The New Prog Beer Snob Thread

[NogbadTheBad]

I have a 1981 Thomas Hardy Ale...https://untappd.com/b/eldridge-pope-...ale-1981/70317

Been tempted many times to open it, but not yet. Anyone ever tried THA?

I have an '08 bottle sitting in a cupboard. I had a few of them back in the 80's. Very much a strong barley wine. Rather nice from what I remember.

[Dave (in MA)]

The Schlitz glass or the Guinness in it or both?

The combination thereof.

[Jerjo]

Yeah, I hear that Guinness IPA is an atrocity.

Right now I'm sipping the Sierra Nevada Tropical IPA. Not their absolute best but definitely a solid brew.

[Progatron]

Had a Rogue Yellow Snow IPA last night, given to me by a friend. Tasty!

[Dave (in MA)]

Yeah, I hear that Guinness IPA is an atrocity.

Not bad, maybe a little too foamy for an IPA with that nitro capsule, though. It was on sale and I figured I'd try it.

[SteveSly]

Yeah, I hear that Guinness IPA is an atrocity.

Right now I'm sipping the Sierra Nevada Tropical IPA. Not their absolute best but definitely a solid brew.

Is that the Beer Camp IPA from SN? I had it a while ago and also thought it was pretty good.

[Firth]

Is that the Beer Camp IPA from SN? I had it a while ago and also thought it was pretty good.

Yes it was. This year's choir was a tropical IPA.

[Yves]

It staggers the mind the variety of beer available in the USA! I just re stocked my fridge with a beer run last night. Picked up an excellent array of beers made in Québec but I tend to be buying the same 10 or 15 beers over and over again because we cannot buy microbrews from other parts of Canada (slowly changing...) and we get next to no variety in import beers (the same dozen or so beers from the UK, Belgium, etc...)

[moecurlythanu]

It staggers the mind the variety of beer available in the USA!

It's something of a Golden Age now for brewing in the USA, and craft beer is still only 12% of the market. There's a high ceiling there, so just wait.

[Firth]

It's something of a Golden Age now for brewing in the USA, and craft beer is still only 12% of the market. There's a high ceiling there, so just wait.

So how was the metric 12% arrived at. If the metric was profit, I'll go out on a limb and suggest that quality earns more profit. While it may be true that quantity is ruled by InBev and Miller-Coors, the profit maybe comparable for craft beer. Craft beer is now part of the venue/restaurant experience and is a serious contributor to entertainment sales. So serious that Big Beer has acquired Lagunitas, Elysian, Goose and etc.

[moecurlythanu]

So how was the metric 12% arrived at. If the metric was profit, I'll go out on a limb and suggest that quality earns more profit. While it may be true that quantity is ruled by InBev and Miller-Coors, the profit maybe comparable for craft beer. Craft beer is now part of the venue/restaurant experience and is a serious contributor to entertainment sales. So serious that Big Beer has acquired Lagunitas, Elysian, Goose and etc.

It was quoted by the writer of The Beer Blog, whose mailing list I am on. He got the information from a trade group. It's not an outlandish number, I've heard Craft Beer's market share similarly described by other sources as well. The number represents percentage of total beer sales in the USA. Probably total dollar amount.

I'm not sure what the point of getting "lost in the weeds" with such minutiae is, as it only serves to obscure the larger point. The association who put out the data is hoping for a 20% share by 2020.

[Yves]

It's a golden age here too. Quebec has only a population of appr 8 million people so we're just not going to get the volume being produced. nevertheless it seems that every time I go on a beer run there's a new brewer hitting the shelves. We're also getting more and more specialty stores selling only microbrew products, not to mention brew pubs that will sell nothing but microbrew on tap, many having their own beers brewed in house. I just wish that as a Canadian consumer I could have access to beers made across Canada. I could probably go south of the border and find a larger variety of Canadian microbrews than I can in my neighbourhood store.

[SteveSly]

It staggers the mind the variety of beer available in the USA! I just re stocked my fridge with a beer run last night. Picked up an excellent array of beers made in Québec but I tend to be buying the same 10 or 15 beers over and over again because we cannot buy microbrews from other parts of Canada (slowly changing...) and we get next to no variety in import beers (the same dozen or so beers from the UK, Belgium, etc...)

It really is amazing. I have more than 20 breweries within a 1 hour drive of my house, and I don't live in a big city. All of them are good quality too. Most of this has happened within the last 10 years or so.

[adap2it]

It's a golden age here too. Quebec has only a population of appr 8 million people so we're just not going to get the volume being produced. nevertheless it seems that every time I go on a beer run there's a new brewer hitting the shelves. We're also getting more and more specialty stores selling only microbrew products, not to mention brew pubs that will sell nothing but microbrew on tap, many having their own beers brewed in house. I just wish that as a Canadian consumer I could have access to beers made across Canada. I could probably go south of the border and find a larger variety of Canadian microbrews than I can in my neighbourhood store.

i guess that the inter-provincial trade laws are more protective to the Quebec breweries. In Ontario we have a very large choice of craft beers from Canadian brewers, including Quebec. I do not see a huge number of Canadian craft beers, or Canadian wines on sale in the US. So If you want to check out more Canadian craft brews, you may have to go to Ontario.

http://www.lcbo.com/content/lcbo/en/...b#.Vvf35_krIhc

I'm not a fan of state run liquor stores, however, it does have it's advantages...you can check out inventory on line, how many and where according to your location.

[Firth]

It was quoted by the writer of The Beer Blog, whose mailing list I am on. He got the information from a trade group. It's not an outlandish number, I've heard Craft Beer's market share similarly described by other sources as well. The number represents percentage of total beer sales in the USA. Probably total dollar amount.

I'm not sure what the point of getting "lost in the weeds" with such minutiae is, as it only serves to obscure the larger point. The association who put out the data is hoping for a 20% share by 2020.

Although 19% of that total is huge, it seems to not represent the impact and success of selling beer which is 2 to 3 times more expensive. I found this presentation that describes the trends up to 2012, sorry it's not more recent. Note how Bud and Miller which are big sellers, dropped the most and Yuengling increased the most amongst domestic non craft beer. The charts which volume and sales, are telling. Beer is a huge seller by volume, but by sales it dwarfs compared to other spirits.

http://usdrinksconference.com/assets...l%20Trends.pdf

[moecurlythanu]

Although 19% of that total is huge, it seems to not represent the impact and success of selling beer which is 2 to 3 times more expensive.

That will be the challenge going forward, as I see it. Many young people drink for the buzz, and they don't have a lot of disposable cash. Economics alone (not to mention marketing,) will probably keep most of them in the mass production camp.

[Yves]

i guess that the inter-provincial trade laws are more protective to the Quebec breweries. In Ontario we have a very large choice of craft beers from Canadian brewers, including Quebec. I do not see a huge number of Canadian craft beers, or Canadian wines on sale in the US. So If you want to check out more Canadian craft brews, you may have to go to Ontario.

About 3 times a year I plan a road trip to Ottawa with Robert and a couple of other guys. I focus in on Ontario microbrews when I do. We always go for lunch at the Smoque Schack too! It's a great day!

[gryphs also]

Last week I was in Chicago and hit 7 Michigan microbreweries on the way back to Canada (didn't hit anything in Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo as that is a two day trip on itself). My haul from the six that had sales (trying this weekend):

a) Anger Black IPA from Greenbush Brewery in Saywer
b) Mr. Orange Blood Orange Witbier from Tapistry Brewery in Bridgman
c) Black Rye IPA from The Livery in Benton Harbor (Hit the BBQ joint in the city and had the sample platter...more food than 2 people could eat)
d) Old English Bitter from Paw Paw Brewery in Paw Paw
e) Sky High Rye Pale Ale from Arcadia Brewery in Battle Creek
f) Raspberry Ale from Dark Horse Brewery in Marshall.

Going to visit my daughter in Ottawa next week and am taking the northern Ontario route to hit a bunch more out-of-the-way places. I need a bigger beer fridge.

[Zeuhlmate]

Had a Victory Hop Devil yesterday.
I was slightly underwhelmed, it wasnt particularily rich or hoppy - especially considering the price in Denmark 7$
But - it was reaching the 'best before' date, so that could have something to do with it.

[Yves]

IPAs are best consumed fresh. They tend to lose their hoppiness yet retain their bitterness as they age. I still enjoy a good IPA but I'm not as gung ho about them as I once was. I'm really into Baltic Porters, Imperial Stouts, basically anything dark and complex that will age well. I have never been a fan of witbiers and red ales... I have tried many but they just don't do it for me.

[Zeuhlmate]

You can get dark IPA's too.

Nøgne Ø: Batch 100 (Norwegian)
Thisted Bryghus: Black Ale (Danish)

Both are great !

[Yves]

Yeah, we have Black IPAs brewed here. Also an excellent black lager. I have one to consume now and one I am ageing. Photo below is of the 2014 edition but I have the 2015 edition:

[polmico]

Bit of a brewery week here in Appalachia. While most of the names bear no mention outside of NC (though the Wicked Weed/Jester King farmhouse collaboration I had at Wicked Weed's Funkatorioum was awesome), we did stop into the Asheville branch of Sierra Nevada. I'm no great fan of their beers, but their brewery was beautiful and impressive.

[SteveSly]

Last week I was in Chicago and hit 7 Michigan microbreweries on the way back to Canada (didn't hit anything in Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo as that is a two day trip on itself). My haul from the six that had sales (trying this weekend):

a) Anger Black IPA from Greenbush Brewery in Saywer
b) Mr. Orange Blood Orange Witbier from Tapistry Brewery in Bridgman
c) Black Rye IPA from The Livery in Benton Harbor (Hit the BBQ joint in the city and had the sample platter...more food than 2 people could eat)
d) Old English Bitter from Paw Paw Brewery in Paw Paw
e) Sky High Rye Pale Ale from Arcadia Brewery in Battle Creek
f) Raspberry Ale from Dark Horse Brewery in Marshall.

Going to visit my daughter in Ottawa next week and am taking the northern Ontario route to hit a bunch more out-of-the-way places. I need a bigger beer fridge.

All of those are within an hour or less from where I live and all good choices.

Anger Black IPA is one of my favorites in the area. Really everything Greenbush makes is great, although I have not made it to the actual brewery yet.

Not a huge fan of the Tapistry Blood Orange, but that may be personal taste. I love their Reactor IPA though. Have not been to this brewery yet either although one of the owners works were I work in Kalamazoo (Tapistry is a side business for him).

Not sure that I have had the Black Rye from The Livery. I find their beer to be just ok. The guy who runs it used to have a brewery here in Kalamazoo called Kraftbrau, but he and the other owners had a falling out and it went out of business, so he opened the Livery in Benton Harbor. They have some good live music there from time to time.

The Old English Bitter is a good one from Paw Paw. I have not been there since they moved into their bigger facility, but need to check it out. Their old facilty was really small.

Sky High Rye is one of my favorites form Arcadia. Their beer can be hit and miss, but this one is a winner. Arcadia have opened a much bigger brewery / restaurant here in Kalamazoo (with great BBQ), so have not been to the original one in Battle Creek in a while.

Raspberry Ale is a good one from Dark Horse as is pretty much everything they make. It is a bit on the light side, but a great summer beer. I love the Dark Horse Brewery especially in the summer when their patio is open.

Sounds like you made a good haul and hit most of the highlights along I-94.

[gryphs also]

Steve,

I'll be going at some of them tomorrow. I thought the Mr. Orange was just OK as a sample but they only had the straight IPA in cans to buy and I like making a purchase at all of them. I knew I was going to get the Sky High IPA so I didn't want another one (and I have some IPAs still in my fridge).

The Black Rye IPA was good. It wasn't burnt black in flavour and you got a hit of the spiciness of the rye. Could have been bolder with the hops but still a decent drink.