Lagunitas IPA: Quite good
Various bottles of Gennessee
Narragansett, only because my Dad is from Boston

That's...tremendous. I browsed through last year's list of brewers/brews and it looked amazing. The only noticeable omission is St. Sixtus but I imagine that finding a spare bottle of Westvleteran around Brussels is certainly possible. Lots of nice Flemish Sours that I can't find around here, plus many Belgain stalwarts.

I was looking to take my wife to Europe again in 2012 - and this is something she would love. If there's a way I can swing it (I'd know in early 2012) I'll PM you.

Having only spent a night in Brussels while backpacking I'd be very interested in taking in a beer fest there.

Funny, I actually grabbed two bottles of New Belgium Lips of Faith series on Saturday. Obviously the brew isn't distributed in PA but like the Pliny, there's a random spot outside of the city - in New Kensington of all places - that has been known to get rarities. It's called 'House of 1,000 Beers'. If you're ever near the shop while in Pittsburgh, it's worth a stop - even if all you're looking for is something from Russian River.

Hmm, I'll have to stop there next time we're out that way. Thanks!

A few cans of Mama's Little Pils. Not bad either.

Rolling Rock Extra Pale.

Good beer and like the 9 X 473ml cans rather than a dozen of the smaller ones.

The design is either retro throwback or hasn't changed since 1939 and am not sure which but like the beer.

Bell's Cherry Stout
Three Floyds Dreadnaught
Three Floyds Arctic Panzer

Here are the beers in my fridge right now:

Coopers Pale Ale
Cascade Premium Lager
Victoria Bitter (VB)
Bluebottle Beer
Carlton Draft
Little Creatures
Mountain Goat Beer
Pure Blonde Beer

That's all ??

Wow, we are planning to go here to but in July. With this event, we might go as early as April.

- Rolling Rock
- Sam Adams Boston Lager
- Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold
- Great Lakes Eliot Ness
- Anchor Steam Porter
- Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale
- Breckenridge Brewery Avalanche Ale
- Breckenridge Brewery Vanilla Porter
- Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat
- Goose Island Christmas Ale
- Bell's Best Brown Ale

I grabbed some exciting stuff today. Most exciting are Russian River's Supplication - a sour ale aged in pinot noir barrels and Mikkeller Weasel. Weasel is an imperial oatmeal stout brewed with civet cat coffee. Really excited to try it, I haven't had civet coffee but have heard of it. It will be hard not to think about how the coffee is produced while drinking the beer.

Had Dreadnaught on draft last weekend at the Strong Ale Festival in Carlsbad, CA. Fantastic beer (never seen it out west before). Arctic Panzer was also on, but didn't try it. :(

An SFO-based friend just sent me his tasting notes on Dreadnought (below).

Several of us FTers had it on draft at the 3F brewpub about 3 weeks ago. Bavarian Lodge in Lisle, IL had "3F day" yesterday and the place was packed in mid-afternoon.

To my taste, Dreadnaught is definitely better than Arctic Panzer Wolf. And try Zombie Dust if you can find it.

--------------------------------------------------
Hey toomanybooks,

So I just did a side-by-side comparison of 8 month old and 1 month old
Dreadnaught.

The body of the 8 month old is hazy, the 1 month is a lovely clear
gold. They have similar heads.

The newer has a subtle aroma of fresh fruit--mango/apricot, and malt.
The smell of the old is maltier, a bit acrid in comparison, and some
of the subtle fruit smells in the new are gone.

The taste of the new is quite nice with some apricot fruit upfront and
then it goes to a strong malt backbone, with a bitter finish. The old
just has the malt and bitter finish. All the fruit is gone.

Overall, the mouthfeel is similar, with both having a medium body and
good carbonation.

Moral is: drink your hoppy ales fresh.

Cheers,

Mitch

A six of Bitburger bottles.

"Ein Bit Bitte.."