Alcohol

[ConcreteMascara]

Ah Talisker is one of the best!

[RG]

When I drink whiskey, it's usually Jameson.

Same here. I was on a hunting trip last fall and a friend pulled out a bottle of Jameson 18 year or 20 year or whatever. Great stuff.

Occasionally I'll get a bottle of scotch, but usually just Glenlivet. I've never spent more than $40-50 on a bottle.

[tisbor]

Been thinking about trying to sometime set up show as excuse to get myself to visit Islay.

Fuck, yes! Islay whiskies are among my favorites too. From the pictures i saw the island looks great as well. Of course i own a patch or two of Laphroaig ground somewhere..

I don't know shit about beer except that i like to drink it but lately i've been drinking these:
http://www.whitedogbeer.com/
made in Italy by an English couple. Really good.

[Nil By Mouth]

Ok, let's talk of some excellent italian beers.

The Ulula from Civale is directly from my city. It's an amber ale with american hops, great bitter tasting!



One of the best Porter that I drink. Brewed by the awarded Birrificio del Ducato



I drink this some days ago, need to try again but I like the fruity flavouring and the equilibrated taste Belgian/UK



Solid and concrete american style IPA from Brewfist

[Azoikum]

When I still was in "drinking biz" (having been sober now for almost 9 years)
I once had a shitload of these with a friend (I bet it was 12 cans each), sitting at
the weather deck on a ferry to Finland, enjoying the beautiful Finnish nature and us
getting drunk really quickly, me falling down the stairs on the ferry, later getting into
a fistfight with my friend to awake the next morning without any recollection of what
has happened the night before, each of us on a different deck....... :-) In these days
I wished that this wonderful booze would have been available in Germany, unfortunately
it wasn't......

[moozz]

That Koff IVB is actually the beer that made me avoid all stronger beers for a long time. That and Carlsberg Elephant. I thought strong beer means overpowering taste of alcohol. I'm glad I found Belgian beers that do not taste like a mix of regular lager and vodka.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Latest purchase:


Except smaller sample bottle. Says limited edition / small batch.
Consisting of single malts distilled at Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Bowmore, and the now defunct Port Ellen distillery.

I may say it combines many of the best elements of mentioned whiskys. Very very peaty, smoky, with some sweetness to it, some oiliness of caol ila. I would say that this is pretty much culmination of all things I like about Isley whisky. I'll look into finding bigger bottles before it runs out. Don't know if they even sell these in Finland.

One dealer says:

Winner of World Whisky Award 2010 for "Best Blended Malt Scotch Whisky"
BIG PEAT - "Vatted" Islay Malt
But what exactly, you may ask, is a Vatted Malt? It is what the Scotch Whisky industry has traditionally called "a marriage of Malts". Such vattings often form the heart and soul of a blended scotch whisky (which carries the lighter tasting grain whisky , to soften matters).
This vatting carries a big peaty (often called "phenolic"), beachy oceanic slightly ashy selection of Malts from the island of Islay, from where the Laing family hail - and no wonder! - as we have included Ardbeg, Bowmore, Caol Ila and Port Ellen in the "recipe". Ally these lusty and robust Malts selected for BIG PEAT with the fact that no chill filtration takes place – a more old fashioned traditional approach – and you will detect a massive amplification of the anticipated sea-faring qualities on the nose, palate, and finish. These are particularly appreciated when consumed leisurely in the same style these Malts have waited for you in the cold, dark and windswept warehouses of Islay.

[martialgodmask]

Waiting for payday to grab a new single malt as I'm all dried up right now. Might have a scout online for something interesting as supermarket prices and ranges are poor right now and the chances of me getting to a specialist shop anytime soon are slim.

[ConcreteMascara]

Tonight I'm going to a really good steakhouse for a Dogfish Head beer tasting/food pairing.

Beers on the list:
World Wide Stout - very dark, very heavy on the barley
Namaste - witbier
Festina Peche - peach sugar weissbier
Midas Touch - spiced beer
90 Minute IPA - one of my favorite IPAs
Paola Santo - ???

I've only had the 90 minute so it will be interesting to try the rest. Full report to follow.

[ConcreteMascara]

In regards to the beer tasting I previously mentioned, my memory is a little foggy but I'll do my best to recap.

World Wide Stout - very strong (18%) stout. Had this with a little mini lobster sandwich which was an odd combo but worked. Bit of a hint of oatmeal. Not too sweet and didn't taste nearly as strong as it was.

Namaste - a nice, mellow witbier. I used to love yeast heavy white ales but not so much now. But it was still refreshing on such a humid evening.

Festine Peche - peach flavored berliner weisse. Almost tasted like champagne. Not my thing really, and certainly not something you'd want to drink a lot of.

Midas Touch - a nice spiced ale. Very good with food. I think this was paired with crispy pork bellies...

90 Minute IPA - an excellent IPA that's spiced continually for 90 minutes when brewed. It maintains some sweetness due to this process so its 9% alcohol content isn't overwhelming. Dogfish Head make a very limited 120 Minute IPA that's even better but quite pricey.

Raison d'être - extra bonus on the list. Its heavy character reminds me of red wine. paired with steak. pretty damn tasty

Paolo Santo - I don't even remember this one. Feeling pretty buzzed after all the beers.

Biggest complaint - I thought I'd get a full glass of each beer but instead servers poured these tiny bullshit amounts and would do limited refills. Fucking lame for the price I paid for entry.

[Coma Detox]

In regards to the beer tasting I previously mentioned, my memory is a little foggy but I'll do my best to recap.

World Wide Stout - very strong (18%) stout. Had this with a little mini lobster sandwich which was an odd combo but worked. Bit of a hint of oatmeal. Not too sweet and didn't taste nearly as strong as it was.

Namaste - a nice, mellow witbier. I used to love yeast heavy white ales but not so much now. But it was still refreshing on such a humid evening.

Festine Peche - peach flavored berliner weisse. Almost tasted like champagne. Not my thing really, and certainly not something you'd want to drink a lot of.

Midas Touch - a nice spiced ale. Very good with food. I think this was paired with crispy pork bellies...

90 Minute IPA - an excellent IPA that's spiced continually for 90 minutes when brewed. It maintains some sweetness due to this process so its 9% alcohol content isn't overwhelming. Dogfish Head make a very limited 120 Minute IPA that's even better but quite pricey.

Raison d'être - extra bonus on the list. Its heavy character reminds me of red wine. paired with steak. pretty damn tasty

Paolo Santo - I don't even remember this one. Feeling pretty buzzed after all the beers.

Biggest complaint - I thought I'd get a full glass of each beer but instead servers poured these tiny bullshit amounts and would do limited refills. Fucking lame for the price I paid for entry.

Dogfish Head is always hit or miss with me.  I think Paolo Santo Marron is their best by far.  Burton Baton is another decent one.  The older the World Wide Stout the better.  I think I had a 2010 not that long ago and it still wasn't that great.  I thought the Festine Peche was terrible but  a lot of people like it because they probably never had a good Berliner Weiss like Professor Fritz Briem 1809.

[RyanWreck]

This looks fucking horrible...




A maple doughnut stout would be really good, just leave the meat out of it. And as I've said before, am I the only person who thinks bacon is just alright? I don't get why people think it's the most delicious thing in the world. It's good but nothing amazing, nothing to make "clever ironic" t-shirts about (just google bacon t-shirts), and entire cookbooks focused around. It's like the hipster of the meat world.

[Andrew McIntosh]

...am I the only person who thinks bacon is just alright?

No, you're not, but I suspect the bacon fetishising is more a US thing. Regardless, if it's getting to the point where beer needs to be bacon flavoured I also suspect it's the death of the fetish. Best tip - don't drink anything pink.

What are peoples' favourite cheap and nasty tipples? The grog that just gets the job done (getting fucking shit-faced)?

[martialgodmask]

...am I the only person who thinks bacon is just alright?

No, you're not, but I suspect the bacon fetishising is more a US thing.

I'd say it's quite a British thing too. I like it and eat quite a bit of it now I'm back on meat but primarily because it's dirt cheap.

What are peoples' favourite cheap and nasty tipples? The grog that just gets the job done (getting fucking shit-faced)?

Or Scotsmac - a British whisky and wine combo, about £3.30 a bottle.

[Andrew McIntosh]

I'd say it's quite a British thing too.

Ah yes, bacon sarnies. Introduced to me by a British friend, along with chip butties.

And that bottle of cider looks like Satan's own urine. Nice one!