Beer in the new era

Last night I drank a Widmeyer Hefeweizen, which I found meh, and a Maresdous 8, which was very tasty in the tradition of tasty Belgian strong ales. A bit on the sweeter side of what I like but not over the line.

Oh, I'll keep an eye out for that. I've been meaning to start exploring Belgian beers. I was putting it off till I'd tried every English stout but I should probably start sooner.

It's almost summer! Time to put the stouts away!

Oh yeah, I had something called Sunset Wheat the other night which tasted like orange and was surprisingly good considering that fact.

nooooooooooooooooo!!!

(I'm assuming you're talking about Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat, which I declared a vendetta against because it is the single least-pleasant beer I have ever had)

When I was in Belgium last week I totally was rocking all the kriek. But not the Hoegaarden (because that's utterly disgusting). I also had a Trappist (Chimay Bleu) which was pretty intense at 9% ABV

sundar iirc you are in OTT or MTL? where are you getting these amazing beers from in whichever of those two cities you're in?

if you are from neither of those places i apologize, i just remember you saying it once or something. i may be making it up.

I'm from Ottawa (and lived in Mtl 2001-2002) but I've been living in Buffalo NY for almost 2 years now.

When I was in Belgium last week I totally was rocking all the kriek. But not the Hoegaarden (because that's utterly disgusting). I also had a Trappist (Chimay Bleu) which was pretty intense at 9% ABV

Where exactly?

BTW if near West Flanders: Should have tried the Brugse Zot!

(I would imagine that at least Mtl should have good places for this? I couldn't help you though. I drank Colt 45 from the dep when I lived there. Ah, callow youth.)

To be fair, I haven't really looked past my local deps, but the few bars I've found that have bigger selections were pretty disappointing... one place that was recommended highly as a place with a bunch of beers had that greek beer whose name I forget as the rarest one. mythos?

i'll have to check ch0whound or something.

Let me know if you find (or have had) Dieu du Ciel Aphrodisiaque. The ratebeer.com folks rank it as the best sweet stout on earth but I haven't found any around here.

yes. mythos. it's not bad!

I think I am going to drop by Dieu du Ciel tonight, actually. Everything they have is actually to a pretty high standard... the reason you probably haven't found it is because they aren't actually bottling any of their brews yet. Apparently they're opening another brewery north of the city though, and they're going to start bottling there! I can't remember where I heard that. I read it today after doing a bit of ch0whound research. I will see if I can talk to the owners or something tonight (I'm going early so hopefully the place will be near empty, I'm not much of one for the crowd there). I've not had the aphrodisiaque, don't know if it's "in season" (they only brew most things a couple times a year), but if they have it I'll give you a review!

Where exactly?

Brussels. and Paris, but that's obviously not in Belgium. May I also suggest that if you do go to France and decide to try the local brews, Kronenbourg tastes like piss. stay away.

I've developed a fondness for Zywiec lately - I don't even usually like lagers much but it's so smooth and tasty. Perfect warm weather beer.

it is. and that red-temperature indicator on the back is key!

König Ludwig Weissbier is majorly tasty, if a bit pricey.

I recently tried this weird Belgian beer, "La Chouffe." Unpasteurized, 8% and quite good. (Although the floaty yeast cultures were somewhat of a turn-off)

Oh yeah, I've had La Chouffe - very nice. There are so many good belgian beers it's amazing.

I just remembered I have a beer question:

In Mexico I tried Bohemia (regular, not dark) and it was fantastic - at the moment I thought it was one of the best beers I'd ever tried.

Recently I tried some Bohemia in a U.S. Mexican place and it was meh. Is it possible I was getting a different "export" version, or that the transit did something to the beer?

Man...I have had so much "skunky" imported beer, could that be it?

On a related note, what do you do when your beer is obviously off and you've already drank a couple? Can you take the rest back to the store.?

;)

Oh yeah, I went back to Dieu, but no Aphro... was available. I didn't get a chance to ask when/if it was coming back... next time! Maybe I'll go tonight, I would like to dig into my new book and my house smells like cat piss and I am not currently poor.

Oh man! I didn't see that you guys were talking about Biere D'Achouffe. I thought it was a Quebecois beer for so long! True story. Apparently the first place they started exporting to was Quebec! It is very delicious. I don't remember finding any little floaters, though...

Response from Dieu du Ciel to two questions I asked via e-mail:

Hello Will,

Thanks you for your comments. It is much appreciated.

1-) We brew the Aphrodisiaque only 2 or 3 times a year. The next batch
will probably be avaible something like next september.

2-) Yes, it's true, we are in the process of building up a bottling
plant in St-Jérôme. There will also be a pub there. We hope to be able
to sell our first bottles at the end of July.

Cheers!
[dude's name removed by me]

currently - harviestoun Butter and Twisted is amazinhg, but we've just come back from North East France (ie very near the Belgian border and lots of Flemish beer-making tradition) and have been loving L'angelus which is beer's swankiest bottle I fear, gold foil and everything. Also Maredsous, Amadeus (lemon flavoured, should be wrong but oh so right) and god's own beer - Orval.

erm that's bitter and twisted of course

When alcohol content is shown on U.S. beer, it is often labelled by weight. Since alcohol is lighter than water, this can leave the mistaken impression that U.S. beer has much less alcohol, on average, than Canadian beer. A 3.2% beer in the U.S. (by weight) would be equivalent to a 4% beer in Canada (by volume).

Wikipedia I LOVE YOU. Did anyone know this? It boggles the mind! WHY?!

let's have a sesh

link?

my girl friend brought me a 6 pack of Hitachino Nest White Ale. Pretty good stuff. nice floral aromas ,perfect for a hot summer day. i think it's kind of pricey though

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/409121525_01915ec7ca.jpg

link, sorry: Canadian Beer

Apparently they have Aphrodisiaque in now. And I'm destitute poor and going away for the weekend! NOOOOO!

Recommend some beer. Not too heavy, not too wheaty, crisp and refreshing in the style of Tsing Tsao or similar.

Also recommend some beers like Paulaner or the white Kronenberg with the fruity taste whose name escapes me.

I am in the mood for trying different beers.

Dude, Zywiec

(re: light, crisp, refreshing, not wheaty)

I was at the nashville beer fest and the best thing there was a homebrewed bock that they ran out of by my second go-round. After a while though all you care about is that the beer is cold, because it's nearly august, and you're outdoors in nashville.

I think I might have talked my dad into getting a 30-gallon kit from Boot Lager. (ha ha, "boot lager")

I also finally made myself a michelada with a little kosher salt on top of a can of tecate with a lime in it. not half bad, if you don't mind a bit of foamy foam foam.

Sundar, have you tried Flying Bison? I can't quite remember which bars serve it (I think the Ulrich's, but they have closed, I think). I miss it dearly.

I swore by Aviator Red (which you can get at Wegman's) for a while. I still think it's good but have gone off it a bit. Are there other good FB beers?

I wanted to make it to Dieu du Ciel when I visited Mtl earlier in the month but couldn't make it. Drank a lot of St-Ambroise (and some nice micro wheats) instead.

They have seasonal beers (which I can remember the name of), that friends would bring me in growlers. I never managed to locate the brewery, which apparently is on the West Side (on Niagara, maybe?). Anyway, I remember enjoying the summer and winter ales quite a bit.

Available in Wegmans!? Ahh! This was not so when I lived there! I love you, Wegmans!

"Dude, Zywiec"

One of the benefits of my area of London filling up with large numbers of young eastern Europeans is the availablity in the cornershops of excellent Polish beers at ridiculously cheap prices.

Zywiec is one of the better ones, at about £1 a bottle. The dark lagers especailly are a revelation.

Ronan WTF?? This is truly a new era for you!

Saku from Estonia is pretty good

Saku or Saku Kuld, anyway. The dark variety has that soy saucey aftertaste I can't get with.

Ronan WTF?? This is truly a new era for you!

is this a joke? heh...I don't get it if so. is it that unusual that I ask about trying new beers?

I had a Saku Porter that had a weird aftertaste, that was probably the same one.

Wheats: Last night I was drinking Sprecher Hefe Weiss, which was all right.
Non-Wheats: Last night I was also drinking New Holland Mad Hatter, which was goddamn awesome.

I guess I am in the dark :/ I thought you were still teetotalling because of your stuffed-upedness-in-the-cabesa.

“Smoked lager” is a thing blue point brewing offers and vomits

To each his own but for me there’s no better clue to “pass” on a menu listing than “smoked”

Otm

I tried to make one recently and it was the worst thing I'd ever tasted. I thought I just botched it but I went and bought a bunch of smoked beers and nope, turns out that's just how they taste

iirc there was an interesting "why" behind that style, but ... so?

yeah hard pass for me as well

Wow, more for me, I guess!

Feel like it needs to be recorded somewhere that Sligo's own The White Hag brewery have achieved some rare brilliance in the imperial stout department. Yours, Rapidly Ensozzled

Gonna be in North Carolina for a couple of days, what are the typical menu beer option go-tos?

Lagunitas is closing their Chicago behemoth. Always thought that place was kinda emblematic of craft beer over-expansion, plus I haven't had anything good from them in years.

Chobani yogurt dude reopening Anchor Steam as soon as he gets the proper permits

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/anchor-brewing-purchased-chobani-billionaire-19488349.php

This is great news and Ulukaya is certainly saying all the right things in these press releases/interviews. Hope he follows through. If they can push out a Christmas Ale by EOY it'll be a huge win!

yeah, I wonder if he'll accept the union again, or if a nonunion workforce is part of the deal

premium beer has been hit pretty hard lately, I hope he doesn't find that he acquired a big money-pit

UK question: I've got £52 to spend on beer for a colleague. I know I could just go into a decent supermarket but any recommendations for (fairly mixed) beer shopping in Oxford or via mail order?

wait, what is this situation where you spend fifty pounds on beer for a colleague? because I want in on this

Leaving present for a colleague who likes beer and curry.

I was happy to see that Fair State in Minneapolis emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy today.

Also yesterday I was driving across Wisconsin and took my chance to stop in Amherst at Central Waters. I had one quick beer and bought a fancy bottle to go. Nice place but kinda out of the way.

I should note that CW has a satellite outlet in Milwaukee but I wanted the real thing.

A tap room a few blocks from me in Portland (The Beermongers) just got Pliny for President on tap, so I'm going to have to try that.

djh - I'm not at all familiar with Oxford to make local recommendations, but if you go the online route then a couple of good places to check out would be House of Trembling Madness or Raynville, who are both excellent and have a good range of styles.

Some other places might give you free shipping over £50 which would be handy given your budget, but free shipping thresholds are usually a bit higher than that now (£60-75) - fi I have a chance later I can have another hunt.

Thanks brain. I went with Waitrose in the end, just because I was worried about faffing/over-thinking/missing a deadline but will look up both those places.

Cool. Sorry I didn't come back with any further suggestions.

As well as Trembling Madness and Raynville, other independent online shops I use regularly (or occasionally) and recommend personally are Fuss Club, RAD, The Hoptimist, Left Field Beer, Beermoth and Beer Merchants. Probably others I'm forgetting now.

Peak ipa ftw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5YRAfy6kuA

Never heard of regular Busch? That generation is lost.

You could argue they’ve never truly lived

the runt of the annheuser-busch due

Have to admit, the popularity of light beer is baffling to me. Doesn’t the working man want to drink something with gusto?

Today saw a bud zero for the first time

I’m with you generally, but one important factor in understanding the popularity of light adjunct lagers is that they’re cheap AF

I had a Sierra Nevada Trail Pass IPA today, one of their N/A beers. It was drinkable, but no match for their usual IPAs. I detected a kind of sage flavor.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone drink a Busch not-Light.

this guy (points to hairy chest)

I've never had the light.. but Busch is not really popular in CA

I have seen a slight resurgence in Miller Lite, which is somewhat surprising.. they claim to be a 'pilsner' rather than a lager

Most of the beer I drank over the last decade I drank was Dos Equis which is lite adjacent. When it’s 98F at 11 PM, flavor comes second to coldness and not feeling too heavy.

Which is also why I mostly drank Jameson on the rocks or Tito’s and soda.

My hot times in the city beverage of choice is a casa migos ranch water with a dash of hot sauce

When it’s 98F at 11 PM, flavor comes second to coldness and not feeling too heavy.

I think this is the ostensible appeal, quantity over quality. Like, if you're at a game, say, or doing something over a prolonged period of time, downing 4% beers won't quickly knock you on your butt, vs. some 8%+ craft monsters. It's basically flavored water, with a little extra.

Speaking of which, what is the deal with hop water? What is the appeal there?

I like Athletic’s seltzers

Bud light > miller lite

the best beer i’ve had recently was a corona with a lime at an outdoor fish place in florida, accompanying some grilled oysters and shrimp and some spicy boiled peanuts.

I really don't mind Miller Lite, but then again I frequently order High Life

Really growing up in a place where they consume the stuff by the 30pk, it was hilarious to me to consider the title "Everything you need to know about Busch Light"

1. It tastes like beer flavored water

What I really don’t understand is Michelob Ultra. It doesn’t even taste like beer. It tastes like watered down diet Dr Pepper. And I’m ashamed to know all the things necessary to even form this opinion.

Literally any other beer > MU

During the low carb craze there were even worse options - Miller 64, Bud Select (I think?).

https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/06/25/the-barrel-that-launched-a-sour-beer-movement-is-now-at-chicagos-off-color-brewing/

very cool, thanks

I spent an afternoon/evening with John in Chicago and that dude is amazing in every way. I've probably talked about on this very thread!

b-b-b-but that said, I had an amazing time in Chicago... although if John Laffler ever asks if you want to see his bourbon library, you're probably better off declining and taking a taxi home.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, December 11, 2018 8:47 AM (six years ago)

I've gotten to know him just a bit through mutual friends, super nice guy!