/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>17209285
I didn't even realize the old world monks did promotional things like that. From what I read in BLAM, they try to change their recipes as little as possible. That's the kind of thing I'd expect from Spencer.

>>17052646
The classic English styles do get a little love from time to time, but they're still severely underrepresented. Even then, they get butchered frequently. Sierra Nevada has a lot to answer for with what their dogshit excuse for a barleywine has done to the American interpretation of the style.

>>16579127
>literally one of the oldest creations of mankind
>killed off by shitty spiked la croix
nah. Breweries might fail more and shrink, but people will always want some suds and malt.

>>12384257
post your home address :^)

>>12307157
Kinda surprised DFH jumped on the buyout train, considering Sam Calagione's posturing about his brewery being independent. I figured the moderately large craft breweries wouldn't be feeling the pressure as much, so this makes me wonder if Stone or Sierra Nevada are next.

>>11848635
>dark beer
That's a huge category with a lot of variance. I'll describe a few styles.
>russian imperial stouts
The biggest difference is that you'll get a lot more roasty flavors. Think black coffees, dark chocolate, an almost "burnt" flavor. Once you get past that, there's some incredible malt complexity to be had. They do tend to be more heavily hopped (so you'll probably see IBUs in the 60-90 range) than lighter styles, but that's really only to balance out the insane amount of residual sugars that end up floating around in the glass. The style holds up very well to adjuncts and barrel aging, so a lot of American brewers heavily experiment with it. Good starter stouts: Bell's Expedition Stout, Founders Breakfast Stout, SN Narwhal
>Belgian quadrupel
Probably the apex of non-sour Belgian brewing. Some of the most complex and interesting beers are found in this style. Lots of dark fruit, yeast esters, spices, and very well hidden alcohol. Hop presence is generally lite and for balancing purposes only: the yeast and malt are the star of the show here. Plenty of top-tier quads are readily available in the states. Thank the Catholics. Good quads: Rochefort 10, St. Bernardus Abt. 12, Weyerbacher Blasphemy (barrel aged but god-tier if you can find it)
>doppelbock
By far the best of the German lagers. Thick, heavy malt, almost syrupy, yet still has that "clean" lager characteristic. Very bready, sweet, and boozy. Probably the most beginner friendly out of the styles here. Good ones to try are Ayinger, Aventinus, and Troegenator.

There's a lot more, and its a wonderful rabbit hole to go into. Explore!

>>11732368
St. Joseph's Abbey has recently become my favorite Trappist beer producer for their willingness to try new things. Might not be as technically skilled as the Westmalle and Rochefort brewers, but they're still really good.