It begins with Belgian Trappist Ale:

"There are seven Trappist breweries in the world, 6 in Belgium - they are Westmalle, Westvleteren, Chimay, Rochefort, Orval and Achel. No other Belgian breweries are entitled by law to apply that name to their product.

Between these abbeys about 20 beers are brewed. All are top-fermenting, relatively to very strong, bottle conditioned ales.

Orval is the oldest of the brewing monasteries, founded in the 11th century by Benedictine monks. Interruptions to the monastic way of life (the French Revolution and the Napoleonic period) caused a religious exodus from France and the establishment of several Belgian abbeys in addition to those that already existed. Several of these abbeys typically began producing beer for internal use, then expanded to commercial production, selling first locally before making their beer available on a larger scale.

The term "trappist" fell into use in the years between WWI and WWII, popularized by Chimay (1850). It was there that Father Theodore and the famed brewing scientist Jean De Clerck developed much of the brewing theory that makes Trappist beers what they are.

ORVAL:The Notre-Dame d'Orval has a long history of distruction and reconstruction. The single beer they produce is probably the driest of the Trappist ales. They began brewing prior to the French Revolution, but that conflict was among the distructive events of the monestary's history.

CHIMAY: The most commercial of the Trappist brewing entities, this monestary has a history of taking beer production very seriously. After World War II the legendary brewing scientist Jean De Clerck was a major factor in re-establishing the brewery. Their 3 beers are available in a variety of sizes, including magnum bottles of Grand Reserve.

WESTMALLE:The orginator of the widely imitated triple style. The abbeys full name id Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Founded in 1794 it began making beer in the early 19th century. Beer production became commercial in 1920.

WESTVLETEREN:The smallest producer of the brewing abbeys. Their beer is very expensive cause it you want it you have to go there - they don't ship! This is a rare example of a beer with both Trappist and abbey affiliations. St. Bernardus - formerly know as St. Sixtus - is made by a secular brewer under the licsence of the Abbey of St. Sixtus in the town of Westvleteren. Confusingly, the abbey of St. Sixtus makes the Westvleteren ales in a Trappist capacity, but not St. Sixtus ales!

ROCHEFORT:Actually known as Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy (located neat the southern town of Rochefort), this monestary began brewing in 1595 - that's quite a heritage! Their 3 beers are ale dark and fairly sweet ales.

ACHEL:This newest Trappist brewery resembles a brewpub. It has a cafeteria line where you get your food and beer and tables both inside and on the outdoor patio. Father Thomas of Westmalle started the brewery, the current brewer is Brother Jules. When Achel first became available the general buzz was that it was clearly the inferior Trappist ale. But it did not take long for that to change, favor for this one has been steadily increasing. Now-a-days there is no shortage of praise for Achel. It took even God more than one day to get it all right!"

http://www.belgianstyle.com/mmguide/style/abbey.html

Portland's most-demanding brewery:

"Hair of the Dog Brewing Co. is dedicated to providing the beer lover with new and unusual beer styles. Several of our beers are bottle-conditioned or refermented in the bottle resulting in beers which impreove with age.

Beers that are bottle-conditioned have a built-in shelf life. They can be stored at room temperature (50--74 degrees F) and will continue to mature in the bottle for several years like a fine wine.

We make only a small amount of beer and each bottle has a unique bottling number. This number changes every 5000 bottles, or 200 cases.

Ruth is a light and refreshing American Ale, made with pale malt and crystal hops. She was inspired by my Mother's Mother, Granny Ruth because of her love and support. Don't be Ruthless. Have one on Granny.

Adam is a recreation of a historic beerstyle. Originally made in Dortmunder, Germany, it was the first beer I produced when I opened Hair of the Dog. Rich in flavor, Adam is best served as a dessert beer. It is great with chocolate or cigars, or just a warm fire and good company. It has 10% alcohol by volume and 50 IBUs. e

Rose is named for Portland, Oregon, the Rose City. She is inspired by the Belgian style known as Tripple. Rose is low in hops, pale in color and deceivingly light in body for its alcohol strength. Through the use of Belgian candi sugar and honey malts this beer achieves a fruity or floral character. It has 8% alcohol by volume and 17 IBUs.

Fred was created to honor beer writer and historian Fred Eckhardt. Fred is a big inspiration for me and many other brewers. Fred's work in all-grain brewing and beer styles helped me become a better brewer. Fred the beer is a deep golden color. It is made with aromatic and rye malts and includes 10 different hop varieties in an effort to incorporate the whole world into this beer. It has 10% alcohol by volume and 65 IBUs. We hope that Fred will inspire you to share your knowledge with others as Fred has with us.

Doggie Claws Doggie Claws is a Barley Wine made in the West Coast style. Big malt and hops make this copper colored ale one of our most popular products. Produced in September and October and released in November, this Beer will improve for years to come. Alcohol: 11.5% by volume. IBU's 70"

http://www.hairofthedog.com/beers.html

Anchor Steam, the "Grandfather" influence in the American craft brew renaissance, and always consistent in taste and quality:

" Anchor's beers are produced in one of the most traditional and handsome breweries anywhere in the world.

Our brewers employ no modern shortcuts. Each brew is virtually handmade with Early Tap Handlean all-malt mash in our handmade copper brewhouse, a veritable museum of the simple, traditional brewhouses of old. We strive to practice the art of classical brewing, and we employ state-of-the-art methods to ensure that our products are clean and clear, pure and fresh.

Every bottle and keg of our precious beer is kept under refrigeration at the brewery, and at the warehouse of your local distributor. We know of no brewery in the world that matches our efforts to combine traditional, natural brewing methods with the most careful and modern methods of sanitation, finishing, packaging, and transporting."

http://www.anchorbrewing.com/index.htm

Anchor Porter has been a go-to beer of mine for the past decade...

Rogue Brewery, the prettiest silk screened 22-oz bottles you'll ever see...and drink...

http://www.rogue.com/brews.html#amber

" Rogue’s Shakespeare Stout received a 99, the highest score of the 309 beers in 44 categories at the 1994 World Beer Championships. The June/July 1998 issue of Men’s Journal included Rogue Ales Shakespeare Stout as one of "The 100 Best Things to Eat in America."Based on Stuart Kallen’s book, "The 50 Best Beers in the World", Shakespeare Stout was ranked the third best beer in the world and best American Beer--which makes it the World’s Best Stout!"

Belgian beers are delicious, but you must drink them over there, or order them directly. They are stronger and heartier than anything you'll find in this country.

Samuel Smith, brewers of perhaps my favorite beer, Oatmeal Stout:

"The Old Brewery at Tadcaster was founded in 1758 and is Yorkshire’s oldest brewery. Samuel Smith is one of the few remaining independent breweries in England, and further is the last to utilize the classic Yorkshire Square system of fermentation solely in stone squares.

The rich Samuel Smith strain of yeast at The Old Brewery dates from the early 1900s. Hops are hand-weighed by the master hop blender, and the brewing water is drawn from a well sunk over 200 years ago.

First introduced to the U.S. market in 1978 by Merchant du Vin, Samuel Smith beers quickly became the benchmark ales for the emerging craft beer movement. To this day, they remain among the most awarded.

***

Tadcaster is a market town dating back many hundreds of years. During the Roman period, its quarries supplied stone for the great military fortress at York. Today, ale is its principal export, brewed by three nationally famous local companies in a centuries old tradition. Samuel Smith is much the smallest of these breweries and alone retains its copper vessels, wooden casks and stone Yorkshire squares. Samuel Smith keeps grey Shire horses stabled at the brewery for local beer deliveries. Next to the brewery are the offices, the Little Delicatessen (selling the full range of Samuel Smith's bottled beers) and the Angel and White Horse inn."

http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/5_breweries/samsmith.html

This is interesting:

"Abyss Release Date

I just received word from my Deschutes rep that the "Official Release" date for the new batch of The Abyss will be January 14, 2008, and not in December as previously reported. Not surprisingly, I've been told to expect a price increase as well. No word yet on how much of an increase, but I wouldn't be shocked to see it retailing for closer to $10 per bottle this year. Even at that price it's an amazing value for one of the world's best Imperial Stouts."

San Diego's (?!?) Stone Brewery is producing some tasty brews that are receiving high scores from the "Beer Blogs":

http://www.stonebrew.com/beers/

Stay away from clear/green bottles!:

"When your beer really stinks

Dec. 21, 2000

Few beer tasting terms are more descriptive or straightforward than "skunky." Quite simply, a skunky beer emits an aroma it didn't have when it left the brewery.

The smell is the product of the chemical reaction that takes place in the bottle when bright light strikes the hops, creating what's technically known as "light struck" beer. The reaction is stronger with paler and hoppier beers. The resulting chemical is identical to that in a skunk's defense system, and light-struck beer puts off one of the most powerful aromas around.

Green and clear bottles do little to protect a beer from skunking, and while dark brown bottles are much better they are far from perfect. Because many of the best known imports come in clear or green bottles consumers have come to associate a skunky aroma with imported, often more expensive beer. That doesn't mean their brewers intended them to taste that way.

The brighter the light and the longer bottles sit in that light the stronger the skunky smell will be. Even dark brown bottles won't guard a beer from the bright fluorescent lights popular in grocery stores and many other beer retail outlets for very long.

You don't have to settle for that beer. In some stores you'll see six-packs sitting on tops of cases. Don't grab that one, but get your beer from inside the case. A sealed case is even better. If you want beer from the cooler don't be shy about asking if there are unopened cases in the cooler and buying a six-pack from one of those.

Buying beer that has been kept out of the light gives you a better chance of getting a "skunk free" beer. It's up to you to keep it that way -- mostly by continuing to keep it out of direct light -- until you drink it."

where does natty ice rank among the world's best beers?

I'll take my chances with clear and green bottles, thanks. I associate brown bottles with Grizzly, Red Baron and Around Ontario; the source of my worst high school hangovers.

Mill Street Organic Lager is the best beer I have ever tasted. It's brewed in small batches in Toronto and delivers the freshest, crispest taste you'll find. Two negatives: $10+ for a six pack, and the bottles are a frustrating 215ml, as opposed to the regular 340ml. If you can find it buy lots of the little tiddlers and enjoy.

where are the world travelers in this group

i nominate tusker lager with the great recyclable bottles

If you've invested in hop futures (if there is such a thing), you're quite rich:

"Microbreweries kicked by price of key ingredient in beer

December 1, 2007
BY LONG HWA-SHU hlong@scn1.com

Beer drinkers won't drink to it, but they'll drink it anyway.

Beer prices are going up because of a severe shortage of hops, the vines that produce the tiny, flavorful cones used in beer making.

Hop cones or flowers, harvested from vines (humulus lupulus), contain oils and resins that provide bitterness and flavor in beer. Hops are also a natural preservative.Some breweries use only one variety of hop, and must stick to that variety to maintain consistent taste.

In the past six months, the price of hops has gone up from $5 a pound to as much as $30 a pound, said Arthur Steinhoff, brewmaster at Flatlander's Restaurant and Brewery in Lincolnshire.

The shortage was caused by weather, increasing demand and conversion of hop growing to other crops like corn, the demand for which in ethanol is soaring and therefore commanding a higher price.

The hop shortage affects the smaller breweries, particularly microbreweries because the biggies have more buying power and exclusive hops supply contracts.

***

"Some of the hop farmers in the Pacific Northwest have been out of hop growing and switched to orchards," said Browne, a transplanted Australian.

Hops are grown in America, principally in Washington State. They used to be grown on the East Coast, particularly in New York, until diseases decimated the crops. Hop farming then moved west.

World demand for hops is rising, especially in China, where more people are drinking beer.

"The weather has affected hop harvests in Europe and the United Kingdom," Browne said.""

i found this on www.funnyordie.com


"Redneck Beer Commercial"
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/33442c9ad4

"This beer is so cheap it's even served during Yom Kippur"

my favorite line was the one about "... girls who drink my beer are more likely to allow double penetration" or whatever

Spent $14 on a 25.4 oz bottle of this to continue my exploration of Belgian Trappist ales. At 9.5%, driving is not recommended.

It's better than Chimey and Westmalle, but not as good as Orval...

14 whole dollars? was this your sixth day of hannukah gift, I mean if not slow down there champ you dont want to throw off the mean gdp with these outlandish purchases, think of the country PL
EASE

PlEASE GUNKER

"Ancient beer pots point to origins of chocolate

Chocolate was first produced by the ancients as a by-product of beer, suggests a new archaeological study. And evidence from drinking vessels left by the Mesoamericans who developed chocolate suggests that the source of chocolate, cacao, was first used 500 years earlier than thought.

Mesoamericans – who flourished in central America before it was colonised by the Spanish – developed chocolate as a by-product of fermenting cacao fruit to make a beer-like drink called chicha still brewed by South American tribal people.

***

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0708815104)"

After much drinking and deliberation during 2008, I've deleted two beer styles because I've never enjoyed them:

Chimay is awesome. How can you not like NewCastle?

Newcastle is weak and flavorless. It comes in a clear bottle, allowing for light damage.

Newcastle Brown Ale rules! At least, it did, when I drank it. If you keep it in the dark, no light damge occurs. And you should drink it fast.

It does rot your intestines, I admit that much.

I miss those Belgian lambic beers and the old trappist beers, and chimay, and corsedonk (sic).

It's fresh hop beer season; act fast!

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06237/716358-34.stm

"But for a few months in the fall, brewers stop worrying about more hops and focus instead on fresh hops. When first plucked from its stalk, a hop flower is green and about 60 percent water by weight. For brewing purposes, hops are usually dried and refrigerated, or made into pellets that resemble rabbit food. Wet-hop beers use flowers that have been picked just hours before, so they still possess the volatile flavors that are lost during processing. Brewers compare beer made with these moist hops to a meal cooked with just-picked herbs -- entirely unlike one made with dried oregano and parsley from the back of the pantry."

Rosh HaShanah, I'll be drinking grape juice only.

Brooklyn Returns to a Heady Time

BROOKLYN produced one-fifth of the nation’s beer as recently as 1960. By 1976, when Rheingold and Schaefer shuttered their Brooklyn plants, the number of local breweries dropped to zero.

Now the hops are stirring in Brooklyn once again.

Sixpoint Craft Ales, which has been brewing an increasingly popular range of beers in a small brew house in Red Hook for four years, just bought a bottling line and a brewing system that will let it increase production tenfold — to about 60,000 barrels a year.

They’re hoping to close a deal on a property in Williamsburg to install their new equipment soon.

“I don’t think we’ll have any trouble selling every drop we make,” said Shane C. Welch, president and founder of Sixpoint.


Full Article

Sixpoint is a good name for a beer.

Pint o'Sixpoint, please. It rolls nicely...

Just enjoyed the latest in Lagunita's Frank Zappa series, "We're Only In it For The Money." They release a different beer every couple months based on one of Zappa's albums.

Its a very solid Belgian Style Triple. Was kind of mediocre when I took it out of the fridge, but once it warmed up a bit it got very amazing and smooth for 8%. Their last one was "Lumpy Gravy" and was pretty fucking good too.

The bottle's worth saving. Nice artwork.

Let me know what they do for Thing-Fish.

Brooklyn Brewery, makers of Brooklyn Lager, started in Williamburg, Bklyn. Last I heard they still were making some product there and I think they even have "tastings" from time to time.

"The Abyss on sale Tuesday evening at Belmont Station

Posted by John Foyston, The Oregonian November 18, 2008 12:47PM

This year's Abyss is here and will go on sale 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, Belmont Station, 4500 S.E. Stark St..

We were allotted only a small amount so we have to impose a limit of 2 bottles per person. This gives us enough to satisfy about 160 people so we expect anybody who drops by tonight will get a couple. If we have any remaining Thursday morning we will drop the limit. You are the first to know because you are on this email list."

Got one, but don't know if the occasion will ever be "special" enough to drink it.

Beer Advocate's #5 beer of all time.

A perfect 100 at Rate Beer.

11% alcohol content.

Review:

"A - The glass mimics the event horizon of a black hole. Tall deep tan head that dissipates surprisingly quickly. Minimal lacing. Almost like cappuccino or hot chocolate.

S - Roasted Malts, Hops, Chocolate and Coffee. There is very little sign of that burnt aroma that characterizes so many imperial stouts.

T - More bitter than expected (a pleasant surprise) and the alcohol flavor is integrated well in the overall flavor of the beer. Dare I say that I was wanting something a little more harsh? Roasted malts are standing tall, with chocolate and coffee battling it out for the remaining space on the taste buds. This is one tasty beverage.

M - This is probably the smoothest, silkiest, and pleasant mouthfeels I have had. I didn't really know what the term "silky" meant when describing consistency until I had this beer. I gave this a perfect as it is the best I have had, but a little more carbonation would make this off the charts in my opinion.

D - Forever....seriously!

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-22-2008 06:29:43"