RateBeer Forums: Beer Talk

Hunahpus release date...

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by TheCheeseMan

From the Cigar City Brewing Blog, please note that this is set to occur during the planned RBWG in Orlando/Tampa, making that Friday trip to Tampa that much better!!! Cigar City Brewing’s Hunahpus Imperial Stout Release Date Set. Really. If there is one question I get asked more than any other in regards to our beer it is, "When will Hunahpus be released." Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout is what we call a Mayan Choclate Imperial Stout and is brewed with Peruvian cacao, Ancho and Pasilla chiles, cinamon and vanilla beans with a nod toward the frothy cacao drink consumed by the ancient Mayans. It’s a tasy concoction and as I mentioned I’m asked almost every week when it will be available for purchase. Since some crackpots have themselves convinced that the Maya calendar predicts the apocalypse to go down in 2012 (pro tip: it doesn’t predict that at all), I’ve become fond of the smarmy reply, "Hunahpus will be released in early 2013." Hardly anyone ever gets it though. Ahh well, one day the world will lament not having recognized my comedic genius. But the time has come to be serious and to announce at long last that Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout, the reigning Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting 1st Place Winner will be released on March 12th of 2010 @ 7PM about 22 months shy of the end of the world! I can’t offer much more information at this time other than to say, stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks and that bottles of Hunahpus will be $20 per 750 ml (25.3 oz) and there will be many rare treats rolled out of the cellar.

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What do you wish you were drinking?

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by ucusty

For me... J&J Blau, Rose LA Cable Car RR Toranado & Deviation

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Whats your go to session beer?

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by WisconsinBeer

What do you drink when you wanna sip on something all night? I have a few: GI Honkers Ale Surly Bitter Brewer Summit EPA New Glarus Spotted Cow Miller Lite What you got?

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A lambic symphony. It doesnt take much.

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by after4ever

It’s been said before, but I’ll repeat it. Just a wee dram of those funky wild yeasty critters is all it takes. You wake up the next morning to a blazing chorus of butt trumpets. Sometimes, it’s better to live alone.

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Smokeheads

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by hopscotch

I’m curious as to how many people out there have smoked beer listed as their favorite style. I’m thinking of changing my favorite style to rauchbier or ice cider and my curiosity was peaked. For me, what makes rauchbier an exciting, eclectic category (excluding the wonderful smoked malt component that people either love or hate) is that it can be spread across so many different styles of beer. Anyway, I wonder if there are enough of us to start up a User Group list on the People page... if I change my favorite style from Scotch ale.

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Kozel Cerny and#40;Darkand#41; in Toronto

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by ChrisChm

Does anyone know where I can buy Kozel Cerny (Dark) in Toronto? Either at a beer store, LCBO, or bar where they serve it? Thanks in advance, Chris

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What wont you drink?

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by Elwood

When I first got into craft beer I was strictly a porter and stout guy. I couldn’t stand IPA’s or wheat beers. Thankfully my tastes have evolved and I can enjoy a good beer from just about every style. I am still not the biggest wheat fan but I can appreciate them and I love a great IPA/DIPA. Still working on the sours though! Is there any style that you just won’t drink?

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What ya drinking? Part Twoand#033;

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by IrishBoy

Damn! Only 120 pages and they froze Al’s (Garthicus’ other thread) so I will start anew! Tonight an Erdinger Oktoberfest Weizen and a Stone 090909!

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orval 1993

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by Shyam

i have a bottle of orval with one date written on it. the date is October something or the other in 1993. can anyone tell me if this is the bottling date or the best by date? if its the best by date, when was the bottling date? thanks.

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Special Celebration Beer

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by petematte46

My first born (Hadley) entered the world today and I plan on having a celebration beer when I go home on Monday. Blabaer 09, Duck Duck Gooze, or Hommage 09 come to mind. I�ll make my decision based on what you guys think. Has anyone else had a celebration beer for their first, and if so what did you have?

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Cigar City in Pennsylvania

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by Phillies2008Champs

FINALLY! I heard Cigar City was coming to PA. I picked a bottle of the Bolita Brown and the Marshal Zhukov�s Cedar Aged Imperial Stout at Capone’s today. I think Capone’s is having the two mentioned above and the India Brown on tap next Thursday. We have access to some great beer here in PA.

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Eisbocking

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by ilovedarkbeer

Are there any potential health hazards associated with home "Eisbocking" beers? (I.E. Rudimentary Distillation By Freezing.) I am aware that it is technically illegal but I was just wondering for "hypothetical" purposes...

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09 celebration

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by 502Flavors

I like.

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Upland lambic

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by ucusty

So what’s the story with the newest batch of lambic? Any ideas on what fruit they are using? What about a release date?

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New York drinks Gueuze

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by puzzl

Last night, six of the NYC crew got together and did a blind tasting of classic gueuze, based on an idea I presented a long time ago here. The idea was to only drink the classics, and stay away from all special editions, alternate barrel treatments, hop additions, etc. We drank everything as fresh as possible. Although in one case (the Boon Mariage Parfait) we had no fresh bottlings available, so we opted for a Vintage 2003 bottling over nothing. We drank the beers in pairs, 3oz of each, and each beer had about 20 minutes to breathe before being poured. We also did our best to avoid yeast, and all pretty much used the same glassware. The beers drank were as follows (in this order): Cantillon Gueuze Oud Beersel St Louis Fond Tradition Lindemans Cuvee Rene Cantillon 50N4E * 3 Fonteinen Hanssens Girardin black label Boon Mariage Parfait (2003) * Dickinsonbeer brought this in as a ringer and didn’t tell anyone what it was until after the tasting was over. We rated on a Ratebeer 5 point scale, but realized towards the end that it gave people who used a wider range of scores more clout in the results, so at the end we used a basic ranking, 1-9, each number is used once. The results were very close, and as always, rather surprising. The first order of note was that the 50N4E finished dead last in everyone’s list. It was the only beer that everyone agreed upon it’s quality � in this case, crap. The full results, from worst to best: 9) 50N4E 8) Oud Beersel 6) St Louis 6) Girardin (these two tied from the ranking numbers, however the Girardin was slightly ahead with the RB #s used) 5) Cantillon 4) Hanssens 3) Boon MP 1) 3 Fonteinen (tie, as above) 1) Lindemans Cuvee Rene (!) I don’t have the exact scores available, but everything was very close. I personally picked the St Louis first and the Boon second, and a few small tastes of what was left at the end confirmed my liking the St Louis the best by a fairly wide margin. It is important to note that gueuze has a ton of variability batch to batch and even bottle to bottle, and the same experiment repeated in a year would likely yield very different results. We plan to repeat it to confirm. But for now, you can rest easy knowing that 6 experienced tasters picked the most common, most affordable gueuze in the world as their favorite, Lindemans Cuvee Rene.

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Will Craft Beer Price Itself Out Of Existence?

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by Cobra

With everything increasing in price, and no end in the recession on the horizon, will craft beer price itself out of existence? I believe it will.

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Changes In Scotch Ales

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by BigBeer45

Has anyone noticed that the Founders Dirty Bastard has changed lately? I know the alc. went from 8.3% to 8.5% in the last year or so, the beer looks lighter than it use to, more of a red candy-ruby, and it appears the aromas and flavors have changed to, it does not have the earthy, smoke, brown sugar, molasses with chewy caramel malt aromas that was there a couple of years ago but has more candy sweet aromas, the flavors are not as intense, not as much caramel or dark malt flavors, the mouth feel seems to have thinned out a bit, I would say this drink has slipped away from being the Scotch Ale it once was, Dirty Bastard use to be one of my favorite drinks but I have been disappointed with the samples I have had lately, I am not trying to put Founders down, they make some great brews, but I am just wondering if anyone else has noticed this change in Dirty Bastard. Also, the Dark Horse Scotty Karate Ale, the latest sample I had was loaded with smoke, lots of it, as if this was a smoke beer rather than a Scotch Ale, I know Scotch Ales should have some peaty, smoke aromas but the Scotty was really smokey, anyone else noticed this?

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Blithering Idiot - Good Value Barleywine?

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by shawn14505

I picked up a 4 pack of BI for $11 sat night. This begs the question, is this one of the better value Barleywines out there? What would you recommend as the best combination of taste vs. value in a barleywine?

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Craft beers in popular film

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by Rciesla

Watching In Bruges (2008); and noticed the characters are drinking Leffe and Chimay, or at least the glasses. What other movies showcase great craft beer?

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Brewers that make the most high alcohol beers

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by CaptainCougar

Who would you consider the king brewer of high grav beers? Here’s what comes to mind for me: Number of beers over 15% abv Kuhnhenn - 8 Avery - 6 Dogfish Head - 6 (3 of which are WWS) De Molen - 5 The Bruery - 5 (only been in business for 1.5 years) Bos - 3 (Out of Buisness, now brewing for Kuhnhenn) Mikkeller - 2 Number of beers over 10% abv Kuhnhenn - 38 (not including their meads) De Molen - 20 Mikkeller - 16 The Bruery - 15 Avery - 15 Dogfish Head - 10

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Goose Island BCS Bombers

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by nbutler11

These just appeared in Phoenix at Papago. They’re going for $13. Anyone know what the distribution is looking like for 2009? 4-packes of 2008 showed up all over the southwest, so I’m wondering if the new batch will be just as available. Has the recipe changed at all?

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Have you ever said

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by dankman38

Damn, I wish I had some more of that... (right now it’s Espresso Yeti, Alaskan Baltic Porter and, Duck Rabbit Brown Ale). How often do you feel a desire for a specific beer? I think there are at least 4 or 5 times in any given week I find myself desiring a specific beer.

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Backwoods Bastard - everything the same?

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by alexsdad06

I am drinking the 09 version of Backwoods Bastard which I enjoy every year. This years version strikes me as being a little different (still very good). Did they use a different barrel this year?

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Newbie- dont like glasses

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by Tuneman07

Hey everyone thanks for the great reviews I have been reading them for a long time now finally decided to join the site. I really have developed a taste for good beer now that I have been out of college for awhile and I’m getting into the various aspects but one thing I can’t get into is the smell of beer. I don’t know if it is too many mornings waking up in the basement after a house party with my face in a puddle of Busch Light or what but even with a good quality beer that I love I don’t like smelling it- which leads to my problem of not liking beer out of a glass. Anyone else enjoy beer strictly out of the bottle? I know I miss out on color/head/smell etc... but in the glass I just don’t like my nose being right there up against the beer as I drink it- there have been a few exceptions but very few.

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AleSmith X

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:10:45 EST

Posted by DalzAle

Amazing, every time I have it. How is this now a top 50? (Or am I crazy?)

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