Beer

[alexd]

Drinking a Wormtowm Blizzard of 78 during the game. Have to give props to a really fantastic winter beer.

They make some great beers....love their place too. Very glad one of our daughters decided to go to school in Worcester.
Just can't figure out the Mass. law about not bringing your own growlers to refill. Then again, it is Mass.

 

[8893]

Very glad one of our daughters decided to go to school in Worcester.

I had been pushing Clark early to our oldest daughter, who is headed to college next year, but it never took. But she now has two Burlington, VT schools in the running (UVM and St. Mike's) and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that my desire to visit Burlington has me rooting for one of them, at least in the early going while we're waiting to hear from others. St. Mike's extremely generous scholarship offer also helps, as that was also one of the attractions of Clark...

I take it your daughter is liking it?

 

[RMoore1999]

Only one I didn't like that much was sap

SAP gets better w/ age for some reason IMO. Along with Bright, SAP is somewhat of a departure from typical Tree House, though both are excellent in their own right.

 

[RMoore1999]

Anybody happen to go to Tree House last week and grab Double Shot bottles? Didn't get a chance to make it but would love to get my hands on a bottle. Have lots of options to trade and will also be going to Trillium tomorrow. PM me

Another new brewery I haven't seen mentioned is Fat Orange Cat brewing in East Hampton for a completely different experience. They are set up in their garage and are a seasonal brewery. Their staple is a Jalapeno Cream ale which is pretty good but also have some rotating IPA's. I believe they are only open another 2-3 weeks and then are on hiatus until March-April.

I've had their Hop Kick Murphy, which though a bit boozy, was pretty good...

 

[alexd]

I had been pushing Clark early to our oldest daughter, who is headed to college next year, but it never took. But she now has two Burlington, VT schools in the running (UVM and St. Mike's) and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that my desire to visit Burlington has me rooting for one of them, at least in the early going while we're waiting to hear from others. St. Mike's extremely generous scholarship offer also helps, as that was also one of the attractions of Clark...

I take it your daughter is liking it?

She's a Soph at Clark actually. She got a great scholey package....and she loves it...turned out to be a great decision. And it didn't take long to figure out what parts of town to stay away from. Funny you should mention UVM....when we went for orientation, the Dean of Admissions who had previously worked at UVM commented, that "students applied to UVM because they wanted to go to school in Burlington. No one applies to Clark because they want to go to school in Worcester".

We have hit Armsby Abbey a few times...always 3 or 4 brews from Hill Farmstead on tap. My daughter thinks we come to visit just for the beers. He, he....

 

[mauconnfan]

Have you had Red Breast?

Yep also very good but this was special, really liked it.

 

[alexd]

Last year, out of the blue, my wife picked up a 12 pack of Sierra Nevada Hop Hunter for me. All she knew was I loved IPA's and this one was a good deal at Crazy Bruce's...I have gotten spoiled with all the flavorful local IPA's out there these days and most of the mass produced craft beers that started it all just don't do it for me anymore....,but this one surprised me. I've been buying it ever since and just noticed BA gave it a 90!!!

Hop Hunter | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I've regressed a bit back into the pseudo craft market drinking lots of Harpoon, New Belgium and Long Trail variety packs. Good lawn cleanup brews. Maybe once I'm trapped inside I'll revert back to snobbier ways.

 

[alexd]

I've regressed a bit back into the pseudo craft market drinking lots of Harpoon, New Belgium and Long Trail variety packs. Good lawn cleanup brews. Maybe once I'm trapped inside I'll revert back to snobbier ways.

I do like most of Long Trail's offerings....and recently at a VIP pre-show thingy, the beer choices were Harpoon White UFO and IPA. Could have done a lot worse.

 

[HooperScooper]

have gotten spoiled with all the flavorful local IPA's out there these days and most of the mass produced craft beers that started it all just don't do it for me anymore.

I hear you brother. We're so spoiled. I was having a decent bottle of craft brew at a restaurant a few weeks ago and it paled in comparison to some of the stuff I've been getting at Trillium, Tree House, etc. I texted my friend who is crazy about going to breweries (he makes trips to breweries multiple times a week) that he ruined me.

We had a Halloween party at work and the girls in the office got a bunch of good craft beers at the local liquor store. Before I would have been excited to try them. But this time I stared into the refrigerator and decided I was taking a run over to Trillium at lunch to pick up some better stuff. It's kind of ridiculous.

Part of it is that there are so many great beers in the area and part of it really is that once you start drinking beer that you got from a brewery it's hard to drink stuff from the store. There is definitely a difference drinking fresh beer.

It used to be so much easier.

 

[mauconnfan]

I hear you brother. We're so spoiled. I was having a decent bottle of craft brew at a restaurant a few weeks ago and it paled in comparison to some of the stuff I've been getting at Trillium, Tree House, etc. I texted my friend who is crazy about going to breweries (he makes trips to breweries multiple times a week) that he ruined me.

We had a Halloween party at work and the girls in the office got a bunch of good craft beers at the local liquor store. Before I would have been excited to try them. But this time I stared into the refrigerator and decided I was taking a run over to Trillium at lunch to pick up some better stuff. It's kind of ridiculous.

Part of it is that there are so many great beers in the area and part of it really is that once you start drinking beer that you got from a brewery it's hard to drink stuff from the store. There is definitely a difference drinking fresh beer.

It used to be so much easier.

^^^^^^^
Beer Snob

 

[HooperScooper]

^^^^^^^
Beer Snob

Definitely. I readily admit it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I hear you brother. We're so spoiled. I was having a decent bottle of craft brew at a restaurant a few weeks ago and it paled in comparison to some of the stuff I've been getting at Trillium, Tree House, etc. I texted my friend who is crazy about going to breweries (he makes trips to breweries multiple times a week) that he ruined me.

We had a Halloween party at work and the girls in the office got a bunch of good craft beers at the local liquor store. Before I would have been excited to try them. But this time I stared into the refrigerator and decided I was taking a run over to Trillium at lunch to pick up some better stuff. It's kind of ridiculous.

Part of it is that there are so many great beers in the area and part of it really is that once you start drinking beer that you got from a brewery it's hard to drink stuff from the store. There is definitely a difference drinking fresh beer.

It used to be so much easier.

I find this to be true for IPAs, but not so much for other stuff. Stouts, porters, brown ales, Scotch Ales, Strong Ales, Belgian and German styles are all as good or better at the store. That said, I may be making a Treehouse run on Wednesday.

 

[Rico444]

I had the Sam Adams Rebel Raw DIPA yesterday. It's meant to be drunk in the first 37 days after it's canned. It was very good; not at the level of the best DIPAs but Sams is getting much better at making IPAs.

 

[RichCTBB]

Wood n Tap just opened in Newington and had a killer draft list. Fuzzy Baby Ducks, Sip, Captain's Daughter, Beer'd Heavyweight @ 11.2% among others...also tried Dogs and Boats by Beer'd and it was delicious...Citra and Mosaic hops...yum.

 

[Brownie]

I wonder if he's really say the same now. Back then, shaker pint glasses were all anyone used. He'll never take the words off the can, but they aren't on the Focal Banger can, I don't think.

Never considered that but it makes perfect sense. My brother has a theory that he does it (or at least at one time, did it) for branding purposes. He wanted his beer to be recognized by as many as possible. But like you say, he'll never take the words off the can now.

 

[Brownie]

Wood n Tap just opened in Newington and had a killer draft list. Fuzzy Baby Ducks, Sip, Captain's Daughter, Beer'd Heavyweight @ 11.2% among others...also tried Dogs and Boats by Beer'd and it was delicious...Citra and Mosaic hops...yum.

Man! I wish the Wood n Taps in the Hartford/Manchester area would follow suit. That's a killer list.

 

[Conndog]

Was at a bar in Easthampton Mass- the Brass Cat- and I had a beer from Lord Hobo (what a name!) brewery from Woburn, Mass called Boom Sauce, very good. It is an American IPA and has alcohol rating of 7.8 %. I was talking to bartender and mentioned recently having Julius from Treehouse Brewery, she said that Boom Sauce is what they have that is closest. It tasted great and I'm by no means an expert with Julius, only drank a few cans recently, but the Boom Sauce from Lord Hobo did remind me of it. It was in a 16 oz can. I'll have to see where I can get Lord Hobo and hopefully it isn't too expensive.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Was at a bar in Easthampton Mass- the Brass Cat- and I had a beer from Lord Hobo (what a name!) brewery from Woburn, Mass called Boom Sauce, very good. It is an American IPA and has alcohol rating of 7.8 %. I was talking to bartender and mentioned recently having Julius from Treehouse Brewery, she said that Boom Sauce is what they have that is closest. It tasted great and I'm by no means an expert with Julius, only drank a few cans recently, but the Boom Sauce from Lord Hobo did remind me of it. It was in a 16 oz can. I'll have to see where I can get Lord Hobo and hopefully it isn't too expensive.

It is available in every store in eastern MA. It is a bit expensive. It's an odd beer. It's a blend of several other IPAs and DIPAs from Lord Hobo. I think Consolation Prize is their best. I hate "Steal This Can". It's also a bit inconsistent (and was VERY inconsistent when first released a year or so ago). Some batches are quite good, others, not so much. They have gotten better at that over time.

Their session IPA Hobo Life is well liked by many people. I'm not a huge fan because it's all Citra, which I find a bit jarring and astringent when it's the only hop used. But give it a try, lots of people love it.

 

[August_West]

Im checking out of this thread............. Y'all are sickos and have ruined good beer for me and everyone else. I spend more time in bars than most here therefore the following opinion is more valid.

You drink beer like nerds collect pokemen. It's all about how many different ones you drink and earning pathetic little badges as opposed to drinking what is best. You would rather have a bad beer they've never had before than something that is decent. In return that means less good beer is brewed and more bad to mediocre beer is made.
You would rather have a bad beer out of a can than a good one out of a bottle. This is absolutely true everywhere Ive gone straight from all of the distributors mouths. The Snobs and Hipsters are all "know it alls" but are really stupid in reality. You equate cans with freshness and bottles with lower quality because of something you read on line. In reality most small breweries that can have more quality control issues than breweries that bottle. Bigger breweries that can can make this argument however, because they can afford the proper equipment to scrub out all of the oxygen, sanitize better.
Local is considered better than out of state or out of county. This means that local beer will own every beer scene pushing many good non local ones out with bad local beer. Connecticut is the best example Ive ran across. No offense Connecticut but your local beer is god awful and thanks to your local hipsters and snobs it dominates. Coalesce is h3tty as hell though but we cant get it now because beer makers are hipster pansies who dont know how to run a business.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Im checking out of this thread... Y'all are sickos and have ruined good beer for me and everyone else. I spend more time in bars than most here therefore the following opinion is more valid.

You drink beer like nerds collect pokemen. It's all about how many different ones you drink and earning pathetic little badges as opposed to drinking what is best. You would rather have a bad beer they've never had before than something that is decent. In return that means less good beer is brewed and more bad to mediocre beer is made.
You would rather have a bad beer out of a can than a good one out of a bottle. This is absolutely true everywhere Ive gone straight from all of the distributors mouths. The Snobs and Hipsters are all "know it alls" but are really stupid in reality. You equate cans with freshness and bottles with lower quality because of something you read on line. In reality most small breweries that can have more quality control issues than breweries that bottle. Bigger breweries that can can make this argument however, because they can afford the proper equipment to scrub out all of the oxygen, sanitize better.
Local is considered better than out of state or out of county. This means that local beer will own every beer scene pushing many good non local ones out with bad local beer. Connecticut is the best example Ive ran across. No offense Connecticut but your local beer is god awful and thanks to your local hipsters and snobs it dominates. Coalesce is h3tty as hell though but we cant get it now because beer makers are hipster pansies who dont know how to run a business.

There are kernels of truth in this, but that's a broad brush you are painting with.
IPAs do hold longer in cans without oxydation breaking down the hop flavors and aromas. That said, you are correct that mobile canning systems are so-so compared to good bottling systems. Permanent canning systems are great, and places like the Alchemist are very good at canning. A year or two ago, even Pilsner Uquel went to cans (and light proof bottle packaging) because the realized the beer they shipped to the US sucked by the time it got here.

Local is fresh, and fresh is better. It's true for food and beer. I don't live in CT, but there are some good breweries there for sure. NEBCO, Beer'd, Kent Falls, Two Roads. Massachusetts has more of them. What you are complaining about is that many of these local breweries aren't all that good (Thomas Hooker anyone?). It's true. Lots of people hit these places and think the beer is great, and it isn't. Those beers may push other better beers off the shelf. But I've also seen great local beers in MA like Jack's Abby push crappy beers like Magic Hat off the shelf. I've also seen bigger brewers like Otter Creek and Long Trail vastly improve their beer to stay competitive.

What beers do you want that you can't get? I'm no hipster. I'm 50 and have been drinking good beer before those punks were born.

 

[8893]

Im checking out of this thread... Y'all are sickos and have ruined good beer for me and everyone else. I spend more time in bars than most here therefore the following opinion is more valid.

You drink beer like nerds collect pokemen. It's all about how many different ones you drink and earning pathetic little badges as opposed to drinking what is best. You would rather have a bad beer they've never had before than something that is decent. In return that means less good beer is brewed and more bad to mediocre beer is made.
You would rather have a bad beer out of a can than a good one out of a bottle. This is absolutely true everywhere Ive gone straight from all of the distributors mouths. The Snobs and Hipsters are all "know it alls" but are really stupid in reality. You equate cans with freshness and bottles with lower quality because of something you read on line. In reality most small breweries that can have more quality control issues than breweries that bottle. Bigger breweries that can can make this argument however, because they can afford the proper equipment to scrub out all of the oxygen, sanitize better.
Local is considered better than out of state or out of county. This means that local beer will own every beer scene pushing many good non local ones out with bad local beer. Connecticut is the best example Ive ran across. No offense Connecticut but your local beer is god awful and thanks to your local hipsters and snobs it dominates. Coalesce is h3tty as hell though but we cant get it now because beer makers are hipster pansies who dont know how to run a business.

Sweet melt.

 

[August_West]

What beers do you want that you can't get?

I dunno, let me check my app and see what pokemon ......... err..........beer badges are missing

 

[8893]

Local is fresh, and fresh is better. It's true for food and beer.

Spot on. I look at it as being macrobiotic about microbrews. The thing I think is ridiculous is when people feel the compulsive need to travel or trade for "it" beers when we have the likes of NEBCO and SoS brewed and available locally.

 

[August_West]

Spot on. I look at it as being macrobiotic about microbrews. The thing I think is ridiculous is when people feel the compulsive need to travel or trade for "it" beers when we have the likes of NEBCO and SoS brewed and available locally.

A crappy beer is a crappy beer fresh or not