New to Ohio (2016)

Draft list for next Saturday's release at Wolf's Ridge (7/30):

Clear Sky
Creamsicle
Daybreak
Driftwood
Citrus Surf
Golden Boy
Earthrise IPA
Howling Moon
Coconut Howling Moon
African Moon
Buchenrauch
Beyond Measure
L'Abondance Saison
Dire Wolf
Dire Wolf Yub Nub (coffee cinnamon stout)
Coffee Vanilla Dire Wolf
Chris' Wheelhouse (coffee Baltic Porter)
Watchtower Tea Time (Earl Grey)
Night Method (espresso Milk Stout)
Cask: Coconut Passionfruit Howling Moon
Cask: Clear Sky w/ Starfruit, Kiwi, & Blackberry
Cask: Coconut Cream Pie

Should be a lot of fun. We're also going to have 2 live wolves for the first couple hours on hand to pet and take photos with. Their handlers train them to be in crowds and use them to promote Wolf education and awareness. Pretty cool imo, as the wolves were driven out of Wolf's Ridge when it was settled and became Columbus, and now 200 years later the wolves have returned.

 

Whoever likes Hoppin Frog is a cootie queen lint licker.

 

I will gladly lick that lint. I don't generally buy the bombers, don't really think they are too terribly priced either. My friend has tons of their bombers and I will gladly take a DORIS or BORIS on draft if it is available. That being said Hoppin Frog is readily available, DORIS, BORIS, and their BA versions are very good. Jackie O's is great, but the only thing that really sits around in bottle form in Cincy is Barking Pumpkin (still on the shelves FYI). Even more rare to see their stuff on draft.

 

Yep I've seen it, and I was in corporeal form during the time of the BORIS Van Wink release and was there on premises. I've also heard that specific story here on Beer Advocate like 40 times at this point, but if you're used to limited beer releases you see this kind of thing happen everywhere--unless you have guaranteed yourself an allotment with a ticket or brewery distributed slip. I've yet to find a brewery that doesn't hold back even larger stocks of their specialty beers than Frog does from the public, from big to small. But, instead of listing them for anyone to purchase year-round, they hide them away for special events, fundraisers, promotions, and more, all of which require a greater investment than the original price of admission. Just different ways of doing business, but ultimately the same result.

I've actually sent scans of the Frog bottle list in trading scenarios (I still have the most recent image on Photobucket but can't pull it up at work) just to laugh about it because I knew they wouldn't want to go $4$ on those. Certain vintage bottles are ridiculously high-priced, but I can get draft pours of all of those vintages at the brewery throughout the year, still to this day, at more reasonable prices--it just depends on when you pop in. In case you're wondering why the prices stay that way, it's because people actually pay them, I've seen it surprisingly more than a few times. But if we're talking about their regular or even semi-rare releases, the prices are comparable to everyone else's.

 

Didn't even think about the vintage list, as I haven't been to Hoppin frog in at least 8 years.

 

That is a really awesome list, and even awesomer paired with real wolves.

 

I mean, you asked where the gripes about the cost came from (acting as though there couldn't possibly be a reason anyone would have a gripe), and you got the answer.

 

I guess I felt like I needed to respond but really you're right, that's probably the root cause of the stigma. Hopefully the discourse has people taking a second look, at least at the price of the regulars. Regardless I'll keep trying in my small way to get them to change format.

 

Is there a pretty good chance Jackie O's will still have BB Coffee Oil bottles for sale tomorrow?

 

200 cases, per Facebook. Similar to other BBA offerings, so I'd say very likely.

 

Saw Oktoberfest's and Pumpkin beers yesterday. I know it's nothing new, but so crazy we are techincally only one month into summer and they are out. You imagine drinking a pumpkin beer this weekend when its 95? Too early for me, but Autumn beer season is one of my favorites!

 

I don't mind the Oktoberfest's (honestly, could and would drink them year-round), but the Pumpkin Ales this early is just crazy. But it don't bother me any, I won't buy them at all until October or so when I have a draft or two somewhere and get my fill all year of them.

And the Christmas Ale's hitting everywhere? Ugh... lol

 

I know they are comparable in price, and I don't really like either one, but I prefer the smaller bottle. I do hate paying 12 a bottle for their BA stuff but always do, but I love not having to take a bomber down by myself all the time.

Before you say make friends, I'm trying, I just moved.

 

Was just joking with my buddies that I'll be drinking pumpkin beers at an Erie beer fest this weekend. For whatever reason they always hit the spot at the event and never make sense otherwise.

 

I don't know why I thought they were larger. Lol. I'm an idiot from time to time

 

I was totally fine with that until I came back and spent $200 on a brewery only release (that showed up on shelves 4 weeks later) and some glassware then was told I would have to pay $1.75 for a 1 ounce "taste". I know that makes me cheap and petty and everyone hates me for being privilege thinking my purchase deserves freebies but I can go to fatheads or Jackie os or basically anywhere and try a "taste" of a beer or two to see what I like before purchase. Really threw me off. What was harder to digest for me (because I'm simple minded and have a low IQ) was when I emailed Fred to tell him my experience his response was that he was glad and it is against the law to give away beer. I felt like the response was kind of horse and poor customer service but what do I know.

I know this much if he would have appologizes and told me to come in and he would buy me a pint two things would have happened. One I would have felt special. Two, while I probably would not have followed up on the free pint as that was not my intention in the email to score "free stuff" I would have continued to purchase their beers. It has been about 3 years and I have only bought 1 bomber at the request of a regular trading partner.

I know this is because I'm too dumb to know how the world works but I also know that's hundreds of dollars in profits from just one beer geek. Maybe paying for that "free taste" is actually Smart business and turns a profit.

Now if I was smart I would have just said never mind and left the case of beer and glassware on the counter and left. Probably would have been more of a visual example of profit loss in the long run for the company. Idk, I'm too dumb to figure it out.

 

You're not dumb. If the place had been less busy, had different/fewer staff, with an overall more typical atmosphere, you probably would have had a different experience regarding tastings. But when the entire brewery is there representing itself in a way they don't normally and aren't used to, they probably aren't going to risk the legal repercussions. They aren't exactly known as the most light-hearted, free-spirited bunch

I can understand a bad customer service experience turning you off from a place forever--I just had one of those last week at a restaurant I had previously enjoyed and was really looking forward to revisiting. When the culture of a place changes so radically it just becomes a chore to be there, I'm done. That being said, there are certain things you experienced that are really more a matter of circumstance as opposed to a day-to-day thing. In those cases I usually try to give a second chance, but can understand where the reluctance comes from.

Either way you know what you like on this big beer journey of ours and there's nothing wrong with that!

 

Well I think my issue with it was last year, by the time October hit... Many were dated. Know it may matter less with an Oktoberfest. But this site has kinda turned me to the *darkside!


*Freshnesss police!

 

I thought I was a real Jackie O's homer, but man, you just keep finding ways to try and get people to give HF another chance. In a way, I admire that. I don't think I take anything seriously enough to try that hard to get people to like what I like, but you get an A for effort.