BIG BEERS that rock your world?

Wow had completely forgot about anchor steam. That's a great beer!

Inspired by the request for rye whiskey by @OdysseusUnbound I found a shop which sells Old Portrero 18th Century Style Rye Whiskey. Its price is great. Just 45 euro. After my arrival I soon found out that Old Portrero was sold out two days ago and it could not be ordered anymore. That was a bummer, although I still have a bottle of it in my cabinet. I did not care for an alternative rye, because there is none in my humble opinion. Pikesville is okay, but it costs about 100 euro. This shop also sells Belgian beer. I like big big flavors. I immediately saw a love lost. Rodenbach Alexander. it is a huge beer, which taste like cherry pie. It is a great beer to drink in the summertime. I also found Rodenbach Caractére Rouge. They belong to a style called Flemish Red/Brown. Great Beers. Aexander is for sale again since a long, long time. So I am happy. The shop keeper recommended me VanderGhinste, which is also a specimen of Flemish Red/Brown beer. It is very nice in the summertime too.

Right now I am loving Innis & Gunn ex-bourbon Cask. Their Original is a great beer, but the extra maturation in ex-bourbon casks takes I&G to a whole new level. Also, we have plenty of craft breweries here in Ontario making great beer. They also make a lot of extra-mega-ultra-super-hoppy brews that I find disgusting, but to each their own. I don't mind some hoppiness, but when you get up near 100 IBU, I just can't even. Some of my Ontario faves:

1. Lake of Bays Brewing Co. Switchback Pilsner
2. Lake of Bays Sparkhouse Red Ale
3. Hockley Dark
4. Sawdust City Skinny Dippin' Stout

I like a lot of beers but I don't get whisk(e)y-level-excited by any of them. My favourites are stouts, porters, almost anything Belgian, and yes, also many of the nothing-but-barley-malt lagers and pilsners. Cold barley brew tastes good to me even without toasting or the addition of hops. I especially like anything with a little sweet orange note in it. Oatmeal stouts and milk stouts are a treat.

@Victor If you get the chance, try St Ambroise Noire à l'Avoine. It's a wonderful oatmeal stout from Québec.

'Yeastie Boys' Bigmouth Session IPA

@CaskTime I tried Yeastie Boys recently and loved it

@jeanluc it is a belter, that and Beavertown too

@CaskTime

Ha! "Yeastie Boys." That's hilarious.

I'm a fan of Oregon's Deschutte's offerings. Many are quite good. I always try to get a case of the annual release of The Abyss and The Black Butte Birthday Reserve. I also love extreme hoppy beers, so Hop Henge, Tricerihops, Hop Stupid or Hop at The Moon.

I always have a case of PBR in the fridge for when the musicians show up.

Also I never pass up the chance to buy a St. Bernardus Abt 12.

@Ol_Jas Six-packs? I'll take a dozen!

A couple of days ago I put in an order for some new stouts . I can't remember all of them but I'll update here when they arrive. Yesterday I had a "yeti" stout from great divide brewery. A good one but not sweet enough to really get me excited!

I found two dutch craft beers which are matured in Springbank barrels yesterday. I bought them as a present for a friend at the HOP IN beer shop in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The first one is Pelgrim Armada Springbank Ex Rum 2017, an imperial russian stout.

The second one is Noordt Barley Wine Springbank 96 Oak Aged.

The HOP IN beer shop has a web site. I do not know whether it ships its beers outside the Netherlands. Anyway, I think my friend will love them. Dutch craft breweries like Pelgrim and Noordt are really impressive.

Have any of you guys downloaded "untapped"? It's an app for smartphones that let's you" check-in", photo and mini review beers. Add me if you got it!

Come on now boys. Not a single one of you are on untapped? Then it's time for you to join!

Local liquor store just got in some Lancaster Bomber Ale in 500ml cans. Very tasty. I was in Victoria on Vancouver Island recently and had some Hoyne's Dark Matter off the tap, a really flavourful dark ale. Also had some Lighthouse Brewing Race Rocks Amber Ale, another very tasty brew.

Having been in the beer industry for as long as I have I no longer drink much for hoppy beer and I generally stay away from something that is 6% or higher. Over the last two months I've been enjoying all of the festbier we get, especially Stoudt's from Pennsylvania. Also this is my first ever post as I just joined on yesterday....

@jsilevinac, welcome! And cute kid there in your picture.

So you come from a beer background? Did you "transition" from there to whisky, or have you always enjoyed both?

I've been brewing for nearly 20 years in Southern Maine. I went to my first Whiskyfest in NY back in 2002. Last year I was in Scotland for a week and a half and it reinvigorated my passion in spirits. It has also lead to an empty wallet as I love buying new bottles.

@jsilevinac , that drained wallet is always a problem, ain't it? :)

So what are some of your favorite whiskies? Anything new you're considering buying?

@MadSingleMalt - Out of the 80 some-odd bottles I have let's say only 35 of them are open. The favorites out of those is somewhat of a loaded gun question. It depends on my mood, the weather, if I have a guest over, what dinner I had, etc. I find that Johnnie Walker Double Black is my "daily" as it covers all bases. Some days I can't even think of having a sherried whisky and the next day I'm having a Glendronach 12. As for what I intend to buy next I saw that there's a superstore in Danvers, MA and they have quite a selection. A number of them are private labels and as I too do private labels at my company I wonder whose liquid is in those bottles. I can buy 20+ bottles and walk out of there for only $500 (I generally don't sling around $500BTW....). A month ago I couldn't tolerate Bourbon but now I drink it every other dram. I was told that Wild Turkey Rare Breed is a solid go-to so that's on my list.

Full Sail Brewing in Hood River Oregon has some great beers. I particularly like their Session Black.

For beers, I've been getting into Blyth Brewing Co's Cowbell Absent Landlord lately. It's a Country Kolsch. It's refreshing, it's not overly hoppy, it's delicious !!! And it lets me do my terrible Christopher Walken impersonation: I gotta have more Cowbell !

What's wrong with this thread? ...nobody is discussing NAS single malts!

@jsilevinac What is this "superstore" in Danvers, MA that you speak of?

Also, welcome! I also come from a beer background.

@paddockjudge Those NAS filthy bastards at Macallan!!

@paddockjudge I’ve noticed a dirty little secret: ALL of these beers are NAS ! We’ve been bamboozled !!!

Since becoming very aware of age statements in whisky, I now notice them much more in other products, too. Like cheese. The last cheddar I bought was "aged no less than six months." And I started wondering if cheese fanatics get worked up about NAS cheese!

And then that reminded me of this classic post from Sku's excellent but defunct blog:

recenteats.blogspot.com/2015/04/…

@MadSingleMalt Balderson's 2 year old and 4 year old cheddar from Costco. Natural colour and, presumably, unchillfiltered. Great stuff. They also have a smoked cheddar that goes really well with big sherried malts. Costco's 30 month aged parmigiano reggiano is also excellent stuff.

@BlueNote OK, but what are the PPMs on the smoked cheese?