Official GCMB Beer Aficionado Thread

[Captain Sasquatch]

Got into good beer in the mid 90's. One of my roommates was a licensed beer judge (yes, that is a thing, you get tested and licensed before you can judge a contest) and a homebrewer.

I joined the local Gainesville homebrew club, it was called the Hogtown Brewers and the president was a dude named Ray Bidowski (I know I'm spelling that wrong) who owned a place that sold homebrew supplies and quality beer back in the day. Last time I saw Ray was in the 2000s. He had gotten a job with Unibroue, the Canadian company that made beers like "La Fin Du Monde" and "Maudite" (which translate to "The End of the World" and "Dammed", respectively). He was exhibiting some of their products at one of the Orlando theme parks.

I fell in love with Belgian beers. Duvel. Orval. Chimay. We couldn't get much of that stuff in FL because back then by law beer bottles could only be certain sizes (like 12 ozoe 16 oz) so you couldn't get a British pint or anything metric (funny coincidence, that law was passed at the same time Budweiser opened their brewery in Tampa and wanted to limit foreign competition). Every road trip we made would result in a trunk full of exotic beer coming back to Gainesville with us.

The real hop-head craze came later. I'm not a big IPA guy. I get that people like flavor and an IPA has a lot more flavor than a generic American lager but for many of them, the bittering hops aren't balanced with enough malt. For a hoppy beer, I like Anchor's Liberty Ale which is balanced.

Other than the Belgians, I also like Bocks, Doppelbocks, and Oktoberfests.

I served as an associate judge one year for the Sunshine State Challenge homebrew contest in Orlando. Associate judge means my vote doesn't count, but I get to taste as much of whatever I want as I like. It's supposed to help you train to be a judge but I was just getting wasted on the cheap.

Funny story about that roadtrip. Involves an English stewardess, a Danish nanny, and a huge mansion on a lake in Orlando with the fabulously wealthy owners away on vacation.

Alex.

Bingo. Belgian and German beer make my taste buds happy.

 

[alcoholica]

I haven't had the pleasure of many Belgians. Abt 12 is tremendous. Piraat, Trappist Rochefort, and Golden Draak are good. My favorite is Gregorius.

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

I haven't had the pleasure of many Belgians. Abt 12 is tremendous. Piraat, Trappist Rochefort, and Golden Draak are good. My favorite is Gregorius.

 

[bradgator2]

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy has taken over my #1 spot. There 2nd brewery in Brevard, NC is a ton of fun.

 

[Gatordiddy]

Am I the only one that likes Bud Light Lime? I didn't bother to go through the entire thread.

Heavy - you're not the only one:

 

[heavychevy]

Heavy - you're not the only one:

I'm at work, my youtube is on lock i'll have to check it out later. I don't just drink BL lime, I just find it super easy to drink and I can drink a crap load of them. I just can't do the heavy beers when its so dang hot outside. I'll do the Swamphead big nose and stumpknocker when we eat out. I've had a few of the goose islands those are all pretty good. I LOVE the Shipyard Black IPA but that puts me in the dirt a little too quick. I like a few of the Abita's but I cant remember the names - and again, I can only drink those when I'm lounging around - which is never.

 

[alcoholica]

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy has taken over my #1 spot. There 2nd brewery in Brevard, NC is a ton of fun.

Never had it, need to try it.

 

[alcoholica]

one of my favorite summer beers is actually released in Feb, but if you keep it in the fridge it'll last. Abita Strawberry. Just seems to hit me right on a hot day. Another favorite in the lager category is Sam Adams or Sam Adams Light. Helles Lager from CC is also good.

For those who like Pilsners, the Noble Pils from Sam Adams is good. The Patio Pils from CC is not so hot. I have not tried any of the Euro Pils, but I hear good things about them. Also, if you can find the Schlitz Pilsner, it's a great value buy. Under $6 a 6 pack the last I saw them.

 

[Swamp Queen]

one of my favorite summer beers is actually released in Feb, but if you keep it in the fridge it'll last. Abita Strawberry. Just seems to hit me right on a hot day. Another favorite in the lager category is Sam Adams or Sam Adams Light. Helles Lager from CC is also good.

For those who like Pilsners, the Noble Pils from Sam Adams is good. The Patio Pils from CC is not so hot. I have not tried any of the Euro Pils, but I hear good things about them. Also, if you can find the Schlitz Pilsner, it's a great value buy. Under $6 a 6 pack the last I saw them.

Abita Strawberry Harvest is good stuff, especially on a hot day. Abita makes some really good beers! Andygator is another yummy one but higher on the alcohol volume. Plus it has a cool label!

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

If you want a high alcohol beer, just get Victory Golden Monkey and call it a night.

 

[bradgator2]

Before the Ten Fidy... Rogue's Dead Guy was my #1. Followed closely by Dogfish 90 min. I'll tell you what though... that Rogue Brewery is best brew-pub to visit on the planet. Check out that areal shot from Newport, OR. Amazing food. Truly amazing beer. Even better view off their deck.

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

Rogue Dead Guy is a great, great beer.

 

[GatorBart]

Before the Ten Fidy... Rogue's Dead Guy was my #1. Followed closely by Dogfish 90 min. I'll tell you what though... that Rogue Brewery is best brew-pub to visit on the planet. Check out that areal shot from Newport, OR. Amazing food. Truly amazing beer. Even better view off their deck.

It's a really cool place - one of several on the Oregon coast. Rogue also has a pub in downtown Newport - we went on a brewery tour a few years ago starting in Astoria (NW Oregon) and 6 breweries later we ended up at the Rogue (downtown) where we had reserved one of their apartments directly above the pub. I had to crawl up the steps to get to the room. Woke up with a massive hangover and went and played golf - good thing we had a growler of Imperial Pelican Ale from Pelican brewing in Pacific City, OR - check this place out!

 

[alcoholica]

If you want a high alcohol beer, just get Victory Golden Monkey and call it a night.

That's about an average abv for my beer. It's a good zone because you don't have to worry about skunky beer. anything above about 8.5% will work. So you get to fart around with aging and all that good stuff.

 

[AlexDaGator]

God dammit Alex. Here you've got me googling British pint to find out that not only is a British pint not 16 fluid ounces, but the imperial fluid ounce isn't even the same amount as the US fluid ounce. WTF. I've been to England twice, drank many pints there and had no f'ing idea.

Some tried to avoid the restriction by labeling a proper British pint as 16oz but some killjoy (on Budweiser's payroll) put an end to it.

Lots of crazy old laws like that were on the books. You know how all food comes with that nutrition label? Even on water? Couldn't put it on beer if you wanted to. You know how wine and liquor had ABV on the bottles? Was illegal to put that information on a beer.

Thankfully, things have changed for the better.

Alex.

 

[AlexDaGator]

That's what I'm talking about as well. Dark beers are too heavy and IPA's are just disgusting. Give me a Yuengling, Rolling Rock, Killians Irish Red, and I am good to go. Every time I go to a bar that serves only craft beer I try all sorts of beer and most every time I am sorely disappointed the only one I have been truly impressed by is Abita brewing company Purple Haze. That's pretty good.
My wifes , well ex-wifes, uncle practically runs a brewery up in the Lehigh Valley near Allentown PA. Over the last twenty years he has brought my ex-brother-in-law and I a case of mixed beer that they brewed any time there was a family get together. They were a Stroh's brewery for a while and then were bought by the company that owns Guinness and most recently they were bought by Sam Adams. They have brewed everything from the traditional Sam Adams to McSorley's Ale (that's some nasty stuff. I used it for slug bait for a while in my garden.) to flavored Smirnoff Ice which is really just flavored beer or malt liquor if you didn't know.

We used to always get Abita when we hit New Orleans. I remember drinking Abita Turbo Dog on tap at Cooter Brown's New Year's Eve 93/94 before we beat the crap out of an undefeated WVA Mountaineer team.

Had the Purple Haze on tap in Tallahassee.

Alex.

 

[GatorBart]

We used to always get Abita when we hit New Orleans. I remember drinking Abita Turbo Dog on tap at Cooter Brown's New Year's Eve 93/94 before we beat the crap out of an undefeated WVA Mountaineer team.

Had the Purple Haze on tap in Tallahassee.

Alex.

Turbo Dog was always a favorite in NO, especially alongside a Lucky Dog.

 

[AlexDaGator]

Bingo. Belgian and German beer make my taste buds happy.

On November 30, 1487 (before Columbus sailed the ocean blue), the Duke of Bavaria decreed the Reinheitsgebot, the German Beer Purity Law. It mandated that beer could only be made from water, barley, and hops. Nothing else. Of course this was before there was a Germany and before Louis Pasteur discovered yeast. Anyway. There were regional beers that contained other ingredients but when German unification happened, Bavaria insisted on German-wide application of the Law as a precondition to its entrance to the new German union. There were all kinds of legal struggles well into the 20th century, all through reunification of East and West Germany and even creation of the EU regarding these laws. Because of this law and its progeny, German beer to this day tends to be limited to those ingredients (with a few exceptions like wheat beer).

The Belgians, on the other hand, had no such restrictions. They were free to experiment with different grains, herbs, you name it. Trappist Monks in Belgium were brewing creations with the wild bacteria that fell off the rafters and infusing all sorts of flavors into their brews.

Both traditions make great beers, but they are wildly different (even when they use the same ingredients).

Germans are the masters of lagers in general (and yes, I know Pilsen is in Czech, I'm talking about Germanic areas including Austria, Czech, parts of Poland, etc.). Back in the day, those Pilseners often got skunky before we Floridians could get them. Many Belgian beers, on the other hand, are bottle conditioned so they can keep for years. We were able to taste "the real thing".

There are a group of American Trappist Monks who have been making jams and jellies for years. They have brewed a traditional Trappist Ale called Spencer Trappist Ale. I have not had it, but I'd like to give it a try and see how the American version compares what their brothers make overseas.

Alex.

 

[AlexDaGator]

If you want a high alcohol beer, just get Victory Golden Monkey and call it a night.

High alcohol levels put you, me, and most beer yeast to sleep. Making a "barleywine" isn't easy. You have to keep that yeast working. Many brewers will use champagne yeast to get the alcohol volume up.

Traditionally, barleywines had "Old" in their name. Anchor's Old Foghorn and Victory's Old Horizontal come to mind. The most common one available in the US has to be Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot. Those are pretty good.

The first high alcohol beer I had was Samichlaus. Not a fan. Then I tried Sam Adams Triple Bock which was certainly better, but still not my thing.

Alex.

 

[AlexDaGator]

Forget about beer. You write a dissertation on beer and end it with a lousy two sentences about a stewardess and a nanny in a huge mansion and give no details? Come on man. That's torture and totally not fair. This is the lounge so just about anything goes. I bet even Queenie would like some details.

Alright Del. Here you go.

So roadtrip to Orlando with 2 roommates, the Licensed Beer Judge (let's call him LBJ) and the All-State HS wrestler, golden gloves champ, and UF jujitsu number 2 (we'll call him Judo). We're there to judge the Sunshine State Challenge. Well, LBJ is judging Scotch Ales. Judo and I are associate judges just drinking for free.

Needless to say, at the end of the judging, Judo and I are rip-roaring drunk. It couldn't be avoided. LBJ was just on the other side of buzzed so of course, he's the designated driver (things were different then). Our plan is to hit Church Street in downtown Orlando and try to meet some girls on vacation. Somehow we get it into our heads that girls on vacation might be feeling adventurous. Not the best plan considering that the typical girl on vacation in Orlando is a 45 year old mother of 3 with a fanny pack and Minnie Mouse ears. Whatever.

Realistically, we knew nothing great was going to happen. We go out all the damn time in Gainesville which is chock-full of drunk beautiful girls our own age and a "successful" evening usually means some sweaty, anonymous grinding on the dance floor followed by getting a name and phone number scrawled on a cocktail napkin. Yes, this was before cell phones, stop asking. No tinder, no kik, no snap, no insta, not even fb. That's right kids. We had to wait 48 hours, then call her land line which she shared with 2 or 3 other girls and then either leave an awkward message or try to talk with the girl now that you're both sober and the lights are on. Tough times, tough times.

So no unrealistic expectations. Church Street is pretty dead. We wander into some Irish pub. Seems like a dud night. After a while, LBJ and I realize Judo is engaged in what looks like deep, meaningful conversation with two lovely young ladies. A slim brunette and a buxom blonde. Judo was a good looking dude, but he did not have the best rap for the ladies. He usually ended up grossing them out. Either that or scaring them, but mostly it was grossing them out. Judo was sitting with them in a booth. Looked like things were intense. It looked like they might actually be into him. We had a chance!

LBJ and I head over. Quickly realize that as per his form, Judo was scaring or grossing them out, but they were kind of fascinated by him. Now if you're a guy (and everybody here except SQ is a guy) you've been in this dual dilemma before. First off, there's two of them and three of you, second, you don't know which girl might be into which guy. So the next hour consisted of figuring out do they actually like us, and if so, which ones of us do they like the most? In this situation, third place doesn't get you a bronze medal. It gets you sad and lonely that night, and mercilessly ridiculed later. Young men are pretty much *******s that way.

We find out the brunette is English with the full accent and a penchant for Pimms Cocktails (amazing some of the things you remember). She's a stewardess. The other girl has an accent too. Turns out she's Danish. She's a student who's staying with a family here and watching their children. The Danish girl looked like she came from central casting if you asked for a Danish milk maid. Light blonde hair, big blue eyes, pale white skin with ruddy cheeks and a big smile...a little bit like the St. Paulie Girl.

Come to understand that LBJ was going to be the odd man out. The English girl was talking to Judo and the Danish girl to me. LBJ was pissed. He would later try to make a lame claim that he enjoyed sleeping in the hotel room we all paid for by himself but he was pissed. Did I mention young men are pretty much *******s?

So one of the girls has a tiny car. Don't remember which. I'm three sheets to the wind and barely aware of what's happening. We drive for a while then arrive at an apartment complex. It seems that in their rush, the girls skipped the parking lot because there were no cars around. I tried to explain that in America we parked in parking lots but they brushed my protests aside. We came upon the entrance. It was a massive door. I was confused. Did this lead to some sort of lobby? The Danish girl opened the door and I stumbled in. It dawned on me. This wasn't an apartment complex. It was a house...a mansion.

So a Danish family emigrated to the US and set up shop in Orlando selling Scandinavian furniture (no, not IKEA). It was called Scan Design. Very sleek, upscale stuff. High end. This was their home. The Danish girl was their children's nanny...and they were all away on vacation. We had the house to ourselves.

We quickly end up on the pool deck overlooking a large lake. The ladies invited us for a swim. They donned bikinis. Of course, we did not have appropriate swimwear with us. My alcohol addled brain figured skinny dipping was reasonable in this circumstance so...we ended up in the pool. The damn cold pool. My first public skinny dipping. Shivering. Thankfully they had some towels and we were able to go back inside and retire to separate bedrooms, me with the Danish girl and Judo with the English girl. In the interest of decency, I'm going to have to skip over the best parts of the story and jump ahead to the next morning. C'mon. This is a family restaurant. No need for that kind of talk around here.

So I wake up the next day with a hangover the size of Detroit. I'm finally able to get a good look at the house. It is gorgeous. There is a pool table on the second floor. How the F did they get a full sized pool table up to the second floor? The toilet is like a throne. Biggest commode I've ever seen. You flush it with a big lever on the side, like the old lazy boy recliners. All the furniture and decor looks like it was in Architectural Digest. The kitchen is massive. It's got the biggest refrigerator I've ever seen in a private home. It's huge and the doors match the kitchen cabinetry so it looks like a big pantry until you open it. Sadly, it was nearly empty. You know, family on vacation and all. We grubbed whatever we could as quickly as we could.

Then Judo and I start to panic. Again, before cell phones. LBJ is our ride back to Gainesville and the last time we saw him, he was pissed. It was still early, but I would not put it past him to wake up at 6:00 am, check out of the hotel, and drive back to Gainesville leaving Judo and I stranded (and maybe even leaving our stuff in the hotel room for the maids). Did I mention that young men were basically *******s? We get the ladies to drive us to the hotel (no clue how the hell we found it) and thankfully we got there before LBJ left.

That morning's terrible hangover was balanced by the warm glow of the previous nights' escapades. I can't ever sleep in a moving car but I slept the whole drive from Orlando back to Gainesville.

Alex.