The Beer Thread

Maximus is one of the most over the top hoppy beers I've ever had. No thanks.

Whenever I see a New Belgium Lips of Faith brew available, I order it. Always a unique taste. A bar had Yuzu on tap and I tried it last night. Damn delicious.

The definitive top 10 IPAs, as chosen by a hopped-up panel of beer writers

Bell's Two Hearted is indeed top notch. Never tried Blind Pig. Gonna have to pick some of that up somewhere.

Firestone Union Jack is my go-to IPA right now, perfectly crafted West Coast IPA. Ballast Point Sculpin is also amazing but harder for me to find, and when I do it is usually only in 22s.

Unfortunately Russian River pulled its distribution to WA so I haven't had a chance to try any of their beers.

opiate82_sl said:

Ballast Point Sculpin is also amazing but harder for me to find, and when I do it is usually only in 22s..

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common around here. wanna do paypal for a case?

Azeth_sl said:

common around here. wanna do paypal for a case?

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Appreciate the offer but I am trying to go 100% homebrew right now. Have around 25 gallons of it in some form of conditioning and/or carbing up at the moment. Finally got my process down to where I can make what I consider a commercial quality brew. In theory I should save a lot of money vs buying commercial, that is assuming I don't make any more equipment purchases which is highly unlikely.



Couple of interesting article about beer, first is discussing theinevitable craft beer bubble burst.

But even such a healthy rise in consumer demand won't be enough to sustain the many new breweries jumping into the marketplace. For every Alchemist, there are numerous small breweries turning out solid product that will never see a profit. In 2012, more than 400 were launched, for a total of more than 2,400 nationwide. Meanwhile, another 1,500 were in the planning stages - an amount equal to all the new independent breweries that came online between 1996 and 2012.

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And here is a theory on why "experienced" beerdrinkers prefer stronger and/or hoppier beers.

There are two factors at play, he says. One is taste-fatigue: The more beer you drink, the more you need a strong beer to keep interested. The other element is social conformity. Once the group has decided that strong tastes are superior, then everyone in the group feels the need to conform to that.

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The second point he makes about needing hops is what happened to me. Most bars have at least one decent hoppy offering, they are a lot easier to come by than a good stout or porter, so I forced myself to acquire a taste.

Alex_sl said:

Bell's Two Hearted is indeed top notch. Never tried Blind Pig. Gonna have to pick some of that up somewhere.

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I always find 2 Hearted not hoppy enough. And I'm a fiend for super dry and hoppy IPA. Surprised to see two people rank Torpedo as #1.

Lists are always going to be subjective; I would like to see Stone IPA and New Belgium Ranger higher up, but what are you gonna do... Sculpin definitely belongs in the top 3, that shit is boss.

Lol I just noticed Goose Island IPA above Stone

pemulis_sl said:

Torpedo is way overrated

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It's OK, but not deserving of any "best of" list.

IPAs are so fucking hipster.

Troll_sl said:

IPAs are so fucking hipster.

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Not really. IPAs are now way too mainstream for hipsters. Hipsters in my area are all about sours and meads now.

Good hopefully the hipster momentum will cause mead to not be so fucking expensive and more mainstream. Love some mead.

Tenks_sl said:

Good hopefully the hipster momentum will cause mead to not be so fucking expensive and more mainstream. Love some mead.

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Same thing with sours. Sours are goddamn delicious.

Khane_sl said:

Same thing with sours. Sours are goddamn delicious.

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Can't say I've ever had one!