A New Beer Thread

Enjoyed my first St. Bernardus Abt 12 quad today. It certainly won't be the last time I get it. Earlier in the week, I'd had their dubble, in which they use the same yeast as the Abt 12. I collected the yeast from the bottom of the bottle-conditioned beers and began my first attempt at capturing and growing a yeast from the bottle.

 

Good luck. I tried that a few times and never got a good propagation of yeast.
A group of us in my homebrew club are going to make historical beers soon. I plan on doing a Kentucky Common...which is a sour(ish) brown ale with corn and rye.

 

One of the guys in my old club back in Clarksville was able to build a pretty good bank of Conan at least twice. I just split the trub from my Heady clone into five jars.

I collected some of the yeast from a bomber of the quad and a 12 ouncer of their dubbel, Abt 4. I dropped my starter down to 1020. Tomorrow night, I will bump it up to 30. And if that works, I'll it it with a full 2L starter at 40.

Speaking of clubs, man I miss my old club (Thank god for facebook). There's no club at all to speak of. One dead FB page and a now defunct club in the big town 30 minutes south. The new micro there did say they had some interest in a new club and asked me to do a couple of demos with them, but I haven't heard back from them.

 

This thread hasn't been updated in a month in a half... I've been drinking but forgetting to post.

Two days ago, I had Laughing Dog De Aschte Hond (the eighth dog), which is an interesting sour beer. I find sour beers interesting - something you sip, not chug. Has a tartness to it that I really like. Also crisp and dry with oak.

Probably the second sour beer that I have had. I have forgotten what the first one was, but I had the same reaction - liked the tartness. Different.

 

OK, did a little digging and found the other sour beer that I have had: The Bruery Oude Tart. Made in red wine barrels for 18 months. Flemish-Style Red Ale.

I liked both of the sours. I didn't feel great the next morning though for some reason.

 

I've been on the wagon about seven weeks now, which is now the longest I've gone without a drink since I was about 7 years old.

Anyhow, I have a Midas Touch from Dogfish Head and an Elevated IPA from La Cumbre.
Both were Xmas gifts at the new job. Hoping to sample this weekend.

 

I currently have two of the top 10 beers I've ever brewed on tap. I have a Fuller's ESB clone and a Heady Topper clone (with their yeast). The Heady clone is as expected. Tons of aroma from the dry hop and late hops whirlpool. The ESB could be much, much better with a little water treatment (an area I'm admittedly lagging behind in), but it's still a damn great beer.

 

I've gone two-plus weeks without a drink because I have been sick. Can't wait for my day off tomorrow, heck, might crack into a homebrew when I get home tonight!

 

Sipping on Abita's dubbel right now. Not too shabby.

 

Had a bottle of Sankaty Light Amber. Sankaty Light is a lighthouse on Nantucket. I drank it out of respect for the impending blizzard that hit Nantucket, which took out all of the main power on the island for awhile. It is a light beer, only 3.8% ABV which is way low for me, but also only 126 calories.

The beer was fine - what you would expect from an amber - drinkable, but with a small bitter, hoppy aftertaste. Brewed on Nantucket, by Cisco Brewers.

 

Experienced my first Bell's Hopslam last weekend. Picked up a 6 (not an easy task), may be the most intense tasting experience I've ever had. Perfect example (for me) of a "Wow! That's amazing! What a great brew. Good lord, one was ENTIRELY enough!" experience.

 

I remember a few years back I cracked a fresh Hopslam open at about 10pm on a Tuesday evening, figuring I'd have one before calling it a night since I generally left the house for the office at 7am. At 1am I was finishing up the fifth from that sixer. That Wednesday was not a good day for me.

The ever-changing aura of Hopslam is what keeps it interesting. Different hop varietals every year bring out different tastes. I feel 2010 and 2011 were by far the best versions, serious pineapple, mango and tropical fruit goodness kicked you right in the face. The past several years, the hops have been more vegetal/floral/herbal and less fruity. Still a tasty beverage...