"Last night: Dogfish Head India Pale Ale"
Which one? The 90-minute is one of my top 3 beers of all time. I like it more than their more expensive 120-minute, and definitely more than the 60-minute. But let's be honest, none of these are true IPAs, too much malt. "American-style IPA", maybe, which I think is better than true British India Pale. They do have another beer that I like, despite being an oddity: Raison d'être. Quite good, and not overly flavoured. Probably the only flavoured beer I like, normally I'm not into that sort of stuff.
Stone's a great brewery, Arrogant Bastard is worth trying. I got it because of the label, I couldn't resist. It's pretty darn good. Tons of hops, offset by tons of malt. Just more of everything. Double Bastard was a bit much, though, bordering on a hoppy barley wine or something. I thought the taste suffered. They have a porter that's not bad, either; it's not Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout (which is really more like a dark, dark porter), but it's good.
I did a tasting once that featured Victory's Storm King. I think it was my favourite of the lot that day. I don't think I put it on my "To Buy Again" list, though. But keep in mind, I've never had more than 1 and a half beers within a 24 hour period before (or the equivalent of other alcohol). I hate the sensation of being buzzed (which happened once off a big glass of Grand Marnier), and can't comprehend what drunk must be like. So my list is by necessity pretty small. Storm King was pretty good though, I remember.
I just finished the last of my Samuel Adams Döppelbock. Those with a Germanic tastemay hate it: "Hey, where's the hops?!". I treat it like drinking dessert. Prepare for malt assault. Maybe it's overkill, but boy, is it tasty. But if you try to drink 2 in a row, you'd probably be sick from the sweetness.
Mild rant time: people and their European imports. I don't think European beers dominate pure US beers any more. Fine, maybe this is a very recent development, but get with the times folks! There's even one major mainstream Reinheitsgebot brewery (Samuel Adams is, isn't it?), and some of their stuff is damn fine. You've got places like those being mentioned here: Dogfish Head, Stone, Three Floyds. Some of this is just great. My problem is, someone will rave about something, "Oh, it's an import", stick their nose up. Well if they like it, great, but it's always some pilsner and it's wrecked. Let's be honest here, Heinecken, which is super popular in the USA, does not survive fresh. It's skunked every time or, awfully, shipped in a METAL CAN. No, no, no. I realise now I'm sounding like a snob, but it just tastes like crap. I hear it's fantastic in Nederland. Awesome. If I'm ever there, I'll probably try it. But guess what? The USA ain't Nederland. And the yeast balance they use is so delicate that it can't last the journey across the ocean. Pilsners do not last. My uncle says Pilsner Urquel is the best pilsner he ever had.. but he comes back to the USA and says they're all bad. No kidding. But people here still buy it and go crazy over how great it is, when it's ruined. Then again, give me a skunked clean beer over something like Budweiser any day, so I suppose I know where they're coming from. I only wish they'd realise that there are US breweries now competing on equal footing with their older European rivals. If you think they're not even now, then you're behind the times. Maybe only 15 years behind, but still you're out of date.
New Rules: Dark Bottles only. Especially for lighter stuff. Period.
Refridgerate every single second until it reaches the customer's hand. Again, especially for lighter stuff. I was disappointed to discover even Merchant du Vin (sp.) doesn't do this.
