Craft Beer Thread

Partial to hoppy ales myself, but in addition to Prima Pils, a Pikeland Pils from Sly Fox can hit the spot on a hot summer day.

Well, not *completely* wrong...

deborahg said:
@ml1 Sadly, we tried Sweet Baby Jesus a few months ago. So wrong.

annemarie said:
Anyone on Untappd?

Yes. Username is BrickPig. Look me up.

I now live in craft beer heaven and find myself drinking beer a lot more than I have since college... There's a brewery down the street and this is my new local with 52 taps: http://www.glendaletap.com/#taps

I just want to be in the Montpelier/Waterbury, VT area.

http://www.theblackbackpub.com/

http://www.threepennytaproom.com/taplist/

http://www.prohibitionpig.com/draft/

Last time I was in Vermont I was somewhat underwhelmed by Heady Topper. But Hill Farmstead's What is Enlightenment? -- that is another story.

There is a bus in Burlington that takes tour groups to Alchemist, Switchback, Fiddlehead, Magic Hat and a few others.

j_r said:
Last time I was in Vermont I was somewhat underwhelmed by Heady Topper. But Hill Farmstead's What is Enlightenment? -- that is another story.
There is a bus in Burlington that takes tour groups to Alchemist, Switchback, Fiddlehead, Magic Hat and a few others.

Thats the Hotel VT beer tour. http://hotelvt.com/amenities/beer-concierge

As for Heady, it's a really great beer, but I don't think that it's the best. I happen to prefer Fiddlehead's Second Fiddle. Friends have sung the praises of The Alchemist's Focal Banger. Dying to try some Hill Farmstead brews.

eta: I think that Heady Topper suffers from extraordinarily high expectations that are almost impossible to meet.

catch22 said:

Is there anyone around here carrying any of their other brews

A&D Liquors on Valley carries at least three of theirs including an IPA and Total Wine on 22 and in Essex Green carry them as well

qrysdonnell said:
I'd also vote Prima Pils from Victory over Lagunitas.
Goose Island doesn't quite do it for me. Even before the A-B purchase you could get it a lot of places, and it was often the token craft beer as it still tends to be. And now with their purchase of Bluepoint you often see it side by side with Bluepoint's Toasted Lager. Seems to take some of the wonder out of the world for me. Also their 312 Urban Pale Ale is one of my least favorite pale ales out there.
Yankee Stadium really needs to do something about their beer selection. I went there most recently for the Red Bulls visit and I had to go a few sections over just to find something decent (Goose Island). At Red Bull Arena I sit right next to a section where they have 4 semi-rotating taps that usually have Bronx Pale Ale, Sixpoint Sweet Action and things from Yards, 21st Amendment, etc. Bronx Pale Ale is my favorite 'normal' beer (haven't seen it anywhere else in Jersey though), and it great for sitting in a stadium watching a game - especially when the Red Bulls are beating the blue team from the Bronx!

Very interesting. I had no idea that Anheuser owned Goose Island or Bluepoint.

So, I walked to the CVS around the corner from my office (42nd and 3rd in Manhattan) and found this in their beer cooler. It says a lot about both the distribution muscle of Anheuser Busch and Heineken but also about the changing tastes in beer. Regardless of the ownership, can you imagine Bluepoint, Dogfish Head, Lagunitas, and Magic Hat(!) in a major, national chain store even a few years ago?

I had the Terrapin/Cigar City Vapricot tonight at Coda. Highly recommended. A hoppy Ginger and apricot beer, but not too fruity.

Tonight's beverage of choice

Great to see this discussion here!

A couple of folks mentioned Hill Farmstead. Good luck getting any of those around here, but if you go up there, or have a friend who can bring some down, definitely worth it. Probably the best brewery operating on the east coast right now.

Heady Topper? Right, a little overrated. But the definitive east coast DIPA and the answer to Pliny the Elder on the west coast, which is also a great beer but is wrongly held up as the best. Best IPA in my current book: Lawson’s Sip of Sunshine. Haven’t seen it around here, but I’m told you can get it in CT.

+1 to Total Wine in Essex Green, but also try to get down to the one in Union. There seem to be some differences in their selection.

I don’t think anyone’s mentioned it (and sorry to sidetrack this thread with something that isn’t beer) but it’s worth your time and money to tour the Melovino Meadery in Vauxhall. There's usually a Groupon available for it. Their meads are almost all sweeter than I like, but they are otherwise extremely fine. Get the Hot for Teacher, which is a cyser with jalapeños.

On Untappd: ddorbin

What does cyser mean?

I think it's a mead and apple cider hybrid

Virgule_Octathorpe said:
Heady Topper? Right, a little overrated. But the definitive east coast DIPA and the answer to Pliny the Elder on the west coast, which is also a great beer but is wrongly held up as the best. Best IPA in my current book: Lawson’s Sip of Sunshine. Haven’t seen it around here, but I’m told you can get it in CT.

I actually have both Heady Topper and Sip of Sunshine in my fridge right now. While I think that both are great, I don't think that either are the best. Sip of Sunshine is now being produced in CT by Two Roads (and has been for a while). Some kegs of Hill Farmstead seem to be making it down to Manhattan.

apple44 said:
I think it's a mead and apple cider hybrid

Thanks.

Enjoying a mildly hoppy Barking Squirrel Lager By Hop City Brewery in Toronto right now. Not as much bite as I prefer, but it's a decent.

A couple of months ago they had a craft beer festival at Turtle Back Zoo. I think there were about 50 vendors and the cost was. from memory 65 bucks a head and you had to bring a designated driver.

Anybody go there?

Our daughter and her BF got me a subscription to one of those beers of the month gigs. This got me to try some new stuff. The only one I couldn't bring myself to try was a milk stout. As Deb said, albeit for another reason, that sounds so wrong. LOL

bobk said:
A couple of months ago they had a craft beer festival at Turtle Back Zoo. I think there were about 50 vendors and the cost was. from memory 65 bucks a head and you had to bring a designated driver.
Anybody go there?
Our daughter and her BF got me a subscription to one of those beers of the month gigs. This got me to try some new stuff. The only one I couldn't bring myself to try was a milk stout. As Deb said, albeit for another reason, that sounds so wrong. LOL

That was the third annual Brew at the Zoo. No need for a designated driver (they did, however, sell designated driver tickets). Uber was there (they had a booth). I went and tried some good and some not so good beers. It's mostly distributor driven as to who is there. The independents were not on the ice, but near the food stand.

As for milk stouts, you really should try one. They can be quite good.

Deleted. Photo will not post.

ArchBroad said:
Deleted. Photo will not post.

These breweries will call a beer anything these days!

Steve said:

j_r said:
Last time I was in Vermont I was somewhat underwhelmed by Heady Topper. But Hill Farmstead's What is Enlightenment? -- that is another story.
There is a bus in Burlington that takes tour groups to Alchemist, Switchback, Fiddlehead, Magic Hat and a few others.

Thats the Hotel VT beer tour. http://hotelvt.com/amenities/beer-concierge
As for Heady, it's a really great beer, but I don't think that it's the best. I happen to prefer Fiddlehead's Second Fiddle. Friends have sung the praises of The Alchemist's Focal Banger. Dying to try some Hill Farmstead brews.
eta: I think that Heady Topper suffers from extraordinarily high expectations that are almost impossible to meet.

My family lives up in that area of Vermont. I am so glad that I now live in suburban New Jersey and own a car, so I can pack the extra spaces inside a car with all the great Vermont brews that we can't get down here.

Drinkin this for a member of our esteemed community.

..

Steve said:
Drink in this for a member of our esteemed community.

I spotted that beer in one shop or another a few weeks ago. I really wanted to try it, but didn't want to commit to a six pack. What did you think of it?

Not bad I'd certainly trade you one for a VT brew

apple44 said:
Yep

ml1 said:I remember when your choice in a lot of bars in this area for draft beer was PBR or PBR or PBR.

Might that be my friend, Eddie Coyle?

TomR

To add some new content to this discussion: a while back, I was intent on finding a place to sell me growlers of beer. (Alas, I'm still lacking in nearby locations to do so: does anyone have any recommendations for places that will sell me growlers located less than 25 minutes away?) However, for people that are willing to travel: check out Super Buy Rite Liquors in North Plainfield, on Rt 22. (As a reference point: they're about a mile or two beyond the Watchung Mall shops, on the same side of the road heading west.) Their website is very bare-bones ( though they do update their growler list regularly) .

http://www.superbuyritewine.com

However, their actual beer selection is incredible - probably the best I've seen in northern New Jersey. Total wine could very well sell more varieties, but Super Buy Rite beats the pants off of them for varieties of breweries. Every time I go there, I'm sad that I don't have the budget to buy one of everything. Give them a try if you happen to be in the area (My last visit coincided with picking up the license plates for my new Honda CR-V at the dealership in North Plainfield a mile away - a very happy coincidence!)

Not sure if it's mentioned here but there's going to be a new Liquor Store where the Santander Bank is on Springfield Avenue and they say they will have a better craft beer selection than The Wine Library. The owner is investing $1MM in the store. It sounds great so far.

meganlibrarian said:
To add some new content to this discussion: a while back, I was intent on finding a place to sell me growlers of beer. (Alas, I'm still lacking in nearby locations to do so: does anyone have any recommendations for places that will sell me growlers located less than 25 minutes away?) However, for people that are willing to travel: check out Super Buy Rite Liquors in North Plainfield, on Rt 22. (As a reference point: they're about a mile or two beyond the Watchung Mall shops, on the same side of the road heading west.) Their website is very bare-bones ( though they do update their growler list regularly) .
http://www.superbuyritewine.com
However, their actual beer selection is incredible - probably the best I've seen in northern New Jersey. Total wine could very well sell more varieties, but Super Buy Rite beats the pants off of them for varieties of breweries. Every time I go there, I'm sad that I don't have the budget to buy one of everything. Give them a try if you happen to be in the area (My last visit coincided with picking up the license plates for my new Honda CR-V at the dealership in North Plainfield a mile away - a very happy coincidence!)

I was only in there once because I needed a specific beer for a tasting event I was doing and they were the only ones who carried it anywhere near us...I was impressed at the time with the growler station selection.