Prairie, You're Killin' Me!

I pretty much have the same feeling. I'll often just find it on tap and try it there rather than hunting down a bottle. It's often cheaper per ounce than the packaged product. Plus you don't have to play the beer hunting game, which is getting increasingly difficult/time consuming.

 

Agreed there have been some hits or misses for both series. Although I love the Trigave - but people seem to be pretty love/hate on this one.

 

That's fair, and maybe I just haven't given the full RA or Karbach offerings a fair try. I did try the Three Legged Lab this weekend, and liked it. I just don't think its as good as BOMB! (and its probably not trying to be, different style and all)... however, there's definitely a value argument to be made when price becomes a factor.

 

Not to get too carried way with the difference between "artisan" and "craft", if there is one. (The term is actually interchangeable in Mexico and parts of Europe.)

But anyway, I think my interpretation of artisanal involves wild ales, barrel aging, and adjuncts. Not your standard IPA, in other words, which is a thing of beauty in its own right. I just think its fair to acknowledge that while Prairie focuses on the former, breweries like Karbach and Real Ale focus on the latter.

We can throw opinions out all day, but if you look at the numbers...Prairie has a 4.06/5 and Real Ale has a 3.81/5 in terms of total beer reviews. If someone offered me a random Prairie or a random Real Ale, I'd take the Prairie, but would I be willing to pay for it? Doubt it.

 

So in other words...one person is a homer, the other just chases hype (please read the sarcasm).

On a serious note both Karbach and Real Ale have put out beers recently that are fantastic, though not really buzzy styles (Black Quad, Zee German Pils being two), so there is not a lot of attention thrown towards them. Both I take over Prairie just about every time I go to the store now.

 

I do think there is some truth to your hype comment. Lately, all I've wanted to try are things like Xocoveza and Death by Coconut. I love Karbach but I have little, if any, interest in trying Zee German Pils. My whole point though is that comparing breweries like Prairie to Karbach is apples and oranges. A comparison with Jester King would be more appropriate.

 

Jester King is nothing but a hype machine, for better or worse. I personally like Karbach, Live Oak (best brewery in Texas IMO), Real Ale, etc as a whole much better than Jester King and even Prairie. Though like some here I had a huge crush on Prairie when they first came into Texas. They have fallen out of favor with me for several reason already mentioned in the thread. I'll take a well made lager over any hyped up release from Jester King or Prairie now. Though I have always loved subtle styles that don't get a lot of appreciation in these boards to begin with. I will say it is very fair to point out that one can like brewery x over brewery y for any reason. Regardless if the beers match up for a 1 to 1 comparison.

 

Adjunct stouts which seems to be the biggest claim to fame for Prairie shouldn't be compared with farmhouse beers that Jester King puts out. Jester King wipes the table with Prairie IMO, but again, they really shouldn't be compared. If you want to put Funky Gold Mosaic or Cherry Funk up against JK brews I think Prairie is going to come up way short.
If you want to compare Prairie to the big boy adjunct stouts that command a similar price point, there really isn't much to compare to in TX, but again Prairie would lose to the big boys like Huna, Mexican Cake and the variants. I personally enjoy Prairie beers, but the prices are insane, and they aren't near the top dog in the style they known for, IMO.

 

I've stopped buying as well. $13 is just absurd for a 12 oz. shelf turd. Coffee Okie was pretty killer, but it still pained me to pay that. Would much rather save my money for an Olde Hickory BA beer that absolutely crushes all things Prairie and is 75% of the price.

 

Man, I loved Black Quad when it was brewer's cut. I bought quite a few 4-packs of that. I had one bomber of the new stuff and got a ton of bubblegum and not much else. It was good, but not like I remembered. I'll have to try it again. Like you said, the price is pretty amazing and I've always been a pretty big Real Ale fan.

JK doesn't make anything like Funky Gold Mosaic/Amarillo, ie. a dry hopped sour. I thought Amarillo really fresh was as good as anything JK put out, but that's just like, my opinion, man. Prairie Flare was easily the best Gose I've had, period, also. Of course, it cost 2 or 3x as much as any other, so that feeds back into the OP's point. It's way overpriced. I get that. I just like being wowed by beer sometimes and Prairie has pretty frequently done that for me. Price be damned.

 

This guy doesn't even El Cedro

 

While we're on the subject of Prairie...

What ever happened to Prairie Farms? Last I saw they were finishing out the barrel room, growing crops, etc. Now it doesn't seem like it even exists. Seems like they've all but stopped production at their Tulsa brewery aside from table beers and contracted everything out to Krebs.

 

This sums it up for me...
PA just puts out some really interesting brews, types/styles/flavors of beers you don't find in the majority of beers out there. Yeah its pricey, but very typically its delicious. I feel bad for anyone that feels the Bomb! is a pour out, if that was the case for me i don't know that i could properly enjoy a beer again.

 

The Funky Gold series is nice, but I would choose Noble King over it everyday.

 

They gave up and sold all that...too much maintenance/prep and the city council wasn't making anything easier.

(funky Mosaic and Amarillo are both great imo)

 

Oh how times have changed. I've felt they were over priced for a long time, but when I said that people flipped out.

I also am a big fan of classic well brewed to style beers. I don't think the argument can be made that a well made pilsner is not "artsian" and that it only beers that are funky or contain adjuncts are "artsian."

I think the biggest problem is that there is so much competition out there they are starting to have trouble justifying their pricing.

 

Hmm find that funny when there is a brewery opening up not far from them Dead Armadillo Craft Brewing. Find it hard that a startup isn't having the same issues with less capital.

 

I've had the original El Cedro and it definitely wasn't sour. I'm pretty sure I've had a more recent batch of it as well and it wasn't sour either, but I might be making that up. A dry hopped saison and a dry hopped sour are worlds apart. Noble King and El Cedro are both listed as saisons, so I'm not sure how either are really the same style as the Funky Gold stuff.

 

That's really odd. It looked like they had sunk a bit of $$$ into it. That's a major bummer, they were setting up to be the "Jester King" of Oklahoma. Hate that they are pretty much a contract brewery now.

 

Maybe it was more to do with the concept? Maybe they were hoping for some laws to change that didn't. Not like the laws are even remotely friendly for beer destination type projects here.