I finally got around to trying some new beer that I bought my dad for Father's Day. I didn't know what other gift to get him and beer is always welcome in his household! I also know my dad doesn't like to drink alone, so of course, guess who gets to join him?! Anyway, I ended up with some Dead Guy Ale from the Rogue Brewery in Oregon, Chimay (blue label) from Belgium, and Warsteiner from Germany. The Dead Guy Ale had a good flavor, but may have been a bit bitter for my taste, and the Warsteiner was crisp and easy to drink. We haven't popped the cork off the Chimay yet, but we're looking forward to it soon! It sure is expensive stuff!

The Chimay blue is right tasty!

Have a great trip, Scott! I will look forward to a full report upon your return.

I agree with Peter about the Grand Reserve Chimay. It is fantastic. But - if you're not terribly familiar with Belgian beers - it's going to seem really weird to you. Give it time and consideration. Note how it changes in your glass as it warms. It's wonderfully complex.

The Dead Guy is pretty ordinary, I think. They sometime claimed it was a bock. That's a crock. Most Rogue beers are at least on the edge of "over-hopped for the style". They're not "bad" per se; the aggressiveness of the hop profile is simply how they like it.

OK... since it's a long weekend up here (I assume some of you folks are taking a 4-day weekend for July 4 and the rest just get Tuesday off ??) and I was buying beer in a small town beer store for a change (ie no selection) I thought I would have another try at finding a "good cheap beer". I had been hearing non-stop "make 'er a Laker" commercials all the way to the store (I thought Laker was an abbreviation for Lakeport, a relatively new brewery in Hamilton) so when I saw "Laker Red" I thought I would give it a try.

Ordered a dozen "Lakeport Red", whereupon the nice girl behind the counter explained that I probably wanted "Laker Red", since Lakeport did not make a red beer yet. Further questioning revealed that Laker is actually a discount brand produced by Brick Breweries out in Waterloo. The things you learn in a beer store.

Now I have no idea which brand the "make 'er a Laker" commercials are pushing -- I'm REALLY sure they were for Lakeport not Laker, which if true will probably result in some advertising people being fired soon.

Anyways, the beer. Pretty good, really. I have tried about a half dozen low priced brands and each time concluded that I would be better off drinking Unibroue products even if I could only afford half as much of them.

This was noticeably better than previous discount beers. I am partial to Rickard's Red, and this was close enough that I wouldn't notice the difference without really paying attention. Bottom line -- this is the first low priced beer I would buy again.

>>Stelllllaaaaaaa... you know, I have one Stella Artois left in the fridge, and I can't even give it away...

Maybe it's the light damaging it, but Stella in bottles is always skunky. Up here you can get it in 500 ml cans which (a) seem to be a better deal, and (b) contain much better tasting beer.

I bet you had bottles ?

>>they've been in a dark beer fridge here, but... who knows.

I always wondered. Does the light REALLY go out when you close the door ?

It doesn't really matter though... I bet if you cracked one open in the parking lot of the beer store it would STILL be skunky, I don't think this is a case of degrading at home.

Given that the 500 ml cans cost about the same as the 341 ml bottles, maybe the bottles are just sitting on the shelf too long ?

Hey, totally changing the topic; when I was poking around on a couple of beer sites I found that Unibroue offers their beers in 750ml corked bottles as well as the standard 341 ml "generic beer holder". Has anyone seen these, particularly outside of Quebec ?

While I was looking around, I also stumbled across this page, which I believe to be someones private "beer cellar" in Atlanta. I hadn't realized that some beers can age well over a number of years, but apparently that is the case.

http://kpscellar.atlantabeer.com/beercellar/main.html

I would like to meet this man. Badly.