Out in the field for work today, I stopped at my favorite grocery store for beer. Jungle Jim’s International Market has an awesome selection of beer from around the world and across the country, all organized by place of origin.
While there, I picked up the following:
Six pack of Troegg’s Perpetual IPA
Six pack of Sierra Nevada Hop Hunter
Four pack of Great Lakes ChillWave DIPA
Six pack of Ballast Point Sculpin
2 bombers of Rogue Sriracha Stout (mainly for SWMBO)
Cant wait to try them all out, I will post back the thoughts of my fairly untrained palate.
Have a great weekend everyone
Your reminding me its about time for us to make a pilgrimage to Yankee Spirits in Sturbridge Ma. Its the largest package store in New England. Its the size of a large supermarket. The space cereal would take up is whiskey and the beer section is bigger than most entire package stores. They do a ton of business, there are always license plates from 3 different states in the parking lot, so they move through their inventory quickly. The beer area isn’t inside a cooler but they do seem to have the area kept as cool as they can, I would say about 50.
Nice score Frank. We’re still in the hospital so I’m living vicariously. All I get to do is stare at the pictures everyone is posting of beer foam overflowing their pint glass, crystal clear lagers and all manner of deliciousness!
Well, I’ll tell you something JT: No kids of my own, so I’m jealous of you as well. Take care of business on your end
Still never had a Troeg’s beer, but I have had Chillwave and Sculpin - two kickarse beers.
Troegs Perpetual is very good. If you haven’t yet, get your hands on Troegs Nugget Nectar. I just picked up a case of Hop Hunter. It’s great on tap. Sculpin is phenomenal. The Rogue Sriracha definitely had a kick to it. I wasn’t a huge fan. Great Lakes Chillwave is a tough one for me. When it was released two years ago, under the name Alchemy Hour, I thought it was amazing. I didn’t enjoy it much last year and haven’t had it yet this year. I think it’s the mosaic hops in it. They are so hit and miss for me.
Very nice selection of beer!
I am really looking forward to all of them, but I have never had the ChillWave, Perpetual, Hop Hunter, or the Sriracha. I know I love the Sculpin, but could not find a date on it, fingers crossed. It looked like it had some kind of code on six pack holder, but could not decipher it. The Perpetual was bottle on January 23, so about 6 weeks old, again fingers crossed. I did not look for a date on ChillWave, as it was not in store last month when I last went bottle shopping, so I am assuming its pretty fresh. Same with the Hop Hunter, pretty new beer and I am hoping/assuming mine is fresh. I saw the Nugget Nectar, but obviously this trip was pretty IPA focused, I’ll try some next trip, thanks for the tip.
Jon, I am in the SE corner of Indiana, so I can beer shop in Ohio with a less than 5 minute drive, so Troegg’s is easily available, My other option is always Kentucky, really only a 15 minute drive to find beer across that state line, but a little farther for a good selection down there. Luckily, we have a facility just 5 minutes away from the Largest Liquor Store in the country, so when I am out that way, I always make a point of stopping in there, as their selection is always amazing also
PS, was meaning to post this in Commercial Beer Reviews, can a mod move it? My bad :o
The Yankee Spirits in Attleboro is an old supermarket as well. I’ve never been to the one in Sturbridge, so I can’t compare but the Attleboro one is huge. They stopped doing mix-a-six years ago, so I don’t go there too often any more. But they do have a killer selection for when you’re looking for something special.
not in indiana? just a short drive to ohio to pick some up!
I’m not sure if its in Indiana, But I know Jon says he has never had any, so I am guessing he cant find it up around Indy at least
We’re done, just been sitting around waiting on a doctor to sign a release. Sure do miss my little girl. That’s the bad thing, the family gets split up and we’re stuck in this tiny little room going crazy.
The Chillwave is fresh. It’s a seasonal and is only out for a little over a month. HopHunter is new and will be fresh. Back to Nugget Nectar… It doesn’t say IPA on the label, but it’s probably the hoppiest beer they have. It’s an imperial Amber that is hopped like an IPA. Don’t wait too long on that, because it is released in February and is only out for about a month and a half and is a “hot” beer in the market. It’s also one of a very short list of beers that I like better in a bottle than on tap.
Good to know, I will be back out that way next week and will have to make another stop
Sorry for twisting your arm so hard lol
You’re not going to make the trip and buy just one 6 pack, right? You mentioned Sculpin. Did they have Ballast Point Big Eye IPA? This beer is great, but often takes a backseat to Sculpin. I Like actually like Big Eye better. It’s more of you piney/dank/resinous IPA as opposed to the fruity beer that Sculpin is. Just a suggestion.
Not a special trip, I will be close by. They do have big eye and I will give that a try as well. Thanks again
So, obviously the Sculpin is great, the Big Eye is also quite tasty. I also got back in time for Nugget Nectar and liked it a lot. I think I made the point earlier that I don’t have the greatest palate, or a flair for words. The Perpetual IPA came in at the bottom of the bunch, but was still tasty. I would not hesitate to order it on draft anywhere I found it in that format. After living in Cleveland and close to Cleveland for 41 of my 45 years of life and within 10 minutes of downtown for 15 of the last 18 years, the Chill wave was easily the most pleasant surprise. It really just was not what I was expecting from an IIPA. The label mentions honey malt, and while it is definitely different than the rest of the pack, I would not just say that’s because it’s sweeter, but it is. My overall impression is “different” but a great different. It has plenty of hoppy goodness, but enough body to not just be a hop bomb which is what I usually find in IIPA. The other pleasant surprise is that after being in or around Cleveland for so long, I have obviously just taken them for granted. I loved this beer and. And can only hope I can find more this year before it’s all gone. Overall, if anyone were to ask me about these beers, I would have nothing bad to say about any of them. The good news is that with such a variety, I have plenty of each left to continue comparing
Nice feedback. Perpetual is a unique IPA in the fact that it is hopped with Mt Hood. It has a spicy hop character. The flavor of that beer changes a lot as the temp changes. I’ll need to get some Chillwave this year and give it another shot.
That brings up a great point. The second Chill wave I had and shared started at around 50 (basement temp) compared to the refrigerated one I had to myself. Everything I tasted in the chilled version was actually and unexpectedly muted 8n the warmer version. It seems to truly be an American IPA, best served chilled. Not to say I did not like it warmer, it just was not as noticeable or different at those temps. I still liked it, but would hesitate to recommend it at cellar temps. I am accustomed to brews being the other way around: one dimensional cold and really opening up as it warms. As I daid, I still liked it, just did not get the same impressions of the brew at warmer temps