CBE12 - Lawnmowers for Rakes Part 2

As a second football week peters out, the CBE was given something that we haven't seen since winter ended... Some cooler weather.  The perfect opportunity to drink some of the beers in the #CBE12 mix.  I took full advantage of that.  I was also watching some games while finishing up Part 2 of the newsletter, and most of it was constructed on an iPad, so I hope the formatting isn't completely ridiculous. And I don't know how pictures are going to work on this. I hope well, or at the very least acceptably.

From the trunk of newly minted parents, the first beer on the second part of this newsletter is Smuttynose Pumpkin.  I went through a few of these last season, and as far as pumpkin beers go, this one is interesting because it's not overwhelming.  It's the Oktoberfest of pumpkin beers. Unlike the Weyerbacher and Dogfish Head, you can have a few of them and continue to enjoy football games all day.  A lot of people say pumpkin doesn't taste like anything, and it's the spices that make a good pumpkin beer. To them, I say, pompion tastes like this...

Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale is our homage to the craft and heritage of America’s brewers. Recipes calling for the use of pumpkins in beer date back to early colonial times, when brewers sought to extend their supply of costly imported malt with locally grown ingredients, such as squash and “pompions.”

In that spirit, we brew our ale with the addition of pumpkin to the mash, along with traditional spices to create a delicious American original.

I've had more and more Southern Tier beers of late, and they're good.  Harvest was kind of a gamble. Not a pumpkin, not an Oktoberfest.  I figured it would be a hoppy and malty fall favorite.  It actually tastes a little grapfruity to me. As far as fall seasonals, it definitely leans to the hoppy side.  It's definitely something I'll be keeping an eye out for, as well as other offerings from Southern Tier.  It's a great "change of pace" from some of the other CBE12 selections.

Harvest Ale is our celebration of the changing weather and the sowing of hops and barley that will be used in our upcoming brews. We usher in the fall with a classic English style Extra Special Bitter of the highest order. Deep ruby in color with an even deeper hop flavor… in fact, we throw fresh English hops into every brewing vessel, then dry hop after fermentation to impart a zesty kick. This beer has real hop character that mingles with fresh malted barley for an experience that will make you wish it were fall year ‘round. 

Cisco Pumple Drumkin.  If brewery's websites had any influence on beer ratings, this would be the worst rated beer of all time.  Even worse than the Breckenridge Vanilla Porter.  Luckily for Cisco, Nantucket, and the entire state of Massachusetts, that is not the case.  The website is the worst.  This one tastes like you should melt marshmallows on it and serve it as the sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving dinner. It's definitely full bodied, lots of spices going on, but the spices seem a little more subdued than they do in some of the other pumpkin beers. This one tastes like putting a scoop of pumpkin guts into your yam when your about half way through emptying one out to carve some dopey three toothed face into one.  It also has one of the coolest pumpkin beer labels.

Our Pumple Drumkin Ale is a fall favorite on the island.  A deep orange hue and a subtle pie aroma meet a robust male character in this ale which, true to its seasonal reveling, tastes like toasted pie crust in your mouth.  It will finish clean and dry on the palate and leave you wishing that every day could be autumn on Nantucket!

Uinta makes a black lager called Baba.  As in black sheep.  It comes in cans, and I drank some of it this summer.  It's delicious.  I was kind of hoping that the Philly Brewing Company Schwarzinger was going to be like that.  It is vaguely, but it's admittedly not as good. Oddly, none of the bottles that I've consumed have had any head retention.  They were also kind of oddly tart.  And not as roasty as I was hoping they would be.  It's also new enough that there are not comprehensive ratings on any website to get an idea of how well it's being received.  And the website only says...

A German style black lager brewed with premium pilsner and dark roasted malts.

I really enjoy a lot of PBC beers.  The Newbold IPA is pretty good, the Joe Porter (coffee porter) is a favorite of mine.  The Walt Wit is really great.  I was hoping for more.  Maybe next time.

Enjoy your football, enjoy the weather as it finally gets cool enough to actually enjoy these beers.  Enjoy that CBE12 gave you two newsletters for the price of one.  Keep an eye out for Souther Tier Pumking, Stevens Point Whole Hog Pumpkin and Williamsberg AleWerks Pumpkin Ale.  Those will stand up to any of the pumpkins in CBE12.

CBE 12 - Lawnmowers for Rakes Part 1

Nothing says the end of summer like Labor Day.  A short three day weekend, made even shorter by high levels of traffic, anxiety filled family visits, and rained out barbecues.  In an effort to see how quickly we can forget summer and welcome the annual trade of mowers for rakes, CBE proudly presents the first ever fall seasonal exchange.  Filled with a variety of beers that probably would be best drank a month or two from now, as we ease into cooler temperatures and another horrendous Eagles season.  With no further ado, I introduce the concept of seasonal creep...

Yes, it's not October, there are still a handful of 80 plus degree days in our future, the leaves have not actually fallen yet, so it may be too early for pumpkin beers.  Over the past several weeks though, these pumpkin beers have begun to swamp shelve space in all of my favorite beers stores (ie Wegmans and Whole Foods.)  But if you don't buy them now, they're not going to be around when you actually want to drink them anyway, so just consider the middle of August to be the start of fall, and crank up the AC.  There are actually some good reasons for these beers hitting shelves early, as there are for spring and summer beers creeping into the end of winter.  I weeded through a handful of articles and feedback on the subject, and here are some of the more interesting and thoughtful ones.  From Schlafly, Scranton Times Leader, and some idiot at the New York Village Voice.  That last one's important because there is a quote from a Sixpoint brewer about pumpkin beers being released in July/August not being made with fresh pumpkin.  Duh.  But until Sixpoint makes a pumpkin beer that's even half as good as Dogfish Head's or  Southern Tier Pumking, that's not an appropriate argument for waiting until November or December to release pumpkin beers.  It's interesting to read brewers takes, distributors opinions, and customer feedback on the subject.  The bottom line is that we're going to continue to get seasonal beers earlier and earlier every year, because they get allocated earlier and earlier, which means they're going to be sold out earlier and earlier every year.  Which is awesome... I think.  At least we live in a world where distributors (in this specific case Brewers in Mt Airy) now carry 30 odd seasonal selections from just as many breweries, instead of bringing in Camo Cans of Milwaukees Best to welcome Fall.

#CBEleven - Running Out of Clever #Hashtags

For the first time in CBE History, we went with 8 wild cards.  At the onset, it actually looked like it was going to inexplicably produce the most varied style selection.  A lot of people were grabbing summer seasonals and one-off brews.  But as I sit here diligently entering the names and styles of the brews into the master spreadsheet, which will then be returned to the CBE vault, I see a Pale, a Belgian Pale, a Hoppy Wheat, and two IPAs.  Well, not as varied as initially thought, but at least they're all good ones.

I'm really in the sweet spot for newsletters at eleven.  I know I've missed a few here and there, but I can really just look back to some of the old ones, and it pretty much does the writing for me.  For instance, we've seen a Lost Coast beer before.  The Indica IPA.  They have since changed the artwork for it, as well as the description, and I know that because I documented it in the newsletter for CBE 6.  I don't think we had #hashtags back then, so it was just CBE 6.  I also said this about the website:

This website sucks too.  It’s making me dizzy.  Let me copy this description over for you word for word…

And the website is not very good.  The store is even worse.  But in a CBE first, they have a media kit section on the website.  I don't seriously consider myself media, but I'll go ahead and take advantage of it anyway.

There are probably a reasonable amount of questions as to why I used that picture, and why it looks like it was taken with a camera from the set of Boardwalk Empire.  Well, the media room doesn't have any pictures of Tangerine Wheat, and I don't know.  I just drag and drop, the iMac does the rest.  If it wants it to be weird colors, who am I to complain.  The website does describe it though.

A refreshing citrus ale, Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat combines our Lost Coast Harvest Wheat with natural tangerine flavors. Brewed with a combination of wheat and crystal malts, and finished with Perle hops.

Follow me to the other side to see what my "Hot Take" is...

#CBEX or #CBE10

After I finished the newsletter, but before you start, I formatted a lot of stuff that I copied in this one, so some of it may look weird when I hit publish.  I apologize, I was not really on top of my game for this one.  Also... there are no pictures.  So I'm ok if you only read like three paragraphs and give up.  I understand that.  I would ask that you read the last paragraph, that's kind of interesting.  And here we go...

Sorry so late.  I really got caught up in season 5 of True Blood on Memorial Day.  It kind of soaked up a lot of spare time that I would have otherwise used to write/edit a very popular, semi-quarterly newsletter.  Instead, I can tell you in very much detail the setup of the Vampire government and Religion's impact on it's leadership.  You probably don't want to hear about that.  You probably don't want to hear a long winded introduction about my 8th grade BASIC class either.  But there's nothing I can do about that now.  It's already in print.  I added a little bonus to all of the sections, and added some reviews comments from Untappd.  Untappd is a nerd application that tracks all of the beer you consume.  It's kind of like a Facebook for beer, without all the friends, and much less of the anxiety that comes with whether or not you should write on someone's timeline to wish them a Happy Birthday if you don't typically talk to them very often.  Sometimes, Untappd can make it easier to pick out a six pack, sometimes far more difficult.  And occasionally, the comments can be funny if used in the right context.  I'll let you decide.  And now, on with the show...

When I was in junior high school, we had a computer lab. I was interested in the future and took a class. As it turns out the sole purpose of the class was to teach us BASIC. It's the Latin of computer languages; dead. The teacher seemed very high strung, but I guess at the time there was probably a few hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment in there. I mean, between the dot matrix printers, and the 400 lb monitors, the meandering cords and power cables, it no longer surprises me when I look back and remember shocking myself on a metal folding chair, so as to not ruin the computers which in turn took 15 minutes to power up. Can you still do that? Can you still ruin a computer by shocking it? Anyway... We did stuff like write code to make the computer type our name 100 times and other yes/no games, that type of bullshit. It was dumb. There was this one kid in the class that really got into writing code. He made a pac-man-esque game, and added little design features that always ruined the curve in the class. Kids would crowd around his desk to look at his newest program. It was the early 90's, so no matter how good he was going to get at Basic, the graphics were going to be kind of crummy. The purpose of this meandering intro to let you know that I think that kid created the original design of the Two Brothers Website. 20 years ago.  And they are still using it to this day.  I don't really have anything against Two Brothers, their website is just stupid looking.  Cane and Ebel is a Red Rye Ale, selected by @jdodaro.  The Two Brothers Website insightfully says...

Dry, but with a creamy touch of thai palm sugar and the spicy tang of rye, all balanced by loads of the wackiest new hops we could lay our lands on.  Yep, it's an original.  And that's no sin.

Now, what have we learned.  The above quote from the site was actually in all caps, but I thought it would be less mean if I edited the part about them shouting at you.  We've also learned that their hands are called lands.  It's probably a Chicago thing.  Professional breweries should leave the typographical and grammar errors to the professionals.  Namely me.  They were able to correct that label before it made it to the printers.  I had never had this one before, and it was the first #CBEX selection I tried.  I really liked it, and thought it was better than another rye beer I'm very fond of; Founders Red Rye.

CBE9 - For Those Who Like Holidays and Hops

#CBE9

I like my Christmas music about snow, presents, Santa, and fictional claymation characters.  I like my CBE with IPA's.  So as long as another rendition of "Silent Night" doesn't come on Pandora while I'm typing this, we're all going to be very happy.  The following is a CBE that features 3 first time members, no @Mitch295_ @pppantalones or @G_o_o_d_y, a couple Christmas Ales, a magically nitrogenated bottle, a lot of IPAs, several links to Brewery websites, a potential translation of whatever is written on the Corsendonk site, and an All-Time First: after 9 sanctioned CBE events, a total of 81 beers, we have our first duplicate (which was totally on purpose.)  I think we did pretty good, especially because at one point I didn't think we were going to get this done at all, let alone get back to 8 selections.  Let's get this Holiday/Hoppy #CBE9 started.

Close your eyes.  Never mind, too tough to read that way.  Imagine your eyes are closed, and let me take you back in time.  A simpler time.  It's October 28th 2010, and Volume 1 Issue 1 of the CBE newsletter had just gone to press.  To paint the newsletter picture, at the time I thought we were a bit hop heavy on selections.  We had 4 IPAs.  I chuckle at that now.  This one fell into the middle of the IPA selections that were commented on in that newsletter.  The other one I refer to is Lagunitas Maximus.  You'll also notice I was about 85% less funny...

Halfway through the IPA scroll, we come along another beer that I’ve had in the past, and really loved. @pppantalones’ Bear Republic Racer 5. @pppantalones and @Mitch295_ wanted a CA, bare knuckle, IPA brawl. They picked two of the best, and wanted us to choose what was better head to head. I’ll let the Bear Republic Website put up their argument for Racer 5… This hoppy American IPA is a full bodied beer brewed American pale and crystalmalts, and heavily hopped with Chinook, Cascade, Columbus and Centennial.
There's a trophy in every glass.
· 2009 Great American Beer Festival® American-Style Strong Pale Ale GOLD
· 2009 Colorado State Fair Best of Show
· 2006 Great American Beer Festival® American-Style Strong Pale Ale SILVER

· 2005 Great American Beer Festival® American-Style Strong Pale Ale SILVER

· 1999 Great American Beer Festival® India Pale Ale – GOLD

 

Now although I can’t argue with those awards, I will say that I copied that directly from the website, and the Queens English it is certainly not. I don’t understand why this brewery can’t hire someone to review their descriptions and make corrections to them so they make sense (knowing full well there has to be multiple spelling/grammar errors in my newsletter.) Also, the website had a black background so when I stole the description, I had to learn how to change the color of the font on my Mac. I guess what I’m saying is, advantage @Mitch295_, but I’m looking forward to the actual battle of CA IPAs.

@stavypapa has taken us back to the well.  And since I didn't even have to go to the Bear Republic Website (except to get that hyperlink,) I can enjoy this one much more.

CBE 7 & 1/2 (slash) My @pppantalones Tribute

As mentioned in a previous post, this club has caused some of the polish to come off of my craft beer reputation.  Although I never claimed to know everything, there was a time when I would not be caught off guard about certain releases, events, and news.  You could say that people used to come to me.  I was somewhat of a resource.  It made me feel fairly important.  But that is definitely not the case anymore, and hasn't been for some time.  Sure, I still read a handful of blogs, follow a fair share of breweries on Twitter, and pick up a copy of Philly Beer Scene or Mid Atlantic Brewing News here or there.  But I have fallen behind the curve a little bit.  If there is a specific area where my reach has been outpaced, it's Hops.  This club loves the shit out of them.  Ever since @Mitch295_ scraped enamel off our teeth with some Lagunitas Maximus, we'll take pretty much any kind, from any place.  So much so, that at least two-thirds of the 73 (that's right, I have the number) beers we've devoured have been of the hoppy variety.  In order to not tangent too much, the reason for the background is that I got scooped by @pppantalones about a new Stone release, for a beer called Enjoy By 9.21.12.  I've had a Stone beer here or there.  The Sublimely Self Righteous is one of the best black IPA's ever, their regular pale and IPA are great.  I've had a few of their Vertical Epic Ale series, and they've all been awesome.  They are pretty plentiful in the area, and admittedly, I am guilty of sometimes overlooking them.

So I went on a trip once.  Over a bridge.  To a land that arcane liquor laws forgot.  I'm talking about a place where you can mix and match six-packs, buy individuals bottles, and get access to some breweries that don't even have distribution in PA.  I'm talking about little place called New Jersey.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, from the website, this is what we are dealing with...

Let us present to you a new, devastatingly fresh double IPA. While freshness is a key component of many beers - especially big, citrusy, floral IPAs - we've taken it further, a lot further, in this IPA. You see, we specifically brewed it NOT to last. We've not only gone to extensive lengths to ensure that you'll get this beer in your hands within an extraordinarily short window, we made sure that the Enjoy By date isn't randomly etched in tiny text somewhere on the label, to be overlooked by all but the most attentive of retailers and consumers. Instead, we're sending a clear message with the name of the beer itself that there is no better time than right now to enjoy this IPA.

Completely spearheaded by @pppantalones, and mocked by many, we headed east on the turnpike to try and find this new release from Stone.  Equipped with a map, that was developed through some research on Stone's ridiculously specific Enjoy By website, as well as monitoring some Tweets from the NJ distributor.  Not to ruin the story, or cut it short, but we were fortunate enough to run into some. A lot of it actually.  Enough to share.  And this is the newsletter of those beers.

Enjoy By - Stone, CA.  Double IPA.  Message received.  This is probably one of my favorite beers of all time, and currently being released to different markets all over the US.  The current release (11.09.12) is in Ohio and Colorado.  And has probably been off the shelves there within days of it's release.  I am positive that the next time this beer makes it way east, especially if it ever sees PA, there will be lines, tickets, and long waits.  You'll probably have to take a day off work if you want to get your hands on some.  It's the second coming of Pliny the Younger.  At least it's worth it, and when the CBE had it, you didn't even have to wait in line...

Somebody loves St Louis.  I'm not going to tell you who, but check out some Twitter feeds and I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out.  While in NJ, there were two Schlafly beers picked up.  Their Dry Hopped APA, and Oktoberfest.  I thought they were both very good, and would even go on to say that the APA was exceptional.  Not over the top, but flavorful and hoppy nonetheless.  The Oktoberfest was solid, but nothing crazy.  I know someone who was at the brewery/pub once.  Maybe he can tell you about it in the comments (hint, hint.)

Our Dry Hopped American Pale Ale (APA) is charged with American hops to create a bold, aromatic ale. Assertive hop flavor joins the pine/citrus aroma characteristic of American hops to balance the full body provided by North American malts. After fermentation, the beer circulates through a bed of Cascade and Chinook hops, boosting the distinctive hop aroma of this satisfying ale.
In the long view of the history of beer, American Pale Ale is a newcomer.  Based on English Pale Ale, American brewers adapted this style into something new.  Born out of the reverence English Pale Ales during the 1980’s American beer scene, APA is the bold, hoppier cousin of Pale Ale.  With an emphasis on American hops, APA is gaining popularity with breweries racing to make these ales with such great hop characters.

Couldn't pass this picture up...

Our Oktoberfest is a traditional Bavarian Märzen with a toasty malt aroma and slight caramel taste.  This rich, amber lager is balanced by the use of German noble hops, while the lager yeast ferments cold and slow, creating a smooth, crisp beer.
Märzen, or Oktoberfest, has its origins in Bavaria, most likely before the 16th century.  For public safety and brewing quality concerns, the Bavarian Brauordnung was decreed in 1539, stating that beer could only be brewed from September 29th (Saint Michael) to April 23rd (Saint George).  Over the summer months, beers were stored, or lagered, in caves and stone cellars.  The evolution of Oktoberfest came from the last brews of the year, in March (or Märzen), as these beers would be ready to drink for the Bavarian celebration, “Oktoberfest”.

When I first heard of Gritty McDuff's, it was because they supposedly have a really phenomenal stout.  It's called Black Fly, and it is pretty well renown.  They were at the Winter Beerfest at the Naval Yard about 3 years ago.  No stout.  Then Whole Foods came to town, and they started carrying Gritty's.  I've never seen the Black Fly.  So either they're holding out, or they just refuse to share.  I guess it gets cold in Maine and they want to hold on to it, but is it too much to ask to share a bottle or two.  I digress.  We picked up "Maine's Best IPA."  I've discovered that this probably used to be Gritty's "21 IPA."  Don't ask how I came to that conclusion, but Ba didn't even have enough reviews for a grade for this guy, and the abv's were the same, so let's just go with it.  It was ok.  I didn't not like it, I didn't love it.  And I'm still pissed about the Black Fly Stout.  I will say that for 6.8% abv, the alcohol is hid very well.

Maine's Best IPA is a unique blend of American hops with a British body utilizing English 2-Row Pale malts. This IPA starts with a hoppy aroma and taste; ending with a sweet finish. Plenty of Munich and caramalts are used to give the beer that golden hue. There are fifty-six pounds of Cascade Hops used in each 50 barrel batch that is brewed! Then we finish the beer with Willamette & Warrior Hops, (Warrior is a high-alpha acid variety of hops).

Best for last, and when I say best, I think I mean funniest, because the Enjoy By was easily the best beer in this bunch.  Actually, this one could have given it a run.  I love Great Divide.  I love Yeti.  I've been at their brewery on the outskirts of Downtown Denver, and it is nothing except a great tasting room.  We were having a lot of trouble picking beers to round out the twelve pack were were putting together for this little CBE excursion.  The issue was that we already have access to the large majority of beers in NJ.  So this was a little gamble.  And it evoked this... 

danc ‏@pppantalones

The @greatdividebrew Rumble is so good I'm going to start oak-aging everything else in my fridge.

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3:35 PM - 22 Aug 12 · Details

22 AugGreat Divide Brewing ‏@greatdividebrew

@pppantalones hahah that awesome! #TweetOfTheDay

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That pretty much says it all about this one.  Barrel aging goes one of two ways; perfectly, or overboard.  There doesn't seem to be a middle ground.  And this one is perfect.  If the #TweetOfTheDay wasn't enough, here's the websites summary:

RUMBLE IPA is an American IPA with subtle nuance. Brewed with heavy handed additions of Pacific Northwest hops, this beer is gently aged on French and American oak resulting in a wonderful balance of bitterness, caramel sweetness, vanilla, and undertones of pine and citrus. Very inspiring.

And on that note, I'm putting this one to bed.  Look forward to the CBESummary, which will have all of the beers, BeerAdvocate and RateBeer ratings at purchase, Home State, Brewer, ABV, style and the CBE Member who chose it.  I'll also be putting together some fun facts, because it has the word fun in it.

Spring Forward; Fall Back (to March)

I'm having a hell of a time typing stuff about beer tonight.  As per usual, I'm having a very rough time coming up with something for the intro.  I must have wasted it all on the Exchange that we just had.  Seems I have no more jokes, be they Halloween related, or lateness related, for a CBE that took place in March.  Yep, that March.  2012.  Right before St Patrick's Day.  Right before the weekend where you can walk the streets of Philadelphia, while they are covered in about a foot of crushed Bud Light cans.  Streets lined with college age girls bawling their eyes out; screaming into cell phones for God knows why.  Dudes everywhere, in green shirts, holding green cups, waiting in a line for a port-a-potty that never gets any shorter.  It's kind of like the Walking Dead, except all of the zombies are wearing green and peeing on all kinds of stuff.  Yeah, I was at Erin Express once, and I won't be back.  Barely(wine) made it out alive.  There's your pun.  *pats self on back*

I will note that this particular project had some extra work.  Usually on CBE days, I'm pretty cheery.  Maybe a little anxious, but always cheery.  I seem to always take pictures, write e-mail summaries, produce lists to pass around, and pretty much devote the day to documenting what we have accomplished (I'm using accomplished very loosely.)  This particular Exchange was different.  There must have been something going on that took my eye off the prize.  Maybe it was a Flyers playoff push, maybe a bad hair day... Who Knows?!?  What matters is that after Indiana Jonesing through e-mails, Tweets, and texts for two days, I finally uncovered a list.  A thank you goes out to @pppantalones, who must not have been there and inquired as to what was in the box.  So the records have been completed.  And after much conjecture, the long lost list for #CBE7 has been restored.  Thus, I give you, a newsletter...

Olde Bartholomew - Barleywine - Yards Brewing, PA.  10.5%, and definitely one of the biggest beers we've had.  Great ZZ Top label.  From what I can remember (see; no written evidence,) no one was a big fan of this one.  Pansies.  I'm 100% sure this was my pick.  I stand by it.  I wasn't going to include stuff from websites in this newsletter, but some of the Yards stuff has made me change my mind.  They are witty, and here are some high points...

When Olde Bartholomew^® was around, the times were far from tame. He was a free spirit who bent elbows with the best of ‘em.
This Barleywine-style Ale was brewed for characters like him. It’s an unfiltered ale, a winter warmer with a smooth malt background, soft fruit overtones and a slight hop spice in the finish. Just a few sips are sure to arouse the character in all of us.
FEASTING:
Olde Bart’s strong malt character and high alcohol content pair well with full-flavored
foods such as creamier blue cheeses and non-cavity causing desserts like pecan
pie. We like to enjoy our Olde Bart at a cozy bar with a fireplace while discussing
all of life’s questions. 

I always thought Pecan Pie was a high cause of cavities during the Thanksgiving Holiday, but I am in fact not a doctor of any kind.  Even a dentist.

Flower Power - IPA - Ithaca Brewing, NY.  Although there is no definitive way to know, I believe that @gang_greeny picked this one out.  It was totally through process of elimination that I determined that, and if it's not correct, I apologize.  Either way, this one is decidedly one of the favorites of the group.  I would have to say there's a good chance it would show up in everyones top 5-7 IPA list.  Go ahead, name 7 better ones.  You're not going to be able to do it.  Solid, and an easy go to at the store when you can't figure out what to get.  And also, very trippy...

Availability: Year RoundEnjoy the clover honey hue and tropical nose. Simultaneously Punchy and soothing with a big body and a finish that boasts pineapple and grapefruit. Flower power is hopped and dry-hopped five different times throughout the brewing and fermentation process.

The next selection lives in infamy.  It is one of the all time highly revered beers in CBE lexicon.  I would also like to point out, that even though this one may be credited to @pppantalones, because of sparse records, and rumors of his absence, there is a good change that I also picked this one.  They can't all be winners, but Sixpoint Resin certainly was.  There is a very creepy Blair Witchesque type video on the website.  It describes the story of Resin, hops, life in general, also funny hats.  The truth is, the story is that this beer is almost syrupy with hops, and we all know that's what we're into.  Great name.  Great beer.  Comes in a slim can, and should be marketed as Red Bull for grown ups.

Resin
Whatever flames upon the night.
Man's own resinous heart has fed.
A beer that celebrates the extraction of hop resin for a concentrated yet balanced brew. 

Bengali Tiger - IPA - Sixpoint, NY.  This one is being credited to @Grifo79.  Although the Resin is unanimously great, I haven't always loved Sixpoint beers.  But they've grown on me. The Brownstone is good, the Autumnation and Apollo are awesome.  They come in pounders.  They had a beer called Gorilla Warfare at Whole Foods over Philly Beer Week, and the rep did a really great presentation on all of the beers.  I even like the Crisp.  Bengali is a solid IPA.  It's not my favorite, but when your going to the beach and need to bring beer in giant aluminum cans, I've been known to take these.

Bengali Tiger
What immortal hand or eye. Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
The Sixpoint homebrewed IPA interpretation. Blaze orange in color, with an abundance of citrus hop bitterness, and a full pine and grapefruit bouquet in the aroma.

It should be pointed out now, that I'm having a beer or two while I am doing this, and since I also wrote one last night, I will not be going back to check for typos.  If you have a problem with that, you may want to stop reading.

Hop Rod Rye - Rye Beer - Bear Republic, CA.  Credit to @Mitch295_, this may be the highest rated beer (Ba and Rb combined,) that we've had in CBE.  There are two others that are close, but they are Imperial Stouts, which are alway rated high, so I'm giving the immediate edge to this one.  There is not anything on the website that is inherently funny or creative.  So I will give you this.  When you put a beer into Google, and image search, eventually you get a picture of some idiot that did a video review, or just some guy wearing a t-shirt.  Usually I opt for a picture of the beer, label, bottle/can, etc.  But here are TGOB (two guys on beer.)  I think they are actually Philadelphia central, and probably have a million reviews on their site.  They both really look like they liked the Hop Rod...

Prima Pils - Pilsner - Victory, PA.  This one is being credited to RA.  Again, I apologize.  All documentation of #CBE7 is admittedly sub par.  This is the beer of summer.  Victory is an awesome brewery and can do no wrong in my opinion.  At one point, I think I made a bunch of us go out to Teresa's Next Door for a partial CBE so I could have one of their barrel aged beers.  That was a good idea.  You're welcome.

“I left Downingtown over two years ago and still have dreams about your Sunrise.” — Betty D.

Because @stavypapa mysteriously wanted nothing to do with CBE7, we picked up a mystery guest.  @prepskoolhippie was a wild card, and chose our first Abita beer, the Mardi Gras Bock.  Although it's not a very well rated beer, this selection was greeted with open arms from our CBE brethren.  Meaning that some of us drank it, some of us gave it to our wives, and some of us still have it in the fridge in our garage.  Overall, it wasn't Vag Porter, reviews were mixed, I thought it was pretty good.  I also have never met a beer I didn't like, and would drink said Vag Porter if someone put it in front of me.  I will note that none of those that gave this bad reviews probably had it withe Mexican food as recommended...

Mardi Gras Bock (January – March) is the first of our seasonal brews. Abita Bock is brewed with pale, pilsner and caramel malts and German Perle hops. Our bock is similar to German maibocks with its rich malt flavor and full body. A perfect choice during Carnival season in New Orleans. Gruyére, Emmental and Swiss are nice cheese choices with Bock. Great with roasted beef or pork. Try it with Mexican food, too.

And last, for the last time, we get to our old friend @G_o_o_d_y, who has the most annoying Twitter handle to write.  I only know this next factoid because I have the information in front of me, 50% of the beers he picked while a member of the CBE, were from Colorado.  And now they can have him.  I guess we should have seen the writing on the wall.  Two beers from Avery, one from Great Divide, and then this little number from Boulder.

Released annually in October. Our brewers’ mission to create a satisfying cold weather brew resulted in Never Summer Ale, our version of a more aggressive winter seasonal. Deep ruby red in color, assertively hopped and brewed with dark caramel malt, Never Summer Ale makes even the coldest Colorado peaks seem warm. Never Summer Ale: For the Drinking Town with a Skiing Problem! 

And now David has a skiing problem.  So long, kind sir.  Your love of beer, hockey, and your introduction of UJ's will not be forgotten.  I might have to go get another to toast your move.  Don't worry everyone, the newsletter is over, so the misspellings and grammatical errors will cease.  Safe travels.

Wow, two of these in two days.  You guys are LUCK-E.