OT: Weekend drinking thread. Is Old Nation M-43 still a great beer for this weather?
Hell, I've bypassed that qualification when the situation called for it.
The only bad beer, is no beer
The best beer is free beer.
I am currently drinking a Jai Alai IPA. It’s from Cigar City Brewery out of Tampa.
I mean you like it so that’s all that matters but .... I’ve been to Florida a number of times and have not had a single “microbrew” that tastes good. I have tried 20+ varieties from a number of breweries and they are all horrendous. I guess I’m spoiled with Bells, Founders and about 18 other breweries within an hour and a half drive.
then again I love PBR so .... to each their own.
Cigar City actually has a pretty good reputation and makes some good beers. Jai Alai is tasty.
I have had Jai Alai and a couple others from them. Not great. My taste buds just don’t like Florida beers I guess.
So the beer in Florida is as good as everything else you're saying?
Cigar City and Funky Buddha are top notch. Maple Bacon Coffee Porter Mmmmmmm
The big brother beers are amazing too - Morningwood and wide awake it’s morning
If you're ever near Bradenton, Good Liquid Brewing Company is one of the best breweries I've ever been to. Tons of variety and everything was done well. And this is coming from a Michigan transplant in Denver so I've been spoiled with good breweries.
If you like adjunct laden stouts Angry Chair and Cycle are top notch (Tampa area)... otherwise I haven't had much FL beer that was worthwhile.
Then you’re going to the wrong places my friend! Angry Chair, Cigar City, Funky Buddha all put out some of the best beer you’ll find anywhere, especially if stouts are your thing.
Paulaner here. I've been on a German wheat beer kick lately.
Probably Boddington's tomorrow, just to mix it up a bit.
Paulaner @ Oktoberfest in Munich. Best beer I’ve ever had. I’m sure the ambiance had something to do with it.
Haha agreed on the ambiance...but I will disagree with you (2nd time on this thread, nothing personal!) in that I came back from Oktoberfest thinking it was an incredible event, but some of the least inspiring beer I've ever had.
Absolutely. I could name 20 better beers off the top of my head.
but not while sitting on one of those orange benches, eating sausage, potatoes and sauerkraut whilst pounding liters of beer, chatting with folks from all over the globe and watching the skimpy lederhosen walk by
Cheers to that!
German breweries still make far superior pilsners, bocks, and wheat beers than most American breweries. Most pilsners from microbrews are crap. Founders solid gold and some of wolverine's stuff are exceptions. I can't even think of an American brewery that bottles a good hefeweizen. Maybe it sounds dumb that the Germans are superior at brewing their own style of beer, but the same cannot be said of the British and Irish...
August Schell's has a very good hefe. Not sure if that's available where you live.
Yes, there are few (if any?) American breweries that replicate the banana-like esters of a German hefe and I imagine it's because of yeast differences. For instance, Oberon uses a house yeast. As a living organism, yeast is a tough thing to replicate 5,000 miles away.
German yeast strains that live in Germany are going to mutate even if brought to the states because of the different environment.
Since German beers are yeast driven, I think that's the reason it's hard to do them as well or better here. Same with Belgian beers.
English and Irish beers which are malt driven can be more easily replicated or improved upon. Malt can be imported without imparting any changes on the product.
Duplicate
M-43 is flat out awesome.
M-43 is really good and can almost stand up to the true NE beers from Tree House, Trillium, and Alchemist. We've got one here in Chicago from Alarmist called "Le Jus" that is in that same echelon of greatness.
It's kind of crazy how hazy IPA's used to be frowned upon but now they are in vogue in a big way in breweries across the country.
Le Jus is decent but beers from Hop Butcher, More, Maplewood and Corridor are even better. Even Phase Three is picking up and Energy City is very solid. I do like that Old Nation distributes to the Chicago area now.
Ok Hop Butcher yes excellent. Maplewood Son Of is good but not as good as Le Jus. Corridor is the closest physical brewery to my house so I do frequent and absolutely agree they are phenomenal.
Update (since I'm sure you truly care and are checking mgoblog) I'm currently at Corridor. Yes, they are still fantastic.
I think seasonal drinking traditions are stupid. Yes - Oberon tastes great on a hot summer day and a Founders Breakfast Stout is good on a cold day in December but why adhere to something so arbitrary? Drink what you like, when you like.
That said - I have a Founders 2018 CBS I've been dying to open. Anybody have experience with Founders CBS?
CBS is downright fantastic. I think 2018 slightly less good than 2017...but I might be mixing them up. I'll have to revisit the verticals I've been saving of CBS + BCBS!
Agreed 17 was better than 18 but 18 was still quite good. Founders recommends not aging them more than a year so I just drank 'em and gave up on the vertical.
I'm not a big fan of heavy beers when the weather is mild. But always appreciate depth.
CBS is an excellent brew but the price is ridiculous. Local restaurants had it on tap around Christmas. 8 oz pour for $8. Would never buy a bottle for $25.
It's not entirely arbitrary though. Different styles are best drunk (?) at different temperatures.
Stouts are best at like 50-60 degrees so they're great in the winter when you don't want an ice cold beverage.
Lagers have a cleaner, crisper mouthfeel and don't lose much at cold temps so they're much better for quenching thirst as a cool beverage - hence better in summer.
I agree that people should drink whatever beer they want whenever but there are real reasons certain types are more appealing during different times of the year.
Founders CBS is great. It's a thick, viscous, slightly sweet, slightly boozy treat. It's dessert in a bottle. Share it with a couple other people or you won't feet great the next morning! But it's probably not something you want to drink during the day in the sun on the lake. Because you know, think, viscosity.
Can’t go wrong with an ice cold Coors Light.
Right. But with 12 or more ice cold Coors Lights you can definitely go wrong.
M-43 is awesome. It's also great with a splash of OJ as a beermosa.
Oberon mixed with Orange San Pelligrino is also top notch
Come on man, you don't add juice to a beer.
Generally agree. But, for malt liquor, we did have a gameday morning tradition in college that involved drinking a 40 down to the label then filling up with OJ that made for a delicious concoction.
Tell that to Old Nation.
It was a recommended drink to me while I had an early lunch there during a long bike ride.
I didn't invent this drink lol
https://untappd.com/b/old-nation-brewing-co-m-43-beermosa/2692853
My bad. It was grapefruit juice! Still though. It was delicious
Beermosa sounds fucking disgusting.
Well, if you actually go to Old Nation Brewery, the M43 beermosa is a drink on their menu. That's where I had it.
It tasted fantastic. I've never attempted to make it myself, but if you go there, I'm betting they'll tell you what the contents are.
It isn’t and is great for the early morning tailgate. Spice it up even more by adding some orange triple Sec to any orange flavored wheat.
I initially thought the same. Bite your tongue until you try the beermosa at Beer Grotto in AA. It’s very good
Wheezin the Juice is pretty good, similar to M43. It comes in a 6 pack and is quite a bit cheaper
I gotta be honest with you, not a fan of the NE IPAs and think M-43 is super overrated.
Love RyePAs (concrete dinosaur and red rye are fantastic), all Dark Horse IPAs (crooked, double crooked, SLASM), DIPAs, all Dogfish Head (60/75/90/120 minute ... although they got bought by Sam Adams so we’ll see)
Do you think Sam Adam's is gonna change the recipe or something?