CounterPressure:
fredthecat:
i can imagine and i sort of hope, that we see the successful and stable craft breweries stabilize as known brewers of X beer style(s) and we can expect to see them at the taps of bars in the future. there is absolutely something to consistency and reliability in a good beer, and thats why i’ve always respected those european brewers who make one or two things and do it really well. i hope we can get a situation like that here, because the craft breweries in my mid-size regional city throw everything at the wall and i absolutely feel they dont try to nail down any one thing. its all swill.
so, since all i’ve got is swill i might as well make my own and make it cheaply.
I try to enjoy going to the local watering holes, but between the beer being a bit meh, and the pricing that simply drives me over the top, I know my day of swearing off going to them isn’t far away. Yesterday I broke down and went to another place. Had 3 14oz beers and one 7oz. 1 was 7.x%, the others were 5-6.2. Just to illustrate these were not barrel aged imperial stouts or some insane high dollar beers. Total bill? Remember, no food, no snacks, no shirt or hat, no glassware… $32.50. I filled the car with gas on the way back, that was $74. Used probably 25% of a tank of gas going and returning, there’s no place close really. 3-1/2 beers… And people wonder why these places are going under. Without exaggerating, none of the beers were something I’d have more than $45 in a 10 gallon batch. 1 was downright awful, but I concede that’s a subjective thing. The IPA was devoid of aroma, and I mean it had 0. It didn’t taste bad, but seriously nobody here would have picked it out from a lineup with their nose. And it could have been sitting between Busch and Michelob. I just made a Wit Pale Ale that is out of this world, and it has 1000% more aroma and hop flavor, and it cost nothing to make. $30/10gal.
On topic to the thread, I am not sure the people posting here are the target demographic of places like New Belgium. In spite of the fact that many here may appreciate the beer, it’s the people who simply buy it and don’t brew, those are the folks who pay the bills in their brewery. People like us probably make up 0.5% of their sales.
Yeah, I get that. And I can’t swear that if I ever made it big, I wouldn’t cash out at some point. But there’s no denying, once it becomes solely about money, and not passion driven, look out for all the IPA’s and fruity sours… I guess that’s the sum of my thoughts. It’s just saddening to see once great breweries get swallowed up by investment companies= Cut costs and increase profits. No thanks. I’ll go where the beer is still sacred.
chumley:
Over 20 years ago I used to buy their trippel (that’s how they spelled it) and abbey beer all the time. Also liked their 1554 beer. I haven’t seen them widely available for a long time, although I did find a sixer of trippel at a specialty shop in Missoula a couple of months ago.
Nowadays its the usual hazy/tropical/juicy IPA hooey. Hard pass.
They killed Abbey within the past few years. Around Colorado at least, trippel and 1554 sell in six packs at larger bottle shops and occasionally grocery stores. The taps are pretty much all new Fat Tire and VR variants. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see trippel and 1554 wiped out in the next few years.
craftyape
July 23, 2024, 5:54pm
23
Im good with the Voodoo Ranger. Its mostly craft