Official tasting pictures thread

[oldp0rt]

Looks like a great time. Any beer highlights or lowlights? Interested in the lambikstoempers.

lambikstoemper can definitely use some age. CW16 was really good

 

[Evan1212]

Looks like a great time. Any beer highlights or lowlights? Interested in the lambikstoempers.

I liked the Lambikstoempers a lot, but oldp0rt is right - it could use some time.

 

[kcherney]

Did a blind tasting last night. Tried to get as many 2013 vintages as possible of the standard stuff. Full lineup:
Full lineup (l-r):
Cantillon Gueuze 2013
Lindemans Faro Lambic 2013 (Gag bottle of course)
De Cam Oude Gueuze (Actual dating unknown)
Lindemans Cuvee Rene 2006
Moriau Geuze 2013
Biir Geuze 2014
Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze Vintage 2008
Cantillon Lou Pepe Gueuze 2010
Drie Fonteinen Armand & Tommy 2010
Horal's Oude Gueuze Mega Blend 2013
Tilquin Gueuze 2013
Tilquin Gueuze^2 2014
Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze Golden Blend 2011
Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze 2013
Girardin Black Label Gueuze 2012
Boon Geuze 2013

Group consensus favourites: OGV 08, A&T, 3F OG, Tilquin 2013, Horal's

My personal blind ranking:
1. OGV 08 - 5.0
2. Tilquin - 5.0
3. Horal's - 5.0
4. 3F OG - 5.0
5. Lou Pepe - 5.0
6. A&T - 5.0
7. Cantillon - 4.5
8. Golden Blend - 4.5
9. Girardin - 4.5
10. Tilquin Squared - 4.25
11. Cuvee Rene - 4
12. Boon - 4
13. Biir - 3.5
14. Moriau - 2.5
15. De Cam - 2.5
16. Faro - 1.5

Surprises/Observations:
-The top stuff all ranked up at the top for me. The rest of the group was mostly in consensus, aside from me having Cantillon higher than everyone else, and me having Tilquin Squared lower than everyone else.
-3FOG/A&T/LPG were a tossup for me in terms of preference. They were all very different and really hard to rank.
-Tilquin Squared had a medicinal, rubbery quality that seemed to detract from something nice. Could not detect the extra alcohol.
-Girardin smelled like a bag of weed.
-Cuvee Rene smelled disgusting (bandaids and antiseptic) but tasted pretty good. Not really on style, but had a honey flavour that was delicious.
-De Cam was awful. Smelled like green pepper, tasted young and sugary. Easily the biggest disappointment here.
-I wasn't able to pick out any specific ones here. I attempted to identify Tilquin (was actually OGV), GB (was actually Cantillon), and Cantillon (was actually GB) because those were the three I've had byfar the most.

Look at my untappd (kcherney) for some additional notes or just ask me about stuff. It was a really fun experiment and if you haven't done much blind tasting before, I suggest you try to organize one or just do it on your own with the help of your spouse/friends/whoever.

 

[beerindex]

Biir Geuze 2014

This is the first time I've seen mention of this particular De Troch beer. Did you find it stateside, or did you have to order it online (or otherwise have it shipped/carried back from Europe)?

 

[Resuin]

Tonight's tasting:

Highlights include '14 Fou (fantastic fresh), Assassin, Le Sarrasin. Other tasty beers included B1 Damon, Vanilla Rye, Prop '14, West Ashley, Luscious, and others.

 

[kcherney]

This is the first time I've seen mention of this particular De Troch beer. Did you find it stateside, or did you have to order it online (or otherwise have it shipped/carried back from Europe)?

I believe kump got that one on a recent trip to Belgium.

 

[mikecharley]

This is the first time I've seen mention of this particular De Troch beer. Did you find it stateside, or did you have to order it online (or otherwise have it shipped/carried back from Europe)?

It is available on etre

 

[GMRfx]

Last night. Batch 3 Art and Aaron were prob my two favs. Good night of beers (and a bit of wine and scotch as well)

 

[kump]

I believe kump got that one on a recent trip to Belgium.

True story.

 

[sluggo1]

Great tasting. Prop, OOTE b2, and ADWTD were the winners for beer. That statement was a special treat. Just phenomenal. The 14% warmed me up as it went down and the flavor on it was huge. I get why people want mead now.

 

[Odesseiron]

Kiwi Herman is a damn beast

 

[Ziggy]

Had a little tasting last night with acurtis axeman9182 BenTenison KevyWevy markgugs MKtheGeneral OsLovesBeer RobErazo smo smonice Timmush and Trady. Took down 67 bottles and two growlers, as well as eight dried sausages and three wheels of cheese and three pizzas and 14 taylor ham egg & cheese sandwiches and three entire jars of pickles and an entire tray of TalkBeer Bourbon Brownies and cookies and pie.

Epic beers paired with lots of cheese lead to epic farts.

 

[tennispl]

Final shot from last night, thanks to KWMiles for the Darkness, and to TheAbyss for sharing the Chocolate Rain, Mrs Stoutfire and the Pirate Bomb, and to Bud Light Lime Express for the Allagash and the Nugget Nectar.

 

[mjshearer1]

Fun with Yeast By-Products, with Otis and GRDave

That's Cinnamon Toast Crunch French pressed BCBS, and holy **** was it good.

Dat Iris tho....

 

[BusinessSloth]

From our tasting yesterday. A couple other pics were posted in yesterday's DDT by justforrazors and xpimptastikx.

This 1993 cork/1994 labeled Cantillon gueuze had the nastiest cork and cap I've ever seen in my life...

but I'll be damned if the beer wasn't incredible. One of the best of the day for me.




This soap was the real unsung MVP though. Smelled like Sprite. So freaking good. Gonna have to buy some.

Framboos 2011. B1 Hommage and batch 2 hommage.

All of these are my opinions and do not reflect those of the tasting group at all.

Obviously joking about the beechwood comment, but seriously A&T was incredible. I'd love to do a side-by-side of Blauw vs. A&T. Very close. Personally I liked the cuvee of all 4 armand seasons better than drinking each individually. The cuvee was incredible. DHVL is drinking VERY nicely, but could use a bit more time in the bottle. I think it'll be drinking like a champ with a little bit more time. I have a few bottles to play with and see how it's doing over the next few years, so I can continuously report my findings. For science.

After more thought, I'd switch Framboos 2011 and Hommage b2. Framboos was way better. I'd advise hanging onto Hommage b2 for at least 2-4 years. It had a really weird medicinal/band-aid smell to it. Hommage b1 was just incredible for being 8 years old. Drank like a champ. Nice fruitiness still present.

Biggest disappointments: V013. Had a strange phenolic or acidic thing going on. It just tasted bad funky to me. Didn't like it at all. Le Sarrasin I may have had palate fatigue by then and I was sick and probably couldn't taste it very well. Roze was probably the biggest shock for me. I was expecting much better. I grievously erred in it's placement though. It should be tied in 9th place with Armand 4' Winter.

Feel free to ask me any questions about any of the beers. I remember them all fairly well.

P.S. Heart of Darkness ******* rocks. Huge thanks to xpimptastikx for sharing that. and austin for busting out Kuhnhenn Earl Grey mead. It was an incredible tasting that also included CheapBeerBuzz, justforrazors, IrishColonial and another gentleman who I believe is not yet on TalkBeer. Fantastic company with incredible beers and delicious BBQ.

 

[BusinessSloth]

From our tasting yesterday. A couple other pics were posted in yesterday's DDT by justforrazors and xpimptastikx.

This 1993 cork/1994 labeled Cantillon gueuze had the nastiest cork and cap I've ever seen in my life...

but I'll be damned if the beer wasn't incredible. One of the best of the day for me.




This soap was the real unsung MVP though. Smelled like Sprite. So freaking good. Gonna have to buy some.

Framboos 2011. B1 Hommage and batch 2 hommage.

All of these are my opinions and do not reflect those of the tasting group at all.

Obviously joking about the beechwood comment, but seriously A&T was incredible. I'd love to do a side-by-side of Blauw vs. A&T. Very close. Personally I liked the cuvee of all 4 armand seasons better than drinking each individually. The cuvee was incredible. DHVL is drinking VERY nicely, but could use a bit more time in the bottle. I think it'll be drinking like a champ with a little bit more time. I have a few bottles to play with and see how it's doing over the next few years, so I can continuously report my findings. For science.

After more thought, I'd switch Framboos 2011 and Hommage b2. Framboos was way better. I'd advise hanging onto Hommage b2 for at least 2-4 years. It had a really weird medicinal/band-aid smell to it. Hommage b1 was just incredible for being 8 years old. Drank like a champ. Nice fruitiness still present.

Biggest disappointments: V013. Had a strange phenolic or acidic thing going on. It just tasted bad funky to me. Didn't like it at all. Le Sarrasin I may have had palate fatigue by then and I was sick and probably couldn't taste it very well. Roze was probably the biggest shock for me. I was expecting much better. I grievously erred in it's placement though. It should be tied in 9th place with Armand 4' Winter.

Feel free to ask me any questions about any of the beers. I remember them all fairly well.

P.S. Heart of Darkness ******* rocks. Huge thanks to xpimptastikx for sharing that. and austin for busting out Kuhnhenn Earl Grey mead. It was an incredible tasting that also included CheapBeerBuzz, justforrazors, IrishColonial and another gentleman who I believe is not yet on TalkBeer. Fantastic company with incredible beers and delicious BBQ.

and just in case anyone was wondering, this is how I felt after drinking all that fantastic beer.

 

[linkes]

Inspired by a haul post by MKtheGeneral

 

[zookerman182]

Inspired by a haul post by MKtheGeneral

Dude, those weren't for drinking

 

[CommanderofAwesome]

 

[buzzword]

attempt to introduce coworkers to the world of sour beer. pretty broad spectrum swipe here - don't judge me

 

[regularjohn]

they definitely ****** a little from farm to face, dat aroma

 

[lopejuice1]

Drank a few delicious adult beverages last night. Ann and Oude Fermier were pretty amazing. Growler is Fuzzy Baby Ducks. Yes, KBBS was re waxed for future tradezbro. seems legit

 

[MEW1]

Last night's beers with jriggins6 !

Anyone else thinks this tastes like cheese?

This was so much better...

Love this beer!

 

[Jobu1]

Blind barleywine tasting last night, bracket style. 3 of the final four were expected. Biggest surprise was BA Massive. Great was the winner. KH and ADwtD essentially tied for 3rd.

 

[omgeezo]

Inspired by a haul post by MKtheGeneral

Review?

 

[jmgrub]

Got together with mrbubbler, Coolioman, DCLAguy11, drewone, queens1130, Rado and a few others for a tasting in my parents' backyard. The centerpiece was the brown bagged spiced stouts (the entries are in the first picture below- regular Abraxas was the non-barrel aged "control," Luchador was the shelf "control"), and then we opened a bunch of other great stuff afterward. Some beer blogger named Alex who makes lembeeks in his condo rolled through with the SARA Always in Death before his trampoline dodgeball match, which was a treat as well.

On the spiced stouts, the consensus favorites were the BA Abraxas and the 2 Hunahpu's(es?). Bourbon Huna has held up remarkably well. The Grande ***** is a personal favorite beer for me, and is still showing very well-a bit less body than the Hunas and the BA Abraxas, but great balance between the heat, barrel, and spice. Spice Wars was very solid. Vanilla Mole Resolute was good but was hot as **** in a quarter of the way to Ghostface Killa kind of way.

Thanks everyone!

 

[spykeratchet]

Bottles from left to right: Cellermaker/SARA I See A Dankness DIPA, The Rare Barrel Citra Hopped Golden Sour, The Libertine Bella Rouge, Lindemans Cuvee Renee, Cascade Apricot, The Bruery Atomic Kanagarue, The Libertine Xmas Porter, The Bruery Sour in the Rye, Cascade Blackcap Raspberry, The Bruery Tart of Darkness with Cherries and Vanilla, The Bruery Sans Pagaie, Stone '13 Imperial Russian Stout, Firestone Velvet Merkin B1, Firestone Feral Vinifera, Firestone Agrestic, Firestone Feral One, Goose Island '10 (Infected) Matilda, Firestone Easy Jack (fresh).

Thanks to benbikes4beer for the growlers and the Feral V.

My winners were the Feral V., the Rare Barrel Citra Golden Sour and the Cascade Blackcap Raspbery. And fresh Easy Jack is always awesome.

 

[linkes]

Inspired by a haul post by MKtheGeneral

Review?

Sure, I only have a minute:

Norma(b3) - an all-time favorite of mine and different from the others. Tons of wood.
E. -this bottle was from last spring (most recent batch) and has really changed since release. This and Sue were really fun to have side by side.
Ann(b2) - outstanding. More complex than I had imagined. I was thinking that it'd be extremely sharp and clean. So many flavors going on but still very bright. Lemon.
Art(b3) - this was sharper than Ann. And incredible. Better than previous batch.
Flora(b6) - this was my second bottle of this batch and I was again left wishing this batch was more like b5. It seemed like an incomplete transformation from Florence to Flora compared to previous batches (if that makes sense).
Flora with Blueberries - this was a real treat. All three of us agreed that this has gotten better over time. It really stood out. Forget fading fruit.
Sue - great, but I picked up a little of the soapy characteristic that is sometimes the result of brett + hops.

Also, batch 1 Damon is still awesome. So much chocolate.

 

[CommanderofAwesome]

Highlight was Manhattan NW. Wow was that good. Tequila Barrel Noir was a huge disappoint and probably infected. In less they were going for an odd tart thing.

 

[drbenzo1]

Good times last night with emale619 and zbeetleman!