I noticed that our government-run liquor stores (LCBO for anyone living near me) now carry Chimay Premiere, so I picked some up on the way home and opened a bottle tonight.

I'm not good at all those beer-reviewing words but it was very good. I'm trying to remember which of the Unibroue beers it was closer to -- Maudite or Trois Pistoles. Similar taste to Maudite, I think, but a bit smoother and a bit less intense. Any of these beers are a real eye-opener for someone who has only really consumed mass-market beer before and had to drive 300 miles each way to stock up on Molson Brador from Quebec.

I bet we drove past Unibroue on the way there and back each time. Dumb, dumb, dumb

Lots of beer and happy times last Friday at the Axiom Conference in Washington D.C. Details at the link!

Sean, I like all the New Belgium beers and certainly share your enthusiasm for the 1554. Great and unique beer.

The Elysian Pumpkin ale tastes more like Pumpkin than any of the others I've tried. Very rich and delicious.

I will definitely be trying the rest of the New Belgium line up.

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The Elysian Pumpkin ale tastes more like Pumpkin than any of the others I've tried.

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That's probably why I've waited so long to try a pumpkin ale--not a big fan of pumpkins. Still can't eat a slice of pumpkin pie. In the spirit of trying new things, though, I gave it a shot--the ale that is. I'm a little pumpkined out right now. Just came back from the family pumpkin carving night. My sister, her husband, and I carved up eight pumpkins! My nephew helped scoop out his own gourd while he told his dad what to carve. Next year I think he'll start doing his own cutting.

As I was taking the guts out to the trash I stepped on the scale. Twenty pounds of pumpkin innards! I still have slime stuck on my arm. This stuff's hard to wash off.

I tried a Dogfish Head "Punk" Ale (yeah, pumpkin) a few days ago and found it intriguing. Subtly pumpkin and spice flavored. I still haven't had a beer since Friday night, though.

Time to update this thread. Quite a while back Peter and I raved about Het Anker's Gouden Carolus Noel that we had tried with Ken at a great beer bar in San Francisco (Toronado). Unfortunately (as Peter and I found out the next time we went out there), Toronado carries 3 different years of the Het Anker, and we didn't know which one was THE one. I believe we tried an 05 and it didn't quite match up, though it was still very impressive. So for Xmas, I brought an '04 to our parents for Xmas (our dad doesn't get to indulge his taste for the finer things in life too often), and while it was good, it still didn't quite hit the mark like I'd hoped (this one was a little too sweet for my tastes).

So imagine my surprise today when I found that Whole Foods carries a Het Anker Gouden Carolus Noel. Judging from the color, it's not an '04, but I guess I'll have to wait until Peter gets here on Sunday to find out if it's the one (oh the temptation!).

Hey Ken, you free Sunday night? Speaker shootout/beer tasting sound good?

I think that might work!

I may have mentioned this somewhere on thread #27, but Creemore Springs is a darn good beer. You just cannot get it outside of southern Ontario and since Molson bought it out, they no longer have the 500mL screwtop bottles dammit.


On the upside, a friend came back from Guelph over the holidays and brought me 6 bottles...for free even.

I'm attending the MacWorld Expo this week (in San Francisco) -- yes, I saw the iPhone in person (woo) -- and I managed to get an invitation to an open bar party tonight. I just got back from the Red Devil Lounge. I had a few Newcastles (one of which was accompanied by a double-fisted shot of Patron Tequila), and a couple Guinnesses (guinnei?). And before I went there, I had a couple beers (and pizza) at the Apple Science Forum -- a meeting where, apparently, people in the science industry get to bitch at Apple and tell them where their service is lacking.

Needless to say, I shouldn't be posting in my state of mind.