Beer

[karstenkibbe]

I'm well past the point of thinking that some of you have lost your way.

It's beer. It isn't supposed to taste like Christmas trees or shoe leather. If it tastes like eucalyptus leaves, kimchi or roasted acorns your reaction should be "something is very wrong here" not "I have to drive 170 miles and pay $45.00 for a six pack of whatever new concoction just hit the shelves".

Learn this term: Reinheitsgebot

They came up with this in Bavaria (now part of Germany) approximately 500 years ago and this law was so important to Bavarians that a few centuries later, they wouldn't join a Unified Germany until they were assured that it would become German law, not just Bavarian law.

Below is a list of the ingredients allowed under this law:

Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast.

That is all they allow because that is all that is needed.

The four listed below are as good as it gets and guess what, each uses the four above stated ingredients. If you start drinking these you won't be making people like August West rich by overpaying for whatever ridiculous fad of the month they are able to stick in their cooler to sell to unwitting status chasers at an 800% premium.

Czechvar

Urquell

Paulaner

Spaten

You're welcome.

I’m not sure who you’re addressing here since most of us appreciate the exact heritage styles you’re talking about.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

My apologies Kibbe, wasn't singling anyone out. It was a poor attempt at humor, nothing more.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'm well past the point of thinking that some of you have lost your way.

It's beer. It isn't supposed to taste like Christmas trees or shoe leather. If it tastes like eucalyptus leaves, kimchi or roasted acorns your reaction should be "something is very wrong here" not "I have to drive 170 miles and pay $45.00 for a six pack of whatever new concoction just hit the shelves".

Learn this term: Reinheitsgebot

They came up with this in Bavaria (now part of Germany) approximately 500 years ago and this law was so important to Bavarians that a few centuries later, they wouldn't join a Unified Germany until they were assured that it would become German law, not just Bavarian law.

Below is a list of the ingredients allowed under this law:

Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast.

That is all they allow because that is all that is needed.

The four listed below are as good as it gets and guess what, each uses the four above stated ingredients. If you start drinking these you won't be making people like August West rich by overpaying for whatever ridiculous fad of the month they are able to stick in their cooler to sell to unwitting status chasers at an 800% premium.

Czechvar

Urquell

Paulaner

Spaten

You're welcome.

Come on man. Almost all of these IPAs have four ingredients. Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast. A few have more than that. The biggest change is in (a) new Hop cultivars (b) using different yeasts and (c) technique: namely hopping late, with minimal hopping during the boil. Boiling hops extracts bitterness. Hopping later allows hop esters to permeate the mash with less bitterness. For @storrsroars it is somewhat similar to Cold Brewed coffee in that respect (more like hot but not boiling). The fourth factor is freshness and no preservatives. These on-site beers are fresh, usually unfiltered and haven't been on a truck or boat for months or stuck in the back of a liquor store. It's farm to glass.

Shockingly, people have discovered some new things in 500 years. Paulaner and Spaten make some excellent beers. The best of them don't "taste like beer" meaning pale yellow lagers. There's a wide variety even in Germany. Raichbiers, Doppelbocks and Maibocks and festbiers and Hefeweizens and Belriner Weiss (which use wheat). Gose which uses salt. Ayinger Celebrator is a German Dopplebock, and I'd list it on my personal top 10 list.

Wheat Beer and the Reinheitsgebot Archives - Beer Syndicate Blog

beersyndicate.com

 

[August_West]

My apologies Kibbe, wasn't singling anyone out. It was a poor attempt at humor, nothing more.

Matches your poor taste in beer.

Also every time you drink a Czechvar, I still get paid. Sorry for partying.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Matches your poor taste in beer.

Also every time you drink a Czechvar, I still get paid. Sorry for partying.

Not sure how you get paid for the real Budweiser but if do, goody for you.

As far as taste goes, to each his own but I think you've been spending far too much time at Arby's and you're missing out on some of the finer things in life.

 

[dvegas]

Learn this term: Reinheitsgebot

Now I know how I gained instant credibility with FfldCntyFan when we tailgated at the Houston FB game, I had brought Spaten Octobefests!!

 

[Waquoit]

I'd like to throw this out here. Wasn't the great craft brewery consolidation supposed to happen by now? I haven't seen it. I've seen a few joints fold but more have come along to take their place. And places that have been open for awhile are expanding. It's remarkable to me. The beer in CT has never been better.

 

[AreBee1969]

Overrated. Because it was one of the first IPAs and you couldn't get it outside the brewery.

This is exactly how I feel about Treehouse. They've done an amazing job of creating and CULTivating their brand. Yeah, their beers are good, but a lot of breweries have caught up in quality and have made their beers more accessible to the public without overextending their capacity.

 

[Waquoit]

Overrated. Because it was one of the first IPAs and you couldn't get it outside the brewery.

When it comes around here once in a blue moon I snap it up, I still love it. I remember I hated the first one I ever tried, I hadn't made the leap yet. The guy who got it for me took it as a personal insult.

 

[karstenkibbe]

This is exactly how I feel about Treehouse. They've done an amazing job of creating and CULTivating their brand. Yeah, their beers are good, but a lot of breweries have caught up in quality and have made their beers more accessible to the public without overextending their capacity.

While I’m not a massive Treehouse fanboy like @HuskyHawk, I have immense respect for what Nate and the crew have done there. The customer experience is incredible, right down to the cleanliness of the bathrooms. Yes, there have been some bad batches over the last few years, but for the most part, their beers are consistently very good, they offer an abundance of styles at a level of quality few breweries can match. If you want to be honest, you have to say that a lot of breweries have actually sacrificed quality as they’ve expanded and dumped vast quantities into distribution. Equilibrium’s once-amazing IPAs are now overpriced shelf turds that collect dust. Other Half’s regular rotation beers are now average at best. The list goes on.

 

[karstenkibbe]

I'd like to throw this out here. Wasn't the great craft brewery consolidation supposed to happen by now? I haven't seen it. I've seen a few joints fold but more have come along to take their place. And places that have been open for awhile are expanding. It's remarkable to me. The beer in CT has never been better.

I thought it was going to happen during the height of Covid. Instead, craft breweries quickly pivoted, offered delivery, increased production, and specialty craft beer sales skyrocketed in 2020 and 2021. I am hearing about small craft breweries opening in CT every other week and it blows me away.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'd like to throw this out here. Wasn't the great craft brewery consolidation supposed to happen by now? I haven't seen it. I've seen a few joints fold but more have come along to take their place. And places that have been open for awhile are expanding. It's remarkable to me. The beer in CT has never been better.

When it comes around here once in a blue moon I snap it up, I still love it. I remember I hated the first one I ever tried, I hadn't made the leap yet. The guy who got it for me took it as a personal insult.

There's two markets out there. In the big, heavily distributed space, it has happened and continues to happen. Harpoon just bought Long Trail and Otter Creek, having already bought Catamount. They are selling the actual breweries to Whistle Pig (interested to see what they do with it). The same has happened all over. Ballast Point got acquired. Boulevard got acquired. Ommegang, the list goes on. Think about the brands you knew in the 90s and 00s. Magic Hat, Saranac, Red Hook, Anchor Steam, do you see those now?

There has been explosive growth in on premise brewery consumption along with local distribution of local beers. I see a massive selection at my local stores, but almost all of them are unfiltered, unpasteurized, local distributed beers. I barely even see any Connecticut beers here in Mass. Toppling Goliath and Cigar City recently showed up in the last two years but I don't see a lot of demand except maybe for King Sue. Jai Alai would have sold like crazy a decade ago, now it's not in the top 60 IPAs on the shelf. The market seems to have spoken and people are choosing to support local places. Increased quality and selection helped for sure but the bigger craft names used to work to prevent the small names from getting shelf space or tap handles. They have no leverage now. The pay to play lawsuits in Boston were only a few years ago.

 

[storrsroars]

If Toppling Goliath was available in Pgh, I'd buy it.

We have a glut of micro/nano brewers here, but only a handful are worth going out of one's way for, IMHO. I'd welcome any beer from a top 10 brewery.

Oh, and we still have plenty of Anchor Steam here.

 

[HuskyHawk]

At Harpoon pre-concert. Having a Catamount IPA. Not the old Catamount but it’s nice to see the name cone back.

 

[Dove]

This recent release from Marlowe Artisanal Ales is wowtastic!!! A collab with Cole Road Brewing. This beer has flower-harvested yeast, citra hops and honey.

 

[brihman]

While I’m not a massive Treehouse fanboy like @HuskyHawk, I have immense respect for what Nate and the crew have done there. The customer experience is incredible, right down to the cleanliness of the bathrooms. Yes, there have been some bad batches over the last few years, but for the most part, their beers are consistently very good, they offer an abundance of styles at a level of quality few breweries can match. If you want to be honest, you have to say that a lot of breweries have actually sacrificed quality as they’ve expanded and dumped vast quantities into distribution. Equilibrium’s once-amazing IPAs are now overpriced shelf turds that collect dust. Other Half’s regular rotation beers are now average at best. The list goes on.

Spot on about Equilibrium and I think you’re right about Other Half. Do you think they may be expanding too quickly to maintain quality? Their on-site experience hasn’t been quite as great during a couple of recent pick-ups, which is sad considering they are my favorite brewery. I think TH is the best in terms of consistency…esp across the breadth of styles they offer and on-site experience. Their coffee products are also very good in my opinion…

 

[karstenkibbe]

This recent release from Marlowe Artisanal Ales is wowtastic!!! A collab with Cole Road Brewing. This beer has flower-harvested yeast, citra hops and honey.

View attachment 77113

This one just arrived at my packy in Stamford. Looking forward to picking some up tomorrow.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Spot on about Equilibrium and I think you’re right about Other Half. Do you think they may be expanding too quickly to maintain quality? Their on-site experience hasn’t been quite as great during a couple of recent pick-ups, which is sad considering they are my favorite brewery. I think TH is the best in terms of consistency…esp across the breadth of styles they offer and on-site experience. Their coffee products are also very good in my opinion…

I have no evidence (other than lack of flavor and body), but I believe in the case of EQ, they simply prioritized profit before product when they moved from the original location, expanded and decided to go the distro route. Amazing that their beers can now be found in about 30 states. I remember standing in a hundreds-deep line five years ago this month to get cans of Vulgar Display of Flower. Now, I wouldn’t drive a mile to my go-to to buy their IPAs. They still create scarcity for their stouts, which are exceptional.

 

[Dove]

Peanut butter. Vanilla. Cocao nibs. And coffee. An amazing brew from Tox Brewing in Waterford.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Another Hudson Valley sour IPA… white chocolate, vanilla bean and cardamom. Smells like grandma’s apple pie. Tastes like a tart cold chai tea with a spritz of kefir lime. And it works.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I have no evidence (other than lack of flavor and body), but I believe in the case of EQ, they simply prioritized profit before product when they moved from the original location, expanded and decided to go the distro route. Amazing that their beers can now be found in about 30 states. I remember standing in a hundreds-deep line five years ago this month to get cans of Vulgar Display of Flower. Now, I wouldn’t drive a mile to my go-to to buy their IPAs. They still create scarcity for their stouts, which are exceptional.

No beer that is great on site seems to survive the transition to wide distribution. Certainly not IPAs. I think stouts and some lagers are still great in distro, but NE IPAs just aren't the same.

Toppling Goliath is probably the top fairly wide disto IPA producer. But I've not had their stuff in Iowa, and it wouldn't surprise me if the TG stuff I get isn't as good. I check the dates every time, and I simply won't buy an IPA that isn't stored in a cooler.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Slight change in recommendation, @HuskyHawk … on Monday, I suggested you seek out Treehouse Wanderer helles, dry hopped with Palisades. This new Wanderer - dry hopped with Callista - is the best variant yet. Some serious tropical notes. Very unique for a helles lager. I am completely blown away that Treehouse is now pumping out such quality pils/lager variants on a regular basis. I envy your short drive to Charlton.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Slight change in recommendation, @HuskyHawk … on Monday, I suggested you seek out Treehouse Wanderer helles, dry hopped with Palisades. This new Wanderer - dry hopped with Callista - is the best variant yet. Some serious tropical notes. Very unique for a helles lager. I am completely blown away that Treehouse is now pumping out such quality pils/lager variants on a regular basis. I envy your short drive to Charlton.

View attachment 77179

I really think Treehouse and Hill Farmstead are the best breweries in the country. Treehouse May lag on sours. But I don’t car much for sours. They crust traditional English and German styles, even with hop variations.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Good lord the typos.

 

[karstenkibbe]

@Dove I hope you grabbed a 4pk of this Marlowe x Coles Road. Earthy honey in a Marlowe-profile DIPA. Wonderful.