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Trying friend's HB pale ale. A bit over-carbed (it had settled some by the time I took this pic).

Good flavor and aroma, nice balance of malt and c-hops.

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Last time I had a Kona, I think I mentioned something to the effect that this is the “Ultimate College Chug” beer. Well, I’d know, I graduated from one of PlayBoy magazine’s top party schools back in the day, yessir, #1! Ah, the good old days.

Besides studies, we all majored in beer chugging, BIG TIME! In fact, my brother even chugged a gallon or two of the beer swill from the “catch bucket” Coleman cooler under the beer keg. Sat on his butt on the floor by the dorm elevator and chugged the whole thing! Bluto!

Well, discriminating drinkers can’t be wrong, check out this 25-ouncer they’re selling at the grocery store! This is it!

Few manufacturer cans will exceed the capacity of the huge Beermeister32 Pilsner glass, this 25’er doesn’t even make it to the top. Gotcha! You’re not getting past me! Bringeth me a quart-size Kona next time, peasant…! Wimps!

This has to be the easiest drinking “Golden Ale” of all time. “Liquid Aloha” as they say. 4.4% ABV means you’d still be vertical for two of these. Maybe three. Maybe Four. It’s a good beer, you’ll like it. Check out the lacing! Enjoy!

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I was rummaging about in my basement closet for empty bottles to clean (washed and sanitized 4 cases!), when I found a box with 10 empties, and 2 full bottles of a beer I didn't remember having any left overs. Obviously, I had to chill these bottles, and try one!

It's dark, very chocolatey, gotta be at least 11% abv, with just a hint of coconut in it. Definitely a touch oxidized, but it's pretty damned delicious! My best guess is these are the sole remaining bottles (well 1 left now) of last year's "Festivus" ale. If this is the beer I think it is, it's had an interesting progression: delicious at 4 months (right around xmas), then got a little odd by 7 months. Now at least 14 months old, it might be the best I've ever made! :drunk:

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A little rough around the edges. But weirdly enjoyable in a nostalgic sort of way. Reminds me of the days when breweries were still figuring ipa out. Firm old school bitterness. Hoppy in a green sort of way, like the way pellets smell right out of the bag. No date stamped on the can so I have no idea when it was packaged, but I know it’s been kept cold.
 
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Next one up (didn’t finish the last one).
The bitterness here is much more clean and refined than the lost abbey beer before this. Yet, it’s also much more boozy and hot on the back end, even though it’s 0.3% lower ABV. Does anyone know by chance if Elysian uses the same yeast as Stone perhaps, or something similar? I’m getting a very familiar yeast character. Big orange and grapefruit happening hop-wise.
 
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Historically the first “hazy” I ever really liked. Albeit I think their definition basically means unfiltered. This one goes down the easiest so far. People used to talk about good Mosaic having a blueberry quality to it. I think I’m getting that here. Could all be in my head though. Back to 8.5% but less boozy than either of the first two. Perhaps a touch sweet on the finish. Other than that, no notes really.

Edit: if there isn’t a beer yet called “Still Hazy After All These Years”, then I’ve lost all hope in humanity.
 
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Ron Pattinson's Boddington '71 clone.
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And my warm weather dark mild. Both of these ales were made with Jasper Yeast's version of the Fullers strain which attenuates much more aggressively than Pub/1968. It's fantastic in the Bods clone, but its significantly higher attenuation pushed the mild out of style--somewhere between mild and brown porter. It's a nice enough ale though, I'll use Pub next time.
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And a glass to clean up the dishes. It's the only Helles that I've made that I'm satisfied with. I'm sure that in five or ten year's time I'll be ashamed with this. But for right now, this is about as good a Helles as I can make.

Here's the funny bit: This beer is a complete failure.

The intention was to brew a pilsner as a nice comfortable space for me to monkey around with my water. I'm still trying to get a 10/10 dry but soft Munich finish. Between the last crumbs found in the bottom of a dying pound of Haller, me banging water salts together like a high-achieving chimp, and an especially good sack of Barke that I picked up a couple of months ago, I managed to trip and tumble my way into a Helles that I'm actually happy with.

Brewing sure has a way of humbling you.
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At "U Salzmannu" in Pilsen.

It's really mind-boggling how different this beer is on tap, drawn from a tank, compared to the rather "generic industrial pale lager" you'll find in the bottle.

Foam like whipped cream, rich, somewhat sweet, with that deep hoppiness penetrating it all from start to finish, providing an herbal, lightly citrusy freshness to balance out what would otherwise come off as heavy.
 

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