UFO is a Hefeweizen, which is a wheat beer, but of German origin. They are similar to Belgian wits, but different at the same time Harpoon's UFO is a pretty good example of an American Hefeweizen.
not a witbier, but on the topic of wheat beers....but.....man, if anyone is considering shiner hefeweizen, save your money.......i tried it a couple weeks ago cause it was affordable.....its drinkable, but still very mediocre. had blanche de chambly last night. its translucent, but i couldn't see through it......also had maudite, don de dieu, and hofbrau maibock.....all were great, of course! but i didnt realize the maibock was almost as strong as the maudite....i ended up getting pretty buzzed, really....
I have a little cash saved up for some oxy's and turns out I might have a little more, so Im going white ale exploring tonight, I will post tonight what I end up getting, I still have two great ones at home that have gone unnamed on here so far....
not really, i think marketing often says a lot. saying "try this with something added" is like saying "this beer isn't good enough on it's own" which isn't to say the beer ISNT great on its own, but to me if a company doesnt stand behind its product as is, then i'm less inclined to try it. even miller and budweiser try to make it sound like their beer is the best on earth, and that it's great. their marketing works because people buy into it. but this beer is swill. when a better brewery markets their beer as needing something extra, they imply it doesn't stand alone very well. of course what i need to take into account is that marketing is all bullshit....but then again, it works because it DOES convey particular messages. its not going to make up my mind, but it can influence a decision. no one is above being influenced by marketing entirely. i trust you. it may very well be great. tons of people love it, it's done very well for itself, and it generated interest in making other great beers in a similar style. however everyone has different tastes, and in the past relayer's suggestions and taste have impressed me. him saying it's not that great may not mean that i wont like it, but i take people's suggestions into consideration when i respect their viewpoints. for example, my father doesn't like lambics and fruit beers....but i tried lindeman's kriek lambic, and i loved it (though it was way too expensive, imo) all this said, i have vast respect for your opinions on the matter, too, and take them into account when you make suggestions. so really, i guess what it boils down to is that i have pretty much nothing to go on except popularity and high ratings for the beer. i'll try it, i'm sure. i'll try it when i get to it, though. i've never claimed to be a beer expert or know much of anything about witbiers, and i've never claimed to have had grade-a examples of witbiers. i'm very sheltered in regards to this style, and am more familiar with other styles. but i do love blanche de chambly even if it isn't the best representation; it's still a wonderful brew.
Here are my BA reviews. I wrote my first review in over two years just a couple nights ago. I plan on getting back to it on a regular basis. I have only reviewed 60 beers, which isn't even a fraction of the number of beers I have tried, but I plan on adding a lot more in the coming months. http://beeradvocate.com/user/beer_reviews?user=TagoMago
I go to beeradvocate to check out beers before I try them usually, pretty sweet site. I had a young's old nick last night cause I was a quarter short for a samuel smith lol, it was pretty good for a higher alcohol beer. I liked it a lot actually. I've never tried any other barley wine ales though...
I love barley wines, like Gnarley Wine, shit is awesome. I havent had some in a minute, I might pick one up tonight
If you like barley wines, give sami claus a try. Its brewed one day a year,(every december 2nd i think) Then aged atleast a year prior to serving. At 14.7 % , it was at one time the strongest beer in the world. Also relayer, since your in and around philly, make your way over to Ludwigs garten, or monks cafe, or eulogy, that is if you haven't already. these places have some of the best german and belgian beers in the world on draft. Monks was the first place in the u.s. to get chimay on draft.
Samichlaus is actually a strong German doppelbock, though the potency is right up there with some of the strongest barleywines. Here is my BA review of this beer: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/285/776/?ba=TagoMago
I've been to Monks, Philly has a lot of good places Alright, here's what I got tonight, and I am currnetly disable from thinking rationally because of my oxy's, so when I went to the pub I had to hold my baby so I didnt feel like taking forever to look around and pick something good (I really only saw the usualy white ales) and this is not really a white ale, but it is belgian, so here it goes : N'ice Chouffe "This deep dark winter warmer is rich in taste, spicy, full of complex fruity, berrylike, vinous flavors that are complimented by malt overtones." Blah blah blah so on and so forth, it rambles on about the history of brewing it in the winter and being from a forest in Belgium, but I like it so far, I only had a few sips straight from the bottle since I have no clean glasses lying around. I would say it's worth the 10$ bills.
your right rat, it is a doppelbock, i just get it confused because it does have a lot of barley wine qualities. Theres a bar here that gets it on draft, but will only serve you 2 maximum. And relayer, the n*ice chouffe is a pretty good beer, They also make mc chouffe and la chouffe (my favorite of the 3) And i thinkthat they are getting ready to import a new product to the states, that is if they haven't already.
you should be, its a great beer. Its the perfect beer to start with. you won't want to drink an entire sixer of, but one or two does your body good.
i'm no expert, but i'm far from a "beginner" also no stranger to higher alcohol beers...some of my favorites are 9-10.5%ABV, whereas la chouffe is only 8%....i think i can handle it..... anyroad, i finally got around to trying hoegaarden last night. very good, tremendously enjoyable. i can see what got them to where they are today. i will definitely get it again at some point. but i wouldn't say its in my top 5....maybe not even top 10, i'm not sure....
i did not mean that you wouldn't be able to handle it. I meant that you probably would want to switch to a different beer after a couple. Its almost like drinking perfume, its better in smaller quantities imo
i dunno, it depends on what kind of mood i'm in and such....also cooler weather calls for stronger beer, if you ask me, and its chilly and rainy right now....but it may heat up again before fall really actually sets in. but there have been nights when i drank two or three 75cl bottles of the stronger unibroue offerings....however i tend to just drink one then switch to something less expensive, because once i start becoming intoxicated, its harder to appreciate the intricacies of craft beers. better yet i like two shots of liquor before starting in on one of the big bottles of strong stuff....then i just need the one bottle of beer.....sometimes just the one bottle is enough, too, though.......... like i said, it all depends. hell, sometimes a 12oz serving of normal beer is enough.
i really like beeradvocate.com. haven't written any reviews yet, but it has helped me find some high quality brews that you can't find in your normal package store...plus the site also lists all the good places to get great beer on tap, unfortunately, i haven't had the chance to get to all of them quite yet, but looking forward to it. i've had hoegaarden witbier once, and it was from the tap in montreal. it was very enjoyable. my friends liked it when i let them have a sip, usually they don't like what i get. they still buy loads and loads of bud light and such. but they did enjoy it.
