There isn't a tofu stirfry with wine thread, so..
Ground turkey!
This is actually pretty damn good. Wheat beer with milk sugar, lemon, and vanilla.
I can't figure out exactly what the name is of that.
Is it a Weiss? Is it sour/tart? If so, and you enjoy it, you may want to try some other sours. Where are you at (state)?
Nee, een Witbier. It is called Lemon Bullringue. Everything from Bolero Snort is a bull name/pun. The 'U' is the nose ring thing for a bull, there are horns on the lemon.
Not a sours guy nor an IPA guy (although Dogfish Head Liquid Truth Serum IPA is pretty good), and I linked the page of the stats for it from the Brewery.
It reminds me of an unfiltered wheat crossed with a pilsner and a slight tartness from the lemon. The lemon isn't very pronounced where as the pilsner is. So imagine a wheat beer crossed with a pilsner with subtle vanilla and lemon. I am finding the more I have it the more I am enjoying it, but that is just the nature of citrus based things with me.
Bolero Snort makes some pretty hit or miss stuff. Some of their stuff is damn impressive, and others are downright astringent. They self distribute in NJ only as far as I know.
Here's what I'm drinking tonight. Haze for daze.
That Imperial Runway Models just dropped today. Chuckled at it, but I didn't pick it up because it wasn't my speed.
Got these awhile back:
Night Trippers were good, but not nearly 4.50/bottle good. Hydra also has a vanilla stout called "Unholy" which isn't half bad, but the taste gets to me near the end of a bottle. Need to head to their brewery some time to see if they'll have any other flavors which I can't find in the liquor stores since their site shows some stuff which looks pretty good.
I'm heading up to two smaller places nearish me next weekend, Suarez Family and Old Klaverack. Friends of mine have been talking up Suarez for a while now, Klaverack I read has a good IPA amongst others. I dont think Klaverack distributes beyond a couple counties, not sure about Suarez.
Suarez is fantastic. Their pilsners and crushable pales are some of the best that are out there. Make sure to take some bottles to go. I wish I grabbed more stuff last time I was there. If you can fit it into your itinerary, check out sloop as well. They're about 15 minutes from suarez.
Weihenstephaner Braupakt, "Hefe Weissbier"
Made my way out to Other Half for the first time. The draft list is impressive if you're into IPAs.
Continuing my theme of German and French wines.
Got this in celebration of something, and I am having it now.
Enjoyable 2016 Riesling from Germany's most southern region. Baden is the third largest producer of wines in Deutschland, and one of the few that produces more reds (Pinot Noir since the 13th century) than whites. For those familiar with the stark acidity and minerality of the the northern Mosel wines; Baden being the most southern means there is lower acidity and a bit more of a fruit feeling in the body. Along with the fact the soil of the region is more loamy than the rocky slopes of slate in the north gives into less minerality throughout. Not that this is better than say a Loosen Red Slate (it certainly isn't) however, it is still a solid product nonetheless while being in its own lower acidity lower sweetness niche.
Overall, I found this balanced and off dry with a modest level of fruit and traces of minerality. You have the typical stone fruits here you often find in a Riesling such as pear and in this case melon (this is certainly melon), but certainly no apricot or pineapple. The lack of acidity is replaced by an enjoyable tartness that leaves this to be refreshing without the enamel stripping acidity of a magnificent Mosel variant. Not as much fruit as I expected from a more southern variant, but if you like melon then this might just be a great companion for your dinner of chicken, pork, suishi, whatever. This is certainly good and respectable in its own right, but overpriced, and I would easily pick up one from Nahe (or even the Rheingau) instead as what isn't there to love about that region?
Afterwards this will sit on the wine rack as that was the original intent regardless. They also make a Pinot Noir (the sleeper of the climate changing future!) which will be waiting next time I have something to care about in life.
Local breweries are popping up everywhere, they are spreading like fire to pretty much every town around here.
Crazy thing is, they're all pretty freaking good.
Icarus and Cape May out of NJ are my two favorites right now. I've had about 6 and I enjoy them all. Drinking some Follow the Gull and Don't Haze Me Brux tonight. Brux Pale Ale is great. Gull is a lighter easier to drink 5.5% IPA.
Had a lot of Cape May's stuff, and I wasn't amazed. That being mostly because I hate IPAs which these breweries do to raise cash from the quicker turn around. Their Belgium was, okay. Haven't had Icarus yet, but I hear a lot about them.
As far as beer goes, established names like Coors, Bud, and so on are losing a large amount of market share while craft breweries exploded, but even those are slowing down now and high end beer is exploding. These bombers that cost more than a good bottle of wine are becoming more and more common.
even if they haven't outright bought out smaller independents, the multinationals own most of the distribution network in the US. they also control a significant portion of the global supply chain, so between those, they can happily decide the fate of most brewers they don't own, if it suits their needs.