Got Beer?

Shelf space is finite, that's the biggest issue out of market. (btw, their Old Chub is awesome)

Back Channel's The Scowling Caveman - Dark Ale w/ Beechwood & Cherrywood smoked malt (6.00%)

In addition to the base version of the Scowling Caveman, we took one third of the beer and conditioned it on Chipotle & Ghost Peppers to add a subtle heat to the smoky flavor. The other third was conditioned on even more Chipotle & Ghost peppers to add a higher level of heat, yet still remain a balanced dark ale that will be a welcomed treat by any spice lovers out there. (crowlers)

I had the base this weekend, solid. Sippable. Had the medium heat tonight with the Gophers game. Nose ran a bit, a touch of sweat on the brow. Really good, but I shouldn't have solo-domed it. Heat just kept building and building. The high heat one, I think I'll wait and share it. A comparable heat flavor for the medium would be the Dragon's Milk Chile Reserve.

We finally stopped over at Luce Line Brewing in Plymouth. It was pretty packed at 4pm on Saturday so we just picked up a couple crowlers instead of hanging out. I tried their "pastry stout" and thought it was a pretty good beer for a new brewery. It's really more of a milk stout in my opinion and doesn't have the sweetness you'd expect from a true pastry stout. I also bought their regular stout to try for another day.

Today I had to go out and about and popped into a liquor store I haven't been to in quite awhile. I was pretty surprised to find all the Darkness variants there so I picked up the Vanilla and Mole ones since I never really looked for them when they came out.

The Darkness variants are rather easy to find. The mole and Viet coffee are awesome. Disappointed in the vanilla.

They’ve never been anywhere I’ve looked but as with many other things over the past 12-18 months I haven’t really gone to search them out.

Drastic Measures Pistol Whip: crowler, pastry stout. Bourbon barrel aged, w/cacao nibs, vanilla beans, and marshmallow. Picked up at Shorewood Liquor last week. Have had it before, and it's outstanding. After a long day at work and the Gophs game tonight, perfect time to have one (got two, which was the limit). 11%, I quad-poured it (pre-game, and then refilled my glass each period, a few ounces at a time). Believe me, that is the proper pace for this beast of a beer.

I know for a fact that a few people here love the beer I'm about to mention...it's out on shelves now. They are actually canning it in 4pks (16oz, about $14):

Arctic Panzer Wolf by 3 Floyds. IIRC it's 10% (Imperial IPA).

I could drink that beer all day long. I remember when some of the crew here brought back cases of bombers of that, from the MN @ ND trips....

Did I miss Rum King this year? Or is it still floating around out there?

I don’t think they’ve made it for a couple years

Dang... Rum King was in my pantheon of local beers.

I at least know for sure they released Whiskey Queen this year.

And it was phenomenal.

It’s still my 3rd favorite of thei BA stouts after the Initial Beer and Rum King. That said it is excellent

While I love Rum King, it had fallen off a little in recent years. The 2015 was still the best batch, IMO.

Not beer related but long island teas came up in a different thread. Those take me back to my college days (late 80's). There was a bar called Bird's that used to be where Sally's is in Stadium Village. They had 2 for 1 long island teas on Mondays & Wednesdays.

Are long island teas still a thing? I honestly have heard much about them since college.

The Downtowner in Houghton has Pitcher Thursdays still. Long Islands (and the variants which call for Powerade instead of Coke; 5 flavors, you drink all five, you are "riding the rainbow"). Last summer it was $9.50 for a pitcher, IIRC. You don't get a glass, You get the pitcher and 2 straws. When I started going to Houghton in 2007, pitchers were $6.

Best Long Island I’ve had was from the old champps in Fridley. We’d walk there from my apartment after getting home from a hockey game. And then stumble home.

Worst Long Islands were the pitchers from grandmas in Duluth. Some bad hangovers after a night of those or the rainbow of kamikaze pitchers.

The ones at the DT are a step up but like the Red Shed not super strong so I usually just end up full or sugared out before I get drunk.

The kamis at Grandma's are sugar bombs, I will agree with that. Been many years since I've had one of those for that reason.

Would anyone recommend the following for approximately $90:

-Jura 12

-Tamnavulin

-Shackleton

70 cl each. I've only had the Jura which I did enjoy quite a bit, but I know noting of the other two. I realize there are many ways one can go with single malts, but if anyone said the latter 2 are a "hard pass" regardless of your preferences I'd be happy to ignore this deal.

I don't know that I'd recommend any of those at that price. What I don't know is what kind of conversion to put in for location. In the Twin Cities, I can get Shackleton for around $35. Shackleton is a Blended Malt, as well, but from what I understand it's really well done.

I haven't had specifically the Jura 12, but talking with other Scotch lovers, Jura has become quite the disappointment to many of them over the past 5 years or so.

For the Tamnavulin, which version? I'm seeing both the Double Cask and Sherry versions for around 33 GBP online from the UK

It's $90 mind you for all 3 bottles, but it has been some time since I had Jura. The Tamnavulin is the Double Cask.

Another deal at this site is (2) 750 bottles of Buffalo Trace for $59 which I will buy regardless.

There is also the Dalmore 12 Year Old 700ml for $74, Lagavulin 12 Year Old - Limited Cask Strength 70cl for $169 and The Dubliner 10 Year Old Single Malt Whiskey 700ml for $37.

Given how hard it is to find Buffalo Trace right now I’d definitely jump on it too

Ohhhhh... 90 for the trio? In that case, definitely go for it. Jura 12 being disappointing doesn't mean it won't be worth $30.

The Dalmore 12 is on my "don't bother list" especially at that kind of price. It has serious potential to be good, but between the 40% ABV and heavy chill filtering, it's just really disappointing, thin, no real finish, and overall just not worth it.

2 750s of Buffalo Trace for 60 is ever so slightly too high of a price, but not really too bad, especially with how hard it can be to find at all

Dubliner 10 year at $37 is a really good price.

The Lagavulin 12 year releases can be fantastic, but 170 is pushing it for me. I've got the 2017, and it's absolutely amazing, but not sure I'd pay more than 130-140 or so for it. (and that's with some adjustments for how Scotch prices have gone up quite a bit over the past couple years)

I'm going to pull the trigger for the BT twofer (it is also difficult to find her in general unless I'm in Manila which hasn't happened since Covid), the 3-pack and the Dubliner. If nothing else it gives me different options to share on the few times we do have people over.

Thanks to you and dave for the input.

Glad to help. I've certainly seen BT quite a more expensive than that, and with as hard as it can be to find in a lot of places, and being only a few dollars more per bottle than it really should be (and that's at retail in the US) I certainly won't try to say it's a truly bad price. And the rest are just good values for what the bottles are, so, I think overall, you win this round.

Ain't that hard. I've never NOT found it.

Have you looked for it lately? It's harder than you think right now.

I've seen the same "can't find it" thing for about a year now. I'm sure some places can't get it, or the places I go to it's not the newest batch/etc, but I've never had an issue finding it.

The availability locally has started improving the past few months, but it's still frequently tricky to track down.

Back Channel released King Of The Wring today, a coffee stout. Had to mule a couple bottles to a friend, since he was working all day at Shorewood Liquor. When I dropped them off, he asked if I wanted to raid their cellar. Um, sure! Picked up a Surly SeVIIn and 2015 Rum King. I think they were about $25/each (I bought a bunch of other stuff, too). Can't wait to crack those bottles, though!

Had the SeVIIn last night, it held strong. So smooth. Just cracked the Rum King, and it's drinking very well, but IMO will fall off hard in a year or so. You can tell it's on the downturn.

I know it just opened yesterday, but does anyone have any input on High Pines Brewing?

Here's a write-up from the Beer Dabbler

Most new breweries have inconsistent beer or it ranges from ‘just OK’ to ‘average’. If I go to a new place that recently opened that’s just why I walk in expecting and presume they’ll get better once they’ve been open for 6 months or so.

Some (like Barrel Theory) open up and will just blow you away with how good they are on day 1 but it’s pretty rare. Falling Knife was also very good at opening and I thought Headflyer was also better than I expected when we visited shortly after opening.

We haven’t been to many brand new breweries because of the pandemic. I think Luce Line is the only new one we’ve been to of late and they fit the ‘average’ category when we visited 2 weeks after open

We went to Luce Line last week. It was packed and great spot on the bike trail and this side of the cities. The beer was decent and bet they will do well given their location and the demographics in the area wanting a local place.

Drinking a Sam Adams Wicked Hazy. For a $14 12pack, it's pretty good. It is not up to Local 755 (best local NEIPA in my opinion), but that's a $14 4 pack also. It also isn't as filling either though, which is preferable sometimes.

It might not be a mainstay, but I'll be picking it up again if it stays around this price.

Had LTD's triple dry hopped triple NEIPA this weekend (crowler). That one is insane. My standby is still probably Lupulin's stuff.

After a couple rough days at work, finally cracked a Flarndip from Drekker: Bourbon Barrel Aged weirdo of an Imperial Stout. Conditioned on marshmallow fluff, cacao nibs, & milk sugar. 10%, it's more than tasty.

Also entered Toppling Goliath's Assassin lottery, 3 year set, no proxy, specific pickup time (they are located in Decorah IA, for those that don't know). I've had various Assassins at bottle shares, never had a bottle to call my own. *crossesfingers*

I was just thinking that the $8 I paid for a six pack of this years Snowstorm is a pretty good deal for how tasty the beer is.

Tonight I tried the Shiner Candied Pecan and the Mudshark Vanilla Carmel Porter.

I was actually surprised that the shiner was pretty good. We had some seriously hot salsa (made right at the table), and the shiner took the edge off nicely.

Picked up a Portage Brewing Woods Of Winter bomber tonight. BA Scotch Ale w/Madagascar Vanilla Beans. Dunno when I'll crack it, but the mgr of the store and I agreed, that is a little out there/different. There are BA Scotch Ales, but not too many make 'em right now.

Saw this and laughed hysterically:

<img class="go2wpf-bbcode" src=" https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EuFHcXtXUAEMbu1?format=jpg&name=900x90 0" alt="">

On the bright side, I haven't been able to get to my stores this week and should still be able to find one.

You should be able to. I just picked mine up this week at Vinifera (101/6). Nice little honey hole that I've mentioned before, I'm sure.

Also heard that the Hy Vee in Maple Grove still has tons of the Surly Darkness variants. They are (I quote) "back in the cooler with the cheap beer." I have never been there, but I can picture what the guy was talking about.

Hy-Vee is a good place to look for stuff that sells quickly everywhere else. I used to stop at the BP one on the way home from work often. The one in New Hope doesn’t yield as much luck but it’s still good at times.

I opened my last 2016/2017 BA Darkness last night. It still tasted amazing

Not Beer, but I know many here are bourbon fans....

Ansari's Mediterranean Grill has 2019 George T Stagg*, Elmer T Lee, Pappy Van Winkle 12, a couple different Wellers, and Blanton's, along with some other high end great bourbons.

*IIRC in the Live Chat last week during the game, SteveMN said he was having the 2019 Stagg, and said it was subpar (relatively). I can agree with this. Part of it, it was only 116 proof, the lowest it's ever been. Lacked that certain Stagg taste that is so good. I've had the 2012 and the 2015 before, as reference. It's usually in the 140 proof range:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_T._Stagg

Can't remember if I was actually drinking the 2019 Stagg that night, but it is (for Stagg) a slightly disappointing batch. It's still a really good bourbon, but they've set the bar so high for that particular offering, that occasionally, you're going to get something that isn't up to what you really expect.

Yep. That extra proof sometimes brings a certain flavor that is missing from a lower proof, even when you get that high of a number. As soon as I tasted it, I figured it to be in the 120 range, not the 140 range. Still very tasty, and reasonable at $25/pour.

One day I'm just going to buy myself 1-2 very high end bottles of Scotch and Bourbon...but I promised my wife that I wouldn't until we got rid of all the booze we've accumulated over our 15 years of marriage. That means I probably have about 8-10 bottles I need to empty.

I'll do that if/when we get this next Rona money installment. I've purposefully have funneled all that Rona money back into the local businesses (albeit, over time). Just trying to decide if I take about $600 and buy some insane bottle (relatively, of course), or just buy 2 high enders.

My dad had a bottle of Lupulin's BA Dopplebock and opened it when we stopped up today. You wouldn't have to know that it's Rye Whiskey barrel aged because it hits you in the face as soon as you smell it. Although it's boozy it goes down pretty easy for a 12% abv beer.

After dropping the kids off and going to dinner at Parlour we stopped at Indeed to try their new Wooden Soul beer called Candy Flip (Raspberry, Strawberry, and Passionfruit sour). It's an interesting combination of flavors and pretty drinkable...it just reminded me that I prefer my sour beers when the weather is a little warmer.

Cracked a 2020 Collective Arts Imperial Porter for the game.....and it had turned. Guessing the store I bought it from didn't store it correctly or something. $20 (literally) drainpoured.

So, cracked an Off Color BA Belgian Quad (aged in Willett Rye). Delicious.