Pittsburgh - New Beers & Local Breweries

I'm a big hoppin frog fan, but their prices are ridiculous. I stopped at the brewery one time and their big deal was buy 11 bombers, get one free. The prices were about $1 per bottle cheaper than in PA and they had a great selection, but i don't think i walked out with more than a few.

 

Third here. As a Thirsty Dog lover and Ohio fanboy in general, it pains me to say I prefer BB over Wulver. I find Wulver to be excellent, but remember being let down that it didn't live up to the bar set by BB the first time I tried it.

 

Safe to say MD express in peters has enjoy by. This batch was the best of the year IMO

 

Some of their everyday stuff, probably what you see on shelfs, isnt all that great. BA Boris was one of the very first BA beers I had, and still enjoy it. Both Boris and Doris are really good plain old stout and double stout respectivly. All of their barrel aged variations of each have been awesome as well IMHO. I dont get why people feel they are that pricey. At the rate the craft beer world is going they are downright cheap.

 

Aren't their bombers like $16-$18? I have weird beer buying habits, as I don't feel as bad spending more money when it's a brewery only / limited release as opposed to an everyday shelf beer. I could be wrong here, but I was always under the impression that Hoppin Frog's stuff was some of the priciest stuff around here.

Either way, as a stout lover, I probably owe it to myself to try something from them.

 

I wouldn't say there is a significant difference in my level of enjoyment but I prefer BB to Wulver very slightly as well. Both are great though.

 

Yea those prices are about right, but that is pretty much to norm/avg right? We all just bought Caution bottles at $20 a piece. People in this thread lined up to $30 bottles of Helltown's Kriek. JO's bombers are usually $20 and their 375's are $12. (For all of you that are not good at math that $24 for a 750ml.) Like I said for some of their everyday shelf stuff I get it, but for their BA stuff they are right in line with everyone else.

 

Ppl always look at price and not price for oz. ppl go nuts that hopslam is 19.99 for a 6 pack but would not say anything if the bomber was 12.99

 

Not the priciest, but I definitely wouldn't say cheap. You should be able to find BORIS and DORIS for $10-$12. BA BORIS is more like $18.

 

True. And how crazy is it that that same Helltown Kriek is now like $10 a bottle? I believe that someone mentioned this earlier in the thread.

The thing for me is though, I have an easier time spending more when it's a limited release, say $26 for 750 of Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Black Maple, than I do for beers that sit on the shelves. Granted, I know next to nothing about Hoppin' Frog, so maybe their beers aren't as much as I think they are.

I'll have to keep an eye out for the BA Boris next time. Like what dtx just said, that's pretty much in line price wise for a BA stout.

 

I think Hoppin' Frog is slightly overpriced but still generally solid. Granted, I've only had a handful of beers from them but they were all enjoyable.

 

There is a bunch of them at the McMurray Giant Eagle. Going to pick one up to see if it's as bad as y'all say.

 

Nevermind, wrong beer, they have a bunch of the barleywine.

 

From the looks of what others have said about the barleywine, I would probably pass on this.

 

I had helltown kriek at the big pour and it was a nice beer. Maybe it needed a year to come together. I didn't have it fresh so I can only guess.

 

Disagree completely. And I absolutely love Backwoods. Still think Wulver blew it out of the water.

 

He jerks them privately behind closed doors.

 

This is as it should be then...thanks for being so considerate, matthouse

 

BA BORIS was always a solid though very expensive go-to for me back in the day when BA stuff was much harder to come by in general. But I don't think their pricing has really gone up at all in the last 5-10 years, and everyone else's has increased significantly. Seems like now BA BORIS is still solid and totally reasonably priced relatively speaking. AND readily available without having to stand in long lines and get pizza dropped on the back of your shirt.

 

I like most of Hoppin' Frog's beers at about a C+/B- level. I will say however, that the BA Naked Evil is one of the best barrel aged barleywines I've ever had.