Ballast Point in Wisconsin

Discussion in 'Great Lakes' started by robear, Jul 5, 2014.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
Page 3 of 15
  1. forrestbetts

    forrestbetts Zealot (551) Nov 29, 2007 Illinois

    Keeping fresh beers, at least for certain styles, will be the key. I recently passed on several Ale Smith styles based on 6+ months from bottling date. I believe we have reached saturation, but have been saying that for a few years now...
     
    #41 forrestbetts, Jul 9, 2014
    robear likes this.
  2. hansenm72

    hansenm72 Pundit (847) Jan 23, 2014 Texas

    I really think the Alesmith stuff sits up here because of the format. I would gladly choose a sixer of Sculpin for $13 over a bomber of Alesmith IPA for $7. Also, IMO, Sculpin is way better so there is that too. I know BP does at least some of their beers in both formats - if we just get bombers of their beers I find it hard to believe that anyone is picking that consistently over the current offerings we have available.
     
    #42 hansenm72, Jul 9, 2014
    forrestbetts likes this.
  3. robear

    robear Initiate (0) May 24, 2014 Wisconsin

    Up until 2-3 years ago, BP wasn't even putting out 12 oz bottles, so it's still odd for me to see the 6-packs, let alone the 6-packs of cans. I don't mind bombers, my fiance and I find that 22oz is pretty perfect for splitting a beer.

    I find that bombers are universally accepted on the West Coast but shy'ed at in the Midwest. I personally have no issue picking up bombers (sometimes I prefer them, especially when aging in the cellar). They're easy to share, easy to store, easy to ship, etc. And for smaller breweries that still fill by hand, they're the only option.

    I think Lakefront switching to 4-packs on the My Turn series was a mistake- I'm much more willing to risk $4.99 on a bomber than $10.99 on a 4-pack. Alesmith has never, to my knowledge, released anything in 12 oz bottles. I don't think it would be feasible for them to adjust their bottling line given that their bombers sell perfectly well in their home region.

    I think we can all agree that the ultimate packaging is 16oz pint cans. Every beer ever made should come in pint cans.
     
    #43 robear, Jul 9, 2014
    PseudoBen likes this.
  4. hansenm72

    hansenm72 Pundit (847) Jan 23, 2014 Texas

    What would all the bottle cap collectors do?!?!?
     
    #44 hansenm72, Jul 9, 2014
    forrestbetts and robear like this.
  5. Stevedore

    Stevedore Grand Pooh-Bah (5,096) Nov 16, 2012 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Duh they'd start collecting the pop tabs.
     
    #45 Stevedore, Jul 9, 2014
    s_wit likes this.
  6. hansenm72

    hansenm72 Pundit (847) Jan 23, 2014 Texas

    Touche
     
    #46 hansenm72, Jul 9, 2014
  7. Stevedore

    Stevedore Grand Pooh-Bah (5,096) Nov 16, 2012 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Collectors gonna collect. I'm guilty of hoarding a certain # of bottlecaps (9 to be exact) of my favorite breweries (Cantillon in particular) with the goal of making PVC coasters out of them. I stopped keeping empties a while ago because my wife got pissed at all the empties taking up the room on the bookshelf... :wink:
     
    #47 Stevedore, Jul 9, 2014
  8. AS780

    AS780 Initiate (0) May 16, 2009 Wisconsin

    I spend time in Ohio at least once just about every year, but point taken. And not just fathead's, Tröegs distributes to OH and not IL (or WI for that matter)
     
    #48 AS780, Jul 9, 2014
  9. robear

    robear Initiate (0) May 24, 2014 Wisconsin

    Forgot about Troegs- keep hearing great things about them.
     
    #49 robear, Jul 9, 2014
  10. Wiscobeers

    Wiscobeers Initiate (0) Jan 14, 2011 Wisconsin

    @Ri0 brought this topic up in the V@S thread. Any news?
     
    #50 Wiscobeers, Sep 22, 2014
  11. BeerGreg

    BeerGreg Savant (1,159) May 17, 2013 Illinois

    I've NEVER found (in around 5-6 attempts) Alesmith IPA that was less than 3+ months old in Wisconsin. It's extremely frustrating. I love that beer and price point, but I'm not plunking down for something that old.
     
    #51 BeerGreg, Sep 22, 2014
    robear likes this.
  12. strykebr

    strykebr Initiate (0) Apr 7, 2011 Wisconsin

    Wirtz will have Ballast Point
     
    #52 strykebr, Sep 23, 2014
    robear likes this.
  13. robear

    robear Initiate (0) May 24, 2014 Wisconsin

    "Fresh" Alesmith IPA hit Wisconsin in mid-July, it was dated early June, so it was still well over a month old. Another batch rolled in a few weeks later (maybe it was the same shipment) dated late June. We've been getting batches every two months, but sometimes they're already 1-2 months old by the time they get here. So a lot of the bottles of the shelf are 2-5 months old. Some are even older if the shops aren't paying attention. Same deal with ESB and Nut Brown, some of those are even older.

    Too bad, it's a wonderful beer if you can drink it within 8 weeks of bottling. Barely seen it on tap around here, IPA pops up every few months at Romans/Stubbys/Maple Leaf.
     
    #53 robear, Sep 23, 2014
  14. djhowell

    djhowell Pundit (917) Apr 1, 2009 Wisconsin

    It's on now at Flying Hound in Madison. I've always avoided the bottles but it was real nice from the tap.
     
    #54 djhowell, Sep 24, 2014
    robear likes this.
  15. robear

    robear Initiate (0) May 24, 2014 Wisconsin

    If you can find a bottle at a month or less old, it's very similar to how it drinks on tap.
     
    #55 robear, Sep 24, 2014
  16. Ri0

    Ri0 Initiate (0) Jul 1, 2012 Wisconsin

    #56 Ri0, Dec 5, 2014
    BasterdInABasket, OBD, L-ski and 2 others like this.
  17. markdrinksbeer

    markdrinksbeer Initiate (0) Nov 14, 2013 Massachusetts

    On facebook today:

    -
    Starting to send beer to the Badger State the first week of January 2015...whose idea was it to go to Wisconsin in January?
    A little chilly weather will be good for us....
     
    #57 markdrinksbeer, Dec 5, 2014
    Bshaw22 and robear like this.
  18. chazmcbro

    chazmcbro Initiate (0) Sep 7, 2010 Wisconsin

    Excited to have them, interested to see how the price point goes over, though.
     
    #58 chazmcbro, Dec 5, 2014
    Mitchell57 and robear like this.
  19. robear

    robear Initiate (0) May 24, 2014 Wisconsin

    Their only beer that gets up there is Sculpin. Everything else should be reasonable by style. And to be honest, I like Big Eye IPA more than Sculpin.
     
    #59 robear, Dec 5, 2014
  20. WI-Beer-Man

    WI-Beer-Man Maven (1,407) May 29, 2014 Wisconsin

    #60 WI-Beer-Man, Dec 6, 2014
    jimmyfishkin, robear and Bshaw22 like this.
Page 3 of 15
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.