so many breweries with such terrible aesthetics. i'd imagine there's no real incentive for them to hire a legit graphic designer when they can just get their bro friends to get high and draw some stupid shit and it'll sell anyways
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Thursday, 18 December 2014 18:20 (nine years ago) link
though in most cases it seems like they have the logo dialed in, and still fail miserably when it comes to packaging
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Thursday, 18 December 2014 18:22 (nine years ago) link
There are some places that seem to have their act together - I will again rep for No-Li out of Spokane, whose packaging I really love (they rebranded a couple years ago, it was terrible before that). But right next to one of their beers in my fridge is a Lagunitas Little Sumpin which is all the worst in one shot - awful design, stupid name, sexist imagery. But a good beer.
Pig Minds stuff looks really awful though, especially shit like the PD. But then again the name of the brewery kind of tips you off I guess?
― joygoat, Thursday, 18 December 2014 18:52 (nine years ago) link
yeah there are a lot of good ones out there actually, esp on the west coast. i dig breakside's look actually, they clearly have a graphic designer on hand:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qBBaIx7ImvY/VG5g02xaKqI/AAAAAAAADVQ/S4Wt0SyLh6Q/s1600/la%2Bsour.jpg
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/66/1d/8b/661d8bd7eea8d964ed4c1b8ad88a9056.jpg
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Thursday, 18 December 2014 20:26 (nine years ago) link
ugh sorry those are huge
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Thursday, 18 December 2014 20:27 (nine years ago) link
Fremont are my favorite. They have an artist on staff and it really shows. Just very consistent, classy, and fit with the NW aesthetic.
― Tomás Piñon (Ryan), Thursday, 18 December 2014 23:02 (nine years ago) link
so has southern tier declined in quality? i've not been super-impressed with them lately, though it's been a while since i've tried their 22oz styles. i remember their winter ale being a lot better than the one i'm drinking now. also i am getting tired of them naming everything "2XIPA" or "2XMAS ALE"
― marcos, Friday, 19 December 2014 00:56 (nine years ago) link
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/12/pop-your-fav-brew-for-this-gallery.html
― Jeff, Friday, 19 December 2014 00:59 (nine years ago) link
Fullstream ones are great:
http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/system/images/photo_albums/beer-can-designs/large/beer-28.jpg?1384968217
― Jeff, Friday, 19 December 2014 01:01 (nine years ago) link
yea that's great! i dig westbrook a lot:
http://chsbeer.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/custom_1000px/_mg_3244.jpg
― marcos, Friday, 19 December 2014 01:10 (nine years ago) link
Evil Twin Molotov Lite, much better than expected. Taste kind of like Heady Topper.
― Jeff, Friday, 19 December 2014 01:43 (nine years ago) link
those are beautiful! xp
― some kind of terrible IDM with guitars (sleeve), Friday, 19 December 2014 01:47 (nine years ago) link
got my canadian breakfast stout tick tonight. i am a maple syrup fan so it was a good beer.
― call all destroyer, Friday, 19 December 2014 02:46 (nine years ago) link
Cool to see local startup Bauhaus getting some love in that article.
And yeah, Molotov lite is in my top 5 surprises of the year, along with the evil twin Westbrook hose. It's an absolute killer IIPA
― a strawman stuffed with their collection of 12 cds (jjjusten), Friday, 19 December 2014 04:08 (nine years ago) link
yeah i really dig all the westbrook cans, and fremont has a nice look as well.
passed on molotov lite the other day b/c i thought i remembered hearing bad things. will grab it next time i have a chance though.
also tried sixpoint resin for the first time recently, they just began distributing in portland. not bad for an easy-to-find IIPA, i'd take it over torpedo any day
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Friday, 19 December 2014 16:18 (nine years ago) link
pricier than torpedo though yea? tbh i'm not a huge fan of torpedo but it's good enough. sixpoint in general i very skeptical of but i have not tried resin
― marcos, Friday, 19 December 2014 16:45 (nine years ago) link
yeah i don't really know anything about sixpoint's repuation on the east coast (bro-y i take it?), i wouldn't necessarily go out of my way for their stuff, and yes it is a few dollars pricier than torpedo. there are a million local options i'd prefer to resin, but it was better than i expected
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Friday, 19 December 2014 17:44 (nine years ago) link
their beers are expensive and there's almost always a better alternative for a given style available.
― call all destroyer, Friday, 19 December 2014 17:56 (nine years ago) link
sixpoint's reputation afaik is more "BROOKLYN EVERYBODY! CRAFT BEER FROM BROOKLYN!! BECAUSE BROOKLYN IS THE CENTER OF THE WORLD" but i could be way off. like so many things, i feel like the buzz around it is basically b/c it's in brooklyn
― marcos, Friday, 19 December 2014 17:56 (nine years ago) link
and for a period of time at least i don't think they actually brewed there.
― call all destroyer, Friday, 19 December 2014 17:59 (nine years ago) link
they put an utterly innocuous cream ale in a fancy-looking can and ppl loved it, idk
― call all destroyer, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:00 (nine years ago) link
it was like $13.50 a six pack here. same as sculpin, which is far superior, but less per oz than most anything in a 4 pack
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Friday, 19 December 2014 18:11 (nine years ago) link
those cans really do make you feel like you're drinking red bull tho
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Friday, 19 December 2014 18:13 (nine years ago) link
psychgawsple FYI the Plaid Pantry on Cesar Chavez near the I84 exit has Sculpin for $10/six, don't know if that's near you or not
I don't know why, it's near a friend's house that we visit frequently
― some kind of terrible IDM with guitars (sleeve), Friday, 19 December 2014 18:16 (nine years ago) link
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Friday, December 19, 2014 1:13 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
haha otm. at first i was like "oh cool" and then as they sat in my fridge i was like "fuck these look like energy drinks"
― marcos, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:20 (nine years ago) link
that one is not near me but other plaid pantries are, thx for the heads up!
i met one of the owners of $!xp01n+ at that bottle share actually, lol. we need a 77 beer thread so i can share (subjectively) funny stories abt this. nothing necessarily damning tho - he was super generous and friendly
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Friday, 19 December 2014 18:36 (nine years ago) link
I saw this when I was looking for some beer info the other day. wtf, peoplehttp://www.tgbrews.com/site/2014/12/an-unfortunate-day/
― valleys of your mind (mh), Friday, 19 December 2014 19:05 (nine years ago) link
yeah there's a beer advocate thread we referenced last week or so about that
― call all destroyer, Friday, 19 December 2014 19:08 (nine years ago) link
ah, missed it
― valleys of your mind (mh), Friday, 19 December 2014 20:48 (nine years ago) link
here you go because i do recommend reading the whole thing
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/i-think-i-got-duped-feedback-please.234718/
― call all destroyer, Friday, 19 December 2014 20:49 (nine years ago) link
what an asshole
that anecdote about someone who may be him changing clothes and getting back in line to buy limited beer is pretty hilarious
― valleys of your mind (mh), Friday, 19 December 2014 21:13 (nine years ago) link
I bought some 2xRye not too long ago, since it was on sale, and thought it was fairly decent. A little too strong to have with food, but okay on its own.
― o. nate, Saturday, 20 December 2014 01:33 (nine years ago) link
Sooo... has anyone heard about ppl having to jump through hoops to get a bottle of KBS?We didn't get any where I work this year, and I had a really interesting conversation about it with a customer today. He says that several places he tried in NYC, you had to buy another Founders four pack (reg Breakfast Stout i think) in order to get a single bottle of KBS. Seems utterly insane to me. He said when he asked the guy at the supermarket about it, he was told that it was because in order to get the KBS the distributors required the store to buy something like 25 cases of regular breakfast stout.
seems insane to me.
so if you want to get four bottles of KBS you have to visit four stores and will wind up with a 16 bottles of breakfast stout in the process.
Is this just some weird NYC thing where distributors are being shady?
― ian, Saturday, 20 December 2014 03:00 (nine years ago) link
oh, yeah, and i finally got to try the grapefruit sculpin today and was slightly underwhelmed. i'll stick with the reg from here on out, probably. or just get a bottle of Dorado for the same price.
― ian, Saturday, 20 December 2014 03:02 (nine years ago) link
That sounds like the stories this year re: BCS and Goose Island product. It's definitely silly stuff, but I think the thinking goes that the distributer rewards various shops based on how much regular stuff they sell, so the more regular stuff they sell, the more special stuff they get. It's all gotten so shady lately, but between tappings and simply waiting in line, there are plenty of shots at getting at least a pour of special stuff somewhere in the city. At least here.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 20 December 2014 03:11 (nine years ago) link
sure sure. i can get myself some KBS if i put my heart into it.but maybe i will just drink my bottle of last year's and call it a day.
― ian, Saturday, 20 December 2014 03:13 (nine years ago) link
alert to mass and rhode island folks--grey sail's captains daughter double ipa is getting some serious hype and is probably deserving of it.
― call all destroyer, Saturday, 20 December 2014 04:35 (nine years ago) link
Per a comment upthread, 2xmas was maybe the worst beer I had last year hands down.
― a strawman stuffed with their collection of 12 cds (jjjusten), Saturday, 20 December 2014 04:38 (nine years ago) link
OTM. I am actually on the road to my BiL's house (in Mpls BTW) right now and I am trying to figure out how to get revenge on him for foisting that shit on me last year. I'd give him malort but he actually likes the stuff.
― dan m, Saturday, 20 December 2014 16:40 (nine years ago) link
That reminds me, anyone have beer recs for New Orleans? Will be heading there after Xmas and all I know of is Abita.
― dan m, Saturday, 20 December 2014 16:42 (nine years ago) link
two local brews the other night --a finback double IPA i didn't catch the name of that was NOT excessively hoppy tasting and v smooth, was served in a 20oz pint so wtf was i thinking ya know? really liked it. haven't had many of their beers.the evil twin/other half collab 'beat it, nerd' which is billed as a brett IPA. probably the most excessively FUNKY beer i have had. reminded me distinctly of this stinky washed rind cheese -- http://www.murrayscheese.com/meadow-creek-grayson.html
― ian, Sunday, 4 January 2015 17:38 (nine years ago) link
Going to be in NYC for a couple of nights next week, I've never gotten out to drink much in previous visits, other than Pony Bar and Valhalla. Would like to make it to Tørst. Any other recs that I can easily get to? Staying at 52nd/7th ave.
― Jeff, Sunday, 4 January 2015 17:55 (nine years ago) link
Over the holidays, I exhausted my reserves of Allagash Farm To Face, what a fantastic beer.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 4 January 2015 18:12 (nine years ago) link
jeff -- i don't know much about that part of town, but downtown you've got the Blind Tiger (bleecker street), burp castle (fantastic belgian beer bar, east 7th street, if you get loud in there the bartender will shush you.), and DBA. brooklyn you've got bar great harry, Mugs Ale House (maybe the last tolerable bar on bedford avenue? stopped in there yesterday and was impressed by the taps as always), bierkraft, dirk the norseman/brouwerji lane etc.
― ian, Sunday, 4 January 2015 18:40 (nine years ago) link
if you hit torse on a weekend i'd suggest making the short hop over to long island city and going to transmitter brewery if you have any interest in wild/farmhouse ales at all. they are one of my faves. everything they do is great.
― ian, Sunday, 4 January 2015 18:41 (nine years ago) link
Ha, I tried going to the Blind Tiger once. It was so packed I couldn't ever get a beer so I walked out and went to DBGB, which was ok.
― Jeff, Sunday, 4 January 2015 18:43 (nine years ago) link
Unfortunately I won't be there on a weekend, just Wednesday and Thursday.
― Jeff, Sunday, 4 January 2015 18:44 (nine years ago) link
other half brewery is open thursday nights, if you want to taste what i consider to be the best IPA's in NYC.
― ian, Sunday, 4 January 2015 19:17 (nine years ago) link
lol i am actually in brooklyn right now as well and about to head out for craft beer someplace... hops hill looks decent enough? or maybe glorietta baldy? i don't know about shit out here!
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Monday, 5 January 2015 04:10 (nine years ago) link
just be that guy and go to torst
― call all destroyer, Monday, 5 January 2015 04:13 (nine years ago) link