Beer

[Slaky]

So, anyway, turns out that I'm going to get the chance to buy some Westvleteren XII.  Yes, that Westvleteren XII.

Which is nice.

When you're here this summer forget Big Star and Danny's - we'll go to a craft beer bar.

Also, I ganked a bottle of KBS from my brother's cellar (which is fucking loaded with awesomeness).

HAYMARKET!

I need to spend some more quality time at Haymarket for sure.

[Tonker]

So, anyway, turns out that I'm going to get the chance to buy some Westvleteren XII.  Yes, that Westvleteren XII.

Which is nice.

Congratulations. How does that work, you go on a waiting list?

Apparently, the brewery needs a refurbishment, so they're releasing 93,000 cases of six bottles (plus two glasses) for public sale - around 8,000 of which will find their way to the US, by the way.  My local wholesaler has started a list, and I signed up on the first day, so fingers crossed I'll get one.  It'll cost me over €30, but save me a round-trip to the French border.

[Tonker]

So, anyway, turns out that I'm going to get the chance to buy some Westvleteren XII.  Yes, that Westvleteren XII.

Which is nice.

When you're here this summer forget Big Star and Danny's - we'll go to a craft beer bar.

Also, I ganked a bottle of KBS from my brother's cellar (which is fucking loaded with awesomeness).

Cool, athough I'm not sure why Big Star, Danny's and a craft beer bar have to be mutually exclusive...

Never heard the term "ganked" before, by the way, but I'll sure as hell be using it from now on.  Is it similar to "yoink"?

[Slaky]

So, anyway, turns out that I'm going to get the chance to buy some Westvleteren XII.  Yes, that Westvleteren XII.

Which is nice.

When you're here this summer forget Big Star and Danny's - we'll go to a craft beer bar.

Also, I ganked a bottle of KBS from my brother's cellar (which is fucking loaded with awesomeness).

Cool, athough I'm not sure why Big Star, Danny's and a craft beer bar have to be mutually exclusive...

Never heard the term "ganked" before, by the way, but I'll sure as hell be using it from now on.  Is it similar to "yoink"?

Indeed it is.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

So, anyway, turns out that I'm going to get the chance to buy some Westvleteren XII.  Yes, that Westvleteren XII.

Which is nice.

Can you get a bottle of St. Bernardus 12 and give us a side-by-side comparison?

[Tonker]

So, anyway, turns out that I'm going to get the chance to buy some Westvleteren XII.  Yes, that Westvleteren XII.

Which is nice.

Can you get a bottle of St. Bernardus 12 and give us a side-by-side comparison?

I can do that for you right now.  They're both fucking delicious.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Also... A handy Bavarian lager guide for Yeti...

For future reference, I have attached below the München Helles Chart.  It is irrefutable :

Augustiner > Ayinger > Andechser > Paulaner > Hofbräu > Everything Else > Spaten.

With qualification:

To be fair to BH, pretty much any Münchener Helles is better than more or less any other lager beer that you can come up with, so Spaten is by no means a bad beer - it's just that Müncheners have so many other really *great* beers to choose from that almost nobody drinks it.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with Franziskaner Weizen at all - it's excellent... but it does give you the two-bob-bits if you drink enough of it.  My poor, tortured ricker endured the morning after one too many nights on the dunkelweiss when I first arrived in München, and I've been wary of it ever since.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Also also...

What's wrong with Aprihop? It's pretty good, too.

I can officially confirm that Aprihop is not good beer.

It doesn't taste much like apricots at all...

[Tonker]

Also... A handy Bavarian lager guide for Yeti...

For future reference, I have attached below the München Helles Chart.  It is irrefutable :

Augustiner > Ayinger > Andechser > Paulaner > Hofbräu > Everything Else > Spaten.

With qualification:

To be fair to BH, pretty much any Münchener Helles is better than more or less any other lager beer that you can come up with, so Spaten is by no means a bad beer - it's just that Müncheners have so many other really *great* beers to choose from that almost nobody drinks it.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with Franziskaner Weizen at all - it's excellent... but it does give you the two-bob-bits if you drink enough of it.  My poor, tortured ricker endured the morning after one too many nights on the dunkelweiss when I first arrived in München, and I've been wary of it ever since.

I completely endorse everything that Tonker said.

[Slaky]

Also also...

What's wrong with Aprihop? It's pretty good, too.

I can officially confirm that Aprihop is not good beer.

It doesn't taste much like apricots at all...

Pen is the most confusing Internet person.

[PenPho]

Also also...

What's wrong with Aprihop? It's pretty good, too.

I can officially confirm that Aprihop is not good beer.

It doesn't taste much like apricots at all...

Pen is the most confusing Internet person.

It's part of my mystique.

[PenPho]

beermenus.com is a great site but if they would come out with an app that lets the user search from their location by beer that would be perfection.

Say you're on Chicago and Franklin and you're craving a Zombie Dust. Just open up the app, the phone locates you, search for the beer by name and the app loads up any bar within X miles that has the beer.

Why isn't this a thing?

So, actually this is a thing, but I haven't found a really good version of it yet.

BrewCloud has coverage in a lot of the East coast, but sucks for the Midwest and West.
BrewGene has decent coverage, but their beer inventory is pathetic.
Beer Hero apparently does this as well, though I've never used it ($1.99)

Also, The Beer Mapping Project doesn't have an app, but they do have a mobile friendly website. It lists every location for beers in the specified city and has all the contact information, but doesn't have their beer selection.  So, presumably you could call or just stop in and see. 

I'm going to continue my quest for the perfect solution to this dilemma, but let me know if you find anything that works great.
So, presumably you can call each place

[Slaky]

So this is opening soon: http://chicago-pipeline.com/2012/02/02/holy-galaga-emporium-arcade-bar-coming-this-spring-to-wicker-park/

[PenPho]

So, anyway, turns out that I'm going to get the chance to buy some Westvleteren XII.  Yes, that Westvleteren XII.

Which is nice.

So, as it turns out, Westvleteren is actually releasing ~7,000+ (numbers greatly vary) cases to be distributed worldwide, for the first time ever.  

Rampant speculation across the interwebs about how much will get to the states and where they will end up.

Just a heads up.

Head's up?
Heads' up?

JUST FUCKING LOOK FOR IT.

[Tonker]

So, anyway, turns out that I'm going to get the chance to buy some Westvleteren XII.  Yes, that Westvleteren XII.

Which is nice.

So, as it turns out, Westvleteren is actually releasing ~7,000+ (numbers greatly vary) cases to be distributed worldwide, for the first time ever.  

Rampant speculation across the interwebs about how much will get to the states and where they will end up.

Just a heads up.

Head's up?
Heads' up?

JUST FUCKING LOOK FOR IT.

Hello?

So, anyway, turns out that I'm going to get the chance to buy some Westvleteren XII.  Yes, that Westvleteren XII.

Which is nice.

Congratulations. How does that work, you go on a waiting list?

Apparently, the brewery needs a refurbishment, so they're releasing 93,000 cases of six bottles (plus two glasses) for public sale - around 8,000 of which will find their way to the US, by the way.  My local wholesaler has started a list, and I signed up on the first day, so fingers crossed I'll get one.  It'll cost me over €30, but save me a round-trip to the French border.