Drink of choice tonight?

[Mr. Kotter]

Water, nothing but water....tonight....yours?

[Tits McGee]

A Fuzzy Navel for the road...

[Stanley Nickels]

Usually I'm just trying different IPA's, but tonight I got the Sierra Nevada "Torpedo" IPA.
It's terrible. I like IPAs a lot, but can't take the ultra-bitterness of this.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Stanley Nickels

Usually I'm just trying different IPA's, but tonight I got the Sierra Nevada "Torpedo" IPA.
It's terrible. I like IPAs a lot, but can't take the ultra-bitterness of this.

Torpedo is a wonderful beer, especially at the price. You do have to love bitterness, though. Its more bitter than a lot of double/imperial IPAs that I've had.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by Stanley Nickels

Usually I'm just trying different IPA's, but tonight I got the Sierra Nevada "Torpedo" IPA.
It's terrible. I like IPAs a lot, but can't take the ultra-bitterness of this.

I thought it was okay. Wouldn't be the first one I buy normally, but I still liked it when I tried it a couple months ago. But yeah, lots of hops.

Speaking of Sierra Nevada, I tried one over the summer that had flavors of bananas and cloves. Weird combination. I think it is called Kellerweis. It was actually pretty good, though.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Lzen

I thought it was okay. Wouldn't be the first one I buy normally, but I still liked it when I tried it a couple months ago. But yeah, lots of hops.

Speaking of Sierra Nevada, I tried one over the summer that had flavors of bananas and cloves. Weird combination. I think it is called Kellerweis. It was actually pretty good, though.

Their Kellerweiss is pretty fantastic. Its one of the very best American-made hefeweizens I've ever come across. You can't beat the price, either.

[Reaper16]

So... tonight I drank Boulevard's just-released 11th entry into the Smokestack Series: Harvest Dance Wheat Wine. My tasting notes are as follows --

Originally Posted by Reaper16's tasting notes

750mL bottle served into a 2009 Boulevard Smokestack Series chalice

Pours a honeyed orange that reminds me of a Halls menthol-lyptus cough drop. You can see clearly the streams of bubbles from the nucleation but the beer isn't really transparent. The head, oh God the head, is enourmous. A gentle pour yielded foam that was initially larger than a full hand. It settles nicely into a two finger expanse that never quite dies from that point. The top is frothy and rock and generally consistent with sea foam. The lacing is understandably spectacular. Steven Pauwels and the Boulevard crew are masters at beer head, as evidenced by every single beer in the Smokestack Series. You will never see a beer of this style that looks better.

The massive quantities of wheat show up in the nose first off. Tangy, zippy smells balanced by the expected banana richness. What is entirely unexpected out of a wheatwine is the abundance of citrus aromas. In addition to the German hallartau hops that give this beer the leafy hop aromas that it has, Boulevard has chosen to use Sierra Nevada's own Citra hops. The mango-pineapple-grapefruit loveliness of those hops are an alluring and effective choice for this beer.

This is pretty ****ing good. Its not simply a wheat bomb, there is plenty of malted barley flavor to go around. The malt background is so rich and is a strong background for the yeasty banana tastes and the hop attack. This beer is grounded in earthy, astringent hallaurtau which serves to highlight the bright, papaya, mango fruitsplosion of the citra hops. This is all so GOOD. The citra hops are so amazing in Harvest Dance! It actually reminds me of Ballast Point Sculpin in the aftertaste. The oak aging plays a key component here. There is a lightly smoky, meaty quality that actually accentuates the banana, amazing as that sounds. The oak barrels were specifically used previously to hold French chardonnay if I remember correctly. There is a light grape to the back end that feels brusk from the oaky smoke. I know that brusk isn't a word; I have invented it for the very purpose of describing this beer.

The mouthfeel is okay. There is a lot of carbonation, which makes it very easy for the beer to get foamy in the mouth the same way as Dr. Pepper does. There is a slight issue with the alcohol in this beer. Its tastes a little bit more boozy than the 9% that it is. Its never harsh, but if I have to stop and think about why something in the mouthfeel isn't working perfectly then it merits mention. As far as drinkability goes, I imagine that this is drinkable enough for the style. The bottle is disappearing quickly and the ABV is not unreasonable.

Boulevard have proven themselves time and again to be masters of wheat. They just know how to make it do great things. Harvest Dance Wheat Wine is no exception. Its insanely flavored yet very balanced. Easy to drink for the style but also very complex. This is fantastic. You really must obtain some, drink some and age some.

[DaKernal]

Bud Lite bitches!!

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Chiefs09

Bud Lite bitches!!

GTFO

[Mecca]

I'm drinking water...dieting does that.

[Reaper16]

Drinking a Boulevard Nutcracker Ale. I really enjoy it when its fresh and still very much a product of the wet-hopped Chinook hops.

[TheGuardian]

A protein shake.

[shitgoose]

American Honey on the rocks

[Demonpenz]

Busch light some vodka shots and my RED DOT

[Demonpenz]

ok it is ibanez version of the red dot

[BigOlChiefsfan]

Wild Turkey - Rare Breed