My wife used to swear by Newcastle until she started tasting some alternatives. First she hooked up with a brown ale from Avery (I've had really good stuff from that brewery) and now she has an infatuation with Downtown Brown from Lost Coast Brewery.

By the way, supposedly Newcastle adds some kind of caramel coloring made from carcinogens. After she read that, I'm sure she'll never have another.

SLOTerp wrote:First she hooked up with a brown ale from Avery

And you're OK with that???

SLOTerp - fully agree on the petty arguing. What does it matter if people like beer from small brewers, or call it 'craft'? What does it matter if people prefer mass produced lagers? Generally, I like good beer, which is admittedly a subjective judgements.

Last night I had a couple of pints of Hobgoblin, by Wychwood, which is a ruby ale, with fairly strong malty flavours and not too hoppy. This is the beer that David Cameron gave Obama, who remarked that he would chill it to drink, which is frankly a sin, and spawned the slogan "what's the matter, Obama, afraid you might taste something?" (the usual tagline is aimed at 'lagerboy').

Agreed on making beer too cold, but too warm is worse. And for those who do not think so, think about it, take even a crap beer and make it cold enough and it will be a lot more tolerable. Then do a taste test comparing what you think is not so good and a good one, make both VERY cold and no doubt the difference between the two is lessened significantly!

That being said, I think I do like my beer colder than Danivon probably likes his? But no, not too cold! (unless it's bad beer, then frosty is a must!)

It isn't really that subjective, basically there's a hierarchy (in progressive order) of good beer and it goes: (1) any Beer, (2) IPA, (3) Double IPA, (4) Triple IPA, (5) Aged Imperial Stout (6) Lagavulin.

I don't drink beer at room temp, but cask ale is best at cellar temperature. Lager tastes awful when not chilled. Ale tastes better cool, but not if it is poor quality (in which case chilling it hides the flaws).

edit - and thinking on it, Tom makes the point for me. Yes, poor beer becomes more bearable when it's cold. But that's not an excuse for drinking poor beer (or cold beer). Good beer that you enjoy when cool is a sign of good beer - making it cold masks the good tastes .

What's your take on ultra premium beers like this Deschutes aged imperial stout called The Abyss going for $30 per 22oz bottle @ 11%abv, that's probably three servings at $10 a piece.

Neal Anderth wrote:What's your take on ultra premium beers like this Deschutes aged imperial stout called The Abyss going for $30 per 22oz bottle @ 11%abv, that's probably three servings at $10 a piece.

Well, I think they can be lovely, but can also be an expensive wash-out. There used to be a brewery in Dorset called Eldridge and Pope, who made a 12% bottled beer called Thomas Hardy Ale in a nip bottle (c. 1/3 of a pint) which could be bought at two prices. If you bought it in the year it was brewed, it was about the price of a normal bottle of beer, but you had to store it for at least 12 years for it to be ready to drink. If you bought it ready to drink (and that was very hard to find), it cost a lot more...

My dad has a few bottles left now, for special occasions. When you open one, the whole house will be pervaded by a sweet chocolate smell, and it's very thick when pouring (and you really do not want the sediment, so it has to be chilled and stored upright in the days before drinking, and then gently let warm up to cellar temperature.

But if you don't like them, it may seem like a waste of time or money.

MY take (you asked our opinions)
Too expensive to possibly waste money on. If I like the brew, it's so expensive that I will likely never buy it again anyways, so why bother if it's not to my liking? Instead I would rather buy 15 different bottles for the same price (Beers of the World store nearby sells individual bottles for "about" $2 each (depending on the beer some are less some are more but that seems to be the average) this allows me a LOT more experimenting than wasting good money on only one beer.

I'll probably try one at some point but I have no experience with them. I don't agree with your belief, Tom, that it would be a waste of money wether you liked it or not. Should I not go on an Alaskan cruise (insert whatever luxury you like here) because even if I like it I would probably never do it again?

Anyway, I had a few new beers in a sampler this evening at dinner:

Alagash White Ale. I've been meaning to try this for years. An outstanding wheat beer - possibly the best of that style I've ever had.
Left Hand Milk Stout. Very good but not quite 'deep' enough.
Hopulent by Epic Brewing. A very nice double IPA though not as complex as others I've had.
The fourth was a winter brew but I can't remember the brewery - it was on a rotating tap, thus not on the menu. Also very good.

GMTom wrote:MY take (you asked our opinions)
Too expensive to possibly waste money on. If I like the brew, it's so expensive that I will likely never buy it again anyways, so why bother if it's not to my liking? Instead I would rather buy 15 different bottles for the same price (Beers of the World store nearby sells individual bottles for "about" $2 each (depending on the beer some are less some are more but that seems to be the average) this allows me a LOT more experimenting than wasting good money on only one beer.

I don't think it should be that reductive. I have a couple of bottles of Black Sheep's Progress waiting to try, which was pretty expensive but I want to try it.

As a whisky drinker (and a whiskey drinker), I don't avoid the premiums simply because they cost too much to try.

Sometimes you really do get what you pay for. Stepping outside your comfort zone is a good thing, it broadens the mind and the palette.

I agree with everything said to a degree. The Alaskan cruise example is a good one.. I'm simply saying that MY opinion is that maybe I would rather spend that same money going on a dozen weekend getaways than the one cruise. is that wrong or is that one persons view? Yours is certainly not wrong and if you want to try such an expensive brew...knock yourself out! That's awesome, really it is.
Danivon made the best point, get out of your comfort zone and try something different now and then. I do experiment with many different varieties and different brands, I would prefer greater quantity than restricting my budget to fewer choices. But either way, we all like to experiment to a degree, try something a couple times, if you don't like it, move on but keep experimenting!

I love Tom's middle of road consistency, no poor brews no rich man's either. I suppose I'd agree that you should go with the best you can easily afford, with making the allowance for special occasions.

and I agree Beer is a good place where you can probably afford an occasional splurge, an affordable luxury? I just picked up a six pack of Eliot Ness that I think is going to pair quite well with my turkey on Thursday. So what, a sixer costs about a buck more? So what if it cost twice the price if I really liked it? same with your $30 beer (too expensive for me to bother with but I have no problem if you think of it as an affordable luxury, good for you if you do.)

So for the purpose of disclosure, to this point I've not afforded myself the luxury of a $30 bottle of beer.