NT, What Beer Do You Drink?

Some stuff I got this week

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Been a minute since I chimed in here. Been up to a lot of cool things since I last posted.

My trip to the DFW area was awesome, but the beer scene is definitely lacking. Local offerings are primarily German beers and other low ABV/"crisp" offerings. Had one NE-style IPA called Haze Wizard from a local brewery called Three Nations. I enjoyed it well enough, but it got me thinking about palate shift. I can see why the hazy IPA craze hasn't hit so hard down there. It's ******* hot. Sometimes you just want some easy-drinking hop water. I brought down a bunch of "whales" to share with friends, but I found myself gravitating towards cans of Saint Arnold Kolsch and Pilsner. Among the beers I brought down the only ones I truly enjoyed were the J. Wakefield Berliners. Everything else was just too heavy to really enjoy. Having said that, DFPF is a strong contender for one of the best beers I've ever had. I overpaid for a bottle and did it again just to repeat the experience. I suggest you do the same.

In other news: Grimm is finally open in Brooklyn and things are going way better than planned for consumers. The tasting room has been busy but manageable and cans have been lasting for a week or more. Location is pretty ideal for me. It's closer than OH, but the trip between the two breweries is really quick/uncomplicated. Lots of parking space near Grimm. Been making a Saturday routine of starting at Grimm, getting cans, and then driving straight to Other Half to get there at the sweet spot where the line is virtually nonexistent and there's still beer left over.

I keep saying "what a time to be alive," yet things keep getting better for beer enthusiasts. Is this it? Is the bubble finally bursting? I'd love to stay in denial, but I find that my overall excitement for beer is definitely waning. I'll remain forever curious, but it's become a "been there, done that" thing. At this point I can just hope for a beer retirement full of nice pilsners and Vienna lagers.

Anywho...onto the highlight reel (good, bad, & ugly) since we've last seen one another:
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Tree House That's What She Said. Stupid name for a beer, but I'll move past it. Went into this thinking a 5.6% stout wasn't gonna be ****. Underestimated this one. Nice thick body with big chocolate/coffee notes and a crazy mouthfeel given the ABV. I can see why this was given a printed can.

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Westbrook Mexican Coffee Cake. Regular Mexican Cake (cocoa nibs, cinnamon, vanilla, habanero) with a coffee addition. Honestly? Doesn't add much to the equation. Mexican Cake was a game-changer for me a few years back, this variant didn't rekindle any old flames.

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Other Half Space Hallucinations. 10.5%, all galaxy, oats and lactose. This beer was a liability. To make something this smooth, flavorful, and candy-esque at this ABV demands great responsibility. I was gonna try to savor my cans in some attempt to see how it would develop in a few weeks but I couldn't hold out. I'd love to imagine this is incredible by now, but the world may never know.

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Root & Branch Eyes Without a Face. Digging the Billy Idol/Hockey Skateboards reference. These dudes must've felt awful about their run of bad cans because everything since has been hot fire. This one has the taste and mouthfeel of LICBP Pile of Crowns with a 6.5% ABV. Straight orange juice that coats the mouth without having to chew. The radar is narrowing in on them.

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OH Cashmere+Galaxy. Came highly recommended and I understand why. This is like Space Diamonds with a rich, deep melon characteristic to the flavor. Mouthfeel is medium, as are most of the dual-hop beers from OH, but this really works.

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OH x Equilibrium Dream Wave Fluctuation. This one has been receiving a ton of positive feedback, but I wasn't really feeling it. A lot of EQ beers are really rich/creamy as is, so adding lactose just made this hoppy milk. I don't mind a little bit of creaminess to temper the bitterness, but this was overkill in my opinion.

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Hudson Valley Holocene. Sour IPA with lactose, vanilla, and mango. Usually not a fan of mango beers, but this one was actually awesome. None of the burn or astringency you can get from the fruit addition. Just tasted like a tart liquid CreamSaver. One of their better beers as of late.

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OH Strawberry Whipz. Basically OH's take on a Hudson Valley beer. This one is lactose, vanilla, and strawberry. Flavor profile is really nice on this one, but the mouthfeel falls very short. Hudson Valley sour IPAs are really full and creamy, whereas this one was pretty watery. A good effort, but not on Hudson Valley's level. Keep at it, OH.

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City Slickers is back, but this time in Imperial form. Basically the same awesome beer it was before, just a bit fuller and sweeter. Such a unique flavor on this one, but it works so well. Wish I bought more than a 4-pack this time around. Looking forward to next year's batch.

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Grimm Energy Field. This one has Galaxy, Amarillo, and Centennial. Really nice flavor component on this one. Mostly candied apricots, orange, and that fruity pebbles thing you get from Centennial with a hint of tropical fruits. Great new stuff coming out of the brewery. If this is the precedent they're setting I might have to make Grimm my new go-to.
 
Haven't really drank too many hazy IPAs or anything crazy lately. Been drinking a ton of pale ales and light IPAs

Daisy cutter is my go to though :hat what a wonderful, crushable beer
 
Some stuff I got this week

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My sister was in Seattle and got my the Rusty Nail bottles, then drove down to Portland and got me the Great Notion Orange Creamsicle...unfortunately they ran out of Juice Jr. minutes before she got there

Got the mixed 4 pack from s buddy

Looking forward to trying Hudson Valley for the first time
 
Forgot I picked these up last week as well

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$6.54 a bottle from a local grocery store

Af1 1982, around here it seems like all Weis stores are downsizing their beer cafes and doing some fire sales on beer
 
Forgot I picked these up last week as well

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$6.54 a bottle from a local grocery store

Af1 1982, around here it seems like all Weis stores are downsizing their beer cafes and doing some fire sales on beer
Thanks for the heads up. Planning on stopping at Al's this week to grab some Murren. I'll stop in the Weis next door as well
 
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Saw some BA bottle logic at a local total wine. Was tempted but this socal heat has me turned off from stouts lol. Picked this up instead, i dont regret it one bit. So good.
 
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Saw some BA bottle logic at a local total wine. Was tempted but this socal heat has me turned off from stouts lol. Picked this up instead, i dont regret it one bit. So good.

Nice, which did they have for sale? If you can grab one I'd pay the cost+shipping and extra for your troubles lol
 
Man I haven't contributed here in weeks. Still alive. Still drinking beer. Sort of down to a set rotation at the moment. Grocery store buys mainly.

A local brewery has this 6.5% hazy IPA that's been out and easily available the last few weeks. Gotta love when it's not this small time hyped release. Been through a couple four packs. It even hit regular grocery stores and retail outlets. And it's not overly expensive.
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Sort of has a Orange Julius vibe. Definitely fills that itch for a big juicy northeast IPA. We don't really need to go too far anymore to find gems.
I keep saying "what a time to be alive," yet things keep getting better for beer enthusiasts. Is this it? Is the bubble finally bursting? I'd love to stay in denial, but I find that my overall excitement for beer is definitely waning. I'll remain forever curious, but it's become a "been there, done that" thing. At this point I can just hope for a beer retirement full of nice pilsners and Vienna lagers.
I feel the same. I don't see the drinking pool growing too too much around my way. The 100,000 or so drinkers are still at 100,000 yet there's twice as many breweries. So they're fighting for the same consumers.

Bubble bursting is interesting. There are still many restaurants and outlets that don't have local craft available. The accessibility is growing but we have a ways to go. I was at a racetrack recently in a smaller town and they basically had macro only with a light dusting of shiner Bock/fat tire. If you haven't jumped on the craft wagon yet, I don't think they'll take the dive.

I know some who got into trying everything and now they aren't into beer at all. They've moved into other hobbies. They'll still drink beer but not be obsessed about it. All these places expanding need to be cautious.

I'll be out east shortly. I better amp up my excitement to try new beer that I'll be driving and waiting in line for. I still haven't been to 5-6 new breweries in my town. The 'been there, done that 'attitude is killing my vibe lately.

But generally speaking, it's been so hot and beer warms so quickly, I've actually reverted back to cheap macro beer with a sprinkling of regular rotation brews. Nothing too exciting to report back.

Retried two hearted. That is one malty citrusy sweet IPA. When it's your first ipa in weeks, it does have a nice vibe to it. But when compared with others, it's very old school.

Seeing FBS in August with newish bottled dates is amazing. Glad to see it's year round.

Had a sip of a lagunitas ipaw the other day. Super biter to my senses. I almost wonder if my senses are just shot to hell. I can't do the big ipas like I used to.

Haven't really drank too many hazy IPAs or anything crazy lately. Been drinking a ton of pale ales and light IPAs

Daisy cutter is my go to though :pimp: what a wonderful, crushable beer
Had some a few years back. Definitely a nice crisp refreshing vibe compared to these thicker sweeter juicier apas and ipas. I'd buy the crap out of it if it was around locally.

Im also drinking a lot less so the shelf brews are much appreciated. I can see if you go through 8-10 a week, you need all these new flavors. I'm settling back into the same brews. It really does feel like a retirement of sorts.
 
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Yea I've stopped putting much effort into seeking brews. I just go to Mikkeller SD to reload on 4 * 16oz Windy Hill at $12.

Although I will be visiting Boston & NYC in a few weeks so I'll be picking up cans and shipping them back to myself.
 
Yea I've stopped putting much effort into seeking brews. I just go to Mikkeller SD to reload on 4 * 16oz Windy Hill at $12.

Although I will be visiting Boston & NYC in a few weeks so I'll be picking up cans and shipping them back to myself.
Flying I assume

Why not just check a bag in and fly home with it?

My sister recently was in Seattle and Portland and I sent her with a smaller, carry on luggage with some bubble wrap in it

She picked me up stuff from Fremont and Great Notion and checked the bag in for the flight home
 
Flying I assume

Why not just check a bag in and fly home with it?

My sister recently was in Seattle and Portland and I sent her with a smaller, carry on luggage with some bubble wrap in it

She picked me up stuff from Fremont and Great Notion and checked the bag in for the flight home

I might. It's $13 via USPS to ship in a box that fits 8 cans. So shipping 16 cans is about the price of a checked bag. It'll be less of a burden carrying all of that if I were to ship it.
 
Never used it but USPS seems risky

Used Fedex a couple of times but will only use UPS now

If you have a direct flight, you’re really minimizing the times your stuff is in other people’s hands
 
NYers. Help me out. How long do equilibrium releases last through Saturdays?

Looking to hit up district 96 at open. Move up to eq an hr or so after opening and then a near opening try at Hudson valley. That seem feasible?

Equilibrium would be the furthest of my travels for the day and I don't want to really circle back around. So I got one shot at this thing.
 
We made it. Totally feasible
Easy breezy day through the Hudson valley.

Thanks Comparison Ford Comparison Ford for the initial hints and tips.
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Distirct96 at open. Ne style ipas quite solid. Two Crowlers to go. Food reall good. No crowd yet. One had a bubble gum cotton candy flavor that sort of blew me Away despite smelling sort Of odd initially.

Equilibrium trip was a breeze. No line. 4 brews to go. Didn’t get to try any yet.

Hudson valley last. Whoa. Mind blowing genre changing stuff

One was a vanilla and milk sugar brew. Almost all on the sour spectrum. It’s not a funky sour vibe. But more tart if that makes sense. Mouthfeel and finish on all were spectacular. None really felt bitter or ibu driven. Sampled 6. No duds.

Both HV and Eq have that old garage building vibe that a lot of places around my way are like. Foam is like that in a sense. No ac at Hv. No one seemed to care. Beer was way too unique.


Y’all shoulda seen some of these hauls people were doing. I looked like an amateur getting one of each. I saw 3-4 cases and 7-8 crowlers some guys were pulling away with.

Onto the next places......

How easy is parking around LIC beer project or OH in Brooklyn on a Sunday?
 
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