Bearcat comes to Phoenix but doesn’t tell anyone until after. So no one has met him.

He’s probably a loser.

Picked up this heavily coffee flavored 750ml bottle of imperial stout today to treat myself over the holiday weekend. Unfortunately, it exploded in my front seat on the way home. Scared the living shit out me. Thought I finally got shot in Chicago.

Amateurs. Car smells incredible though.

https://i.imgur.com/Bib7h9F.jpg?1

:eek:

What was it?

Local brewer, Mikerphone - Imperial Smells Like Bean Spirit Mocaccino. I've notified them, hopefully they'll make it right.

I gotta say, coffee imperial stouts are by far my favorite beers. I'd give them another chance. Is it bottle conditioned? If so that is pretty amateurish, I've never even had that happen with my home brews and I am definitely an amateur brewer.

Just got a call from the brewer. Took full responsibility and all is good. Sounds like there's been other reports of gushers with that bottle. It happens.

I'm mostly relieved he's taking care of it because that line of coffee stout is phenomenal and I'd like to keep drinking them.

And there I was, caught passionately sniffing my car's passenger seat.

I keep saying coffee, but it's really a breakfast stout, so I was picking up a lot more maple than coffee on the nose the rest of my way home.

Who wants to cash out their Bitcoin profitz with me to start a pastry stout line of car air fresheners?

Haagen Dazs has a new line of "Spirits" flavored ice creams. One is Stout Chocolate Pretzel Crunch and it is fantastic. The Bourbon Vanilla one is great too.

Good to hear you are getting that beer replaced. A buddy just went to an American Solera members event last weekend and picked up his member only stouts and dropped a couple on the way in the house. :facepalm:

A friend brought some back from a recent trip to Chicago (minus the Mocaccino), plus 3 Floyd's Pillar of Beasts... and had some Modern Times Devil's Teeth. Smells Like Bean Spirit was incredible... and hard to dislike with a name like that.

If beer went all over my car, I could only hope it smelled so good...

Ha, that's awesome. I bought the very first batch of Smells Like Bean Spirit (it may be posted in this thread) when Mike was contract brewing and self distributed in his van. It was good, not great then, imo. He's come a long way with it though and some of the one-off variants are truly great. What killed me is that he opened his brewery out by O'hare which I never get out to. So I was stoked to grab this new bottle today while out that way for work.

As he's grown and expanded his space, he's had some packaging issues, particularly with his hoppy stuff on a new canning line. It happens.

Ouch. Had I not been pulled off the side of a busy ave during traffic, I'd of had no shame cupping some of it up to my mouth with my hands Chris Rock I'm Gonna Git You Sucka style.

My friend said he'll always see people with luggage, who get off their plane and head straight there, or hit it up on their way to catch a flight.

I'll be there for a couple days pretty soon.... planning on hitting them up, and was also told to go to Beer Temple.

Anywhere else I should go?

Beer Temple is amazing, both a bar with an amazing tap list and bottle shop. I live nearby so they're in my regular rotation of stops. Their website is a good resource for what you can expect. Pro-tip if driving, parking lot is tiny but you can street park for free on Elston.

http://craftbeertemple.com/blog/

I could give you a ton of suggestions if you're staying in the city. Right near Beer Temple is the Revolution taproom, their barrel program at a minimum rivals Goose, could be argued it's better. Their website is kept up to date and they sell to-go options as well.

https://revbrew.com/visit/brewery/tap-room-dl

Maplewood is also nearby Beer Temple. Their taproom is small and typically overcrowded with hipsters, but their Cuppa line of pastry stouts would be right up your alley. They have Cuppa 'Nilla pouring right now.

http://www.maplewoodbrew.com/menus

Find a Binny's. Every Binny's is amazing, but if you're in the city, the Lincoln Park Binny's is awe inspiring. They have a full bar and the best selection in the city. Beer Temple being 2nd. It's also directly across the street from the original Goose brewpub which will often have something great pouring.

This is a great and accurate Chicagoland resource. You can't go wrong with anything on this list. It includes city and burbs.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...thread.601977/

If you tell me what dates you'll be here, I can tell you if there's anything special being released or any events that may be worth it to you.

KCUnited is the best Chicago beer resource around!

Ha, you should see the algorithm. Thursday, 1:48 CDT, Hop Butcher should be dropping their new IPA Beef Dipped at the Lincoln Park Binny's within the next 5-10 minutes depending on where they stopped for lunch. That's a 7 minute drive give or take construction.

Heading that way in 3..2..1

I've recently started seeing some beers priced at $10-12-15 and even $20 a bottle!

This craft beer stuff is getting crazy expensive.

Back before my screensaver kicked on AND got my same parking spot back. Still wet from the canning line.

The game made me this way.

https://i.imgur.com/lawFWXc.jpg?1

Cant tell if this is a serious post or not.

This is why I love trading boxes with ya, buddy!

Heck yeah, man!

Very serious. A few different 4 packs of Dogfish are pushing $12-13 a bottle. Saw another brand's beer at Total Wine for $18 a bottle :doh!:

This has been going on for 8 -10 years.

Can confirm.

Are you from the 60s? :hmmm:


Seriously though, $12 is nothing these days (granted, I don't spend $40 on a 4 pack very often at all). I'll spend $18 every single time I see something like a 750ml Stone Mikhail on the shelves.

:drool:

Thanks, man... if I get shot, I won't even care.


re: the game, I've never completely gotten into it, since there's so much great stuff out there that's readily available. Then I drink something like that Modern Times Devil's Teeth and think.... well, I could drive 12 hours round trip for that. LMAO

I'm a Modern Times fan as well. I'll be at their Dankness Dojo LA location in a week, which will be a first for me. Pretty excited.

Well smack my ass and call me Sally because I'm certainly behind the times on the high pricing. :shrug:

I started buying craft maybe 5-6 years ago and I can't remember seeing such high prices. Maybe what I thought was "craft" was really just boutique small independents. One of the first I had besides Dogfish was Flying Dog as I used to go by their HQ in Frederick MD frequently during my prior job and decided go try them.

I doubt they would be craft anymore with all these super special release beers.

Your taste has probably expanded into more expensive style of beer like the big imperial stouts etc...:thumb:

KCUnited,
Thanks again for the suggestions. We went to Local Option twice the first time through... the food and beer were both top notch, and I'd totally live in that neighborhood. Jackie O's Middle of Nowhere, had to try a Zombie Dust, of course... tried their stout, which was pretty good as well.

Went to the Goose Island nearby, enjoyed a BCS Coffee (2016, IIRC).

On the way back through, went to Mikerphone and sampled practically their entire menu... we ordered Lou's deep dish from there to complete the experience.

Went to the Fulton St Goose Island as well... had the Apple Cart Stout and a few BCS variants, and of course more coffee.

Loved the Lincoln Park area... a little confused as to why Mikerphone is way the hell out by O'Hare, but it was convenient from the airport at least.... sad we couldn't stuff a few in our luggage to bring home.

Took me a long time to aquire the taste for beer any beer, then I loved an ice cold beer, would keep mugs in the freezer and pride myself in pouring a perfect head. Then a few years again, it went back to....yuck. I'd lost the taste for beer.

Now it's whiskey and Coke, a half pint of AA a nice mild buzz. Sip thru a straw.

Glad you made it to Fulton. What did you think of the Apple Cart? Heard it's super sweet but nice, especially if sampling alongside other BCS.

RE Mikerphone: Anytime you see a really good "Chicago" brewery outside the city, it's a cost/space decision. Some go so far as to open in northern Indiana and even Michigan (3 Floyds, 18th Street, Transient Artisan Ales) for less expensive space, but are all still considered Chicagoland breweries. Also, Mike(rphone) is a outward family man, so he wanted to have a space to brew, settle his family, and provide a family friendly taproom which can obviously be more challenging in the city. Elk Grove Village fit that bill for him. I sorely wish he was here in the city, but respect his decisions.

I really liked Apple Cart. Didn't think it was overly sweet, but that's coming from someone who loves Southern Tier's diabetes beers, too.

Makes sense... his stuff is phenomenal. We had all of the Bean Spirit variants that were on tap, the root beer inspired stout, a German chocolate stout, an IPA or two. The beer aromas are hard to beat, especially the maple syrup aroma in the Bean Spirit. In a world of IPAs and relatively lighter beer lineups, their stout lineup is truly impressive.

Then stay the **** out of our beer thread. It clearly says this thread is about beer in the title.

Recently in Fort Collins, CO. This was one of the better sours I've had:

https://i.imgur.com/PtwsPvE.jpg

La Folie, French for "the folly," is a beer steeped in New Belgium brewing tradition. This wood-aged, sour brown spends one to three years in big oak barrels known as foeders. And when the beer finally hits the glass, La Folie is sharp and sour, full of green apple, cherry, and plum-skin notes. Pouring a deep mahogany, the mouthfeel will get you puckering while the smooth finish will get you smiling. Not a beer for the timid, La Folie is a sour delight that will turn your tongue on its head.

https://www.newbelgium.com/beer/la-folie/

Had a roasted tea stout while in Japan. At Kyoto Beer Lab. It was pretty good. Almost like an espresso stout.

I've seen them in other markets but we're starting to see some 3 Fonteinen drops here locally. Happily grabbed a Cuvee Armand & Gaston this morning.

Anyone tried Restless Nights, the Modern Times and Boulevard collaboration?


I'm a bit curious, might have to pick it up.... as far as my personal preferences these days and what each brewery is good at, it feels like Fogo de Chao teaming up with Chick-fil-a.

Very tasty, the coffee really pops.

A ton of A&G magnums hit KC and StL this year, 74.99 each.

La Folie was my original gateway sour and it almost pushed me away from sours permanently. Fortunately, I stuck with it and went back to try it later and realized it was amazing. At a party a couple of years ago, I got to drink a 2003 and 2006 La Folie. They were still AMAZING.

They're in the $75-80 range here. We also just had some Cuvée Saint-Gilloise drop.

In case you haven't seen this. Mahomes glassware. This isn't me even though Phase Three is Chicago.

https://randomspress.bigcartel.com/p...homespintglass

Holy shit that's awesome!

Thanks for sharing just ordered some for Christmas presents.

Androit Theory started distributing to Arizona, I've had a couple excellent, rich and heavy stouts.

Are people expecting the 2019 BCS to suck, or did Goose Island produce more than normal?

Usually, I have to search high and low for a bottle or two - this year there are 20+ cases stacked up in my local grocery store.

Bought a few bottles to go along with the bottle of Perennial's Abraxas that I'm going to crack tonight for a special occasion.

This is totally anecdotal, so keep that in mind. I went out to a few places here in KC yesterday morning and everything seemed normal. Every place had a limit of one or two and variants were hard to come by. Got a coffee and cherry.

Fast forward a day and I get a call from a friend in StL who is coming up to the game tomorrow. Says he’s in a Schnucks and they have a full pallet of the regular along with a big number of the coffee and the wheatwine variants. Also have the ‘17-‘19 flight cases that I didn’t see anywhere yesterday. He’s bringing me a couple of those.

Little of both. Heard they’ve made more but the saturation in nearly every market is outpacing Bourbon County demand. I’ve tasted the line up outside of double barrel and Prop is the only thing I grabbed a bottle of this year.

Yep, that's where I was. Regular, Barleywine and Coffee.

Mon Cheri and Cafe de Olla sound like bad restaurant names at cheesy all inclusive resorts. Reserve Rye is a mess even if you like rye, imo.

2019 isn't bad but doesn't compare to 2018 IMO. We had a local place get a keg of each so we did a side to side.

The Cherry is a better beer but not worth 2x the cost. Both are good beers but maybe my least favorite year in recent memory.

I have a bottle of every year minus 2105 going back to 2014. Need to start drinking them.

Grabbed a couple each of the variants. I have high hopes for the coffee, despite the corny name.

Bought 2 bottles of Prop for gifts and drank 2-12ouncers (one coffee one, one cafe de whatever) at Jungle Jims. I think it's not that it sucks but other beers are narrowing the gap.

Prop is a real treat, the best since 2014, imo. Another anecdotal, but I get my BCBS from a Walgreens down the street. In years past it's usually been the first 15-25 in line get a Prop, this year there were still stacks of Prop available hours after the release.

We only got the cherry and the regular around here.:(

So weird. I've read about some markets that have variants from last year still sitting on shelves yet others get hardly anything. Maybe the same people who are brainstorming the names for these variants are also controlling their market analytics.

LMAO

I know I've mentioned it before, but enjoying an Even More Jesus from Evil Twin.

Fudgy, boozy, diabetic imperial.

I have several of the variants, mostly from curiosity... Aun Mas, Chili, Coco. Wouldn't say it's a favorite, but I'll see a single here and there, and they're definitely worth a try.

Bottle Logic makes some really great beer.

https://i.imgur.com/EnlXEaa.jpg

You really do love those candy and cookie flavored beers. :eek:

Indeed.

Happy Holidays, CP brew crew

https://i.imgur.com/pp43txP.jpg?1

Merry Christmas and Happy Festivus. How's the coconut? I grabbed some Stronger Than Fiction recently.

Christmas beer was a 2018 BCS Bramble Rye and Bottle Logic Leche Borracho.


If you ever want some Bottle Logic or what not, I'll happily trade for some Mikerphone.

However Improbable is definitely a top BA coconut stout that I've had. It's a collab with Moska, so not sure if it'll become a regular release. Fundamental Observation is a great BA vanilla stout as well. I had a Red Eye November from them recently that was coffee out the wazoo.

Take a look at Mikerphone's site any time and let me know whenever there's anything you're interested in, I'm always down to trade for out of market stuff.

How's the 2018 Bramble tasting? Didn't care for it much when it was released and haven't circled back on it.

Looking forward to trying Red Eye. FO is really good... a beer nerd friend over-hyped it to the point that I was actually a bit disappointed the first time I tried it, compared to some of the other stuff he's gotten his hands on. I had a flight in LA fairly recently and it was all so good... Reaction State (maple syrup), As You Wish (strawberry/chocolate), Study Break (candy bar/nougat), Cafe Correto (maple and coffee)....all on point and perhaps my favorite flight ever.

I really enjoyed the Bramble... can't say it was significantly better than when I tried it last year, as it was already pretty well aged to begin with, but enjoyed the blackberry/raspberry-ness. I haven't opened any of this year's variants yet.

I'll take you up on the Mikerphone at some point.... ironically enough, I just learned a friend was going to Chicago for the holidays, and they might bring some back with them. Have you had their key lime IPA? I've only had their stouts, which have all been very impressive... curious about that IPA though.


And what I'm currently drinking... Prairie Artisan Consider Yourself Hugged. Rich, rich peanut butter chocolate... close to drinking a Reese's. Diabeetus.

https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-e6b7...1537572157.jpg

I haven't had the key lime IPA although it sounds like something up my alley. Mikerphone Solo is a super legit IPA on the to-go list right now and, whenever it comes out next, Mikerphone Check 1 2 ranked top 5 in my best of local IPAs in 2019. Also, I haven't had it but just looking at that to-go list I'd be super interested in that Lil Beaver collab stout. Despite their name, Lil Beaver churns out some fantastic thick, chewy, flavored stouts in downstate IL. Your friend may be able to validate if onsite.

Sounds like my kind of brewery. :drool:

**
Ridiculousness
We took our imperial milk stout Trip Dancing and added a ridiculous amount of adjuncts just to have fun, and the results were loved by all! This stout has Milk Sugar, Vanilla, Chocolate, Banana, Coconut, Cinnamon, and Maple. A variant of Trip Dancing.
***

Ive noticed alot of places are serving ciders now and passing them off as beers

Ya, that's kind of their thing. Whenever they send kegs up to the city we try and seek them out before they vanish.

Might drink this tonight.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e8f22dc29b.jpg

Appearance: Pours a dark orange.

Smell: Earthy, aroma of unjustified superiority.

Taste: Bitterness, but passive aggressively so.

Mouth: Thin body, feels hollow.

Overall: Big fish in a small pond. Drinkable for a few months of the year, but isn't the go to when it matters.

Café de Olla is a winner... not sure I'd even want to age it, but I have 4 more, so might drink one ever 2 or 3 months.

I haven't had a fresh BCS Coffee in years in order to compare, but I think this one is better.

Huh?

Improperly stored 2014 is drinking amazing. Silky funk.

https://i.imgur.com/jKNQUo4.jpg?1

Super Bowl spoils from San Fran arrived today. Box of SARA.

https://i.imgur.com/rKMmhxl.jpg?1

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just like that big win, we told you this beer would be worth the wait. Release details coming VERY soon. 🏈 <a href="https://t.co/hHoV1wXtA0">pic.twitter.com/hHoV1wXtA0</a></p>&mdash; Boulevard Brewing Co. (@Boulevard_Beer) <a href="https://twitter.com/Boulevard_Beer/status/1230867723246280704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

They talking Flanders Red, right? Cuz imma need this.

Major hardon.