Hill Farmstead is probably #1 on my brewery bucket list right now.

i'm actually trying to devise a plan to convince the missus to take a trip this fall for our anniversary to the beautiful northeast to see the foliage, stay at b&b's and oh...hey this brewery looks interesting, mind if we stop in?

Lagunitas Sucks is out here. Grabbed a 6.

Like all big hop bombs, they're better fresher. They literally lose a little magic every day.

And this summer's annual Motocamping trip WILL include both Alchemist and Hillstead.

And got-damn it's good.

Will look for it.

Lagunitas is in Nashville now. Had their IPA for free the other night (a rep was in the bar I was in) and it's nice and balanced. I need to get a sixer for femdisco who is a big IPA fan, as long as it's not extreme on the hop-forwardness.

Got my hands on some Funkwerks Deceit last weekend and was very impressed. Hopefully will be able to track down some more of their stuff.

They are finally distributiing their beers here in neighboring Nebraska. I am excited about it.
I tried the New Albion Ale that Boston Beer Company is distributing. It is pretty good, especially when you realize that the beer recipe was created in 1976.
It's amazing that a beer with this much malt and a significant hop profile came out in the era of Billy Beer.

I'll be looking for that New Albion one too - super curious.

It's Hopslam day here in Atlanta. It showed up at a few places yesterday and lasted an hour or two.

I'm less than a mile from my store that's getting it today. I've got their twitter feed open on my desktop and work knows that I could get up and leave at any moment.

You've done all you can to be ready.

They've already tweeted that the driver should be there around Noon-ish.

Very few people can match my proximity but my main nemesis will be..............college kids with nowhere to be.

Scratch that. It's a done deal.

Limit 1 six pack per customer or 2 six packs with a Hop City card (which I have).

$17 a sixer.

Gonna put one in the fridge at lunch.

Looks like they got around 20 cases or so and the line was about 7 deep when I left. Should be gone before Noon.

Daaaamn. Well done dude.

I'm going to a Lagunitas Maximus tapping party tomorow. They are starting to roll out some more of their beers here after that record 2012 sales year.

I love Maximus. Maybe my favorite year round DIPA and always a steal at 9-10 bucks for a sixer.

I too scored two sixes of Hopslam, one from the Total Wine by my office this morning, and one tonight on my way home at my local shop. Both places had 1 six/customer limits. (surprised my local place did, the Koreans that run it usually don't give a shit about stuff like that, but I guess they are getting hip to beer-mania)

Having one now and its fantastic though since it was bottled 1/15/13 its probably WAY past its prime. Flat. Swill. Dumping it down the sink.

A great beer that is rarely mentioned around these parts. Same goes for Duvel.

Chimay and Duvel are solid for sure. The archetypes for those styles, except Tripels which was really Westmalle first and foremost.

Dude. Chimay Blue is Hall of Fame. Got a big bottle in my "cellar" right now.

Along with Hopslam, I picked these up. Will report back:









Dogfish Head - Noble Rot
Stone Brewing - Vertical Epic 12-12-12
Uinta - Sea Legs Baltic Porter (Crooked Line series)

I almost pulled the trigger on that Uinta Porter last time i was down at Hop City. Looking forward to hearing what you think.

For those of us who appreciate good beer packaging design:

http://bit.ly/UqQX9n

and beer product design
http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/list ... dless.html

Has anybody tried that Westbrook out of Mt Pleasant, SC? I saw it when was over there and then it magically appeared here the next week.

I thought Maximus was delicious. It certainly isn't one of my favorite DIPA's, but it is definitely the kind of beer I'd turn to if I was looking for something with substantial hops that wasn't completely over the top.
I also tried Crispin Bird on a Wire last night.
Here's the commercial description:
Blended using 4 unique apple wines aged in both Rye and Bourbon American whiskey barrels. Apple wine fermented with irish stout yeast, belgian trappist yeast, sake yeast, and our original Colfax Classic. Final product is finished with tupelo honey aged in Bourbon barrels and a lingering open-mouthed kiss of fresh-pressed apple juice.

Only had Mexican Cake but it was awesome.