Pliny the Elder dear god please people stop asking me if Pliny the Elder came in... There are so many choices that are on the shelf that are just as good. I really love Stone's IRS but I'm a huge stouts fan in general.
Nugget Nectar was so underwhelming. Had Black Note from tap (growler) = AMAZING. Had from a bottle at a tasting = meh. Traded a KH for a Kern River Citra = meh. (What I gave up may have influenced...)
Black Note (good, but not great), CBS (see Black Note), Westy 12, Blabaer < Fou'Foune, BASS, Five Squared? + other stuff
its a cottage industry on these boards - to hate on certain brewers. Id love to see the so called experts on here take a blind tasting of a bunch beers including the ones they talk shit about.
Pliny suffers as an "underwhelming beer" only in the sense that its preceding reputation glorifies the beer in such a way that isn't necessarily indicative of the beer itself, but instead based on its availability. It's a top notch DIPA and underwhelming to those who succumb to the beliefs that they'll cream their shorts upon consumption. I believe it'll continue to suffer from 'underwhelming' status from a select few tasters until the beer becomes more widely available and/or more beer fans get a taste of it. For those that aren't draped in rose-colored reputations and drink it for what it is...it's a super dank choice. I think kotayk hit on this point well, above. "Underwhelming" as a concept for a beer is almost always based on preceding reputation or unfulfilled standards for what the beer SHOULD be, both factors almost always subjectively-based. Which makes the concept of 'underwhelming' subjective anyway and not necessarily worth criticizing. That said, I suffer from believing most anything DFH does is fantastic...my own subjective sense of brewery perfection slighting my ability to objectively taste. Their Ta Henket and Tweason Ale are exceptionally sub-par.
Well I'll jump on the bandwagon and say Pliny the Elder/Younger. But I will also throw in a caveat and say that for a little while PTE was one of my favorite beers, then it became hard to find and by the time I had it again my palate had changed. It has a soapy, slimy quality to it that I just don't care for, I would rather drink a Blind Pig or just about any other decent IPA. Don't get me started with the Younger, I can't believe I waited in line for that shit. I think it is a classic case of BA herd mentality.
The biggest disappointment was the Goose Island Burbon County Stout. I remember thinking it was too boozy and the mouthfeel was as thick as molasses. I may need to try it again, because it's been 3 years ago I tried it. I was 21 and fairly new to craft beers, and I do like bigger beers now.
Sorry if my/others opinion ruined your day. I really don't think many people on BA actually consider themselves experts, nor do I think many of them are here "talking shit". You may be missing the point of this thread, and judging by your pissy attitude, the point of this website. I have a six pack of Levitation in my fridge. I will drink it happily. But I won't buy it again, because I don't find anything about it all that impressive, especially considering I can get HopBack cheaper, which I like better. Note that I said that I like it better, not that it's undeniably better and that Stone sucks. Opinion. I stand by what I said about Arrogant Bastard though. When I had it, it tasted like a brown ale that someone poured vodka in. Not my thing. If you like it, congratulations.
I guess this is the best place to put this right now. I just had my first Duchesse De Bourgogne. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a single bottle of this, only a four pack. This is the first beer in the style that I've ever had. Couldn't even finish one. Smells and tastes like ketchup to me. Maybe my palette isn't sophisticated enough to appreciate this, but all I know is that I hate it. Now I need to find someone who wants the other three ketchup beers.
I have to agree, after nearly three years of hearing and hearing and hearing about it, I finally got a bottle. I like a good IPA, I'm not a hop head so it definitely takes a lot to impress me. Don't get me wrong either, I can step back and look at the beer in a very concise way as what it is even if I am not all about the style 24/7. Though I will say Pliny the Elder was of great quality and certainly was a well achieved IPA, it just didn't blow my mind like everyone pumped it up. I felt like I have had better and even equal though very few. But you are definitely not alone. Other beers for me would have to be Lagunita's Lil Sumpin' Sumpin' (or something like that), the malt was odd. Goose Island's Rare, WWAAAAYYY to expensive for how unimpressive it was. I have had dozens of beers much less expensive and much more impressive. Stone Smoked Porter, I even bought the Chipotle and it was just mediocre... They were good but not nearly as smokey as hoped.
I recommend trying it again! I had it for the first time a few months ago and it was delicious. Definitely a sipper, and though the bourbon is heavy, it's mellowed out well with the vanilla and oak flavors.
You did no such thing good sir - I apologize if my attitude seemed pissy, it was not my intention. I simply was trying to make the point ( i suppose now in hindsight not very successfully) that there is a certain set of brewers that are always picked on.
Founder's Breakfast Stout. Love stouts, love (good) coffee stouts, this tasted like 3 day old, used coffee grounds that someone had soaked in water and added some yeast to to make beer. Not very good.
Fayton's Maple Imperial Stout...perhaps I shouldn't have held the bottle (although it was refrigerated) for quite so long. Nothing special there and nearly no maple.
If you don't like it, you don't like it and that's all good, but it is nothing like rubbing alcohol. Vodka is kinda like rubbing alcohol, but Supplication is not.
Well, I've had Supplication about 5 or 6 times and every time it tastes like sour rubbing alcohol. The only reason I've had it so many times is because I can't believe it tastes like that. And every time I remind myself that it actually does.
[quote="Goosey, post: 625520, member: 655395"Tasted like a porter with 2 shots of bourbon poured in. I will say that had I been cellaring at that point, I would have put a few back, and I imagine they would be drinking fantastic right about now; but I don't like when brewery's put out beers that aren't good fresh. There's nothing wrong with releasing a beer meant to cellar, but I should also be able to enjoy it fresh IMO.[/quote] I felt the same way about Widmer Brrrrrbon last year. I'm a whiskey guy, all types, but damn. That beer tasted like cheap, plastic bottle bourbon to me. I barely got anything from the base beer.
In the past I thought it was amongst the best, but recent batches that I have had were not very good.
I am about to start a s**t storm, but I felt that Hopslam is overrated. It just did not live up to the hype.
I definitely thought Hopslam was good. But if it came down to it, given the price, drinkability, and overall taste, I'd choose Two Hearted over it any day.
I'm sorry sir, but you're nuts. Easily better than those beers as well as every other fresh hop beer I've had this fall: Great Divide, Hop Trip, Sixpoint Autumnation, Blue Point Wet Hops Experiment, etc.
Actually, to add to this, I just had my first Orval trappist. Very good, but IMO, not quite deserving of the 100 it has on this site. I'd take a Rochefort over it for sure. But to each his own!
Brown shugga. Don't get why people obsess over this beer. Very imbalanced and the yeast taste really funky in a bad way. But to each his own ad tectac said.
Anything from Bells, 3 Floyds, Rogue. Each may have a few good offerings but none i've tried has lived up to the hype.
Trappistes Rochefort 10. Don't get me wrong, I liked it quite a bit, but I paid 8 bucks for a 11.2 oz single and it was not even close to being worth that price IMO.
One that I always really liked, and I'm talking for many years now is Pliny the Elder. I must say that after hearing all of the hype on BA, I was wishing it was "as good as" what I was reading. Just MHO.
For me it's Dark Lord without a doubt... since we're on the Imperial Stout bashing train. Stone IRS with 4+ years on it is one of the best Imperial Stouts I've ever had. Had a 2007 on tap about this time last year that absolutely floored me. Not a big fan of it fresh.
Delerium Tremens. I've seen this "elephant" sitting on the shelves with an unbelievable price tag on it for a while in bombers. When I finally came across a single small bottle, I bought it and hoped to see pink elephants. When I had it I started to think "definite pepper taste to it". Then I thought to myself, am I really looking for a beer with a pepper taste to it? It's a good beer, but doesn't live up to the bottle or the price tag. I won't buy it again, but drink it all night if someone else was treating.
I'm new so I don't know how much love it gets on here specifically, but I don't understand or share the positive sentiments most seem to have for Scotty Karate. Granted it's not my favorite style, but there are some i dig well enough anyway..
Sculpin always made me cringe a little bit. But alas I know why, I just don't like that type of hops.
