Best (and worst) beers you've ever had

[AUDub 11,153]

On 31/03/2018 at 12:32 AM, ShocksMyBrain said:

Or every Blue Pants Pinstripe variant. Are they still even open?

Yes. 

Ditto on pinstripe, though I did buy a pack of their Double Stuff recently. Found it serviceable. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

21 minutes ago, AUDub said:

Yes. 

Ditto on pinstripe, though I did buy a pack of their Double Stuff recently. Found it serviceable. 

With a name like “Double Stuff”, I want it to tastes like Oreos. Not just slightly sweeter than regular Pinstripe. Their candy bar variant was the same way. If you tried all 3 in a row, you’d find little deviation from one to the next. 

[AUDub 11,153]

1 minute ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

With a name like “Double Stuff”, I want it to tastes like Oreos. Not just slightly sweeter than regular Pinstripe. Their candy bar variant was the same way. If you tried all 3 in a row, you’d find little deviation from one to the next. 

I've never been overly impressed with anything in their lineup. Generally a hard pass on name alone. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

2 hours ago, AUDub said:

I've never been overly impressed with anything in their lineup. Generally a hard pass on name alone. 

100%. They’ve disappeared off the shelves around here. Not sure if they pulled out of the market or what. 

New to us this week: Boulevard. Kinda meh on it, but Tank 7 and The Calling are alright in their base lineup. Their BBA/specialty stuff is more interesting. 

Uinta got dropped by their distributor already. They entered the market in September 2017. Kind of odd, I’d like to talk to their brewery rep and get their story. I’m indifferent on it.

Coming up for us, 2nd Shift out of St. Louis is entering the market. Hadn’t heard of them, but their lineup looks solid. When it was pitched to me, I initially thought it was that faux craft brand from Miller(I think?). 

[McLoofus 35,182]

12 hours ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

New to us this week: Boulevard. Kinda meh on it, but Tank 7 and The Calling are alright in their base lineup. Their BBA/specialty stuff is more interesting. 

Agree. 

I would compare them to Sweetwater in terms of their base beers, but better at the limited stuff. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

Found a couple 4pks at a lesser competitor. Canned mid February. No telling how long it’s been sitting in their cooler. 

It’s stellar. Very much like Devil’s Harvest, but a lot more body. I don’t detect much hop fall off despite the canning date. I can only imagine how much better it was right at the canning date. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

10 minutes ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

Found a couple 4pks at a lesser competitor. Canned mid February. No telling how long it’s been sitting in their cooler. 

It’s stellar. Very much like Devil’s Harvest, but a lot more body. I don’t detect much hop fall off despite the canning date. I can only imagine how much better it was right at the canning date. 

You just described a damned-near perfect beer. The thinner body makes Devil's Harvest slightly less appealing to me than I think it is to a lot of people. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

14 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

You just described a damned-near perfect beer. The thinner body makes Devil's Harvest slightly less appealing to me than I think it is to a lot of people. 

DH is my hands down go to beer when I can’t think of anything else to grab. That said, I can’t disagree with what you said. 

And since we were on the topic of Pinstripe, this store had a bottle of brettanomyces variant. And that just doesn’t sound appealing. I’m all for a sour stout, but brett should be used in lighter beers imo. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

Just now, ShocksMyBrain said:

DH is my hands down go to beer when I can’t think of anything else to grab. That said, I can’t disagree with what you said. 

And since we were on the topic of Pinstripe, this store had a bottle of brettanomyces variant. And that just doesn’t sound appealing. I’m all for a sour stout, but brett should be used in lighter beers imo. 

I haven't found a sour stout I like yet, but I've only tried a couple. Might need to expand my mind to get on board with any of them. But brett... ew... I'm with you.

Staying on Blue Pants... I didn't realize they distribute down here but my local spot has the DDH DIPA. Have y'all already discussed? I can't recall hearing anything positive about them.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

22 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I haven't found a sour stout I like yet, but I've only tried a couple. Might need to expand my mind to get on board with any of them. But brett... ew... I'm with you.

Staying on Blue Pants... I didn't realize they distribute down here but my local spot has the DDH DIPA. Have y'all already discussed? I can't recall hearing anything positive about them.

I think of those that have had anything from Blue Pants, we mostly agree that they’re nothing special. Even the packaging is atrocious. Hire a graphic designer FFS—and that goes for any brewery with a trash label. The only thing they’re doing is making it blatantly obvious that they don’t care about their appearance on the shelf, and if they don’t care about that, then the crap the put in a can/bottle can’t be worth much either.

I’m very much a “judge a book by its cover” person. And that applies to just about everything. Is it shallow? Maybe. Am I missing out on something special? Possibly. However, through experience it’s usually a pretty appropriate decision. SoPro’s labels used to be dog crap. What’d they do? Revamp their beers along with their appearance and now they’re one of the most popular breweries in this tri-state region.

About the DDH Blue Pants though, I’d order a taster just out of curiosity because it seems pretty hard to **** up a DDH D/IPA. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

Just now, ShocksMyBrain said:

I think of those that have had anything from Blue Pants, we mostly agree that they’re nothing special. Even the packaging is atrocious. Hire a graphic designer FFS—and that goes for any brewery with a trash label. The only thing they’re doing is making it blatantly obvious that they don’t care about their appearance on the shelf, and if they don’t care about that, then the crap the put in a can/bottle can’t be worth much either. 

Totally agree. I find more and more, with a few exceptions out there in various industries, that you care about quality or you don't. 

I have a good friend in marketing who is now working with Lamborghini. They were putting on a driving school event for North American Lambo owners at some fancy hotel in the Canadian wilderness. She told me that, as with all their events, they brought all of their own silverware, toilet paper, towels, bed linens, everything. Because all of it is part of their brand and they demand perfection in every single thing they do. Obviously a vast space between one of the most exclusive brands on the planet and some brewers in... Huntsville? Gadsden?... but the point remains the same.

Quote

About the DDH Blue Pants though, I’d order a taster just out of curiosity because it seems pretty hard to **** up a DDH D/IPA. 

I can do mixed sixers at this place sans markup, so I'll try one on my next stop.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

Back to packaging...why would Boulevard even do this? Even if the box is face forward on the shelf, the cans are sideways. Yeah, let’s make it so our customers open their box and all the beers fly out onto the floor. Additionally, beers are typically meant to be stored upright. 

Ignore the schmutz on the BEER fridge shelf  

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

10 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Totally agree. I find more and more, with a few exceptions out there in various industries, that you care about quality or you don't. 

I have a good friend in marketing who is now working with Lamborghini. They were putting on a driving school event for North American Lambo owners at some fancy hotel in the Canadian wilderness. She told me that, as with all their events, they brought all of their own silverware, toilet paper, towels, bed linens, everything. Because all of it is part of their brand and they demand perfection in every single thing they do. Obviously a vast space between one of the most exclusive brands on the planet and some brewers in... Huntsville? Gadsden?... but the point remains the same.

I can do mixed sixers at this place sans markup, so I'll try one on my next stop.

My wife works for a marketing company(mostly websites and social media) and she despises(or loves because she can get them as a client) seeing trash effort from companies. Yeah, it’ll cost some coin to make your product presentable, but you’ll have more people grabbing for your Uinta Hop Nosh over your Diamond Bear IPA. Seriously Google Diamond Bear’s labels. I use Uinta as an example because the beer’s “meh”, but the packaging is decent. 

I wish I could think of one example off the top of my head of a brewery with awful labels, but really good beer. 

[Tiger Refuge 6,670]

5 minutes ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

My wife works for a marketing company(mostly websites and social media) and she despises(or loves because she can get them as a client) seeing trash effort from companies. Yeah, it’ll cost some coin to make your product presentable, but you’ll have more people grabbing for your Uinta Hop Nosh over your Diamond Bear IPA. Seriously Google Diamond Bear’s labels. I use Uinta as an example because the beer’s “meh”, but the packaging is decent. 

I wish I could think of one example of the top of my head of a brewery with awful labels, but really good beer. 

I have avoided this brand for that exact reason. It looks like a beer from a board game.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

This is a lot better than I anticipated. Very jammy as the name applies. Quite a bit of body as well, I was expecting a think fruited beer. Body of Serendipity I dare say, not nearly as good. Tart fruits. A bit reminiscent of Founders Rubaeus. I’d like to try this on nitro. I do enjoy the color as well.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

1 minute ago, Tiger Refuge said:

I have avoided this brand for that exact reason. It looks like a beer from a board game.

You aren’t missing much. Drinkable beers, and not horrible. I’d grab a Fat Tire first. I feel bad though, their rep is super nice and they self-distribute, but we don’t carry their stuff anymore. And I don’t want to take up shelf space with something that simply doesn’t move. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

13 minutes ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

My wife works for a marketing company(mostly websites and social media) and she despises(or loves because she can get them as a client) seeing trash effort from companies. Yeah, it’ll cost some coin to make your product presentable, but you’ll have more people grabbing for your Uinta Hop Nosh over your Diamond Bear IPA. Seriously Google Diamond Bear’s labels. I use Uinta as an example because the beer’s “meh”, but the packaging is decent. 

I wish I could think of one example off the top of my head of a brewery with awful labels, but really good beer. 

Clown Shoes probably makes the beers that I like the most with the labels that I hate the most. But my distaste for their labels is more about personal taste than a lack of effort on their part. A lot of people love a good dick joke. I don't need it on my beer can.

[Tiger Refuge 6,670]

3 minutes ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

You aren’t missing much. Drinkable beers, and not horrible. I’d grab a Fat Tire first. I feel bad though, their rep is super nice and they self-distribute, but we don’t carry their stuff anymore. And I don’t want to take up shelf space with something that simply doesn’t move. 

If I can find some with a reasonable date, I’ll try it. Mixnmatch.

When it first showed up locally, I had to look them up. Then, they just kind of disappeared into the shelves. Too much other good stuff quickly blurred them out.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

17 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Clown Shoes probably makes the beers that I like the most with the labels that I hate the most. But my distaste for their labels is more about personal taste than a lack of effort on their part. A lot of people love a good dick joke. I don't need it on my beer can.

I don’t see many Clown Shoes bottles in my travels, so I can’t really offer an opinion. I do like some that I’ve seen, the comic book style labels. 

What are your thoughts on Brown Note? The beer itself was indicative of the label. But then again, it’s a brown ale.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

20 minutes ago, Tiger Refuge said:

If I can find some with a reasonable date, I’ll try it. Mixnmatch.

When it first showed up locally, I had to look them up. Then, they just kind of disappeared into the shelves. Too much other good stuff quickly blurred them out.

Confirming labeling bias. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

And as I was saying about Boulevard. Popped the side open and the beer started to roll out. The beer itself is rather  not bad. Don’t really get the tropical notes at first sip. Aloha Sculpin was packed with tropical notes as was Terrapin Beyond the Galaxy and Luau Krunkles. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

11 minutes ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

I don’t see many Clown Shoes bottles in my travels, so I can’t really offer an opinion. I do like some that I’ve seen, the comic book style labels. 

What are your thoughts on Brown Note? The beer itself was indicative of the label. But then again, it’s a brown ale.

Nothing says drink my beer like putting feces on the package.

[Tiger Refuge 6,670]

Dogfish Head is now on our shelves. It’s nice to have new options. I picked up a 4-pack of 90 minute and a sixer of Romantic Chemistry. Experiments begin tomorrow.

[McLoofus 35,182]

8 hours ago, Tiger Refuge said:

Dogfish Head is now on our shelves. It’s nice to have new options. I picked up a 4-pack of 90 minute and a sixer of Romantic Chemistry. Experiments begin tomorrow.

They do some really cool stuff. Never heard of Romantic Chemistry but I look forward to the review. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,367]

Headed to Fayetteville this afternoon for the weekend to visit a buddy. Gonna go to the AU baseball game tomorrow.

Anyone got any info on Fayetteville? Beers, bars, food, etc. I’ve never been.