Happy Craft Beer Week May 11-17 (what are you drinking today)

[pi guy]

they have a grapefruit version out as well this year. I actually prefer that one!

Those and green zebra are about all I can stand to drink from founders. I went to their brew pub. What a disappointment.

I'm thinking of picking up the grapefruit one tonight, I think my local store still has some. I really like CBS form Founders, but most others are just ok.

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

Have any of you tried Founders Centennial IPA? Saw a 15 pack for under $20, which is a solid price.

 

[zwiller]

Off the craft beer for now to watch the waist line but decided to check out the thread anyway. Nice looking beers! Some very interesting comments especially homebrewing. Long time homebrewer and BJCP. If you hang over at AHA you will see some of my threads on fast AG brewing. I can typically knock out 5G AG in 2 hours. Cliff notes: 30m mash, batch sparge, 30m boil. The real key is to overlap the process. IE heat sparge liquor while mashing and heat runnings when sparging. Agree extract or half mash makes good beer, the key is good water and full wort boils. Happy to talk more about brewing.

Sad to here about Founders. No way I would ever pay cover either. Didn't they go near belly up a few times? I like their beers but might be old school nowadays. LOL Founder's Centennial while old school is one of my favorites. Way better on draft IMO. If you guys see any Fatheads or Brew Kettle beer in you area grab it. Good stuff.

My biggest pet peeve as of late is the proliferation of breweries making average at best stuff. Lots of cool names and marketing but weak product. I might sound like Myron Mixon but I make better beer than most of this stuff. Seems like lots of former web programmer novice brewers armed with daddy's 401k. It's actually quite easy to make beer but making good beer is another thing entirely.

Rant over I promise.

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

Off the craft beer for now to watch the waist line but decided to check out the thread anyway. Nice looking beers! Some very interesting comments especially homebrewing. Long time homebrewer and BJCP. If you hang over at AHA you will see some of my threads on fast AG brewing. I can typically knock out 5G AG in 2 hours. Cliff notes: 30m mash, batch sparge, 30m boil. The real key is to overlap the process. IE heat sparge liquor while mashing and heat runnings when sparging. Agree extract or half mash makes good beer, the key is good water and full wort boils. Happy to talk more about brewing.

Sad to here about Founders. No way I would ever pay cover either. Didn't they go near belly up a few times? I like their beers but might be old school nowadays. LOL Founder's Centennial while old school is one of my favorites. Way better on draft IMO. If you guys see any Fatheads or Brew Kettle beer in you area grab it. Good stuff.

My biggest pet peeve as of late is the proliferation of breweries making average at best stuff. Lots of cool names and marketing but weak product. I might sound like Myron Mixon but I make better beer than most of this stuff. Seems like lots of former web programmer novice brewers armed with daddy's 401k. It's actually quite easy to make beer but making good beer is another thing entirely.

Rant over I promise.

Awesome info! Fat Heads happens to be one of my favorite breweries and I think they are the most underrated.

 

[D.W.]

Off the craft beer for now to watch the waist line but decided to check out the thread anyway. Nice looking beers! Some very interesting comments especially homebrewing. Long time homebrewer and BJCP. If you hang over at AHA you will see some of my threads on fast AG brewing. I can typically knock out 5G AG in 2 hours. Cliff notes: 30m mash, batch sparge, 30m boil. The real key is to overlap the process. IE heat sparge liquor while mashing and heat runnings when sparging. Agree extract or half mash makes good beer, the key is good water and full wort boils. Happy to talk more about brewing.

Sad to here about Founders. No way I would ever pay cover either. Didn't they go near belly up a few times? I like their beers but might be old school nowadays. LOL Founder's Centennial while old school is one of my favorites. Way better on draft IMO. If you guys see any Fatheads or Brew Kettle beer in you area grab it. Good stuff.

My biggest pet peeve as of late is the proliferation of breweries making average at best stuff. Lots of cool names and marketing but weak product. I might sound like Myron Mixon but I make better beer than most of this stuff. Seems like lots of former web programmer novice brewers armed with daddy's 401k. It's actually quite easy to make beer but making good beer is another thing entirely.

Rant over I promise.

Once the waistline allows for consumption, you should try out Heretic Brewey's beers. They don't fall into the category of your pet peeve. If you were into homebrewing you would recognize the owners name. Can't go wrong with any of them.

 

[CoolbreezeBBQ]

Bells, Two Hearted Ale, haven’t found a better tasting IPA yet, and I’ve tried.

 

[zwiller]

Awesome info! Fat Heads happens to be one of my favorite breweries and I think they are the most underrated.

Agreed. I feel this mostly due to the chain ownership. Draft is even better and the food there is crazy good too. Worth hitting if nearby say Cedar Point. Cool part is they also host many other beers besides their own which was they were the first to do but now is kinda the norm.

 

[zwiller]

Once the waistline allows for consumption, you should try out Heretic Brewey's beers. They don't fall into the category of your pet peeve. If you were into homebrewing you would recognize the owners name. Can't go wrong with any of them.

Don't see them around here but would gladly check them out. Oh yeah, JZ is a big name in homebrewing. I consider him the first wave of the new school. I started brewing in 90s in the dark ages/no internet.

 

[ozzz]

Starting with a few Flying Monkeys today.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

A few of the recent ones...

And an honorable mention just because it was good and I found it in the pictures on my phone

 

[fivetricks]

Bells, Two Hearted Ale, haven’t found a better tasting IPA yet, and I’ve tried.

Now THERE is a brewpub worth visiting. Been there several times. Always have a good time. Their smoked wings are actually quite good as well!



These guys have had a really strong 2019/2020. I wouldn't mind dipping down to Columbus to look them up.



















I saw that somebody mentioned two hearted earlier. Not sure if this one was available outside of Michigan. But it was damn good.



The Alaskan one I have bottles going back to 2008. Seems like about 13 years is the SWEET spot for this beer.

Anyways. That's enough for now. I wouldn't want you guys thinking the worst of me :-)

 

[BandCollector]

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

View attachment 445130

Used to really enjoy Victory beers. Not really anymore though. Dirt Wolf was always a good one to enjoy.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Used to really enjoy Victory beers. Not really anymore though. Dirt Wolf was always a good one to enjoy.

To be fair I have never had the Victory IPA but the Victory Sour Monkey is the worst beer ever made.

Anyways. That's enough for now. I wouldn't want you guys thinking the worst of me :-)

That ballast point sour wench is one of my favorites. Great flavor. I need to take some more pictures when I get home. I loaded up the last couple months once the spring/summer sours starting coming out.

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

txsmoker is your Irish Red Ale as good as real Irish Red Ales?

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

To be fair I have never had the Victory IPA but the Victory Sour Monkey is the worst beer ever made.



That ballast point sour wench is one of my favorites. Great flavor. I need to take some more pictures when I get home. I loaded up the last couple months once the spring/summer sours starting coming out.

Fair enough. They don’t really make an IPA that jumps out at you anymore. Back in the day, Dirt Wolf and Hop Devil were great.

 

[sawhorseray]

RR's, 805, & Dos XX

 

[tx smoker]

txsmoker is your Irish Red Ale as good as real Irish Red Ales?

If your question is directed at me, you have the username incorrect.

Robert

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

If your question is directed at me, you have the username incorrect.

Robert

Good point. There's only one tx.

 

[tx smoker]

txsmoker is your Irish Red Ale as good as real Irish Red Ales?

My question to you would be: Exactly what do you consider to be a "real" Irish Red Ale? It does not need to be made in Ireland to be considered "real". It just has to fit the flavor profiles. There are tons of beers brewed here in the states that are "Bock" beers, but they aren't made in Germany.

In an attempt to be a nice guy I'll assume you were referencing my reply and I'll answer the question. I've only had a handful of different Irish Red Ales, the most well known of them being George Killian's. Mine is vastly superior to any commercially produced Red Ale I've tried, and that's pretty much true across the board on all the beers I make. I don't go to the time and effort of making beer to save money. I do it to enjoy a much better product. I've committed a considerable amount of time dialing in my beer making skills (25 years) and spent a considerable amount of money on the right equipment and a top-notch dispensing system that I built. Same principle as so many people here who spend hours and hours smoking a chunk of meat for a meal. They put forth the time and effort so they can enjoy something far better than running to the corner BBQ market and buying it. If you really want a honest evaluation of the Irish Red Ale, just ask Zach ( Misplaced Nebraskan ). He has been to the house numerous times and that's one of his favorite beers in the world....and that man has VERY discriminating taste in beer.

Today is a nice English Brown Ale. This is fantastic!!

I have a BIL that lives in KC. Every year at Christmas he gets me an assortment of Boulevard beers and I get him an assortment of Texas craft beers, and there are a LOT of them. There are a couple of the boulevard beers that I don't care much for but that's just personal taste. No question though, even though I may not care for a particular one, the quality is there. They do a really good job. The majority of what I've had from them I've enjoyed immensely. Here is what's left from the bounty from last Christmas

These are not available here so I enjoy them very sparingly. Having one of their Pale Ales now after finishing the Brown Ale, then I go back to the Brown for the remainder of the afternoon.

Robert