Heady Topper

[smackaholic]

Been on the lookout for this stuff every time I make the trip to BTV.

https://alchemistbeer.com/

The Alchemist brewery is still pretty small, so they don't produce that much and all of it is sold at area liquor stores/restaurants in the Burlington area. And you generally have to show up soon after it is delivered or it's gone.

Anyhoo, I managed to score a few 4 packs of their pint cans.

This stuff is regularly compared to Pliny the Elder in "best beer in the world" battles. Some say it is better. I have yet to have the honor of tasting PTE, so I can't comment.

I have become quite the IPA fan the last few years, but don't really care for the over the top quintuple IPA hop bomb stuff.

This ain't that.

It is classified as a double IPA and I think that's about right.

Anyhoo, after a few sips, I decided this stuff lives up to every last bit of the hype.

It has a nice strong pine tree smell and a nice hop bite, but what separates this stuff from lesser IPAs is that as it goes down, you get this uncontrollable desire to just keep chugging!!!!

Not sure why. but damn does this swill go down easy. I will definitely be back for more. And I highly recommend you have it with some spicy Thai food. The combination was epcot.

I got a few left and I might even be up to a swap if any of you left coasters have any PTE sitting around.

[smackaholic]

One more thing.

It's 8% alcohol.

If you are driving right afterwards, you really don't need to be drinking more than one pint.

[Left Seater]

If your drinking you don’t really need to be driving.

[Diego in Seattle]

If your drinking you don’t really need to be driving.

We don't agree on much, but on this we are in complete agreement!

[Joe in PB]

Alesmith IPA is the closest I've found to Pliny the Elder in San Diego. Light, crisp, & hoppy. One of the local bars here has Pliny on tap a few times a month. Its brewed in Northern Cal and not much makes it this far south. Like Alchemist, Alesmith is good stuff.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

https://abita.com/brews/bad-mother-shucker


Had that in Columbia, SC this past weekend. Might be my new favorite. Just fucking awesome.

THAT DOES IT.

'Spray, make up the spare bedroom...I'm heading down! But please, no homo.

[Dr_Phibes]

I've found having a few pints before driving can be rewarding. Easier to put up with tedious passengers, distraction from dismal scenery or a more comfortable trip home from the pub in winter. Like shooting snooker after four or five pints, you're in the zone. Things go downhill after that.

Anyway, down to business. That beer sounds horrifying.
While drinking and driving does have its upsides, consuming your vehicles pine-scented air-freshener sounds repulsive. Someone has to draw a line.

'Double IPA' is nebulous at best, it has no definition. Like 'double the homosexuality'. Is it twice as pasteurised? Remember, IPA's were a technology for the British to get beer into the ass-ends of the Empire before it went putrid. Small wonder it took off in backwaters like the US, it wasn't brewed for the palate - it was preservation of the product.

8% alc/vol does not lend itself to staying power or mass consumption.

I've never heard of this beer and will likely never drink it, so I'll guess and pair it with C4 and a detonator. A scent of pine tree would happily compliment any bearded-millennial-type brewing coffin.

[smackaholic]

Are you refering to Heady Topper, spray?

[Goober McTuber]

Are you refering to Heady Topper, spray?

Could you possibly be more retarded?

[BSmack]

I might have to issue the next time I am in Burlington. But I am like spray in the regard that I don't drink much anymore. These days I usually get something from three Heads when I do drink.

[Goober McTuber]

Here's the beer lineup at my favorite local microbrewery:

http://aleasylum.com/aboutus-info/brewerybeers/

Within the month of April, I will sample the following Pale Ales:

HOPALICIOUS
VELVETEEN HABIT
DEMENTO
SATISFACTION JACKSIN
HU$H MONEY
TEARS OF MY ENEMIES
HIGH COUP

I would put Velveteen Habit up against anyone else's beer, and Tears is right up there as well. Of course the key to drinking the best beer (Pale Ales) is to drink it at its best (freshest). That's why we all feel the best beer is made close to our homes. And no beer discussion is complete until

[Goober McTuber]

If your drinking you don’t really need to be driving.

We don't agree on much, but on this we are in complete agreement!

You don't drink while you're driving. You drink, and then you drive. Amateurs.

[Joe in PB]

I'm not a pale ale fan per say, too much like cheap fizzy domestic, I like IPAs, but I developed a taste for them. To be honest, most are not hoppy enough for me, Pliny is my standard of measure.

Alesmith also makes a nice creamy ESB that is probaly more to Phibes liking. It's very nice with a cigar, something IPAs can overwhelm.

When I was on the road in Wisconsin I tried some beer from New Glarus brewery that was also very good.

If I drink beer it's going to be micro brew, which is usually a little heavier but also tastier. Alesmith comes in 22 oz bottles and that's usually enough for me, or gets me started for a whiskey or three.

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[smackaholic]

Are you refering to Heady Topper, spray?

Could you possibly be more retarded?

Probably.

Typed that before seeing his post about something else. I just saw his mention of ABV which is the same as the subject of this thread.

Not go have another nap, you're getting grumpy.

[Goober McTuber]

Not go have another nap, you're getting grumpy.

English, please.

[smackaholic]

I've found having a few pints before driving can be rewarding. Easier to put up with tedious passengers, distraction from dismal scenery or a more comfortable trip home from the pub in winter. Like shooting snooker after four or five pints, you're in the zone. Things go downhill after that.

Anyway, down to business. That beer sounds horrifying.
While drinking and driving does have its upsides, consuming your vehicles pine-scented air-freshener sounds repulsive. Someone has to draw a line.

'Double IPA' is nebulous at best, it has no definition. Like 'double the homosexuality'. Is it twice as pasteurised? Remember, IPA's were a technology for the British to get beer into the ass-ends of the Empire before it went putrid. Small wonder it took off in backwaters like the US, it wasn't brewed for the palate - it was preservation of the product.

8% alc/vol does not lend itself to staying power or mass consumption.

I've never heard of this beer and will likely never drink it, so I'll guess and pair it with C4 and a detonator. A scent of pine tree would happily compliment any bearded-millennial-type brewing coffin.

A few glasses is generally my self imposed limit if I am going to be driving. Maybe a third if I am there a few hours and eat something. I brought 2 pints of the HT into the BYOB Thai restaurant, with the plan of drinking both, but half way through the first I could already feel a very slight bit of a buzz coming on and decided to forget the second one. After the meal and sitting around a bit, I was perfectly fine to drive and am confident I could have passed any DUI test, but if I had had that second one, prolly not. And it would have been a stupid thing to do anyway.

[smackaholic]

Not go have another nap, you're getting grumpy.

English, please.

NoW go have another nap. You're getting grumpy.

Better?

[smackaholic]

If your drinking you don’t really need to be driving.

My general rule is two beers. Maybe a third if I will be around more than 2 hours and if I'm at a bar that long, I am most likely having something to eat as well.

[Goober McTuber]

Not go have another nap, you're getting grumpy.

English, please.

NoW go have another nap. You're getting grumpy.

Better?

At least it's English. Yes, nonstop stupidity does tend to rankle.

[Dr_Phibes]

I'll submit Honkey Valley Dark.



The tin has no real illustrations, just writing. Nothing by Robert R. Crumb or explosions.
I doesn't taste like chocolate, pumpkin or cedar.
Not a hopslap to the jaw.
No-one under 30 was involved in brewing this beer. It tastes like.. beer.
The dark can makes for easy concealment while blasting down the highway.

[smackaholic]

The anglophile in phibes is about as subtle as a bright green skull encrusted can of hopapalooza drek.

Why can't you just be comfortable being a northern messican?

There used to be a time when you fukkers bragged about your beer. "good beer and Rush!!!!! We fukking rule, ehhh".

Now, you don't even have Rush anymore.

Are there any notable micro breweries in that frozen wasteland? Or is it impossible to get such an enterprise started in the People's Republic of Upper Meheeeco without express permission from the commissar of breweries?

[smackaholic]

I would put Velveteen Habit up against anyone else's beer, and Tears is right up there as well. Of course the key to drinking the best beer (Pale Ales) is to drink it at its best (freshest). That's why we all feel the best beer is made close to our homes. And no beer discussion is complete until

Probably the smartest thing goobs has ever said.

OK, it's the only smart thing.

Anyhoo, I have had my 2 4 packs of HT for 5 days now. Had the first one shortly after buying on monday and it was absolutely fukking magical. Had the second that night, nearly as good, but it had started to warm a bit.

Had the next at dinner the following day. This was after it spent the day getting warm, then re-chilled in the fridge. Not quite as good.

Had another last night. Still quite good, but it is already losing a bit off its fastball.

The Alchemist comes right out and says it on the can-

"This beer is perishable, and at its best when young, fresh and hazy. Keep it cold, but not ice cold. Drink this beer immediately"

[Goober McTuber]

I might have one - MAYBE two if I'm driving, but that happens early in the night, and I usually will wait 5-6 hours after that before I drive. The law enforcement around here absolutely lives for DUI's. They couldn't care less about all the liberals killing liberals.

I'm pretty sure that you don't care either.

[Dr_Phibes]

The anglophile in phibes is about as subtle as a bright green skull encrusted can of hopapalooza drek.

Why can't you just be comfortable being a northern messican?

There used to be a time when you fukkers bragged about your beer. "good beer and Rush!!!!! We fukking rule, ehhh".

Now, you don't even have Rush anymore.

Are there any notable micro breweries in that frozen wasteland? Or is it impossible to get such an enterprise started in the People's Republic of Upper Meheeeco without express permission from the commissar of breweries?

It is Canadian beer. Right under the red Maple Leaf, it says brewed in Ontario in bright red letters.

Sorry, I'm into this beer nihilist thing. Spent my days bitching about the demise of small brewers and the rise of corporate shite. Now I've got my wish, what I wanted. Small brewers have exploded and reached market saturation. And all they brew is disgusting shite.

I'm taking beer snobbery to the next level. All beer brewed in North America is unworthy of me. So the logical thing to do is pull a Wags. I'm strictly Heineken as an ironic protest.

[Carson]

Bad news, Phibes.

Even the Dutch say Heineken is shit beer.

Go German, go Belgian, or go home.

[Dr_Phibes]

But that's the point. The Heineken we get is twice as bad as the Heineken the Dutch laugh at. I've thought this through, hence my choice of drink.

If it's not English, it's not worth drinking. (no disrespect to noble German and Belgian ales)

[smackaholic]

It is Canadian beer. Right under the red Maple Leaf, it says brewed in Ontario in bright red letters.

Sorry, I'm into this beer nihilist thing. Spent my days bitching about the demise of small brewers and the rise of corporate shite. Now I've got my wish, what I wanted. Small brewers have exploded and reached market saturation. And all they brew is disgusting shite.

I'm taking beer snobbery to the next level. All beer brewed in North America is unworthy of me. So the logical thing to do is pull a Wags. I'm strictly Heineken as an ironic protest.

My apologies, Doc. I got as far as Traditional English Ale before clacking out my response.

[smackaholic]

But that's the point. The Heineken we get is twice as bad as the Heineken the Dutch laugh at. I've thought this through, hence my choice of drink.

If it's not English, it's not worth drinking. (no disrespect to noble German and Belgian ales)

It's almost like a hipster/PBR sort of thing.

As for Heineken, it is the textbook example of how clever marketing can sell anything. How long have they been peddling that swill here, anyway? Has to be early 70s, at least. But, I think, most Americans are getting hip to it now. Seems like these days, Heineken is what you drink if you are a balck dude with a little disposable income.

[smackaholic]

How far are you from Burlington, VT, Phibes? If you are down that way, you really ought to try a pint of Heady. It does have the smell and initial hoppy bite of a DIPA, but there's enough malt or whatever in there to make it go down nicer than MS in the Knicks locker room.

[Goober McTuber]

It is Canadian beer. Right under the red Maple Leaf, it says brewed in Ontario in bright red letters.

Sorry, I'm into this beer nihilist thing. Spent my days bitching about the demise of small brewers and the rise of corporate shite. Now I've got my wish, what I wanted. Small brewers have exploded and reached market saturation. And all they brew is disgusting shite.

I'm taking beer snobbery to the next level. All beer brewed in North America is unworthy of me. So the logical thing to do is pull a Wags. I'm strictly Heineken as an ironic protest.

My apologies, Doc. I got as far as Traditional English Ale before clacking out my response.

Seriously? You quickly fired off a totally uninformed post? Who saw that coming?

[smackaholic]

It is Canadian beer. Right under the red Maple Leaf, it says brewed in Ontario in bright red letters.

Sorry, I'm into this beer nihilist thing. Spent my days bitching about the demise of small brewers and the rise of corporate shite. Now I've got my wish, what I wanted. Small brewers have exploded and reached market saturation. And all they brew is disgusting shite.

I'm taking beer snobbery to the next level. All beer brewed in North America is unworthy of me. So the logical thing to do is pull a Wags. I'm strictly Heineken as an ironic protest.

My apologies, Doc. I got as far as Traditional English Ale before clacking out my response.

Seriously? You quickly fired off a totally uninformed post? Who saw that coming?

Anyone that pays attention around here.


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