what beers are you drinking?

[joethefoodie]

6 hours ago, Orik said:

Because they can

Yeah - isn't this pretty much the main reason for most retail pricing?

And when they can't, they have a "sale."

For most beers they sell (and it isn't a bad selection, especially for some of the more common "artisanal" beers), the Trader Joe's on Grand St. probably has the lowest prices around.

[taion]

I was happy enough with the selection at the Union Square Whole Foods, especially given the prices.

[mitchells]

Was in in Saratoga and stopped in at Sixpoint's outpost in Clifton Park. Drank a number of really good beers and only 3 were recognizable and locally available to me. Hop Sounds, 18 Watt and Softly Spoken Magic Spells.  I stocked up the cooler with ones I liked from the draft tastes. Frequency Lager was perfect for the hot days. An intriguing one was SCHINDLERIA PRAEMATURUS HONEY DDH IPA. I'm not a big honey guy with beer but this was so subtle it was great. Also enjoyed Weird & Gilly and Does Anyone Remember Laughter. Also a stout that was nice poolside at night with a cigar. Maybe it was Eric? 

This is a really good spot if you happen to be upstate. Right off exit 9 of I87. They usually have bands, food trucks and other events weekends. 

[Wilfrid]

16 hours ago, taion said:

Something to do with perishability and number of SKUs? Or that many of these places double as bars and don’t want to undercut themselves?

 

It used to be the case that those specialist beer shops doubling as bars just didn’t allow cans and bottles to b consumed on the premises. More recently I’ve seen corkage charges, around $3. Makes sense.

I am sure there are places cheaper than specialist shops, but the $6-10 price range is what I am seeing in a non-expensive neighborhood in Harlem.

[AaronS]

9 hours ago, mitchells said:

Was in in Saratoga and stopped in at Sixpoint's outpost in Clifton Park. Drank a number of really good beers and only 3 were recognizable and locally available to me. Hop Sounds, 18 Watt and Softly Spoken Magic Spells.  I stocked up the cooler with ones I liked from the draft tastes. Frequency Lager was perfect for the hot days. An intriguing one was SCHINDLERIA PRAEMATURUS HONEY DDH IPA. I'm not a big honey guy with beer but this was so subtle it was great. Also enjoyed Weird & Gilly and Does Anyone Remember Laughter. Also a stout that was nice poolside at night with a cigar. Maybe it was Eric? 

This is a really good spot if you happen to be upstate. Right off exit 9 of I87. They usually have bands, food trucks and other events weekends. 

singlecut not sixpoint.

[mitchells]

59 minutes ago, AaronS said:

singlecut not sixpoint.

Oops! My bad! 

[AaronS]

kcbc this is not a burrito... this is a burrito ddh brewed in collaboration with north park brewing west coast ipa double dry hopped west coast style india pale ale citra, strata, simcoe, centennial, & nelson sauvin cryo malted barley - 7.2% abv. I think the name betrays some justified insecurity about whether or not this is actually a west coast ipa, but the combination of pine, resin, sweet malt and the kind of detail you get from this mostly old school hop bill is pleasant enough and I'll take this over almost all of the hazy stuff at this point blah blah blah. mildly recommended.

[AaronS]

logsdon farmhouse ales peche `n brett farmhouse ale brewed with peaches and brettanomyces added - 8% abv. logsdon is a portland, oregon area founded by one of the guys who started wyeast labs. the original owner sold out to private equity back in 2015, and it seems like it’s changed hands since. this is very much the way I remember it the fist time I had it, there’s a nice combination of super dry champagne like set of brett flavors and oaky white wine that have a little bit of peach in the background. this is pleasant enough.

[AaronS]

logsdon pruim ‘n brett farmhouse ale brewed with plums and with brettanomyces added - 6.5% abv. as the title suggests this is last night’s beer made with plums, but reading the label tells you that they used a japanese breed of plums brewed in the hood river valley and it’s the first release from their new brewery near portland. these beers are a lot more different than I thought they would be, this is a lot more  delicate, has a lot more plum flavor, and is simply a better beer. neither of these bottles are dated, but both of them were bottled conditioned and this is less bretty so I’m assuming this is fresher and the yeast hasn’t had time to take over. the plum flavors are well done, the brett isn’t nearly as dry, and this is a pretty approachable, easy to drink example of the style and so on. recommended.

[AaronS]

grimm wavetable india pale ale - 6.7% abv. they’ve been making this for a few months now, and it and their weisse beer are their two flagship beers. I don’t really see the point of making a very hard to find (if hardly obscure) style one of the two things you always make, and while I’m a little bummed they didn’t pick one of their older recipes having a solid ipa available year round has worked for a lot of local breweries. this is a lot better than the way I remember their older single ipas, which always seemed a little thin and lacking in flavor compared to their initial set of 8% abv dipas. I won’t say that this is that good, but this combination of strata, mosaic, and citra is really pleasant and has a pleasantly bitter mixture of berry and tropical fruit that’s a lot danker than usual. the finish is a little bit sweeter but has a lot of nice (lychee, peach, antipodean white wine) detail blah blah blah. recommended.

[AaronS]

põhjala välk imperial gose with estonian blueberries & sage - 8% abv. this is one of the better examples of this kind of beer I’ve had - the mouthfeel is a little heavier than usual, the sage really complements the salt in the finish, the blueberry flavor tastes like real blueberries, no one put soft serve ice cream or cookies from the bodega in it, the abv (which is a lot higher than usual) is imperceptible, etc. there was a period before the local breweries took off that you had to buy european beer to get the best examples of a lot of american styles, and this is a lot better than a similar beer from any nyc brewery would be. blah blah finesse blah blah these don’t have to be as simple as people think blah blah. recommended.

[AaronS]

pōhjala orange gose gose ale - 5.5% abv.yet another really well made lacto sour from estonia! this one has orange, coriander, and himalayan sea salt, but the nice thing here is it actually tastes like a traditional gose with some light citrus flavors that make it extremely quaffable. this is as good as this kind of beer gets blah blah blah.

[Sneakeater]

RG's Green Chili Pozole with Shrimp

It's ridiculous how good this is.  And not all that hard to make, actually.  (I would like to personally thank RG for permitting the substitution of Southeast Asian Fish Sauce for Shrimp Powder — whatever that is.)

On the side, my first home encounter with squash blossoms.  (Over)sautéed in butter, with a splash of banana vinegar to finish.

No wine in the world would have been as good with this as beer.

Industrial Arts Brewing Co. State of the Art BRU-1 American IPA

Although the maker is in upstate New York, this is a West Coast IPA.

But the hop it experiments with, BRU-1, is pretty sweet -- more like what you'd expect in a NE.

This beer is OLD (like made last September).  Age helps wine, but it doesn't do IPAs any favors.  Nevertheless, the sweetness with a sharp bitter edge was very pleasing.  Even if the whole thing seemed a bit confusing.

[Sneakeater]

The key part of cooking shrimp, of course, is not overcooking them.

Tonight, I almost succeeded.

[AaronS]

to øl raspmatazz sour ale with raspberry, blood orange, & hibiscus - brewed at to øl city, 4.2% abv. this is another really nice kettle sour from europe. this one is really light, barely sour, and has a little bit of raspberry sweetness. this is a lot better than the local versions I’ve had this summer  (mostly from kcbc and finback) because the yeast notes are a lot more delicate and less apparent.