And I thought I spent too much on beer

[BurnItDwn]

That's great and all, but passing up one of the best and most anticipated beers of the year because you (they) don't like the company that owns the brewery is an idiot move. It's all about the beer, and if you make it about the company then you're saying the beer doesn't matter.

At that point, why do you (they) even drink beer?

If I could get my hands on more Bourbon County Brand beer, especially the barleywine, I'd buy as many as I could get my hands on. That's what I did already, and I only have 3 BCBS left.

If I philosophically dislike the owner of a brewery, I will buy from a brewery that I do not dislike. We need to encourage good behavior and discourage bad behavior. If that means that we suffer as a result by drinking a slightly inferior brew, than that is the price we pay.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

If I philosophically dislike the owner of a brewery, I will buy from a brewery that I do not dislike. We need to encourage good behavior and discourage bad behavior. If that means that we suffer as a result by drinking a slightly inferior brew, than that is the price we pay.

I don't disagree with that sentiment, but as far as I can tell the only thing GI has done was sell the ownership of the brewery to inBev. I guess for some people, that's enough.

I've never really understood the whole "hate the sellout" concept. I don't care who owns the company, if they make a product I like and someone else acquiring the company doesn't lead to a lower quality product, why would I care?

 

[BurnItDwn]

I don't disagree with that sentiment, but as far as I can tell the only thing GI has done was sell the ownership of the brewery to inBev. I guess for some people, that's enough.

I've never really understood the whole "hate the sellout" concept. I don't care who owns the company, if they make a product I like and someone else acquiring the company doesn't lead to a lower quality product, why would I care?

Budweiser and Miller over the years have been involved in what many would consider unethical and unfair business practices when it comes to backroom / grey deals with distributors. Rather than compete by having a better product, they compete by preventing the distributor from distributing products (the laws were more or less structured so that distributors and brewers are seperate, but, big brewers give distributors bonuses or deals for going exclusive, and other corrupt/backroom deals like that.)

If you want to hurt a business, you can do a small part by not buying their products. In the grand scheme of things, one person wont make much difference, but, when you have thousands or tens of thousands of people, it starts to add up.

 

[gorb]

no idea how to find out which batch it's from

 

[fab4u7889]

I don't really splash out too much on beer. I prefer drinking wine overall..

 

[QueBert]

I don't disagree with that sentiment, but as far as I can tell the only thing GI has done was sell the ownership of the brewery to inBev. I guess for some people, that's enough.

I've never really understood the whole "hate the sellout" concept. I don't care who owns the company, if they make a product I like and someone else acquiring the company doesn't lead to a lower quality product, why would I care?

At my store Bud came and hung up a huge craft beer banner, a few months ago some hispter beer blogger came in, saw the GI cooler and Elysian and started on a ginormous rant about how neither are craft beers. Never mind we have hundreds of other craft beers. He was livid and wanted to lecture me on how GI wasn't a craft brewery since inBev bought them.

I have Sofie in my fridge was brewed by GI, Bud didn't make it, inBev simply distributes it so I don't have to drive a ridiculously long distance to find it. Or, maybe not even be able to get it anywhere around me at all. GI's selling out means I have easy access to by far the best Farmhouse Ale I've ever had. I for one praise them for selling out. Me finding Sofie pre selling out was next to impossible. I enjoy drinking good beer, I don't enjoy calling a thousand liquor stores all across every city in a 50 mile radius to find something made by a hole in the wall brewery. Stone's becoming a really large distributor for small breweries. I wonder at what point they will be too big and fall under the inBev/Gate City category and no longer be acceptable to drink by the beer'ies. I will laugh at the day the hipster beer snobs start to turn their noses up at Stone.

I can get a six pack of 312 for $8.99 I can only imagine if Bud wasn't behind them I'd be paying $12-14.99 for the same shit. I'm not seeing the downside to this so long as the beer stays the same quality. It sure beats spending $17 on a 4 pack of some crazy small brewery beer that ultimately costs more because they don't have the proper infrastructure to produce enough beer and be able to get it out for a reasonable price. I think a lot of the beer dudes hearts are in the right place, but they really don't know what they're fighting for. I never had an Elysian beer before Bud bought them, but Space Dust's a pretty awesome IPA, I don't understand why exactly I'm not suppose to like or drink it because they sold out? Good's good.

 

[KMFJD]

I'd really like to try these beers someday, i've actually thought about taking a 2 week holiday to Belgium just to try and sample all the different beers there.

Westvleteren Blonde, 8 and 12 , the last time these where available in America they where priced at around $85 for a 6 pack (with 2 glasses)

 

[KMFJD]

Here's another good one from back home

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

no idea how to find out which batch it's from

It's on the label on the back. It will say "Release: #xx" and if it's from this year it will have under that the name of the coffee roaster. Blue Copper, Novo, Caffe Ibis, or something like that.

If it's not Blue Copper, I'm interested to hear your impression since I can't get the other releases locally.

 

[lxskllr]

Had some sake(see fwp thread), and Charm City Meadworks Sit by the Fire canned mead. It's tart, with the flavor of chocolate and spices. It's /ok/, but not something I'd get again. If you concentrate on any one flavor, it's pretty good but the whole is disjointed. Not as good as it sounded on the label.

edit:
oh, wrong thread. You'd think I was drinking or something :^D Pretend this is the What Are You Drinking Tonight thread :^P

 

[EvilYoda]

Working in NYC for 10 days so the first night I was here I went to Greenpoint to check out Torst...an amazing beer bar. I was fortunate to check out Mikkeler in SF last November so it was cool to be able to visit both bars from the brothers behind Evil Twin and Mikkeler.

 

[JasonCoder]

At my store Bud came and hung up a huge craft beer banner, a few months ago some hispter beer blogger came in, saw the GI cooler and Elysian and started on a ginormous rant about how neither are craft beers. Never mind we have hundreds of other craft beers. He was livid and wanted to lecture me on how GI wasn't a craft brewery since inBev bought them.

I have Sofie in my fridge was brewed by GI, Bud didn't make it, inBev simply distributes it so I don't have to drive a ridiculously long distance to find it. Or, maybe not even be able to get it anywhere around me at all. GI's selling out means I have easy access to by far the best Farmhouse Ale I've ever had. I for one praise them for selling out. Me finding Sofie pre selling out was next to impossible. I enjoy drinking good beer, I don't enjoy calling a thousand liquor stores all across every city in a 50 mile radius to find something made by a hole in the wall brewery. Stone's becoming a really large distributor for small breweries. I wonder at what point they will be too big and fall under the inBev/Gate City category and no longer be acceptable to drink by the beer'ies. I will laugh at the day the hipster beer snobs start to turn their noses up at Stone.

I can get a six pack of 312 for $8.99 I can only imagine if Bud wasn't behind them I'd be paying $12-14.99 for the same shit. I'm not seeing the downside to this so long as the beer stays the same quality. It sure beats spending $17 on a 4 pack of some crazy small brewery beer that ultimately costs more because they don't have the proper infrastructure to produce enough beer and be able to get it out for a reasonable price. I think a lot of the beer dudes hearts are in the right place, but they really don't know what they're fighting for. I never had an Elysian beer before Bud bought them, but Space Dust's a pretty awesome IPA, I don't understand why exactly I'm not suppose to like or drink it because they sold out? Good's good.

This is a quality post. I feel the same way. Alas, there will always be someone that just HAS to rage against the man and call everyone a sellout that doesn't fit his ideals.

No sweat QueBert, we're in this together.

 

[BoberFett]

At my store Bud came and hung up a huge craft beer banner, a few months ago some hispter beer blogger came in, saw the GI cooler and Elysian and started on a ginormous rant about how neither are craft beers. Never mind we have hundreds of other craft beers. He was livid and wanted to lecture me on how GI wasn't a craft brewery since inBev bought them.

I have Sofie in my fridge was brewed by GI, Bud didn't make it, inBev simply distributes it so I don't have to drive a ridiculously long distance to find it. Or, maybe not even be able to get it anywhere around me at all. GI's selling out means I have easy access to by far the best Farmhouse Ale I've ever had. I for one praise them for selling out. Me finding Sofie pre selling out was next to impossible. I enjoy drinking good beer, I don't enjoy calling a thousand liquor stores all across every city in a 50 mile radius to find something made by a hole in the wall brewery. Stone's becoming a really large distributor for small breweries. I wonder at what point they will be too big and fall under the inBev/Gate City category and no longer be acceptable to drink by the beer'ies. I will laugh at the day the hipster beer snobs start to turn their noses up at Stone.

I can get a six pack of 312 for $8.99 I can only imagine if Bud wasn't behind them I'd be paying $12-14.99 for the same shit. I'm not seeing the downside to this so long as the beer stays the same quality. It sure beats spending $17 on a 4 pack of some crazy small brewery beer that ultimately costs more because they don't have the proper infrastructure to produce enough beer and be able to get it out for a reasonable price. I think a lot of the beer dudes hearts are in the right place, but they really don't know what they're fighting for. I never had an Elysian beer before Bud bought them, but Space Dust's a pretty awesome IPA, I don't understand why exactly I'm not suppose to like or drink it because they sold out? Good's good.

I agree. As long as the purchaser allows the brewer to stick to their roots, I have no problem with a brewery being owned by a conglomerate. Ballast Point makes fantastic beer, and if "selling out" means I'll actually be able to get my hands on some of their more obscure batches, I'm perfectly fine with that. It's not like I'm going to stop supporting small breweries, but variety is good.

 

[TeeJay1952]

In my youth I was a Stroh's man. In town brewery, local pride in product and all the trimmings that go with that. Family sold name and the product moved. It became a point of pride to reject the golden goodness and deride all who dared. I was one of the last to move on and gave up Drinking instead.

 

[QueBert]

I agree. As long as the purchaser allows the brewer to stick to their roots, I have no problem with a brewery being owned by a conglomerate. Ballast Point makes fantastic beer, and if "selling out" means I'll actually be able to get my hands on some of their more obscure batches, I'm perfectly fine with that. It's not like I'm going to stop supporting small breweries, but variety is good.

Ballast Point needs to sell out, I like Sculpin, but I'm not a fan of $14-15.99 a six pack. We sell a lot of their beer every day, and we can't keep the new Watermelon Durado in stock for more than a day. So the price clearly doesn't bother most people. But, it's too expensive for what it is imho. We have a gastropub downtown that gets 1 pony keg or whatever size of Pliny the Younger every few months, people black friday like camp out to get a single glass, ridiculous. I want to enjoy good beer without all the hassle of finding it.

And peoples argument that inDev is pushing small breweries market space to nothing, nope. Store that sell Craft beer sell craft beer, stores that don't won't sell 99% of it, but if Bud's distributing it, they actually might. I saw Elysian Space Dust at a store that prior had 2 Stones and 2 Ballast Points and that was it. And neither are what I'd consider small for a craft. inDev isn't taking shelf space away from the small guys. The stores that support and sell the smaller places like Bootleggers, Alpine, Mad River & Green Flash will continue to, right along side of Goose Island & whoever has sold out recently. The store that normally don't sell craft might actually start to have some thanks to Bud. It's a win win.

 

[Kyle]

we can't keep the new Watermelon Durado in stock for more than a day.

Really? That's all over up here and I thought was a huge swing and a miss...drain pour...I do like the sculpin though, but as you said- too $$ for what it is.

 

[BoberFett]

Ballast Point needs to sell out, I like Sculpin, but I'm not a fan of $14-15.99 a six pack. We sell a lot of their beer every day, and we can't keep the new Watermelon Durado in stock for more than a day. So the price clearly doesn't bother most people. But, it's too expensive for what it is imho. We have a gastropub downtown that gets 1 pony keg or whatever size of Pliny the Younger every few months, people black friday like camp out to get a single glass, ridiculous. I want to enjoy good beer without all the hassle of finding it.

And peoples argument that inDev is pushing small breweries market space to nothing, nope. Store that sell Craft beer sell craft beer, stores that don't won't sell 99% of it, but if Bud's distributing it, they actually might. I saw Elysian Space Dust at a store that prior had 2 Stones and 2 Ballast Points and that was it. And neither are what I'd consider small for a craft. inDev isn't taking shelf space away from the small guys. The stores that support and sell the smaller places like Bootleggers, Alpine, Mad River & Green Flash will continue to, right along side of Goose Island & whoever has sold out recently. The store that normally don't sell craft might actually start to have some thanks to Bud. It's a win win.

:thumbsup:

It could certainly change in the future, and the conglomerates could become the evil empire. But for now I have no problem finding small craft stuff right on the shelf along with things that used to be impossible to find because they barely distributed out of state.

And if hipsters don't like that, then they can start drinking stuff that doesn't even get bottled. Taproom only. They can continue being beer snobs and telling people how they used to like some beer, until they got too big and started brewing more than 1 keg at a time.

 

[MongGrel]

NM, good lord.

 

[QueBert]

I thought hipsters loved PBR, maybe I'm confused a bit.

Or you are again.

Hipsters use to love PBR, they now love sours and pretty much anything from Mikkeller. They also carry a DSLR with them and take a thousand beer pics a day.

 

[MongGrel]

Hipsters use to love PBR, they now love sours and pretty much anything from Mikkeller. They also carry a DSLR with them and take a thousand beer pics a day.

I haven't stayed up on my hipster evolution, thanks for that one.

:biggrin:

 

[BoberFett]

Really? That's all over up here and I thought was a huge swing and a miss...drain pour...I do like the sculpin though, but as you said- too $$ for what it is.

I'm not big on the Dorado either, but Habanero and Grapefruit Sculpin are amazing.

 

[QueBert]

I haven't stayed up on my hipster evolution, thanks for that one.

:biggrin:

Don't think I'd use the word evolution for them, they're a strange bunch. Ones who use to come in here and buy 3 tall boys of PBR are now buying 3 $13 bottles of Bomb! from Prairie Artisan Ales. Which definitely is evolution, or it would seem. But, there's no rhyme or reason for any changes they make. Who knows, next month they could start buying Old English like it's the greatest thing ever. Maybe there are scientists out there who could find some sort of patterns for their actions. I'm just amused at how they all seem to flock so tightly together.

 

[gorb]

It's on the label on the back. It will say "Release: #xx" and if it's from this year it will have under that the name of the coffee roaster. Blue Copper, Novo, Caffe Ibis, or something like that.

If it's not Blue Copper, I'm interested to hear your impression since I can't get the other releases locally.

Unless I'm blind, I don't see the release number. My impressions will probably not mean much since I'm not the most descriptive person. I really enjoyed the beer

Speaking of Ballast Point - for any DFW area people, Dr. Jekyll's Beer Lab in Arlington is having a Ballast Point weekend from March 31 - Apr 3 .They'll have Sculpin, Grapefruit Sculpin, Pineapple Sculpin, Habanero Sculpin, Watermelon Dorado, and Calico Amber. I haven't had any of those before. I'd like to try all of the Sculpins



Here is what I got today. I also made a temporary cardboard shelf for my little fridge. My normal fridge still has about 50 bottles in it though :/

 

[cubby1223]

At my store Bud came and hung up a huge craft beer banner, a few months ago some hispter beer blogger came in, saw the GI cooler and Elysian and started on a ginormous rant about how neither are craft beers. Never mind we have hundreds of other craft beers. He was livid and wanted to lecture me on how GI wasn't a craft brewery since inBev bought them.

I have Sofie in my fridge was brewed by GI, Bud didn't make it, inBev simply distributes it so I don't have to drive a ridiculously long distance to find it. Or, maybe not even be able to get it anywhere around me at all. GI's selling out means I have easy access to by far the best Farmhouse Ale I've ever had. I for one praise them for selling out. Me finding Sofie pre selling out was next to impossible. I enjoy drinking good beer, I don't enjoy calling a thousand liquor stores all across every city in a 50 mile radius to find something made by a hole in the wall brewery. Stone's becoming a really large distributor for small breweries. I wonder at what point they will be too big and fall under the inBev/Gate City category and no longer be acceptable to drink by the beer'ies. I will laugh at the day the hipster beer snobs start to turn their noses up at Stone.

I can get a six pack of 312 for $8.99 I can only imagine if Bud wasn't behind them I'd be paying $12-14.99 for the same shit. I'm not seeing the downside to this so long as the beer stays the same quality. It sure beats spending $17 on a 4 pack of some crazy small brewery beer that ultimately costs more because they don't have the proper infrastructure to produce enough beer and be able to get it out for a reasonable price. I think a lot of the beer dudes hearts are in the right place, but they really don't know what they're fighting for. I never had an Elysian beer before Bud bought them, but Space Dust's a pretty awesome IPA, I don't understand why exactly I'm not suppose to like or drink it because they sold out? Good's good.

hehehe

Ranting about the definition of craft brewery is quite comical! Especially considering the definition of a craft brewery is continuously modified each year specifically so Sam Adams is always a craft brewery.

 

[rockyct]

Hipsters use to love PBR, they now love sours and pretty much anything from Mikkeller. They also carry a DSLR with them and take a thousand beer pics a day.

They may turn against Mikkeller as their beers are going to be a lot easier to get in SoCal. They are partnering with AleSmith in taking over the old AleSmith brewery in San Diego and open next month.