The Beer Thread

One of the reasons I always look forward to this time of the year.

Of the widely distributed holiday beers, Jubelale is my favorite. It's made by Deschutes out of Oregon (which makes really good stuff in general), and they vary the recipe a little each year. I believe it is an English-style ale with a bit of holiday spice. As usual, it's really good this year. They also have a local artist do new label art for each year, so it's a nice looking sixer to boot.

Tral_sl said:

Overpriced and treat their employees like shit? Sounds good to me!

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Care to elaborate Tral? I have thoroughly enjoyed Rogue beers, for their volume of production they don't seem to have a problem turning out craft quality beer time after time. I would not have a problem purchasing from another company if they are turning into heartless suits though.

For those into sour beers or think you might want to give them a whirl I recommend Jolly Pumpkin, La Roja being the most popular but if you are into exploring they have quite the line up. Here's to hoping their expansion this year does not affect their product.

jello_sl said:

Care to elaborate Tral? I have thoroughly enjoyed Rogue beers, for their volume of production they don't seem to have a problem turning out craft quality beer time after time. I would not have a problem purchasing from another company if they are turning into heartless suits though.

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They make mediocre beer (and quite a bit of just plain bad beer), but price it quite a bit higher than similar products to try and seem exclusive. And from what I've read they're shitty to their employees. It really seems like the brewery was just started by some former Nike execs to "cash in" on the craft beer industry with flashy branding and high prices.

There are so many better options out there (DFH, Sierra nevada, stone, lagunitas, bells, new belgium, hell even sam adams come to mind as breweries trying cool shit, and getting it right, or at least making great "standard style" beers), it really just doesn't make sense to buy Rogue beer.

That sour sounds tasty, though. I've only really tried Duchess, and that shit is awesome.

Rouges operation isn't much different than many of those breweries that you listed. Maybe you just don't get a lot of the smaller Rouge batches in your area but they have a lot of, as you put it, "cool" stuff. And it's not like they are using adjuncts or anything in their beers, just malts, hops, water and yeast. Like Any of those other breweries you listed. Also I don't know about your area, but pretty much all of those breweries you listed except New Belgium are just as if not more expensive than Rouge.

I can't comment on the "they are shitty to their employees" comment, maybe you can link something that you have read? When I visited the brewery I didn't get that impression but also it's not like they are going to shit on their employer right then and there.

1. favorite beer
2. runner up favorite beer
3. favorite christmas beer

opiate82_sl said:

I can't comment on the "they are shitty to their employees" comment, maybe you can link something that you have read? When I visited the brewery I didn't get that impression but also it's not like they are going to shit on their employer right then and there.

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The differences are pretty stark. New Belgium is employee owned and I seem to remember it being listed as one of the best places to work recently. Rogue's employees were being treated so badly, they tried to unionize.http://beervana.blogspot.com/2011/06...ogue-ales.html

And anyway, I'm not saying every single one of Rogue's beers is shit. I just think a lot of it is mediocre, and some of the stuff they "experiment" with (like that Voodoo beer) is just poorly done. And when there are hundreds of better options out there, I can't ever justify buying Rogue over something else.

BrutulTM_sl said:

I have been known to drink this sometimes in the summer. Also like Leinenkugel's Fireside brown ale when I'm too cheap to buy Newcastle. Somebody on FOH recommended their "summer shandy" though and I found it quite revolting, like somebody poured a coors light into a glass of lemonade.

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I think it was me that recommended the Summer Shandy. I enjoyed it, but I can see not liking it because it really does taste more like bitter-ish lemonade than beer. (I think that's actually something I said about it on FoH). I have a pretty crazy sweet tooth so I've always liked the super fruit-flavored beers.

Tral_sl said:

That sour sounds tasty, though. I've only really tried Duchess, and that shit is awesome.

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For those who haven't tried a sour beer and want to give it a go, Duchess de Bourgogne is a good starting point. It is pricey for a beer (around $12 for a 750mL), but it is good stuff and not overpoweringly sour.

Picked up a celebratory beer for finishing finals:

We Trappin' hard at work today,

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Holy fuck.

Best beer I've ever had. I'm ashamed to say Bud Light is still my go to beer but I'll pick up a good six pack at least twice a month.

The only beer I've ever poured down the sink was Rogue Voodoo, while most of their stuff isn't this bad, I can't buy any of their beer anymore.

I was able to get Loose Cannon put onto the beer menu of the office Christmas Party amongst the Bud Light and Sam Adams variants. I'm not sure how wide spread it is, but it's one of my standard go-to beers because it's on tap in most places I've been in MD. We had some remote people fly in from various parts of the country and most of them had never had it, but it was universally loved by everyone at the party who tried it.

brekk_sl said:

As for the discussion of bocks and doppelbocks, the Sam Adams Double Bock is amazing, and the chocolate bock in the Sam Winter Sampler is pretty good. But an even better choice is the Kozlak, a great polish bock, sold as singles around me. (Lots of polish people locally)

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When I was typing up the bock suggestions, I had actually considered tacking on Sam Adam Double Bock (Imperial series) and Weihenstephaner Korbinian. Both are very good and relatively easy to find, but more expensive than Spaten Optimator. I've only found Korbinian in pint bottles, and it runs about $3-4 for a bottle.

Sam Adams Double Bock was originally a seasonal you could get for ~$7 a six pack, which was the best deal ever offered in craft beer. They now made it part of the Imperial series and it is ~$8 for a 4 pack. Still worth the price.

Evernothing_sl said:

We Trappin' hard at work today,

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Holy shit dude.....I consider myself a beer/bourbon/wine snob amongst most. I'm a sucker for a good Belgian trappist, but just couldn't fork down the money for Westvleteren. I just dropped a few hundred down on some Van Winkle bourbon and a couple of 50+ year Ports, and my liquor financial reserves are spent. I do have to know what you think of it. I fear it's over hyped a bit. I've had the Westvelteren VIII once, and thought it was great, but not "best in the world".