Recommend a Mind-Changer

Best Belgian IPA out there imo is Ale Asylum Bedlam. I'm not a huge fan overall- but that one will blow your mind!

 

Long Strange Tripel from boulevard. excellent and very fruity tripel

I've never had a Faro that I liked [/QUOTE]
Drie Fonteinen Faro- I haven't had it but the reviews are good and Drie Fonteinen is gold. Or homebrew your own. We all know Lindeman's barely counts.

I want a non-barrel aged barleywine recommendation. Had Gratitude, MOAS, backburner, vermonster, flying mouflan, bigfoot, old guardian, blithering idiot, monster, mirror mirror, horn dog.

Gratitude, Mirror Mirror, MOAS, and flying mouflan were decent- but I can't say I liked them...

Change my mind.

 

Non-barrel aged barleywine suggestions:
Avery Hog Heaven
Central Waters Kosmyk Charlie’s


I don’t like Witbiers as I find them too bland.

My highest rated ones so far are Hitachino Nest and DFH Namaste – but I would not consider either a major fav of mine. Change my mind

 

Try DarkHorse Perkulator coffee doppelbock. Lots of bitter coffee there with low sweetness for the style.

I am still looking for a milk stout that I actually enjoy. I have given up on styles like rauchbier, tripleIPA, and sours for now, but I like most other stouts quite a lot, just not any of the milk stouts yet. Suggest a milk stout (not LeftHand) and I'll give it a try.

 

Le sad.

 

Try So.Tier Iniquity, or try Saranac BlackForest (technically schwarzbier, not sure if it's lager or ale, but it's a nice basic black beer that has an agreeable taste profile).

 

+1 vote for the Perkulator. Not my favorite doppelbock by a long margin, but I'm a fanboy of the sweet malt. It adds a decent chunk of coffee bitterness. If you can handle sweetness if there's some spice flavors along, Autumnal Fire by Capital is pretty decent - doppelbock meets Oktoberfest.

I'm also in the hatred of APA / IPA / DIPA crowd. I've had SNPA, and it tasted like perfume. I've had Arctic Panzer Wolf less than a week old, and it tasted like perfume. I've had Boulevard 80 Acre, Burning River, Two Hearted - one guess what those tasted like to me. (For that matter, Storm King was the worst stout I ever tried, and I even think the SN Vienna Lager was verging on undrinkably hoppy.) So, mind changer on the APA / IPA / DIPA styles?

 

Victory Old Horizontal

 

...If you get Maine Beer in OH, try MO or Peeper (APAs). Both are not cloyingly-sweet (which i think is what you're getting at), but they also dont try to bash you with hop bitterness (which you prob also would want). They are perfect summer afternoon beers, in my book.

I can usually find redeeming beer in every style, so this is a difficult exercise. That being said...hmm...any winter warmer recommendations? Looking for a less-spiced offering this season to expand my horizons.

 

24 months also applies.

 

Cuz Robert the Bruce and other Scottish ales like our local Kilt lifter are closer to Brown ales than Scotch ales like dirty bastard and other and way better tasting imho

 

"Sours/Wild Ales/Farmhouse" I have tried a few different, "good ones..." and still can't seem to finish them (usually). I did finish Consecration.

 

Schlafly Pumpkin
ST Warlock. It is a Stout with pumpkin but drinks a lot like a pumpkin ale wit that extra kick from the stout.

Oude Gueze Tilquin. Totally changed my mind on sours. A bit expensive but absolutely worth it.

Also, HF Dorothy. Obviously hard to find but sometimes Ginger Man in NYC gets a keg or two of it.

Founders Red's Rye IPA if you can find it when it comes out. Amazing brew.

 

The least spicy winter warmer I've come across lately is the MadTree Thundersnow. Subtle spices with some pine. I have no idea how far outside this city they distribute, though.

 

I have yet to be amazed by Flemish sours, regardless if it is a red or an oud bruin. I've had Duchess, Petrus Oud Bruin, Madame Rose, Ommegang Zuur, Jolly Pumpkin La Roja, and De Dolle Oerbier. Yes, I know how it's classified here, but Oerbier has a Flemish souring culture imbedded in their house yeast. I would more or less put Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza in the same group.

So yeah, Flemish sours, be they red or brown. Convince me.

Best advice I can give you two here is to find the freshest batch of two or three barleywines that are easy to find, keep them around for a few years, and then try them side-by-side with the most recent batch of those beers. Because (and this is going to stir the pot a bit, but whatever) I'm sorry but a pretty good chunk of barleywines are almost objectively not good when they are first released. Not by any means all of them, but a pretty high percentage.

For easy-ish to find English barleywines I would go with Arcadia Cereal Killer, Anchor Old Foghorn, and North Coast Old Stock Ale***. I've never had fresh Cereal Killer so I can't say how that tastes, but aged it tastes like a somewhat average English barleywine. Old Foghorn is a rare one that most people probably prefer fresh. Old Stock Ale is pretty much the poster child for US cellar-worthy beers; fresh it tastes like a somewhat average barleywine, but it ages significantly better than a lot of barleywines. As such, it is an excellent representation of what people look for in cellared barleywines. For each of these examples, try fresh and at two years.

American barleywines are much more obvious. If you didn't like Bigfoot or Old Guardian then I would recommend Bell's Third Coast Old Ale (not to be confused with Third Coast Beer), Dogfish Head Olde School, and Victory Old Horizontal. Same procedure as above, fresh and at two years.

Boulevard Harvest Dance, fresh bottles should be on the shelves soon (it's an autumn release). My second suggestion would be Perennial Heart of Gold.

I don't blame you for being wary of the style if Smuttynose was your first exposure...horrible representation of the style. And just not a good beer anyway.

Well, if we were going to split hairs I think you could throw Harvest Dance into the same boat...pretty sure it's between 3% and 8% oats.

Smoked malt in imported Scotch ales is unheard of, it's more common in the U.S. but even American brewers normally don't use beechwood smoked malt in their Scotch ales. If that was your only objection to Old Chub then I would go right ahead and try Hoppin' Frog Tilted Kilt.




***this website and a good chunk of beer enthusiasts are jointly married to the fiction that old ales and English barleywines are vastly different. However, the recipe for Old Stock is pretty much a clone for J.W. Lees Harvest Ale, ergo Old Stock is a barleywine. End of.

 

Midnight Sun T.R.E.A.T. ... Basically Xocoveza with some subtle pumpkin.

Firestone Walker Pivo Pils!

If you wander down to NYC, go to Singlecut in Queens and try their Kim Lagrrr. Great berliner weisse.


I wish I could say their was a style I don't like, but I can't seem to think of one. I love all beer like I love all women.

I will say I find ambers dreadfully boring and haven't found a mead I've liked yet.

 

That's the one I have!

 

Rodenbach Grand Cru, Rodenbach Caractere Rouge, Lost Abbey Red Poppy, Jester King RU-55, The Bruery Oude Tart, Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge.

My question for you would be do you just not like sour beer, or is there something specific about Flemish sours that you aren't fond of?

 

I had Cracker and really did not like it.

However, I will give St Bernardus Witbier a whirl - thanks.