Beer in the new era

ah, missed it

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/

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

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"

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Per a comment upthread, 2xmas was maybe the worst beer I had last year hands down.

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.

That reminds me, anyone have beer recs for New Orleans? Will be heading there after Xmas and all I know of is Abita.

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

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.

Over the holidays, I exhausted my reserves of Allagash Farm To Face, what a fantastic beer.

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.

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.

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.

Unfortunately I won't be there on a weekend, just Wednesday and Thursday.

other half brewery is open thursday nights, if you want to taste what i consider to be the best IPA's in NYC.

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!

just be that guy and go to torst

That guy??? Am I that guy??

I should also note I like to go places where it's not stupid crowded and I can get a seat at the bar. Not sure any place I'm looking at qualifies.

good times at hops hill! i had to pass on bottles of abraxas :( ($38 is too much for any beer imo)

good stuff on tap tho, finback cat love 2ipa was solid and westbrook 4th anniversary chocolate coconut almond stout was as great as it sounds

bar was far from stupid crowded tho it was p small. got to chat up some local rando beer nerds, try their hill farmstead growler, learn about the ny beer scene / where you can still get bourbon county barleywine, etc

jeff you are that guy, i am that guy, we are all that guy

Ok good, as long as I'm not alone.

westbrook 4th anniversary chocolate coconut almond stout was as great as it sounds

ha i love westbrook but this sounds absolutely terrible to me! i acknowledge though that there are plenty of folks who like those super desserty stouts.

^ chocolate, almond and coconut are an awesome combo! but then again i have been eating many gluten free desserts made by friends and nearly all of them have those flavors

dessert-y stouts are super hit or miss, there are some really gross ones out there for sure, but i am a dude who has always enjoyed port/dessert wine, spanish coffees, etc so i def have a bit of a boozy sweet tooth

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/article/2015/01/05/jim-koch-sam-adams-beer/

Get's your IPA's off my porch!

Interesting article, but I cringe every time I read something about generational beer marketing.

How the craft-beer movement abandoned Jim Koch (and his beloved Sam Adams).

have yet to read the article but my best guess re: this title is because everything sam adams makes is fucking terrible?

and yes i was right!

Unfortunately for Koch, the simple truth is that more and more beer drinkers don’t want Sam Adams, and in turn, an increasing number of bars won’t sell the famous amber lager. Koch’s Boston Beer Company may have built the craft-beer business as we know it, but local beer geeks—the industry’s connoisseurs—think he’s lost his edge. “Their beers are kind of middle of the road,” says Max Toste, co-owner of Deep Ellum, in Allston. Citing what he considers the brand’s questionable quality, he doesn’t carry any of the Sam Adams line. “I think what they are trying to do is make beer that is more flavorful than the fizzy yellow lager that was once popular everywhere. But they just don’t fit into what I am doing. For me, serving something that is mediocre is just really not what I do.” Daniel Lanigan, owner of the beer bar Lord Hobo, in Cambridge, agrees. “I just never considered their beers to be world class,” he says, “and I decided not to sell them.”

everything sam adams makes is fucking terrible?

― marcos, Monday, January 5, 2015 12:04 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

come on that's not fair at all

their biggest problem is they make way too many beers

I had their Rebel ipa for the first time at the New Orleans airport and thought it was pretty good, esp for an airport bar.

Btw the place to go in NO for beer is the Avenue Pub on St. Charles. Fuckin fantastic draft and bottle lists.

ha, i'll withdraw "terrible", although a good number of their beers are genuinely terrible. painfully mediocre is probably better

they make really uninteresting beer xp

tbh though i think the boston lager is the best beer they have

Also maybe if Koch wasn't drunk as shit 24/7 his company might be doing better XD

MOR is the appropriate descriptor for me.

If I were him, I'd sell that shit. AB would totally scoop them up. No more worries.

latitude 48 and whitewater ipa were both really nice but got lost in the 80 other things sam adams has out at all times

They (Boston Beer Co.) did a tap takeover of one of my locals with all these single hop IPAs that I thought might have been a good idea, until I saw the prices (more expensive than top tier world class IPAs also on the board) and then I tasted a friend's and it was remarkably average.

hey what do you all think of 21st amendment? i see them all the time and finally dried their main ipa (brew free or die) and was pretty disappointed

they stink imho

I cannot think of one of their beers that is decent. I will say that their much-maligned Watermelon beer is really not much worse than their other beers that people stand up for.

when they are good (back in black, marooned on hog island, sneak attack saison, and i do like brew free or die) they are great, when they miss (fireside chat, monks blood, and the worst goddamn beer in the world that watermelon thing) they miss HARD.

I think they have two brewpoints, because up here it is contract brewed by cold spring, so the source might also have something to do with it?

haha xposts say tastes differ

Oh hey look, Bell's distributes to San Diego/Imperial Co. now.

21st amendment is pretty bad ime

thoughts:
- 21st amendment is not for me, but people sure do love that watermelon beer. it's fuckin disgusting but we sell a ton every summer.
- hops hill is a fine bar; i had my birthday drinks there a few weeks back. it's near our apartment and they have lots of different stuff on tap. get updates almost every day from them with the new offerings.
- still never been to torst!
- i enjoyed the westbrook anniversary stout this year. the almonds and coconut were mostly in the nose and the taste was more chocolately. i liked it. shared with one other person. was good.
- victory hop ranch is still so good.
- gigantic imperial IPA is better than their regular IPA.
- i want someone else to try "beat it nerd" so i know if the funk is a product of my imagination or not. other tasters seem not to have experienced such extreme sock/foot aroma.

ack i want hop ranch but i haven't seen it anywhere. i gotta get a case of that.