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Mac & Jack's

Ty Webb wrote:simmo! That place across the street does in fact have St. Peter's English Ale and it's fucking delicious! I'm hooked.

Drinking the Winter Ale as I type.

Victory Ale's Golden Monkey -

Far and away the best stuff of theirs that I've had (okay, I've only had three). Really nice Belgian Ale type beer - high octane but pricey. But satisfying. A treat.

= Justin

SOUTHPAW!!

Err, whoops.

Had the Samuel Smith's Organically Produced Lager Beer earlier.
Kinda wish I had a couple more since I'm not really feeling this Bell's Expedition Stout.

Christopher J. McGarvey wrote:According to some pretentious fuck who works/worked at a liquor store in Chicago, Chimay is a fake Trappist brew.
I still think it's good.

Tell that pretentious fuck he's full of shit. It's made by Trappist monks in a monastery and carries the Trappist Seal:

I had a beer by Lagunitas that had Zappa on it. I think it's the cover to "Absolutely Free." Regardless of how you might feel about Zappa, it's worth trying.

Christopher J. McGarvey wrote:Had the Samuel Smith's Organically Produced Lager Beer earlier.

That's a damn fine beer.

tthomas wrote:

Christopher J. McGarvey wrote:According to some pretentious fuck who works/worked at a liquor store in Chicago, Chimay is a fake Trappist brew.
I still think it's good.

Tell that pretentious fuck he's full of shit. It's made by Trappist monks in a monastery and carries the Trappist Seal:

There are only 7 authentic Trappist breweries in the world. That is to say, only 7 out of over 100 Trappist monasteries is connected to a brewing operation. 6 of those are in Belgium, one is in the Netherlands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trappist_beer

And I'm pretty sure that nowadays only 1 or 2 of them are actually brewed by the monks themselves, if any. Almost all of them are made by contract brewers hired by the monastery, though they still provide a large source of income for the monastery and its various charitable ventures.

There is indeed a good number of commercial craft beers (as well as homebrews) made in imitation of Trappist ales. The proper term for this style is "Abbey ale". While these ales are generally intended to mimic the Trappist brews, I wouldn't call them "fakes". Abbey ales are a commonly accepted style in the industry and I don't think any commercial brewer would have the balls to call their product a "Trappist" ale.

A few years back, I went on a big Trappist beer kick, drinking them at every opportunity. I even tried my hand at brewing an Abbey-style ale (the results were not bad, but certainly less than spectacular). I've tried at least one product of 6 out of the 7 breweries. The only brewery whose wares I haven't sampled is Achel.

I've had all 3 of Chimay products, the single (red label), the dubbel ("Grande Reserve" blue label) and the tripel ("Cinq Cents" white label). They're all pretty good, but they tend to give me an awful headache.

The Rochefort beers are excellent. Their dubbel is incredible. The tripel is a bit acidic and strong for my taste, but also very good. They have these in bottles at Delilah's and The Map Room.

I've tried both Westmalle beers, the dubbel and the tripel. They're definitely good, but not exceptional when compared with other Trappist ales like Orval or Rochefort. This is available at many bars around Chicago.

Of the Orval brewery, I've tried only their main beer, Orval Trappist Ale. IMHO this is one of the best. Last time I was at Delilah's, they had Orval on draft.

Of the Westvleteren beers, I've tried the basic one, the medium-strength light ale. I thought it was good, but not too exceptional.

LaTrappe makes a real ass-kicker called a Quadrupel. This beer is light in color, medium in body, very sweet and HUGE in alcohol content. Treat this with respect. It goes down fairly easy and will fuck you right up.

I have to say that my favorite of those is a toss-up between Orval and Rochefort Dubbel.

Mother of sloppy hog cock, this beer will make you spunk up your brains with pleasure:



http://www.innisandgunn.com/