Nice beers i have had recently - Trappist, lagers, Ales et al.

[leadman]

This was the disappointment of the whole trip. Had to take a picture of what they offered and what was delivered. The hostess who served it was just as "light"! What was supposed to be their Xmas special the picture shows exactly how it was served, flat. And the taste was not much better. More like a lager topped up with alcohol to bring it up to 10%. From Bj's brewhouse in Reno. Avoid.

 

[leadman]

All i can say about this Bulgarian beer tasted in Plovdov, it was cold!

 

[AisleSeat]

Dragged this out the cellar today as I read other people who had it recently said it was getting past it's best.

Brewed at Nøgne Ø in Norway in 2013, then sent in port barrels to Australia, where it was bottled at Bridge Road Brewers.

Bridge Road made the same beer but called it Aurora Borealis, put it in whiskey barrels and sent it to Norway.

 

[leadman]

Tried the local Florida ale and its not a bad. Funky Buddha is a local brewery here with a few trendy beers. The Floridian which is a hefewiezen is a quite decent drop, worth going back the bar for (which i did!). Its not "dry on the mouth" like some can be, but a touch sweet (not like a witte beer though). i think the head again is due the the way some of these bars wash their glasses, but the staff just don't seem to show much care, but still have their hand out for their tip!

 

[leadman]

Well its Superbowl weekend, just been across the Walmart and $15 gives me a good selection for the game. Will report on each as they go down!

 

[leadman]

Well the first one has been knocked over! The Sidecar orange IPA from Sierra Nevada. I was thinking of a blend between an IPA and a witte, but the alcohol blew it away at 6.8%! This is getting up there with the Belgium's. To be honest, i could not tell it was and IPA, not overly hopped, but you can tell it was high in alcohol. If anything easy drinking, light on aftertaste and easy drinking. Probably too easy as i dont think you could have a heavy night on it. Worth tracking down.

 

[leadman]

The second one has followed the first. Quite different than the first, but again high in alcohol, 6.6%. I found it a little out-of-balance with the taste but its the rye coming through. Its the first rye beer i think i had, so i might wait until i open the second one to make a firm comment.

 

[leadman]

Number 3 out of the box was the Tropical Torpedo, another 6%+ alcohol. This was not over-hopped like many of the new IPA's but i found it fresh, crisp and no long bitter aftertaste. The alcohol content was not overpowering either and it was a quite balanced beer.

 

[leadman]

Number 4 of the Superbowl beer sampler was the Helles in the Tropics. To be honest I'm no expert on Helles as I've just thought they were lagers and this has not convinced me otherwise. Fresh, yes, light, yes, and a bit hoppy but at 4.8% alcohol there was nothing to want to go back to this beer. I would rate this the lowest of the sampler pack

 

[Ausbt]

Here's an amber ale from CA which I became very acquainted with at a bar in Alta, UT recently. Immensely enjoyable caramel hop flavours and running out at 5.8% ABV.

 

[leadman]

Well i have to finish of the "Sampler" pack from Sierra Nevada before i go to too many new beers. I feared that this one was going to be far too hoppy, but was pleasantly surprised. Colour was a good indicator that it was past the lager type, and quiet easy on the mouth with no great hop aftertaste. Enjoyable at 4.6% alcohol

 

[leadman]

The last of the batch was the "common" Pale Ale which is always a nice drop, but i dont think comes close to our Coopers Pale ale. I did find this one on tap a few times and like always different from the bottle and i think better.

 

[AisleSeat]

From the cellar because I had a taste for it.
Malty, bitter and chewy. Some cheese and crackers to go with it as it's a bit much on its own.
9.6%

 

[AisleSeat]

It's Stout Day today so I decided to crack this one open and see how it's doing.

So smoooooth. The maple is upfront and all over it. Still very boozy, but it's not obvious anymore.

 

[AisleSeat]

Imperial lime gose, brewed with agave and aged in tequila barrels.
10.6%

I can describe in two ways:

• It's like a beery margarita, like when you see bottles of coronas upside down in a margarita
• It's also like strong lime cordial, but very alcoholic.

 

[leadman]

Its been some time since I've posted anything, a bit of a personal self-imposed exile after some of the debate on a few threads during the last election. But beer has brought me out, good old beer what can it not do!!!!!!! I've stored a lot of pic's up over the recent months but i do like this one especially. From memory it was USD8 but the name got me. "Merci Pierre" i can take a very very strong guess its a thank you to Pierre Celis who in the 1960's kept alive the Belgian Witte Beer in a little village called Hoegaarden. This is a very good one to commemorate the man.

 

[leadman]

This one to me was a classic, not because of the beer, but by the alcohol content 4.91%, are you kidding 2 decimal places! The beer itself was not bad a bit like a Toohey's old but a bit lighter in burnt character. Not bad for San Miguel.

 

[dairyfloss]

I’ve only just found this thread on AFF, but I actively participate in a number of other forums on craft beer, and mainly do so through the Untappd app, which has been a godsend to craft beer tragics like me when travelling and travelling abroad for finding goodness, particularly when faced with the domestic standards in Asia and elsewhere, vs. a huge array of excellent beers found in lesser known venues, and either brewed locally, or imported for those with a taste for it.

Case in point 1 (I hope of many) , is me sitting on the terrace at Windmills Craftworks In Whitefield, Bangalore, drinking brewed on-site, world class IPAs and Hefeweizens, whilst the majority of travelers hide in their rooms or at their hotel bars, drinking Kingfisher ‘Premium’ and the inevitable euro-under-licence fizzy swill.

Hopfully yours,
Matt.

 

[leadman]

Case in point 1 (I hope of many) , is me sitting on the terrace at Windmills Craftworks In Whitefield, Bangalore, drinking brewed on-site, world class IPAs and Hefeweizens, whilst the majority of travelers hide in their rooms or at their hotel bars, drinking Kingfisher ‘Premium’ and the inevitable euro-under-licence fizzy swill.

Hopfully yours,
Matt.

Was in Bangalore just before Christmas and stayed at the Sheraton. Went to their rooftop bar (at the World Trade Centre) with an Indian colleague. I ordered a craft Weisse, name escapes me, but the waiter brought out a different beer. After some discussion the reason given was the beer was "out of date"! After a 15 minute "discussion" which they even got the GM involved we were allowed to have one, which was very nice. It was over by a month from the date on the bottle and i explained to them if it was a lager i would not touch it (even if it was in date!) but an ale should be no problem. Over the course of the night we polished the stock of 10 off and when the bill came the beer was free as they could not charge for out of date goods.......

 

[dairyfloss]

Was in Bangalore just before Christmas and stayed at the Sheraton. Went to their rooftop bar (at the World Trade Centre) with an Indian colleague. I ordered a craft Weisse, name escapes me, but the waiter brought out a different beer. After some discussion the reason given was the beer was "out of date"! After a 15 minute "discussion" which they even got the GM involved we were allowed to have one, which was very nice. It was over by a month from the date on the bottle and i explained to them if it was a lager i would not touch it (even if it was in date!) but an ale should be no problem. Over the course of the night we polished the stock of 10 off and when the bill came the beer was free as they could not charge for out of date goods.......

If you end up back in that area again, the Sheraton Brigade Gateway isn't far by car/auto to what I reckon is the best brewpub in Bangalore - Arbor Brewing Company (ex. Michigan). From there you can also walk to another couple of joints as well.

Cheers,
Matt.