BEER THREAD!

[Robspierre]

Loaded up on Shiner Blonde for the weekend.

[A Thing of Eternity]

I had a layover in SLC (which had a smoking room... of all places, UTAH has a smoking room?!! Damn, that was nice) and surprisingly there was some craft beer on tap in the airport, can't remember the brewery but the beer was called Polygamy Porter. The waitress had a shirt on that said "I've tried Polygamy" and "Why have just one?".

Awesome, pure awesome. The beer was actually OK too.

[Spicelon]

so glad this thread is still alive! I've recently been getting into a bunch of micro-brews. mainly espresso and coffee porters. so good.

anyone drink Innis&Gunn?

I have Innis&Gunn sometimes, it's a bit sweet for me but a nice ale none the less. I wish it had more oak character though, I've been oaking some homebrews and it comes out excellent, especially in beers that don't have enough hops bitterness.

I'm with you on the porters with coffee, chocolate is also great in dark beer.

I hadn't realized you were a craft-brew nut! If I'm ever out your way we'll have to grab some brews for sure.

I dabble in homebrewing myself and I am a card carrying member of Beer Snobs 101, and proud of it. In general I much prefer English styles (and their American offshoots) to German or Belgian styles. I'm always game for a good hop bomb, but this time of year I just love love love a good stout. Free State Brewery here in Lawrence has an excellent oatmeal stout. Plenty roasty and malty and they really hit their grain bill on the head with the oatmeal additions. Excellent silky smooth mouth feel. In the last year I've really come to love Avery beers out of Colorado and Surly out of Minneapolis. Surly Furious is so good, it amazes they can get near 100 IBU's and still pack in a ton of flavor and body. I've also recently started to appreciate a good lager. Afters years and years of being a yellow beer drinker, once I went to the good stuff I pretty much stayed away from any lagers. But more recently I have come to appreciate a good pilsner or bock.

I know a lot of beer snobs like a good barley wine, but not me. Big beers in general don't impress me. Anything more than 7% or 8% or so and you start getting into something other than beer imo. There's a few big beers I like, but anything so big that you feel the burn, not my bag.

My go to home brew is an all Chinook APA, aka 'Nooky Time APA. It's a real straight forward 2-row recipe with some carapils and a small handfull of roast to bring the lovibond up to around a 10. It's a solid 4 to 5 week ready beer. And I have never bottled in my life, and frankly don't ever care to. A CO2 tank and two corny kegs were well worth the investment to always have my homebrew on tap.

[A Thing of Eternity]

I agree they're generally two different animals, "beer" and "crazy shit the Belgians made" - I love both, but they're different catagories. I'm trying to find more hop-bomb dark beers, not a common style but they're out there.

One big beer style that's pretty much guaranteed to be good is Baltic Porters. Anything that says "Imperial" on it is generally far too sweet for me (even if the bitterness is pushing 100 IBUs), and Barleywine is the same deal, too sweet.

That's part of what I like with braggots (basically a honey beer that's got so much honey it gets to be called half mead for those unfamiliar with the term) and Belgian "big" beers - they don't get all their fermentables from grain, so they end up a lot dryer than their all-grain counterparts.

[Spicelon]

I agree they're generally two different animals, "beer" and "crazy shit the Belgians made" - I love both, but they're different categories. I'm trying to find more hop-bomb dark beers, not a common style but they're out there.

One big beer style that's pretty much guaranteed to be good is Baltic Porters. Anything that says "Imperial" on it is generally far too sweet for me (even if the bitterness is pushing 100 IBUs), and Barleywine is the same deal, too sweet.

That's part of what I like with braggots (basically a honey beer that's got so much honey it gets to be called half mead for those unfamiliar with the term) and Belgian "big" beers - they don't get all their fermentables from grain, so they end up a lot dryer than their all-grain counterparts.

I actually like good, clean beers. Depending on the yeast used (which is ALWAYS an issue with Belgian beers for me), I like a good, clean Belgian Golden Strong beer. The straight up sugar you have to add to get to the desired final gravity really cleans it out. I just can't be arsed with high maintenance with fermentation that many Belgian beers require. Like pitch at 68, gradually ramp up to 80, then crash it in a cooler, etc. Fuck that. Give me a pale ale, some 1056 Wyeast and a 6.5 gallon carboy and I'm good to go.

[A Thing of Eternity]

I just can't be arsed with high maintenance with fermentation that many Belgian beers require. Like pitch at 68, gradually ramp up to 80, then crash it in a cooler, etc. Fuck that. Give me a pale ale, some 1056 Wyeast and a 6.5 gallon carboy and I'm good to go.

Man, you should see the processes I go through for some of my meads! Talk about high maintenance ferments - aeration 2-3 times a day until the 1/3 sugar break, staggered nutrient additions over the same period (with differening levels of different kinds of nutrients from DAP to fermaidK to yeast hulls for different parts of the ferment), trying desperately to control temperature with water baths and ice bottles since I don't have the proper equipment... punching down the cap in melomels, pressing the fruit in melomels...

Then we get into big-braggots, where I have all that high maintenance BS, PLUS all the insanity that comes with beer brewing... good times.

EDIT: The yeast esters are definitely what I love about most belgians, though I can totally see why someone wouldn't like it, hardly tastes like beer at all.

[Freakzilla]

Stolichnaya and pomegranate juice kicks ass.

[SandChigger]

Eeeeeeey. Doesn't that give you, like, terminal runs or lethal gas?

[Freakzilla]

Eeeeeeey. Doesn't that give you, like, terminal runs or lethal gas?

Want to see a picture of my wife?

[SandChigger]

Depends... is this the one again where you made her dress up like a German barmaid?!

[Freakzilla]

Depends... is this the one again where you made her dress up like a German barmaid?!

She wouldn't ever do anything to please me.

I was thinking something more incriminating like her on FB while the children cry hungry in the background.

[Freakzilla]

That happens like three times a day.

[SandChigger]

[slowly backs away until can turn and run...]

[Freakzilla]

OMG my head hurts.

[Omphalos]

OMG my head hurts.

I thought as much. Either from the booze or the car-wreck that came after on FB.

[Freakzilla]

I don't know if I can stand to watch that woman ignore our kids another day. I'm staying at a co-worker's house this week.

[Omphalos]

I don't know if I can stand to watch that woman ignore our kids another day. I'm staying at a co-worker's house this week.

This is coming from the "Omph don't really know shit" place, but she sounds depressed to me, Freak. Things can be done about that, even if the person resists help.

[Freakzilla]

I'm depressed too, but I still get up and go do my job everyday.

She went and got some drugs once but I don't think she's still on them.

[A Thing of Eternity]

It sucks to hear you like this, I don't know shit either (less shit than Omph even) but depression gets dangerous when combined with addiction, which she clearly has. Unless you can do something to rock-bottom her I don't have any ideas... If she won't look at meds and councelling I don't know what your next move is other than a full scale intervention, which is hard because a lot of people don't take stuff like this seriously enough.

I'd offer my couch but I live a little far away!

I used to be in a really extremely shitty relationship that was dragging on for years, took some drastic steps but it was solvable. I'm sure yours is solvable too, but it's probably going to take something really drastic, and frankly it sounds like you want out - which might be the best thing for everyone involved. Like I said though, I don't know shit, only you know what this situation really is and whether it's worth continuing.

I feel for you man, really do. It's not fun to feel that trapped and hopeless, I can't even begin to imagine how children amplify that.

[Freakzilla]

I dont' want out, I just want things to change. If the house was clean and the kids were taken care of I wouldn't give a damn what she did in her spare time.

I think moving out was pretty drastic, don't you?

I think I'm might try to rent a house near my office, give my house back to the bank since I lost all my equity and tell her she's welcome if she's going to start doing her job.

[A Thing of Eternity]

Frankly that sounds about the right amount of drastic to me (I thought it was more of a take a week off to breath, you leaving quasi-permanently might kick start her brain back on so she realizes how serious the situation has gotten and that she needs to improve).

I can't remember how old your youngest is, but does she maybe have time for a part time job? Even if she says she doesn't want one some people seriously need that activity, staying home and taking care of the kids wrecks some people's minds.

I hate to bring my girlfriend into this discussion, but I dread the times when she's off school and unemployed, she goes nuts man. If she had children I think she'd just throw them in a river and get a job instead, (frankly I couldn't handle it either. Not that it isn't hard work to take care of kids and a house, but I don't know if it's the same being employed/in school for everyone. Some people do fine, some don't).

She might complain she has no time, but then find out that the busier she is the more she gets done and the less time she wastes.

EDIT: Kinda like excercise, the more you do it the more energy you have to do it, some people the busier they are the more time they find to do shit. Give me a week to complete a project and I might not do it at all, give me a couple hours and I'll find a way.

I don't know man, I'm just tossing random shit out there in an attempt to say something.

[Omphalos]

I don't have any answers here Freak, but moving out certainly sounds less drastic than letting the bank take the home and kicking her (and kids) out, so do what you need for space, but don't screw everyone else in the family over. You do that and you will probably have more psychological baggage on your plate to deal with then what family unrest causes. If you don't want out of the marriage then you probably should think about less drasitc things to do that don't cause more direct damage. But I hear that you are depressed too. First thing's first, get some mental health counseling and consider what the therapist/proscriber tells you to do.

As someone who has been through a divorce and who has handled divorces for lots of other people I can tell you without a doubt that its the things that you do that bother you the most later, not the things that an angry or lazy spouse does to you. So my advice is to try to change what you can, and see once that gets going if you still want to stay. If you do, then you can work on getting some movement out of her. But in the meantime if there is any boat rocking to do, let her do it, not you. The idea is to do what's best for you and your family, and if she doesn't want to be part of that anymore, let her go with the least amount of distress to your kids. Try not to feed into it yourself, which usually only makes it rougher for children.

You also should not give in to temptation to air dirty laundry on FB. That ain't gonna help you keep things together. I get that it's tough living with her, but publicly airing stuff like that will make it harder for you in the future then just bitching to her or family members about it now.

Once you get started on yourself, then you can start with her. Sounds to me like she needs some counseling, addiction treatment, happy pills (prescribed only) and maybe some help from a liftestyle consultant; like someone who is good with scheduling and routine maintenance. Your healthcare provider or employer can help with this, even the last one. Honeywell is a giant company and probably has all kinds of employee perks like this. Check with HR or an employee perks web page and Ill bet something is there. If you have not got employee sponsored health care (and I think you do) then there are public options, especially in a big city like Atlanta.

[A Thing of Eternity]

Omph has a lot better advice than I do, I agree with him - I should have said moving out sounded like the right amount of drastic to me, not really the whole house thing, as tempting as that must be I can only see it doing damage. Best case scenario I see coming out of that is that she promises to change, moves in and then everything goes back to what it was before. And that's seriously the best thing I can see coming out of that.

[Freakzilla]

Yeah, the FB ranting was wrong but I was drunk and needed to vent.

I wouldn't just leave the kids without a place to live, I'd find another place first. That was just something I was thinking about.

Thanks, y'all.

[Eyes High]

I hope things are getting better for you. I know you've said you've done this but talking WITH eachother and not trying to lay blame on eachother is another important thing to do. I wish you the best for your sake, the sake of your kids, and her sake.

I know you love her, I just wish I had the right answer for you.