The Next Almanac Release

I was referring to the commenter that you quoted, BTW, I agree with you

 

I got it, but I prefer to think that you're conversing with yourself

 

I don't see that happening. Their Farmer's Reserve beers are all the same sour base beer with different fruit additions. It's hard to go wrong and considering the agricultural cornucopia that is California they should be able to maintain this release schedule for a good while. They may repeat annually but that wouldn't be a bad thing either because then you can start doing verticals. Then again I might be a beer *****.

 

I think it's too much, not because of any sharks, but because they're not letting the beers sour enough. The Blackbeery is kind of weak, imho!!!!!!

 

Could almost switch the pluot & blackberry labels w/ no effect

Dogpatch 2 compared to last summers: pfffff

You cannot put sour beer on a schedule

 

Going to have to disagree with you on this one. With the lack of rain and drought that we have been having it will definitely affect both the size and volume of fruit that we will see this year. I can tell you that peaches in California will definitely be affected. There was hardly any snow in the Sierras this year which is also a concern as that is water source for farmers. I anticipate a reduction in volume of beer produced iwith California fruit (probably hops too) or maybe an increase in price unless they start getting the fruit from other sources.

 

So, you think they're rushing out beers just to meet a schedule? Couldn't it just be that you aren't a fan of those beers? I didn't love Farmers reserves 2 and 4, but I just chalk that up to personal preference. I don't believe they would put out a product that they think is inferior just to meet this schedule.

 

I'd be willing to bet anything that they're not putting their beers on a "schedule." Also, Dogpatch 2 is not nearly as inferior as you seem to think it is (I will concede that it does not taste quite as good, but I imagine that's more a function of how we build things up in our minds. Also the drought may be having an effect on the quality of the produce). This rhetoric about how "this year's vintage isn't nearly as good as last year's" needs to stop because I find it rarely to be the case, and it's unproductive.

 

>>I don't believe they would put out a product that they think is inferior just to meet this schedule.<<

That's just it - I doubt you will ever get them to say it is inferior. Doesn't mean it isn't.

Dale Cooper, you are totes adorbs. I hope you & BA never change.

 

If you look at the reviews, the general consensus is that the beers are not very good.

 

I think most of their hoppy beers and their year round offerings are pretty boring, while the barrel aged/sour beers are pretty spectacular. I wouldn't mind seeing them drop the hops and year round stuff to focus 100% on barrel aged/sour beers.

 

I thought he was making a joke. Dogpatch and Blackberry are rated extremely highly, tho I'm only seeing three reviews for the latter. Kinda sounds like their focus is more on the sours from that recent announcement. Gotta admit I was pretty disappointed with the fresh hop beers from last fall, but have really enjoyed the sours. Note: I haven't tried the blackberry yet.

 

That's exactly what they're doing: http://www.almanacbeer.com/blog/

 

Did you try their first beers?

 

Well shit.

 

lol, no. I had never heard of them until Farmers Reserve 1.

 

Blackberry and Pluot were decent to me, but for being fruit sours, they were lacking in the fruit department. That's definitely an issue they need to address, whether that means adding more fruit or otherwise.

 

I thought Pluot was very fruit forward. Pluots are a relatively mild fruit and I could taste them quite clearly. My only complaint was that it could have used a bit more souring, but that's just my personal preference.

 

You guys know they're essentially a contract brewery, right? Not that there is anything wrong with that but it might explain why a lot of their non-sour beers are just average. I could be wrong but I think they are much more hands on with the Farmers Reserve series/sour beers.