Speaking of Porters

I don't know if Bell's beers (Kalamazoo Brewing Co.) make it there, but I like their porter. It's a little lighter in body and dark flavors than the Sierra Nevada, and has a pleasant toastiness to it.

Showed up here in the last week, and we're a secondary market. It's a good batch, drinkable from the get-go (last year it seemed a bit thinner with more alcohol presence, which I think took a few months to smooth out).

"Jesse" wrote in news:0T6Wb.4485$ snipped-for-privacy@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net:

Heavyweight Perkuno's Hammer Imperial Porter. A little different than you're used to (it's a Baltic porter instead of a standard porter), but dang tasty. I'm assuming you can also get Anchor Porter and Fuller's London Porter, or maybe Smuttynose?

Wild Goose Porter (if they're still alive), Md. Samuel Smith Taddy Porter, England

"Alexander D. Mitchell IV" wrote in news:vw8Wb.17$ snipped-for-privacy@news.abs.net:

Per my local beer store this weekend, they're dead and gone. A less than ideal source of official knowledge, but don't see any reason to doubt it.

The above 2 were my favorites. Haven't been able to find the Wild Goose, can't afford the Samuel Smith as a regular beer. I did just pick up the ingredients to brew a Samuel Smith clone. Hope to be kegging that in the next couple of weeks.

A porter I've neen enjoying is the Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter.

I liked the Presidential Porter (or whatever they're calling it- Geo. Washington on label) from Yards, but it's way too expensive ($13/sixpack) for a 'regularly purchase' beer.

The Isle of Jersey or New Jersey? I'm in New Jersey and bought mine about 2 weeks ago. (There's even a couple of six packs left in my case.) I'm in the Central part of the state, bought the case from Marketplace Liquors on Rt. 18 (behind the K-Mart, next to A&P) in East Brunswick. They had 16 cases IIRC.

The store has new owners and they are very interested in having the best selection of beer in the area- which they do, unless you consider Bridgewater in the same area, then they've got a ways to go. (Nope, don't work there, but I do shop there...)

Don't bet the farm on it. Negotiations are still underway and quite healthy. Look for an announcement around the end of the month.

Southern California must be tertiary, then. Still no sight of it at a couple stores that should have it last weekend.

-Steve

"Lew Bryson" wrote in news:UYcWb.8518$B% snipped-for-privacy@newssvr31.news.prodigy.com:

Good deal. While I'm not a huge fan of most of the beers they make, this year's Snow Goose was really, really beautiful stuff, and I traditionally look forward to it every year. Would be a shame to see that one vanish.

Ever had the stuff they brewed at Wild Goose? The later editions of that were beauties. And...I was just talking to a former WG brewer who's hankering to get a batch of yeast from a Ringwood-brewing friend of his and make a batch.

I'm in New Jersey, Belmar to be exact. There is a very large liquor store close by that has a great selection, and I was sure that if it could be had, they would have it. I was wrong! I'm going to start making phone calls. I sometimes think I'm living in Hootersville.

"Lew Bryson" wrote in news:HnrWb.33754$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com:

Dunno, when did WG stop making it themselves and Frederick took over? Had my first Snow Goose probably 3-4 years ago. FWIW, I thought this year's version was the best I'd ever had, had loads more toffee character, was just beautifully British in the maltiness. A brewer brought some to the Holiday Ale Tasting at the Brick in December, was surprised to see it and even more surprised at how much I enjoyed it. If Snow Goose is any barometer of their skills, WG/Frederick/whatever need to be able to get to a point where they're financially secure enough to do a few more stronger styles. Seems to me that's where they found excellence.

Hrmmm... I think the first non-WG Goose came out in 1996? That'd be before your time.

Don't bet on that happening. Snow Goose is gonna be about as big as they get. And their head brewer just left to go to Dogfish Head. Still, there's Wild Goose brewer DNA floating around out there, so SOMEthing will come together.

could have been '97 Lew. The last real Brimstone Strong Ale was '97.

Is that Andy Tveekrem, Lew? Cheers, Chuck C.

Which store is that? I stop by the liquor store near the Point Pleasant Bridge on 36 (next to the empty Shop Rite- the name may be something like "Jonathon Ron's") whenever I visit the in-law in PP- otherwise I'll have to drink Coors Light or Budweiser.

They have an impressive selection of Belgians and sometimes other imports, but they are poorly treated (stored in direct sunlight) and often old (not too bad in the case of Belgians...). I was always surprised, considering the amount of beers they carry, that the NEAREST brewery to them- Heavyweight- had almost NO shelf space- often they have NO Heavyweight beers at all. They have a big selection but it's quirky (same with the joint across the road- much smaller selection but every once in awhile they'll have something different)- I guess that part of selling beer at the shore, tho'. The A&P Liquors further down the road (next to the chain drug store) used to have a nice selection (altho', again, often mis-treated) but has progressively gotten more pedestrian in the last decade or so...

Second the motion will put money where my mouth is. I had a bottle of 1993 Snow Goose, cellar-aged, earlier this winter, from a GREEN bottle, and although not as alcoholic as what else I'm about to name, it was in the exact same league as Thomas Hardy's, Gale's Prize Old Ales, Fullers Vintage Ales, and J.W. Lees Harvest Vintage Ales. All the positive character and flavors, in a more drinkable, less stick-to-the-ribs format (for example, think of Young's Old Nick as a similar "barleywine lite" of similar strength--wait, weren't they both 6.8%?). Literally the best non-super-premium beer I had had in a decade or more--and this was a beer produced with NO aging aspirations whatsoever. Get someone with a Ringwood plant to save this beer even if it means we have to fill bottles from kegs in another location.

Hey, I think we just came up with another beer for Saxon/Phoenix to save from extinction............

Could be, Chuck. I'm trying desperately to deny how old I am.

Yup, starts at DFH March 1.