The Beer Thread

[JL21]

Which area did you move to, JL? DC area or actual Baltimore proper? Either way, there are two Total Wine stores (one in northern Baltimore, the other in between Baltimore and DC). If you've not been to one of them yet, you really owe it to yourself to go to one. Future Mrs. Swirls and I call it Mecca for a reason. http://www.totalwine.com

I've mentioned it in this thread before - 2k types of wine and 1k types of beer. Tons and tons of spirits also.

I'm DC area, in Maryland but about a block away from the District. My go-to has become Rodman's, and there's another great place down on Connecticut. I've found a LOT of great places to buy beer, but I always wonder how long the product has been sitting on the shelves. Because I see these really awesome/unique products, but I don't get the feeling that DC is a huge beer town. Prime example: I found a Perennial 17 Mint Chocolate bomber a few weeks back. That's great and all… but I don't think Perennial's had that in their rotation for about a year now.

[33anda3rd]

There should be a bottled-on date on that Perennial. Even if it's 2 years old, as a high-gravity stout I'd snatch that puppy up. I'd probably grab two, drink one now and put the other in a cool dry place for another year or two and then open it up and see how it aged.

And I agree with your assessment, 33. It kind of makes them less "special" in that they don't swing for the fences with wacky experimental products, but they've carved out a solid/simple niche and they fill it well.

The single best thing about drinking beer in Chicago and the Midwest in general is the amount of experimental stuff we get and the variety that drives. It follows the pattern of restaurants. NYC and SF and LA chefs could never open places like Schwa, 42 Grams, EL Ideas, Goosefoot, Elizabeth--tasting-menu only and BYOB. In those other cities they'd have to have booze to make their rent, it's just too expensive. Here, real estate is cheap, so experimental happens. People take risks. Chefs move here to take risks and put their name on the door instead of going to NYC to work as a sous or CdC. Theater here is the same. Comedy. And beer. You can afford to take risks.

If you're drinking beer in San Diego you are 98% likely to be drinking a dank, resiny 8% IPA. That town, like Portland, is mostly a one-trick pony, beer-wise. Both of them are overrated as far as beer towns because of that. In the Midwest we have everything from Urban Chestnut (traditional German) to Metropolitan (mostly German lager styles) to Off Color (lost German styles like Zwickel and Gose), to New Glarus (fruit beers and lagers) to FFF (hop bombs) to Penrose and Perennial and Une Annee doing Belgians to Moody Tongue (food beers from a CIA-trained chef) and beyond. The sky is the limit. Solemn Oath says, "here's EIgengrau, our black Kolsch." Gotcha, let's taste. Fun. The variety here, because of the experimentation being done, is absolutely like nowhere else in the US. You cannot get better beer options than what's offered here.

if I'm getting a hoppy beer - I prefer it in summer.

If I'm having a hoppy beer in summer it's a session IPA. Firestone Easy Jack, Oskar Blues Pinner, or 21st Amendment Down To Earth. Generally, if I'm having a hoppy beer it's because I'm eating spicy food, Thai or Mexican, and I want the whack of hoppy bitterness to pull that oily heat off my tongue and reset my mouth a bit for the next bite.

Some stuff I'll probably crush a lot of this summer, from stuff I'll crush most to least:
Anderson Valley--They Kimmie, The Yink and the Holy Gose
Evil Twin--Nomader Weisse, Berliner Weisse
Off Color--Troublesome, Gose
Off Color--Fierce, Berliner Weisse
21st Amendment--Down To Earth, session IPA
Low-ABV, refreshing, dry sours for me most summers.

[JL21]

The Dogfish Head Polo Santo Marron is dangerously delicious.

[Jocephus]

The Dogfish Head Polo Santo Marron is dangerously delicious.

mikes hard lemonade dangerous?

[JL21]

I just drank a bunch of Perennial Sump on tap in DC. It was delicious, as always. I fully expect my pee to smell like coffee later.

[Vidor]

My sister-in-law will order a beer and pour a Sprite in it. To make it sweeter.

[haltz]

My sister-in-law will order a beer and pour a Sprite in it. To make it sweeter.

I used to do this all the time when I was younger. My first bartending gig when I was 21 had Newcastle on tap and I would mix it with sprite from time to time on a hot day.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shandy

[Freed Roger]

a list. 17 most sought saought after beers in a America

Abraxas, still never had. I've had access to Bells hopslam and let it pass. I have had 2 off the list, (I think). I don't always pay attention.

[33anda3rd]

There should be a study on how much of the internet exactly is "____ Best Burgers in ____" and "___ Most Rare Beers in ___." If you took away those and porn the internet would probably shrink by 6 billion percent.

The beers on that list that I've had and would go out of my way to get again are all stouts. The ones on the list that I've had and I am not very enamored with are all DIPAs.

[JL21]

There should be a study on how much of the internet exactly is "____ Best Burgers in ____" and "___ Most Rare Beers in ___." If you took away those and porn the internet would probably shrink by 6 billion percent.

The beers on that list that I've had and would go out of my way to get again are all stouts. The ones on the list that I've had and I am not very enamored with are all DIPAs.

I believe they're called listicles. Places like Buzzfeed have made them count as "journalism".

Agreed with your reaction, too.

In other news, 4 Hands is having a tap takeover in DC next week, which means I'm going to have access to 10 different 4 Hands products. Speaking with my bar manager friend, several of them are apparently hard to find even in STL.