Singlecut Beersmiths: Mastery knows no shortcuts. Pursuing amazing craft in Queens!

I have seen a lot of comments in this and other NYC threads alluding to the presence, or lack thereof, of haze and correlating that to a good or bad beer. It appears that people believe an IPA needs to be hazy to taste good, or if lacking haze, can not possibly be a good IPA.

I can't see Singlecut or any other brewery tossing a beer out simply because it lacks haze. As you pointed out, flavor should be the ultimate determinant as to whether a beer makes it to drinkers' hands. I assume, haze or no haze, Singlecut was satisfied with the taste of the beer. Additionally, outside of a completely botched brew with diacetyl, why would they dump the beer, even if it didn't taste similar to other batches? Most small breweries have consistency issues, even in IPAs and that aspect is not unique to this NYC brewery.

 

I think just like cans, since a lot of great beers now have haze and come in cans, people just associate those characteristic with great beer. But you are right, taste is the most important thing.

For a small brewer like Singlecut, a "bad" or less than stellar batch has to be a tough decision. Dump it and lose money, put it out and take a hit on the reputation. As emount91 says, someone tries one of those beers for first time and they don't like it, they may never revisit the brand. With so many choices out there, tough spot for brewers to be in.

 

it did not taste like any previous batch of Bon Bon I've had, not bad whatsoever, but not Bon Bon. I didn't say it only lacks haze, i actually underlined the part where i said it tasted different. but without the haze, it does not have any sort of soft, pillowy mouthfeel like it usually does either. just a good bitter, fruity IIPA, but not Bon Bon 2xTNT IIPA

 

From emount's comments and those of others, it appears it was more that it wasn't the taste of Bon Bon people expected more so than it was that the beer tasted bad. emount points out that the feel wasn't as smooth. I find this variation in plenty of beers I drink and I think that is the takeaway here: any beer's flavor/feel/appearance is going to vary (unless we're talking ABINBev) and the variation alone isn't grounds for dumping a beer.

 

Exhibit A: Last batch of Hop Showers, for the opposite effect.

 

Just left singlecut. .in and out with a case of BA HBOL..fairly empty.. $8 per bottle..12 bottles per case

 

Review please!

 

Agreed, but when you're asking $8 for a one pint bottle, you should be getting it right.

 

grabbed a small pour waiting for my bottles..quick first impression is that the maple infused whiskey dominates the taste and smell of the beer, and I barely tasted any of that chocolate fudginess that made the regular HBOL so damn good..I think it needs a bit more age for it to settle a bit with the flavors..but if/when it does could be a really good beer

 

so it is $96 a case not $80, typo on their part it seems?

 

Still have a bottle of HBOL from February that I can't wait to crack into, I've noticed the local imperial stouts, especially those with coffee or chocolate added, age incredibly well and maybe even peak about 6 months in. Would make sense with the BA version of this beer.

 

I definitely struggle with the prices of Singlecut's IPAs. I can't buy them often off of price alone. But 1) Consistency is an elusive beast for any brewery, 2) Consistency is not, to my thinking, a factor in the pricing of most beer we all drink.

One caveat to #2 is that I have seen Casey Brewing in Colorado sell certain beers on site at a heavily discounted price (something like $16 instead of $36) because they were not completely satisfied with the beer. However, the issue was lack of carbonation, which is, I think, much less subjective than taste or appearance.

Also, Casey began selling the beers after customers urged them to do so, saying they liked them anyway and would happily buy them for a discounted price.

 

No it was 80 when I picked up a case yesterday

 

They typically offer a discount for cases on the per bottle pricing.

 

That's an incredibly generous disxount. I guess I have to buy a case now. Haha

 

Hope this isn't as actually as bad as the article makes it sound...

http://astoriapost.com/singlecut-beersmiths-shut-down-by-health-dept

 

Yeesh. I had heard it was an issue with the water, which didn't make too much sense. That's not good.

 

Looks like they need some stray cats like Other Half to keep away the vermin.

 

Overpriced beer and rats! Awesome.

 

Pixar sequel in the making.