Recommended: Delirium Ales

[MNSnowman]

While I'm still sitting here wondering why I can't sleep (I think that Starbucks mocha wasn't decaf as requested), I'll make another recommendation: Delirium Belgian Ale. They have two that I've tried so far:



Delirium Noel (soon to be retired, I'm sure); and,
Delirium Tremens (gotta love that name, eh?)

Both are higher in alcohol content (around 9-10%) and served in a snifter rather than a pint-sized glass. And both are meant to be sipped rather than quaffed and savored rather than gulped.

They're very, very good. Locally, the Groveland Tap has Noel on tap right now but is supposed to revert back to D. Tremens shortly. You can find reviews for both at BeerAdvocate.com

[bigtenchamps1899]

MNS living the big life. what does that cost you like 8 bucks?

[MNSnowman]

Yep, that's about the price. And it's another reason why you sip it rather than chug it. ;)

I don't drink beers or wine for the buzz as much as for the taste ... often a matter of quality over quantity in my (very subjective) view.

But I'll also point out that Trader Joe's has a great and inexpensive table red that often graces our table: Charles Shaw Shiraz ($3.99/bottle) So what I save on a table red will help defray the cost of the occasional Delirium ale. :)

[Roy Christensen]

Sign of the times: Two Buck Chuck costs $3.99.

[bigtenchamps1899]

Yep, that's about the price. And it's another reason why you sip it rather than chug it. ;)

I don't drink beers or wine for the buzz as much as for the taste ... often a matter of quality over quantity in my (very subjective) view.

But I'll also point out that Trader Joe's has a great and inexpensive table red that often graces our table: Charles Shaw Shiraz ($3.99/bottle) So what I save on a table red will help defray the cost of the occasional Delirium ale. :)

i hear you. my favorite brew pub (gooose island) has their burban county stout for ten bucks! i can't justify that to the wife so i stick to the IPA. there is a hop shortage currently which has affected the prices of hoppy ales in the wrong way, so i have been forced to buy less hoppy beers.

my motto: cheap wine and expensive beer.

[Jim V2]

my motto: cheap wine and expensive beer.

Nah. Great wine is one of the joys of life. Cheap wine is a waste of money and brain cells, and at my age I can't afford to waste any of the latter. :)

If you're careful and do your homework, you can can buy pretty darn good wine for around $10 a bottle

Honestly, I don't really comprehend why someone who has the taste to appreciate great beer--and it sounds like you do--would waste a dime on wine that you found vastly inferior. But the cheap stuff sells, so clearly lots of people don't see it the way I do.

[Rouser]

Both the Muddy Pig and the Bulldog (now open in lowertown Saint Paul) serve Delirium...or at least, they usually do.

I enjoy most Belgian's and Delirium is a solid choice. Try a Saison (variety, not a brand)...very nice.

[bigtenchamps1899]

wine tastes as good as you want it to-link (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-9849949-39.html)

another study (http://www.accessatlanta.com/dining/content/shared/money/stories/clark/0706/080125consumer.html), i dont know if it was the same one or not, said that people prefered the $5 wine to the $90 wine.

wine is basically a very simple process of crushing grapes, the only ingredient, and fermenting them. the only thing that can vary the flavor of the wine is the type of grapes (an the type of barrel has a factor in the taste). a lot of the "napa" wines that you buy in the store are made with a majority of lodi grapes, which doesn't have the same terroir as napa grapes--but people dont notice.

where as beer can be made in hundreds of different ways by varying the, almost unlimited, ingredients, using different types of hops and more of them, different types of grains, fermented with different yeasts at shorter or longer times and different temperatures.

i do appreciate the taste of wine, but i prefer to let my taste buds to remain ignorant of expensive wines, and let the power of suggestion rule my taste buds:D

[Frink]

I haven't had a Delerium for a long, long time. Thanks for the reminders Snow!

[Moonlight]

Yes, I've had Delerium at the Muddy Pig, and I think the Happy Gnome may have it as well - they have a nice selection. It really begs to be sipped and costs no more than a decent glass of wine.
Anyone been to the new Bulldog downtown St. Paul? Rouser? - I know you're knowledgeable about my side of town. I was waiting for the hype to die down a bit and then have been too busy to get there. Same menu?

[Jim V2]

wine tastes as good as you want it to-link (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-9849949-39.html)

another study (http://www.accessatlanta.com/dining/content/shared/money/stories/clark/0706/080125consumer.html), i dont know if it was the same one or not, said that people prefered the $5 wine to the $90 wine.

wine is basically a very simple process of crushing grapes, the only ingredient, and fermenting them. the only thing that can vary the flavor of the wine is the type of grapes (an the type of barrel has a factor in the taste). a lot of the "napa" wines that you buy in the store are made with a majority of lodi grapes, which doesn't have the same terroir as napa grapes--but people dont notice.

where as beer can be made in hundreds of different ways by varying the, almost unlimited, ingredients, using different types of hops and more of them, different types of grains, fermented with different yeasts at shorter or longer times and different temperatures.

i do appreciate the taste of wine, but i prefer to let my taste buds to remain ignorant of expensive wines, and let the power of suggestion rule my taste buds:D

1. Lots of people who know very little about wine publish articles. Know your sources.

2. Wine quality is correlated with price, but it's far from a perfect correlation. Having said that, I've led wine tours around the country and I've never seen any $5 wine that has any type of complexity, and most are just bad. I would also have no problem finding a $90 wine that's bad, too.

3. The biology of wine tasting (or beer tasting) is quite complex, and different people are physiucally able to taste different things in wine. Thus 2 people could have pretty different reactions to the same wine, and they're both right. (Moral: trust your own palate.) Some people may prefer cheap "nothing" wine, but then some people can't distinguish glass from diamonds. And some people have an affinity for anything sweet, so would prefer white zinfandel over well made wine, and like kool-aid better than iether. That's fine, but it doesn't mean that kool-aid and white zin are better.

4.You're wrong about the factors that go into wine flavors. Extraction, yeast, soil, ripeness, etc are all important. ANd if you know of Lodi grapes going into Napa wine, report it. Or tell me, and I'll report it. It's illegal. IN fact, there's a premium winery that straddles the Napa/Sonoma county line, and they have to keep separate track of the various barrels of wine by which side of the line they were grown on, because to mis them would preclude the use of the county designation. However, if what you mean that a winery located in Napa might use Lodi grapes, I guess that's possible, but then the wine would have to say Lodi, or just California.

[Roy Christensen]

When I started to drink beer in the 1960's there was basically only one brand known to many Minnesotans. In my circle when someone said the word beer they were of course refering to Grain Belt. We all drank it and loved it. A huge advertising blitz aimed at the young by Pabst caused us to drop GB for Pabst in record time. Grain Belt was soon considered swill. Advertising soon convinced us that Pabst was swill and we should be drinking Olympia or Coors. Evenually the really big advertising bucks got involved and we found ourselves enjoying Miller or Bud. I went a number of years shunning Grain Belt until one day a friend convinced me to try it again. Again I enjoyed that wonderful beer. However their advertising was not up to the standard of the others and their sales dropped. When Irwin Jacobs saw a chance to go from being filthy rich to being a little more filthy rich he bought and dissected Grain Belt. I know that Shell now uses the name Grain Belt but it aint the same. Too bad.

[bigtenchamps1899]

1. Lots of people who know very little about wine publish articles. Know your sources.

2. Wine quality is correlated with price, but it's far from a perfect correlation. Having said that, I've led wine tours around the country and I've never seen any $5 wine that has any type of complexity, and most are just bad. I would also have no problem finding a $90 wine that's bad, too.

3. The biology of wine tasting (or beer tasting) is quite complex, and different people are physiucally able to taste different things in wine. Thus 2 people could have pretty different reactions to the same wine, and they're both right. (Moral: trust your own palate.) Some people may prefer cheap "nothing" wine, but then some people can't distinguish glass from diamonds. And some people have an affinity for anything sweet, so would prefer white zinfandel over well made wine, and like kool-aid better than iether. That's fine, but it doesn't mean that kool-aid and white zin are better.

4.You're wrong about the factors that go into wine flavors. Extraction, yeast, soil, ripeness, etc are all important. ANd if you know of Lodi grapes going into Napa wine, report it. Or tell me, and I'll report it. It's illegal. IN fact, there's a premium winery that straddles the Napa/Sonoma county line, and they have to keep separate track of the various barrels of wine by which side of the line they were grown on, because to mis them would preclude the use of the county designation. However, if what you mean that a winery located in Napa might use Lodi grapes, I guess that's possible, but then the wine would have to say Lodi, or just California.

napa valley vintners defines a napa wine according to law: "California's truth in wine labeling law SB25241 that requires a wine with a Napa place name on the label to have at least seventy-five percent of its fruit be from the appellation." so up to 25% of the grapes could come from elsewhere. LINK (http://www.napavintners.com/about/ab_5_protecting.aspx)

the studies i linked were conducted by cal tech and stanford's business school. those are pretty reputable sources.:D

i agree that wine lovers like to qoute the terroir of the wines, but it all comes down to grape, and that has a small affect on the taste on wine compared to the range of flavor in beers. just compared to beer

i just can't justify spending $10-12 on wine when a $5 bottle tastes good to me. i think there are people out there who do have the palette to appreciate the subtle differences between a $5 bottle of wine and a $25 bottle of wine, but for the sake of my wallet i dont want to be that person.

beer has gotten a bad rap over the last hundred years as tasteless, yellow, fizzy mildly alcoholic beverage that pairs well with pizza. but the wide range of beer styles and flavors makes beer, arguably, better suited to food pairings than wine. i am not so hoity and toity as to make sure i pair my beer with my rice-a-roni, but beer is moving in on wine's traditional territory.

beer food pairings (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style_pairings/)

[Roy Christensen]

If you cannot tell the difference between a 5 dollar bottle and a 90 dollar bottle of wine then by all means one should indulge in the 5.00 wine. I am not so lucky. I know what I enjoy and it usually costs more than 5.00. I agree that decent wine can be bought for 10.00 and really good wine can be found for under 20.00.