June 28, 20205 yr Page 2? Had these 3 beers Friday night, all new comers to my store. The first is a fruited Sour by Connecticut Valley Brewing, Spiked Smoothie Mixed Berry. If you took the flavours of BooBerry and Frankenberry cereals and inserted them into a Berliner then this is what this beer tastes like. Big, lush, juicy berry fruit flavour with a mildly tart finish for just enough balance. Pretty damn good. Had this one while out on the kayak. Second one is a new offering from local Cross Keys Brewing, Smoovie DIPA, a milkshake IPA. The addition of cherry and passionfruit was more of a compliment to the solid citrusy IPA. The flavours didn't totally mesh, but well enough that this was rather tasty and enjoyable. And the 9.1% ABV is too well hidden here. The third is another local from Double Nickel. They have been doing some good one-off IPAs of late and this is probably IMO their best one yet. Ripe is a NE IPA style with the addition of blood orange and tangerine and DDH'd with Citra and Azacca. Wow, the fruit flavours just jump right out and dance on your palate they are so bright and a bit lush as well. Damn delicious. So much so I brought home a 4pk. Started out with 2cs at the store, but grabbed another 2cs. Really good stuff here. Last night I had these 2 new additions. Westbrook makes some very good fruited Sours and their Lassi How You Like Blueberries & Blackberries did not disappoint. Good berry flavour, not as lush as the Spiked Smoothie, but guess you could say this one is more classical style while the Smoothie is more 'punk' style. Timber Ales has been making some very good IPAs. They're one of the brewers brewing out of the 12 Percent facility in CT. I can tell since they all start with 689733 for their barcodes. Yeah, it's ingrained in my head since I have to enter them into the POS system. Fallen Between The Lines has a soft pillowy body and a mix of citrus and tropical fruit hop flavours. It's quite good, but I've noticed that loads of highly rated IPAs on Untappd (like this one) all seem to have similar flavour and texture. There's only subtle differences from one to the other. I mean, they're all good tasty beers, but there's also a feeling of repetitiveness going on. I think that's why the Double Nickel Ripe really stood out to me because it was both so good and so different.
June 28, 20205 yr My favorite IPA is actually local to Charlotte at Legion Brewing company. It's called Juicy Jay, and it's on tap at almost every bar here. Nice citrus IPA with hints of........I don't 'ukn know. Citrus! However, I can't find it anywhere in stores. Total wine, grocery stores, gas stations (sorry PA I know the laws suck).
June 28, 20205 yr 25 minutes ago, hputenis said: My favorite IPA is actually local to Charlotte at Legion Brewing company. It's called Juicy Jay, and it's on tap at almost every bar here. Nice citrus IPA with hints of........I don't 'ukn know. Citrus! However, I can't find it anywhere in stores. Total wine, grocery stores, gas stations (sorry PA I know the laws suck). You should have loads of good breweries in NC to try. Seems NC is to the South what VT used to be to the NorthEast. Still plenty of good breweries in VT, but seems other states in the NE have caught up to them. Don't think other states in the SE have caught up to NC yet.
June 28, 20205 yr 49 minutes ago, Green_Guinness said: You should have loads of good breweries in NC to try. Seems NC is to the South what VT used to be to the NorthEast. Still plenty of good breweries in VT, but seems other states in the NE have caught up to them. Don't think other states in the SE have caught up to NC yet. I lived here from 2010-2016 and moved to Chicago for 2 years. When I left, there weren't many breweries in Charlotte. Legion, Old Mecklenburg, and probably a few others. When we moved back to Charlotte in 2018, the entire section 3-4 miles south of the city was nothing but breweries. Pretty awesome in only 2 years. Asheville, NC is about 2 hours west of here, and they have some of the coolest breweries I've ever seen. Wicked Weed is an awesome spot, and the newer Sierra Nevada Brewery is fantastic. As long as you steer clear of the hippies and non-showering trust-fund adults, Asheville is a really great spot. I ordered a Coors Light at a bar downtown there once, and the bartenders reacted like I punched a baby. Which reminds me......don't order ketchup on a hot dog in Chicago either.
June 29, 20205 yr 4 hours ago, Green_Guinness said: You should have loads of good breweries in NC to try. Seems NC is to the South what VT used to be to the NorthEast. Still plenty of good breweries in VT, but seems other states in the NE have caught up to them. Don't think other states in the SE have caught up to NC yet. Virginia is probably the best competition in the south.
June 29, 20205 yr On 6/20/2020 at 12:44 AM, no1birdsfan said: Just seeing this...we can work something out... I'll have to remember to stop by at a couple breweries downstate later this summer and see what IPAs are on tap.
June 30, 20205 yr Author Dark Lord variants purchased they just went on sale if you are anywhere nearby
July 4, 20205 yr My one boss had some 2013 Dogfish 120 Minute stashed at his house and while cleaning out his liquor/wine/beer cellar decided to give out some bottles to some us. I'm about 3 sips in right now. It's like drinking an Olde Strong Ale. Lots of malty, sticky, fruity flavours, though not like fruit cake. More like raisin brown bread with a hint of butter and some toffee with a mix of other fruit notes like figs and candied apricots, peaches and nectarines. And last night I had a collab from North NJ brewery Bolero Snort and Imprint Brewing of Eastern PA, Reinbro Candy Kettle Sour. This beer tastes just like drinking a bag of tart Skittles. They nailed the flavours. Just wow. Has to be the best local/regional Sour I've had. I have to put this one up there with 450 North's Slushy beers. Just freakin' delicious.
July 4, 20205 yr 4th of July special. The beer man told me that this was his last case and that they stopped making this in bottles!
July 18, 20205 yr Author On 6/30/2020 at 4:05 PM, ToastJenkins said: Dark Lord variants purchased they just went on sale if you are anywhere nearby Got 2018, 2017 and 2014 Dark Lord with a Lounge against the Macromachine from 2018
July 18, 20205 yr 2 hours ago, ToastJenkins said: Got 2018, 2017 and 2014 Dark Lord with a Lounge against the Macromachine from 2018 We just started getting Three Floyds in NJ (from the distro that lost Dogfish, which was nearly 15% of their annual sales), but so far only limited amounts of Zombie Dust, Alpha King, Lazer Snake and Gumballhead. I doubt we'd see any Dark Lord in the near future.
July 18, 20205 yr Author Afaik its never sold except at the brewery on dark lord day. Wqs never able to get tix but this online sale gave me a shot at some bottles
July 21, 20205 yr Anyone have anything from New Trail in Williamsport? I've heard good things about them.
July 21, 20205 yr Author 450's online releases have been a mess. they simply arent prepared for that approach. they need a business person badly
July 22, 20205 yr 11 hours ago, ToastJenkins said: 450's online releases have been a mess. they simply arent prepared for that approach. they need a business person badly Still getting F'd up by bots?
July 23, 20205 yr Author Yes no cart protection and the bots are jacking everything plus i think they are allowing proxy pickups even i may try one of the small "locals” monday releases and see how that goes
July 28, 20205 yr I wish I knew more about the flavor profile of certain hops - there is one hop in particular that I just don't care for, and when I get a beer that has it I have a hard time finishing it. Most recently I tasted it in the Sierra Nevada Hop Bullet DIPA.
July 28, 20205 yr On 6/28/2020 at 7:56 PM, hputenis said: I lived here from 2010-2016 and moved to Chicago for 2 years. When I left, there weren't many breweries in Charlotte. Legion, Old Mecklenburg, and probably a few others. When we moved back to Charlotte in 2018, the entire section 3-4 miles south of the city was nothing but breweries. Pretty awesome in only 2 years. Asheville, NC is about 2 hours west of here, and they have some of the coolest breweries I've ever seen. Wicked Weed is an awesome spot, and the newer Sierra Nevada Brewery is fantastic. As long as you steer clear of the hippies and non-showering trust-fund adults, Asheville is a really great spot. I ordered a Coors Light at a bar downtown there once, and the bartenders reacted like I punched a baby. Which reminds me......don't order ketchup on a hot dog in Chicago either. Born and bred in NC: grew up in charlotte, in the Triangle for grad school + after... I can attest to the amazing brewery scene that has really grown recently in carolina. I already have a trip to asheville planned for the fall. Great coffee shops in the morning for the mrs, hiking/exploring in the afternoon, and some nice cold brews at night (just added wicked weed to the list, thanks).
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