I had no idea that Dogfish Head made a 75 minute IPA. Got that the other day.

Also, since it's been a while, picked up a bottle of Rochefort 10.

Last night I had the Deschutte's Jebelale that had been sitting in my pantry since the holidays. Didn't want anything too strong, plus it had a "drink by April" on the label. Odd. It was good, nothing to write home about.

Enjoyed a Bell's Expedition Stout last night while catching up on Justified. Man, I love that beer. The wife hates the smell on me afterwards, however. No smooching until I brush my teeth, use mouth wash, and scrub my goatee. 

So, I bought a Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA and the bottle didn't display ABV. I was under the assumption that anything above 5% must be declared on the label. And unless my memory is more faulty than I thought, 120 IPA's used to have the ABV listed on the label. Does anyone know anything about this?

I don't know about the ABV being required, but 120 is around 18%.

According to the Dogfish site, there is one store around me that has some. I'll have to check it out on the way home today. It's one of the last few holy grails for me.

My grandmarm used to say, if you don't have anything nice to say, shut the EFF up.

So I'll be quiet.

Preach.

Aging IPA/DIPAs is just a waste of good beer IMO. You're just going to get a bland Barleywine style nowhere near what the brewer intended. Hopslam already tastes about 4 months old anyway. I don't know what's going on with that beer the last few years. There is no SLAM like there used to be. Your tongue would literally swell there were so many hops hitting you at once.

Now, aged Expedition Stout is where it's at!

I have a bottle of Expedition, but I don't think I can wait to let it age.

Not to mention that I don't have any way to maintain a consistent temp and humidity for aging. One of the drawbacks to living in AZ: no basement.

Bell's Hopslam hit the shelves here in Michigan this week. It's an incredibly fragrant DIPA that checks in around 10%ABV. Awesome beer. If you can get your hands on it, try one. It's only available in limited quantities during the winter. Yum!

I had a hunch that I might be able to get some from my local Total Wine & More. They've been good about getting Bell's in stock that aren't anywhere else. So I've been checking in over the past couple weeks. Yesterday I hit the jackpot. They had at least 3 cases of it. But at $20 a six, I only got two bottles.

WOW. It is everything it was cracked up to be. I'm not normally a fan of IPAs. I like a little hops, but most of them go overboard. Hopslam has a lot of hops, but it's so balanced with the other flavors that it is incredibly drinkable. I almost chugged it, it was so good. If you can get some, do it. It's earned all the praise it's getting.

My God... why?

Why not. He's got enough. It's pretty widely available there. He said that lots of bars have it on tap this year. Last year there weren't that many. Several beers that before were only available at the brewery in Kalamazoo are making their way into stores.

I've only had the pleasure of trying the Oberon and Two Hearted Ales. A friend brought it back from MI for me. Both were delicious. I am definitely looking forward to trying more from them.

For many years, Oberon was my favorite beer. Bar none. And Bell's was my Payday beer. Since I moved to AZ I've had to expand and try new things so I don't know if I can say that anymore (it might be a Rochefort 10).

My friend in MI is cellaring some Hopslam '12 to compare it to the '13 when it comes out.

So my experiment with going back and watching the first 4 seasons of Who is going well. I'm near the tail end of Season 3 now. Couple thoughts:

-I can see why people love Tennant so much. He's great. There's a good chance that, by the time I get through season 4 he may be my favorite.

-That Olympics episode was as bad as I remember. But it did have 2 people from Love, Actually in it. so that was cool.

-I really enjoyed the two episode Human Nature/Family of Blood arc, written by Paul Cornell. Really good performance by Tennant.

-Watching Blink right now. Awesome stuff.

I love Bell's.  Been digging their Best Brown Ale.

I think I mentioned it earlier in the thread but I had the Third Coast Old Ale the other day and it was magnificent. I think I have a bottle of Expedition Stout in the pantry. I need to go the local Total Wine and stock up.

Bell's Hopslam hit the shelves here in Michigan this week. It's an incredibly fragrant DIPA that checks in around 10%ABV. Awesome beer. If you can get your hands on it, try one. It's only available in limited quantities during the winter. Yum!

My old roommate who still lives in MI got a whole case of it this weekend. I asked if he could send me one, but they are all spoken for.

I'm not even a big IPA fan, but I'm willing to try it.

This helps! Any specific brands you recommend?

I don't know if there are any big box beer and wine stores where you are (Total Wine and More, BevMo, etc.) but try those or a high end grocer (we have AJ's here in AZ). Many of those places have a lot of single bottles or let you break up six packs. It's a good way to get a sampling of what's out there without having to buy six beers you end up not liking.

Dang, sorry you didn't have a good experience with the Speedway Stout. I really enjoy the boozy taste, but, like Valance is doing, it could probably benefit from being cellared if you want it to mellow.

That's why I think I'm going to wait on drinking my 2012 Abyss.

On the other hand, I had one of the best Bell's I've ever drank last night, their Third Coast Old Ale. Beautiful stuff. I'm glad I can finally get some more of their smaller batch stuff out here. Although not everything. I would really like to try their Hopslam IPA and I've never seen it this far west.

Speedway Stout is so good! I'd definitely go with that.

I ended up being very disappointed in the Speedway Stout. Only drank half a glass and put it down. The alcohol taste was way to strong. I couldn't taste any of the other flavors.

Maybe it's me. I've never had much of a taste for liquor, so that made it a little too strong. But I've had beers with the same alcohol content and couldn't taste it in every sip.

Also had the Dogfish Etrucsa Birra. It was...interesting. Worth trying, but I'll never get it again.

Still bouncing back and forth between Classic Doctor Who (just finished The Aztecs), the Eccleston Doctor Who season, and Deep Space Nine (starting season 3).

Does anyone know why Justified isn't on Netflix? It seems to be the only FX show not up yet.

Anyone drinking anything special for New Year's Eve? I'm trying to decide between my Speedway Stout or 2012 Abyss.

Had a Bell's Christmas Ale last night. Good, not great. And that's saying a lot because I'm usually a shill for everything they brew.

Also picked up one of the Ancient Ales from Dofgfish Head. The Etruscan beer. I might try it this weekend.

So previously I said that I wasn't going to watch any Who prior to Matt Smith coming on the show. I had seen bits and pieces from time to time and they didn't grab me. (For a while it seemed like every time I turned on BBCA it was that Olympics episode).

But I've decided I shouldn't just dismiss them out of hand and I'm going back and watching the new Who from the beginning. I'm also going to try some of the classic Who that got put up on Netflix last week.

So far I've watched Rose and The End of the World and I enjoyed them. Billie Piper is hotter than I remember ( her mouth used to bother me).

So far so good. I think I'll keep it up.

1.Father John Misty Fear Fun
2.Bad Books II
3. Dry the River Shallow Bed
4. Grizzly Bear Shields
5. Kishi Bashi 151A
6. Avett Brothers The Carpenter
7. Killer Mike R.A.P. Music
8. Japandroids Celebration Rock
9. El-P Cancer for Cure
10. Passion Pit Gossamer

The Westvleteren 12 is pretty amazing stuff. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bernardus_Brewery

Not considered a "Trappist"…but closely related, and their 6, 8, and 12 are incredible tasting beers and pretty easy to find, not to mention affordable.

Had a St. Bernardus Abt 12 this weekend.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/259/1708

 

Wow. That was an amazing beer.