Ballast Point Calm Before the Storm

I picked up a sixer at Whole Foods Los Altos around 2 wks ago and have seen it at a few other places around here

 

had it at the brew pub in little italy. not bad, not amazing. an interesting twist on a cream ale though

 

Thank you for that info.

 

Oh, yeah - no doubt - certainly more pounds hops per brew. As @Crusade wrote above, and, also, as he reminded me a few days ago, Adolphus Busch's testimony on the creation of AB's Budweiser noted in Ogle's Ambitious Brew:

An Anheuser Busch ad from 1892 noted if run at capacity their new brewhouse would use about 2¼ million pounds of hops a year while brewing 1.8 million barrels of beer (that was the capacity, AB wouldn't actually reach 1m bbl/yr until 1901).

Lots more examples of the decrease in hop usage in the US from Repeal to the modern era on my Post-Repeal Hops and Hop Usage webpage, which notes that US brewers used an average 0.7 lbs of hops in 1935 and 0.1 lbs in 2000. (It should be noted that some of the reduction in the pounds of hops used per brew was probably better picking and sorting, better hop shipping and storage conditions (refrigeration), and, later in the period, the increased use of new high alpha hop strains which allowed macro brewers to use fewer hops for the same level of bitterness.).

Never had the original from August Wagner (not labeled "cream" by the way), but the Pittsburgh-brewed Robin Hood was similar to Genesee Cream Ale - if anything, it was even less distinguishable from standard AAL's of the era. First drinking beer in the '60s and '70s (when the mini-boom of "cream ales" happened, mostly in response to Genesee's success) and before "beer style" definitions were easily found in "general audience" beer books, I assumed a "cream ale" WAS an ale that was hopped at AALs rates (and also thought "What's the point of that ?" )

Rheingold's (> Ortlieb's > Schmidt's) great McSorley's Cream Ale - dry-hopped, brewed with Hallertau hops and using distilled hop oil, ~30 IBUs - was the outlier in that (as was the mid-west's Schoenling's Little Kings to a lesser extent).

 

What did you think? It took me a few sips to wrap my head around it, but once I got into it it clicked. Personally I really like it, very unique at least for me (not having had any white stouts or Regular Coffee etc. myself).

 

This is my curiosity as well, or at least what I will be thinking of when I finally get a bottle as I am a HUGE Regular Coffee fan. Obviously the ABV in Regular Coffee is double that of Calm Before the Storm, but I am hoping it will be somewhat close...

 

Maybe I'll eventually come around to drinks like this, but at the moment, it's not my cup of tea. I hope it sticks around for those who like it and feel that there's no substitute.

 

The Open Bottle in Tinley Park just posted a picture with this and Victory at Sea

 

Is this $14-17 a 6-pack, just like most of their offerings?

 

Sorry i never noticed this before. They had it at Bogies in Beverly and then i noticed it at D&L on 38 in Woburn

 

How does a guy from Washington know my hometown?!

 

I'm from Michigan and I follow Chicago bottle shops trying to find drops of pw revolution 3f

 

I literally just drain poured mine. Not what I was expecting. Not good at all. To each their own though.

 

Oh and I had the Regular Coffee by Carton. Phenomenal! This was nowhere even close.

 

Went by my usual Ballast Point stock up spot in Illinois today and still nada

 

Pretty sure this beer drops off pretty quickly as it ages. Had it when first delivered, excellent unambiguous coffee smell and flavor. I've been drinking the sizer over the course of 2 weeks and there is noticeable muddling of flavors as time goes on. To me, it's not unpleasant, but it just doesn't come across as quite as coffee forward as it ages. I assume this one is best fresh as I have seen the ratings plummet as well.

 

Thanks. I was able to find a nice stash at Redstone. Even stayed around for awhile! Love that I can get that stout taste with a light cream body and less filling. What a great Summer night beer!

 

We tried it and I'm not sure the age of the beer. My wife opened one up and for a change I was the "taster" rather than the drinker, so equate my consumption to a two ounce pour. My first impression was great coffee aroma/flavor in the iced coffee sense, but completely lacking the vanilla. My second thought was maybe this beer isn't sure what it should be - so agree that it was heading towards being a bit vague/muddled.

We bought three at Julio's (well, nobody outside New England cares about that...) and the beer manager said they had just come in that day...maybe we should drink 'em quicker! I liked it, but can see where it might not have much shelf life.

 

Craft Beer Cellar in Westford has it.

 

Depot liquors in Beverly, Quality Liquors in Salem and I wont be surprised if Bogies in Beverly gets it in their delivery today as well