Beer

[Conndog]

Any non-IPA recommendations? Or, ales that aren’t too hoppy?

 

[8893]

Any non-IPA recommendations? Or, ales that aren’t too hoppy?

If you like German styles (e.g., lagers, pilsners, helles, kolsch, etc.) von Trapp is excellent across the board imo. Jacks Abby also makes great lagers. Both widely available in CT.

 

[Rocktheworld]

A New England brewers pet dog can make a better IPA these days.

I’ll be at GABF in a couple weekends. We will see who places in the new Hazy categories

Regardless you need to do yourself a favor and stop perseverating on this notion that I’ve been talking about West Coast style

Lol poor dumb Auggie

Gold medals across IPA categories last night:

Societe- session ipa (San Diego)

Alaro- English ipa (Sacramento)

Tin roof- hazy (baton rouge)

Root down- ipa (phoenixville pa)

Noble- imperial ipa (anaheim)

Black market - imperial hazy (Temecula)

 

[Rocktheworld]

@August_West what’s with the absence of New England brewers (and their dogs) in the IPA categories? Why did CA win 4/6 and SoCal 3/6? How did “Hurr durr west coast” just dominate?

 

[methodology]

@August_West what’s with the absence of New England brewers (and their dogs) in the IPA categories? Why did CA win 4/6 and SoCal 3/6? How did “Hurr durr west coast” just dominate?

Did you happen look at the breweries that were there?

No Treehouse, trillium, Maine brewing, alchemist, other half, etc etc etc

 

[storrsroars]

@August_West what’s with the absence of New England brewers (and their dogs) in the IPA categories? Why did CA win 4/6 and SoCal 3/6? How did “Hurr durr west coast” just dominate?

I'm not going to say anything negative about any of the award winners.

What I will say is that I've been a certified sensory judge at multiple competitions. The "best" is subjective and the best doesn't always win. And sometimes the best isn't even the product you and I can buy.

I'd suggest reading this article regarding awards. It pertains to pretty much all "juried" beer, wine, coffee, pizza, bbq sauce competitions - or pretty much whatever food you can think of where there are "awards".

In the coffee business, it was well known that competitions were a game that had little relation to real world happenings. But most "serious" shops & roasters - including mine - entered to get that marketing buzz. And in Pittsburgh, nobody had even heard of a coffee competition, let alone won one. So we suddenly became the "it" shop. And stayed there for a couple of years.

Let's also remember that most of the entrants are probably pretty good anyway. But you do get the occasional Fred Franzia (Two-Buck Chuck) types winning hardware now and again. And that's where the following the often arcane and esoteric rules for entry to the letter comes in handy. It's not uncommon for some detail that wouldn't matter to you or me matters to the judges and competition - and gets decent product disqualified.

 

[Waquoit]

So the NEIPA category had less than the class of NE?

 

[Dove]

Was at Counterweight (Hamden, CT) today to grab some Talisman IPA that was released in cans yesterday. Has Nelson Sauvin hops and that's all I need to hear.

But while there I tried my first Void oatmeal stout and it was ridiculously good. Coffee and cocoa in it. I ended up buying a 4-pack of that, too. I followed it with a juice bomb called Inundation. Totally solid.

 

[methodology]

So the NEIPA category had less than the class of NE?

For instance the only breweries from CT were steady habit and two roads

No Nebco, fat orange cat, counterweight, Kent falls, Connecticut valley brewing, among others

 

[Rocktheworld]

Did you happen look at the breweries that were there?

No Treehouse, trillium, Maine brewing, alchemist, other half, etc etc etc

Why weren’t they here? Little ol’ River Horse from Edison NJ is here

 

[August_West]

Lol poor dumb Auggie

Gold medals across IPA categories last night:

Societe- session ipa (San Diego)

Alaro- English ipa (Sacramento)

Tin roof- hazy (baton rouge)

Root down- ipa (phoenixville pa)

Noble- imperial ipa (anaheim)

Black market - imperial hazy (Temecula)

@August_West what’s with the absence of New England brewers (and their dogs) in the IPA categories? Why did CA win 4/6 and SoCal 3/6? How did “Hurr durr west coast” just dominate?

Did you happen look at the breweries that were there?

No Treehouse, trillium, Maine brewing, alchemist, other half, etc etc etc

For instance the only breweries from CT were steady habit and two roads

No Nebco, fat orange cat, counterweight, Kent falls, Connecticut valley brewing, among others

Lol poor rocko.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Lol poor rocko.

Oh I was very aware of them all not being there.

Why weren’t they there though? Were they afraid? As I said, little ol’ River Horse from Edison, NJ was there

 

[methodology]

Oh I was very aware of them all not being there.

Why weren’t they there though? Were they afraid? As I said, little ol’ River Horse from Edison, NJ was there

Why did they need to be there? These breweries sell out and don't really distribute to stores. There nothing to gain by going there.

If there was a pizza competition in Denver do you think pepe and sally's would? Absolutely not they don't need an imaginary award to know they make the best pizza

 

[Rocktheworld]

Why did they need to be there? These breweries sell out and don't really distribute to stores. There nothing to gain by going there.

If there was a pizza competition in Denver do you think pepe and sally's would? Absolutely not they don't need an imaginary award to know they make the best pizza

Lol okay, sure, they’re too good for and have nothing to gain by participating in the Great American Beer Festival.

And to make the analogy fit, that pizza festival-with-included-judging would have to be in NY. And it would be weak as hell if Pepe didn’t show up.

 

[Fishy]

Why weren’t they here? Little ol’ River Horse from Edison NJ is here

Probably because no one really cares? Unless it was held in Hartford, why spend the money?

I’ll guess that it was held out west, is judged by people from out west, the vast majority of entries were from the west and whatever state hosted the thing was over represented and did really, really well in the awards.

 

[August_West]

Lol okay, sure, they’re too good for and have nothing to gain by participating in the Great American Beer Festival.

And to make the analogy fit, that pizza festival-with-included-judging would have to be in NY. And it would be weak as hell if Pepe didn’t show up.

Great American Beer Festival?

That’s reserved for the likes of Sam Adams and other 3rd tier try hard swill. Didn’t Sam Adams trumpet their wins at the GABF for years?



What a weird hill to choose to die on here

 

[HuskyHawk]

Lol poor dumb Auggie

Gold medals across IPA categories last night:

Societe- session ipa (San Diego)

Alaro- English ipa (Sacramento)

Tin roof- hazy (baton rouge)

Root down- ipa (phoenixville pa)

Noble- imperial ipa (anaheim)

Black market - imperial hazy (Temecula)

Four Gold medals went to Miller Lite. There are few things more reliable than that medals at beer competitions are not an indication of great beer (nor that it isn't great, they mean nothing).

 

[HuskyHawk]

Why weren’t they here? Little ol’ River Horse from Edison NJ is here

Because it isn't worth the effort, and beers not made for distribution get no benefit. Why bother when none of your beer lasts more than a couple of days? Added to that, those competitions are judged to style. So a Pilsner I actually like, like say Mary from Hill Farmstead, could never win. The styles they judge to are old settled styles. They finally added "juicy or hazy" pale ale and Double India Pale Ale, but I seriously doubt that the people there could recognize a good one.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Probably because no one really cares? Unless it was held in Hartford, why spend the money?

Actually you didn’t even need to show up yourself. There were many brewers guilds representatives there with single beers from breweries within their given state. And lol “spend the money” because Trillium is so strapped for cash

I’ll guess that it was held out west, is judged by people from out west, the vast majority of entries were from the west and whatever state hosted the thing was over represented and did really, really well in the awards.

Lol okay

 

[HuskyHawk]

Lol poor dumb Auggie

Gold medals across IPA categories last night:

Societe- session ipa (San Diego)

Alaro- English ipa (Sacramento)

Tin roof- hazy (baton rouge)

Root down- ipa (phoenixville pa)

Noble- imperial ipa (anaheim)

Black market - imperial hazy (Temecula)

I'll look for the Tin Roof - Voodoo when I am in NOLA this weekend. See how it compares.

But I honestly hold these events in very low regard. Same for Spirits competitions. The San Francisco one is best known and the results are usually laughably awful.

Here is the list of participating breweries. Breweries at the Festival - Great American Beer Festival Not a single one of the top 20 or so New England breweries is there. You might make a case for Night Shift.

 

[Waquoit]

@August_West what’s with the absence of New England brewers (and their dogs) in the IPA categories? Why did CA win 4/6 and SoCal 3/6? How did “Hurr durr west coast” just dominate?

I read that the GABF refused to even recognize NEIPA's until this year. I wonder if all the no-shows was a "screw you" to the beer establishment.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I read that the GABF refused to even recognize NEIPA's until this year. I wonder if all the no-shows was a "screw you" to the beer establishment.

Nah, but it's an example of the problem. One of the rating criteria for the American IPA category is "clarity". So any NE Style IPA would finish at the bottom of the list (wherever made).

The reality is that these medals help semi-popular breweries promote their products, especially when they are seeking wider distribution. They don't do anything for Treehouse, Trillium, Hill Farmstead and others who need no help selling all the beer they can make. The closest comparison I can think of outside of the alcohol industry is the silly JD Power awards. Note that Honda and Toyota don't mention that stuff. Chevy can't stop talking about them. Why? Because Chevy has to overcome its poor reputation in that area.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Nah, but it's an example of the problem. One of the rating criteria for the American IPA category is "clarity". So any NE Style IPA would finish at the bottom of the list (wherever made).

Just because the criterion is named “clarity” doesn’t mean they are looking for clear beer. Why would they be looking for that in a hazy category.

The reality is that these medals help semi-popular breweries promote their products, especially when they are seeking wider distribution. They don't do anything for Treehouse, Trillium, Hill Farmstead and others who need no help selling all the beer they can make. The closest comparison I can think of outside of the alcohol industry is the silly JD Power awards. Note that Honda and Toyota don't mention that stuff. Chevy can't stop talking about them. Why? Because Chevy has to overcome its poor reputation in that area.

Lol yeah Noble is having a real tough time selling beer

 

[HuskyHawk]

Just because the criterion is named “clarity” doesn’t mean they are looking for clear beer. Why would they be looking for that in a hazy category.

They wouldn't. But prior to this year there was no such category. So any hazy APA/IPA/DIPA could not compete. Clarity does indeed literally mean clear beer.

Lol yeah Noble is having a real tough time selling beer

I am sure they are not, nor are some others. But looking at all the winners, many of them very much need to get their name out. In many cases they want their name out because they may start or expand distribution.

 

[Rocktheworld]

They wouldn't. But prior to this year there was no such category. So any hazy APA/IPA/DIPA could not compete.

Hence the new category!

Clarity does indeed literally mean clear beer.

No... they are judging the clarity. The quality of the aesthetic look of it. “Clarity” is a spectrum; not the extreme of one end of said spectrum that they are looking for. I’m sorry but just think critically about how nonsensical it would be for judges to be looking for clear beer in a HAZY category