Excellent info in this latest barrage of posts here...
The reason I say so is that I was eyeing a bottle of the Edition 2004 in the store yesterday and I thought I'd pick it up later this week. From what I hear I may have to go pick a few bottles up today

What I did pick up was some Stone Ruination, Stone's 8th Anniversary, and Bear Republic XP Ale. Drank the XP (eXceptional Pale) last night and I was impressed although it was not what I was expecting. It was incredibly well balanced, very clean and crisp but with fairly complex flavor. Essentially a mild malt undertone with evident but subdued hop character. A nice golden color, not a particularly noteworthy head but nothing I would take marks off for. Again though, very well balanced and drinkable. A pale ale any lager drinker could appreciate.

peter- thanks for telling me a little about you night of beer and friendship at the tornado. and thanks to adam for the 'rank by taste' chart.

and funny you should mention the ommegang three philosophers. i had asked my wife to get me a proper duvel glass for my birthday(which was saturday), and she got me a whole set of 6 glasses from the ommegang brewery, which can be seen here.. all of the glasses have the markings for the particular beers made from ommegang, one being the three philosophers. i was real happy that she got me the set, but now i am wanting to try the beers, and the website says that they can only ship the beers within state lines(NY). so, unless my liquor store can get some, i might be out of luck. all of the ommegang beers got good reviews on ratebeer.com, and i figure since i got the official glasses, i need to give them a shot. BTW- i will also use the wide-rimmed three philosophers glass to drink my Chimay..

bigjohn

Well, Big John, the Ommegang line is great (IMO), and plentiful here in Brooklyn. Funny, I just bought my own proper duvel glass on Friday! Which Ommegang beers can you get, which can't you? Maybe there's a way we can get you some (legally).

LOL Add me to the Duvel glass list. So far I have 5 Belgian glasses.

Corsendonk
Corsendonk Christmas Ale
Chimay
Duvel
Kasteel

I eventually will by one for all of my most favorite Belgian Ales. Here's where I order my glasses and they have a HUGE collection.

This week at Park Slope, Brooklyn's own Bierkraft:

4 Generous Servings of Ithaca Beers (w. cheeses)
Pale Ale (w Aged Appenzeller cheese)
Apricot Wheat (w Erhaki cheese)
Nut Brown (w Sharpham Rustic cheese)
Cascazilla (w Sprout Creek Toussaint cheese)

Unlike last week, when I'd had almost all of the beers before, these are all new to me, and so I'll review them after tomorrow night's tasting. In the meantime, anyone here had these beers before? I wonder if they're only available in NY, given the name...

just a sidenote to my new collection of glasses i got for my B-day. two of the 6 had small chips in them, one on the bottom, and one on the top lip. i was surprised cause they were packed VERY well, and they are fairly thick glass. anyway, i called the ommegang company this morning to see how this could be fixed. i wasnt expecting a return on the one that was chipped on the bottom, but i expected them to replace the one that was chipped on the top. the guy i talked with was totally cool, and offered to replace them free of charge. so, my 2 new(and hopefully unchipped) glasses are in route, and should be here in 10-14 days.

it was nice to have a place give great CS. when dealing with axiom, you get used to it.. but, the treatment is not always the same elsewhere. so i give 2 thumbs WAY UP to the ommegang brewing company!!

EDIT- Engine Joe, i asked the guy on the phone if he has any distrubutors in texas, and he said no. the closest dist. he had to texas was arizona or mississippi. so, looks like i wont be getting any ommegang products til i decide to leave the state. unless someone in NY might be able to send me some.. gee, i wish i new someone in NY? man, that would be great......

bigjohn

OK, it needed a bump again.. was playing around with the new digital camera today.. still trying to figure this damn thing out..

so who else is ready for the Super Bowl?



OK, i know, this could go in the football thread too..

bigjohn

Thank you for a great picture. That's my new desktop wallpaper

i think i might make it mine too, until my wife takes it off.
i actually couldnt wait, i just opened one of the Duvel's. but, there is plenty of rum to go around!!

bigjohn

I had no idea Venezuela made rums. I guess I was too young to have learned different when I was there.