Beer in the new era

Last night I drank a Widmeyer Hefeweizen, which I found meh, and a Maresdous 8, which was very tasty in the tradition of tasty Belgian strong ales. A bit on the sweeter side of what I like but not over the line.

Oh, I'll keep an eye out for that. I've been meaning to start exploring Belgian beers. I was putting it off till I'd tried every English stout but I should probably start sooner.

It's almost summer! Time to put the stouts away!

Oh yeah, I had something called Sunset Wheat the other night which tasted like orange and was surprisingly good considering that fact.

nooooooooooooooooo!!!

(I'm assuming you're talking about Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat, which I declared a vendetta against because it is the single least-pleasant beer I have ever had)

When I was in Belgium last week I totally was rocking all the kriek. But not the Hoegaarden (because that's utterly disgusting). I also had a Trappist (Chimay Bleu) which was pretty intense at 9% ABV

sundar iirc you are in OTT or MTL? where are you getting these amazing beers from in whichever of those two cities you're in?

if you are from neither of those places i apologize, i just remember you saying it once or something. i may be making it up.

I'm from Ottawa (and lived in Mtl 2001-2002) but I've been living in Buffalo NY for almost 2 years now.

When I was in Belgium last week I totally was rocking all the kriek. But not the Hoegaarden (because that's utterly disgusting). I also had a Trappist (Chimay Bleu) which was pretty intense at 9% ABV

Where exactly?

BTW if near West Flanders: Should have tried the Brugse Zot!

(I would imagine that at least Mtl should have good places for this? I couldn't help you though. I drank Colt 45 from the dep when I lived there. Ah, callow youth.)

To be fair, I haven't really looked past my local deps, but the few bars I've found that have bigger selections were pretty disappointing... one place that was recommended highly as a place with a bunch of beers had that greek beer whose name I forget as the rarest one. mythos?

i'll have to check ch0whound or something.

Let me know if you find (or have had) Dieu du Ciel Aphrodisiaque. The ratebeer.com folks rank it as the best sweet stout on earth but I haven't found any around here.

yes. mythos. it's not bad!

I think I am going to drop by Dieu du Ciel tonight, actually. Everything they have is actually to a pretty high standard... the reason you probably haven't found it is because they aren't actually bottling any of their brews yet. Apparently they're opening another brewery north of the city though, and they're going to start bottling there! I can't remember where I heard that. I read it today after doing a bit of ch0whound research. I will see if I can talk to the owners or something tonight (I'm going early so hopefully the place will be near empty, I'm not much of one for the crowd there). I've not had the aphrodisiaque, don't know if it's "in season" (they only brew most things a couple times a year), but if they have it I'll give you a review!

Where exactly?

Brussels. and Paris, but that's obviously not in Belgium. May I also suggest that if you do go to France and decide to try the local brews, Kronenbourg tastes like piss. stay away.

I've developed a fondness for Zywiec lately - I don't even usually like lagers much but it's so smooth and tasty. Perfect warm weather beer.

it is. and that red-temperature indicator on the back is key!

König Ludwig Weissbier is majorly tasty, if a bit pricey.

I recently tried this weird Belgian beer, "La Chouffe." Unpasteurized, 8% and quite good. (Although the floaty yeast cultures were somewhat of a turn-off)

Oh yeah, I've had La Chouffe - very nice. There are so many good belgian beers it's amazing.

I just remembered I have a beer question:

In Mexico I tried Bohemia (regular, not dark) and it was fantastic - at the moment I thought it was one of the best beers I'd ever tried.

Recently I tried some Bohemia in a U.S. Mexican place and it was meh. Is it possible I was getting a different "export" version, or that the transit did something to the beer?

Man...I have had so much "skunky" imported beer, could that be it?

On a related note, what do you do when your beer is obviously off and you've already drank a couple? Can you take the rest back to the store.?

;)

Oh yeah, I went back to Dieu, but no Aphro... was available. I didn't get a chance to ask when/if it was coming back... next time! Maybe I'll go tonight, I would like to dig into my new book and my house smells like cat piss and I am not currently poor.

Oh man! I didn't see that you guys were talking about Biere D'Achouffe. I thought it was a Quebecois beer for so long! True story. Apparently the first place they started exporting to was Quebec! It is very delicious. I don't remember finding any little floaters, though...

Response from Dieu du Ciel to two questions I asked via e-mail:

Hello Will,

Thanks you for your comments. It is much appreciated.

1-) We brew the Aphrodisiaque only 2 or 3 times a year. The next batch
will probably be avaible something like next september.

2-) Yes, it's true, we are in the process of building up a bottling
plant in St-Jérôme. There will also be a pub there. We hope to be able
to sell our first bottles at the end of July.

Cheers!
[dude's name removed by me]

currently - harviestoun Butter and Twisted is amazinhg, but we've just come back from North East France (ie very near the Belgian border and lots of Flemish beer-making tradition) and have been loving L'angelus which is beer's swankiest bottle I fear, gold foil and everything. Also Maredsous, Amadeus (lemon flavoured, should be wrong but oh so right) and god's own beer - Orval.

erm that's bitter and twisted of course

When alcohol content is shown on U.S. beer, it is often labelled by weight. Since alcohol is lighter than water, this can leave the mistaken impression that U.S. beer has much less alcohol, on average, than Canadian beer. A 3.2% beer in the U.S. (by weight) would be equivalent to a 4% beer in Canada (by volume).

Wikipedia I LOVE YOU. Did anyone know this? It boggles the mind! WHY?!

let's have a sesh

link?

my girl friend brought me a 6 pack of Hitachino Nest White Ale. Pretty good stuff. nice floral aromas ,perfect for a hot summer day. i think it's kind of pricey though

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/409121525_01915ec7ca.jpg

link, sorry: Canadian Beer

Apparently they have Aphrodisiaque in now. And I'm destitute poor and going away for the weekend! NOOOOO!

Recommend some beer. Not too heavy, not too wheaty, crisp and refreshing in the style of Tsing Tsao or similar.

Also recommend some beers like Paulaner or the white Kronenberg with the fruity taste whose name escapes me.

I am in the mood for trying different beers.

Dude, Zywiec

(re: light, crisp, refreshing, not wheaty)

I was at the nashville beer fest and the best thing there was a homebrewed bock that they ran out of by my second go-round. After a while though all you care about is that the beer is cold, because it's nearly august, and you're outdoors in nashville.

I think I might have talked my dad into getting a 30-gallon kit from Boot Lager. (ha ha, "boot lager")

I also finally made myself a michelada with a little kosher salt on top of a can of tecate with a lime in it. not half bad, if you don't mind a bit of foamy foam foam.

Sundar, have you tried Flying Bison? I can't quite remember which bars serve it (I think the Ulrich's, but they have closed, I think). I miss it dearly.

I swore by Aviator Red (which you can get at Wegman's) for a while. I still think it's good but have gone off it a bit. Are there other good FB beers?

I wanted to make it to Dieu du Ciel when I visited Mtl earlier in the month but couldn't make it. Drank a lot of St-Ambroise (and some nice micro wheats) instead.

They have seasonal beers (which I can remember the name of), that friends would bring me in growlers. I never managed to locate the brewery, which apparently is on the West Side (on Niagara, maybe?). Anyway, I remember enjoying the summer and winter ales quite a bit.

Available in Wegmans!? Ahh! This was not so when I lived there! I love you, Wegmans!

"Dude, Zywiec"

One of the benefits of my area of London filling up with large numbers of young eastern Europeans is the availablity in the cornershops of excellent Polish beers at ridiculously cheap prices.

Zywiec is one of the better ones, at about £1 a bottle. The dark lagers especailly are a revelation.

Ronan WTF?? This is truly a new era for you!

Saku from Estonia is pretty good

Saku or Saku Kuld, anyway. The dark variety has that soy saucey aftertaste I can't get with.

Ronan WTF?? This is truly a new era for you!

is this a joke? heh...I don't get it if so. is it that unusual that I ask about trying new beers?

I had a Saku Porter that had a weird aftertaste, that was probably the same one.

Wheats: Last night I was drinking Sprecher Hefe Weiss, which was all right.
Non-Wheats: Last night I was also drinking New Holland Mad Hatter, which was goddamn awesome.

I guess I am in the dark :/ I thought you were still teetotalling because of your stuffed-upedness-in-the-cabesa.

new holland/night tripper imperial stout - boooooooze. this is fantastic tbh, i like bitter boozey ashy imperial stouts and this one also nails the right mouthfeel.

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, April 23, 2014 10:01 PM (10 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

a delightful byproduct of new holland distributing here is that 4-packs of this beer just showed up. best non-ba imperial stout i've had.

― call all destroyer, Sunday, March 1, 2015 8:23 PM (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Throwback to five or six years ago, I am visiting my parents home in Michigan while they are not home and found my dad has a bottle of 2014 Night Tripper. Well, had. It's very good!

oh man, great find. i should see if this is still around anywhere although the distribution landscape of 2015 feels like a million years ago.

Dear BitNE readers,

What is your favorite Winter Warmer?

(...or is that style too "old era"?)

Literally the only Christmasy winter beer I've ever wanted more than one of is Alpha Klaus, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't count.

Phase Three here is introducing a "winter IPA," which I guess is their take on a winter ale or "winter warmer," which I did not even know was a thing but

https://tbn.ethershaft.engineering/what-is-a-winter-ale/

man i don't even know if i could go to a store and buy a winter warmer these days

Fremont (Seattle) releases an absolute beast annually named Bourbon Abonimable (aka B-bomb) and I've had some killer vintage ones from Capt. Lawrence (Hudson Valley, NY) & Kuhnhenn (Detroit, MI) this winter.

One of my locals made a winter warmer that I reluctantly bought a 4-pack of and I'm really enjoying it. Feels like I'm going against the grain for reals lol.

i always get some of the boulevard nutcracker ale and really enjoy it, but i am not a winter warmer connoisseur.

My first was an Anchor Christmas ale maybe 20 years ago, and loved it that first time. But as I buy it nowadays, usually every year around this time, it is less and less a great thing.

Years ago a friend of mine brought an entire case of Mad Elf (Tröegs' holiday belgian-style ale that's 11-12%) to a holiday party that was going on for hours and kept wondering why no one wanted to go near the stuff.

Oof, 3 Floyds is permanently closing its Indiana taproom, though it doesn’t seem to affect their beer production.

I'm not even sure what "closed permanently" means anymore. Basically "closed until further notice," I guess, because there's nothing to stop them from reopening once the pandemic passes, right? Anyway, there are murmurings that as one might expect more was going on than just the pandemic. They recently did a massive expansion, too, didn't they? Or had planned to? Hopefully this allows them to focus entirely on the beer and build the coffers back up until they figure out the next move.

Aw, damn. I guess that explains the context for this tweet...

Not sure who needs to hear this, but when a brewery announces it is closing, and you feel it necessary to say how “their beer sucks anyways” - you, person sharing this thought with the world in this very particular moment, are the one that sucks. ✌️

— ABV Chicago (@ABVChicago) December 16, 2020

3 floyds starting to distribute to new markets isn't an amazing sign for them

FWIW I’ve noticed their stuff finally seems to be in stock locally, even Zombie Dust

xp so them spreading out is more like a desperate move?

I had Upper Hands' BA stout tonight, it was slightly basic but also really good, much better than say dragon's milk

i think entering a super-saturated new england market is a way to get a one-time bump but is not very sustainable. 3 floyds, toppling goliath, bells, founders, pipeworks, and one or two more largish brands now fight for like 1-2 fridge doors in the largest beer store near me. how's that going to go long term?

*largish midwestern brands

xp makes sense

@CAD the last few years in February we have been getting The Alchemist in distro (Heady Topper & Focal Banger).

I don't know how it works, but I get the impression sometimes it's as simple as a small brewery just taking a road trip and dropping stuff off, sort of an informal distribution. That's how I figure stuff like, say, Other Half makes it out here once in a while, or stuff like Hop Butcher here making it to other places. And these guys are, by and large, pretty small potatoes. Like, Pipeworks? How big can Pipeworks be? They do produce a lot of varieties of beer, but that's its own strategy: keep pumping out new stuff weekly lest you lose that coveted spot on the shelf.

Why not just come out with a Barf Flavored IPA?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpdZEt2W4AUBtsS?format=jpg&name=large

lol I would actually try one of these. But yeah.

3 floyds starting to distribute to new markets isn't an amazing sign for them

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, December 16, 2020 8:04 PM (four weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

really? i have been happy to have zombie dust in the nyc area

sad to read on this thread they had to close their taproom. hopefully they open one day.

i came here to post about pills mafia by thin man brewing company in buffalo. the pilsner is a humble style, but when done right there is nothing crisper. this is so much better than a pilsner urquell but it hits the same notes, without the weird aftertaste of that one.

xp it's great for you, the out of market consumer. it might not be great for them, business struggling to stay afloat.

@CAD you'd be surprised at what's starting to get national distribution these days.

lol i very much doubt it. tough times out there.

mikkeller closed down their new york city spot at citi field. i was crushed. one of my favorite summer spots

I’m still struggling to understand how Three Floyds expanding their distribution is supposed to be a sign that they are about to go under. If this was some new brewery with their reach exceeding their grasp, I’d get it. But they’ve been around long enough and pretty slow to get to this point, so I have to imagine they have a little bit of a clue what they are doing. They’ve been expanding their facilities a lot on the last five years, so I feel like this has been the goal anyway.

- noted brewery spends years selling at capacity to their midwestern market to the point where at one time their regular production beers were desirable in trades
- brewery expands, creates taproom, embarks on various other growth projects
- pandemic hits
- brewery closes taproom, lays off employees
- concurrently, brewery enters new, highly saturated markets with old-ish stock of regular production beers
- brewery enjoys cash flow from novelty purchasers who if they are anything like me bought one six-pack of zombie dust when it entered distribution and haven't really considered buying their beer since
- hmmm does this sound like a sustainable model?

They closed their brewpub, not their giant brewing facility, afaik. I mean, there were cases of 3 Floyds in Costco last time I went, I assume they are doing OK making beer, just maybe not as well making burgers and pulled pork sandwiches.

i'll check in with you guys later but the only reason in 2020 for a brewery of their size to drastically expand distribution is because it has excess stock and needs to try and move it.

i saw this exact thing play out with smuttynose who was brewing at capacity and expanding to the midwest, until they weren't, got sold, and barely survived as a brand

I suspect the same thing is going on with Toppling Goliath, which is now in California.

I posted this in the TJ's thread but is v. topical:

Toppling Goliath has been in California for a while, I mean they are even in Japan. I had a reasonably fresh Pseudo Sue can in Tokyo last autumn... for ~$10 though.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, December 6, 2020 12:25 AM (one month ago)

I hadn't seen them in SoCal until a couple months ago.

I tried the Pompeii IPA first, good but not superlative. Bought some Pseudo Sue after and I get the reputation, though tbh, I think there are as good beers out there.

I don't know shit about 3Floyds other than it was a name 4 years ago and now no one gives a shit. So I trust cad's take.

there were cases of 3 Floyds in Costco last time I went, I assume they are doing OK making beer,

Having stock sitting around in big box stores is a bad sign, not a good sign.

Not sitting around, recently added, afaict. I'd never seen it there before. But, like, most craft or craft-ish beer "sits around" on shelves, doesn't it? Anecdotally, the only stuff I see moving in noticeable numbers is the usual Bud/Miller/Coors stuff. However, my wife works with one of the big beer companies, and as I understand it beer sales are way down for everyone, for a variety of reasons, so I assume that's extra hard for the large craft breweries. But I have no idea.

But, like, most craft or craft-ish beer "sits around" on shelves, doesn't it?

No, not ideally. Part of cad's point is their stuff previously sold out instantly; now, not so much.

FYI, I've bought less than a case of beer in the last three years from a distributor/retail store. Everything is direct from a brewery these days.

In my very limited experience, the only 3 Floyds stuff that ever sold out instantly was Zombie Dust, or at least locally that's the only one that was ever hard(er) to find. It's only the small or very limited stuff from any brewery that seems to vanish overnight. If there's a beer that I can literally always find on the shelves, then I assume to some extent it's been sitting around, if only compared to the stuff that *doesn't* sit around. But yeah, Zombie Dust was the only one that ever flew off shelves or was tougher to get, as far as I ever noticed, which seems more an exception than the rule. Bourbon County Stout (for example) used to fly off the shelves, too, but now it sits around as well, for months, and I don't think that's a sign that Goose Island is struggling. At the same time, like I said, all beer is struggling, so sure, it's possible 3 Floyds will go under or implode, like Ballast Point did.

FFF and other "metal" beers seem passé at this point. Like I was at the store and saw their \m/WAR PIGS\m/ brand and wondered who was buying it these days.

FYI, I've bought less than a case of beer in the last three years from a distributor/retail store. Everything is direct from a brewery these days.

― Jimi Buffett (PBKR), Thursday, January 14, 2021 9:52 AM (twenty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah, this is a paradigm shift and it's bad news for a lot of the bigger craft breweries

Idk, anecdotal, obviously, but the two retail stores I hit up around me both say beer is flying off the shelves. They both do curbside pickup, delivery and a system where they list everything on the windows and do transactions from the door. Every time I've been there or walked past, there almost always is a line of 3-4 people waiting, even during weekday lunchtimes.

My local hype brewery has gone from extremely long lines at their remote brewery location (100 minute drive outside of my city) to overnight delivery plus limited distribution of cans/bottles to various specialty beer shops in my neighborhood.

Yeah, local craft delivery has been amazing. I always went at off hours and didn't sweat not getting every new hyped release, but not having to drive into NYC has been sweet.

Hill Farmstead (probably the best brewery in the USA), has expanded their delivery area to Vermont, Pennsylvania and Virginia.