What beer are you drinking tonight? For the new forum...

Found another six-pack right under my nose. There's a little over-priced wine shoppe in my neighborhood's one-block, Bavarian-styled business district. I almost never go there, but we needed a bottle of red for our Friday night steaks, and I didn't want to run out to the huge retail place just for that, or even just two miles away to our decent local liquor store by University Avenue. The six-pack was just sitting there, on top of a stack of cases, indignant to be one of the last unsold Hopslams in MN. The saucy Fräulein at the cash register with Friday-night cleavage said the owner had been saving it for someone who never showed. She said she was glad it was going to a good home. It wasn't refrigerated, I hope it's not off. She had a pretty good, cheap wine rec in any case, I must say, one that was new to me: a Carménère from Chile.

BTW, I bought a SN IPA variety 12-pack. Only the Torpedo, one of my favorites, was drinkable. The other three types of IPAs were just other kinds of beer--a saison, a porter, maybe a wheat?--with extra hops in them. I guess I'm just a died-in-the-(Merino)wool IPA cat. Funny how awful it tasted when I first tried it 20 years ago.

If you are going to find your way to another 6 pack of hopslam, that is the way it should be done.

Haven't met a Chilean carmenere (not gonna do them fancy accents like you do) I didn't like. And I'm glad I don't have expensive wine tastes anymore.
 
Not sure exactly where you are, do you have Great Lakes beers commonly available? Its seasonal but one of my favorites is their Alchemy Hour Double IPA. I dont think its out yet but if I recall from last year it hit the shelves pretty soon. And their Lake Erie Monster Imperial IPA... think that one came out later towards end of spring/summer...

...Will look for the Lake Erie Monster Imperial IPA........there are some specialty shops around here that have big selection of micros from all over.

Funny later that day I mentioned the Great Lakes beers, my buddy sent me a pic message with Great Lakes Chillwave Double IPA he just had. Apparently it just hit the shelves around here. I think they might have just changed the name of the Alchemy Hour since they are both like identical even the same pic on the bottle lol. [edited: yeah looked it up they are the same but there was a conflict with the Alchemy Hour name] so its out... I recommend any hop lover to give it a shot. 9.4%, 80 IBU, 95% on beeradvocate, 99% on ratebeer.
 
Funny later that day I mentioned the Great Lakes beers, my buddy sent me a pic message with Great Lakes Chillwave Double IPA he just had. Apparently it just hit the shelves around here. I think they might have just changed the name of the Alchemy Hour since they are both like identical even the same pic on the bottle lol. [edited: yeah looked it up they are the same but there was a conflict with the Alchemy Hour name] so its out... I recommend any hop lover to give it a shot. 9.4%, 80 IBU, 95% on beeradvocate, 99% on ratebeer.

I'll ask around. Since it just came out, beerfinder showed no results near me, but maybe it hasn't gotten here yet.
Lots of locations here sell beers by them, though, so maybe.
Thanks for the the tip!
:D
 
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Yummy goodness that hits you like a sledgehammer.

I like that description lol!
thumbsup.gif
 
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Drinking Hop Valleys Alpa Centauri Imperial IPA this evening, wow. Just, wow. 100 IBU at 9% abv. Yummy goodness that hits you like a sledgehammer. Drink responsibly. :)

Drink responsibly...meaning,not leaving any bottles behind in the fridge :p:D
 
When you only have a 22 ouncer that's pretty easy to do! Boy, not sure what it was but that first pint walloped me. Either this is much stronger than the 9% on the label or I must have been on a seriously empty stomach.

if I have 1bottle on an empty stomach,I'm done:D gotta keep eating :)
 
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Funny later that day I mentioned the Great Lakes beers, my buddy sent me a pic message with Great Lakes Chillwave Double IPA he just had. Apparently it just hit the shelves around here. I think they might have just changed the name of the Alchemy Hour since they are both like identical even the same pic on the bottle lol. [edited: yeah looked it up they are the same but there was a conflict with the Alchemy Hour name] so its out... I recommend any hop lover to give it a shot. 9.4%, 80 IBU, 95% on beeradvocate, 99% on ratebeer.


My local shop just got it in today. WOW.
Really nice. Thanks for the recommendation. By far the best one I've had in a while.
 
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Glad you liked it! I actually just picked a couple 4 packs up a few days ago and had my first one last night... Just how I remembered it, great! love the aroma too.

I have no skill at describing these things, but it was very pleasing start to finish. Nice aroma, citrusy, not too heavy or light, and my favorite was the finish. As a newcomer to hops, sometimes I get this unripened banana/acrid feeling at the finish. The chillwave finished with just enough sweetness, just enough bitters, just enough floral.
I'm not sure what it would pair well with food wise, but on its own, it was delightful.
 
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Funny later that day I mentioned the Great Lakes beers, my buddy sent me a pic message with Great Lakes Chillwave Double IPA he just had. Apparently it just hit the shelves around here. I think they might have just changed the name of the Alchemy Hour since they are both like identical even the same pic on the bottle lol. [edited: yeah looked it up they are the same but there was a conflict with the Alchemy Hour name] so its out... I recommend any hop lover to give it a shot. 9.4%, 80 IBU, 95% on beeradvocate, 99% on ratebeer.
Wow, Chillwave is just as good as the Hopslam, maybe even better cuz it's a touch less sweet. The honey in the Hopslam can get to be too much sometimes. A big new retailer Total Wine opened up its first store in Minnesota just a few minutes from my son's daycare, and I found the Chillwave there. I'll go back when I have more time and see if some of the other recs you guys have for IPAs are available. They have more selection than I've seen anywhere else close by, and the prices are great. Unfortunately there's a mom and pop place just up the street that's totally screwed now. But I never went there. They had great customer service, and would even special order this one Italian wine my mom used to like, but the prices are horrendous.