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Beer news of the day

Smell-the-glove_tiny by pdb on

There hasn't been a beer thread in a while, and this is as good an excuse as any.  From the P-I (last paragraph) this morning:

Elysian Brewing of Seattle and New Belgium Brewing of Fort Collins, Colo., have decided to make their beers at each other's breweries in an alliance they say will improve efficiency and encourage creative experimentation.

New Belgium, known for its Fat Tire Amber Ale, will get closer to customers in the Pacific Northwest, while Elysian will be able to brew larger batches in Colorado to handle its growing distribution as it moves into new markets like New York.

There really isn't much of a downside here - they're both good beers, and now they can both cover more ground. 

On a somewhat related note, Elysian Fields by Safeco is not a good brewpub - it's big, it's sterile, and the food is meh.  Elysian makes good beer, but they kinda took a wrong step with Elysian Fields, methinks.

 

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I go to the brewery weekly

You get 4 samplers. I get Trippel every time. Love it.

by TheEmrys on Jul 25, 2008 9:49 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I'm hoping they sample the Elysian now

That’ll make my Saturday/Sunday trips down the road so much nicer.

by TheEmrys on Jul 25, 2008 10:44 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Hmmm. Lessee...

So, is Ommegang or New Belgium the best brewer of belgian-style ales in the US?

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by PositivePaul on Jul 25, 2008 9:16 AM PDT   0 recs

I'm excited about...

...getting to try some of Elysian’s stuff down here in Texas. As an aside, does anyone think that Fat Tire tastes drastically different in a bottle and on tap? I don’t mean just freshness and crispness; I really think it is the biggest discrepancy between bottle and draft that I know of.

by GhettoBear04 on Jul 25, 2008 9:28 AM PDT   0 recs

I would have to agree.

Fat Tire is really different in the bottle. I don’t know why, either…

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Jul 25, 2008 9:36 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Agreed

I think some other beers have that massive discrepancy too, though – Newcastle jumps to mind.
The stout/porter world is almost too easy; it’s not saying much, but Guinness in a bottle… why?

I really like breweries doing this (brewing each other’s beers) – getting Leavenworth beers at Fish Brewing here in Oly is really nice.

by marc w on Jul 25, 2008 9:58 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Old Speckled Hen too.

It’s fantastic on tap – barely drinkable in a bottle.

by Jed MC on Jul 25, 2008 11:32 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Ha... i'd written that and then taken it out of my comment

just because I wondered if the major difference is due to the nitro tap. That’s the only way I’ve had OSH on draft.

But yes – they tasted like totally different beers. I don’t mind OSH out of the bottle, but it can’t hold a candle to the draft variety.

by marc w on Jul 25, 2008 11:38 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Maybe it isn't that bad out of the bottle.

I just remember being so disappointed when I tried it that I haven’t bought any more.

by Jed MC on Jul 25, 2008 11:54 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Yeah, it may depend on which version you had first

I had it in a bottle first, and thought it was all right. I haven’t bought another one, though….

by marc w on Jul 25, 2008 1:32 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I'm not much of a fan of barley wines in a bottle but I like 'em a lot on tap.

Duchess du Bourgogne is the same way for me; it’s fine in a bottle, if not really worth $5 for 12 ounces, but on tap it’s tremendous.

by acblue on Jul 25, 2008 11:36 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I bought Full Sail Sessions yesterday.

Not sure why, except that I’ve been in an Oregon beer mood. Anyone had it?

by NOLAmarinergirl on Jul 25, 2008 9:31 AM PDT   0 recs

I drink it a lot

It’s my lawn mowing beer. It takes me back a bit to the Oly Stubbies I used to drink (IIRC, Full Sail bought the stubby bottle mold from Oly when they closed the brewery). It’s not what I’d call “fantastic” but it’s definitely not terrible either.

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by PositivePaul on Jul 25, 2008 9:37 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Not bad, for a lightish pilsner

but it’s not something I’d drink all the time. If you’re in an Oregon beer mood you can do better with a Rogue Dead Guy or something, but Session’s good when it’s hot outside.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Jul 25, 2008 9:37 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

It promises to not get below 78 in the evenings until at least Tuesday.

And considering we drink on the front steps here…needs to be light right now.

by NOLAmarinergirl on Jul 25, 2008 10:53 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Then yeah, Sessions will be good.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Jul 25, 2008 11:02 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Definitely not...

But there’s a similarity, a resemblance. A hint of familiarity, at most…

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by PositivePaul on Jul 25, 2008 10:14 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

No one ever believes me when I tell them how good they were.

I wish they had stopped making Oly when they closed the brewery.

by acblue on Jul 25, 2008 10:16 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Totally agree.

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by PositivePaul on Jul 25, 2008 10:18 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I had one of their limited brews at De Luxe

It was so skunking bad that I sent it back.

Sessions and their other regular offerings, however… not as bad.

by Gomez on Jul 25, 2008 10:58 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I don't think Session technically qualifies as a micro.

But why wouldn’t you be able to get microbrews from Oregon in Louisiana?

by acblue on Jul 25, 2008 12:12 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I guess I'm just wondering what it is about microbrews you're hazy on.

And I’m being serious; I’m like Johnny Appleseed for beer.

FanShots are underrated.

by acblue on Jul 25, 2008 12:19 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I thought they were just mainly available in state

And not really across the country

Romanes eunt domus

by Last Fan Of Jose Lopez on Jul 25, 2008 12:21 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Ah.

It depends on the brewer, of course, but there’s no logistical reason they can’t be shipped pretty much anywhere.

FanShots are underrated.

by acblue on Jul 25, 2008 12:24 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Full Sail is one of the few. Rogue is another.

The beer selection in Louisiana is not wonderful. I typically try to stick with Abita, but their summer beers are fairly bleh.

by NOLAmarinergirl on Jul 25, 2008 12:25 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

At least there's Rogue.

Really, if you’re going to be able to get one brewery’s output, they’re not a bad one because they do a lot of different things really well.

FanShots are underrated.

by acblue on Jul 25, 2008 12:27 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Do you prefer

one liter steins or two?

by GhettoBear04 on Jul 25, 2008 9:41 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

One is plenty

go two and you risk the beer getting too warm while you drink it.

by Jeff on Jul 25, 2008 9:46 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Agreed.

I never tried it because you had to put a $20 deposit down on the stein at Oktoberfest in Munich. And honestly, I was in no state to remember to get it back.

by GhettoBear04 on Jul 25, 2008 9:50 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

German beer is often better a bit warm.

But I agree that one litre is sufficient. I don’t really have the wrist strength for two litres.

I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.

by Llewdor on Jul 25, 2008 10:25 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Belgian beers are 10x better out the proper glass, too

I really don’t know why this is. I mean, sure, there are reasons the glass is shaped like it is, and I can see that having a marginal effect on one’s perception of the taste. But the effect is most definitely not marginal.

by marc w on Jul 25, 2008 10:03 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Totally agree.

And it’s a lot different than drinking wine out of the appropriate glass, too, for some strange reason…

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by PositivePaul on Jul 25, 2008 10:12 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Yeah

the wine thing has exactly the sort of marginal effect I’d expect.

by marc w on Jul 25, 2008 10:28 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Wine out of the proper glass...

...is also for smelling it, not just the taste. Floral whites don’t need to be swirled as vigorously to release the aromas, aged reds do.

by GhettoBear04 on Jul 25, 2008 3:40 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Unlike beer, though,

Wine’s flavor is very much dependent on its aromas. With beer, the aroma is much less significant to the overall experience. At least that’s been my experience…

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by PositivePaul on Jul 28, 2008 12:42 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Especially when drunk out of a stein from that brewery...

I know I was the only person who drank Ayinger from an Ayinger stein in my entire college. My grandma brought me back that stein from the brewery herself—they weren’t available in the states at that time, even though the beer was. You could find HB steins and HB beer (which is NOTHING like the HB beer at the Hofbrauhaus), but that was about it. It’s quite a bit easier now, as is matching Belgian ales to Belgian ale glasses, since good imported beer has become a lot easier to find…

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by PositivePaul on Jul 25, 2008 10:17 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Elysian Fields is pretty expensive, too.

I wanted to go check it out a few weeks back, but I stopped short of going in after looking at the menu prices. Granted, it’s not as expensive as McRory’s, but Slugger’s next door is cheaper for food.

by Two Rs and Two Ls on Jul 25, 2008 9:50 AM PDT   0 recs

And it's much less pretentious

I was really disappointed with Elysian Fields. It’s like they tried to create an “upscale” place for people that don’t like sports bars, but when you’re across the street from Qwest and two blocks from Safeco, and there’s not much else around BUT sports, isn’t that kinda the clientele you should be catering to?

I understand the wanting to distance themselves from the “traditional” sports bar thing – Sluggers can get really scary-bizarre people in there sometimes after games – but they went way too far with it.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Jul 25, 2008 9:57 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

After the Gathering in June

The people sitting next to us said “baseball was for fags” and forced us to watch Tiger’s gazillionth win.

by Robert on Jul 25, 2008 10:22 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

They actually used the term fags in a non-ironic sense?

Where were you, so I can make a mental note to never go there.

by acblue on Jul 25, 2008 10:23 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Baseball's for fags, so they made you watch GOLF?

Sure, that’s a manly sport. Was Michelle Wie playing?

I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.

by Llewdor on Jul 25, 2008 10:26 AM PDT to parent up   1 recs

I hope Elysian does well here

and that they get picked up by New Belgium’s army of distributors. New Belgium beers are basically on a par with deschutes around here – you can find Fat Tire at the most ghetto 7-11 in Tacoma alongside tallboys of Tecate.

Here’s hoping Elysian can become something of a ‘gateway beer’ for folks on the Atlantic seaboard.

by marc w on Jul 25, 2008 10:02 AM PDT   0 recs

I forget the name,

but has anyone else been to that great Belgian beer pub in Ballard?

by kevin_ess on Jul 25, 2008 10:04 AM PDT   0 recs

I think you mean Fremont

Brouwer’s Café in Fremont is the Belgian beer place. The food is pretty good, and their beer list is outstanding, but a little overwhelming.

by arbeck77 on Jul 25, 2008 3:04 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Nope. Ballard.

But I’ll check the Fremont one out.

by kevin_ess on Jul 25, 2008 3:07 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Go during the week.

It sucks on Friday/Saturday nights.

FanShots are underrated.

by acblue on Jul 25, 2008 4:17 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Maybe overwhelming is the wrong word

But when confronted with 60+ beers on tap, and 11 pages of bottled beer, I tend to not know what to order. There’s just too much good stuff. I want to try it all, but I know I can’t.

by arbeck77 on Jul 25, 2008 3:46 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

there's no can't

when it comes to beer. There’s always a path, it just depends on if you want to take it.

I’m actually faced with that choice right now. Difficult moral decision on how I value Westvleteren and what that means as far as purchasing it.

by Matthew on Jul 25, 2008 3:55 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Well if you're in town...

...and want to split some of the more expensive bottles, let me know. I’m eager to know what a $100 bottle of beer tastes like.

by arbeck77 on Jul 25, 2008 3:58 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I can get a hold of some Westy through a source

but just before I was about take him/her up on the offer I paused and started thinking that perhaps it’s best served as a destination, a goal, something to strive for to actually visit the monastery in Belgium.

Much like Harold & Kumar with White Castle sliders, I can make the journey mean much more than the end product.

I cannot decide if that’s stupid though.

by Matthew on Jul 25, 2008 4:02 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Tell you what

I’ll buy the bottle off of you, and you can get back to that ‘journey’ and the ‘goal’ shit.

I tried to go there when in Belgium, and it didn’t work. Now I just want the damn beer.

by marc w on Jul 25, 2008 4:10 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Yup.

The Old Town Ale House.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Jul 25, 2008 10:11 AM PDT   0 recs

I fail at reply.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Jul 25, 2008 10:12 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Well I'll be.

I knew that place existed, but I had no idea what kind of place it was. Might have to try it some time.

by acblue on Jul 25, 2008 10:18 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

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