NT, What Beer Do You Drink?

[slighted]

^ I've worked with small(er) companies who face mounting pressures of scaling. Scaling correctly and profitably is very difficult to do.

And it's not surprising that AB neutralized Cantwell's opinion/opposition with cold, hard cash. To be fair, it sounded like Elysian was going through some scaling problems and AB came in at the right time to buy them. People just have a bad taste in their mouth because AB stands for the complete opposite of Elysian's ethos -- as they say, money really does talk. Just peep how pro-AB that Elysian partner is ("I want to prove everyone wrong").

Is he wrong though when he said the craft space will be a bloodbath in the years to come? Probably not; there's a bunch of breweries popping up now.

PS - I also found the acquisition of Ballast Point by Constellation very interesting. If y'all remember, BP was in the middle of doing an IPO before Constellation came through.

 

[rillo561]

Really like founders

Drinking this tonight

 

[wallyhopp]

^ I've worked with small(er) companies who face mounting pressures of scaling. Scaling correctly and profitably is very difficult to do.

And it's not surprising that AB neutralized Cantwell's opinion/opposition with cold, hard cash. To be fair, it sounded like Elysian was going through some scaling problems and AB came in at the right time to buy them. People just have a bad taste in their mouth because AB stands for the complete opposite of Elysian's ethos -- as they say, money really does talk. Just peep how pro-AB that Elysian partner is ("I want to prove everyone wrong").

Is he wrong though when he said the craft space will be a bloodbath in the years to come? Probably not; there's a bunch of breweries popping up now.

PS - I also found the acquisition of Ballast Point by Constellation very interesting. If y'all remember, BP was in the middle of doing an IPO before Constellation came through.

Bank loans, bank loans, and maybe some local(ish) investors come into play and try to "help". It's not unlike a lot of other genres of companies. I will say that it is happening quite fast and way too many want to strike while the iron is hot.

I believe BP has lost a big chunk of their higher ups when they got bought out. I see their beer sit way too often. No joke, I am seeing 190 julian dated, or July 9th Grapefruit Sculpin sitting on the shelf at now $13.00 (it used to be $15.00).

There's no denying competition is good. I want my local breweries who produce crap beers to finally be held accountable. But I want even playing ground for the great ones to shine too.

There are a few breweries who realized their limitations and are set in their ways with that "capacity". Russian River comes to mind. If you can bank on XXXX k a year and everyone be happy, why try to dominate the world?

This is turning into my random rant of the month. I know many "local" breweries who are actually backed by local millionaires. It is all about the "image" portrayed seen by the average dumb consumer. Anymore, its not worth the words and the fight

 

[neosole89]

Can MT be found outside SD? Sounds amazing, need to find in chicago.

Not sure but I know they started distributing to the east coast recently. According to the site below, doesn't look like they distribute to Chicago at the moment.

http://www.seekabrew.com/distro/index.html

 

[Comparison Ford]

Nice little porch bomb courtesy of @WallyHopp:

Had to dive in right away:

Been too long since I've had Elevated. Nice to have a dose of dankness in my life after being bombarded by east-coast haze bombs over the past few month.  Maybe my palette is shot, but this reminds me of a lot of a mix between Bell's Two Hearted and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.  Definitely picking up the centennial right away.  I'll be savoring this change of pace over the upcoming weeks.

Speaking of east-coast haze bombs, hit up Other Half over the weekend:

First up: Double Dry Hopped All Citra Everything.  Obviously all citra hops and then subsequently dry-hopped with citra lupulin powder.  Having had regular All Citra Everything in the past, this beer is markedly different.  OG All Citra was mostly clear, where this is completely opaque.  Taste is also much different.  To be honest I wasn't too big of a fan of OG All Citra Everything, but this version corrects all of those shortcomings and then some.  This tastes more like the single-hopped citra IPA on crack. Easily the best citra-hopped IPA I've ever had.  Outstanding.

Next up: Double Dry Hopped Space Diamonds.  All galaxy hops with an additional dry-hopping of galaxy (galaxy lupulin powder doesn't exist yet.  Apparently lupulin powder only exists for the three most popular PNW hops--citra, mosaic, and simcoe.  Galaxy is an Australian hop.).  I enjoy OG Space Diamonds, and this just ramps it up to the next level.  This is a juice bomb, but it's still very green.  While DDH ACE is drinking perfectly from the jump, this could use a week to mellow.  Still fantastic, but I'm going to reserve final judgement until I revisit at a later date.  

 

[masterplanman]

^I havent been to an other half release since blowing up the spot, all the new DDH beers sound great but my wallet was hurting, probably gonna go for the 3rd anniversary brew if its over 10% abv, also heard broccoli is going to be dry hopped which is tempting

Been drinking some of the grocery store regulars to save money, this one used to be a favorite of mine for the price

 

[purple sneaks]

Can MT be found outside SD? Sounds amazing, need to find in chicago.

Ive found Modern times at a spot in Burlington, MA. But i didnt grab anything at the time. I hope that helps

 

[allreds]

Good BBA stout.

Where can I get this in Cali?

 

[lifestooshort80]

allreds

Should be at your local liquor stores or any spot that carries bruery in your area. There were few places in my area that got them.

 

[mangudai954]

Ive found Modern times at a spot in Burlington, MA. But i didnt grab anything at the time. I hope that helps

I found some at a spot down here in Ft Lauderdale a couple times.

 

[masterplanman]

been wanting to try this but not for the $16+ places were asking for a 4 pack, local spot priced 4 packs at 9.99 so i picked up two, im digging it, gets really nice at as it warms

 

[wallyhopp]

Comparison Ford
Hope that selection was okay. I had some Dank over the weekend, and although really good, I feel 4 elevateds easily surpass that experience. Dank apparently released on January 6th, but hadnt reached the stores I guess. Sorry bout that.

For elevated, they have actually released the recipe:
---------
Columbus hops at FWH
Columbus at 30 minutes
Chinook at 15 minutes
Centennial, Chinook, and Columbus at flameout
Simcoe, Mosaic, J-17, Centennial, and Nelson Sauvin at dry hop (6 days)
-------
There are days and drinking moments and batches where the Simcoe, Mosaic, and Nelson are far more out to play than the older school of the three Cs, so it'll be great to have one every other day or something and see what you experience. People still drink this by the gallons, so its not exactly losing its relevancy. Although I will say, many now refer to this beer as sort of an old school IPA. Old school IPAs to me are far more piney and unbalanced. This is more a blend of both.

There's enough to trade some or share some. I'd love to hear what people think of that beer way out east. Many may only have a Stone Enjoy by to compare the dank qualities to.

With Bosque IPA, it has some 9 weeks on it, but I had some this weekend and was surprised by the juicy abrasively hopped qualities of it. Maybe you will too. Very similar to elevated imho. It has a similar hop bill as Scale Tipper. I think this IPA won a WBC bronze medal this year as well.

La Cumbre beer is a 4.7% no frills Lager. It won a gold at the world beer cup this year for international style lager. It also won a GABF gold medal in 2011. They just started canning it this past year. Sort of a dry slightly crackery flavor. It's a higher class Macro beer, if that makes sense. many don't know how to feel about it since it reminds them of the macro crap. But maybe it is closer to that stuff than I imagine? Worth a try. Their in house German beer game is pretty serious. Helles lagers, dark lagers, weizen bocks, oktoberfests. Just thought I'd send something a bit different.

 

[mfbeee999]

This is a great cheap Stout from Trader Joe's. $5.99 for a 6-pack!

 

[lifestooshort80]

This is a great cheap Stout from Trader Joe's. $5.99 for a 6-pack!

Nice! Might have to go try it.

 

[curtis50cent]

This is a great cheap Stout from Trader Joe's. $5.99 for a 6-pack!
 

I was just there today...never tried any of their beers but I'm a big fan of their red wines.

 

[crumps brother]

^Charles Shaw, two buck shuck

I liked the Trader Joe's oatmeal stout, especially for the price

The Trader Joe's vintage ales are worth picking up...they're brewed by Unibroue

 

[meyer23]

Recommendation by my guy at my local. It's like Bomb! but not as sweet. Wish I would of gotten a few more.

 

[wallyhopp]

I can't be the only one

Went by a local grocery store yesterday. Firestone Walker just hit my state for the first time ever back in mid 2016. I guess sales weren't as great as they had hoped and this particular store had Easy Jack cans and Union Jack bottles in a clearance bin cart. I knew that pretty much meant that they were old/expired. For >50% off their current price of $11, how could anyone say no to $5/sixers of union jack?

it's maltier, and sweeter, with almost no hop aroma or such. But as a beer company, they make some pretty solid beers. So even if its all malts, the flavors are very clean.

let's just say I'll be budget drinking this weekend.

The only expired part of the beer is probably the hops. It has turned into more of a red ale, or a bitter,yet sweet malt east coast IPA.

With the addition of so many new breweries distributing to various states, I hope for the days that expired beer becomes a norm, because it's really not so BAD.

And thanks to FW/the local distributors who pulled this 8 days before their 120 day deadline. Most breweries don't give a damn. Ballast Point has some July 9th GF Sculpin that they got from somewhere and happened to fill up a store with. I can support the good hard habits of transparency with cold hard cash.

 

[crumps brother]

Anyone in Boston area recommend a good bottle shop or liquor store...doesn't have to be in Boston

Later this year I'll be traveling to Newport, RI then Boston from PA

 

[krueger3737]

Anyone in Boston area recommend a good bottle shop or liquor store...doesn't have to be in Boston

Later this year I'll be traveling to Newport, RI then Boston from PA

What are you looking for? For the most convenience Craft Beer Cellar's and Whole Foods have most local beers. Trillium does cans in Boston and they usually are not that busy if you go at off times. 

 

[crumps brother]

^looking for more local stuff but if they have things that aren't necessary local but a bit rarer that would be a plus...wide selection and not overpriced

my sister went to cape cop last year and picked me up stuff from moonshine liquors (in Hyatt) and they seemed to have a good selection but may be a little out of my way

plan to get stuff at Trillium...want to go to Night Shift in Everett and get stuff to go if they have cans to go

side note, I may be staying somewhere close to sullivan station...i believe there is parking there for cheap

can anyone familiar w/ the area confirm? i would possibly be parked there nearly 5 days

 

[jamesandstl]

Hit up the Total Wine and decided to try some new stuff. Got a Schlafly "Coffee Stout" that wasn't bad, then this. I wanted to try it the other day, but I didn't want to get a full sixer and I'm kinda glad I didn't. It isn't bad, but I'm not overly impressed.

 

[masterplanman]

first time trying interboro, really clean mosaic flavors stand out, the texture is my favorite thing about it, nice body without being too syrupy

 

[jamesandstl]

Couple more for you guys. The top one seemed like, smoky. Its hard to explain. It was ok. I've had other Left Hand beers and wasn't amazed, but decided to to risk it.

The bottom one I'm really digging. I'm noticing I feel myself coming around more to like IPAs.

 

[masterplanman]

another nyc new England style dipa, full of flavor