What beer are you drinking now? #1497

hoping everyone's Thanksgiving was a success. enjoying some coffee now.

 

The Ale Apothecary • El Cuatro

 

Good Morning BA, have a great Friday! Hope everyone has recovered from yesterday's food overload. Stay safe out there if you choose to actually attempt to shop today for Black Friday. I will be waiting until tomorrow before I try to go out into the city.

2015 is still tasting amazing. Haven't seen any 2016 4 packs at all. Flavors of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, gingerbread, pie crust, caramel, brown sugar, and herbal hops. Balanced herbal hop/spice bitterness on the finish. Medium bodied with grainy/sticky balanced mouthfeel. Fairly drying spice finish. This is holding up great, I prefer it with some age anyways. Usually a bit too strong on spice when fresh. Still lots of spice and pie flavors now; but balanced with biscuity malts and not overwhelming on spice. I just bought another pack off the shelf last week.


Incredible old ale as always, Jan 2015 batch. Flavors of huge caramel, brown sugar, raisin, plum, fig, cherry, toasted oak, toffee, and molasses; with lighter notes of nutty biscuit, chocolate, and oaken vanilla. Light balancing earthy bitterness and oak spice on the finish. Creamy/silky medium-full body mouthfeel. Tons of well rounded complexity across the board. Very smooth sipping for the ABV, mild warming finish. I need to buy this more than I have been. I usually only buy a single 4 pack a year. I probably love it the most around 2+ years of age, but it is delicious regardless. Still plenty of this year's batch on the shelf right now, so I will definitely grab another. The older, the better.


Last 2014 I had in the cellar. This is tasting insane! Flavors of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, cream, molasses, toasted oak, bourbon, toffee, and light coffee/char/coconut; with some faint raisin/licorice fruitiness in the background. Balanced bittersweet roast and bourbon/oak spicy finish. Full bodied creamy/silky mouthfeel; with a bit of slickness and chalky roast. Light roasted dryness. The stout/barrel balance is completely amazing. Dangerously smooth, and not overly roasty/burnt on malt character. The double cream stout portion definitely softens the aggressive Expedition roast character, but the malt complexity in this is still amazing. Lots of barrel presence, but not boozy or overpowering.


This is an absolutely insane IPA. Flavors of bright tangerine, pineapple, grapefruit, peach, apricot, mango, melon, lemon zest, orange peel, and pine hops; with some toasted bread, light caramel malt; and floral/grassy hop earthiness. Moderate pine/citrus peel bitterness. Medium bodied, moderately crisp/dry finish. Balanced sticky/resinous hops and grainy/bready malts in the mouthfeel. Never astringent on bitterness. Absolutely amazingly vibrant on hops, with a crisp/clean finish for an IPA. Not too heavy on malts, has just the right balance to let the hops truly shine. This year's batch is top tier stuff. Refreshingly drinkable. Will definitely grab another bottle, only ~2 months old.


Cheers

 

WOW! That cake looks AWESOME!

 

Morning BA's

#OptOutside today, instead of the craziness that is Black Friday!

Will be hiking with my daughter today....great stuff!

Need some Shugga in the meantime!

 

Too much turkey and travel yesterday, so too tired to get to the 4 & 5 year old 120 last night. Coffee this drizzling am:



After running some errands for mom, we will hit the road back to Florida today. Next stop, friends in North Carolina. Cheers and hope all your chasing today pays off!

 

Went to a local bottle shop in AZ ISO of this. Had to go through three people and then the manager to get this out of their "lock up" and only a 1 can limit. I mean this beer is good and all but c'mon.



Really enjoying the morning sunrises here.

 

Cheers!!

 

My daughter bought a four pack of 2016. Waiting for my future son-in-law to arrive today before opening.

 

...!

 

I have never understood waiting in line for anything on Black Friday? Beer or otherwise. I have plenty of fantastic beers right now, no line needed

With my good friends Jim Harrison (signed first edition by the way, one of the coolest books in my collect) and Bill Evans...

 

A little Mexican Beer.

 

Happy Black Friday, all! A great dinner at work yesterday, then an impromptu bottle share with some friends last night. Dead soldiers included Deschutes Pinot Suave and 2015 The Abyss, 2016 Darkness, Ninja vs Unicorn, TG Hopsmack, Birthday Bomb!, BP Coconut VaS, and Central Waters BB Quad. I was barely able to drag myself out of bed for the Black Friday sale at HyVee W&S. I just missed out on a 2014 BCBS, but did grab a 2015 (from a non-infected batch, I was assured) and a Dragon's Milk Vanilla Chai. Now I need some coffee. My house, my rules. Rule Number One:


Pumpkin trifle from yesterday. Served in #ProperGlassware, of course.

 

Good morning



Zonker.
Cheers!

 

Happy Black Friday BA's! Or recovery day, as I like to typically call it . We stuffed ourselves, we consumed mass quantities of liquid awesomeness, and we pay the price today. Busy day at work friends, so I'll get to it right after I remind you all that it's Holiday Glassware Season, and so far we've seen some good ones, but keep them coming! The Staff loves to punish itself with extra hard work . It's time for the special edition Turkey Day Glass of the Day Awards!

TDGotD: With the most festively perfect post, and extensive usage of such fine ware, @SawDog505 for this pair of glitter and gold adorned chalice's filled with the most appropriate Thanksgiving Ale. Cheers and congrats on a great post !
2nd: To @meanmutt for busting out the Utopias and using this snifter with GOLD EMBOSSED DINOSAURS !
3rd: Bringing in dessert for us, and keeping it real in some proper mason jars, @Jaywalsh20 !

Honorable Mentions go out to @swolepeer for an O.G. Duck Duck Geuze glass that barely made it in the scene, and to @LloydDobler for this goblet on fire!
Cheers everyone, and I will see you all soon!

TDGotD.


2.


3.


HM1: https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...drinking-now-1496.467368/page-13#post-5126787

HM2: https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...-drinking-now-1496.467368/page-7#post-5126350

 

Dogfish Head Beer for Breakfast... oily, coffee, tasty!