Craft beer Drinkers Unite!

[Puppetmaster]

Saw this on the Founders Twitter feed this morning and am very interested to try a bottle or two.

http://foundersbrewing.com/latest-news/2015/next-backstage-series-release-project-pam/

[bub72ck]

[quote name='Puppetmaster' timestamp='1446736485' post='12556460']
Saw this on the Founders Twitter feed this morning and am very interested to try a bottle or two.

[url="http://foundersbrewing.com/latest-news/2015/next-backstage-series-release-project-pam/"]http://foundersbrewi...se-project-pam/[/url]
[/quote]

This sounds awesome.

[kekoa]

Where is the best place to get craft beer? I love beer, but have no idea where to start.

[vtnerf]

[quote name='kekoa' timestamp='1446752966' post='12557690']
Where is the best place to get craft beer? I love beer, but have no idea where to start.
[/quote]

Where do you live? There are different laws in different states, and thus the searchable areas are drastically different sometimes.

[kekoa]

[quote name='vtnerf' timestamp='1446757891' post='12558100']
[quote name='kekoa' timestamp='1446752966' post='12557690']
Where is the best place to get craft beer? I love beer, but have no idea where to start.
[/quote]

Where do you live? There are different laws in different states, and thus the searchable areas are drastically different sometimes.
[/quote]

Im in orange county Ca.

[fore_life]

Kekoa you're in a great place!! If I were you, Id go to a brewery(or the bruery) and order a flight of beers and see which style tickels your fancy. Then you can kinda start branching out from there, hunting for favorites and exploring different styles as your palate kinda adjusts to different styles.

[kekoa]

[quote name='fore_life' timestamp='1446766404' post='12558626']
Kekoa you're in a great place!! If I were you, Id go to a brewery(or the bruery) and order a flight of beers and see which style tickels your fancy. Then you can kinda start branching out from there, hunting for favorites and exploring different styles as your palate kinda adjusts to different styles.
[/quote]

Thanks fore. I'll do that. I have a feeling like this beer thing will be a slippery slope- just like cigars, golf equipment, etc. ughhhh

[fore_life]

Tell me about it haha!

[bub72ck]

[quote name='kekoa' timestamp='1446768813' post='12558806']
[quote name='fore_life' timestamp='1446766404' post='12558626']
Kekoa you're in a great place!! If I were you, Id go to a brewery(or the bruery) and order a flight of beers and see which style tickels your fancy. Then you can kinda start branching out from there, hunting for favorites and exploring different styles as your palate kinda adjusts to different styles.
[/quote]

Thanks fore. I'll do that. I have a feeling like this beer thing will be a slippery slope- just like cigars, golf equipment, etc. ughhhh
[/quote]

It's a wormhole. I stand by my theory that true craft beer enjoyment is a hobby not just another product you buy at the grocery store. Just like playing every golf course in the country is pretty well impossible so is trying every beer. The enjoyment is in the journey. I used to HATE hoppy beers and now love them. Hopefully you get hooked err I mean enjoy craft beer and come back here to talk with us often.

[1puttTUT]

I did a little shopping yesterday and came away with some backwoods bastxxx, harvest ale, and Shorts Pangalactic Gargle Blaster.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

[quote name='kekoa' timestamp='1446768813' post='12558806']
[quote name='fore_life' timestamp='1446766404' post='12558626']
Kekoa you're in a great place!! If I were you, Id go to a brewery(or the bruery) and order a flight of beers and see which style tickels your fancy. Then you can kinda start branching out from there, hunting for favorites and exploring different styles as your palate kinda adjusts to different styles.
[/quote]

Thanks fore. I'll do that. I have a feeling like this beer thing will be a slippery slope- just like cigars, golf equipment, etc. ughhhh
[/quote]

I second the Bruery reco. Was there in July it's a good spot. They're a bit more experimental so almost likely that you won't like everything but the stuff they brew they brew very well.
Total wine or bevmo also a good spot to start the journey down the wormhole. Grab some inexpensive stuff of different varieties and narrow down what you like stout porter ipa dipa brown ale Belgian quads or tripel and expand more into that style.

Beermenus.com taphunter are good spots to find local tap lists. Beeradvocate and ratebeer are good spots to read ratings/flavor/style profiles and find more out about different seasonal releases


All in all you're in a beer mecca so it shouldn't be hard to find great beers

[Puppetmaster]

[quote name='bub72ck' timestamp='1446769963' post='12558878']
It's a wormhole. I stand by my theory that true craft beer enjoyment is a hobby not just another product you buy at the grocery store. Just like playing every golf course in the country is pretty well impossible so is trying every beer. The enjoyment is in the journey. I used to HATE hoppy beers and now love them. Hopefully you get hooked err I mean enjoy craft beer and come back here to talk with us often.
[/quote]

Whoa whoa whoa, most of my craft beer IS from the grocery store.

But I totally agree with this point. And I too used to hate hoppy beers, IPAs, etc. Of course, now I always have a case of Founders All Day IPA on hand, along with various other IPAs to "try". My first love has always been stouts and darker ales, and I can't tell you how much more of those I've tried and consumed since this so-called hobby has kicked in. I think I was spoiled since one of my first real limiteds was Backwoods a year or so ago. That totally pushed me head first down that slippery slope.

[Puppetmaster]

[quote name='One_Putt_Blunder' timestamp='1446774348' post='12559226']
[quote name='kekoa' timestamp='1446768813' post='12558806']
[quote name='fore_life' timestamp='1446766404' post='12558626']
Kekoa you're in a great place!! If I were you, Id go to a brewery(or the bruery) and order a flight of beers and see which style tickels your fancy. Then you can kinda start branching out from there, hunting for favorites and exploring different styles as your palate kinda adjusts to different styles.
[/quote]

Thanks fore. I'll do that. I have a feeling like this beer thing will be a slippery slope- just like cigars, golf equipment, etc. ughhhh
[/quote]

I second the Bruery reco. Was there in July it's a good spot. They're a bit more experimental so almost likely that you won't like everything but the stuff they brew they brew very well.
Total wine or bevmo also a good spot to start the journey down the wormhole. Grab some inexpensive stuff of different varieties and narrow down what you like stout porter ipa dipa brown ale Belgian quads or tripel and expand more into that style.

Beermenus.com taphunter are good spots to find local tap lists. Beeradvocate and ratebeer are good spots to read ratings/flavor/style profiles and find more out about different seasonal releases


All in all you're in a beer mecca so it shouldn't be hard to find great beers
[/quote]

You guys are totally in my head tonight. I had typed out the very word "wormhole" in my post above and changed my mind.

Beer Advocate has been my main source, and I've recently been playing around with the Untappd app, which can be handy when out or traveling.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Don't get me started on chasing whalez and super limited stuff that's the real expensive wormhole and i also blame it on backwoods and Sucaba

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Here's a good list the top 100 rated CA beers. Not all of them will be easy to find or up your alley but there is some amazing stuff on that list. I'm through almost half of it now lol.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/state/ca/

[Puppetmaster]

Yeah it dawned on me the other day that my beers are starting to get more expensive than decent bottles of wine.

[bub72ck]

I think beer trading is the pinnacle of craft beer nerdery. When you say out loud what your doing it sounds so absurd.

"I'm going to spend a lot of money on hard to get beer, pack it in a box and ship it (against company policy) to someone I've never met. I will spend even more money on shipping and do it with the understanding that if anything breaks in the box the entire thing is ruined AND hope my beer makes it to me."

But I think beer mail is the best type of mail I've gotten.

[vtnerf]

[quote name='Puppetmaster' timestamp='1446775069' post='12559288']
[quote name='bub72ck' timestamp='1446769963' post='12558878']
It's a wormhole. I stand by my theory that true craft beer enjoyment is a hobby not just another product you buy at the grocery store. Just like playing every golf course in the country is pretty well impossible so is trying every beer. The enjoyment is in the journey. I used to HATE hoppy beers and now love them. Hopefully you get hooked err I mean enjoy craft beer and come back here to talk with us often.
[/quote]

Whoa whoa whoa, most of my craft beer IS from the grocery store.

But I totally agree with this point. And I too used to hate hoppy beers, IPAs, etc. Of course, now I always have a case of Founders All Day IPA on hand, along with various other IPAs to "try". My first love has always been stouts and darker ales, and I can't tell you how much more of those I've tried and consumed since this so-called hobby has kicked in. I think I was spoiled since one of my first real limiteds was Backwoods a year or so ago. That totally pushed me head first down that slippery slope.
[/quote]

You live in VA, which has almost anything you could want in the local grocery (except the Alchemist or Cigar City.) Seriously. Amazing walking into a Harris Teeter with Founders, Goose Island, Bruery, Firestone; all at prices that are in line with a beer store or from the source.

I'm in Maryland, and looked on the Total Wine page for Towson since I'm headed up to PA in a few weeks. Nothing special there. I can get everything that comes to Maryland (which is about 70% of what gets to VA*...) locally. And PA only has case sales!!! Whenever we go to Va Beach, I'm loading up to bring stuff home. Lucked out last year that my son had a soccer tournament down there in December and February! But we're going north this year...booo!

*For the longest time, we could get Yuengling in Blacksburg at VT. But not in Maryland. Silly. Now, it's Founders and some others. We used to bring New Belgium back from VT because it wasn't available in MD. At least I have RAR locally, which is banging out THE most amazing IPA around right now. (When everyone is chasing Dogfish, the bar is raised!!!) And I found a stash of 2012 B*tches Brew the other day and picked up 4 of them.

[JC671]

[quote name='kekoa' timestamp='1446752966' post='12557690']Where is the best place to get craft beer? I love beer, but have no idea where to start.[/quote]

I've just recently dabbled in this whole craft beer world. My favorite "genre" so far is the whiskey/bourbon barrel aged stuff. Not a big fan of sours (or anything sour in general) or hoppy stuff.

Majority of what I do like are stouts or lagers, some ales. Any suggestions on where to order beers online? I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, not so easy to come across craft beers.

[JC671]

This has been the best craft I've tried ever, thanks to an acquaintance who is deep in the mix. [attachment=3021758:ImageUploadedByGolfWRX Mobile1446815980.146908.jpg]

[vtnerf]

This just hit the shelves...
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:3021972]

[fore_life]

did you try one of those yet? Price on a 4 pack?

[vtnerf]

[quote name='fore_life' timestamp='1446835509' post='12562124']
did you try one of those yet? Price on a 4 pack?
[/quote]
Snuck out at lunch to pick them up. Still warm, and still at work.
Price is comparable to the 120, Bourbon County, Barrel Aged Burton Baton...

[1puttTUT]

Just cracked my first backwoods bastxxx of the season. Damn its good! I was going to age a couple but now I want to bring them to the course tmrw instead!

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Honestly wasn't a big fan of 1 year old backwoods. I don't plan on letting any get past 6 months this time around

[2putttom]

[quote name='toddnt' timestamp='1446505088' post='12542684']
Got my one allowed bottle on Bruery Wineification III today.... Picking it up on way back from pebble saturday!
[/quote]And I'll expect pictures and your score.

[fore_life]

[quote name='One_Putt_Blunder' timestamp='1446860616' post='12564058']
Honestly wasn't a big fan of 1 year old backwoods. I don't plan on letting any get past 6 months this time around
[/quote]

Yeah it says drink fresh on the bottle, and the fresh ones were better than the ones I sat on.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Started to drink some of my cellar.

Started with 2014 Stone Old Guardian bottled 2/7/14. My taste for American barleywines is fading as i prefer the sweet malt of the English versions over the hopiness in the American style. 2 years at room temp did the old guardian some good. Still too hoppy for my tastes but much better than fresh 11.6 it's more like a triple ipa vs barleywine.

It's a good cheep beer that's worthy of cellar experimentation. I just needed to clear some space as my buying has exceeded my drinking now lol

[toddnt]

Happy days.... Found Founders at Whole Foods near Pebble, it's made its way to Cali.... Got a lack of bastxxx and Breakfast just in case it's not in San Diego yet...

[One_Putt_Blunder]

[quote name='toddnt' timestamp='1446869935' post='12564562']
Happy days.... Found Founders at Whole Foods near Pebble, it's made its way to Cali.... Got a lack of bastxxx and Breakfast just in case it's not in San Diego yet...
[/quote]

Good call there pretty sure it's nor cal only distro still. Enjoy Pebble