I had that one 5-6 years ago. I enjoyed it, but thought it was overrated. I actually had it back to back with St. Arnold's (OG Houston brewery) "Elissa" IPA, and I can buy that in a six-pack at any local grocery store when it's in season. The local IPA compared pretty favorably.Allentown wrote:Finally recently got a bottle of Pliny the Elder, that was fun! I really enjoyed it.
Yes. Me and a few buddies do an Oktoberfest shindig every year. This year it'll be on 10/21 and we make sure to have 12-15 different Oktoberfests available. Ayinger is probably my favorite too, although I'm a real sucker for anything Weihenstephaner puts out. The mandatory Germans are:Allentown wrote: My beer tastes are pretty seasonal, and very rarely will I have a beer more than once. This time of year I try and build at least a 6 pack of different Oktoberfests- Ayinger is my current favorite after a blind taste test. I hope to do another blind test in the next week or two.
- Ayinger
- Hacker-Pschorr
- Weihenstephaner
- Spaten
- NOT WARSTEINER
And then just a grab bag of American takes. We're lucky down here in that there's a strong German influence, so the Texas breweries in my area do a really good job with Oktoberfest/Marzen styles.
I'm a super recent convert to sours. I had some 5-6 years ago that just weren't right. I'd had the classics and thought they were good, but the American ones kind of - pun intended - soured me on the style. Tried a few more recently and brewers seem to have figured out how to make them good now. I'm really liking some of the dark sours I've had from Blue Owl (Austin) and I have a Lagunitas Aunt Sally that I might crack tonight.Allentown wrote: I have two cases of wild/sour beers in my basement from my favorite local place, Brewery Vivant. If you see their beers around, I think they are worth a shot- they distribute mostly just in the Midwest so far, with Farmhand and Big Red Coq being their two flagships.
That's a goodie. My local Costco always has those in 750ml for dirt cheap. If you like stouts, North Coast's Old Rasputin is a handful.Root wrote:I've been digging the Brother Theloneous from North Coast Brewing
Other stuff that's made me click my heels with glee:
- Anything by Prairie. The BOMB! lineup is pretty amazing, although I don't think most of the fancy versions are better than the standard one.
- Real Ale Sisyphus - barleywine. I have 5-6 different years stored up in my "cellar" (cabinet under the bar) and I'll be cracking a few of them open once the weather cools down.
- I also have a couple of Sierra Nevada Barrel Aged Bigfoot barleywines from 2015. I figure one of them might be opened this year, the other one in another year or two.
- Tallgrass is another brewery that I've enjoyed lately. Really cool can art. IIRC their saison was REALLY impressive, their porter not so much (despite having an awesome zombie gorilla on the can).