OT: How does one get into craft beer?
Am I the only one that gets overwhelmed when shopping for beer or browsing a tap list? It seems the trend at restaurants is to carry 37 seasonal limited edition locally sourced beers on tap, changing weekly. At the grocery or beer store there are 100s of options from small to medium sized brewers. Wine feels immensely more approachable, in comparison. I don't want to become a fanatic, but I'd like to be more confident and understand a little more. And supporting local products is always cool. But how is it even possible with this trend seemingly overheating and new product pumping out constantly?
I picked up a case of Bell's Hopslam last month and it was pretty good. It didn't blow my mind (I think it was supposed to?). Also, I can't really do super dark beers after developing a taste aversion from too many car bomb blackout nights during understand.
Can somebody gif it for me?
need the /s, but I suppose it is my own fault for not knowing how to create or insert images.
Why did you capitalize Atwater, but not Short's or Bell's?
first time...probably won't work
my computer skills are poor. And I have now responded to myself two times. That has to be some sort of limit.
Or with a tiny little drop of water for things like Stagg Jr.
Whoo 132 proof.
I prefer Scotch...
But any form of decent whiskey\whisky deserves an upvote in this context.
i like ice with Bourbon
What you would be looking for is a "meme," not a .gif. .Gifs are the pictures that move. Meme's are the pictures with the big block white letters.
A meme is a "thing", a concept, whether it be a picture, a phrase, a sound bite, etc.
For example, "Epic Sax" is a meme. It could be represented by a full video, a gif, a picture, Les Miles, what have you.
Not an IPA (obviously), but their India Brown Ale is a fantastic change of pace as well.
Love American Beauty. Malty!
Label does not hurt either
March 10th, 2015 at 12:47 AM ^
And the Dead. I'll have to give this one a try!
120 is incredible when fresh. Its like a delicious slap across the face. I've yet to have it aged.
You mean over 100 empty beers, right?
Serious question: how does one cellar beer without it eventually getting skunky and wierd? Is there an ideal time window?
So that sound was the joke going over my head. It's all coming together.
false
And that's why it's important to buy beer from someplace that knows what they're doing and has enough turnover that they don't have beer sitting on a shelf for a year or two.
See Crentski's response below. Some beers absolutely get better with age, particularly some stouts, strong ales and sours. There is active yeast still in bottle conditioned beers and it keeps working on the beer, sometimes to the benefit of the brew. If you buy anything directly from a craft brewer, they'll likely have an idea of what changes you might expect from aging a beer (for various timeframe).
I just had a vertical with Dark Lord. Our bottles (3 people) were from 2010-2014. 2011 was perfection, while 2009 died off and 2012-2014 were not peaking.
...is best drunk fresh and in quantity, just like Beaujolais Nouveau. And god help you if you try and age either of them.
First, it depends on style. Anything hoppy, don't sit on it. Consume as soon as possible because the beer fades quickly. Yes, some are fantastic for several months, but they arrent even close to the same as freshly canned/bottled.
Barleywines, stouts, barrel aged beers, and beers of similar styles are cellar possible. Some beer even tell you the necessay cellar conditions. Essentially, keep in a dark and cool location. Yes, it is possible for the beers to get better with age! I have several beers that are 10+ years in age and are still drinkning great. I've notied most drink perfect around 3 years aged, but understand that each beer is different.
Keep in mind, that aging beers is all personal preference. Most brewers and myself believe that if you haven't had the beer upon release, then do not age the beer without having a baseline for its taste.
Thank you. This is pretty much what I mean.
March 10th, 2015 at 12:46 AM ^
remember hops were originally as a preservative. IPAs were very hoppy to last the trip to India. I am drinking a Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale now that is over a year old and has lost nothing. This has been true year to year with this hoppy brew.
Celebration falls off. Obviously, certain hoppy beers like DDFH 120 Min age well, but that's because they have more characteristics of other styles than IPAs. My comment was towards you general Pale or IPA. Thank you for allowing me to clarify.
I know some have already chimed in but: Keeping beer in a DARK place (light damages beer, moresoe than the "myth" of temperature being a nasty thing) and it that place can be in the mid-50's, boom, a nice cellaring spot. I know I just stated temperature is a myth, that's more of a short-term thing (taking a beer in and out of a fridge to get warm over the course of a couple months is not a big deal, or leaving it in a hot car for a day).
Anyway, a cool dark spot. I think the main thing with "cellaring" it in a warmer spot, say one that is near 65-70 degrees, is that the aging process happens a bit faster and not as delayed as one would rather see. On the other end of that would be cellaring in a refigerator...also okay, but your aging process would be really slow and in a sense, a bit redundant.
Every bottle of beer will age differently. The beers best suited to age are stouts, sours (wild ales, lambics), barleywines, and Belgain-style beers (Trappist beers, too!). And the anything barrel-aged which many of the aformentioned are, now days.
Sounds like a form of punishment for the beers- and yourself!!!
The best bottles of beer is an empty one and the next one...
I got into it by going to Ashley's and reading forums on beeradvocate.com.