18 hours ago, Wentz_Era said:

My obsession with beer has fallen off, I've almost lost the pallet for a lot of the high test stuff I used to love.  I think I've drank way too many sours the past year and I can't really enjoy anything more than a single IPA.

I personally like beers that taste like something else.  I like a good sour or fruit beer, where the distinctive flavors come through.  Or, I like something like a peanut butter porter.  Or, I like something like a light lager made with lime juice or lime and cilantro.  And so on.  I can't tell the difference between Citra hops or Mosaic hops, and I can't tell one brewery's milk stout from another's.

Beer Thread fell to page 2.  

I am off to the Atlantic City Beerfest.  Score 2 free passes from one of my brewery reps.  Being held outside at Bader Field with a max of 5K people.  Usually when it's indoors at the Convention Center it's 8-9K per session (1 on Friday night, 1 Saturday day and 1 Sat night).  Tents/tables are 10 feet apart where usually they are side by side in long rows or blocks.  Max of 2 people per table to pour beers where in the past you could have 4-6.  

We'll see how it goes.  NJ has dropped pretty much all restrictions.  Bars, restaurants, and casinos fully open.  

It helps when you know the brewery rep, you get the special beer that that aren't supposed to tap til later.  Banging Sour.

Went back to AC Beerfest for the Saturday night session, which in years past when held inside at the AC Convention Center was usually the 'frat house ish show' session.  It was fine outside.  It was really really spread out.  They used the old tarmacs and other paved pathways that planes used to get around the airport (it was held at Bader Field, a former airport) for the set up of tents/tables.  So it was sort of like a little labyrinth of streets.  The first night we were there there was one whole 'street' we missed that we found Saturday night.  Reports were that the Friday night session drew 3.9K patrons, the Saturday day session had the most at 6.4K and the Saturday night session was about 5.2K.  Typically the sessions held at Convention Center would draw 8-9K/session.  We could tell there were more people Saturday night than Friday night because the lines were longer.  There were 128 vendors there and not sure if that's just the number of breweries/cider houses or if that includes the food trucks and merch booths as well.

Kelsey Grammer was there at one of the booths helping promote his new beer venture called Faith America.  I got to meet him, talked to him for a half a minute about which distro has his beer and shook his hand.  Everyone there who had met him at some point (seems he was there all 3 sessions and was on the street we missed the first night) during the Fest said he was very nice.  I had the IPA and it was OK, nothing special. 

The 3 beers I recall being most impressed with were all Fruited Sours.  One was from Axe & Arrow in Glassboro called Hardy's Summertime, with blueberry and lemon.  Nailed the flavours.  The Bolero Snort Runt Of The Herd, made with Runt candy, was very good.  And Kelly Green in Pitman (I've had some of their beers previously and knew they made some good Sours) had one that I can't recall the name of, but it had this amazing sea green/turquoise colour and it was freakin' delicious.  My former colleague was with me and she's very discerning yet she went back for another pour of it, so that's saying something.  There was also a vanilla jalapeno Hefeweizen that was interesting.  I really should learn to bring a little notebook and write ish down, but I never do.  Eh, had a great time both nights so all good.

 

I just had a 4 pack of bolero snort cryo moood lighting.  NE style IPA that was pretty damn good.

Also single cut DDH IPAs should not be slept on.

Doing another local brewery tour today this time there's 7 of us.  First stop revisiting The Seed.  Last time it was crowded and we had to wait nearly 30 minutes to get in,but this time we walked right in.  

Started heavy and working back to lighter beers.  First 2 were The Old Guard (Old Ale, 13.2%) and The Edge Of Night (8% Stout with coconut and Sumatra coffee).

Second 2 are IPAs, Lights Please on the left and A Place To Rest, both in the 6.5% range.

 

Stop #2 back to Slack Tide.  3 IPAs and 1 Fruited Sour  (2nd one L to R).

Now at Cape May for the first time.  Like Slack Tide they have loads on tap to sample including a slushy version of The Purp (far right) their grape flavoured shandy.

Squeezed in one more brewery, Gusto, then ended up at the Lobster House in Cape May for dinner.

I stopped by Loakal Branch Brewery in Delmar, DE, yesterday.  Loakal Branch is owned by Burley Oak.  According to the bartender, Burley Oak has plans to open up brewpubs all around the country and distribute their beer.  Loakal Branch, the old 3rd Wave Brewery, is their first spot.

18 minutes ago, xzmattzx said:

I stopped by Loakal Branch Brewery in Delmar, DE, yesterday.  Loakal Branch is owned by Burley Oak.  According to the bartender, Burley Oak has plans to open up brewpubs all around the country and distribute their beer.  Loakal Branch, the old 3rd Wave Brewery, is their first spot.

So is 3rd Wave done then?  I remember them being at AC Beerfest in early 2019 and they had some good fruited Sours.  The AB/InBev distributor was carrying their beers and we did bring some in, but haven't seen their beers listed for some time.  Sometimes the distributor just stops carrying some breweries if they don't sell well or for other reasons, but I never heard that 3rd Wave went out of business.  If so that's surprising because I thought their beers were decent enough.  Or did 3rd Wave move into a bigger space?  Flying Fish moved from Cherry Hill to a bigger space in Somerdale and Forgotten Boardwalk moved into the old Flying Fish spot.

 

 

Just now, Green_Guinness said:

So is 3rd Wave done then?  I remember them being at AC Beerfest in early 2019 and they had some good fruited Sours.  The AB/InBev distributor was carrying their beers and we did bring some in, but haven't seen their beers listed for some time.  Sometimes the distributor just stops carrying some breweries if they don't sell well or for other reasons, but I never heard that 3rd Wave went out of business.  If so that's surprising because I thought their beers were decent enough.  Or did 3rd Wave move into a bigger space?  Flying Fish moved from Cherry Hill to a bigger space in Somerdale and Forgotten Boardwalk moved into the old Flying Fish spot.

 

 

3rd Wave is done.  I asked the bartender, because I used to love their fruit beers myself.  The owner of the brewery was also some type of doctor: maybe a pediatrician or something.  It was a hobby and passion, but turned into a job that took up too much time.  Burley Oak called her last year and asked if they could brew some beer there because they didn't have enough room at their spot, and she said they could have the whole brewery.  The owner still owns the building, and Burley Oak leases it, so she is still somewhat involved.  Most employees went from 3rd Wave to Loakal Branch.  I was glad to hear that 3rd Wave was at least not a Covid casualty.

2 minutes ago, xzmattzx said:

3rd Wave is done.  I asked the bartender, because I used to love their fruit beers myself.  The owner of the brewery was also some type of doctor: maybe a pediatrician or something.  It was a hobby and passion, but turned into a job that took up too much time.  Burley Oak called her last year and asked if they could brew some beer there because they didn't have enough room at their spot, and she said they could have the whole brewery.  The owner still owns the building, and Burley Oak leases it, so she is still somewhat involved.  Most employees went from 3rd Wave to Loakal Branch.  I was glad to hear that 3rd Wave was at least not a Covid casualty.

I knew it was 2 women who owned the brewery as I met them at Beerfest.  Didn't know the whole story.  That's cool that it wasn't a pandemic casualty and most of the employees just made the transition and Burley Oak will have the chance to brew more beers and get more distribution.  I've had some of their JREAM beers and they are banging. 

 

Any good west virginia craft breweries?

Bonesaw just released 2 new barrel aged beers.  Their last one, Coffee Coconut Call Me Chris Stout, was outstanding.  This time they offer Outen The Light, a Barleywine, clocking in at 15.3%.  It was aged for 14 months in Templeton Rye barrels.  It's very good with flavours of dark fruits dominating with hints of toffee and vanilla and there's ample Whiskey barrel notes mixing in as well.  The other one, Ominous Synth Music, is an Old Ale aged in Sherry/Single Malt Whiskey casks, which when done right I find them to be some of the most rewarding beers you can treat yourself to and this one hits the mark.  I just cracked this beauty open and am sipping it now.  It's basically like drinking a liquid version of chocolate-toffee pudding with caramel sauce mixed in.  More of a mouthfeel than the Outen, too.  This one is rich and decadent.  Damn, that is good.

Well done, again, Bonesaw.

 

got a buddy headed to Nashville this weekend. gave him a  Bearded Iris shopping list

On 7/2/2021 at 7:58 PM, Green_Guinness said:

Bonesaw just released 2 new barrel aged beers.  Their last one, Coffee Coconut Call Me Chris Stout, was outstanding.  This time they offer Outen The Light, a Barleywine, clocking in at 15.3%.  It was aged for 14 months in Templeton Rye barrels.  It's very good with flavours of dark fruits dominating with hints of toffee and vanilla and there's ample Whiskey barrel notes mixing in as well.  The other one, Ominous Synth Music, is an Old Ale aged in Sherry/Single Malt Whiskey casks, which when done right I find them to be some of the most rewarding beers you can treat yourself to and this one hits the mark.  I just cracked this beauty open and am sipping it now.  It's basically like drinking a liquid version of chocolate-toffee pudding with caramel sauce mixed in.  More of a mouthfeel than the Outen, too.  This one is rich and decadent.  Damn, that is good.

Well done, again, Bonesaw.

 

Bonesaw is READY!!

What's the worst beer you've ever had?  This should be separated into craft beer and non-craft beer.

 

Non-craft beer: Baltika from Russia.  It was absolutely horrible and undrinkable.  It made Natty Light seem good.  If there's a plus, it's that it can teach us what Communism in the USSR was like, where you had terrible products, but had no choice.

 

Craft beer: I hate to throw any brewery under the bus, because they are trying to eke out a life, but sometimes a microbrewery is just not right.  You can tell that something is a little off in their recipes because every beer is just a little off from what it should be.  One such brewery is Battlefield Brew Works in Gettysburg.  Another one is Hog Island Brewery on Cape Cod.

Peroni from italy

and michelob ultra tastes like paint thinner

For years I have gone out of my way to try and avoid ishy beers.  I can't recall the last one I had that made me want to throw up in my mouth.  I have had drain pours for craft beers, but that's mostly been because the beer got infected and was bad.  Though every now and then I do come across a craft beer that I just don't like and drain pour it before finishing it.  They're not disgusting or nasty, but just not good.  I don't remember the names of them and I think the last time I did that was last year.  I've also visited at a couple new breweries that their beers weren't good and had that taste like it was straight up someone's homebrew. 

Icarus put out some beer lately that I recently rated .25 yes, point 2-5.

was atrocious.

 

I trade too much and know too many owners of breweries to ever do that…but that’s how bad it was and they never reached out to me to try to make it right.

10 hours ago, no1birdsfan said:

Icarus put out some beer lately that I recently rated .25 yes, point 2-5.

was atrocious.

 

I trade too much and know too many owners of breweries to ever do that…but that’s how bad it was and they never reached out to me to try to make it right.

Do you think it was bad/infected or was it just that awful?  What kind of beer was it?  They like to get funky (and I don't mean Belgian yeast) sometimes with a beer so maybe whatever concoction it was just didn't work out well.

 

11 hours ago, Green_Guinness said:

Do you think it was bad/infected or was it just that awful?  What kind of beer was it?  They like to get funky (and I don't mean Belgian yeast) sometimes with a beer so maybe whatever concoction it was just didn't work out well.

 

It was Touching The Sun. It was bad/infected and looked like a Yuengling. I know a lot of Brewers in the area and owners of Brewers and they were super surprised by the way they ignored me and treated me like a fool.