NO SHIT! I had this for the first time back in March in S.F. and when we went back last month I brought a bunch of them back with me.

In my top 3 favs for damn sure.

I couldn't find a good image... but here's another CA hop bomb that's right up there with the Pliny. Alpine's Pure Hoppiness.



They do IPA/DIPAs so well out there. For us Midwesterners, only FFFs Dreadnaught and Bell's Two-Hearted measure up.

Overhopping a beer is the brewing equivalent of overproducing a bad song.
It certainly appeals to a lot of people, and had a great sound... but is ultimately a copout for what is no good at its core.

There are certainly some good beers with a nice hoppy flavor, but there has to be some sort of balance.

These aren't overhopped though. They have a bold taste, but they are all extremely balanced. But, if it's too much... sit on them for 6-12 months when the hops subside and the maltiness is more prevalent.

i had this over the weekend. it was good.

Speaking of brews from Oregon, I was recently on the west coast and had several of these:



Deschutes Black Butte Porter -- really liked it. Need to find it somewhere around here...

i had this last weekend



wasn't bad, considering i'm a shit beer man

deschutes is solid...that's the only porter that i actually enjoy. gotta grab some of that abyss as well. it's also time for my other favorite winter beer:

[img][149:500]http://www.kegliquors.com/boulder_killer_penguin.jpg[/img]

Local brewery has been doing some nice cask beers on draft. They started with a porter and have now done 2 variations on a stout so far. Last one had a bit of vanilla in it but was still quite good.

Any other fans of the cask-conditioned beers?

love the cask conditioned beers, though last year in the UK i got sick of them after trying so many of the local ones at every pub we stopped in. needed some bubbles.

my local pub also puts some of their beers on nitro too, which is very good.

No picture, but I'd forgotten about this one, from local organic brewery Roots:

[quote]EPIC ALE IBU 80, 14% ABV
We hand smoked 55#’s of Munich malt over cherry wood soaked in Glenlivet, Cognac & Cherry’s that lends wonderful Smokey Toffee & cherry notes both to the pallet & nose and a warm bittersweet finish. With over 1,700 #’s of malt & 65#’s of hops makes this a truly “EPIC ALEâ€

that abyss beer looks awesome.

Had one of these at the Flying Saucer last week and it blew away the other seasonal I had, Anchor Steam Christmas 2007:

Highland Cold Mountain

Preferring something that other people do is not a cop-out. A concept that a good many people here haven't figured out just yet.

Speaking of stellar IPA's... any of you guys been to the Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis? They have an offering named Masala Mama which is the one of the best IPAs I've ever had. Problem is, you can only get growlers at the Brewery as they don't distribute. Bitches.

[img][375:500]http://www.legalbeer.com/images/town%20hall%20warrior%20double%20dry.jpg[/img]

And for we Chicagoans... Lost Abbey/Port Brewing is now in our area. There are ten beers currently available.

I had one of those this evening.



nice label design in my opinion.

I had these last night:

[img][127:500]http://www.ratebeer.com/beerimages/full_size/6245.jpg[/img] [img][139:500]http://www.ratebeer.com/beerimages/full_size/3214.jpg[/img]

Despite being the least "revered" of the three, I'll go as far as to say that the Samichlaus is the best beer I've ever tasted. The Bells Expedition was good, but a bit overhyped as far as I'm concerned. I actually liked the Ten Fidy (and even Old Rasputin) a bit better than the Bells.

i love that ten fidy (got one left in my fridge right now), but my favorite imperial stout has to be:

[img][331:500]http://api.ning.com/files/9m*kKZxDXLsS6B6X4LpW4c-MnQBnsGxsawIsC1azDnMtxD6zkS8DBshXsUKPEJzykd15-89zJrfjQITBYIbUVf0U1xb98gCZ/GreatDivideOakAgedYetiwithglass.jpg[/img]

i'm kinda bummed i haven't been able to find The Abyss around here so far this winter...

[img][266:500]http://blog.oregonlive.com/thebeerhere/2007/10/large_The%20Abyss_BottlePint.jpg[/img]

I want to try Ten Fidy, but I just can't bring myself to spend that much on canned beer. I know the Oskar Blues stuff is good, but really, Old Chubb isn't that good. You can get equal or better Scottish Ales for the same price in bottles.

For some reason cold weather always makes me want to drink stouts.

Nothing fancy lately though, just downing lots of Guinness and a few Schlafly coffee stout.

Same here, but with Porters

Specifically:
Yazoo Sly Rye Porter
Abita Turbo Dog
Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter
Flying Dog Road Dog Porter

damn how did i miss this? this is a great beer. not sure if you can get it outside of san diego county. another good hoppy beer is Blind Pig IPA, made by Russian River, brewers of Pliny the Elder and even hoppier not always produced Pliny the Younger

just had one of these, wish I had another:

honestly it's the first time i've heard of it..
i love IPAs so ill have to check this out

i bet lrr and his great knowledge of brew knows about this