Beer, Beer, and More Beer

[MonsterUSMC]

I know he wrote that the Phillies lost $2 billion in 2020. And then had to change it to $145 million.

https://www.google.com/amp.awfulannouncing.com/newspapers/new-york-daily-news-bill-madden-phillies-losses.html

He may have needed some beer after researching/writing that article.  I know more than a few Phillies fans will. 

[MonsterUSMC]

They just started serving this on tap at my local bar.



It isn't too bad, but I can't drink more than a pint without wanting something else.

[Mathguy]

So what is your local bar ?

They just started serving this on tap at my local bar.

(Image removed from quote.)

It isn't too bad, but I can't drink more than a pint without wanting something else.

[tomterp]

I'm just a total sucker for high-test bourbon barrel aged stouts.  I'm also a sucker for just about any Oskar Blues product.  Put Brevard NC on my growing list of post COVID destinations.

But I digress - Ten Fidy rocks.

https://www.oskarblues.com/beer/ba-ten-fidy/

[Mathguy]

Not far from Asheville, so there will be many good beer locations in the general area

I'm just a total sucker for high-test bourbon barrel aged stouts.  I'm also a sucker for just about any Oskar Blues product.  Put Brevard NC on my growing list of post COVID destinations.

But I digress - Ten Fidy rocks.

https://www.oskarblues.com/beer/ba-ten-fidy/

[varoadking]

I'm just a total sucker for high-test bourbon barrel aged stouts.  I'm also a sucker for just about any Oskar Blues product.  Put Brevard NC on my growing list of post COVID destinations.

But I digress - Ten Fidy rocks.

https://www.oskarblues.com/beer/ba-ten-fidy/

Tom...I think I lost track...did you retire or do you still have your nose to the grindstone?

[MonsterUSMC]

So what is your local bar ?

There are several that are close to me, but in this post, I was referring to Fatty's in FXBG.

[tomterp]

Tom...I think I lost track...did you retire or do you still have your nose to the grindstone?

Originally planned on retiring last May, but due to COVID market crash postponed until markets stabilized, and instead retired in August.   

So far so good.   Didn't find a decent health plan (for 3 people) on ACA portal, so am on COBRA for probably the remaining possible period - through Feb 2022.  But that was budgeted ($24k per year). 

[DCFan]

Originally planned on retiring last May, but due to COVID market crash postponed until markets stabilized, and instead retired in August.   

So far so good.   Didn't find a decent health plan (for 3 people) on ACA portal, so am on COBRA for probably the remaining possible period - through Feb 2022.  But that was budgeted ($24k per year). 

What's all this got to do with beer? 

[tomterp]

What's all this got to do with beer? 

Hey, I didn't ask the question!

But yesterday, went by Norm's in Vienna and picked up some holiday stock.

6's of Duck Rabbit Wee Heavy, Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter, Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, and Von Trapp Kolsch.

Wife was watching "Sound of Music" Sunday evening and recall the Von Trapp family escaped the Nazis by fleeing Austria for Switzerland.  Several of the family members ultimately settled in Vermont, where they, among other enterprises, brew beer.

I also had them fill a 32 oz. growler with Intentionally Indulgent Stout.  Tis the season to go rich and deep.

[OldChelsea]

What's all this got to do with beer? 

It helps you to be...that's why they call it be-er.

Ties in rather nicely with healthy living, sound retirement planning et al....

[DCFan]

Hey, I didn't ask the question!

But yesterday, went by Norm's in Vienna and picked up some holiday stock.

6's of Duck Rabbit Wee Heavy, Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter, Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, and Von Trapp Kolsch.

Wife was watching "Sound of Music" Sunday evening and recall the Von Trapp family escaped the Nazis by fleeing Austria for Switzerland.  Several of the family members ultimately settled in Vermont, where they, among other enterprises, brew beer.

I also had them fill a 32 oz. growler with Intentionally Indulgent Stout.  Tis the season to go rich and deep.

I've never found any of these off the wall type beers that I was really enamored with. I find the taste is all over the place. I guess my palate got ruined with too many Miller Lites eons ago.  I just did a quick google on the Von Trapps and a son of Maria and the Baron still runs the family place up in Vermont. The Von Trapp Kolsch does sound like it'd be worth a taste. 

[tomterp]

I've never found any of these off the wall type beers that I was really enamored with. I find the taste is all over the place. I guess my palate got ruined with too many Miller Lites eons ago.  I just did a quick google on the Von Trapps and a son of Maria and the Baron still runs the family place up in Vermont. The Von Trapp Kolsch does sound like it'd be worth a taste. 

Off the wall tastes being all over the place is awesomeness!  Unless you accidentally stumble into one of those sours that are all the rage among the youngsters.   

Don't think I've had an Oskar Blues beer I didn't like, and am especially fond of their Scotch Ale "Old Chub" though availability has been sporadic.  Hence the Duck Rabbit Wee Heavy on my list, time to broaden my Scotch Ale horizons.  I started liking this niche varietal when Sam Adams included some in a variety pack.  Still think it's Sam's best beer ever.

[DCFan]

Off the wall tastes being all over the place is awesomeness!  Unless you accidentally stumble into one of those sours that are all the rage among the youngsters.   

Don't think I've had an Oskar Blues beer I didn't like, and am especially fond of their Scotch Ale "Old Chub" though availability has been sporadic.  Hence the Duck Rabbit Wee Heavy on my list, time to broaden my Scotch Ale horizons.  I started liking this niche varietal when Sam Adams included some in a variety pack.  Still think it's Sam's best beer ever.

Next time I'm in Harris Teeter I'm picking this one up.

[tomterp]

I have a problem - I want to buy everything labeled "bourbon barrel aged" (except scotch) but can't afford to anymore.

[DCFan]

I have a problem - I want to buy everything labeled "bourbon barrel aged" (except scotch) but can't afford to anymore.

I think this particular one is $10 for a 4 pack. Worth a try.   

[1995hoo]

We were at the Wine Attic in Clifton this afternoon and they had an "Arctic Pale Ale," Einstök from Akuryeri, Iceland. I got a six-pack. It’s OK. Less hoppy than an IPA, more flavor than most mass-market domestic beers. Not sure yet whether I would get it again. It was $11.50 for the six-pack and for that price, I prefer the IPAs from DC Brau and Cigar City. On the other hand, I do like to support the local small business (the Wine Attic). Good wine shop. They also had some nice local steaks in the freezer. We got two strip steaks but will not be trying them tonight.

The shop is immediately south of the railroad crossing in Clifton on the building's upper level.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Beer was only legalised in Iceland fairly recently (last 30 years or so, only distilled spirits were available for domestic consumption before then).  Bit of a mix of leftover puritanical blue laws and protection for the booze producers in a tiny domestic market from what I read (or maybe beer just doesn't pair well with rotten shark and boiled sheep scrotum).   

Now Reykjavik is full of brewpubs from the sounds of it. 

[MonsterUSMC]

Beer was only legalised in Iceland fairly recently (last 30 years or so, only distilled spirits were available for domestic consumption before then).  Bit of a mix of leftover puritanical blue laws and protection for the booze producers in a tiny domestic market from what I read (or maybe beer just doesn't pair well with rotten shark and boiled sheep scrotum).   

Now Reykjavik is full of brewpubs from the sounds of it.

Interesting.  I did not know that.  I was in Keflavik a few years back, and we drank a bit.  I want to say we had beer there, but honestly, I can't remember...probably because of all the distilled spirits we drank.

[OldChelsea]

Interesting.  I did not know that.  I was in Keflavik a few years back, and we drank a bit.  I want to say we had beer there, but honestly, I can't remember...probably because of all the distilled spirits we drank.

Full legalisation of beer came to Iceland on 1st March 1989 (since then observed by some over there as 'Beer Day'). Iceland had total prohibition from 1915-35, then the law was modified to allow all alcohol except beer over 2.25% ABV.

[MonsterUSMC]

Full legalisation of beer came to Iceland on 1st March 1989 (since then observed by some over there as 'Beer Day'). Iceland had total prohibition from 1915-35, then the law was modified to allow all alcohol except beer over 2.25% ABV.

Really interesting.  Do you know if this legislation was motivated by religion, or some other reason? 
I know the first thing I do when I get out of COVID quarantine is get a cold beer.

[OldChelsea]

Really interesting.  Do you know if this legislation was motivated by religion, or some other reason? 
I know the first thing I do when I get out of COVID quarantine is get a cold beer.

This was largely pushed by temperance groups who felt beer would lead to 'more depravity' since it was cheaper than distilled spirits. Wikipedia has a pretty good write-up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_Iceland#:~:text=Prohibition%20in%20Iceland%20went%20into,more%20than%202.25%25%20alcohol%20content.

[Elvir Ovcina]

Full legalisation of beer came to Iceland on 1st March 1989 (since then observed by some over there as 'Beer Day'). Iceland had total prohibition from 1915-35, then the law was modified to allow all alcohol except beer over 2.25% ABV.

And Icelandic beer is still pretty lame as a result.

I have a problem - I want to buy everything labeled "bourbon barrel aged" (except scotch) but can't afford to anymore.

If that type of stuff is your jam, just buy everything Founders puts out - KBS, Backwoods Bastard, Panther Cub.

[OldChelsea]

And Icelandic beer is still pretty lame as a result.[...]

Scandinavian mass-market beer, except for Ringnes, Frydenlund, Tuborg and a few others, is generally fairly dire. The only beer you can buy at a grocery store or other off-licence in Finland or Sweden is the aforementioned 2.25% ABV (known as lättöl in Sweden, and very popular there); anything stronger has to be bought at Alko (Finland) or Systembolaget (Sweden) (both rather like Virginia ABC stores) or at a restaurant or bar (for on-premises consumption).

And yet...in the mid-1980's the Pripps brewery in Sweden tried marketing lättöl in the United States, under the brand name 'Nordik [sic] Wolf Light'. Suffice it to say that compared to this brew, Bud Light packs a Dogfish-Head-style punch...it was a flop, and if I recall aright was off the US market within a year.

[1995hoo]

OC mentions Tuborg. I seem to recall they used to have a plant near Baltimore that was visible from the Harbor Tunnel Thruway. Can’t say I’ve ever had their beer, though.

The Finnish beer I remember having in Helsinki, as well as in Estonia, was Karhu, and I recall it being pretty good, a heavier style but less hoppy than an IPA. (I don’t remember which Karhu product I had.) In Sweden I remember having Wisby (not surprisingly, it was when we were in Visby); it came in a half-litre bottle. I don’t remember what I thought of that one.