ITT, Squiddy reviews beer.

[Jenne]

Ogod.  That reminds me.  My husband's colleague brought this back from UT:

(NSFW)

http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h183/Jenne73/?action=view&current=UTbeer.jpg

Under "Wasatch Beers" it says "Share One With the Wife!"

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

Made by Rogue brewery, they used roasted soba and specialty malts to give it a rich nutty flavor. That's what they say.
What do I say? It's dark but not heavy, reminds me of a porter with deep coffee and nutty flavors yet a crisp light finish. It's pretty nice, easy to drink (since it's only about 5%) and frankly I kinda like it.
Not bad Rogue, good job.

[Eater of Clowns]

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1978705,00.html

The beer set a new record by weighing in at a scary 32% alcohol-by-volume, over six times the strength of familiar domestic brands like Budweiser. As explained on a cheeky video on the company's website (warning: the clip contains simulated penguin sex)

In December BrewDog received a wrist-slap from a British alcohol regulatory body, the Portman Group, which ordered that retailers pull the company's 18.2% Tokyo beer brand off the shelves because of the its marketing tactics. A note on the Tokyo label says: "It is all about moderation. Everything in moderation, including moderation itself. What logically follows is that you must, from time, have excess. This beer is for those times." After the beer was pulled, BrewDog came out with a 1.1% alcohol by volume brew meant to tame the critics. Its name: Nanny State.

I'm not that interested in a 41% abv beer at $60 a bottle, but I am strongly compelled to support this dickheadedness.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

Heard about that one.
The liquor store up the street will be getting it soon as well as my favorite pub.
I won't pay $60 a bottle for it, but the pub owners slip us special shit every once in a while when they're feelin nice since we spend a lot of money there.
We may get lucky.

[Eater of Clowns]

So I bought a $23 (fnord) six pack with a small variety of brands I never got around to trying.  I'm halfway through and sharing just a few quick thoughts, mostly comparisons of one another, lest I forget.

Gulden Draak - very tasty, which I expected as I've heard such good things about it.  Not worth the price of admission in comparison to a few domestic Belgian-styles.  I don't have the sharpest taste so I can chalk it up to that.

Allagash White - I like Allagash but, surprise, I still don't like white ales even when they make them (Allagash Black is incredible).

Goose Island Pere Jacques - decent, but lacked a little something in the body as far as a well rounded taste goes

The other three are Allagash Double, Goose Island Belgian Style, and Duvel.  I'll get back here when I try them.

I've had a lot of different beers, but have only very recently begun to appreciate Belgian styles, so I'm in for a lot of fun learning and delicous times.  So far Gulden Draak is the tastiest, but like I said it's so freaking expensive ($18/4pack here) I'd rather settle for a better balance of taste and price - Ommegang Hennepin or Abbey Ale and pretty much the whole Unibroue line.

[Triple Zero]

Duvel is a fairly common special beer here. It's strong, and pretty good. Let me know how you like it It's supposed to be served in a special kind of glass for reasons of foam and nose aroma and all that, so if you got a glass that looks somewhat like it, use that:

http://images.google.com/images?num=100&q=duvel%20glas&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi

The pics show it's filled half foam and half beer. It's pretty hard to make it not come out like that, since it foams like a motherfucker. I, however like a bit less foam on my beer. Two fingers, but no less than that. You can achieve that by rinsing the glass thoroughly using a tiny drop of dishwash detergent (of course wash it out with lots of water), which you probably want to do with any glass you intend to serve beer in. Then you pour the beer carefully along the side of the glass while holding it diagonally. The clean and un-greased glass decreases friction, and the pouring style reduces splash. That way you get less foam. Pay attention to how much foam you get, if it's very little, pour the last bit of the bottle straight in, to get some splash and your 2 fingers of foam.
In fact there's a good chance that if you do not follow this procedure you get more foam than will fit in the glass. So pour it carefully either way.

[Eater of Clowns]

Duvel is a fairly common special beer here. It's strong, and pretty good. Let me know how you like it It's supposed to be served in a special kind of glass for reasons of foam and nose aroma and all that, so if you got a glass that looks somewhat like it, use that:

http://images.google.com/images?num=100&q=duvel%20glas&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi

The pics show it's filled half foam and half beer. It's pretty hard to make it not come out like that, since it foams like a motherfucker. I, however like a bit less foam on my beer. Two fingers, but no less than that. You can achieve that by rinsing the glass thoroughly using a tiny drop of dishwash detergent (of course wash it out with lots of water), which you probably want to do with any glass you intend to serve beer in. Then you pour the beer carefully along the side of the glass while holding it diagonally. The clean and un-greased glass decreases friction, and the pouring style reduces splash. That way you get less foam. Pay attention to how much foam you get, if it's very little, pour the last bit of the bottle straight in, to get some splash and your 2 fingers of foam.
In fact there's a good chance that if you do not follow this procedure you get more foam than will fit in the glass. So pour it carefully either way.

Unfortunately, I got this the morning after I poured my first Duvel.  I didn't sleep very well last night because I was cleaning up foam.  As soon as the beer hit the glass, it started reacting insanely, growing swiftly and violently.  I thought at first that the foam would subside so I continued pouring, but it grew and it grew.  Soon it had overwhelmed the glass I'd prepared for it and not long after that covered the entire counter.  Whatever came in contact with the foam then foamed itself, doubling, tripling its size.  I was awash in a sea of beer head.  It was a joyous occasion, I must say, for dream fulfillment purposes, but was a mess to clean up.  As I floated above this tidal wave of foam out my apartment and down the street I managed to find a tiny drop of crisp, clear Duvel, which I drank with relish.  I spent the last 8 hours cleaning it and explaining the event to my landlord and the firefighters who came to assist me.

Duvel - It's another one that's like $17/4pack here, and quite a bit lighter in body than I would have liked.  It would probably fit a hot summer day very well.  I'll have to come back to this one.

Thanks for the heads up Trip.   

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

I like Duvel. Kwak is another good one
Gulden Draak is one of my favs.

[Triple Zero]

Duvel is a fairly common special beer here. It's strong, and pretty good. Let me know how you like it It's supposed to be served in a special kind of glass for reasons of foam and nose aroma and all that, so if you got a glass that looks somewhat like it, use that:

http://images.google.com/images?num=100&q=duvel%20glas&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi

The pics show it's filled half foam and half beer. It's pretty hard to make it not come out like that, since it foams like a motherfucker. I, however like a bit less foam on my beer. Two fingers, but no less than that. You can achieve that by rinsing the glass thoroughly using a tiny drop of dishwash detergent (of course wash it out with lots of water), which you probably want to do with any glass you intend to serve beer in. Then you pour the beer carefully along the side of the glass while holding it diagonally. The clean and un-greased glass decreases friction, and the pouring style reduces splash. That way you get less foam. Pay attention to how much foam you get, if it's very little, pour the last bit of the bottle straight in, to get some splash and your 2 fingers of foam.
In fact there's a good chance that if you do not follow this procedure you get more foam than will fit in the glass. So pour it carefully either way.

Unfortunately, I got this the morning after I poured my first Duvel.  I didn't sleep very well last night because I was cleaning up foam.  As soon as the beer hit the glass, it started reacting insanely, growing swiftly and violently.  I thought at first that the foam would subside so I continued pouring, but it grew and it grew.  Soon it had overwhelmed the glass I'd prepared for it and not long after that covered the entire counter.  Whatever came in contact with the foam then foamed itself, doubling, tripling its size.  I was awash in a sea of beer head.  It was a joyous occasion, I must say, for dream fulfillment purposes, but was a mess to clean up.  As I floated above this tidal wave of foam out my apartment and down the street I managed to find a tiny drop of crisp, clear Duvel, which I drank with relish.  I spent the last 8 hours cleaning it and explaining the event to my landlord and the firefighters who came to assist me.

Duvel - It's another one that's like $17/4pack here, and quite a bit lighter in body than I would have liked.  It would probably fit a hot summer day very well.  I'll have to come back to this one.

Thanks for the heads up Trip.   

[NWC]

I like Duvel. Kwak is another good one
Gulden Draak is one of my favs.

I used to like Kwak, until one I had one that wasn't cold enough, and it tasted terrible. Now I just avoid it.

Duvel is good, but it doesn't compare to similar beers here IMO. It's a little cheaper than westmalle triple, 5.40€/6pack(Duvel) as opposed to 1.15€ a bottle(Westmalle), but I still always get Westmalle when I'm at the grocery store and want a blond beer. It's what I'm drinking now.

Gulden Draak, as I've said before, is one of my favs as well. But Piraat, a blonde made at the same brewery, is even better IMO. There's only 1 blond I prefer to it, Malheur 10. Next time they have Malheur 10 at the grocery store I'm going to buy them out, I love that beer so much.

Other very good blond comparable to Piraat is Urthel Hop-it. As the name suggests, it's super hop-y. And super good. Too bad I need to go to Brussels to find it.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

Piraat is definitely yummy.

Went to the beer festival Saturday and tasted so many damned things I don't even know if I can list em all.

GOOD-- homebrewers tent: monk's piss belgian, chocolate porter
Lagunitas, some SouthHampton, Bells, Highland, Terrapin, Allagash, Great Divide, Red Brick, Erie, He'brew, Cigar City, Brooklyn, Ommegang, Palm

I can't name all the individual beers, there are too many to remember

BAD- Naragansett, Effinheimer, Shipyard, Lost Coast

Yesterday night was one of those times I wish my body would reject things it didn't like. I was so wallowing around wishing I could puke, but for some reason I just can't. I mean there has to be something seriously wrong for me to heave. Ugh. I just wanted it all out.
The taco from sloppy taco palace and Bruno's bacon wrapped hot dog along with the buffalo sauced deep fried bacon from the SouthHampton tent, oh god, and my favorite pub owner's wife's glorious chocolate truffle...
*hurk........hurk

Suu's shirt got some cred


Ah yes, and the classy Ten Fidy and Dale's Pale Ale cans on bead strings. Nothin says party like that.

[Suu]

You didn't like Shipyard? Which one did you have? They're not bad. Better than Soap Dog, I mean, Sea Dog.

...And you can't say that I never warned you about Gansett. Ick.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

Man, I've had quite a few of Shipyard's. I think their best was the Pumpkinhead, but not the last batch, the batch the year before, and that isn't saying much cause it wasn't much to stick a shake at either.

Sea dog, meh. Not a fan.

Someone out there had a mango, St John's! Oh god. What an abomination. I tried it cause ya kinda have to, it tasted like the perfume the girls I work with wear.
Fucking nasty.

[Suu]

Ewww.

If you get a chance to try anything Wachusett, I think you'll like that.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

Today is hopfest at Redlight.
This is their description--
"redlight redlight will be hosting our 1st Annual Hopfest!!! All taps will be hoppy beers!!! From noble hopped pilsners to the hoppiest west coast double ipa's! We will have different hop varieties on hand to sample as well as spicy pickled hop shoots to eat! Big Bruno Bites will be here serving up some great food! Bee's Knees Sweet Treats will be serving up some beer made confections! Come out and celebrate the hops!"

Where am I? At home sick.

They even made posters and t-shirts with a cute damn logo n shit


FUCK YOU, SICK!!