsmouth, NH

Streich's Brewing Company, LLC - West Hartford, CT
The Boston Beer Company - Boston, MA

Thomas Hooker Brewing Company - West Hartford, CT
Tremont Brewery/ Atlantic Coast Brewing Company - Waltham, MA

Trout River Brewing Company - Lyndonville, VT
Tuckerman Brewing - Conway, NH

Wachusett Brewing Company - Westminster, MA
Woodstock Inn Brewery - North Woodstock, NH

Impressive list, Null. We only have about three in Kentucky. And they are all merely average.

My favs are:

Bell's
Stone Brewing Co.
Sierra Nevada
Goose Island
Founders

Those are the five I buy the most often, and the five that make the most consistently outstanding beers (available to me here).

I also like, but don't buy as much:

Three Floyd's
Dogfish Head
Great Divide
Great Lakes
North Coast
Rogue
Ommegang
Avery

Beer I wish I could buy here:

Pizza Port
Victory
Russian River
Alesmith


And those are just the American brewers. Some of the best beer in the world comes out of Belgium.

OMG, I can contribute to this discussion...

I had a bottle of Dogfish Head 90-minute IPA awhile back. I was surprised at how tasty it was. My issue with beer is "the shudders", which is why I usually drink Mexican beer -- putting the lime juice in it takes care of "the shudders." But that IPA didn't need any help.

DFH 90 min is ranked one of the best Double IPAs on the planet (ratebeer.com). However, as with any IPA, if it's not a fresh bottle the hops will fade and the malt takes over. A non-fresh bottle of 90 Min tends to be overly sweet for my tastes. But it sounds like you got a good one (or maybe you don't mind them sweet).

My current favorite beer is Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale

beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1417/3824

I bought it as a goof because of the movie but.......I love it now.
I know that I'm a lightweight when it comes to beer drinking but this stuff hits me hard.

High Lord Tolkien wrote:My current favorite beer is Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale

beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1417/3824

I bought it as a goof because of the movie but.......I love it now.
I know that I'm a lightweight when it comes to beer drinking but this stuff hits me hard.

The name alone is awesome.

I've had Dogfish Head. And many other types of brews. My nephew is a bit of a beer connoisseur and brings different interesting brews to each family gathering we have.

We get Founder's here!! Wasn't expecting to recognise any on the list. But in a couple of the more hipster bars you can get a large Founder's crate bottle for around $12. Which is reasonable for an imported beer in a crate size.

It's delicious

GUYS I LIVE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

You really want some Smuttynose or Shipyard Pumpkinhead, I can ship it to you. Or Magic Hat or Harpoon. PM me. I can get beer to the masses.

Cambo, which Founders beer did you have? They make AMAZING stouts and porters. Their basic porter is an awesome value. Their Kentucky Breakfast Stout (a bourbon barrel aged, coffee, oatmeal, imperial stout) is just a thing of wonder. At $24 per 4-pack, I don't buy very many of those.

Jaz, we get Magic Hat, Shipyard, and Harpoon here. But the Smuttynose offer is intriguing ... however, I'm trying to cut both my consumption and costs right now. So only homebrew for me. But thanks for the offer! Maybe Null will take you up on it.

Dogfish Head makes me tipsy very quickly. I've found I need to be very careful with that brew. I like it though.

Cag, you've got to check the ABV printed on the bottle. Different brews by the same brewer will have wildly different alcohol levels. The 60 min IPA is around 6%, while the 90 min IPA is 9%. That's a 50% increase in strength over the 60 min.

DFH does make some lighter brews, too. But not many. Here's a good one, at around "Bud Light levels" (4.5%):

Festina Peche

From the brewer:

... Berliner Weisse is traditionally fermented with lactic cultures to produce its acidic or green apple-like character. It is delicately hopped with a pale straw color and served as an aperitif or summertime quencher. To soften the intense sourness, Berliner Weisse is traditionally served with a dash of essence of woodruff or raspberry syrup.

In our Festina Peche since the natural peach sugars are eaten by the yeast, the fruit complexity is woven into both the aroma and the taste of the beer so there is no need to doctor it with woodruff or raspberry syrup - open and enjoy!

Zarathustra wrote: From the brewer:

... Berliner Weisse is traditionally fermented with lactic cultures to produce its acidic or green apple-like character. It is delicately hopped with a pale straw color and served as an aperitif or summertime quencher. To soften the intense sourness, Berliner Weisse is traditionally served with a dash of essence of woodruff or raspberry syrup.

In our Festina Peche since the natural peach sugars are eaten by the yeast, the fruit complexity is woven into both the aroma and the taste of the beer so there is no need to doctor it with woodruff or raspberry syrup - open and enjoy!

OMG! I searched, and I can get that here. I'll have to try this one...actual well-made weissbiers are hard to find [or I'm bad at finding them]. I prefer the tartness of them "straight up," but still...if the weather is hot, weissbiers are the absolute best.

JazFusion wrote:GUYS I LIVE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

You really want some Smuttynose or Shipyard Pumpkinhead, I can ship it to you. Or Magic Hat or Harpoon. PM me. I can get beer to the masses.

actually next paycheck i would like to take you up on some Moxie? i miss the stuff fierce, any idea cost for the soda and shipping? maybe throw your local paper in to wrap it? (i love newspapers) thanks.

after the house is fixed and paid for - would love to try the NH brews.

Zarathustra wrote:Cag, you've got to check the ABV printed on the bottle. Different brews by the same brewer will have wildly different alcohol levels. The 60 min IPA is around 6%, while the 90 min IPA is 9%. That's a 50% increase in strength over the 60 min.

I'm not normally in the habit of checking the ABV, but after being knocked over the first time with their brew (as well as Old Rasputin Ale), I did check and then understood. But normally I just chalk it up to the dangers of trying unfamiliar beers. With kids in the house now, though, I'll probably check that more often, but I'm not drinking like I did a few years ago.

Zarathustra wrote:Cambo, which Founders beer did you have? They make AMAZING stouts and porters. Their basic porter is an awesome value. Their Kentucky Breakfast Stout (a bourbon barrel aged, coffee, oatmeal, imperial stout) is just a thing of wonder. At $24 per 4-pack, I don't buy very many of those.

I had a stout and something labelled as a Tall Blonde, which I believe was a very strong lager. I don't think the stout I had was the Kentucky Breakfast, but it was very good all the same.

Back to the strict topic at hand, I"M DRUNK!

Had several glasses more than is good for me tonight/this morning. Whaddaya gonnado? Got work in less that 5 hours. Whaddaya gonnado?