April 28Apr 28 Gun to my head, I think Doppelbock is my single favorite beer style/ variety. If I am visiting a new brewery, and they have it, doppelbock is almost always my first pour. Edited April 28Apr 28 by Iceman
May 3May 3 Grilled some prime rib and filet mignon with the neighbors last night and scrounged a Three Sheeps (Sheboygan, WI) Rebel Kent out of their basement fridge. Not a big amber guy but this one is probably my favorite. Nice and malty, very slightly sweet. Good stuff. Love the can, too. Has a tiny castle in Brussels on one side of the can and the tiny brewery in Sheboygan on the other, separated by fields of grain.
May 4May 4 Sitzpinkler Euro Lager by Austin Beerworks. 5.2% abv. I’ve never had it before, but this is a nice summer afternoon beer. Hopefully it’s not a limited release
May 4May 4 Burned 10 acres of CRP, went mountain biking, assembled a set of patio furniture, baby sat my FIL while he got hammered and waxed poetic about Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever winning an exhibition game by 60. Grilling brats now.I’ve earned this
May 5May 5 1 hour ago, Al_4_ISU said: Burned 10 acres of CRP, went mountain biking, assembled a set of patio furniture, baby sat my FIL while he got hammered and waxed poetic about Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever winning an exhibition game by 60. Grilling brats now. I’ve earned this Worked in the seed business in high school/ college. Did more CRP grass mixes than I ever care to think about again. Big Bluestem, Side Oats grama, Blackwell Switchgrass, Indian Bluestem, Buffalograss, among others native to TX/OK/NM. Why are we burning CRP land, for faster regrowth? Edited May 5May 5 by Iceman
May 5May 5 1 hour ago, Iceman said: Worked in the seed business in high school/ college. Did more CRP grass mixes than I ever care to think about again. Big Bluestem, Side Oats grama, Blackwell Switchgrass, Indian Bluestem, Buffalograss, among others native to TX/OK/NM. Why are we burning CRP land, for faster regrowth? Just to mimic the old days I guess. Fire and buffalo kept the shrubs from getting started. We’ve long since offed the buffalo, but I guess we can recreate the fire pretty easily.
May 5May 5 Sunday happy hour: first day it's been nice enough to take it back out to the patio, our regular warm-weather location, after a long winter and mud season. Got all the way to 71.6 today, according to the NWS. Started with a Central Waters Tomorrow River Helles. Beer stories associated with the Tomorrow but ain't nobody got time for that. Other notable beers included Dragon's Milk (the original) from Holland, Michigan -- literally, as the wife of one of our regulars was there this weekend and delivered it shortly before happy hour. The regulars also loved New Holland Brewing's Tangerine Space Machine, a tangerine IPA that was more tangerine and less IPA. It was probably just that it tasted like summer and everybody wanted that. Started with 10 beers of three types in the garage mini-fridge. Ended with 19 beers of 11 types. Some will not make it through the week, as yard work season is now in full swing.
May 5May 5 1 hour ago, Iceman said: Worked in the seed business in high school/ college. Did more CRP grass mixes than I ever care to think about again. Big Bluestem, Side Oats grama, Blackwell Switchgrass, Indian Bluestem, Buffalograss, among others native to TX/OK/NM. Why are we burning CRP land, for faster regrowth? 4 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said: Just to mimic the old days I guess. Fire and buffalo kept the shrubs from getting started. We’ve long since offed the buffalo, but I guess we can recreate the fire pretty easily. I do not miss living in Manhattan, Kansas, during this time of year. The smoke from prairie burning was a constant irritant.
May 10May 10 On 5/8/2025 at 9:58 AM, Steamboat1874 said: My beer of choice the last several years….. At 9% it is not for pussies. used to really enjoy this, but when i found out it was 230 calories a bottle i decided i was already much too fat to do that to myself. i did however grab my annual batch of waldo’s, as is tradition: i should probably do something about those cobwebs tho. Edited May 10May 10 by Derka
May 10May 10 17 minutes ago, Derka said: used to really enjoy this, but when i found out it was 230 calories a bottle i decided i was already much too fat to do that to myself. i did however grab my annual batch of waldo’s, as is tradition: i should probably do something about those cobwebs tho. At my age I no longer give a shit about calories. Plus for some reason I have no appetite anymore. For the last two years I eat one meal a day basically and sometimes fast for 24 hours completely. Guess my calories from Voodoo works but seriously I am a type 2 diabetic but I have lowered my A1C to 5.7 at my last appointment and I actually weighed 233 pounds 2-1/2 years ago which was fat for my height. I weighed 183 pounds this morning. I actually need some new clothes.
May 10May 10 40 minutes ago, Derka said: ami i doing this right? oh this is some beer beer. this is that secret microbrew that the north koreans had on always sunny. i’ve cut way back on my drinking the last year or so, and what i do drink is either an ipa or some lime star. i had to google “tripel” just now. this is just some good ole fashioned got damn beer. i like it.
May 10May 10 16 minutes ago, HenryJames said: Tripels are great. yeah, this: is exactly what i’m experiencing, and it’s awesome.
May 11May 11 oh this is some beer beer. this is that secret microbrew that the north koreans had on always sunny. i’ve cut way back on my drinking the last year or so, and what i do drink is either an ipa or some lime star. i had to google “tripel” just now. this is just some good ole fashioned got damn beer. i like it.Next move into the Belgian Tripels. Tripel Karmeliet or St. Bernardus Tripel.
May 11May 11 17 hours ago, Derka said: ami i doing this right? As a noob on this thread since around February, I skimmed or read through large portions of past beer threads, and as best as I can tell somebody checked out the Book of Beer Thread Rules sometime during the 2018 thread and never returned it. So as far as I'm concerned you're doing it right, but I'm not in charge. Happy Mother's Day to your mom, @Derka. And to all other Surly moms and moms of Surlies. Edited May 11May 11 by Hayduke because it's a great picture but it takes a lot of space and we already saw it a few times
May 11May 11 5 minutes ago, Hayduke said: As a noob on this thread since around February, I skimmed or read through large portions of past beer threads, and as best as I can tell somebody checked out the Book of Beer Thread Rules sometime during the 2018 thread and never returned it. So as far as I'm concerned you're doing it right, but I'm not in charge. Happy Mother's Day to your mom, @Derka. And to all other Surly moms and moms of Surlies. she says thanks! 🤘🏼
May 13May 13 did any of y’all ever try lagunita’s Born Yesterday? that’s my favorite beer of all time, but they either haven’t made it or haven’t sold it out here for years. they had the bottling date on the label, and it was always like 6-8 weeks from the bottling date that it would show up at my HEB. 7%, hoppy, fresh- it was perfect. i miss that beer. also, their brim shugga- damn. 10%, string as hell, like 300 calories- shit packed a punch, but damn it was good.
May 13May 13 2 hours ago, Derka said: did any of y’all ever try lagunita’s Born Yesterday? that’s my favorite beer of all time, but they either haven’t made it or haven’t sold it out here for years. they had the bottling date on the label, and it was always like 6-8 weeks from the bottling date that it would show up at my HEB. 7%, hoppy, fresh- it was perfect. i miss that beer. also, their brim shugga- damn. 10%, string as hell, like 300 calories- shit packed a punch, but damn it was good. Label doesn't look familiar and I don't have it in my Untappd listing, so I was going to say I haven't had it ... but I see the last review on Untappd was four hours ago and there are also 2023 and 2024 versions listed separately. When I read the description of Born Yesterday, I know we had a discussion in our happy hour group not too long ago about rushing the hops to the brewery so they could be used within 24 hours of harvest. That means, if not Born Yesterday, we probably had a similar beer, but I can't be sure. We try pretty much any Lagunitas we can find, and I'd have to say I didn't find it that memorable if I did have it. Speaking of fresh beer, my son and I stopped by the Leinie Lodge in Chippewa Falls today for the first time. I had the Lakeside Cherry sour gose, which was pretty good for a Wisconsin-warm day (83 at the lodge around 3 p.m.). Virtually everything I've had from Leinenkugel's is fairly light (as it's generally been their shandies and seasonal fruited lagers). But they had a decent stout in my son's flight. Nice setting and their stuff was pretty good on tap from the source.
May 13May 13 12 hours ago, Derka said: did any of y’all ever try lagunita’s Born Yesterday? that’s my favorite beer of all time, but they either haven’t made it or haven’t sold it out here for years. they had the bottling date on the label, and it was always like 6-8 weeks from the bottling date that it would show up at my HEB. 7%, hoppy, fresh- it was perfect. i miss that beer. also, their brim shugga- damn. 10%, string as hell, like 300 calories- shit packed a punch, but damn it was good. No one on this thread drinks beer that’s over 6%
May 13May 13 Wasn't sure if you were serious, so I joked back. Hell, the Tripels an the Voodoo Ranger varieties alone on this page squash your notion. That Fin du Monde is plenty, also. All that being said, there are times for big boy beers and there are times for session beers. Ain't no shame in that.
May 13May 13 2 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said: I’ll put an absolute hurting on some Leine’s grapefruit shandy. Eyed some cans of those pretty hard, but didn't buy because they're in stores here. Put together a couple of mixed sixers ($21 total) of stuff that's not readily available -- a hazy tropical IPA, some original-recipe Leinie's, some lime Mexican lager. Wanted to fill some crowlers but they were out of cans -- almost certainly would have gotten grapefruit shandy, which I suspect is that much better fresh. Was impressed with the offerings, as I'd never looked at their beer menu before. We canoed up there when my son was in 7th grade. He suggested we go again, so I think we'll try to make it happen. Not many more chances. 28 minutes ago, Iceman said: Wasn't sure if you were serious, so I joked back. Hell, the Tripels an the Voodoo Ranger varieties alone on this page squash your notion. That Fin du Monde is plenty, also. All that being said, there are times for big boy beers and there are times for session beers. Ain't no shame in that. Just before leaving Leinie's we asked for a couple of tasters and they're pretty dang generous -- probably over three ounces just to sample, and when one of them is the imperial shandy at 9 percent, it can force a change of departure plans. Our mostly old-guy happy hour has taken to splitting the big boy beers. I might have posted a pic of the Central Waters Why Is The Cake Gone? not long ago -- a couple of years ago those were close to 15 percent, and our campus is probably still trying to recover from it taking out part of our IT staff for a day.
May 13May 13 1 hour ago, Hayduke said: Eyed some cans of those pretty hard, but didn't buy because they're in stores here. Put together a couple of mixed sixers ($21 total) of stuff that's not readily available -- a hazy tropical IPA, some original-recipe Leinie's, some lime Mexican lager. Wanted to fill some crowlers but they were out of cans -- almost certainly would have gotten grapefruit shandy, which I suspect is that much better fresh. Was impressed with the offerings, as I'd never looked at their beer menu before. We canoed up there when my son was in 7th grade. He suggested we go again, so I think we'll try to make it happen. Not many more chances. Just before leaving Leinie's we asked for a couple of tasters and they're pretty dang generous -- probably over three ounces just to sample, and when one of them is the imperial shandy at 9 percent, it can force a change of departure plans. Our mostly old-guy happy hour has taken to splitting the big boy beers. I might have posted a pic of the Central Waters Why Is The Cake Gone? not long ago -- a couple of years ago those were close to 15 percent, and our campus is probably still trying to recover from it taking out part of our IT staff for a day. My first trip to Belgium, the first night, I went out to dinner with a crew of about 6 or 7 of us including me and another American test engineer along with the local field service engineers, and ate at a small cafe in downtown Leuven. We were ordering Hoegaarden Verboden Vrucht which is an 8.5% Belgian strong dark ale, and over the course of our 2 hour dinner we each had 6 rounds of them. I had been sitting down the entire time and when we were finally done, I stood up, and it felt like the earth wobbled underneath me. I was lucky to remain standing and as we filed out the front door, past the bar where the bartenders had been sending the beers over to us all evening, one of them looked at us admiringly and said, "You hold your liquor well." I proudly smiled and thanked him. I don't remember the walk back to the hotel but I do remember waking up at the hotel bar with a glass of Scotch in front of me and the bartender gently suggesting I head on up to my room. I agreed and obliged.
May 14May 14 Great story, @utee94. "Forbidden Fruit" -- I'm going to have to look for that one. The Flemish term sounds very similar to German. My first day at a pseudo-internship was the last day of the annual festival in the village of Reichelsheim, Germany. We all left work at 1 p.m. and parked ourselves in the beer tent. Everybody in the company wanted to buy me a liter, and I think I got through it by taking a couple of laps around the festival area every time I went to relieve myself. They finally let me go around 10:30. German hospitality was the main reason I gained 25 pounds that year -- and I was barely 150 when I went over. Beer and wine were the main culprits.
May 16May 16 On our trip to China the locals were mixing the local beer with coca cola. I tried it, and it wasn't bad. I'm not a beer fan, but did like Chinese beer
May 16May 16 went to a thai place for dinner last night and all they had were chinese and japanese beers. had a sapporo black and it was a surprisingly good dark lager. it came in a 22oz can and was the same price as all the 12oz beers. will not hesitate to order one again.
May 16May 16 14 hours ago, Mo Horn said: On our trip to China the locals were mixing the local beer with coca cola. I tried it, and it wasn't bad. I'm not a beer fan, but did like Chinese beer they do this in Germany as well - Mit Cola.
May 16May 16 15 hours ago, Mo Horn said: On our trip to China the locals were mixing the local beer with coca cola. I tried it, and it wasn't bad. I'm not a beer fan, but did like Chinese beer 1 hour ago, Incredulity said: they do this in Germany as well - Mit Cola. I remember when I first heard about shandies/radlers and thought that was way beyond a weird idea. And sours. The more I venture out, the more surprised I am, although I haven't done the coke bit yet. At Leinie's the other day, the lodge included a list of "brewology" combos with my son's flight menu -- stuff like "Berry Weiss + Summer Shandy = Pink Lemonade" and "Dark Lager + Honey Weiss = Bumble Bee." We didn't do that, but we've done similar things once or twice over the years at happy hour, especially with a beer we don't like but are reluctant just to drain into the yard as a matter of principle ("don't waste beer"). Our college-age sons are another way to get rid of less tasty beer.
May 17May 17 9 minutes ago, zlavydra said: @Hayduke at Central Waters in Milwaukee I'm looking at their tap list and going to guess Back Alley Bock Fight. Then I'll blame it on the lighting when you tell me it's one of the ambers. That looks like a nice facility. Haven't been there yet and in fact haven't done Milwaukee any justice whatsoever for it being such a beer Mecca. Envious ... have one for me, will ya, @zlavydra? Edited May 17May 17 by Hayduke Or maybe the CW Dunkel. Missed that one on the first go-round.
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