How'd it get this long,beer review

[Mikey]

What's the big deal with having a high ABV? Is 10% some kind of holy grail?

Who cares if it's 7.9%, 8.2% of 10%? Any of those will fuck you up right quick. Is that why you drink it?

[Goober McTuber]

What's the big deal with having a high ABV? Is 10% some kind of holy grail?

Who cares if it's 7.9%, 8.2% of 10%? Any of those will fuck you up right quick. Is that why you drink it?

No, that’s not why I drink it. I was just refuting Dinsdale’s assertion that you couldn’t have a high ABV without screwing up the flavor. I’m not that concerned with the ABV personally, because I typically drink just one or two of those a day, in order to not get fat like you.

[ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2]

If that is the goal, just gargle a mouthful of whiskey and be done with it.

Or... just pound yourself a Diopolitan:

[PSUFAN]

Diopolitan

[Dr_Phibes]

Bell's Hopslam is 10% with no funny flavors. I have yet to encounter an ale drinker who has tried it and not immediately put it at or near the top of their list.

That's crazy, I've never seen an ale drinker go over anything like 6% - with the exception of teenagers, people living in cardboard boxes and Germans. When you start getting that high, Dinsdale is spot on, you're drinking cheap wine and the taste is hopelessly compromised. The variety of ales and real ales are pretty diverse in themselves.
I wouldn't touch a lager with a bargepole and that 'Hopslam' still sounds disgusting.

[smackaholic]

can somebody mod the title of this thread to 'not so short beer review'?

[Moving Sale]

Is this supposed to make sense?

Anybody that speaks English understood it. Too bad that leaves you out you pansy-assed fuckhole.

[smackaholic]

Is this supposed to make sense?

Anybody that speaks English understood it. Too bad that leaves you out you pansy-assed fuckhole.

Anybody who speaks english and reads this board understands you are a bitter, directionally challenged dwarf.

Your statement, while written (badly) in intelligible english, was sadly lacking in any sort of logic or rellevance. It was just the usual off topic ankle bitting (OK, maybe knee biting) you are infamous for.

Kill yourself, please.

[BSmack]

If you have access to Bell's Brewing products, the Two-hearted Ale is a must. Arcadia Ales (also out of Michigan) currently has a double IPA called Hopmouth that is awfully good. Dogfish Head out of Maryland has some good IPAs. Sierra Nevada isn't bad, they're just moving toward macrobrew status. There has to be better options where you live.

Stocked the fridge up at Beers of the World, and am currently knocking back a bottle of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. I briefly considered the 120 Minute, but at over 8 dollars a bottle, I decided against it. The 90 Minute is a sturdy Ale without question and I could get used to it real easy if it wasn't so damn expensive. But I'll keep it in mind for certain celebratory occasions.

Beers of the World is an awesome store. They let you buy singles of almost all their beers. So nearly the whole store is available to be combined into your own personal custom variety pack.

Next up, a bottle of Wolaver's IPA. After that a bottle of Burning River, in memory of Nostra.

[smackaholic]

just had the 4th bottle out if that 6 of stone ipa. this time i drank it as i was picking at the dinner i am throwing together, soem fairly spicey diced potatos, peppers, chicken. the stone tastes way better when it's got a little competition in your mouth, imo. the first few i had while wasting time in this dump with nothing else to eat at the time.

[Mikey]

Fuck you I'm still working.

But the market is a planned stop as soon as I blow this joint. Plenty of good bottles to choose from there, including a full selection of Stone products.

[BSmack]

OK, the grades so far...

• Dogfish Head- B+
  Wolaver's IPA- B
  Burning River Pale Ale- A-

Feeling in the mood for something lighter. Thinking a Saranac Black Forest might be the perfect finisher for this session.

[PSUFAN]

Dogfish Head 60 was a staple for me for almost two years. I am not a fan of IPAs that are extremely high in alcohol - it burns out the flavor. The 90 and 120 are not better than the 60 - which is very well-balanced ale. Rack BSmack for stepping away from the swill.

[BSmack]

Dogfish Head 60 was a staple for me for almost two years. I am not a fan of IPAs that are extremely high in alcohol - it burns out the flavor. The 90 and 120 are not better than the 60 - which is very well-balanced ale. Rack BSmack for stepping away from the swill.

I'm inclined to agree on the 60 better than 90 or 120 minute analysis. Hops are all well and good, but they're not the be all and end all in my world. I thought the 90 was good, but it definitely straddled the line between being hop heavy and being a full on bitter assault on the taste buds.

[Dinsdale]

I am not a fan of IPAs that are extremely high in alcohol - it burns out the flavor.

Which is a result of high-digestive yeasts, which produce secondary esthers and fusels, and other types of undesirable byproducts, which is what unavoidably comes with higher ABVs, which creates a heavy mouthfeel, with a rough and sometimes astringent finish... but go ahead and keep thinking **insert name of brewery here** has somehow reinvented the wheel, rather than acknowledge your lack of a refined palate.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Finally picked up some Hopslam. Last one in the fridge. Then dude at the register said it was the last one in the store - rack me! $17.83 out the door cost. I could've gotten a mini keg of Two Hearted for $23, but I had to try this stuff.

The moment of truth...





Pretty solid, and yeah, well balanced. I think I'll stick to my Amber though.

[War Wagon]

[/quote]

Bwah!

Nice penmanship, too.

[Moving Sale]

Your statement, while written (badly) in intelligible english, was sadly lacking in any sort of logic or rellevance.

Not sure what 'rellevance' is but it is quite logical to call out a pussy when he runs like a girl after being hit with a bat in the vagina... once again.

removed
Huh?

[Goober McTuber]

Bell's Hopslam is 10% with no funny flavors. I have yet to encounter an ale drinker who has tried it and not immediately put it at or near the top of their list.

That's crazy, I've never seen an ale drinker go over anything like 6% - with the exception of teenagers, people living in cardboard boxes and Germans. When you start getting that high, Dinsdale is spot on, you're drinking cheap wine and the taste is hopelessly compromised. The variety of ales and real ales are pretty diverse in themselves.
I wouldn't touch a lager with a bargepole and that 'Hopslam' still sounds disgusting.

I would drink Hopslam with half the alcohol content and enjoy it just as much. Had it on tap last night and it was even better. Enjoy your Shirley Temple.

[Goober McTuber]

I am not a fan of IPAs that are extremely high in alcohol - it burns out the flavor.

Which is a result of high-digestive yeasts, which produce secondary esthers and fusels, and other types of undesirable byproducts, which is what unavoidably comes with higher ABVs, which creates a heavy mouthfeel, with a rough and sometimes astringent finish... but go ahead and keep thinking **insert name of brewery here** has somehow reinvented the wheel, rather than acknowledge your lack of a refined palate.

Yes, I’m sure that repeatedly tongue-buffing the puckered starfish of numerous bar-skanks produces quite the “refined palate”. Get back to me when you’ve actually tasted the beer we’re talking about.

Now, Mgo has actually tasted the beer and declared his preference for the amber. Did you want to give him your dissertation on ambers?

[JMak]

Choked down two Stone IPAs yesterday during the game...not my bag, I guess. Good thing I paid less than eight bucks for the sixer. Can't even describe the horror of the aftertaste. Thought it was just a bad bottle so I tried another...nope. Nearly ruined my steak dinner. I'll be buying a six of my old standby Michelob just to reset the pallette...

[Dinsdale]

Can't even describe the horror of the aftertaste. Thought it was just a bad bottle so I tried another...nope.

You mean that a brew that was fermented to an ABV higher than low-6's needed a yeast that could go that high, and made byproducts that left a gritty finish that was anything but "crisp"?


:bigshocker: -- but don't tell these guys, OK? They've completely reinvented the biochemistry of fermentation, and they've got it all figured out.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

They've completely reinvented the biochemistry of fermentation, and they've got it all figured out.

Yeah, either that, or they just said "it tastes good."

[Mikey]

It's sure nice that we have a world class expert here on the art and science of brewing. He obviously knows more than any of the actual brewers out there.

I'm thinking that JMak just doesn't appreciate the taste of an IPA.
Anybody who's "old standby" is Michelob is pretty suspect in the first place, at least for an opinion on IPAs.

[Dinsdale]

It's sure nice that we have a world class expert here on the art and science of brewing. He obviously knows more than any of the actual brewers out there.

Not my assertion at all...

I just know more than you, obviously.

And if brewers are making bank off the likes of the barbaric rubes in this thread, why would they change anything?

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Anybody who's "old standby" is Michelob is pretty suspect in the first place, at least for an opinion on IPAs.

Dude, you're talking about a guy who admits to pounding Zimas in Taco Bell parking lots. When it comes to smack, "your wife's boyfriend" takes make him giggle like JTR getting poked in the tummy. There are opinions you should take with a grain of salt, and then there are opinions that aren't even worth taking a giant shit on.

[smackaholic]

It's sure nice that we have a world class expert here on the art and science of brewing. He obviously knows more than any of the actual brewers out there.

I'm thinking that JMak just doesn't appreciate the taste of an IPA.
Anybody who's "old standby" is Michelob is pretty suspect in the first place, at least for an opinion on IPAs.

michelob was my old standy by as well....when i turned drinking age in 1981. I will still drink it if somebody sticks one in my hand and it is marginally better than bud. But, with the countless high quality micros out there, anyone still drinking macroswill, either has retarded taste buds or is keeping to a budget.

mak, i had a similar initial impression of the stone, but, i found out, kind of by accident that if you are already nibbling on something reasonably spicy, your taste buds are already on the alert and they seem to handle the [dins]to high ABV[/dins] hops much better. The two i had with that dinner went down very nicely. it certainly is not a brew for sitting out by the pool and hammering non-stop.

dins, did the thought ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, somebody out there just a little bit wiser in the ways of brewing suds than you or I, might add some sort of magic ingredient (no doubt grown in the U&L) to counteract the bitterness in the hops.

If you'd bother to read any of the reviews on the stuff, you might find that this is exactly what they did. But, I guess you and your brewmaster pals know more than anyone who would waste time posting their take on the interwebs.

Hey goobs, what would it cost me to get a 6 of that shit mailed to 06029? I'm almost interested enough to drop a few bucks to find out how these crazy midwestern alchemists have managed to rewrite the yeast fermenting laws.

[smackaholic]

hey mods, can i get my tittle changed to barbaric rube?

[Dinsdale]

dins, did the thought ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, somebody out there just a little bit wiser in the ways of brewing suds than you or I, might add some sort of magic ingredient (no doubt grown in the U&L) to counteract the bitterness in the hops.

If you'd been following at all, you'd realize you're coming from left field. The bitterness of the heavy hopping is done to counteract the fusels and esthers that result from... here we go again... fermenting down too much maltose in too "hot" a brew.


But if someone has indeed reinvented the wheel, I'm all ears. People have been doing this shit for about 4000 years now -- I would think that would be enough to make anyone who thinks that John Q Brewer has bred some magic strain of yeast, and the rest of the brewing world is somehow not privy to it to feel pretty silly -- like a barbaric rube, matter of fact.

[Goober McTuber]

I found this on a brewers’ forum. Somebody actually asked Bell’s for help with a clone recipe. Note that they suggest using an ale yeast, not a wine yeast.

Response from Bell's:

We don’t have any specific recipes scaled to the homebrew size, but I can offer a bit of guidance. The malt bill is relatively straightforward: stick with 2-row base malt and just a bit of caramel malts for color. Add a healthy dollop of honey. Aim for an OG of 21 Plato. You’ll want to set up your mash rests for moderate fermentability: the sugars from the honey will be largely consumed, so you need malt dextrins around to keep the beer from getting too dry.

Hopping is trickier, but I can tell you that we use a blend of modern American high-alpha aroma hops. A generous dry hop addition of Simcoe with a touch of Amarillo provides the signature aromatic punch. Bitterness is less than most people think, in the mid-to-upper 60 IBU range. Hopslam is all about hop flavor, not unrestrained bitterness.

You can culture yeast out of one of our bottles if you’re comfortable with that; it’s certainly the preferred option for a solid flavor match. The yeast in the Hopslam bottle is the yeast used for fermentation, but at 10% abv, the yeast that isn’t dead will be severely stressed. I would recommend culturing from a lower gravity beer such as Amber Ale, Best Brown Ale, etc.: the yeast is the same & likely to be in superior condition. Winter White Ale is a completely different strain, so don’t use that. Otherwise, the local homebrew supply shops have found that most people looking to clone one of our recipes lean towards the WLP001 strain from White Labs. From what I’ve seen of it, that seems like a reasonable selection, but anything with a straightforward ester profile & good attenuation will work.

I hope this answers your questions. Good luck with the brewing!

Sincerely,

Gary S. Nicholas

Quality Assurance & Control

Bell's Brewery, Inc.

And again, you are offering an opinion on a beer you’ve never tasted. Like I said, you guys come up with the ideas, we’ll just make them better.

[JMak]

Forgive me for not being a gay-assed microbrew snob. And yeah, with one income and two kids here in Portland, and well back in MI, too, I stick to a budget, so Michelob fits the bill nicely.

Definitely not an Ale guy. Knew that going in but relying on some of the comments here I thought to give another run...it sucked.

More important things on my mind than spazzin about abv, hops, barley, whatthefuckever...

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

...and two kids here in Portland, and well back in MI, too

Rack you, JKemp.

[smackaholic]

Forgive me for not being a gay-assed microbrew snob. And yeah, with one income and two kids here in Portland, and well back in MI, too, I stick to a budget, so Michelob fits the bill nicely.

Definitely not an Ale guy. Knew that going in but relying on some of the comments here I thought to give another run...it sucked.

More important things on my mind than spazzin about abv, hops, barley, whatthefuckever...

you're forgiven, gayassed macroswill barbaric rube dude.

i get have reservations about dropping more than 5 bucks a six. if my OL was not working now, i'd be begging wolfie for beast light leftovers. fortunately, we are both gainfully employed which means i can squander a little cash on the occasional
gay assed micro. i won't be dropping another 12 bones on a six of stone any time soon though. not when i can find SA winterlager occasionally on sale for about 14/12 pack.

[Mikey]

Anybody who's "old standby" is Michelob is pretty suspect in the first place, at least for an opinion on IPAs.

Dude, you're talking about a guy who admits to pounding Zimas in Taco Bell parking lots. When it comes to smack, "your wife's boyfriend" takes make him giggle like JTR getting poked in the tummy. There are opinions you should take with a grain of salt, and then there are opinions that aren't even worth taking a giant shit on.

I was just trying to maintain civility.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Uhh, why?

[Mikey]

It's in my nature.

[Dinsdale]

I can't believe how old and yet so clueless you are. You'll fit in well out there in Duhhron land.

Do the letters YHKYOA mean anything to you?

It would seem there's a whole bunch more cluelessness from the Flyovers than the U&Lers here... by several orders of magnitude.

[Mikey]

I can't believe how old and yet so clueless you are. You'll fit in well out there in Duhhron land.

Do the letters YHKYOA mean anything to you?

It would seem there's a whole bunch more cluelessness from the Flyovers than the U&Lers here... by several orders of magnitude.

You wouldn't know an order of magintude if it hit you in the mildew.

[PSUFAN]

macroswill

made me chuckle.

[smackaholic]

If you'd been following at all, you'd realize you're coming from left field. The bitterness of the heavy hopping is done to counteract the fusels and esthers that result from... here we go again... fermenting down too much maltose in too "hot" a brew.

I have been following this rather long short beer review well enough to know that there is a place in the midwest where some dude is able to charge more for a six of his brew than some houses in the area sell for. And he's still in bidness. This tells me that he has apparently figured away to make 10% ABV brew pretty damn drinkable. I know that a midwestern taste bud is not the equal of a U&L taste bud, but that should mean than every last barbaric rube in that godforsaken wasteland would be happy buying beast light 300 packs for 4.99.

rack him for getting over on them and not havnig to be a jackass of all trades laborer for a yob.

btw, i googled esther and couldn't find anything other than some biblical chick.