NT, What Beer Do You Drink?

Visited LA for the first time ever a few weeks ago (coming from MA)
I had to hit up Monkish! ended up here 2 days in a row. first night I had some pours, then the second day, I had to grab some growlers to bring back home (3-750ml's and a 2L). def worth it! ended up drinking the 2L growler at the airbnb we were staying at. it was too good not to :smokin
 

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Just following tree house for the week has me shook. They went through about 1200 cases of beer yesterday. That's a solid allotment for 5,000 people. Not about to put family through a 50-90 minute wait for six cans of beer. Priorities finally kicking in for me.

Whole new levels of hype. They could pretty much be on pace to pump out 50k barrels with being open limited days and hours. 120k by middle of next year. That's probably when I'll finally get a chance to try a wider range.
 
Took the week off from beer, but this weekend has me back into the swing of things. Hit up Other Half this morning, Sand City has a big release tomorrow, and my roommate should be coming back from Boston with a nice Trillium haul tonight.

Anywho...here's the first beer of the day:

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Other Half x Cloudwater Tremendous Ideas. 8% Double IPA brewed with 50% Golden Promise malts, 50% oats, and hopped with Citra, Huell Melon, and Vic Secret. This beer is different than most Other Half beers because it incorporates JW Lees yeast that was imported from England as well as American ale yeast. This beer was initially brewed at Cloudwater and now they're taking it stateside. First impression is that this is distinctly different from the usual Other Half fare. Doesn't have that diesel/dank characteristic Other Half is known for. Sweet and creamy, but still maintains a bitter/green back end. It's only 2 days old, so I'm sure that will fade. Not as intensely tropical/juicy as a lot of Other Half's usual fare. Very rounded. Not sure if I like this more than what Other Half usually puts out, but I welcome the change.
 
My brother came through for me this morning and swung by sandcity for their release. I'll be back in NY the 9th of august and can't wait to give them a try. Has anyone tried any of the Greenpoint offerings? I plan on giving them a visit when I come back home along with Barrier.
 

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My brother came through for me this morning and swung by sandcity for their release. I'll be back in NY the 9th of august and can't wait to give them a try. Has anyone tried any of the Greenpoint offerings? I plan on giving them a visit when I come back home along with Barrier.
Nice. I hit up Sand City this morning as well. I prefer Sand City releases to Other Half releases by a pretty wide margin due to the fact that the diner right next to the brewery takes orders for people on line. It also doesn't hurt that Sand City's lines are a fraction of the size of Other Half's and that Northport doesn't smell like hot garbage. :lol:

Greenpoint doesn't get the recognition it deserves. I had a can of Interstellar a few months back and it was great. They do a great job of producing consistently great IPAs while flying under the radar. Would love to see them get distribution out my way.

A few more beers between yesterday and today:

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Other Half Enigma. 6.5% IPA hopped exclusively with Enigma hops. Nice to see the old single-hop cans. Brings me back to the days of OG Citra/Nelson/Galaxy cans. This one is pretty nice. Nice balance between citrus and earthy characteristics. Mouthfeel is somewhat thin, but it helps its drinkability overall. No booze to be found. Solid offering.

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Other Half x Cloudwater Bud's Life. 6.2% IPA brewed with Amarillo, Mosaic, and Chinook. Apparently they're calling this beer "TM Life" on social media accounts to avoid any potential ramifications from AB-InBev. This one is really nice. Has some juicy characteristics with a bit of pine on the back end. Mouthfeel and the breadiness from the malts really hit the spot for me. Reminiscent of Ain't Nothing Nice. Both complex and easy-drinking at the same time. This one was my favorite from yesterday's release.

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Sand City Oops! I Hopped My Pants. 6.5% IPA. Wasn't able to find the hop bill on this. Initial aroma was that barley/oats smell you get when you open a box of Grape Nuts. Taste is predominantly citrus/piney/grassy. Thinking this has Simcoe in it. While this one has never been my favorite Sand City beer, it's still pretty damn tasty and works great as a base beer for the other variants.

In other news: my roommate came back from Boston yesterday with a mixed case of Trillium for me: 2 4-packs of Galaxy Cutting Tiles, 1 of Farnsworth Street, 1 of Pot & Kettle, 1 of Itty Bitty Goose, and 1 of Citra Free Rise. It's gonna be a good couple of weeks.
 
Wish I would have bought a glass too after that picture lol. Good to hear about greenpoint, they have a double IPA called cognition dropping the day I land so I plan on heading there straight.
 
Out in the ne for vaca. Sort of tripping me out seeing all these people drinking all this haze.
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Went right to the trillium beer garden. No frills. Great location. Price points up there.

Between congress st, itty bitty, pier, ddh melcher, and mosaic cutting tiles, the cutting tiles the clear winner. Most vibrantly juicy vibe. Seeing all these 4.40 range beers on BA is interesting. They are all creamy and soft with different elements of hops.

Walked over to their fort point location to get some take home. Prices were $16-$24/ four pack.
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No lines there at all. Surprised. Great tips Comparison Ford Comparison Ford
Family shot. No TH beers but the teku is getting used. Farnsworth with vic was slightly disappointing. Galaxy cutting tiles is easily one of the best beers I have ever had. Almost felt I should've went with three four packs.

In closing, surprised to see that congress street had some ibu bite and is getting the scores that it's getting. I wouldn't call their beers over rated but so many out there, especially local to me, are just as good. Luckily I had no lines so it make it seamless and easy. Otherwise, a long line would not have made these worth it.

I definitely felt I've had more aromatically juicy ipas and also on a flavor front. Trillium takes that softer creamier mouthfeel to a whole new level without ever feeling or tasting boozy

So I can see why there is hype associated. There are probably 100 other breweries that are low key with no hype that aren't getting the love that are just as good. Makes you wonder how some places just run with the hype
 
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^ Nice haul Wally! Having had both the galaxy and citra Cutting Tiles, i'd have to agree that galaxy was the better of the two. That wildflower honey adds a subtle sweetness but not cloying in any way. Awesome stuff!

Did someone say Oktoberfest? Sipping on this tonight. Getting more maltiness compared to last years but I actually like it. Enjoying this years better for sure.
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Out in the ne for vaca. Sort of tripping me out seeing all these people drinking all this haze.
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Went right to the trillium beer garden. No frills. Great location. Price points up there.

Between congress st, itty bitty, pier, ddh melcher, and mosaic cutting tiles, the cutting tiles the clear winner. Most vibrantly juicy vibe. Seeing all these 4.40 range beers on BA is interesting. They are all creamy and soft with different elements of hops.

Walked over to their fort point location to get some take home. Prices were $16-$24/ four pack.
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No lines there at all. Surprised. Great tips Comparison Ford Comparison Ford
Family shot. No TH beers but the teku is getting used. Farnsworth with vic was slightly disappointing. Galaxy cutting tiles is easily one of the best beers I have ever had. Almost felt I should've went with three four packs.

In closing, surprised to see that congress street had some ibu bite and is getting the scores that it's getting. I wouldn't call their beers over rated but so many out there, especially local to me, are just as good. Luckily I had no lines so it make it seamless and easy. Otherwise, a long line would not have made these worth it.

I definitely felt I've had more aromatically juicy ipas and also on a flavor front. Trillium takes that softer creamier mouthfeel to a whole new level without ever feeling or tasting boozy

So I can see why there is hype associated. There are probably 100 other breweries that are low key with no hype that aren't getting the love that are just as good. Makes you wonder how some places just run with the hype
No problem, man. It's funny...we had some overlap in what we were drinking yesterday:

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Definitely share a lot of your sentiments regarding Galaxy Cutting Tiles. I liked the addition of the raw wildflower honey. Added a distinct note to the aroma and taste on this one and worked very well with the Galaxy. Great stuff.

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Sand City Oops! I Mangoed My Pants! is back again. It's a good time for it to be in my fridge considering that I still have cans of Grimm x Barrier Power Source to compare it to. I did a side-by-side yesterday and it was no contest. This blew Power Source out of the water. The mango notes on this are far more subtle and refined. Still tastes like an IPA as opposed to drinking straight fruit juice. Power Source also has that mango "burn." It's not as bad as some of the other notoriously bad mango IPAs (Mago Tago, Never & Again, etc.), but I find myself wanting to take a Nexium 2/3s into a can. Acid reflux city. Oops! I Mangoed My Pants! doesn't suffer from this issue at all.

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I actually have a much more favorable opinion of Farnsworth Street than Wally does. I like that it has big citrus/tangerine/stone fruit characteristics while maintaining a decent level of bitterness. Reminds me of an Other Half beer. Hell...maybe that's why I liked it as much as I did. I've been conditioned.

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Oops! I Nelsoned My Pants! is back too. Drinking amazing as ever. Reminds me of the OG Alpine Nelson on steroids. Super pungent white grape/earthy notes with a medium-full mouthfeel. Probably my favorite beer of yesterday. This one sold out within 90 minutes and I can see why. World-class beer.
 
I did have galaxy ct first so my palate was likely already done. It took me 2-3 sips and a solid 10 minutes of sitting out for that galaxy explosion to happen. But when it did. Wow.
Can dates were the 26th and 27th of July FYI.
Our ride was coming for us so I had to make quick decisions on cans.

Unlike TH, where they said they had a two beee limit, including multiple lines (line to get in. Line to get drink tickets. Line to get beer itself), Trillium was a seamless fun treat. May have been just good timing. Sunday early noon for both.

Having had congress st first, it definitely had the biggest ibu bite. Which is normal for your palate to feel. By my last there, the mosaic and sweeter honey bite really make thst beer shine.

I'll give them credit. Very well hidden abv. Nothing really harsh with co2 bite or ibu thst makes them feel abrasive. Dare I say approachable. Although the people I was with (all non IPA drinkers) didn't care for any of their beers. So I do wonder how these ipa breweries are getting so popular.

Burlington and Stowe hopefully later this week. Maybe some random package store vt cans today
 
JAckpot.
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No focal today or they sold out. Quite a hop bite on that one compared to heady

Skadoosh and plenty of heady. Stopped down the road for some SOS. Gonna be a hell of a week.
 
^got a buddy heading to VT in a couple of days and coming home Sunday...said he's trying hit up some spots and bring stuff home

he mentioned HF, there's a farmhouse ale festival at HF Saturday so hopefully if my buddy does get there it's prior to that in case it gets gutted
 
Good day. Split between a couple of us. didn't even come close to our limit
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Will enjoy the heck out of them

That fest has been sold out since may. Tickets were $100 and were raffle only.

Didn't even consider hill farmstead really. Hell of a drive
 
Good day. Split between a couple of us. didn't even come close to our limit

Will enjoy the heck out of them

That fest has been sold out since may. Tickets were $100 and were raffle only.

Didn't even consider hill farmstead really. Hell of a drive

Sucks that they didn't have any Focal. I prefer it over Heady honestly.
 
Sucks that they didn't have any Focal. I prefer it over Heady honestly.
They did have samples of it. So I at least got a nice tasting. Surprisingly ibu heavy. I'd almost call it a west coast mixed with NE style. Preference of that one over heady is a tough call. Almost two different beasts.

So just a quick rundown of yesterday in Stowe/Waterbury if anyone is interested.

Made it to alchemist around 11:40 (they open at 11). Line was still in the building and moving fast. Maybe 20 deep. Upon entering the line, pretty much unlimited samples of focal,pappy, and heady. And then can limits per person.

Pappy was a par for the course 5% porter. Alchemist gets so much love though. They do no wrong in some eyes.

The town itself is tiny. I can see how it can be overrun by cars and people at various stop signs. Heady was gone by 2-3pm I heard. Even by 11:40, one of the guys there was counting heads to eventually lower the HT can limit.

Right near alchemist is Stowe beverage. When I showed up, no lines or anything. Coolers in the back with more heady and Lawson's SOS. Saw about 8 cases of SOS in cooler and they were replenishing heady frequently. Very tiny place. Limits there too. It seemed really crowded after we had lunch.

Stopped at Idletyme brewery for some lunch. Very good food. All their beer was solid. Their dipa was a bit hazy. Softish. Didn't feel memorable but enjoyable non the less.

Von Trapp beer hall was next. Mostly traditional style beers. Great helles, kolsch, Oktoberfest, and pils. Great mustard for their bratwurst.

Prohibition pig was on our schedule. Hour wait. Tap list didn't seem all too impressive. We walked across the street.

Blackback pub across the street maybe fits 40 people. Most impressive place so far. Really good pub steak sandwich. Tons of beer options. Kegs were kicking pretty quickly. Lots of beer and hop talk. My type of place.

First beer. Went with a Breakside something wicked IPA. Not sure what it was. Just one of those special moments when you taste a beer and go wow. Description mentions juicy and Ne style. It matched both with flying colors.

Second beer. Lawson's sips of sunshine. Bordering more on west coast style with its orangeish clearish color and having more of a bite. Very good if not slightly over rated

Sample time. No society and solitude. Bummer. Did have walden and Edward samples. Hill farmstead interests me. Very clean flavored beers but I just don't get the hype I guess.

Frost golden boy IPA was last. Huge co2 bite but then the backend was softened up to this tremendous citrus hop flavor.

I will say prices were high for what seemed like 13 oz pours. Alchemist cheapest of the whole trip at $12.50/four pack. Others including 14th star and burlington BC easily in the $15 range with trillium topping out at $17-$22. Frost bombers $8 range. Lawson's sos $15 range.

Fun trip but largely due to no lines and ease of getting HT and sos. Otherwise I just don't know if it's worth all the trouble. Even a drive to Greensboro to HF just didn't seem totally worth it.

Regarding focal banger, I guess it's off the canning schedule for the week. Skaadoosh taking priority as per FB. So keep that in mind if anyone's going there this week.
 
National IPA day today. What are y'all drinking? I have a week to drink up my cache. No plans to ship any back.

mangudai954 mangudai954
Up to atleast a year for the ones I have had. Without the hop influence , 95% of these beers can withstand quite a bit imho.

How does this years SN Oktoberfest compare to last year and the first year? First year was the best imho. Love the lighter Oktoberfest style beers.
 
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