Beerventory

After a rather crazed Labor Day weekend (wherein the Cha Cha Hut made its official commercial debut), we decided to journey to Oliver’s Discount Beverage in Albany to restock a quickly dwindling cellar. I once stated the selection here is much smaller than Half Time in Poughkeepsie, but what is there is truly amazing. I always find a ton of interesting new brews when dropping into Oliver’s So much so, I can’t remember the last time we made the trip to Half Time. Plus – the Oliver’s staff seem to be really excited to be selling something other than the endless stream of BMC we see going out the door.

Bombers
Southern Tier Imperial Pumking Ale
Southern Tier Imperial Mokah (chocolate & coffee stout)
Southern Tier Imperial Cherry Saison
Southern Tier Imperial Heavy Weizen
Dogfish Head Fort (brewed with pureed raspberries)
The Bruery Black Orchard
Brown’s Whiskey Barrel Aged Porter
He’Brew Rejewvenator Harvest Ale
Avery Fifteen Anniversary Ale
Avery Collaboration Not Litigation Ale
Red Hook DB Double Black Stout with Coffee

40 oz.
People’s Pint Tap & Die Malt Liquor

6 Pack
Wolaver’s Certified Organic Will Stevens’ Pumpkin Ale
Brown’s Oatmeal Stout
Sierra Nevada Kellerweis
Atwater Block Brewery Vanilla Java Porter
Boulder Beer Mojo IPA

I’m calling this the “Western Mass. Edition” due to a weekend OAB roadtrip to the I-91 corridor of Massachusetts. We decided we needed to get out of town for the weekend and decided to use the beer map in Yankee Brew News as our guide. There are many upcoming articles about the trip, but I decided to kick things off with a beerventory update that is now decidedly Massachusetts heavy.

As we were staying in the Northampton area, we THOUGHT we would do the beer run at Spirit Haus in Amherst on our way out. No such luck. We’ve see great reviews for this place, but the selection on a Sunday morning pretty much sucked. Perhaps we missed something other than the weak selection of bombers and 6/12 packs on the floor near the register. Perhaps it had been a heavy Saturday night – though to me most of the shelves looked stocked.

Thankfully, we had gone to Greenfield, MA on Saturday and looked around in Ryan and Casey Liquors. So after the Spirit Haus disappointment, we hit the highway, headed up to Greenfield and stocked up before heading back to OAB HQ. Looking forward to the coming weeks and drinking these. (Also looking forward to another beer run to Massachusetts.

Bombers
Berkshire Brewing Hefeweizen Ale
Berkshire Brewing Coffeehouse Porter
People’s Pint Pied pIPA
People’s Pint shWheat Ale
People’s Pint Natural Blonde
High & Mighty Two-Headed Beast Chocolate Stout
High & Mighty St. Hubbins Abbey
High & Mighty Purity Of Essence Lager
High & Mighty Beer of the Gods
Pretty Things Baby Tree Quad with Dried Plums
Pretty Things St. Botoisph’s Town Rustic Dark Ale
McNeill’s Ruby Ale
Southern Tier Mokah Stout
Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Amber Ale
Arcadia Ales Cocoa Loco
Arcadia Ales Cereal Killer
Southern Tier Jah-Va Imperial Coffee Stout
Ommegang Biere de Mars
Flying Dog Wild Dog Weizenbock

40 oz.
People’s Pint Tap & Die Malt Liquor

12 Pack
Opa Opa Sampler featuring Opa Opa Light, Red Rock Amber Ale and Opa Opa IPA

6 packs : cans
21st Amendment Brew Free! or Die IPA
21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon Wheat

6 packs : bottle
Saranac Summer Brew

I haven’t really done much of a restock lately to the cellar. We’ve been a bit too busy around OAB HQ drinking various foamybeers – our own line of brews. A recent trip to pick up more brewing supplies lead us to drop by Oliver’s discount Beverage in Albany. so, the latest beerventory…

Growlers
Cave Mountain Hefeweizen (bought at the brewery on $8 browler Sundays)

6 packs
Widmer Drop Top Amber Ale
Widmer Drifter Pale Ale
Saranac Summer Brew
Wolaver Ben Gleason’s White Ale
Sherwood forest Friar’s Belgian White ale
Boulder Brewing Hazed & Infused
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

12 Pack
Smutty Nose Sampler featuring Shoals Pale Ale, Old Brown Dog, IPA and Robust Porter

Bombers
Long Trail Brewmasters Series Double IPA
Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Amber Ale
Arcadia Ales Cocoa Loco
Arcadia Ales Cereal Killer
Southern Tier Jah-Va Imperial Coffee Stout
Southern Tier Iniquity Black Ale
Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog Ale
Smuttynose Gravitation Belgian Quad
Ommegang Biere de Mars
He’Brew Jewbelation 12
Elysian Bifrost Winter Ale
Flying Dog Wild Dog Weizenbock

After a recent sweltering Sunday in New Paltz, NY chilling at the Gilded Otter (great beer – bad website) with The Beer Wench (as much fun to drink with as she is on Twitter) and some other fine folks, we swung by K & E Discount Beverage to do a little stock up since we were in the area.

Bombers
Brooklyn Brewery Local No. 2
Great Divide Hercules Double IPA
Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale
Rock Art Brewery Ridge Runner Barley Wine
Elysian Bifrost Winter Ale
The Bruery Orchard White
Troegs Flying Mouflan

Six packs
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
Sherwood Forest Friar’s Belgian-style White Ale

Promo bottle (yes! free beer!)
Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout

We bought the Troegs Flying Mouflan in order to cellar two more. We already had one in the cellar. Troegs claims this ages nicely – turning into a whole new beer. We’re looking forward to seeing if that is true. I am also a bit curious about the anniversary Guinness. It is not out yet, but – when I asked about it – the clerk gave me a free bottle from a promo pack. Given some of the press – and being a huge traditional Guinness fan – I’m a bit dubious about this one. Claims of it being “fizzier…maltier…made for the U.S. market” makes me think “Guinness dumbed down” but the 5% ABV (up from the 4.2 ABV of traditional Guinness) is intriguing. Then again – at $10/six pack – I’m betting this promo bottle is all I’ll have of the anniversary Guinness.

A recent client meeting meant a trip to New Paltz, NY and a return visit to K & E Discount Beverage. Our mission was to add a few more bombers to the cellar and begin the transition to ale drinking season. I did end up buying one six pack.

Six pack
Troegs Hop Back Amber Ale

Bombers
Troegs Flying Mouflan
Wells Banana Bread Beer
Avery Ale To The Chief
Docs Draft Black Currant Hard Cider
Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog Ale
Smuttynose Wheat Wine Ale
Smuttynose Gravitation Ale
He’Brew Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A.
Long Trail Brewmaster Series Coffee Stout

A run into downtown Roxbury for some chips to accompany some grilled chicken added another – and quite unexpected – six pack to the cellar. (Trust me – Roxbury is not known for any store having a fine selection of craft beer…)

Six pack bought locally
Hook & Ladder Backdraft Brown Ale
(very surprised to see this in our local convenience store)

Headed over to New Paltz, NY last weekend to do a little research for a new business and drop by the Gilded Otter Brewing Company (another in the truly dreadful brewery website category). We started out at Taco Shack for lunch (part of our research) and noticed K & E Discount Beverage next door. More to the point, we noticed the sign touting their growler fill selection.

We ventured in to find a nice assortment of craft brews scattered about a fairly disorganized store. Ended up getting several bombers because of the great pricing. Certainly some place we’ll return to when in the area.

Bombers
Southampton Pumpkin Ale
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid
Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout
Green Flash Double Stout
He’Brew Jewbelation Eleven
Boulder Beer Obovoid Empirical Stout

Sampler 12 Pack
Saranac “What Ales You?” sampler featuring Pomegranate Wheat, India Pale Ale, Pale Ale, Brown Ale, Irish Red Ale and Stout

A recent trip to NYC for taxes prep and some serious craft beer crinking (more on that later) offered the opportunity to stop by Half Time in Poughkeepsie (the Ohabeer craft temple) to re-stock the cellar. We decided to focus on bombers and large bottles with a couple of growlers for this trip. Just an experiment to see if we prefer splitting a large bottle or having multiple six packs.

Growlers
Troeg’s Nugget Nectar
Lagunitas Harry Eyeball
Cave Mountain Nut Brown Ale
Cave Mountain Spiced Winter Ale
Cave Mountain Java Cream Ale

12oz bottles
Left Hand Milk Stout
Goose Island Oatmeal Stout
Southern Tier Phin + Matt’s Extraordinary Ale
Ithaca CascaZilla Red Ale
Dogfish Head Midas Touch

Large Bottles
Brooklyn Black Ops
Two Brothers Red Eye Coffee Porter
Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout
Dogfish Head Red + White
Harpoon Catamount Maple Wheat (session 26)
Shmaltz Coney Island Albino Python White Lager with Spices
Shmaltz Coney Island Human Blockhead Lager
Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout

Looking forward to all of these – or I would not have bought them – but the Brooklyn Black Ops, Dogfish Head Midas Touch and Dogfish Head Red + White are especially anticipated. Hope them live up to their reputations.

While out running errands (and picking up the supplies to start home brewing), I decided to stop and add some new beers to the cellar. Tommy at Keegan Ales recommended I try E & S Discount Beverage (906 Route 28 in Kingston NY, 845.339.7164). I was a bit surprised as I had passed this place many times traveling from Ohabeer HQ to Kingston and always thought it one the many generic beer stores in the Catskills.

Well, I was quite wrong and very pleasantly surprised. A very heathly selection of craft beers, a knowledgeable counter guy and – much to my extreme delight – four bottles of the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 2008. Spent about half and hour wandering around and ended up getting:

New to the cellar
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 2008 [4 120z bottles/13%]
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron [4 12oz bottles/12%] : brown ale aged on palo santo wood
Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager [6 12oz bottles/5.5%]
Victory Storm King Imperial Stout [6 12oz bottles/9.1%]
He’Brew Messiah Bold Dark Brown Ale [6 12oz bottles/5.6%]
Ipswich Oatmeal Stout [6 12oz bottles/7%]
Stone Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout [22oz bottle/9.2%]
Weyerbacher Heresy Imperial Stout [22oz bottle/8%] : aged in oak barrels

I’m really looking forward to all of these. Some very interesting looking beers here. I’m taking two of the Goose Islands and adding them to the one I have saved off to cellar three for next year. Reviews coming sometime…

A recent trip to Albany took me to Oliver’s Beverage Center. Oliver’s does not carry nearly the range of brews as Half Time (yes – I’m a bit obsessed with them) and shopping at Oliver’s is akin to hitting the warehouse, but they do have the best selection of craft brews in the Capitol region.

So, while I have not had a chance to do a full beerventory, here’s a list of the new items bought at Oliver’s:

Wolaver’s Will Steven’s Certified Organic Pumpkin Ale (VT)
Otter Creek Raspberry Brown Winter Ale (VT)
Rogue Dead Guy Ale (OR)
Rogue Double Dead Guy 2008
Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve
Rogue Yellow Snow IPA
He’Brew Origin Pomegranate Ale
Flying Dog Wild Dog Weizenbock Ale
Flying Dog Wild Dog Open Source Collaborator Dopplebock

While doing a bit of warehouse club shopping, I snagged this at BJ’s Club:

10 pack of Ommegang featuring 2 bottles each of:
Three Philosophers
Hennepin
Abbey Ale
Rare Vos
Witte

I’m quite familiar with all of the Ommegang’s and the Wolaver’s Pumpkin, but the rest will be first time drinks.

I’m a bit late on this. Got too busy around the holidays. We actually restocked the celler for NYE and made the trip to the Half Time in Poughkeepsie (the temple of craft beer in upstate NY).

Here’s what was in the Oh…a beer cellar over the holidays:

GROWLERS
Cave Mountain Nut Brown Ale
Cave Mountain Spiced Winter Ale

SPECIALS
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 2008 [12oz/13%]
Fort Collins Double Chocolate Stout [650ml/8.1%]
Cisco Brewers Moor Porter [650ml]
Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Stout [12oz/7.8%]
Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock [650ml/5.5%]
Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence [750ml/7%]
Sly Fox Raspberry Reserve (bottle conditioned) [750ml]
Rogue MoM Hefeweizen [650ml]

BOTTLES
Blue Point Toasted Lager
Mad River Steelhead Scotch Style Ale [6%]
Heavy Seas Winter Storm “Category 5″ Ale [7.5%]
Anchor Porter
Stoudts Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout
Dundee Festive Ale
Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter
Ithaca Nut Brown Ale
Guinness Extra Stout
Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
Troegs Rugged Trail Nut Brown Ale [4.4%]
Left Hand Black Jack Porter
Samuel Adams Cream Stout
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Samuel Adams Holiday Porter
Goose Island Nut Brown Ale
Lagunitas Brown Shugga [9.5%]
Flying Dog Road Dog Porter [6%]
Dragon Stout [7.5%]