What beer have you had recently that was head and shoulders above what you expected to get? Inspired by Summit's Kentucky Common. Holy smokes.
Schmatz's Coney Island Barrel-Aged Human Blockhead It has just been sitting around in Austin at $10 a bottle... picked on up and DAMN what a delicious beer! Probably one of the best barrel-aged beers I've ever had. It also didn't help that it's aged in Buffalo Trace barrels, which is my absolute favorite bourbon. Bought 4 more the next day to stow away for a later date before people figured it out
Although I was pretty psyched when it came out, nugget nectar gives me worlds of flavorful joy I could have never thought possible. Next would have to be leather lips ipa, really delicious and smoove
Sweet Baby Jesus by Du Claw I had a feeling it was going to be something I enjoyed, but...SWEET BABY JESUS! do I love this beer. And, the warmer it gets, the more predominant that the peanut butter cup comes through. ISO: Permanent SBJ trader!
Quite local, but I have to say Total Eclipse by Brewmaster Jack. A chocolate rye porter that was wayyy good!
Stone Cali-Belgique. I'm a huge international beer drinker, and haven't found too many good American Belgian IPAs and didn't expect much from this one but it really hit the spot for me. The hops were present in the nose and taste but not overwhelming and didn't take over the aftertaste.
Just had a HF Fear and Trembling tonight for the first time and was really impressed by the smoke flavor. Not artificial in taste like many others in this style have been.
Bought a sixer of Sucks to see what all the fuss was about. Damn near knocked me on muh ass. Gotta go back to get the remaining ones on the shelf!
Same here. Had it last night. Expected it to be good due to the all talk on here, but I didn't think it would be as good as it was!
I'll go +3 on Sucks. I picked up a sixer before the Boston storm expecting a good beer but daymn, that was a near-perfect IPA.
Lost Lake Light >http://www.lostlakebeer.com/page04.html Expected to give it a -3/10 but it was really a 4.5/10 Nothing else has ever exceeded expectations by 7.5 points. Long live the triple L!
Lagunitas Sucks. I had it about a year ago and thought it was tremendously overrated and couldn't believe people were debating whether it was as good or better than Hopslam. Then I bought a six pack of each and everything changed. Sucks is just as good and half the price. I'm going to have to buy more soon.
Was at City Beer Store yesterday for their cellar sale. They had Wanderer on tap. I knew it would be good, but it may be my most favorite sour now!
Logsdon Seizoen Bretta I'm not much of a fan of saison's or beers with brettanomyces but I really loved this beer. Completely changed the way I feel about the style.
Well I guess I'm just going to have to start trading! I'm not missing out on that Sweet Baby Jesus. Lol
Victory Oak Horizontal, great bourbon flavor mixed with sweet caramel, toffee and vanilla. One of the best barleywines I've ever had.
Evolution Lot6 DIPA. They just started bottling it this past month. Grapefruit deliciousness. One of the finest DIPA I have ever had.
Victory Red Thunder!!! Such a complex beer, and all the flavors blend very well. I agree with browniewithnuts that Oak Horizontal is fantastic too. Victory's barrel program has worked out very well so far. Bring on White Monkey next!
Had a bottle of Deviation last night. We had it on tap last year, and I thought it had dropped off big time--was turning into a kind of one-note lactic sour. The bottle we had last night was fantastic though.
Whole Foods had a bottle of Conflux #1 Collage on "sale" for $9.50 (better than $12), so I snagged an additional to drink that night. Holy hell, that stuff is awesome!
JP Madrugada Obscura. Had no idea what to expect from a funky stout. It turned out to be one of the best beer experiences of my life. Great beer.
Maine Beer Company Lil One. I had had Peeper and Zoe and thought they were solid but unremarkable. Lil One was a great complex beast of an ale, classified as an American Strong, but to me was in the vein of a DIPA. Great balance with a nod towards the hops, and this unique fruity sweetness that reminded me of watermelon that I can't remember ever tasting in a beer before (even Hell or High Watermelon!).
Jester King Gotlandsdricka. Heard nothing but terrible things about it from reviews but it's actually pretty good.
Stone Enjoy by 2.15.13 IPA. I had it side-by-side with a Hopslam and it killed it. It was an utterly perfect DIPA with a phenomenal balance of pine, grapefruit, and just enough malt to allow the sticky hops to coat your mouth. It might have been the best DIPA I have had this side of Heady Topper.
Southern Tier Un-Earthly. I expected just another IPA and I hadent fully read the lable on the bottle saying it was oak aged. That being said the amount of oak flavor and the bitterness of the hops were blended very well both flavors complementing eachother. In all I think I will have to buy it again!
Gift of The Magi and Troegenator. Had Gift of The Magi at LA and fell in love immediately. Randomly picked up a Troegenator while I was back East for the holidays - sweet malt bomb that I loved.
Actually I got a few bottles at Pinocchio's in Media, PA. If anything I'd classify this one as a beer I had high expectations for that didn't live up. Spring House Big Gruesome was pretty similar but better, had on tap at the same place. I'm a Reese's fanatic and found the latter to be a bit more sweetly satisfying, but really both were dryer and thinner than I'd hoped. For me, Willoughby Peanut Butter Cup Porter is the undisputed king of peanut butter beers.
