Wine and Beer Enthusiasts

[Scepticalscribe]

I picked up the Sculpin. Decent enough. So salt and vinegar crisps... just garlicky ones. I skipped them.



Oh, I love that so much. Or when you become friends with the store owner and they give you a large discount when you buy by the case.

The discount is a sine qua non; I always get that. Both from my wine merchant and from my beer specialists.

What is more valuable are the tip-offs, the quiet recommendations, the 'if you like that, I'll put aside a case for you which you can pay for the next time you are home, and we'll drop it out to you then".

Or, a phone call - 'we found some Meursault in a dusty corner of the warehouse/cellar/storeroom - would you fancy it?"

That is what I call service.

 

[0388631]

The discount is a sine qua non; I always get that. Both from my wine merchant and from my beer specialists.

What is more valuable are the tip-offs, the quiet recommendations, the 'if you like that, I'll put aside a case for you which you can pay for the next time you are home, and we'll drop it out to you then".

Or, a phone call - 'we found some Meursault in a dusty corner of the warehouse/cellar/storeroom - would you fancy it?"

That is what I call service.

Have something similar to with a few places. Apparently my actions have annoyed other customers who were looking forward to their favorite bottle(s). One doesn't need the elixir in their life, but needs must.

Speaking of, I need to use up three crates of imported cava.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Have something similar to with a few places. Apparently my actions have annoyed other customers who were looking forward to their favorite bottle(s). One doesn't need the elixir in their life, but needs must.

Speaking of, I need to use up three crates of imported cava.

Well, both places have discounts for 'valued regular customers'.

And sometimes an extra bottle (of an excellent wine) will be tossed in a crate for free; last year, when I had an exhausting dental rebuilding of a collapsed tooth - subsequently I wandered into my wine merchant in search of something restorative in a state of cantankerous collapse; they took pity on me and gave me an exceptionally generous discount that day, recognising that I was truly miserable. You don't forget such gestures.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

A victory for the Grain tonight: I am sipping the splendid gooseberry sour beer Trolltunga from the Buxton brewery.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My second beer is from Crooked Stave: St Bretta Brettanomyces Citrus Wildbier.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

And my final beer of the night also hails from the Buxton stable: This is the splendid Ring Your Mother, based on a recipe almost two hundred years old, an imperial recipe which is described as "a brutally strong English mild ale." Delicious.

 

[rhett7660]

And my final beer of the night also hails from the Buxton stable: This is the splendid Ring Your Mother, based on a recipe almost two hundred years old, an imperial recipe which is described as "a brutally strong English mild ale." Delicious.

HAHAHA... that is funny. I really like English Ale's at least the ones that I have been able to get my hands on here in the states.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

HAHAHA... that is funny. I really like English Ale's at least the ones that I have been able to get my hands on here in the states.

Yes, I must say that I thought it very funny, as well.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

A beer from Hag & Hand: Apricot Brett Pale Ale Aged in French Oak Barrels.

 

[rhett7660]

A beer from Hag & Hand: Apricot Brett Pale Ale Aged in French Oak Barrels.

How was it, not a big fruit flavored beer guy, but being a pale ale and aged in French Oak Barrels it has me curious on the tasting notes.

Tried the following over the past weekend:

Harpoon Vanilla Bean Porter - Tap - was excellent and I am looking for it locally!
Orval Pale Ale - Tap - Yup pretty darn good.
Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout - Tap - Was pretty darn good. A step or two below some of the more well know KBS's!
Circus Boy Hefeweizen - Tap - Good.
Red Rocket Ale - Tap - Not too bad.
Rhode Island IPA - Tap - Clocked in at at 120 IBU's and boy could you taste em!
Rhode Island Coffee Milk Stout - Tap - Was pretty darn milky with just a hint of coffee. Tasty!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

How was it, not a big fruit flavored beer guy, but being a pale ale and aged in French Oak Barrels it has me curious on the tasting notes.

Tried the following over the past weekend:

Harpoon Vanilla Bean Porter - Tap - was excellent and I am looking for it locally!
Orval Pale Ale - Tap - Yup pretty darn good.
Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout - Tap - Was pretty darn good. A step or two below some of the more well know KBS's!
Circus Boy Hefeweizen - Tap - Good.
Red Rocket Ale - Tap - Not too bad.
Rhode Island IPA - Tap - Clocked in at at 120 IBU's and boy could you taste em!
Rhode Island Coffee Milk Stout - Tap - Was pretty darn milky with just a hint of coffee. Tasty!

It is very much a summer beer, surprisingly light (in taste, not alcohol content which is 6.66% abv), slightly sweet and acidic (as apricots - which I love so often are) and slightly sour and tart and refreshing.

 

[rhett7660]

It is very much a summer beer, surprisingly light (in taste, not alcohol content which is 6.66% abv), slightly sweet and acidic (as apricots - which I love so often are) and slightly sour and tart and refreshing.

Interesting. Thanks for the review/description.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Interesting. Thanks for the review/description.

Refreshing and tart, but not (by a long shot) my favourite fruit or sour beer.

 

[0388631]

Heatwave inbound. Off to go buy some beers. Preferably some sours. Wish me luck... unless Rhett's hit up every store in a thirty mile radius...

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Heatwave inbound. Off to go buy some beers. Preferably some sours. Wish me luck... unless Rhett's hit up every store in a thirty mile radius...

Sours should go well with a heatwave. Enjoy.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

A white French wine - a rather good white French wine - by the name of Condrieu, (well, actually Andre Perret from the Condrieu AOC); this wine is made from the Viognier grape and is quite exquisite.

 

[Gutwrench]

A lovely 2018 mango smoothie with Belvedere vodka. It has a clean and bright nose with a heady fragrant mango charge and a hint of fleshy mandarin. Burst of tropical fruit crosses the palate with a snap of zesty lime. A truly refreshing libation.

 

[0388631]

A lovely 2018 mango smoothie with Belvedere vodka. It has a clean and bright nose with a heady fragrant mango charge and a hint of fleshy mandarin. Burst of tropical fruit crosses the palate with a snap of zesty lime. A truly refreshing libation.

Did a whole meyer lemon, a quick shot of simple syrup, ice and vodka a few weeks back. Nice, balanced, and flavorful. I should note that it was from our large tree. I don't think store bought meyers are that flavorful and their skin won't be as edible. Vitamix in store demos tend to smoothie up (pretty sure that isn't the correct phrasing!) whole fruits, including citrus. Some bitterness, but mostly tasty, sweet and a little savory. No vodka, though.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

With dinner, we had a bottle of white wine from Burgundy, an exquisite Pouligny-Montrachet.

 

[Lioness~]

Well, it isn't alcohol. Have you ever seen something called kombucha in stores? Try it.

Ah, kombucha. I love this stuff. Granted, I've had several terrible---truly disgusting---incarnations, but I've found a few that are really quite tasty. In fact, there is an explicitly alcoholic "kombucha beer" that's brewed near where I went to school, and it's quite nice.

I’ve made own Kombucha fairly consistent ~15 latest yrs except that it have gone downhill the latest 2 yrs, so it didn’t taste so good. I didn’t took care of my scoby’s enough to produce the best good stuff.
Requires love
So I decided to start up fresh with new Scoby’s recently.
A few more weeks and I’ll have more of this delicious and healthy stuff to drink, again.
Very low alcohol content, even lower then cider. But a great boost for immune system.

 

[0388631]

I’ve made own Kombucha fairly consistent ~15 latest yrs except that it have gone downhill the latest 2 yrs, so it didn’t taste so good. I didn’t took care of my scoby’s enough to produce the best good stuff.
Requires love
So I decided to start up fresh with new Scoby’s recently.
A few more weeks and I’ll have more of this delicious and healthy stuff to drink, again.
Very low alcohol content, even lower then cider. But a great boost for immune system.

Never saw the point in raising one since I drink the stuff very infrequently. On the other hand, I've got a bottle of unfiltered apple vinegar with a nice scoby in it and I've used bits of it to vinegarize other stuff. I guess I got lucky.

Looks a bit like a jelly fish.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I’ve made own Kombucha fairly consistent ~15 latest yrs except that it have gone downhill the latest 2 yrs, so it didn’t taste so good. I didn’t took care of my scoby’s enough to produce the best good stuff.
Requires love
So I decided to start up fresh with new Scoby’s recently.
A few more weeks and I’ll have more of this delicious and healthy stuff to drink, again.
Very low alcohol content, even lower then cider. But a great boost for immune system.

Never saw the point in raising one since I drink the stuff very infrequently. On the other hand, I've got a bottle of unfiltered apple vinegar with a nice scoby in it and I've used bits of it to vinegarize other stuff. I guess I got lucky.

Looks a bit like a jelly fish.

For give my ignorance, but what on earth is a "Scoby"? This is not a term I have come across.

 

[0388631]

For give my ignorance, but what on earth is a "Scoby"? This is not a term I have come across.

It's like a pad of cultured bacteria that feed on sugars and churn out alcohol and acetic liquid (vinegar). Scobies are used to ferment sour beers. The more premium cost of a sour is a result of that, because it's very difficult to make a sour beer without actually spoiling it.

It doesn't have much of a flavor on its own. It's like a milky gelatin like substance that floats.

 

[Lioness~]

Never saw the point in raising one since I drink the stuff very infrequently. On the other hand, I've got a bottle of unfiltered apple vinegar with a nice scoby in it and I've used bits of it to vinegarize other stuff. I guess I got lucky.

Looks a bit like a jelly fish.

Yes, you have to take care of the kombucha to ripe the bigger benefits of it.
That’s why it went downhill for me, it requires some time.
But after a while with not much, I miss the pros of it so da*** much.
So now I’m willing to commit to the life of the jelly scoby’s-moms/babies again.
Yes, vinagar and kombucha are relatives.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

It's like a pad of cultured bacteria that feed on sugars and churn out alcohol and acetic liquid (vinegar). Scobies are used to ferment sour beers. The more premium cost of a sour is a result of that, because it's very difficult to make a sour beer without actually spoiling it.

It doesn't have much of a flavor on its own. It's like a milky gelatin like substance that floats.

Yes, you have to take care of the kombucha to ripe the bigger benefits of it.
That’s why it went downhill for me, it requires some time.
But after a while with not much, I miss the pros of it so da*** much.
So now I’m willing to commit to the life of the jelly scoby’s-moms/babies again.
Yes, vinagar and kombucha are relatives.

Thank you, @Zenithal and @Lioness~ for taking the time and trouble to furnish explanations; that is fascinating and much appreciated.

I have now opened a bottle of Palo Cortado (Monteagvdo Delgado Muleta) and am sipping a glass of same.