Beer

[karstenkibbe]

I will be in Storrs for the first time since ‘16 this weekend- anyone have brewery recommendations in either Hartford/Storrs area, New Haven area, Stamford area? I am looking to bring back women local beers back with me to Charlotte and appreciate any guidance. Big fan of IPAs and Pilsners fwiw.

Can’t go wrong with Twelve Percent Beer Project in North Haven. I am also a big fan of Counterweight in Cheshire - my pick for the most underrated brewery in CT. If you decide to go the scenic route to Storrs, get off 95 in Lyme and head north to Salem, where you’ll find Fox Farm, a beautiful spot that is now by far the best brewery in the state.

 

[Drew]

Can’t go wrong with Twelve Percent Beer Project in North Haven. I am also a big fan of Counterweight in Cheshire - my pick for the most underrated brewery in CT. If you decide to go the scenic route to Storrs, get off 95 in Lyme and head north to Salem, where you’ll find Fox Farm, a beautiful spot that is now by far the best brewery in the state.

Awesome- thank you

 

[Chin Diesel]

Hitchhiker Brewery in Pgh, usually a very reliable but not top-notch local brewery, just upset my wife. She doesn't know a ton about beer, but does know a ton about coffee. When she saw five adjunct ingredients listed below the name of the beer (coffee, maple syrup, cacao nibs, vanilla, hazelnut), she thought they were simply flavor "notes", like you'd find on a good bag of coffee. Thinking she was doing a thing for love, on Valentine's Day she presented me with a 4-pack of perhaps the single worst beer I have ever tasted. It set her back $17.99 plus tax, which made her embarrassment all the worse.

She comes home from work a half hour ago, tells me that when I open one, she'd like to taste it. So I opened one, poured a little into her glass. She smelled it, said it smelled like maple. The she sipped it, went "ewwwww!", and tossed the contents of her glass into the sink.

Me, being of stout makeup and trained to never throw out beer, tasted mine. She asked, "Do you like it?". I didn't have to say a word, my anguished face told her all she needed to know. I imagine this is what it would be like to toss a bunch of syrup coated Wendy's french toast sticks into a Wendy's coffee with hazelnut flavoring, wringing out the french toast, then blending it into a white stout.

I am trying to suffer through the experience of this one glass. The other three cans will find themselves in somebody's cooler at some Memorial Day cookout.

View attachment 84134

What makes a competent brewer even think of crap like this, let alone taste it and release it to the public?

Stories like this are why I'm gravitating back to pilsners, kolsch, lagers and lighter ales. Show me what you can do with fewer ingredients to make a good tasting beer which is balanced.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Stories like this are why I'm gravitating back to pilsners, kolsch, lagers and lighter ales. Show me what you can do with fewer ingredients to make a good tasting beer which is balanced.

You also live in Florida. Those are nice hot weather beers. I still just don't like the hops in Pilsners, however much better made they are it's the same basic profile as Budweiser, Miller and Coors and maybe there are too many memories there. I like craft Pilsners with modern hops. Orange Blossom Pilsner in FL is a good one. But New England IPAs still dominate for me, and those are also mostly just hops, water, barley and yeast.

 

[Chin Diesel]

You also live in Florida. Those are nice hot weather beers. I still just don't like the hops in Pilsners, however much better made they are it's the same basic profile as Budweiser, Miller and Coors and maybe there are too many memories there. I like craft Pilsners with modern hops. Orange Blossom Pilsner in FL is a good one. But New England IPAs still dominate for me, and those are also mostly just hops, water, barley and yeast.

Yeah. A tall can of Landshark with toes in the sand works well 8 months a year.

Plenty of breweries down here are crafting lighter beers which taste good. And the few that don't do it well, you can taste that right away.

If I'm trying out a new place and I see they have a NEIPA I'll try it because if they don't do that well I'm suspicious of anything else they brew. Similar to ordering a Cuban sandwich. It's a bellweather for me.

One more side note. Over in Europe a fresh Heineken on tap tastes delicious. Over here in the states I won't touch that stuff.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yeah. A tall can of Landshark with toes in the sand works well 8 months a year.

Plenty of breweries down here are crafting lighter beers which taste good. And the few that don't do it well, you can taste that right away.

If I'm trying out a new place and I see they have a NEIPA I'll try it because if they don't do that well I'm suspicious of anything else they brew. Similar to ordering a Cuban sandwich. It's a bellweather for me.

One more side note. Over in Europe a fresh Heineken on tap tastes delicious. Over here in the states I won't touch that stuff.

Heineken is better here now. They fixed the problems with light stroke. Still not a fan, but it's much better than it was, so is Stella. I grabbed a 4 pack of Weihenstephan Helles in cans yesterday. I think the 1516 Kellerbier is their best beer, but I didn't trust the bottles really.

As for NEIPA, it's a very hard style to do right. I haven't had a single one in Austin that would even be mediocre in New England. Don't think I had a good one in Orlando either. If it says "hazy" I assume they don't know what they are doing. If you try to make an IPA hazy you're doing it wrong. I had some very good ones in Lawrence, KS and in Port Royal, SC, so it is possible for sure.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

You also live in Florida. Those are nice hot weather beers. I still just don't like the hops in Pilsners, however much better made they are it's the same basic profile as Budweiser, Miller and Coors and maybe there are too many memories there. I like craft Pilsners with modern hops. Orange Blossom Pilsner in FL is a good one. But New England IPAs still dominate for me, and those are also mostly just hops, water, barley and yeast.

You may want to look into pilsners/lagers from countries that once were in the Soviet bloc (Baltic states, Poland, Czech republic, etc). Their pilsners/lagers are far more robust than what we brew here and they are even a bit more hoppy than many German beers

 

[HuskyHawk]

You may want to look into pilsners/lagers from countries that once were in the Soviet bloc (Baltic states, Poland, Czech republic, etc). Their pilsners/lagers are far more robust than what we brew here and they are even a bit more hoppy than many German beers

I've had the Czech ones. Not a fan, just too bitter. I don't really like those hops. Haven't had any from Poland.

 

[storrsroars]

Couple of days ago I was looking in the beer case at our local WF, and also looking at prices. Didn't feel like getting NEIPA, and so many other 4-packs were just weird combinations (though not as weird as my previous post). Then I saw a "light" beer at about half the price of the others (which were mostly $17-$18). So I figured why not, let's see if this is any good.

It's kinda not. It's hoppier than macro "lights", but it's still unfulfilling as far as taste and mouthfeel. There were no hops listed on the can, so don't know what they used. So for basically $2.25/can vs $0.63 for a Miller Lite, it's simply not worth the step up if you're grabbing a six for round of golf.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Couple of days ago I was looking in the beer case at our local WF, and also looking at prices. Didn't feel like getting NEIPA, and so many other 4-packs were just weird combinations (though not as weird as my previous post). Then I saw a "light" beer at about half the price of the others (which were mostly $17-$18). So I figured why not, let's see if this is any good.

It's kinda not. It's hoppier than macro "lights", but it's still unfulfilling as far as taste and mouthfeel. There were no hops listed on the can, so don't know what they used. So for basically $2.25/can vs $0.63 for a Miller Lite, it's simply not worth the step up if you're grabbing a six for round of golf.

View attachment 84169

Do you get Jack's Abby beers? Because honestly, their House Lager is worth the step up and comes in at about $10-11 a 4 pack.

 

[Waquoit]

I will be in Storrs for the first time since ‘16 this weekend- anyone have brewery recommendations in either Hartford/Storrs area, New Haven area, Stamford area? I am looking to bring back some local beers back with me to Charlotte and appreciate any guidance. Big fan of IPAs and Pilsners fwiw.

Closer to Storrs I like Back East in Bloomfield and Labyrinth in Manchester.

 

[storrsroars]

Do you get Jack's Abby beers? Because honestly, their House Lager is worth the step up and comes in at about $10-11 a 4 pack.

Haven't seen it, but good to know.

 

[UConnSean]

I will be in Storrs for the first time since ‘16 this weekend- anyone have brewery recommendations in either Hartford/Storrs area, New Haven area, Stamford area? I am looking to bring back some local beers back with me to Charlotte and appreciate any guidance. Big fan of IPAs and Pilsners fwiw.

New Park in West Hartford is one of my favorites

 

[87Xfer]

Stories like this are why I'm gravitating back to pilsners, kolsch, lagers and lighter ales. Show me what you can do with fewer ingredients to make a good tasting beer which is balanced.

As a LONG time IPA fan, totally agree with this. You can mask a lot of bad brewing if you throw enough alcohol, hops or other crap at it. I've always appreciated a good kolsch or pils, and think the influx of "hazy" IPAs finally pushed me off the big IPA wagon for the time being.

 

[87Xfer]

Hitchhiker Brewery in Pgh, usually a very reliable but not top-notch local brewery, just upset my wife. She doesn't know a ton about beer, but does know a ton about coffee. When she saw five adjunct ingredients listed below the name of the beer (coffee, maple syrup, cacao nibs, vanilla, hazelnut), she thought they were simply flavor "notes", like you'd find on a good bag of coffee. Thinking she was doing a thing for love, on Valentine's Day she presented me with a 4-pack of perhaps the single worst beer I have ever tasted. It set her back $17.99 plus tax, which made her embarrassment all the worse.

She comes home from work a half hour ago, tells me that when I open one, she'd like to taste it. So I opened one, poured a little into her glass. She smelled it, said it smelled like maple. The she sipped it, went "ewwwww!", and tossed the contents of her glass into the sink.

Me, being of stout makeup and trained to never throw out beer, tasted mine. She asked, "Do you like it?". I didn't have to say a word, my anguished face told her all she needed to know. I imagine this is what it would be like to toss a bunch of syrup coated Wendy's french toast sticks into a Wendy's coffee with hazelnut flavoring, wringing out the french toast, then blending it into a white stout.

I am trying to suffer through the experience of this one glass. The other three cans will find themselves in somebody's cooler at some Memorial Day cookout.

View attachment 84134

What makes a competent brewer even think of crap like this, let alone taste it and release it to the public?

give them credit for at least naming it appropriately.

 

[HuskyHawk]

A friend brought a mixed 6 pack to our Mardi Gras party Saturday. This was quite nice. Rather nutty in character for a Fest Bier.

 

[MJKI]

Celebrating the W tonight by breaking into the stash of the Mecca of beers, Substance Ale (IPA) by Bissell Brothers. Quite frankly the only place that comes close when discussing unfiltered IPAs is Treehouse, and it’s still a resounding victory for Bissell

 

[karstenkibbe]

Celebrating the W tonight by breaking into the stash of the Mecca of beers, Substance Ale (IPA) by Bissell Brothers. Quite frankly the only place that comes close when discussing unfiltered IPAs is Treehouse, and it’s still a resounding victory for Bissell

Solid beer. Bissell makes such clean beers. Less hop saturated than most of Treehouse’s portfolio. Here’s to Feeling Good All the Time is one of my all-time favorites.

 

[HCCForever]

Yeah. A tall can of Landshark with toes in the sand works well 8 months a year.

Plenty of breweries down here are crafting lighter beers which taste good. And the few that don't do it well, you can taste that right away.

If I'm trying out a new place and I see they have a NEIPA I'll try it because if they don't do that well I'm suspicious of anything else they brew. Similar to ordering a Cuban sandwich. It's a bellweather for me.

One more side note. Over in Europe a fresh Heineken on tap tastes delicious. Over here in the states I won't touch that stuff.

I was in the Netherlands for a UConn MBA class in 1995. (easiest 6 credits I ever earned). I went to a pub in Amsterdam and bought a Heineken. I drank it and went back for another. This time I order Amstel and the bartender told me that Heineken and Amstel were the same. Is that true?

 

[HCCForever]

On the Spacecoast here in Florida, I have seen a few beer pairing events with Girl Scout cookies over the past month. Is that a thing anywhere else? I haven't been to one and probably won't but the bartender at World of Beer in Viera told me that a thin mint would be paired with a chocolate beer.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Not exactly beer, but are there any guitar players here aside from @August_West. I donated. If I win I may try to learn how to play again. Benefits the food bank of western MA.

Fighting Hunger — Tree House Brewing Company

Fighting hunger, and rocking out while doing it!

treehousebrew.com

 

[August_West]

Not exactly beer, but are there any guitar players here aside from @August_West

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02ZJcJMjV3ZrMBNMqqZwV1TPPs1kTaV1fLT5QXsHoAn3dqYZKZgmwCdTrg4JFS9PCPl&id=100064866721029

There”s a few I know @boog204 plays

 

[karstenkibbe]

Not exactly beer, but are there any guitar players here aside from @August_West. I donated. If I win I may try to learn how to play again. Benefits the food bank of western MA.

Fighting Hunger — Tree House Brewing Company

Fighting hunger, and rocking out while doing it!

treehousebrew.com

Ditto. As soon as I saw TH post, I knew you’d be in on it.

 

[karstenkibbe]

New spin on a pils from Marlowe. Absolutely delicious and refreshing. No, I’m not embarrassed to say that I crushed this 32oz crowler solo yesterday.

 

[Chin Diesel]

On the Spacecoast here in Florida, I have seen a few beer pairing events with Girl Scout cookies over the past month. Is that a thing anywhere else? I haven't been to one and probably won't but the bartender at World of Beer in Viera told me that a thin mint would be paired with a chocolate beer.

I can confirm on the western panhandle of Florida this is a "thing" as well. I don't know if I've ever gone to one of them, but I see them advertised/promoted.