NT, What Beer Do You Drink?

I went to a local bevmo to find the Stone Xocoveza and couldn't find it. I asked one of the older worker there and he said he tried ordering them but corporate wouldn't allow it? So I pulled out my phone and told him there's 18 available which I should've tried ordering for store pick up but didn't before I went. He didn't have a clue about store pickup either. Then he said the sku could be the same as another Stone brew which shows the number available online for the Xocoveza. Thought it was weird what he told me or just BSing.
Exact same thing happened to me last week at my local Bevmo. Ordered online. Said they had one in stock. About an hour later I got a call that the sku for the Stone collabs are the same and they were out of stock. Luckily I got a good dude to send me a few. ;)
 
Made my way to the Holy Land this weekend

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5 day old Pliny (at the time) :hat Got 4 of dem dangs

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Neosole89, what a nice haul. I need FBS in my life ASAP. The Jack Abby IPLs were so crisp and had a great hop bite. Some really good stuff out of JA.

Xocoveza is a interesting one.. The ones I have seen locally were bottled on 8/29/14. I didnt see them hit my area until well into September. Total Wine got theres around October 8th. Now almost every other outlet that gets those "shelf turd" type Stone beers are getting them too. It seems like those states that released in September sold out right away, and the other states allocations are barely hitting the stores. I dont know if steam will pick up or they will sit. I just cant wait around though.

Strike while the iron is hot is one saying.

I stopped by a place known to just sit on bottles and bottles.. They still have the Beer Camp series. I saw some Abita Vanilla DoubleDog 2011, just to give you an idea of the type of beers.. Lots of random Stone bombers.. I know this place to sit on Stone IRS.. Luckily today I pulled out a shelves worth to spot a 2013. Between a random beer store that sits on bombers, a TW visit, and doing well at the casino the other night, I had to take advantage

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-Orval Trappist, late 2013 find at that hole in the wall. I had to try this, especially considering they refrigerate these non stop. Buying from TW didnt seem feasible.
-Hop Stoopid x 2. More 6 wk old stuff. This will inevitably sit until March with the same bottle date.
-Stone IRS 2013... A hole in the wall find. They still had 4-6 2014 Stone IRS. This place was however out of the Marble BBA. So each place seems to have their niche as far as providing items.
-Stone Xocoveza x 3. I see it everywhere now. But dont want to risk anything
-La Cumbre Elevated IPA.. I saw the canned date, and know this place to SIT on that stock for maybe a month. I got in one day one
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btw, something weird is going on with xocoveza bar code/sku. I think its the aqua color because its just not scanning properly on the systems of places I have been. It may contribute to the stock issue some places are seeing
 
Found some stouts. The rogue was okay, I had better. The Samuel smith was bomb! You can definitely sense that cocoa. I was eating and ice cream sandwich with this, and ''twas bomb. Definitely saving the clown shoes for last.
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Cracked an old Hopslam from last season the other night, and enjoying a Surly Furious this afternoon.
 
I too love Mosaic.. Then again, I don't think I specifically hate or "LIKE" any particular hope variety over another to a level that makes me want to buy or not buy something.

I think La Cumbre's Project Dank uses a solid blend of Mosaic and Simcoe hops many times.. Then they go with Nelson, Waimea, Columbus, Sorachi etc.... Bottom line, I think the beer you are drinking with Mosaic is NOT doing it right.. For me, I can't pinpoint any hatred or true likes out of the beers I drink the most of. I just know I love the flavor..

If a beer is too piney or too oniony tasting, It may be more about the brewers over use of a particular hop, which would be a sad reason for you to dismiss the entire genre.
 
Speaking of particular hop varieties:  I'm currently drinking the beer below right now.  It's all galaxy hops, and it's pretty fantastic.
 
^ The beers I've had with Galaxy hops I didn't like too much. Tasted very medicinal to me. Maybe I'm drinking the wrong ones?
 
I too love Mosaic.. Then again, I don't think I specifically hate or "LIKE" any particular hope variety over another to a level that makes me want to buy or not buy something.

I think La Cumbre's Project Dank uses a solid blend of Mosaic and Simcoe hops many times.. Then they go with Nelson, Waimea, Columbus, Sorachi etc.... Bottom line, I think the beer you are drinking with Mosaic is NOT doing it right.. For me, I can't pinpoint any hatred or true likes out of the beers I drink the most of. I just know I love the flavor..

If a beer is too piney or too oniony tasting, It may be more about the brewers over use of a particular hop, which would be a sad reason for you to dismiss the entire genre.

I've had two single hop IPAs from different breweries using mosaic hops and both had the same danky, musty, armpitty quality to it. The first was Societe Bachelor Mosaic. This one has a 4.42 rating on BA. The second I just had last week was at Magnolia Brewing, it was their High Time Harvest Mosaic. It's a newer beer and doesn't have a listing on BA yet.

Likely just my palate. I'll stick to the simcoes and citras. More mosaic for you guys.
 
^ The beers I've had with Galaxy hops I didn't like too much. Tasted very medicinal to me. Maybe I'm drinking the wrong ones?
While I'm admittedly not too experienced with galaxy hops, I wouldn't say this is medicinal at all.  It's hard for me to pinpoint the flavor on this, really.  It has a lot of citrus notes and a slight grassy/floral quality, but the biggest thing that stands out to me is the "bite" it has on the finish.  Just a really, really nice beer.

I was gonna drink a Westbrook Gose before I went to bed, but I'd honestly rather sit on this and savor it longer.
 
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I don't get single hopped beers. Now that I think about it, I think I had one (around here they call them SMASH beers.. Single Malt and Single Hop beers. Another local place did it. I believe it was more of a Pale Ale using Citra, where the hops are more of a slight afterthought. La Cumbre uses a blend of at least 5 hop varieties on Elevated, and maybe more with their other IPAs. I think each variety adds something. One adds a tropical note. One a unending bitterness...

Are breweries doing this to be unique for the sake of being different? I can definitely see myself hating a particular hop if thats all they use. That;s why Alpha levels exist. Some hops are better at bittering. Some with aromas, and some with dry hopping. Unless La Cumbre does a SMASH style beer, I just dont believe you can get the best out of the hops you are using.by singling them out.

I can definitely pinpoint amarillo and centential hops. They have some deep bitterness and pine like flavors. If you hate pine, you may not like those beers that use it a lot. Likewise with Nelson Sauvin hops. They are fruity, but I get a sense of them having some dill like pickle qualities. It may sound disgusting. But it does work for me.. Others just cant stand for it.

Single profile hop beers dont thrill me though. I havent come across many. I brewed one once with 95% cascade with 90% two row.. It came out very basic. One could definitely pinpoint why they hated the hop taste and they would know without a doubt that they hated a particular variety... I still believe you can like a blended hop beer, like the majority of them, with a hop you "hate" by it self.

A local IPA, Marble IPA uses Columbus, Amarillo and Centennial hops.. They are the more basic American type of standard hops. They give a real citrus and pine characteristic.. Elevated IPA dry hops with Simcoe, Mosaic, Centennial, Chinook, J-17, and Nelson Sauvin.

Hops can be used in very unique ways to get the best out of each ONE.. Why places choose to single out hops is puzzling.. I can see it as a challenge. But that may be better off left in a experimental garage tasting.
 
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