Random – Our New Background
Im sure some have you noticed the new background here at I Drink Good Beer. We shot this in my bedroom with the vast collection of bottles that have been piling up over the past few years. What better way to put them to use then to make a sweet background for the site. We found some things we didn't like about it so we are going to reshoot it in a few weeks so I figured I would share the whole picture with you in the mean time. Thanks to Greg Valinoti for the picture and Sarah McLaughlin for making the proper adjustments and making this picture work. Enjoy.
-Brian
Beer Notes – Highway 78
This is Stone's latest collaborative creation - Highway 78. Brewed in conjunction with Green Flash Brewing and Pizza Port Carlsbad, Highway 78 is a traditional Scotch Ale brewed to style - one from the opposite end of the spectrum for these hop loving brewers!
A- It pours dark amber with a reddish hue to it. I Don't know if it was my glass, but this pour left little head with no retention.
S- It smells delicious! Sweet and bready malts fill the nose with a slight hint of alcohol to it.
T - It tastes as good as it smells. Very malty with a slightly bitter backbone. It is drinkable but I wouldn't recommend slugging this back - definitely a sipper as it weighs in at 8% abv.
I'm not too familiar with the Scotch ale style - this may be third one I have tried but I do like it. The rating on beer advocate doesn't rank high, but you can't always believe the critics. This is one you will have to explore on your own.
-Brian
Mike’s Christmas Party and Beer
This past weekend my good friend Mike had a house warming/new job/beer tasting party.  Everyone was instructed to bring the good stuff (it didn't have to be seasonal so much as something of quality.) There was a good variety but heavily hopped beers ruled the evening. Offerings from Rogue, Stone, Chimay, Mikkeller and Brew Dog made appearances. The only thing that was missing was the sixtel of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale - and that's because the keg had the wrong cap on it. When it was tapped we knew we weren't tasting that Fresh Hop goodness but a familiar taste of a good old green cap.
The evening was started with one of Adam's home brews. Recently tapped, it is a single malt single hop Pale Ale brewed with cascade hops.
Fresh Hops anyone?
Yellow Snow IPA from Rogue was up next. We all have had a bunch of it lately and I am not going to dive into it because Jared will be making a post about it soon enough.
I have had all the Chimay's but never Grand Reserve. Thanks to who ever brought it, I would like to snag a bottle for a full review.
Dylan snagged a few bottles of Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Ale. Words cannot describe how much I love this beer.
We just couldn't wait to crack this Magnum of Mikkeller's Red and White Christmas Ale, so amazing! Going to grab another for this coming weekend. Full review soon.
We had the best Christmas music!
Punk IPA from Brew Dog, a decent IPA and very drinkable.
Rogue Santa's Private Reserve. I wasn't a big fan. Jared has a review coming for this as well.
I ended the night with another bottle of Mikkeller that my friend Chris had brought. If there is a beer the says Christmas, Santa's Little Helper is it! Sweet, spicy, hoppy - it has everything to warm you up on that chilly evening. Going to grab another bottle of this one as well.
That about does it for this post. Im sure we will have a few more beer gatherings this season so stay tuned. I leave you with this, A Heavy Metal Christmas from Twisted Sister.
-Brian
Stone 14th Anniversary Imperial IPA
This beer, like most beers from Stone, is larger than life. At 8.9% ABV and with a unique flavor that screams Stone, it's worthy of representing the brewery for their 14th Anniversary. Designed to be "consumed fresh or aged in the hull of a seafaring vessel for a year or more," it is definitely worth checking out if you are a pirate or avid IPA drinker. So I did both - I had one when it was first released back in June and another one a few nights ago.  Fresh, the 14th hits really hard with a very pungent citrus hop flavor, almost as if you are drinking straight orange rinds. When aged, the flavors in this beer really start to come together. It still has strong citrus flavors of spicy orange zest and grapefruit but has been thinned a bit by the white malts and special yeast to yield a full bodied and well balanced ale that seems to defy the tongue with every sip.
After about six months the 14th pours a very hazy light orange with a lot of head which dissipates fairly quickly. It has a sweet and spicy citrus aroma that smells like a bouquet of orange and grapefruit. As soon as this orange nectar hits your tongue you are assaulted with hops, from start to finish. The pungent hops are balanced by a sharp, sweet, lightly bready middle that finishes with a lingering bitterness which makes me immediately want more. I love the mouth-feel of Stone's beers, especially this one. It is full bodied with moderate carbonation that drops off quickly. At first all you can think about is how much hops are in this beer but after a third of a bottle you are unobtrusively reminded that you've been drinking an Imperial. Overall this is a very controversial beer for me. When I first cracked a bottle I needed to drink the entire thing before I could decide if I loved it or hated it. But after some age and love from my cellar this fiery Imperial has mellowed a bit into a unique and mature IPA that I've grown to love.
Event – Company Christmas Party
Last night I attended my company's Christmas party. They had an amazing cocktail hour, awesome dinner and the always present open bar. Although there was an absurd amount of macro beer and liquor being served which I thank Paul Miller for providing to his hard working employee's, my colleagues and I decided to bring the good stuff in lieu of the celebration.
The cocktail hour was spectacular, a nice spread of finger foods, raw bar, sushi and some really decent sliders.
For dinner, I went with the braised short rib and stuffed chicken combo, sounds good right? The meal was not substantial, the chicken was dry, beef was overdone and it was borderline cold. On the upside, I was treated to Peche Mortel from Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel. An Imperial Stout that weighs in at 9.5%abv it was quite the beer. Very sweet, very roasty with a bitter finish. I found it to be drinkable but if I drank the whole thing, I probably would have been "that guy" from the company christmas party. Thanks to Greg for bringing this brew out for the evening.
Say hi to Ron. I don't think he left the ice luge all evening, when I saw him in the morning he didn't remember where he parked his car.
There was a casino night at this years party. Â Some of the veterans of the company said they haven't had one since the late 80's. I squandered all my money on Roulette.
Wilford Brimley was at the party and despite what you think these were not his dates. It's not actually Wilford Brimley either, it's just Bill. All in all, it was a good party, food was mediocre and I am thankful that I brough my own brew.
-Brian
Cooking With Beer – Saison Du Buff
Ryan On Stone 14th
We have a new contributor here at IDGB, Ryan aka Ryan Devilhorns. He will sharing his trip to Stone 14th Anniversary party as well as other beer related events in California.  I snagged this post from his personal blog www.givemeshred.com Check him out!!
- Brian
For the most part, I like IPA’s, stouts and ales, and that is what I stick to.  Imperial IPA’s transcend all three for me and are my absolute favorite beer type.  After attending the 13th Anniversary party and getting my fair share of 13th Anniversary ale, I was thrilled to see that Stone was going Imperial IPA for 14th.
I had a chance to stop by Stone today on the way home, in the hopes that they’d have some 14th Anniversary for the early birds, and they didn’t disappoint.  I got a couple of bottles of 14th and a growler each of Self-Righteous Ale and some Smoked Porter.  The selection this week was pretty much just the normal selection; a little underwhelming, but with the anniversary party coming up, I figure they’re holding back some of the more rare brews.
I got home early, so I wasn’t going to wait; one was getting cracked tonight. After cooling for a bit, I got out my 13th Anniversary taster and  had my first sample of 14th.  The result: totally disappointed.  DFH 90-minute and Green Flash’s Imperial IPA offerings are straight up delicious, and this didn’t taste anything close to what I consider a good IIPA.  This tasted dangerously close to Sawyers Triple, of which I am no fan.  The taste is just too close to a Belgian / triple style beer for me.  The taste is definitively Stone, but this is not the taste I was expecting from the Stone version of an IIPA.
I’m actually saddened to see that Stone went a little overboard on this IPA.  It’s a good beer, but that’s about it; just good, not great like many other Stone offerings.
- Ryan
Links
- A Good Beer Blog
- Beard Life
- Beer Advocate
- Beer Review Dude
- Beertography
- Garden State Craft Brewers Guild
- Jarod DeAnda
- Jon Chase
- Knut Albert's Beer Blog
- Mohawk House Restaurant
- New Jersey Craft Beer
- Smuttynose
- Tandleman's Beer Blog
- The Barley Blog
- The Beer Snob
- The Homebrew Chef
- The Mad Fermentationist
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