Official Alcohol Discussion Thread!

Jan 28, 2009
5,035
Manteca, CA
Can we get a sticky for this? :D

What do ya'll prefer to drink? Beer, Wine, Hard Liquor, Wine Coolers? All of them?

I only drink Beer and Hard Liquor. Mint Mojito is about the only thing close to a wine cooler I'll drink though LOL
 
What do they sell them for? A gajillion dollars a bottle? If not quite that high I may be willing to throw some money to get a bottle. Do put a review though so I can geek over it!


Have you had Dark Force? It's a wheat stout... and very very sinful.

Yeah if i go ill let you know. I think dark lord day is in the spring. I think they make like just a small batch of it and thats it. There are masses of people trying to get the beer. check darklordday.com. its in muenster, indiana. watch the video and let me know what you think.



Horhay, take some pics and let us take a look. There is one brewery I want to try and that is Russian River Brewing. Its in Santa Rosa. they have 7 beers that are rated in the top 100 in the world. If you see any of that take pics.
 
Yeah if i go ill let you know. I think dark lord day is in the spring. I think they make like just a small batch of it and thats it. There are masses of people trying to get the beer. check darklordday.com. its in muenster, indiana. watch the video and let me know what you think.



Horhay, take some pics and let us take a look. There is one brewery I want to try and that is Russian River Brewing. Its in Santa Rosa. they have 7 beers that are rated in the top 100 in the world. If you see any of that take pics.

In Santa Rosa?! really? damn I was there like 3 months ago lol anyway I'll see if I spot it and will take pictures :DI'll be there this weekend hopefully.
 
Yeah, easy! You can also use websites like beeradvocate.com - it's dedicated to rating beers and includes TONS of user reviews - my only problem is some of the reviews are from complete beer snobs... I've found that some beers rated a C are actually some of my personal favorites, but generally their ratings are pretty spot on.

Haha, I always thought the same thing about that site. It is very helpful though despite the snobbery that goes on there. Some of those guys are worse than wine snobs
 
Here are some pics sorry they are from my iPhone.

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Starting from the 1st pic my recommendations are:

Gouden Carolus Carolus Dor - Gouden Carolus anything are generally good belgian beers


2nd pic:

Samuel Smiths' Pale Ale, Try to find the Oatmeal Stout too
Looks like I see Young's Double Chocolate stout, grab that yummy bottle!
Unfamiliar with West Coast, but I've heard people say ok things about them

3rd pic:
now we're getting to the goodies. The Chambly Noire is a nice dark beer, the Blanche De Chambly is like a light version of it. Unibroue makes good beers in general as well. You are safe with any choice that is fresh. That La Fin Du Monde is a treat!
I see Westmalle Double and Tripel, get both. Great Trappist Belgian Beers. I am a huge fan of Trappist Belgian Beers. I urge you to sample all that you can find. If you drink the westmalles back to back start with the tripel as it is lighter than the double. Always drink your beers from lightest to darkest so you get the best chance for tasting all the flavor complexities. I also spy the Youngs Double Chocolate Stout on the shelf just below the westmalles... The Fischer/Fuller's are alright english beers. London Pride is an easy grab for me when I'm in the mood.

4th pic:

See that Arrogant Bastard Ale? Buy 2 and send me one. I absolutely LOVE those ales, but I can't get them at my local store. I'm serious... I will pay for them of course!

The Hobgoblin Dark English Ale is great if you like your dark ales. The Belhaven St. Andrews Ale is tasty too although I don't typically go out of my way for it.

Now we're getting to the hefe weizens!
The Franziskaner is a good commercial example of a hefeweizen. You'll notice a bit of sulfury odors/flavors and maybe some bubblegum but it should be muted.. these are normal and desired. HefeWeizens are good summer beers. The Spaten Dunkel is alright.. if you can look for Warsteiner's Dunkel, it seems to be just about the right balance I like in a dunkel. Dunkels are like german brown ales only nuttier.. Think of a newcastle, but nuttier and a little darker roast.

5th pic:

Samuel Smith's IPA - great beer. Hands down.

Aecht Schlenferla Rauchbier - Top shelf, farthest to the right on the pic.. This beer will put all the hair on your balls you'll ever need. I HIGHLY recommend getting a really great sharp cheddar cheese to eat along while you drink this beer. It's made by smoking the malt. You will taste smoke in the beer and at first it is very odd, by the end of the bottle though, you'll wish you bought two. This is not your casual beer drinker's beer, this beer will test your desire to learn what real good beer is. Great beer, turns almost everyone away at the first sip - Buy two bottles, if you make it to the end of the first one, you'll want another. Does take some getting used to.. ok disclaimer over.

Kostriker is a Shwartzbier.. think of it like a black lager. This is possibly my favorite dark lager german beer ever. A good buy no matter what.

The last pic is hard to make out by the label but I do see the Urthel. Now these Urthel beers take a bit of getting use to for me, but that Bock is pretty damn good.


Seems like they have a pretty good selection. It was hard to pic out some of them by the label design alone based on the pics, but I hope I got you on a good start...

EDIT:

I guess it helps if I explain dark and light beers a bit... When someone says dark beers it's because a few types of grains have been used from roasted to burnt malts... If a beer is classified as dark you can expect to taste roasted/toasted/coffee/toffee/and deep caramel flavors to be in there to varying degrees... lighter beers are made with simpler grains that for the most part have been left alone with exception to caramel malts which give the beer a bit of a sweet taste and generally use lighter malts. Lighter beers are generally lighter on the stomach, the darker the beer gets it generally means it will have more mouthfeel and be more filling, but that is not always the case, just a general guideline so don't apply that concept to everything you come across... A good example of this is say Young's Double Chocolate Stout .. it's thick, chocolately, and sits in your belly.. then switch over to a black lager like say that Kostriker.. it's got the roasty flavors but it's not nearly as heavy as the double chocolate stout, but the color is the same.

Anyways.. I'm sure that was more confusing than helpful, but I wanted to try to help explain the flavor difference between dark and light beers as simple as possible...
 
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Oh yeah... If you guys are going to sample beers please use an appropriate glass and don't drink the beers out of their bottles..

I think Samuel Smith has gift packs out there that come with a pint glass and 3 bottles of their beer.. The glasses should be rinsed and cleaned using hot water and a SMALL amount of soap.. make sure you rinse very well with cold water, drying is not necessary... you'll know the glass is clean when you pour a beer into it and there aren't any bubbles sticking to the sides or bottom of the glass. Soap residues and dirt damage head retention and flavor respectively...

Don't make a beer enthusiast cry by using inferior beer tasting glasses! It really does make a difference, especially in the aroma release and flavor experience. Those Samuel Adam's glassware commercials ain't no ****!
 
Beer gives me Migraines, but I drink it anyways, last time I drank was Christmas, had some Presidente beer :)


LOL, it's because you drink beers like presidente that it gives you migraines :hilarious:

My brother is the same.. he can't drink many commercial beers and a lot of homebrews even hurt him.

Just a refresher, commercial beers filter out the natural yeast that make beer what it is, when this is done B vitamins are removed from the beer which you need to replenish while drinking since you urinate those vitamins out constantly while inhebriated. As a result, beers naturally carbonated with yeast or unfiltereed will have yeast cake at the bottom, by swirling this back into solution and drinking it you are replenishing your body with B vitamins. Lack of B vitamins, and vitamins in general, can produce headaches, along with dehydration.

Another common problem with people sensitive to beer is not necessarily the Ethanol but the fusel oils that are produced during fermentation. In small quantities in almost all beer, most people don't have any reaction to them that is unlike the effects of ethanol. My experiments with my bro have shown me, to the most of my scientific ability (haha!), that the higher I ferment the beer or generate more fusel oils for a beer style, the more harsh reaction he has to the beer (migraines). The more attention I pay to the yeast and fermentation process to limit the production of fusel oils, the least reaction he has. In the case of my yeast rich birthday stout, he actually felt perfectly fine the next day. But that beer was designed to be ready in 3 days and drank exceptionally fresh while the yeast was in suspension for the milk chocolate flavor. Not something you can store for months.

I started studying that fact actually after I think 49er girl mentioned her husband can't drink beer because of headaches and I set out to find out why since my bro has the same problem. Signs so far point to fusel oil production.

HEY! BEER IS REALLY GOOD!
 
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Oh yeah... If you guys are going to sample beers please use an appropriate glass and don't drink the beers out of their bottles..

I think Samuel Smith has gift packs out there that come with a pint glass and 3 bottles of their beer.. The glasses should be rinsed and cleaned using hot water and a SMALL amount of soap.. make sure you rinse very well with cold water, drying is not necessary... you'll know the glass is clean when you pour a beer into it and there aren't any bubbles sticking to the sides or bottom of the glass. Soap residues and dirt damage head retention and flavor respectively...

Don't make a beer enthusiast cry by using inferior beer tasting glasses! It really does make a difference, especially in the aroma release and flavor experience. Those Samuel Adam's glassware commercials ain't no ****!

NO FROZEN GLASSES!!!!

Horhay from the pics here are my recommendations

1st pic: I had one of those bottles of the 2007 Gouden Carolus "Grand Cru of the Emporers" on Thanksgiving and that was awesome.

2nd pic: Unibroue has good stuff. Escpecially La Fin Du Monde

4th pic: Anything from Stone is good. I really enjoy the Cali-Belgique and Russian Imperial Stout (#23 best beer in the world according to Beeradvocate)

Hey Alpha what do you want from stone?? I saw some Oak Aged Arrogant bastard the other day. I also can get Sublimely Self Righteous, 13th Anniversery and more.

Last Pic: Ive had Victory Golden Monkey before and loved it. gotta be careful with that one tho. whenever i opened one the thing would not stop foaming out the top of the bottle.
 
NO FROZEN GLASSES!!!!


Hey Alpha what do you want from stone?? I saw some Oak Aged Arrogant bastard the other day. I also can get Sublimely Self Righteous, 13th Anniversery and more.


I'll take all 3 of those and I heard there was a pumpkin ale they did? That or some sort of special holiday ale that I'll likely never see/taste. Their guardian barleywine, and smoked porter would be a treat as well! I'm pretty sure though that the Guardian is limited release so.. I absolutely crave the arrogant bastard ale.. good stuff!


Totally wish I could get Stone's selection in my state.. I feel so deprived.
 
I don't like Stone, I've had a couple before and was not happy after each lol

I am going to try a couple of those this weekend for sure!

How can I send liquor? Fedex? UPS?
 
I'll take all 3 of those and I heard there was a pumpkin ale they did? That or some sort of special holiday ale that I'll likely never see/taste. Their guardian barleywine, and smoked porter would be a treat as well! I'm pretty sure though that the Guardian is limited release so.. I absolutely crave the arrogant bastard ale.. good stuff!


Totally wish I could get Stone's selection in my state.. I feel so deprived.

Yeah it was a holiday ale that was made by a combination of Stone, Jolly Pumpkin and Nogne. I the beer store i go to just actually pulled some out of the cellar not too long ago so it had some age. And they just sold the last bottle yesterday. :( Ill keep looking and if i see any ill get one. Im probably gonna stop there tomorrow cuz Bell's Hopslam is coming out!!!! ill take some pics of what they have and let you know

*UPDATE* i found a place with the Holiday Ale if you want one. Kind of pricey tho $11.99 no sure if its a deuce deuce or 12oz. let me know if you want it. and you can just paypal me. he had 4 bottles of it. im gonna head up there tomorrow afternoon most likely
 
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So Alpha did you come to a conclusion as to the best beer to drink to not get you sick?? At lease one that us inferior lay people can get our hands on?? :D
 
Yeah it was a holiday ale that was made by a combination of Stone, Jolly Pumpkin and Nogne. I the beer store i go to just actually pulled some out of the cellar not too long ago so it had some age. And they just sold the last bottle yesterday. :( Ill keep looking and if i see any ill get one. Im probably gonna stop there tomorrow cuz Bell's Hopslam is coming out!!!! ill take some pics of what they have and let you know

*UPDATE* i found a place with the Holiday Ale if you want one. Kind of pricey tho $11.99 no sure if its a deuce deuce or 12oz. let me know if you want it. and you can just paypal me. he had 4 bottles of it. im gonna head up there tomorrow afternoon most likely

That is a little pricey but I'm down for it. Bell's Hopslam is a damn good beer too... ack! I'll await your pic tomorrow. Why must Kansas suck so bad for beer selection!!?!?

Did you ever get to try that Eku 28? Man that beer is the best dessert beer ever.
 
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So Alpha did you come to a conclusion as to the best beer to drink to not get you sick?? At lease one that us inferior lay people can get our hands on?? :D



LOL, I'm not sure what you mean? Any beer in enough quantity will get you sick!

Are you talking about those who get day-ruining migraines from drinking A beer?
 
LOL, I'm not sure what you mean? Any beer in enough quantity will get you sick!

Are you talking about those who get day-ruining migraines from drinking A beer?

Welllll.... you were talking about the beers that are better quality and all that B vitamin stuff. I used to be able to drink beer like crazy. After having kids and not drinking barely at all I seem to be a big ***** now when it comes to drinking. At the moment Patron is the only thing that seems to not make me sick, but really not the thing I wanna sit down at night and relax too. My main problem is it making me sick to my stomach, so I know it's not likely, but if I were too slowly start drinking a little at a time to get my stomach a little tougher if there something you would suggest to ease into it again. :dunno::dunno::shots::cheers: