Agreed. Some of my beers are better than some breweries.
I “feel your pain”. Several LHB shops have closed nearby.
In regard to CO2, it doesn’t cost much more to get 10# or 20# vs 5#. If using at home, go for the larger amount and save. Of course, provide proper canaster support to prevent falling/tipping.
We hare Airgas nearby. Pricy. I deal with ARC3 and have been happy. I even took them some of my homebrew.
i know i’ve said before but due to the way alcohol is controlled here, and the high costs of running a brewery limiting unusual styles - my homebrewed beer is the only one around when it comes to many categories ie. creative varieties of stouts, brown ales, barleywines, well basically a ton of styles darker than straw in colour.
so effectively in many of my favourite categories of beer - my homebrewed beer is better than all of whats available here.
as well re: IPAs/pale ales, i know in america breweries are creative with hops, but other than a handful here virtually every brewery just does hazies with citra/mosaic/galaxy etc. and i never go “wow” with them when i do have them, like i do when i make an IPA on my own.
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Some of my beers are too. But commercial beers are generally better. There is something about scale in brewing. Same recipe, same brewer, but 5 bbls vs. 5 gallons…the outcome is a different beer. I am still trying to understand the science behind this. But it’s real, and the larger the scale, the better the beer. At least, that’s my observation.
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For the beers I like nobody brews and serves them like I do. Sorry I can’t find a 3.5-4.0 cask conditioned beer brewed like I brew them. Actually I can’t find them at all. When I do they are much too warm
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Exactly! There is an incredible beer I enjoy. Crushinator by Maplewood. Easily my favorite but there other beers while good and some consider excellent don’t do it for me esp at $11 for a 4 pack of 16 oz beers.
Edit:
Even as good as Crushinator or Lizard King are I would still prefer mine. Others may not but I brew for myself and not others
Yes, for certain subsets.
They are definitely a good spot, but being south of Boston, it’s like a 2 hour round trip depending on Boston traffic. But I definitely need to keep them in mind if I have an empty tank when we are heading up that way to visit friends in Salem.
My local homebrew shop significantly down-sized, which has been a bummer. But for CO2 I’ve always exchanged tanks at a welding supply store nearby.