I come from a small family and the family I do have is spread out around the country. My brother in town for the Summer which represents one of the longest stretches of time my immediate family has been together in the last 6 years. He’s heading back home to North Carolina next week so the family decided to get together over quality beer and good food. Hardik at The Wine Seller hooked us up with some pretty fantastic beers and it was one hell of a night.
We tried to get a variety of different beers from a variety of places. Not as many American micro brews as I would have liked, but we put together a pretty nice selection. The “quality” choices included the following.
- St. Pauli Girl
- Fuller’s ESB
- Founders Devil Dancer
- Kell’s Irish Style Lager
- Jolly Pumpkin B.S. Bam Hoppy Farmhouse Ale
- Chimay Premiere
- Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Brew
- Brooklyn Local 2
- Delirium Tremens
- Fuller’s London Pride
We didn’t just get good beer though. We had to mix in some “run of the mill”, and in some cases awful, choices as well. It was nice to be able to compare the good beers to absolute shit. Really makes you appreciate your beer a little more.
- Miller Genuine Draft
- Budweiser
- Heineken
- Corona
- Molson Canadian
- Fosters
After five hours of drinking great beer, eating good food(including my world famous queso) we met to discuss our thoughts on the beer. My memory is a bit hazy, but random thoughts include…
- Founders Devil Danceris the best IPA I have ever had. Think about the most bitterness you could pack into an IPA and this is what you would get. This isn’t just a beer, but more of an experience. The first sip is intense but it mellows out after a while. I would have trouble drinking more than one of these due to the intense flavor. Incredible beer and easily the beer of the night.
- Jolly Pumpkin’s Hoppy Farmhouse Ale is one of the most interesting beers I’ve had in a while. Very earthy farmhouse flavor, but very drinkable.
- I hadn’t had Delirium in a while and I’m confused as to why. To me, the stuff is very similar to champagne. Delicious and very carbonated.
- Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Brewwas delicious. If you can get your hands on some, I would highly recommend it.
- Miller Genuine Draft is AWFUL. Just in case you didn’t already know that.
- While it’s not great, Budweiser resists the “complete shit” label and does an admiral job standing up to the higher quality beers. I’m not saying Budweiser is a top choice for me, but when it comes to mass produced American beer, I feel like Budweiser is one of the better ones.
In closing, I just want to throw this out there… When you Google “Delirium Tremens”, the following comes up from Google Health:
Delirium tremens is a severe form of alcohol withdrawal that involves sudden and severe mental or neurological changes. Symptoms most commonly occur within 72 hours after the last drink