The Beer Thread

tontontonton
Posted:
in AppleOutsider edited January 2014
Anyone here posted any reviews on Beer Advocate or another site, or have a beer blog?

Here are my BA reviews:

http://beeradvocate.com/user/beers?ba=tonton

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member


    I think I have, some years ago.  It's nice to see that the craft beer movement has made it to HK, at least by way of importing.


     


    Most of the time I drink Trumer Pils, but here in SF the selection in any given grocer (or bar) is astounding.  SF is definitely the most beer-loving place I've ever been, and I've been to Munich a bunch of times.

  • Reply 2 of 11
    tontontonton Posts: 14,067
    Hong Kong is a desert. Nine out of ten bars have four macro lagers on tap, and import bottles of corona and Budweiser. Guinness can be found in bottles (the excellent Guinness Foreign Extra, not the crappy Guinness Draught) and Hoegaarden is popular, but I make a point of avoiding bars that don't have Boddingtons, as that's my popular beer of choice. From Boddingtons I started exploring English Pale Ales, and from there, Belgian Ales. The only place to get those in Hong Kong is in the overpriced expat targeted supermarkets. I've also been exploring several witbiers and blondes.
  • Reply 3 of 11
    tontontonton Posts: 14,067
    As far as Belgian ales go, oddly, I didn't like Duvel at all. I liked several others though, especially Belgian Blondes.

    My favorite American beer is Sierra Nevada Stout. Awesome coffee/chocolate notes. Haven't liked any American IPAs, though.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member


    The "West coast IPA" is sort-of an arms race for hops.  Supposedly, Anchor Liberty Ale is a dutiful recreation of the original IPA style, but who can really say.  It is still quite hoppy.


     


    By most admissions, the best West coast IPAs are Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger from Russian River Brewing, but they are hard to get outside of the SF bay area.

  • Reply 5 of 11
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Splinemodel View Post


    The "West coast IPA" is sort-of an arms race for hops.  Supposedly, Anchor Liberty Ale is a dutiful recreation of the original IPA style, but who can really say.  It is still quite hoppy.


     


    By most admissions, the best West coast IPAs are Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger from Russian River Brewing, but they are hard to get outside of the SF bay area.



     


    I completely agree with your IPA assessment, the weapon of choice being cascade as far as I can see. If by original IPA you are referring to the style brewed for export from the UK to India, and hopped more heavily to preserve it, then I would say that all the US IPAs are still much less bitter and far more florally hopped.


     


    I did get to try the Plinys for the first time on a recent trip to the Bay Area, and they were rather good.

  • Reply 6 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member


    Anchor Liberty is supposedly made from an old English recipe that was discovered by a museum somewhere and then applied to production by Anchor.


     


    Liberty Ale does have quite a bit of a floral note, but generally it has a more pils quality than do most IPAs you'll find these days.


     


    On the note of pils, it is my go-to beer for day-to-day drinking.  It is really tough to brew, so there are not a lot of good ones.  Trumer is probably my favorite.  You can get it in some parts of America and Austria (weird story).  The best all-american pils I've had (or lager) is Bell's Lager of the Lakes.  The best German Pils, I would say, is Radeberger.  Jever is a close second.  There are a lot of good Austrian Pils.


     


    I also drink a lot of "Belgian-style" ales.  We're getting pretty damn good at Belgian-style in USA, these days.


     


    If you love stout and find yourself in northern California, do also try Old Rasputin from Russian River.  Russian River Brewing is sort of a legendary thing.  Old Rasputin is the stout that went nuclear.  It's amazing, but difficult to drink a whole bottle of it.

  • Reply 7 of 11
    roguedograndyroguedograndy Posts: 199member


    Mmmm, Beer. I believe Benjamin Franklin said 'Beer is proof that god wants us to be happy". 


    Lately I have been on a Round Barn Winery kolsch beer kick. Round Barn Winery is one of many local wineries and micro brewers in my area - southwest michigan. 


     


     Bells - which was mentioned by Splinemodel - is located about 40 minutes from my home. My favorite Bells beer is Oberon. 


    Anyways, happy tasting to all the beer lovers.

  • Reply 8 of 11
    tontontonton Posts: 14,067
    Being in Hong Kong, we really don't get much in the way of American craft beers. I've found a bar where we can get about 80 different English Ales in the bottle, from the better known medium breweries, as well as from some smaller ones. We can also find a bunch of Belgians, euro blondes, lots of the better known wits and weissens, a few Australian and New Zealand ales, and plenty of lagers and pilseners from around the world (yuck).

    But some things are strangely absent. We get Sam Adams' Boston Lager, but not a single other brew from Boston.

    By the way, anyone who hasn't tried St Bernardus abt.12, get your hands one one today. Breathtaking.

    Sierra Nevada Stout tastes like the best iced coffee you'll ever have in your life.

    And London Pride is the more than adequate widely available EPA. Fuller's Organic Honeydew gets panned, but it's great for the sticky humid weather we have here in HK.

    Best thing is that if I make an effort of it, I never have to have a euro lager or any of that macro American crap ever again.

    Heineken and Budweiser should be banned.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    tontontonton Posts: 14,067
    Dude. Chimay Blue is awesome. Red is fantastic. White, not so much.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tonton View Post



    Dude. Chimay Blue is awesome. Red is fantastic. White, not so much.


    Seems like you're getting introduced to the major Belgian Ales.  There are a lot of farmhouse ales from western europe and USA, now.  The Dubbel/Trippel/Quad Ale is not really my favorite, but I do love saison style and, for the most part, gueze.  I also love the new-wave of hoppy ales coming from belgium.  The most readily available one is Duvel Green, but there are many.  A couple of years ago, I went to the Bruges Beer Festival.  It was in september, so if you are thinking of planning a trip to western europe, maybe you can make the dates overlap.  :)  It was great.

  • Reply 11 of 11
    tontontonton Posts: 14,067


    Belgians still aren't my favorites. I love Chimay Blue and Abt.12, but I still prefer a nice EPA.


     


    I'd rather visit Strangeways and do the Fuller's tour.

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