What Beer Are We Drinking This Summer?
 

Considering how backassward much of this State is, a pleasant surprise last year was when the politicos finally allowed high gravity (high alcohol) beer to be sold. For those who love beer, this meant we could all now sample and enjoy a myriad of Belgian ales and beers, not to mention some domestic variations on that theme. I usually pick up a single high grav on my way home and really take the time to taste it and "understand" it quietly before I have dinner.

http://www.wildfreshness.com/brian/archives/echt.jpg

This Kriekenbier (cherry beer) is odd, but very refreshing. More like a soda than a beer, with a ruby red colour and very little head. It has a really sour kick that some might not like, but I kinda liked it. Not as sweet as you might expect, but very cherry indeed; maybe too cherry. I've had some cherry lambics that were not as good, however. Good really cold after being out in the heat of summer. 3.5 out of 5. Worth a try.:thumb:

I'm not sure I understand what exactly is referred to by the term "high gravity" but I do know that there are some beer-like things that I can now purchase in my hometown since they allowed wine to be sold here (things I previously had to drive to a liquor store in another town to get). For instance: Lindemans Framboise (a raspberry lambic from Belgium) - is that "high gravity" ??? In general, are these secondary fermentation type beers considered "high gravity" ???

btw: mix a little Framboise into a tart cider . . . mmmmmm!

High Gravity
 

You got it flint. That lambic you mentioned is probably one. Widikepikia or whatever that site is, can have bad info, but the below seems correct.

My beer-making buddy tells me its beer with an original gravity of 1.064 or higher.

Have a lambic for me.
:beer:


gravity (beer)
Original gravity (OG) usually refers to the density of wort, unfermented beer, usually expressed as a ratio to the density of water (thus for instance 1.050, occasionally expressed 1050). The density is closely related to the amount of fermentable sugar dissolved in the wort, and thus predicts the likely strength of the finished beer.

Final gravity (FG) is the density of the beer once the fermentation has finished. The difference between OG and FG is a measure of the amount of sugar consumed in the fermentation, and therefore of the alcohol evolved. Different yeasts have different powers of attenuation (ability to consume wort sugars), and different worts may have higher or lower proportions of non-fermentable sugars, so final gravity is not a simple function of original gravity.

The main reason the density drops during fermentation is that the process breaks down sugar molecules into ethanol and carbon dioxide, the majority of the latter escaping as gas.

Oh, I will! I also love a tart green apple beer from La Fin Du Monde (Canada) but I can't think of what it's called right now. Another good one involving secondary fermentation with fruit.

Serious thumbs-up for Lindemans Framboise! Too bad the stuff is so expensive, but it the most delicious candy.

I couldn't find that stuff for a while, not even in the liquor stores. Among the rumors as to why it had vanished was that it was fermenting, on the shelf, and they couldn't even determine what alcohol level it might have by the time it was purchased!

I want a beer!!!

When I clock out (about 25 minutes) I'm gonna hafta pick up some framboise, and some cider.

EDIT1: Ten minutes and counting...

EDIT2: It's beer-thirty!

oops
 

Unibroue is the brewer of La Fin Du Monde, and Éphémère (the apple beer) is another of their products.

This summer? Any beer within reach!

I haven't been partaking in much beer this summer...mostly wine. Though I bought some Sam Adams White Ale earlier this summer, which was quite good. I should see if it's still around.

Frosty ones!
Spaten
pilsner urquell
Warsteiner
Dinckel acker
Hennepin
Murphy's stout
Guinness pub draft
Duvel
Mojitos (not, technically, a beer but tough)
Franzikaner hefeweiss
Pinkus (all varieties)
St. Peter's ale (porter in the winter)
and for the 4th of July I had a few
Dogfish 90 minute IPA. That's some high gravity. It's like pulling 4 Gs. Very gravitational. The blood pools in your feet after one of these. You wouldn't be able to put your shoes on after you drank one barefoot.

OH yeah, Sam adams makes a summer time thing with "grains of paradise" quite tasty and refreshing

Labatt's Blue is my staple, but enjoy Rickert's Red when I go out.

Troeg's Sunshine Pils, or just plain ice-cold Amstel Light.

Guinness when available
Yeungling when I feel patriotic
Rolling Rock never again
Pacifica most recently

Looks like someone is drinking Yuengling right now. :)

If you tell me you're not drinking Rolling Rock any more because of its recent sale, I will have no choice but to beat you with one of their trademark green bottles.

Better start the beating now. Budweiser bought them and is shuttering the Latrobe plant and moving to Jersey. Bud bought them because of the brand value. If you separate the beer from its roots you have no brand value... even an mba should get that. :)

Oh sure, blame A-B...they're always the bad guy. Who decided to sell the company in two pieces? Who was that again? InBev? Right. :)

I don't have no stinkin' MBA...that would have taken me an extra 6 months of accounting bullshit. An MA works just fine...and should make tw proud. :)

Apples & Oranges
 

Thanks for that link, flint. After you mentioned that apple bier the first time, I got curious and looked for it at the same place I got that kriekbier (cherry). They didn't have the La Fin Du Monde, so I settled for the Lindeman's. I was dissapointed. It was way too sweet and it had kind of an artificial, Jolly Rancher smell. Sadly, this was one night after I had my first Lindeman's Kriek Lambic. It too had a pungent aroma of candy, and a too tooty-fruity taste. I like more bite, more sour. I know a store that sells the La Fin Du Monde and I'll check out that apple product tonight.:beer:

And stay away from those green-bottle high gravs! Just like Heineken or any other green-bottle beer, they skunk out after being in the light for a week or so.:mad:

I've never had a Lindeman's Framboise straight-up. I always mix it with a tart cider. That combination has a nice sour bite, with the heavy fruit element in there, without being too sweet. I don't think I would like the Framboise straight-up, I've never even tried to take a drink out of the bottle.

nice idea about the mixing, Flint. Lindeman's also makes a Peche (peach) it is like peach wine cooler. summer, desert.

It wasn't really my idea, they made them that way at The Flying Saucer, which had over 300 beers on tap.

Mmm....beer.....mmmm

I just popped open a bottle of Greene King's Abbot Ale. Very nice. Room temperature, deep golden colour, mmmm. Not tremendously strong compared to some (alc 5% vol.) Greene King breweries have been making such delicious beverages since 1799. I do like a beer that retains its roots!

One of the towns near my village is having a beer festival soon. So I shall hie me over to Hebden Bridge and try to remember what it is I am drinking so I can bring back a full(ish) report :P

AB is completely irrelevent in any discussion of beer. All their products suck dead donkey dicks. Seriously. Why so many Americans drink AB or Miller products is beyond me. You'll see a guy driving a Mercedes 350 SL hop into his car with a 12-pak of Miller Lite. I don't get it. What the fuck is wrong with people in this country?

Thanks for that cider tip, Flint. That may be the ticket. I found a place that sells that Omnibrou and requested they get the apple beer. Is that good straight?

Dana C. Yorkshire. Goodness. You are lucky to be in a land of historic beer! We have a beer festival here in Decatur, GA, but they keep raising the price. It's now $30 U.S. dollars just to get in! Fuck that shit. I'll have my own festival, thank you.

Unibroue is top notch. I recomend you try everything they have. La Fin Du Monde is probably my favorite thing they make, an almost champagne-like beer that will knock you on your ass with something like 9% alcohol. The apple beer is brilliant, in that it has a sharp, clean beer taste with a very distinct aftertaste of sour green apples. It isn't sweet, and it isn't like a fruity drink at all. It's distinctly beer.

Little Green Apples
 

Excellent! (said with the voice of Montgomery Burns). That sounds like what I want.

I found 4 different Unibroues, but not the apple one. I will not rest until I have tasted said green apple bier!!!:headshake