Beer

[HuskyHawk]

Here’s my top 5 IPA producers in the Northeast:
1. Fidens (it’s a firm hold on first place)
2. Root + Branch (Long Island)
3. Trillium
4. Other Half (after a dip in quality in the first half of 2021, they are back to brewing bangers)
5. Long Live Beerworks (Providence)
Honorable mention: Ober Creek (Wappingers Falls, NY; District 96 (New City, NY); Fox Farm (Salem, CT); Troon (Hopewell, NJ); and in deference to @HuskyHawk … Treehouse (multiple locations )

Mine is different (different access)
1. Treehouse
2. Long Live Beerworks
3. Trillium
4. Tilted Barn
5. Vitamin Sea (Weymouth MA)

Foam would be #6. Other Half would be top ten. But really there are just astonishing beers being made. Abandoned Building is great. Aquatic is great. And of course Lawson’s and Hill Farmstead still make great IPAs.

 

[AreBee1969]

I'll be making the annual trek up north soon and want to bring back some good CT beers. Not going to have time to go to breweries and get crowlers or growlers.

Looking for some good suggestions most package stores should have

You should be able to find a few beers from Tox (New London) in package stores. Angel Wings, Digitox, Fugu are all really good and usually available. Sometimes you can find Apparition which is fantastic.

 

[HuskyHawk]

This is terrific. Happy Friday guys.

 

[karstenkibbe]

This is terrific. Happy Friday guys.

View attachment 76041

I usually don’t consider IPAs eligible for “whale” status, but that beer is unquestionably a whale. Enjoy! I’m sipping on a collab DIPA from the local Stamford good guys at Lock City and their Brooklyn friends at Non Sequitur.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I usually don’t consider IPAs eligible for “whale” status, but that beer is unquestionably a whale. Enjoy! I’m sipping on a collab DIPA from the local Stamford good guys at Lock City and their Brooklyn friends at Non Sequitur.

View attachment 76052

That’s a cool glass. Beer looks great. Nelson can be really good.

My follow up beer (I split them with my wife) is Haze. I follow a FIFO accounting beer approach, first in first out.

 

[karstenkibbe]

That’s a cool glass. Beer looks great. Nelson can be really good.

My follow up beer (I split them with my wife) is Haze. I follow a FIFO accounting beer approach, first in first out.

Smart move on the FIFO principle. Nothing worse than forgotten, back-of-fridge aged IPAs!

 

[Dove]

IIIPA from Abomination. Smooth and dank. Once per year release.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Buddy of mine just returned from Canton with some TrillThrills for me!

 

[HuskyHawk]

Buddy of mine just returned from Canton with some TrillThrills for me!

View attachment 76056

That one is a monster. We got regular Big Bird.

 

[Dove]

I have heard that...

[ looks left, looks right]

...the bird is the word

 

[Chin Diesel]

Counter Weight Headway:

Agree with @8893 on CW Headway. It is the best and freshest of the most easily available at retail CT-brewed IPAs. But now that Twelve Percent Beer Project has opened the distro floodgates in-state, you can find most of their brands at quality wine/liquor stores from Greenwich to Stonington. I suggest anything IPA or lager/Pilsner from Marlowe. But if you like sweet fruited kettle sours, Skygazer and Abomination as well. Canned stouts go with Timber Ales. These are all brewed at 12%. West Hartford’s New Park is now distributing a few of their flagship IPAs/DIPAs at select retail accounts. Also quite good. And I have a soft spot for any Kent Falls lagers and pilsners, which are widely available.

If you’re going to be in a specific area of the state, I’m happy to offer close-by brewery recommendations.

Not sure on this one.

Tastes great going across the gullet but has an odd/unexpected aftertaste. Almost like soap or something.
I mean I will power through the four pack but I think I'll pass going forward.

 

[8893]

Not sure on this one.

Tastes great going across the gullet but has an odd/unexpected aftertaste. Almost like soap or something.
I mean I will power through the four pack but I think I'll pass going forward.

I haven't drank it in at least a couple years because I don't drink beer anymore, but it's a textbook example of New England IPA, so I suspect that you just don't like the style. From what I recall you tend to prefer more malty, fruity beers or mass-produced beers to hoppy and bitter ones.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Not sure on this one.

Tastes great going across the gullet but has an odd/unexpected aftertaste. Almost like soap or something.
I mean I will power through the four pack but I think I'll pass going forward.

Yikes. Sorry to hear. Might just be that your palate doesn’t dig the style. Gift the cans to someone and pick up Counterweight’s Workhorse Pilsner if you just want a refreshing lager-style beer.

 

[storrsroars]

Yikes. Sorry to hear. Might just be that your palate doesn’t dig the style. Gift the cans to someone and pick up Counterweight’s Workhorse Pilsner if you just want a refreshing lager-style beer.

I sense condescension.

 

[karstenkibbe]

I sense condescension.

Ha. You would be right if: a) I didn’t drink “shelfies”; and b) I didn’t have the new recommendation taking up space in my vegetable crisper, much to my wife’s consternation. In other words, you’re wrong.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

What is the main PC board? I remember checking in on it when they had that great team with God Shammgod/Croshere, been a while lol!

This is terrific. Happy Friday guys.

View attachment 76041

I usually don’t consider IPAs eligible for “whale” status, but that beer is unquestionably a whale. Enjoy! I’m sipping on a collab DIPA from the local Stamford good guys at Lock City and their Brooklyn friends at Non Sequitur.

View attachment 76052

View attachment 76053
IIIPA from Abomination. Smooth and dank. Once per year release.

When did beer start looking like orange juice?

 

[HuskyHawk]

When did beer start looking like orange juice?

About 9-10 years ago. Congress Street from Trillium was the first beer I ever had like that. Treehouse Julius may have been earlier, but it was so tiny then. Heady Topper, Lawson’s Double Sunshine and Abner at Hill Farmstead were going slightly in that direction sooner than that and started the trend.

Have you not had beers like this?

 

[Chin Diesel]

I haven't drank it in at least a couple years because I don't drink beer anymore, but it's a textbook example of New England IPA, so I suspect that you just don't like the style. From what I recall you tend to prefer more malty, fruity beers or mass-produced beers to hoppy and bitter ones.

Yikes. Sorry to hear. Might just be that your palate doesn’t dig the style. Gift the cans to someone and pick up Counterweight’s Workhorse Pilsner if you just want a refreshing lager-style beer.

I'm well-versed enough on NEIPA. It's usually a go to choice if I go to a new bar or brewery because it's not difficult to make a decent product.

The CW product tasted fine as I drank it but the after taste was off. I had drank 2 Two Roads L'il Juicy's before CW and that may have affected how I perceived the CW. I have some more left and tonight I'll drink straight out of the can.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'm well-versed enough on NEIPA. It's usually a go to choice if I go to a new bar or brewery because it's not difficult to make a decent product.

The CW product tasted fine as I drank it but the after taste was off. I had drank 2 Two Roads L'il Juicy's before CW and that may have affected how I perceived the CW. I have some more left and tonight I'll drink straight out of the can.

What’s the date on the can?

 

[storrsroars]

Ha. You would be right if: a) I didn’t drink “shelfies”; and b) I didn’t have the new recommendation taking up space in my vegetable crisper, much to my wife’s consternation. In other words, you’re wrong.

I like your posts and generally enjoy and agree with your posts on booze, pizza, hoops, and Stamford.

And yet I think you just doubled down.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I like your posts and generally enjoy and agree with your posts on booze, pizza, hoops, and Stamford.

And yet I think you just doubled down.

Fight, Fight!

I used to be condescending about beer. Then I realized that back when I enjoyed and drank Bud Light at UConn, I should have stopped there. If you like a widely available, cheap, low calorie beer, well that’s a good thing. It’s like enjoying Maxwell House coffee.

@Chin Diesel can give it another go. I’ve had any number of beers taste off due to what I ate or drank. I don’t know the hops in Counterweight Headway, which by the way, they say is not a New England IPA. It’s fairly clear and they hop quite a bit in the kettle boil. So it’s going to be more bitter than a true NE IPA. I think it evidently has some C hops so might be on the piney/resinous side like Focal Banger. But I’ve not had it as far as I recall. Drinking it after a NE style is going to accentuate the bitterness on the finish, could taste metallic.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Fight, Fight!

I used to be condescending about beer. Then I realized that back when I enjoyed and drank Bud Light at UConn, I should have stopped there. If you like a widely available, cheap, low calorie beer, well that’s a good thing. It’s like enjoying Maxwell House coffee.

@Chin Diesel can give it another go. I’ve had any number of beers taste off due to what I ate or drank. I don’t know the hops in Counterweight Headway, which by the way, they say is not a New England IPA. It’s fairly clear and they hop quite a bit in the kettle boil. So it’s going to be more bitter than a true NE IPA. I think it evidently has some C hops so might be on the piney/resinous side like Focal Banger. But I’ve not had it as far as I recall. Drinking it after a NE style is going to accentuate the bitterness on the finish, could taste metallic.

Funny enough. I saw one four-pack of Focal Banger in the fridge and grabbed it so I can take it back south in a few days. I've had enough of them to know I like it but wanted to try beers I hadn't previously drank.

As for date on CW can, I don't see anything printed on it but appears to have e a very faint 2 6 stamped on the bottom of rhe can. MO idea what that means.

As for @karstenkibbe comment about just liking pilsner because they are lighter beers, I almost grabbed some Marlowe's The Way I See It German Lagers to give them a try.

After drinking plenty of lighter brews you can tell a brewers skill in brewing lighter beers because any imbalance or inconsistency is easier to taste than a beer with stronger ingredients competing for taste.

 

[storrsroars]

Fight, Fight!

I used to be condescending about beer. Then I realized that back when I enjoyed and drank Bud Light at UConn, I should have stopped there. If you like a widely available, cheap, low calorie beer, well that’s a good thing. It’s like enjoying Maxwell House coffee.

@Chin Diesel can give it another go. I’ve had any number of beers taste off due to what I ate or drank. I don’t know the hops in Counterweight Headway, which by the way, they say is not a New England IPA. It’s fairly clear and they hop quite a bit in the kettle boil. So it’s going to be more bitter than a true NE IPA. I think it evidently has some C hops so might be on the piney/resinous side like Focal Banger. But I’ve not had it as far as I recall. Drinking it after a NE style is going to accentuate the bitterness on the finish, could taste metallic.

No fighting desired. I'm a pacifist.

First, I have to apologize. I completely misread KKs comment as saying he didn't drink shelfies, thus my reaction.

OTOH, I know many of y'all take day trips to various breweries. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't have the time or inclination to be going out every weekend to a brewery an hour away - and there aren't any bucolic venues here where I can enjoy a nice pizza with my beer. They're all in pretty gritty neighborhoods. I also try my best to not drive buzzed, which makes putting down anything over 8% ABV a challenge if I'm not staying long.

I also don't like the assumption that if someone doesn't like one thing, then hey, let's assume they consume the lowest common denominator of whatever. I do not like sours all that much. Last I was in LA, I found Monkish to be the most pretentious bunch of hipster douchenozzles I'd ever experienced - and a tap menu where I found nothing enjoyable. So I went over to Smog City and found stuff I liked. But I was razzed here for my "ignorance" of the Monkish "vibe". None of which means I was headed to the nearest packy to find a six of IC Mango Light. I had an excellent west coast IPA and chocolate stout at Smog City.

I've also said several times that I believe there's a place for lawnmower beer and that it's silly to overpay for beers that function in that role. I have the remnants of a 12-pack macro in my beer fridge. Which doesn't mean I order those when I go out.

If I'm watching my calories and want a lower ABV/calorie beer, I'll order a Guinness.

And there's no excuse for drinking Maxwell House in the 21st century.

 

[karstenkibbe]

I like your posts and generally enjoy and agree with your posts on booze, pizza, hoops, and Stamford.

And yet I think you just doubled down.

Likewise on the posting respect. It’s mutual. But you called me out because you decided to interpret my post in a way you chose to. I provided you with pretty solid reasons why you misinterpreted. Then, someone doubled down. And it wasn’t me. Really not worth going down this path. I’d rather share photos and info about beer in this thread.

 

[8893]

No fighting desired. I'm a pacifist.

That said... "I don't drink shelfies" is about as elitist as it gets. Dude wants to see the demise of craft beer stores. I don't have the time or inclination to be going out every weekend to a brewery an hour away. I try my best to not drive buzzed, which makes putting down anything over 8% ABV a challenge if I'm not staying long.

I also don't like the assumption that if someone doesn't like one thing, then hey, let's assume they consume the lowest common denominator of whatever. I do not like sours all that much. Last I was in LA, I found Monkish to be the most pretentious bunch of hipster douchenozzles I'd ever experienced - and a tap menu where I found nothing enjoyable. So I went over to Smog City and found stuff I liked. But I was razzed here for my "ignorance" of the Monkish "vibe". None of which means I was headed to the nearest packy to find a six of IC Mango Light. I had an excellent west coast IPA and chocolate stout at Smog City.

I've also said several times that I believe there's a place for lawnmower beer and that it's silly to overpay for beers that function in that role. I have the remnants of a 12-pack macro in my beer fridge. Which doesn't mean I order those when I go out.

If I'm watching my calories and want a lower ABV/calorie beer, I'll order a Guinness.

And there's no excuse for drinking Maxwell House in the 21st century.

Your reading comprehension is lacking. @karstenkibbe does drink shelfies (and pilsners). That was his point.

I sense projection.