Stouts in California

Willetized & High Westified from Lagunitas are tip-top. How they made those then 6 packs and now 4 packs for under $20 is an anomaly.

 

I really wish Stone would re-release IRS in canned 6 or 4-packs. Loved it both fresh and aged. In the meantime, I still pick up a sixer Bell's Expedition Stout when I can.

One stout I wish would get re-released is Courage Imperial Russian Stout. Bought a lot of it the last time it was released in 2012, but sadly it hasn't been rebrewed.

On a recent trip to Sweden, I was finally able to tick this beer (excuse the shitty photo, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time masking out my companions):

 

Speaking of European examples, I've been super impressed by everything (all dark) that I've tried from Pohjala, from Estonia. I've never seen their stuff on the west coast but it's not super rare back east and I don't frequent big city bottle shops in CA. Ask your favorite shop.about them, their stout and Porter game is absolutely tip top

 

It's fun going on trips and learning about breweries I've never heard of. Had this imperial stout at some small venue in Gothenburg where I caught a psych rock show:



Before I made it out to Europe a couple of years ago, I had this ignorant perception that there wasn't much movement in the craft scene, but I was clearly mistaken. I was impressed by what I had at many of the places I visited. If I recall correctly, I even had some Russian imperial stouts from a Russian brewery while I was visiting Berlin.

 

I've seen a few shops carry their stuff: K&L and The Cellar in Whittier... Just have to look

 

Ya I haven't spent time in many socal shops. I'd just say they're stuff is step above prairie and two steps over mikeller, so for those who like stout flavors over cake flavors they are well worth the occasional treat

 

This thread reminds me of when I was a poor student and just discovering craft beer. I largely stuck to the $6.99 ($5.99 on sale!) 6-packs but there were so many good ones. My favorites:

Sierra Nevada Stout
Deschutes Black Butte Porter / Obsidian Stout / Jubelale*
Kona Pipeline Porter
Trader Joe’s Stockyard Stout
Lost Coast 8-Ball Stout
Alaskan Winter Ale* (not a stout, but as a fan of darker/heavier beers back then, it fit the bill)

When I was feeling a bit more spendy, I treated myself to a $3.99 bomber of Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout at Trader Joe’s. (Although it’s probably the best deal ever for this kind of beer, at nearly 2x the price per oz. of a $5.99 6-pack, I had to ration these carefully! )

For a BA Stout (not a budget or mass-distributed one, although not terribly expensive for the style), I’ll throw in a plug for Progress Fat Henry Bourbon BA Stout.

 

BLACK TUESDAY!!!

 

Opened my first 2019 bottle recently, for fresh Black Tuesday I thought it was pretty smooth.

I'm also sitting on a 2015-2020 Parabola vertical, but I know it goes back to at least 2012 and I have a pipe dream of somehow collecting them all and having a 10 year vertical someday.

 

Everyone has different opinions, but we did a group vertical on FW beers and generally agreed that Parabola falls off after 5 years. I’d drink the 2015 sooner rather than later, and would not worry about prior years.

 

Different strokes for different folks. We (4 guys, 2 of which are brewers) did a 5 year vertical and unanimously the 2015 was liked best. Well enough to go out and grab bottles of 2015 and 2014. Haven't opened them yet, maybe the 2014 will prove your experience true for us too. TETO

 

I think we mostly agree since we were just before the 5 year mark / supposed falling off point when we tasted the 2015. Let me know how the 2014 compares.

 

I had a ton of 2015. But my last bottle I drank in 2018, was showing that it was past its prime. I really enjoy parabola. So I dont age parabola at all. I buy only when I'm ready to drink.

 

I wish FIS was the same before it was disto’d here. I don’t like it at all now. Last year my liquor store had a stack of Yeti at like $2.99 a can. I crushed a bunch. Great beer.

 

Curious, what do you think is different? I'd say it started more edgy on flavor profile initially, but it rounded into form nicely after a month or two for my palate and preferences.

 

I'm curious what you think changed as well? It still strikes me as a nice big stout built to age a bit

 

Early stout go-to's were Port Brewing's Santa's Little Helper & Anderson Valley's Oatmeal stout. The latter drunken me would pair with Mother's Taffy cookies...

Now I guess it's just barrel aged stouts & whatever format of HPB GJG I can get heh.

Whenever their social media person does "guess what we're doing next" I'll suggest onyx but ofc hasn't happened yet. I figure it won't move nearly as fast as other IPAs but would be nice to have the option.

 

Well, it is nice to see that people still want this beer. It was not a very fast mover for us when we used to release it in bombers, but perhaps it was just the death of the bomber that played a role in this.

We have discussed doing it in cans and might revisit that idea come this winter.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

 

Double “LIKE” this idea. 16oz or 12oz cans would be perfect. There’s probably a few here that never had Class V stout. For me it was the perfect basic stout at 8.5%. Maybe release it the same time with Citra?