64 thoughts on “March 14, 2019: π”

      1. The thing is, they're an easy beer to get more or less "right". I can get one and be more or less certain that at the very least, I'll get a palatable beer that I'll enjoy.

        Anymore, though, it's getting pretty tough to stand out in the style, and a lot of breweries are going really gimmicky routes. I've got a few favorites, and a whole bunch that I try once, find inoffensive enough, and then never try again.

        1. I will admit to being part of the problem as I love IPAs and find myself mostly buying them over other styles. Hops taste good. I do find myself generally avoiding anything with odd words in it like "milkshake" though.

            1. The only New England style I've had that I've really liked is 400 lb monkey from Left Hand. I could really do without all the hazy versions as well. I like my beer to be clear.

                1. New England style is just IPAs that use more European hop varieties and are more balanced than American IPAs.

          2. Oh, I'm definitely part of the "problem", too, insomuch as it's actually a problem (again, it's a hard beer to mess up. Even most mediocre IPAs turn out pretty tasty and plenty drinkable).

            I do miss the proper Black IPA, though. That style never really got its due.

              1. wavesenthusiastically.gif

                If I ever bottle again, I'll make sure its my black IPA and send you a few, Nibs.

                1. I would not turn down such an offer!

                  The new house has a third stall in the garage, and since I don't have anything like a boat or a large four wheeler, I'm thinking it'll make a pretty swell brewing area this spring/summer/fall. Time to pick that hobby back up.

                    1. ... you could just make a post of it so that I can brew a batch ... ... jobu would also be happy if you created some more content for the site ...

          3. Same here for me. I have gravitated lately towards a good Belgian Strong, but they are more hit and miss and hard to find. When in doubt, I grab an IPA. I will say in our market Porters are really becoming a bigger seller. I have found a few I like, but I know dozens of die hard Porter drinkers in our joint.

        2. I got burnt out on IPAs. When Surly and Summit both had like four different Pale Ales and I never could tell the difference, I gave up.
          I've been going for sours, Berliner Weisse, etc.
          And (Mai)Bocks and Octoberfests in season. (RIP Schell's Maifest)
          I do count Vanilla Porters as a decent dessert beer though.

          1. Variety is the spice of life. I get bored with IPA, IPA, IPA, and I'm officially over the over-hopping everything to death. Occasionally? Sure. All the time? No.

            1. So I'm going through a sweep of the house in H'istan and tossing out old/unnecessary clutter.

              This last week, the old beer had to go.
              From Northern Brewer kits in the last 10 years, I poured down the drain the remaining bottles of:
              119th Hoptastic IPA
              Surly Furious (2 batches)
              Red Irish Ale (Killian knockoff)

              Only thing left is the Hard Cider that I made last year - it's still quite good, ready, and fresh.

      2. As someone who travels a lot and eats out a lot, I've been drinking "not IPA" a lot. I don't want it in the winter, I want something that's more malty. In the summer, I want something lighter. So, the IPA is more of a fall beer for me.

  4. Concert alert and presale:

    Black Keys and Modest Mouse
    SAT, SEPT 28
    The Black Keys with guests Modest Mouse -
    Presale: Thursday, March 21, 10 a.m.
    password = THECURRENT

      1. Before I saw your reply I was workshopping a response. Yours, of course, was the correct response.

        1. Side note: it's kind of loony how huge the Black Keys are, right? They're a platinum selling artist whose albums shoot to the top 5. They could legitimately be considered one of the biggest, if not THE biggest current rock bands on earth, and no one I know really listens to them.

          1. The Black Keys are one of my favorite current bands, but it has been years since I've really liked one of their albums.

            Rock is dead. Long live rock!

            1. I've seen the Keys live probably 3 times (1st Ave, State Fair, etc.), but yeah, their more recent albums haven't really grabbed me and I don't think I'd like to experience them at Target Center.

          2. I only checked out one album (something Factory? Factory something?), and was severely underwhelmed. I kept wondering how/why they were so well-received. Just boring, bad blues knockoffs. As far as power duos go, Japandroids >>> The Black Keys

            2. Japandroids are ok but I can't tell the difference between one song to the next. They all sound the same.

              Also, I saw them compared to The Replacements so I think I held them to too high of a standard.

          3. I do like the Black Keys. Don't own any of their music, nor do I seek them out. They are one of the few acts that have made it "big" that I enjoy listening to.

    2. Nostalgia be thy name...

      Ben Folds and Violent Femmes
      Wednesday, August 14, 2019 at 5:00pm
      Surly Brewing Festival Field

      Tix on sale now.

    1. We're in the middle of a blizzard. No idea how much snow we got--the wind is blowing so hard I can't even tell whether it's actually snowing any more or not. We didn't get the 18-20 inches that had been predicted, but whatever we got, it's more than enough.

      2. We've been really rainy here in the Metro, but ten degrees Cooler and we'd have a few feet of snow to deal with (one from last Saturday and another yesterday/today).

      3. The sun has come out now, but it's still a blizzard, because we have 40+ mph winds blowing the snow around. The winds will die down sometime this evening, and tomorrow we start the process of digging out.

        1. The good thing about a March snowstorm is that now that the sun has come out there's already a little melting going on, despite the wind.

    2. We've been really windy today, which is almost unheard of this time of year. Not sure if it's Santa Ana winds or not (depends on the direction), but the Santa Ana winds are typically in the fall and early winter. I hate the winds, mostly because the humidity usually plummets due to the winds usually coming from the High Desert. Combine that with our forced air heat and I have to keep our humidifier on high constantly so my sinuses and itchy skin will be affected as little as possible. This is supposed to be my favorite time of the year for weather. It's usually past the rainy season with little wind and the extreme heat doesn't usually start till July.

    2. spring training for the umps too:

    1. I will miss the August 31 trade deadline. Other than that, not much that's a big deal until 2020, when/if the three-batter minimum rule comes in.

        1. I'm not really a fan of it--I don't like MLB telling teams what their roster construction has to be--but I'm not all that upset about it, either.

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