Not to be whiny, but can we just cut Richie Martin loose already?

[DrungoHazewood]

11 minutes ago, Enjoy Terror said:

No argument there. IPAs are a money maker. Everyone's got five, and a lot of breweries aren't that good at making them. So many brand new breweries in the area are really just home brewers who dunked their 401K into a professional venture so they don't have to push paper for the rest of their lives. People with no concept of how to brew on a large scale. 

Was in Black Flag last weekend. Usually pretty good beers, they had two on tap that were undrinkable-- a soapy tasting IPA and a porter that tasted like boozy maple syrup with Splenda. Was in Full Tilt in Towson last month-- an entire menu of average-to-bad beers. BC Brewing in Hunt Valley-- 24 taps of barely interesting beer. Tall Tales in Ocean City with some obscenely bitter hazy IPAs. 

I've been to 32 breweries in Maryland. I've seen it all. My recommendation is that the flagship beers are always great. Loose Cannon is quality no-frills IPA that won't blow up your skirt but always delivers. Dogfish Head 60 minute-- best IPA on the east coast. Diamondback Green Machine is the best hazy IPA in the Baltimore area. RAR and Burley Oak rarely make bad beer. 

Oh, and Richie Martin will follow Joey Rickard's career. Give the Orioles two or three frustrating years of up and down performance riding a shuttle to Norfolk.

 

I'm going to be in Germany and Austria for a few weeks, and that's my beer wheelhouse.  Talk about breweries that don't make anything bad... I've never had a bad Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, Spaten/Franziskaner, Hofbräu, Augustiner, or Löwenbräu (at least over there - the US imports don't always survive the journey).  Plus I love, love, love Ayinger, and Andechts monastery is top-notch.  I'll take a malty Dunkle or a traditional Weißbier over an IPA every day of the week.

Ayinger makes a Kellerbier which is an unfiltered, hoppier Weißbier that is excellent, but they're not out to see how many hops they can squeeze in the vat.

[Enjoy Terror]

Just now, DrungoHazewood said:

I'm going to be in Germany and Austria for a few weeks, and that's my beer wheelhouse.  Talk about breweries that don't make anything bad... I've never had a bad Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, Spaten/Franziskaner, Hofbräu, Augustiner, or Löwenbräu (at least over there - the US imports don't always survive the journey).  Plus I love, love, love Ayinger, and Andechts monastery is top-notch.  I'll take a malty Dunkle or a traditional Weißbier over an IPA every day of the week.

Ayinger makes a Kellerbier which is an unfiltered, hoppier Weißbier that is excellent, but they're not out to see how many hops they can squeeze in the vat.

Germany (and Europe in general) have a different beer culture. Americans want the next best thing all the time. If it's not new it's not interesting. Europeans have not embraced "craft beer" the same way. German breweries have been making the same beers the same way for centuries. It's not better or worse, it's apples to oranges. Limited ingredients and consistent brewing practices over long stretches of time will yield the same great beer all the time; and they love it that way. A lot of people do. American brewing culture just doesn't have that luxury.

[bobmc]

On 7/24/2019 at 9:47 AM, Enjoy Terror said:

No argument there. IPAs are a money maker. Everyone's got five, and a lot of breweries aren't that good at making them. So many brand new breweries in the area are really just home brewers who dunked their 401K into a professional venture so they don't have to push paper for the rest of their lives. People with no concept of how to brew on a large scale. 

Was in Black Flag last weekend. Usually pretty good beers, they had two on tap that were undrinkable-- a soapy tasting IPA and a porter that tasted like boozy maple syrup with Splenda. Was in Full Tilt in Towson last month-- an entire menu of average-to-bad beers. BC Brewing in Hunt Valley-- 24 taps of barely interesting beer. Tall Tales in Ocean City with some obscenely bitter hazy IPAs. 

I've been to 32 breweries in Maryland. I've seen it all. My recommendation is that the flagship beers are always great. Loose Cannon is quality no-frills IPA that won't blow up your skirt but always delivers. Dogfish Head 60 minute-- best IPA on the east coast. Diamondback Green Machine is the best hazy IPA in the Baltimore area. RAR and Burley Oak rarely make bad beer. 

Oh, and Richie Martin will follow Joey Rickard's career. Give the Orioles two or three frustrating years of up and down performance riding a shuttle to Norfolk.

 

I got a six pack of Dogfish Head Sea Quench Ale Session Sour ($10+) and boy was I underwhelmed.  Lime juice, lime peel, black limes and sea salt were sour for sure and no beer taste that my aging taste buds could discover.  I'll have to give the rest to my "young friends" in their thirties.  What is this 60 minute DH of which you speak?

btw - agree with Drungo on the Euro beers in Austria and Germany.  Any small town has a brewery and they are all suitable to my taste.  The bottled versions do not compare.

Ricky is playing tonight with Jace on the pine!

[ScGO's]

Let us remember how bad Santandar was in his Rule V year.  I love Richie's glove, especially after having to watch Tim Beckham and Manny Machado play it the past 2 seasons.  I really think he needs to bunt at least once a game, especially if there are runners on base and less than 2 outs; that, and study pitchers so he can lear to work counts.  I think he can be a solid place holder for the next 2 seasons if he can learn to bat well enough to get a .300+ OBP.

[Enjoy Terror]

2 hours ago, bobmc said:

What is this 60 minute DH of which you speak?

You can find it in most bars. It’s a fantastic IPA.

[LA2]

5 hours ago, ScGO's said:

Let us remember how bad Santandar was in his Rule V year.  I love Richie's glove, especially after having to watch Tim Beckham and Manny Machado play it the past 2 seasons.  I really think he needs to bunt at least once a game, especially if there are runners on base and less than 2 outs; that, and study pitchers so he can lear to work counts.  I think he can be a solid place holder for the next 2 seasons if he can learn to bat well enough to get a .300+ OBP.

What brewery makes Santander?

Infielder's glove on bad hops?--What a great idea!

[LA2]

On 7/24/2019 at 11:05 PM, DrungoHazewood said:

I'm going to be in Germany and Austria for a few weeks, and that's my beer wheelhouse.  Talk about breweries that don't make anything bad... I've never had a bad Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, Spaten/Franziskaner, Hofbräu, Augustiner, or Löwenbräu (at least over there - the US imports don't always survive the journey).  Plus I love, love, love Ayinger, and Andechts monastery is top-notch.  I'll take a malty Dunkle or a traditional Weißbier over an IPA every day of the week.

Ayinger makes a Kellerbier which is an unfiltered, hoppier Weißbier that is excellent, but they're not out to see how many hops they can squeeze in the vat.

What, no love for the Erdingers?

[DrungoHazewood]

12 hours ago, bobmc said:

btw - agree with Drungo on the Euro beers in Austria and Germany.  Any small town has a brewery and they are all suitable to my taste.  The bottled versions do not compare.

You can't beat going to a German beer hall and seeing them tap the wooden keg with a mallet.

[DrungoHazewood]

6 hours ago, LA2 said:

What, no love for the Erdingers?

Nothing wrong with Erdinger at all.  But when you've been to brunch at the Ayinger Braueri and they pour the Zwickelbier straight out of the fermentation vat into your mug... that's going to be top of the heap.

[DrungoHazewood]

6 hours ago, LA2 said:

What brewery makes Santander?

Infielder's glove on bad hops?--What a great idea!

Some baseball player has to replace some of the padding in their glove with some good hops.  For the good hops. That's one superstition I could get behind.

[LA2]

7 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Nothing wrong with Erdinger at all.  But when you've been to brunch at the Ayinger Braueri and they pour the Zwickelbier straight out of the fermentation vat into your mug... that's going to be top of the heap.

OK, that's going on the list for my upcoming trip (if it happens)!

[jtschrei]

Martin's July totals: 

.233 AVG, .283 OBP, .302 SLG, .585 OPS

I mean. It's not ideal, but it's improving. Can I see .250, 300 OBP, and 650 OPS next year?  If I put on my Kool-aid glasses, yes. 

[TheOtherRipken]

On 7/25/2019 at 7:44 PM, bobmc said:

I got a six pack of Dogfish Head Sea Quench Ale Session Sour ($10+) and boy was I underwhelmed.  Lime juice, lime peel, black limes and sea salt were sour for sure and no beer taste that my aging taste buds could discover.  I'll have to give the rest to my "young friends" in their thirties.  What is this 60 minute DH of which you speak?

btw - agree with Drungo on the Euro beers in Austria and Germany.  Any small town has a brewery and they are all suitable to my taste.  The bottled versions do not compare.

Ricky is playing tonight with Jace on the pine!

I’d argue Sea Quench is really good, but Dogfishhead is known for and became famous for their IPA(s).  Also everything tastes better at the brewery, very worth checking out.

[Enjoy Terror]

On 7/15/2019 at 5:21 PM, jerios55 said:

I'd still rather Martin improves/gets ABs then sign alcides Escobar again (I dont see stats so I'm assuming he's out there).  

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/08/white-sox-release-alcides-escobar.html

[atomic]

On 7/24/2019 at 10:05 AM, DrungoHazewood said:

I'm going to be in Germany and Austria for a few weeks, and that's my beer wheelhouse.  Talk about breweries that don't make anything bad... I've never had a bad Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, Spaten/Franziskaner, Hofbräu, Augustiner, or Löwenbräu (at least over there - the US imports don't always survive the journey).  Plus I love, love, love Ayinger, and Andechts monastery is top-notch.  I'll take a malty Dunkle or a traditional Weißbier over an IPA every day of the week.

Ayinger makes a Kellerbier which is an unfiltered, hoppier Weißbier that is excellent, but they're not out to see how many hops they can squeeze in the vat.

You can get an unfiltered Paulaner at the brewery.  I was staying at a hotel in Munich and was trying to meet up with my cousins who live there and spotted a beirgarten down the street on Google maps.  Told my cousins the address and they were like that is the Paulaner Brewery. 

We don't get the Augustiner here that they sell in Munich.  Great stuff.  Best thing about the Bavarian beers is they come in 1 liter servings and they are all natural.  Nothing like drinking beer outside under big trees. 

Problem with IPA's is you can't sit around drinking IPAs all day they are too strong and now it is a game to see who can make the hoppiest.  I feel most IPAs are worse than beers like Miller Lite.  It is the equivalent of pouring a ton of salt into food.  At a certain point all you taste is salt.   With most IPAs all you taste is the Hops.  

Plus you go to some place that has 60 beers on tap and 55 of them are IPAs. How boring is that.  Go to a huge in Germany and they have maybe 4 beers on tap:  A helles, a dunkel a weisbeir and a dunkel weisbeir. But you know what you get is going to be good. 

Also I love Bavaria.  Did some hike up a mountain and you would think there would be nothing up at the top but there were 3 beirgartens and a bunch of goats.  Went to a castle in Salzburg, Austria and there were three places selling beer inside the castle.  

Anyway I will be in Belgium next week.  I am looking forward to drinking a lot of beer there as well.