You Never Got a Reason, But You Put It On My Tab: New Drunk Thread

[diesel_powered]

Tonight I'm cracking a bottle of Stone's Old Guardian Barleywine style ale. Talk about a brewery you can set your fucking watch to. These guys are probably my #1 favorite brewery right now and this beer is no exception. At almost 12% ABV, you'd think this would have notes of antifreeze, but it goes down smooth as a baby's ass. It's got great bitterness (as if you'd expect anything less from Stone) and nice toffee malt without being sticky sweet like most malty beers I've tried lately. In general, a beautifully balanced beer.

[diesel_powered]

Someday, I'll have the space and the money to start cellaring my beer.

[YojimboMonkey]

enough money to be able to buy more beer than I can drink is not a goal, it's a pipe dream

[novaheat]

Tonight I'm cracking a bottle of Stone's Old Guardian Barleywine style ale. Talk about a brewery you can set your fucking watch to. These guys are probably my #1 favorite brewery right now and this beer is no exception. At almost 12% ABV, you'd think this would have notes of antifreeze, but it goes down smooth as a baby's ass. It's got great bitterness (as if you'd expect anything less from Stone) and nice toffee malt without being sticky sweet like most malty beers I've tried lately. In general, a beautifully balanced beer.

I always thought the Old Believer was, in fact, kind of sticky sweet. Not a bad beer by any means, but it's not my favorite from Stone. Speaking of them, they actually were kind of disappointing at the brew fest I went to last weekend. All they brought was Arrogant Bastard and Ruination IPA... both of which are really excellent beers, but I guess I was hoping that for the brew fest, they'd pull out all the stops and bring something really special. Alas, they didn't. Same with Rogue and Ninkasi (a local Eugene brewery that's pretty much the best thing on earth right now).

Then again, if all I can complain about is that Stone *ONLY* brought Arrogant Bastard, then things can't be too bad, right?

Actually, speaking of Ninkasi, they've got a beer called "The Believer" that tastes like a slightly less hoppy Arrogant Bastard. It's delicious. My favorite of theirs right now is "Oatis," which is, unsurprisingly, an oatmeal stout that is so dark it might as well be the cover of a Spinal Tap album.

[diesel_powered]

It does vary from year to year so this year's Old Guardian might be drier than previous years. The tasting notes on their website from the immediately previous years were so-so, so that seems to be consistent with what you're saying. And I mean... sticky sweet for me is like Abita's Turbodog or the Carlsberg brown ale I tried last night. Definitely not a fan of that one, way to heavy on the sugary malt for my taste, but I definitely prefer a drier, hoppier beer to something sweeter.

I've never had any of Ninkasi's brews. Perhaps we should organize some kind of beer exchange? I know there's plenty of people here who probably wouldn't mind kicking in $30 worth of what they can get in the hopes of getting some stuff they can't get. I've got excellent access to all the Michigan beers (although oddly enough, Hopslam seems to be as rare here as it is everywhere else...) New Holland makes some of my favorites.

[DCDave]

Last night was Rogue Mogul (4 kegs left before we get to the Charlie) --> Whiskey and Ginger --> Magic Hat #9.

The Whiskey and Ginger and Magic hats were all free. The Moguls were << $5

[Antero]

Try adding a couple dashes of bitters. Those tend to turn down the nasty sweetness of things.

That seems like a good idea.  I'm not sure how I failed to think of that.

[diesel_powered]

Ugh. Sluggish and shitty today. This is why I don't drink a lot anymore.

[YojimboMonkey]

I have a little bit of a headache myself.  I have a plan for combating this though.  (hint: the plan involves booze)

[The_Tourist]

visiting my second favorite wally in a little while... http://www.wallywine.com/s-2-beer.aspx

[diesel_powered]

My recovery plan involves a handful of daily vitamins, a protein shake, and water. And booze later.

[elpollodiablo]

Well, I was just looking at the bars around the hotel in Louisville which is hosting this conference I'm presenting at in early March.

"Makers Mark House of Bourbon (.2 mi)"

Oh. Yes.

[dieblucasdie]

"Central to Jameson's thesis is the assumption that hey MAN who the FUCK are YOU looking at?  Yeah, you'd BETTER leave."

[elpollodiablo]

"Central to Jameson's thesis is that his fine Irish whiskey should be enjoyed neat, with maybe like a fine cigar, maybe like a Montecristo or Macanudo or even a Cohiba if your tastes run that way"

"Bitch"

[coldforge]

I think a halfways-responsible review of the literature would demonstrate to any standard of doubt that Jameson is not nearly strong enough to stand up to a good cigar.

[elpollodiablo]

Yeah, I'm a total philistine when it comes to whiskey as you might have guessed. And I'm not very responsible either.

[Antero]

Try adding a couple dashes of bitters. Those tend to turn down the nasty sweetness of things.

That seems like a good idea.  I'm not sure how I failed to think of that.

Insufficient.  Ugh.

[alex]

Moving within walking distance to the Belgian border (and to a place where beers are generally either barely drinkable or Belgian) has reminded me that Catholicism is actually pretty neat, if only because all the best beers are made within monastry walls. Favourite discoveries since moving here: Sint Bernadus and La Trappe Triple. The latter is actually Dutch, thus providing a very notable exception to the qualitative superiority of Belgian beers.

Also, La Chouffe is still pretty damn tasty, and still has the best logo.

[El_Josharino]

Oh man dudes. Fish fry tonight was intense. We hunted down the microphone man to wish happy birthday to my buddy Steve. Also I drank many beers.

[diesel_powered]

You lucky bastard.

[Babar]

I had bail on drinking because I promised my cousin we'd watch Rocky movies tonight. It was tough. Tougher than Rocky.

[Thermofusion]

Does alcohol burn your trunk, Babar? 

[Babar]

Burn my what now?

[diesel_powered]

Oh snap.

[Thermofusion]

I hate knowing I've been pwned, but being too stupid to know how, or in what way.

Touché, mon Babar.  Touché.