Beers and Meads
- Tony Schiavone
- Posts: 2922
- Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2017 2:11 pm
Beers and Meads
First: thank you Kugel and the rest of you guys for all the beer and wine/mead postings you did back on 3.0. If DHI can say they've truly done good on behalf of all humanity it was that thread.
Though its hard to find the better ones among the stores here in burger--usually have to wait until we get to the indy type drinking places, ironically enough.
Any others you can recommend since then? Here Stella started taking off for some freaking reason. It's not bad compared to the domestics and abundance craft crap, but I'm sure there's gotta be better.
[I don't drink too many spirits except for tequila because I'm a fag, and also I had enough friends dump the cheap swill shit on me over the years that I can't stand the sights of them now]
Though its hard to find the better ones among the stores here in burger--usually have to wait until we get to the indy type drinking places, ironically enough.
Any others you can recommend since then? Here Stella started taking off for some freaking reason. It's not bad compared to the domestics and abundance craft crap, but I'm sure there's gotta be better.
[I don't drink too many spirits except for tequila because I'm a fag, and also I had enough friends dump the cheap swill shit on me over the years that I can't stand the sights of them now]
...and still: Spoony did nothing.
- Kugelfisch
- The white ghost
- Posts: 47130
- Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 1:36 pm
Re: Beers and Meads
Well, I don't know what you can get in your area so it's hard to make suggestions. For more specific stuff that's German, there's a good chance I know it, though.
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- rabidtictac
- Posts: 20650
- Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 9:25 pm
Re: Beers and Meads
Depending where you live, I've noticed a lot of smaller stores may carry 1 or 2 weird foreign beers. Konig Ludwig, for example, has been surprisingly easy to find here for some reason. But Weihenstephaner is a specialty store-only product, sadly.
It's a bit odd, especially since I would rate the two beers about the same in terms of quality, but the latter costs a lot more here.
Mead is fantastic, but again, I had a lot of trouble finding any outside of specialty shops. I always recommend Dansk Mjod (the brand) for their fantastic meads.
If you're like me and think a lot of the local hipster microbrews are kind of shit, and you don't like macro-adjunt pils at all, I can recommend a few very common labels in the States which are a cut above the rest:
Sierra Nevada is a company you can find everywhere, but they make a quality product (for an American beer.) If you like IPAs, they are best known for those, but I don't like IPAs at all. I've had their hefe and some other products. Their hefe is acceptable for an american hefeweizen. It's a bit too watery for my tastes, but there you go. Their porter is also a bit week. Their stout is really good, but it's more like a typical euro porter in terms of taste. As I said, all of their beers are just a bit watery compared to what I prefer.
Black Boss Porter (it may be under a new name now, I dunno) is a Polish porter you can find in most shops around here, thanks to some kind of distributorship agreement where the beer is bottled in the USA for sale here. It's fantastic.
If you can't find any of those, Red Hook is a popular smaller company. Their best beer is called ESB aka Extra Special Bitter. It's a mild and refreshing dark beer that tastes best cold imo. The price on their beer is usually very reasonable-only barely more expensive than the cheap swill garbage in the beer aisles-but far tastier than those cheep swiller beers.
My other blanket recommendation is to try everything with a foreign name that you see, especially if it lists the name of the type of beer and it's NOT a pilsner. Most of the interesting/good beer I've had was foreign. Belgian white beers are a personal favorite of mine.
It's a bit odd, especially since I would rate the two beers about the same in terms of quality, but the latter costs a lot more here.
Mead is fantastic, but again, I had a lot of trouble finding any outside of specialty shops. I always recommend Dansk Mjod (the brand) for their fantastic meads.
If you're like me and think a lot of the local hipster microbrews are kind of shit, and you don't like macro-adjunt pils at all, I can recommend a few very common labels in the States which are a cut above the rest:
Sierra Nevada is a company you can find everywhere, but they make a quality product (for an American beer.) If you like IPAs, they are best known for those, but I don't like IPAs at all. I've had their hefe and some other products. Their hefe is acceptable for an american hefeweizen. It's a bit too watery for my tastes, but there you go. Their porter is also a bit week. Their stout is really good, but it's more like a typical euro porter in terms of taste. As I said, all of their beers are just a bit watery compared to what I prefer.
Black Boss Porter (it may be under a new name now, I dunno) is a Polish porter you can find in most shops around here, thanks to some kind of distributorship agreement where the beer is bottled in the USA for sale here. It's fantastic.
If you can't find any of those, Red Hook is a popular smaller company. Their best beer is called ESB aka Extra Special Bitter. It's a mild and refreshing dark beer that tastes best cold imo. The price on their beer is usually very reasonable-only barely more expensive than the cheap swill garbage in the beer aisles-but far tastier than those cheep swiller beers.
My other blanket recommendation is to try everything with a foreign name that you see, especially if it lists the name of the type of beer and it's NOT a pilsner. Most of the interesting/good beer I've had was foreign. Belgian white beers are a personal favorite of mine.
- Tony Schiavone
- Posts: 2922
- Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2017 2:11 pm
Re: Beers and Meads
Appreciate the suggestions! Can vouch for Black Boss Porter. Others I'll look for.
...and still: Spoony did nothing.
- Kugelfisch
- The white ghost
- Posts: 47130
- Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 1:36 pm
Re: Beers and Meads
IPA is not beer. I've got no idea why hipsters think it's the way to go. There's a load of difference between brewing a beer that's hard on the hops side, a North German speciality, and thinking that more is better and throwing all the bags and buckets full of the stuff you have at hand into the mash.
It's undrinkable, sour piss made to withstand currynigger climates and tastes more like spoiled champaign than anything close to beer. I've tried six so far and they were all beyond terrible. Brewed by morons without understanding of balance. Beer is not meant to be so bitter that it tips into being sour.
König Ludwig being more easily available may have something to do with them having a much higher output. Weihenstephaner is even hard to get for me. It's not special at all so it's not worth bothering to find it somewhere. Good but not "drive to some special store an hour away to get it" good.
Good mead is even worse with availability. You either don't get it at all or it's really expensive. There's not much of a demand and it's not easily made on the side with existing equipment. Since there's a boom with gin right now you can get dozens upon dozens of them. All you need are stills so basically every fruit spirit distiller makes gin on the side now to cash in on the boom. They make damn good ones too so I'm all for it.
But mead? You don't just go and make some. The few that make good one know what they have and sell it accordingly for good money. Demand would have to get much, much higher for competition to arise.
It's undrinkable, sour piss made to withstand currynigger climates and tastes more like spoiled champaign than anything close to beer. I've tried six so far and they were all beyond terrible. Brewed by morons without understanding of balance. Beer is not meant to be so bitter that it tips into being sour.
König Ludwig being more easily available may have something to do with them having a much higher output. Weihenstephaner is even hard to get for me. It's not special at all so it's not worth bothering to find it somewhere. Good but not "drive to some special store an hour away to get it" good.
Good mead is even worse with availability. You either don't get it at all or it's really expensive. There's not much of a demand and it's not easily made on the side with existing equipment. Since there's a boom with gin right now you can get dozens upon dozens of them. All you need are stills so basically every fruit spirit distiller makes gin on the side now to cash in on the boom. They make damn good ones too so I'm all for it.
But mead? You don't just go and make some. The few that make good one know what they have and sell it accordingly for good money. Demand would have to get much, much higher for competition to arise.
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- rabidtictac
- Posts: 20650
- Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 9:25 pm
Re: Beers and Meads
That's why, with Mead, I just buy Dansk Mjod from the specialty shops. It's expensive as SHIT over here, but the product is high-quality and comes in a seriously nice earthenware bottle. I've tried some cheaper meads and didn't care for them. IMO a good mead should have a high alcohol %, and some of the cheaper ones around here are rather low. Dansk Mjod are typically 23%+ ABV.
![Image](https://www.unionsquarewines.com/images/labels/dansk-mjod-vikingernes-mjod.jpg)
Just drink it straight or with a little ice.
Gin and Whiskey are extremely available here, but I'm not a gin man at all. Gin always seemed, like Vodka, one of those drinks for alcoholics to use as a generic mixer. Rum and Brandy are my preferred hard liquors. I've tried sake and every version I tried tasted like some variation of garbage. It's possible I never ran across any good ones, but now I have 3-4 bottles of fucking sake sitting around that I'll probably never drink lol.
MUH SUPERIOR NIPPONESE LIQUOR
![Image](https://www.unionsquarewines.com/images/labels/dansk-mjod-vikingernes-mjod.jpg)
Just drink it straight or with a little ice.
Gin and Whiskey are extremely available here, but I'm not a gin man at all. Gin always seemed, like Vodka, one of those drinks for alcoholics to use as a generic mixer. Rum and Brandy are my preferred hard liquors. I've tried sake and every version I tried tasted like some variation of garbage. It's possible I never ran across any good ones, but now I have 3-4 bottles of fucking sake sitting around that I'll probably never drink lol.
MUH SUPERIOR NIPPONESE LIQUOR
- Kugelfisch
- The white ghost
- Posts: 47130
- Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 1:36 pm
Re: Beers and Meads
Sake is trash. There's a good reason why it's the second biggest single malt nation. The moment they started making whisky they realised how shit sake is.
Gin works for me exclusively in Gin and Tonic and I couldn't have many of those anyway. I'll write about the one I currently have in the spirits thread next weekend or so.
Gin works for me exclusively in Gin and Tonic and I couldn't have many of those anyway. I'll write about the one I currently have in the spirits thread next weekend or so.
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- mistermott
- Posts: 48
- Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2018 6:01 pm
Re: Beers and Meads
I was surprised when I saw, cause we just tried that very brew a few days ago cause my friend is leaving to live in Kuwait for a year. sadly they spilled it over a $75 Board game.rabidtictac wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 12:17 amThat's why, with Mead, I just buy Dansk Mjod from the specialty shops. It's expensive as SHIT over here, but the product is high-quality and comes in a seriously nice earthenware bottle. I've tried some cheaper meads and didn't care for them. IMO a good mead should have a high alcohol %, and some of the cheaper ones around here are rather low. Dansk Mjod are typically 23%+ ABV.
Just drink it straight or with a little ice.
Gin and Whiskey are extremely available here, but I'm not a gin man at all. Gin always seemed, like Vodka, one of those drinks for alcoholics to use as a generic mixer. Rum and Brandy are my preferred hard liquors. I've tried sake and every version I tried tasted like some variation of garbage. It's possible I never ran across any good ones, but now I have 3-4 bottles of fucking sake sitting around that I'll probably never drink lol.
MUH SUPERIOR NIPPONESE LIQUOR
I saw another brew just like that but it was dansk mjod viking blod. would you recommend that one? I would actually open to some recommendations for Mead. my friend and brother enjoyed the stuff.
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- rabidtictac
- Posts: 20650
- Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 9:25 pm
Re: Beers and Meads
I've had a couple of Dansk Mjod meads and they were all great. I highly recommend them. I had a honey one, which I think was the one I posted, and I had another with a kind of flowery flavor to it. I think I also had the original.
- Kugelfisch
- The white ghost
- Posts: 47130
- Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 1:36 pm
Re: Beers and Meads
Today, Einbecker Mai-Ur-Bock arrived so I'm having that. For those that don't know what a Bock is, the wikipedia site is actually pretty okay. The picture of it is of a Einbecker Winterbock so just imagine that bottle with metallic green labelling instead.
What it doesn't tell is that Einbecker is the original inventor of Bockbier. They produce a beer with the original recipe as well, which is called Ainpökisch Bier. It's one of my absolute favourites and nothing tastes quite like it.
The Mai-Ur-Bock always arrives some time before May. Hence the name. Don't worry about it not being May yet. It's kinda like the Oktoberfest really more taking place in September - nobody cares about inaccurate naming when the beer is good.
It's got a reddish-amber colour and smells like your regular lager with mostly hops, very slight malt but without any zesty notes.
The taste is like you took a good summertime lager and turned it up to eleven in richness. It's round with hops and just enough malt flavour to not become a malty beer. What's special is the slightly grassy, herbal taste to it. It's also got a hint of honey, especially in mouth feel.
I always look forward to it being around again. During the winter months I like Bockbier at best and it's just the right beer to tune from the heavy, malty and super rich Bock of the deep winter towards lighter and more "refreshing" beer. It's like a last hurrah of winter beer and a preview to spring and summer, where I and almost everybody else prefer lighter and more hops-heavy beer.
Absolutely worth a try for anyone who stumbles upon it. It's a yearly tradition for me and it's rare these days to get a seasonal beer that isn't a Christmas beer.
What it doesn't tell is that Einbecker is the original inventor of Bockbier. They produce a beer with the original recipe as well, which is called Ainpökisch Bier. It's one of my absolute favourites and nothing tastes quite like it.
The Mai-Ur-Bock always arrives some time before May. Hence the name. Don't worry about it not being May yet. It's kinda like the Oktoberfest really more taking place in September - nobody cares about inaccurate naming when the beer is good.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
It's got a reddish-amber colour and smells like your regular lager with mostly hops, very slight malt but without any zesty notes.
The taste is like you took a good summertime lager and turned it up to eleven in richness. It's round with hops and just enough malt flavour to not become a malty beer. What's special is the slightly grassy, herbal taste to it. It's also got a hint of honey, especially in mouth feel.
I always look forward to it being around again. During the winter months I like Bockbier at best and it's just the right beer to tune from the heavy, malty and super rich Bock of the deep winter towards lighter and more "refreshing" beer. It's like a last hurrah of winter beer and a preview to spring and summer, where I and almost everybody else prefer lighter and more hops-heavy beer.
Absolutely worth a try for anyone who stumbles upon it. It's a yearly tradition for me and it's rare these days to get a seasonal beer that isn't a Christmas beer.
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Centuries of blood becomes erased!
I am the white ghost!
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