clubman 

I'm in a craft brewing society, we make an English Pale Ale, IPA. APA, pilsener and today we made our first stout. G and T's are always good. Stoli straight up and ALL whiskey needs a few drops of water to open the flavour. Try it.

Sir_Name 

Yes, unfortunately... Trips up to VT are the only way I know of to currently snag some Heady Topper (either to the brewery or stores with some stock, Mass too). I believe last summer there was no 'cap' on purchase amounts, so friends and I certainly made the trips worth it. The only problem with this 'craft beer upswing' is stock becomes limiting. I believe there are a couple(?) taverns/tap houses/whatchamacallits in Mass that will carry it on tap from time to time. Prohibition Pig comes to mind, but that's in VT... Friends with Facebook usually give me a heads up.

I went on a very nice canoe trip last summer that happened to end at the Harpoon brewery (unplanned!). Burgers and beer were most welcome. Though the pike and small mouth we were plucking out of the water were pretty tasty. I haven't had Raging ***** in years, used to love it.

Founder's Breakfast Stout is a tasty one. Especially around room temp come fall...

Sir_Name 

Yes, too bad about that. SOME Goose Island brews are still crafted by the good boys, not big boys (SBDU - Specialist Beer Development Unit?). Keep an eye out for Matilda, Sophie, Lolita...

bbattle

I agree with your choice of tequila!

And while i can admit that some whiskys are improved with a bit of water, I will always give them the benefit of the doubt and omit the water. I did have one bourbon, I think it was Bookers(or was it Blantons?), that was so high in alcohol there was no help for it but to add a bit of water.

I ride my bicycle through the tiny village of Kelso, Tennessee all the time but I have yet to stop at Pritchard's Distillery. I occasionally pedal into Lynchburg, TN which happens to be a dry county. The yeast from the mash has turned the bark of the trees on the Jack Daniels Distillery property black.


When I lived in Missouri, every bar worth its salt had at least 30 flavors of schnapps on hand. Banana, chocolate, blueberry, all sorts of nasty stuff. Nowadays, at least in Alabama, the bars have 30 flavors of vodka. Cotton candy vodka? What is this world coming to?

I am most pleased by the onslaught of microbreweries. While some of these bizarre concoctions probably won't stand the test of time, the fact that they exist at all shows that people are interested in different things, something beyond Miller Lite. I drank enough cheap and nasty beer in college. I'm glad I have better options.

toavii

One of my recent hauls...

Giacomo 1 

I have mixed feelings about these micro-brews.

It's kind of good to see business's opening up like they are, and I do enjoy hanging out in them once in awhile, but is what they brew really beer? I like Miller Light and a Bud or a PBR, they're real beer without the gimmicks. If I want to go fancy I go with a Guiness, good for me, but these micro style beers mostly leave me cold. Pumpkin, citrus, honey or maple and other stuff just don't belong in beer.

Just one mans opinion!

rootboy 

Gimme a good twelve dollar a bottle of Chilean Cabernet. Or a Tanq on the rocks with lime.

northbend 

Deschutes Foray IPA

Laurelwood Little pony session and workhorse IPA

Stone go to IPA

Black Raven IPA

jjhabbs 

A fine Chianti or Pinot Noir

CroMo Mike 

Cold, clear, fresh Lager Beer, preferably from a place where the water is clean and cold, like Colorado or Canada. If I wouldn't drink the water, I don't want their beer. And a trip across the ocean in the belly of a ship can ruin a beer, resulting in a skunky taste. Craft beers, not my thing; they taste like a rusty nail, and i don't want my beer flavored with other stuff. Pumpkin pie beer for the fall? No, no, no.

RobbieTunes

+1

Yuengling Lager. Cold, in a bottle.

I'm a simple man. Or a simpleton.

MacGyverBurrito

Anybody else like to pile out with some malt liquor?
Steel reserve? Old English? Mickeys?

IPA's and such are fine but sometimes you gotta live.

I'm also a fan of Samuel smith, and anything made by stone or delirium.

notoptube

To the original poster, I never contribute anything but still read the C&V. Unibroue is/has been one of my favorite breweries since before I was legal. I won a la fin shirt from them at a beer convention in the Early 90's and wore it til it fell apart. Without reading further than the first post , while having an upright brewing #7 , made here in portland to be folowed by a few others from the tin bucket bottle shop. Another beer mentioned was brooklyn no. 1 When i lived in brooklyn, most of a decade ago, i drank an evenings worth of the Bk no. 1 and to this day its the only beer that had so many hops in it that my farts smelled like fresh hops the next day. Incredibly pleasant. No idea if that was a random event related to being young and taxed liver or maybe fresh hopping was kinda young and they went nuts but its never happened again.

Mellow but probably drunkin evening but heres the menu for the evening.

notoptube

this made me think of italy , dont know what i was drinking but a beer after about 80miles in Sienna, i bet you it was pretty good . We got some aluminum Williers from some Tommasini nut. More modern than we would have chosen then but his bikes were pretty sick, Even though we were geeks he was still like" take these tog welded things" no offense to the tig.

I read the whole thread and saw the Maudite, i love unibroues devil theme , the raftsman. no idea they had been sold to Sapporro.

well the upright 7 is gone, gonna hit the little chimay

jimmuller 

Now that you mention it, I've been known to put down some S.S. too. And Hobgoblin Ale from Wychwood.

SkyDog75

Microbreweries turn out a LOT of good beer using just water, yeast, malts, and hops. By and large, the difference between microbrews and mass-produced beer is the selection of ingredients and attention to quality. It's like the difference between the burgers I cooked on the grill this afternoon and cheeseburgers from McDonald's.

You don't have to be a fan of fruity, flavored beers to appreciate a good microbrew. I don't care for flavored beers, either, but I appreciate good food and drink made with real ingredients.

jimmuller 

I have no idea what you just said but it sounded good, I think.

Cheers!

OrangeOkie

Stevensb 

An ice cold beer - preferably a local craft product such as Calgary's Village Brewery's Blonde - makes a great recovery beverage. I've also seen reference on BF to mid-ride beers as an energy boost although I'm a little sceptical about that one. My business partners and I have been distilling (its all legal) fine Alberta barley into vodka and gin with limited distribution in Alberta. Whisky, again from barley, is next and we should start putting liquid in barrels next week. Three years from now we will have some fine single malt Canadian whisky to enjoy - responsibly of course.

Brad

crank_addict

summer:
frosty cold brews, name it from lights to pilsners
vodka and lemonade
Mai tai - variety
Absolut citron and tonic
Disaronno rocks or + Squirt. EJ brandy + squirt

winter:
the above brews but gravitate to darks, stouts
Makers Mark
Kahlua + coffee

Paramount1973 

Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale. A good blend of hops and malt. Evolution Lucky 7 Porter. Smooth. Yuengling Lager. Tasty. This is the Golden Age of American beer.

acoffin 

I am an IPA guy for the most part, but we have some local browns that are pretty amazing. We are blessed with some good craft breweries here in STL. Though we aren't NY, Portland, or Cali, we have great water and a strong brewery scene. Here is what's in my fridge today.


I have had a few bottles of this stuff the past few months. Nothing says summertime like rum, neat or mixed with ginger beer.


Just picked this up for some tasty Gin & Tonic.


when I want to go cheap, this tastes a lot better than cheap beer.

Sixty Fiver

I shop local... 100% rye whiskey.

martl

MiloFrance

Living in the largest wine growing area in the world, its rosé mostly in summer and red in winter. Post ride might be a Desperados or panaché. Favorite cépage Carignan, or Cinsault for rosé. Currently drinking a Jack and coke, but not been riding!