Random Beer Thoughts

[MooseLang]

You know, every single IPA I've had that has that "NE Hops" hype has been no better than Jai Alai or Enjoy By. From Toppling Goliath to Trillium to Tree House.

I have tried Jai Alai dozens and dozens of times, waiting for it to be good. I have never been impressed by that beer at all. No idea what I'm missing, since everyone and their mother seems to love it.

 

[jivex5k1]

I have tried Jai Alai dozens and dozens of times, waiting for it to be good. I have never been impressed by that beer at all. No idea what I'm missing, since everyone and their mother seems to love it.

My brother from another mother.

 

[BadJustin]

I have tried Jai Alai dozens and dozens of times, waiting for it to be good. I have never been impressed by that beer at all. No idea what I'm missing, since everyone and their mother seems to love it.

Same, the most consistently not good IPA I have ever tried.

 

[BadJustin]

"Landing a beer" wtf, it's not a plane nor a fish, ******* just stop it all ready.

 

[stupac2]

I think the thing with IPAs, at this point, is that they're not particularly hard to pull off and there are so many being made that basically everyone will have excellent ones in their backyard. And since the primary flavors are so volatile, trading for them is a very low-value proposition.

 

[JCastle1]

You know, every single IPA I've had that has that "NE Hops" hype has been no better than Jai Alai or Enjoy By. From Toppling Goliath to Trillium to Tree House.

I think my tastebuds were broken by Trillium. Used to love Jai Alai but I tried it recently and it was not that great.

 

[viajero]

I think the thing with IPAs, at this point, is that they're not particularly hard to pull off and there are so many being made that basically everyone will have excellent ones in their backyard.

Have similar feelings about BA stouts, though, too. Just cracked open a 2014 BCBS last night. It was very good -- tasted exactly like the standardbearer that BCBS is -- but I also found myself thinking there's just not much of a gap between it and ten other BA beers I can get on a shelf right now.

(I should add that at least they last forever, so if they mean enough to you/you enjoy them enough, trading for them isn't unreasonable, I guess. I just don't prefer to drink them often enough to really bother with trading.)

 

[JulianB1]

Have similar feelings about BA stouts, though, too. Just cracked open a 2014 BCBS last night. It was very good -- tasted exactly like the standardbearer that BCBS is -- but I also found myself thinking there's just not much of a gap between it and ten other BA beers I can get on a shelf right now.

You can get 10 BA beers on the shelf that are close to as good as BCBS? I'd really like to know what they are.

With BCBS I feel it works in sort of the opposite way: it's so good, and relatively straightforward to get at least for some of the year, that it makes chasing expensive, rare stouts of a similar quality not at all worth it.

 

[jivex5k1]

Have similar feelings about BA stouts, though, too. Just cracked open a 2014 BCBS last night. It was very good -- tasted exactly like the standardbearer that BCBS is -- but I also found myself thinking there's just not much of a gap between it and ten other BA beers I can get on a shelf right now.

Names man. I need some names!

 

[RayP]

You know, every single IPA I've had that has that "NE Hops" hype has been no better than Jai Alai or Enjoy By. From Toppling Goliath to Trillium to Tree House.

I have never had a single Jai Alai that afterwards had me wanting another one. I've tried to like it, but I just don't. At all.

 

[stupac2]

You can get 10 BA beers on the shelf that are close to as good as BCBS? I'd really like to know what they are.

With BCBS I feel it works in sort of the opposite way: it's so good, and relatively straightforward to get at least for some of the year, that it makes chasing expensive, rare stouts of a similar quality not at all worth it.

Exactly. I think the people chasing all these "big stouts" are actively stupid. I mean, it's your money, do whatever you want with it, but you're getting something that's at best marginally better than a bottle most of us are sitting on a case of. It's just really, really dumb.

 

[arren]

You can get 10 BA beers on the shelf that are close to as good as BCBS? I'd really like to know what they are.

Does each Eclipse variant count as one beer?

 

[viajero]

Names man. I need some names!

You can get 10 BA beers on the shelf that are close to as good as BCBS? I'd really like to know what they are.

With BCBS I feel it works in sort of the opposite way: it's so good, and relatively straightforward to get at least for some of the year, that it makes chasing expensive, rare stouts of a similar quality not at all worth it.

Alright, a little hyperbole, I admit, but, at the moment, I can grab Avery Uncle Jacob's + Tweak, Deschutes The Abyss (which is basically available year-round on shelves at this point)...alright, I can't think of more, I confess. The point, I suppose, was more that the gap between BCBS and shelfies, for me anyway, (even stuff like Big Bad Baptist or Black Xantus or whatever) isn't enough to worry about chasing much of anything these days, whether it's big trade bait stuff, like the latest adjunct flavor of the week, or even stuff like BCBS, that's gone off shelves in a day.

 

[jivex5k1]

Mmmm Abyss....
We got tweak a while ago but it's long gone now.

 

[JCastle1]

Big Bad Baptist is my jam.

 

[viajero]

Mmmm Abyss....
We got tweak a while ago but it's long gone now.

I've been surprised at how long it's lasted here. Those price tags scare people off, I suppose. And by people, I mean me, generally.

On second thought, maybe that's my beef with BA stouts...I'm just too damn cheap to buy them often

 

[JulianB1]

Alright, a little hyperbole, I admit, but, at the moment, I can grab Avery Uncle Jacob's + Tweak, Deschutes The Abyss (which is basically available year-round on shelves at this point)...alright, I can't think of more, I confess. The point, I suppose, was more that the gap between BCBS and shelfies, for me anyway, (even stuff like Big Bad Baptist or Black Xantus or whatever) isn't enough to worry about chasing much of anything these days, whether it's big trade bait stuff, like the latest adjunct flavor of the week, or even stuff like BCBS, that's gone off shelves in a day.

Oh okay, I guess this is just a "lost in location" translation situation then. Around here at least BCBS was way easier to get than a lot of those beers - some of which we don't see at all (Abyss) and others which show up in short supply and don't last very long. Although there are some areas in the state where Tweak and Uncle Jacobs are turding it up - of course at one of those stores, they still had BCBS on the floor as of relatively recently as well.

I'd love to be able to grab Big Bad Baptist regularly...

 

[steimie]

I really like Jai Alai.

A lot.

 

[viajero]

Oh okay, I guess this is just a "lost in location" translation situation then. Around here at least BCBS was way easier to get than a lot of those beers - some of which we don't see at all (Abyss) and others which show up in short supply and don't last very long. Although there are some areas in the state where Tweak and Uncle Jacobs are turding it up - of course at one of those stores, they still had BCBS on the floor as of relatively recently as well.

I'd love to be able to grab Big Bad Baptist regularly...

Yeah, Arizona's distro is an interesting beast. Big Bad Baptist all year long, I just bought Abyss for $13 at Whole Foods of all places (4+ months after release), etc., but Firestone throws out a BA offering and people start punching nuns for them. Which sort of begs the question: when did nuns start liking Parabola? It's a crazy f-ing state. Meanwhile, it sits on Washington/Oregon shelves and gets sent to California Costcos...

 

[steimie]

I haven't heard many people put Abyss on the same level as BCBS.

To each their own, I suppose, but I've never thought those two were even close. Especially because one is only like 12% barrel aged or something.

 

[JulianB1]

Yeah, Arizona's distro is an interesting beast. Big Bad Baptist all year long, I just bought Abyss for $13 at Whole Foods of all places (4+ months after release), etc., but Firestone throws out a BA offering and people start punching nuns for them. Which sort of begs the question: when did nuns start liking Parabola? It's a crazy f-ing state. Meanwhile, it sits on Washington/Oregon shelves and gets sent to California Costcos...

I'm kind of disappointed the beer world has all clued in on how good Parabola is. Three years ago I purchased a case of it at FW Paso Robles about two months after the release, then got even more at a grocery store up in Oregon a month later (and also found a bunch of '12 bottles just turding up the shelf at one of the major beer stores). Now it's limit 2 bottles per person at Paso and Barrelworks and I'm sure it will be gone in an instant.

 

[JulianB1]

I haven't heard many people put Abyss on the same level as BCBS.

To each their own, I suppose, but I've never thought those two were even close. Especially because one is only like 12% barrel aged or something.

Agreed. Even when Abyss was really good (which it hasn't been for the past few years), it hasn't ever really reminded me of BCBS. Had much more of a baker's chocolate/char/roast/smoky thing going on than the bourbony oak and vanilla sweetness that BCBS brings.

 

[viajero]

I'm kind of disappointed the beer world has all clued in on how good Parabola is. Three years ago I purchased a case of it at FW Paso Robles about two months after the release, then got even more at a grocery store up in Oregon a month later (and also found a bunch of '12 bottles just turding up the shelf at one of the major beer stores). Now it's limit 2 bottles per person at Paso and Barrelworks and I'm sure it will be gone in an instant.

Yeah, secret's out for sure. Meanwhile, if you have nice friends in the LA area, you can grab that, Sucaba, like 4 Barrelworks beers, and Parabajava all at once at the new Venice location. I can only assume that treasure trove will dry up once people figure it out, but until then, absolutely incredible. (Pretty incredible tap list too.)

 

[steimie]

Yeah, secret's out for sure. Meanwhile, if you have nice friends, you can grab that, Sucaba, like 4 Barrelworks beers, and Parabajava all at once at the new Venice location. I can only assume that treasure trove will dry up once people figure it out, but until then, absolutely incredible. (Pretty incredible tap list too.)

I need better friends.

 

[RayP]

I can't even think of any shelf BBA stouts I'd get out here, other than a Three Taverns one, Heavy Bells, that is seasonal... I think?

 

[JulianB1]

I can't even think of any shelf BBA stouts I'd get out here, other than a Three Taverns one, Heavy Bells, that is seasonal... I think?

Dragon's Milk maybe? Which is a solid beer but nowhere close to BCBS or most of the other stuff that's been discussed.

 

[RayP]

Dragon's Milk maybe? Which is a solid beer but nowhere close to BCBS or most of the other stuff that's been discussed.

Yeah, forgot about that one, mainly because I'm not a huge fan of that one. It's decent to get as an extra every now and then, but nothing I'll ever buy for myself.

 

[JulianB1]

This is being discussed in the FIB thread but I feel like it deserves a more diverse audience. Is this the worst event-related deal in beer history?

I just read the details, holy ******* ****. For a $75 DD ticket -

Ticket pricing includes:

• Entrance to Barrel Massacre 2016
• Barrel Massacre 2016 Tee Shirt
• 2 food tickets
• 2 craft soda tickets

DESIGNATED DRIVERS will not be allowed to drink alcohol. DESIGNATED DRIVERS caught drinking alcohol will be asked to leave. DESIGNATED DRIVERS will not be allowed to purchase any packaged bottle.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL...

$75 to drink 2 craft sodas and have a nice little early evening lunch/dinner and watch everyone else drink while not having the chance to buy the super rar LIMIT ONE(!!!!) bottles! Wow.

$75 for a designated driver ticket, that includes 2 sodas, some food, and a t-shirt.

 

[JCastle1]

I can see those selling well.

 

[Lansman]

This is being discussed in the FIB thread but I feel like it deserves a more diverse audience. Is this the worst event-related deal in beer history?



$75 for a designated driver ticket, that includes 2 sodas, some food, and a t-shirt.

Don't forget the fact that this event is only 2 hours long.