The Official Beer Appreciation Thread

[sabills]

I haven't been to Slickers in years and never had a particular affinity towards it. It's just kinda the only bar in Old Forge itself, haha.

[...]

It's just kinda the only bar in Old Forge itself, haha.

 

Not really..there are plenty of bar/taverns here. I thought the price per draft at Slickers was good, BTW. Meal wasn't bad, either.

 

[darksabre]

There's really nothing in Old Forge itself that is all too fancy. The TOW Bar is a hole in the wall but the bartender woman is nice and there's wacky drawings on the walls. Comfy bar stools too. Cheapest beer in town I think.

[...]

The place I had the Stone IPA is easily in the top 5 of restaurants I have ever dined in (food wise), which is saying a lot. There are at least three places I know of here with CIA trained chefs.

 

Anyway, the unfiltered wheat beer turned out to be...wait for it...Adirondack. I would recommend that to anyone looking for something different.

[biodork]

This is a neat idea, and from the sounds of it is gaining some traction:

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/24/214582851/wine-has-sommeliers-now-beer-has-cicerones?sc=17&f=1001

 

If you've been to a fancy restaurant, you've probably seen a sommelier — those wine experts who make sure you get the best possible match for your meal. But what if you don't want a chardonnay or pinot? What if you want a nice cold beer?

 

A new program is working to bring this same level of knowledge to the world of malt and hops by turning out batches of certified beer experts known as Cicerones.

[Claude_Verret]

This is a neat idea, and from the sounds of it is gaining some traction:

 

http://www.npr.org/b...es?sc=17&f=1001

 

Ray Daniels the man behind cicerone, is at the NHC every year and I have met him a few times. I love the idea of the cicerone program. There is nothing more annoying than going to a beer-centric bar or restaurant and having your server be without a clue about beer beyond dark vs. light or hoppy vs. not.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Claude_Verret

[LTS]

I know people who've attained various levels of certification in the program as well. I think it's an interesting idea but I'm not sure just how much value it adds. It might be valuable in a bottle only situation but most beer centric locales are going to be featuring kegged beer. Kegged beer can easily be sampled from the tap so it's not overly difficult for a place to give you a 2 oz sample to see how you like it. In the wine world this is different.

 

Having knowledgeable people is a good thing but here again there is a problem with brewers pushing style lines and turning over one-off products so often. A server may know what a Saison is supposed to be but who knows if Brewer XYZ made it that way. They might have pushed it beyond style to be Saison-like. So, yes, the server needs to sample each beer to be able to provide some insight or else they are going to be reading whatever a brewer provides as we marketing material for the beer.

 

Being intelligent on storing, cleaning, etc. that's another story. I've found that most places (that are good places) have that down pretty well at this point.

[nobody]

The highest level, master sommelier, does all beverages - wine, spirits & beer. They even do cigars. But there are only like 200 in the world.

[That Aud Smell]

This is a neat idea, and from the sounds of it is gaining some traction: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/24/214582851/wine-has-sommeliers-now-beer-has-cicerones?sc=17&f=1001

Ray Daniels the man behind cicerone, is at the NHC every year and I have met him a few times. I love the idea of the cicerone program. There is nothing more annoying than going to a beer-centric bar or restaurant and having your server be without a clue about beer beyond dark vs. light or hoppy vs. not.

 

I love me some craft beer, but I am decidedly ambivalent about the full-blown winification of matters brew.

 

Among other reasons, there's this tidbit I read a while back:

 

Wine tasters will mention all sorts of things they can taste in a fine wine as if they were a human spectrograph with the ability to sense the molecular makeup of their beverage. Research shows, however, this perception can be hijacked, fooled, and might just be completely wrong.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/10/you-are-not-so-smart-why-we-cant-tell-good-wine-from-bad/247240/

 

In addition to which, I have an acknowledged (although well-managed) desire to punch people in the neck when they start with high falutin wine-tasting talk. (I'm not proud of this fact -- but there it is, just the same.)

[MattPie]

Wine tasters will mention all sorts of things they can taste in a fine wine as if they were a human spectrograph with the ability to sense the molecular makeup of their beverage. Research shows, however, this perception can be hijacked, fooled, and might just be completely wrong.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/10/you-are-not-so-smart-why-we-cant-tell-good-wine-from-bad/247240/

 

In addition to which, I have an acknowledged (although well-managed) desire to punch people in the neck when they start with high falutin wine-tasting talk. (I'm not proud of this fact -- but there it is, just the same.)

 

I'm with you on this one. Beer (and wine for that matter), break down into three categories: beer I like, beer I don't like, and beer I haven't had before. Maybe it's just laziness on my part, but reading someone's description has no link to the part of my brain that records tastes. If you're sitting with someone, I find that offering that person some is far more efficient than trying to describe it. What helps is my personality tends to like variety over perfection. I've run into very few beers I couldn't stand to drink, so even if a beer isn't perfect it's enjoyable. So if you order something, odds are I'll at least enjoy the process of drinking it, even if I wouldn't order it again.

[Claude_Verret]

I agree

I love me some craft beer, but I am decidedly ambivalent about the full-blown winification of matters brew.

 

Agreed. I'm not looking for anyone to be able to tell me SRM, IBU's, cohumulone content, and esters present in any given beer. But with a basic cicerone certification, or "Certified Beer Server", your server can at least have the very basic knowledge covered. I wouldn't be looking for this from servers at Applebees, but at the tap room by my house that has over 100 beers on it's menu I would.

 

The Certified Beer Server requires competent knowledge of beer storage and service issues as well as modest knowledge of beer styles and culture and basic familiarity with beer tasting and flavors and basic knowledge about brewing process and ingredients. Knowledge of the Cicerone Certification Program's levels and titles is also required.

[darksabre]

Shut up and drink your beer.

[spndnchz]

Shut up and drink your beer.

 

Bitch. Please. You're a hipster snob and you know it.

[josie]

Bitch. Please. You're a hipster snob and you know it.

 

Oh he is. You should see his vinyl collection.

[SwampD]

Oh he is. You should see his vinyl collection.

I bet he wears skinny jeans.

 

I love me some craft beer, but I am decidedly ambivalent about the full-blown winification of matters brew.

 

Among other reasons, there's this tidbit I read a while back:

 

Wine tasters will mention all sorts of things they can taste in a fine wine as if they were a human spectrograph with the ability to sense the molecular makeup of their beverage. Research shows, however, this perception can be hijacked, fooled, and might just be completely wrong.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/10/you-are-not-so-smart-why-we-cant-tell-good-wine-from-bad/247240/

 

In addition to which, I have an acknowledged (although well-managed) desire to punch people in the neck when they start with high falutin wine-tasting talk. (I'm not proud of this fact -- but there it is, just the same.)

Nailed it.

[Weave]

It's a good thing noone can say that bourbon tasters can't get it right. :P

[superdave]

All I know is that Octoberfest beers are starting to show up on the shelves which starts the great beer drinking season, which magically coincides with the start of hockey season. Fall and winter brews are always my favorites.

[darksabre]

 

 

Bitch. Please. You're a hipster snob and you know it.

 

I was a hipster before it was cool.

 

 

 

Oh he is. You should see his vinyl collection.

 

Says you, Kraftwerk and Tom Waits :P

 

 

I bet he wears skinny jeans.

 

 

Overalls.

[SwampD]

Overalls.

They make skinny overalls?

[darksabre]

 

They make skinny overalls?

 

Gotta wear something while cultivating all this organic soy.

[LGR4GM]

I was a hipster before it was cool.

You must have gone back to the future because it still isn't cool. :flirt:

[darksabre]

 

You must have gone back to the future because it still isn't cool. :flirt:

 

Hipsters don't care what you think (is what they tell themselves.)

[LGR4GM]

Hipsters don't care what you think (is what they tell themselves.)

lol which is the biggest Irony because they care more than anyone what ppl think.

[darksabre]

 

lol which is the biggest Irony because they care more than anyone what ppl think.

 

That's what I was getting at ;)

[Claude_Verret]

All I know is that Octoberfest beers are starting to show up on the shelves which starts the great beer drinking season, which magically coincides with the start of hockey season. Fall and winter brews are always my favorites.

 

Sam Adams Octoberfest was already out when I was in Chicago two weeks ago. That's actually a pretty good one. I'm very disappointed in New Belgium's Fall release...a friggin pumpkin beer. The last two fall releases were Hoptober and Red Hoptober, two absolutely fantastic beers, so why the shift to do the gimmicky pumpkin beer like everyone else? Very un-New Belgium like and very disappointing.