My Syracuse Beer Haul

[mintjellie]

Stone Arrogant Bastard (DIPA)
Southern Tier Iniquity (Imperial Black Ale)
Troegs Troegenator (Doppelbock)
Guinness Extra Stout (Dry Irish Stout)
Victory Wild Devil (American IPA w/ Brett)
Great Divide Hercules (DIPA)
Weyerbacher Twelve (Barleywine w/ 50% Malted Rye)
Avery Sixteen (Saison w/ Peaches, Jasmine, and Honey)
Goose Island Sofie (Saison, 20% aged in wine barrels with orange peel then blended with non-barreled beer)
Ommegang Hennepin (Saison)
Pretty Things Jack D'Or (Saison)
Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary - Fritz And Ken's Ale (American Imperial Stout)

Beer porn pictures to come.

[Jon Walker]

Decent haul. Most of us here know the style of those beers but it was very meticulous to list them all. By the way, Arrogant Bastard is an American Strong Ale not a DIPA. It's a subtle distinction but worth making. If you haven't yet had it, AB is not a huge, one dimensional hop bomb. Like most of the Stone beers it has amazing balance which pushes it outside the DIPA category.

[ritzkiss]

Had the Avery Sixteen and it was no saison - way too sweet and brutish. That is the Avery MO though... Works for the DIPAs but certainly not for a saison....

[SteelbackGuy]

Get ready for a booze fest with the Wyerbacher 12!!!

[mintjellie]

Decent haul. Most of us here know the style of those beers but it was very meticulous to list them all. By the way, Arrogant Bastard is an American Strong Ale not a DIPA. It's a subtle distinction but worth making. If you haven't yet had it, AB is not a huge, one dimensional hop bomb. Like most of the Stone beers it has amazing balance which pushes it outside the DIPA category.

I went to see Zane Lamprey's "Drinkin' Made Easy" tour at The Westcott Theatre and had Arrogant Bastard on tap. He incorporates a drinking game into his performance. Guess what I was arrogant enough to play it with.

I'm still not sure if the act was really funny or if I was just drunk enough to laugh at anything.

The Westcott Theatre is a bit of a surprise. It's in the University Hill district and seems to cater to the college crowd (looking it up on google, artists like Gwar, Coheed and Cambria, Henry Rollins, and Bassnectar get booked there), but 5 out of the 6 taps there are craft. The non-craft tap is Bud Light. The others are Arrogant Bastard, 60 Minute IPA, #9, Black Hearted Stouted, and Westcott Ale (brewed for them by Magic Hat).

[mintjellie]

Had the Avery Sixteen and it was no saison - way too sweet and brutish. That is the Avery MO though... Works for the DIPAs but certainly not for a saison....

Even if it isn't a good representation of the style, did it at least taste good?

[ritzkiss]

Had the Avery Sixteen and it was no saison - way too sweet and brutish. That is the Avery MO though... Works for the DIPAs but certainly not for a saison....

Even if it isn't a good representation of the style, did it at least taste good?

To each his own but I didn't find it all that enjoyable. Like a too sweet Midas Touch perhaps? Let us know what you think when you've had it.

On other notes, I thought the Jack D'Or was pretty tasty.

[Flood]

Enjoy!

[Belgian]

Had the Avery Sixteen and it was no saison - way too sweet and brutish. That is the Avery MO though... Works for the DIPAs but certainly not for a saison....

Even if it isn't a good representation of the style, did it at least taste good?

To each his own but I didn't find it all that enjoyable. Like a too sweet Midas Touch perhaps? Let us know what you think when you've had it.

I found it pretty decent when it's cold enough - certainly sweet from the fruit but also a spice layer and some citrus. Nothing called a 'Saison' is ever less than a surprise for me. Hennepin, Sophie, Dalmatienne, Ithica and Dupont are all very different beers to me, and each offers something else.

(To suggest: You might want to post beer-shopping notes in the beer travel section, only so that people can pick up the threads & continue discussing with their own experience in syracuse.)

[Brews Phillips]

Stone Arrogant Bastard (DIPA)
Southern Tier Iniquity (Imperial Black Ale)
Troegs Troegenator (Doppelbock)
Guinness Extra Stout (Dry Irish Stout)
Victory Wild Devil (American IPA w/ Brett)
Great Divide Hercules (DIPA)
Weyerbacher Twelve (Barleywine w/ 50% Malted Rye)
Avery Sixteen (Saison w/ Peaches, Jasmine, and Honey)
Goose Island Sofie (Saison, 20% aged in wine barrels with orange peel then blended with non-barreled beer)
Ommegang Hennepin (Saison)
Pretty Things Jack D'Or (Saison)
Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary - Fritz And Ken's Ale (American Imperial Stout)

Beer porn pictures to come.

Hey mintjellie, at what store did you pick up this stash of beery goodness?

[cfrancis]

Where did you go?

I really like the Galeville Grocery even though the prices might be a touch high.

[mintjellie]

Stone Arrogant Bastard (DIPA)
Southern Tier Iniquity (Imperial Black Ale)
Troegs Troegenator (Doppelbock)
Guinness Extra Stout (Dry Irish Stout)
Victory Wild Devil (American IPA w/ Brett)
Great Divide Hercules (DIPA)
Weyerbacher Twelve (Barleywine w/ 50% Malted Rye)
Avery Sixteen (Saison w/ Peaches, Jasmine, and Honey)
Goose Island Sofie (Saison, 20% aged in wine barrels with orange peel then blended with non-barreled beer)
Ommegang Hennepin (Saison)
Pretty Things Jack D'Or (Saison)
Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary - Fritz And Ken's Ale (American Imperial Stout)

Beer porn pictures to come.

Hey mintjellie, at what store did you pick up this stash of beery goodness?

Brilbecks Corner Market. Good selection, but be careful with the hop forward stuff as some products don't seem to move very quickly. I almost picked up a bottle of Maharaja before noticing it was bottled last June. I went with the Hercules instead because it was bottled this year at the end of April. It was also cheaper, which may explain why it was fresher. I figured that since the Stone bombers were reasonably priced and Arrogant Bastard is a well regarded beer from a respected brewer, that it would move reasonably fast. So I took a chance on it. Same with the Wild Devil.

[mintjellie]

By the way, hauling 12 bombers and 750s home on a bus is pretty fun. This is my third time doing this now.

I should have got my drivers licence when I was a teenager. Oh well, I should have my G2 by October.

More on my trip to Syracuse. I finally got around to trying Sierra Nevada Pale Ale while I was down there. Nice citric hop flavour with a lingering bitterness, really tasty. If SN is the classic APA, then I think Tankhouse succeeds at being what it is. I'm not saying Tankhouse is as good, but it certainly doesn't pale in comparison either. I also tried Summerfest and thought it was the sort of lager Pootz would fall in love with (not that I know him, but I do read his posts). I was visiting my ex-girlfriend while I was down there, and even she warmed up to it by the end of her cup, and pilsners and other bright lagers really aren't her bag. I had the Sierra Nevada beers at the Taste Of Syracuse festival, where local restaurants set up sampling tents in the main square downtown. There's some pretty decent food around town. I also sampled some beers from Lake Placid Brewing, and the Ellicotville Blueberry Wheat (blehh!)

Before the Zane Lamprey show, her and I split a bottle of Dogfish Head Fort. It was good, but not terribly complex. It really tasted of raspberries and booze and really drank more like an alcoholic fruit wine. It was a bit sweet but not overly so. We enjoyed it, but both thought it went down like firewater when it got too warm. In addition to the Arrogant Bastard, I also had Magic Hat #9 and Middle Ages Blackheart Stout on tap. The Blackheart was intensely roasty with some serious black coffee, dark chocolate, and char flavour; it was also very easy drinking. I've always thought the #9 was decent in the bottle, but on tap it seems fresher tasting and the Apricot flavour really shines. I know fruit beer isn't an exciting style for most people, but I'd recommend trying it on draught if fruit beer is your thing.

I also had some Genessee Cream Ale straight from the can with my fish and chips at lunch on Saturday. It's a pretty decent pale macro, but gets a little unruly if you take too long drinking it sitting at a picnic table on a hot afternoon.

Oh yeah, free ice cream day at Friendly's is AWESOME!

[iguenard]

Where did you go?

I really like the Galeville Grocery even though the prices might be a touch high.

I got Dogfish Worldwide stout at 7.50 a bottle here. Why do you think it is expensive?

[hops are your friend]

Where did you go?

I really like the Galeville Grocery even though the prices might be a touch high.

I also like Galeville, especially if I'm staying at a hotel up that way, but you have to check the dates (at least on any bottles that have them). I've slipped up a few times over the years and come home with beer that is past its prime.

The Party Source is roughly the same. If I'm down for a weekend lately I tend to do my 'serious beer shopping' at Finger Lakes Beverage in Ithaca. It's only about an hour away, and my wife doesn't mind as long as I leave her at the Carousel mall