What beer are you drinking now? #118

Got off work at midnight and went to the bar with the lady friend for a little bit and had a couple NB Ranger IPAs(that was the best they had on tap). Came home and now enjoying a couple of these:

Cheers everyone!!

 

my reward early this morning after getting my first -

 

At my buddies house last night, he got some of this in the mail.... Hopefully he'll share one (or six) with me

 

A couple of these very late last night after getting off work.


Cheers everyone. Have a great weekend.

 

Benefits of being a teacher. Off for Presdients weekend!

Founders Breakfast Stout with a nice egg and cheese sandwich!

 

Took the day off for my birthday today so I figured I'd get a jump start on the night. What else would I drink today! (I like to think it was made especially for me). Second glass is for my twin sister. Cheers all

 

Happy birthday dude!

 

I thought this might be of interest to some on here. This is an example of how the Swedish macro companies are getting "crafty" in the face of increasing sales of imported craft beer, primarily American such. Spendrups which is the second largest brewer (behind the Swedish division of Carlsberg) created a separate brand, Pistonhead, under the pretend brewing name "Brutal Brewing" in 2010 and managed to get several product launches into the monopoly stores (the only retail channels for beer above 3.5% in Sweden) since then. This is one of their current offerings available in about half of the some 400 monopoly stores in Sweden. It's a pale lager, using only pilsner malt, and using Cascade and Amarillo hops for late hopping and dry hopping (I'm assuming they are using a German hop for the first hop addition to boost the bitterness, their normal range of lagers makes use of hop extract and German hop pellets). It sits at 4,9% abv and has 33IBU with a nice bitterness and a distinct citrusy taste from the American hops used. Spendrups is obviously a lager brewery which brews according to the basic interpretation of the reinheitsgebot, meaning no adjuncts. But this is their response to the challenge from the craft breweries by combining their lager brewing, pale malts and relatively low abv (5% or below for the Pistonhead range), with American hops and some more unconventional label designs to get your attention.

I think it works really well if you want a lager with a decent bitterness (33IBU, similar to a modern day German pilsner compared to most Swedish lagers which are around 20 IBUs) with a rather dry malt body and a nice American hop note (nothing like an American IPA but more along the lines of a Samuel Adams Boston Lager or Brooklyn Lager, only with a juicy American hop bouqet instead of a European floral such). They are definitely on to something here. I've been reading about Budweiser Black Crown and I can't help but compare it and contrast it (and other similar attempts by the big American breweries) against what's going on over here. The same dynamic is obviously at work, but in my opinion the Swedish brewers have come up with a more effective response to the challenge from craft beer than their American counter-parts. They seem to be prepared to push the boundaries a bit more, perhaps due to different starting points (the mainstream American beer being an adjunct lager of 12IBUs and the mainstream Swedish beer being an all-malt lager with 20+IBUs).

 

Happy Birthday!

Turns out it's my birthday today too! I took the day off work. I had a Widmer Old Embalmer for breakfast, and now my brother and I are heading to World of Beer Raleigh to spend an afternoon working through the taps!

 

Hungry on the way home from court. Sonoma burger and duck fat fries. Southern Star Old Potentate.

 

Mexican coke right now. Got a lil too tipsy last night and trying to work off a bourbon hangover.

 

Too early for a Breakfast Stout? Don't think so

 

Happy Birthday brother and have one for me!

 

Moving onto this. Very good beer. Thanks Hanzo!

 

About to start my first Ten Fidy. Although usually a hophead, I have begun to enjoy RIS more and I can't wait.

 

45 degrees in NH, more snow tomorrow, first run in a month, I'll take it. Hell, even try an organic beer!

 

Thought this would be a good accompanyment to my goodcents. Unfortunately, it tasted like a BMC product to me. I won't say that it was awful, but a disappointment for sure in comparison to all the other brews from this brewery. Scratch this recipe and start over.