Threw this into the Keg for a few weeks of lagering today and it is already phenomenal, has a little maturation and clarifying left to do but it's gonna be awesome Also picked up a 6er from Rosenstadt, they don't have a facility of their own yet and just brew wherever will let them use their gear but their stuff is supposed to be really great
I picked up a 15 pack of this today and I have never been so disappointed in a beer purchase before in my life. Really should've checked the alcohol percentage (3.8%) before buying it, but I've liked all their other beers. I feel like I can finish half this pack tonight having already had 4... I mean, it tastes great, but... not what I needed today lol.
Low ABV beers are great in certain situations. e.g., patio drinking with friends on a nice spring day or a trail beer during a hike. Not that I indulge that all that often especially during times of COVID.
Triple IPAs are dumb. Same thing with stuff that gets to triple, quadruple dry hopped. I saw the other day that saison man, Jason Yester, essentially is selling his brewery and getting out of beer because it's become so dumb. I'm paraphrasing here.
I think giving up on the industry because the best selling beers are gimmicky af is really dumb. And I think I hate those gimmicky beers as much as anyone.
I'll just put the article here if anybody cares to read it. Don't want to put words in the guys mouth. Tired of Modern Craft-Beer Trends, Jason Yester Sells Trinity Brewing
Also being in the industry I can totally see people being burnt out. I’ve only been doing it 5 years, but a lot of veterans with 20+ years of experience tell me how the industry has changed for the worse at times. I personally welcome the Seltzer’s/Naturdays/Hazys etc., but they’re definitely way too many of them. Part of my job is selling in beer that won’t sell most of the time, and that’s definitely the frustrating part of it. Though luckily for me my company gives me some tools to help market slower beers.
i'll be in portland and seattle next week... any brewery suggestions? even if it's just to-go from the taproom. we're a group of three and we can make our own flights at the house we'll be staying in.
I fucking feel that “selling in beer that won’t sell most of the time” line. I love hazy ipas and seltzer’s, despise the trend of pastry stouts and heavily fruited sours but yeah even in my 4ish years in the industry it’s changed so much for good and bad. I just hate how much shit people used to give fruit beers and now fruit punch beers are all the rage with that same crowd lol. The consumer only wanting what is new and not what is good is absolutely the worst trend in the industry, imo.
Hmm. So, like, I empathize and agree with him in terms of things becoming so homogenized, but keep being the change you want to see! There’s a brewery near me that do german inspired beers and they don’t give a fuck. They’ve brewed three IPA’s in the five years they’ve been open and beat out bud/miller/coors for best American light lager. Idk, I feel like the amount of people doing weird shit has dropped but the quality of that weird shit has never been better in my opinion. But, yeah I def feel him for sure. Maybe if I make it to 25 years in the industry I’ll tap out too haha
I always bring session IPA's to the beach. Montauk brewery makes a good one or I'll get whatever Lawsons Finest supper session is available.
I enjoy IPAs but I do miss the variety certain breweries had a few years ago, particularly Smuttynose, Long Trail, and Victory. It seems like every Victory we get up here is an IPA or Monkey variation and most Long Trail beers I see now are IPAs. I like Victory’s new IPAs but I miss being able to easily find Hop Devil, Hop Ranch when they still brewed it, and Prima. I’m sure it’s partially an NH distribution thing and there’s admittedly a bit of nostalgia that plays into it. A big reason I like Night Shift so much is that they brew a bunch of different styles and they do them all well.
Depending on what you’re into - Seattle: Holy Mountain, Fremont Portland: Cascade, Modern Times, Great Notion, Breakside, Upright Only listed breweries whose beers I’ve tried before, there are plenty of other well-regraded options. Plus, I’m sure you could find lots of other local stuff in bottle shops like De Garde. If you are a fan of barrel-aged farmhouse ales and are lucky enough to encounter Floodland in Seattle, get it!
I took a little road trip up to Bend this week. Definitely didn’t get to check out as many breweries as would’ve been ideal, but Sunriver and Ale Apothecary definitely stood out to me. Sunriver’s Cocoa Cow is kind of like Samuel Smith’s chocolate stout on steroids. Plus their barrel-aged chocolate stout with ancho chiles was incredible and drank way less than its abv. And Ale Apothecary’s beers are extremely unique, utilizing all local ingredients (in many cases foraged). Not quite like any other beers I’ve had, with a really distinct mixed culture profile. I picked up a few bottles to take home, including a barrel-aged tripel; a beer with ponderosa pine needles aged in oak with homemade rye bread; and a mixed-ferm barleywine that I’m extremely curious about.