The Half-Acre thread (2018)

No beer is worth leaving my house during the first round of the NCAA tournament.

 

I'd set the over/under on a 4 pack of cans at $18 and a bottle of Virga to be $25. 24 months of oak aging as a mixed saison could easily command that price in VT or CA.

Didn't the Mikerphone grand opening already do that?

 

At least Noon on Saturday only causes you to miss part of one NCAA game. The odds of landing DL tickets on 3G at Mikerphone aren't so hot haha

 

There is a fucking stack of Double Daisy Cutter sitting at Binny's on Grand.
This really surprises me because I feel like the last time I visited Chicago a few years ago, before I moved here this month, I would have went crazy to have such easy access to this beer.

While I really like it and feel spoiled, it also makes me a little worried/nervous for some reason ....

 

I've said it elsewhere, but I've always thought the hype around DDC was a little unwarranted (I've been a Navaja man since I started drinking HA's beers, myself). I like DDC a lot, as it amps up the good things in DC, but it's too boozy for me to want to stock up on, and with the myriad awesome IPA/DIPA options in the area now, it's harder to go crazy for.

I wouldn't get nervous, I'd be happy if I were you. The more easy-to-get HA beers, the better, I say. Also, it will ensure that they keep cranking out all the great one-offs that have seen so much recent success.

 

It's just the nature of the beer market. HA/Pipeworks/FFF all look to sit on shelves as over the past couple years each has expanded capacity with a new build out and thus hard to find stuff is pretty plentiful on shelves.

 

DDC has never had the demand that GDDC does. This is the first time I've actually picked some up since the first bottling because I wanted to try it in cans. Its good, but I'm happy to let it sit on shelves. If GDDC does the same, I will be an extremely happy man, as that's the one HA beer I do go out of my way for.

 

I used to have more trouble picking it up, though. Or, more precisely, it sat on shelves less time, I waited, and screwed myself.

Agreed on GDDC. It's not my #1 HA hoppy beer (Beer Hates Astronauts followed by Navaja), but it's the one I have the most trouble grabbing.

If there's one thing I can say about the NE craze is that it has programmed people to sleep on the less hazy beers a little more, which is awesome in my book.

 

I'll happily grab another DDC when I go Parabola hunting. It's very drinkable for an Imperial.

 

I'd agree...if I needed any more hoppy beer, I would for sure grab DDC. I actually don't find it to be heavy at all.

 

That's because it's a mediocre beer these days. A lot of beers that used to be great have been passed by newer beers. Those who still enjoy the older brews are in luck.

 

It's also the fact that they are producing A LOT of beer now.

Don't worry. This is a good thing.

 

I'm in Chicago next weekend. Do Half Acre's one off IPA releases typically sell out immediately? Would love to get some of that Fluorescent, but won't have the luxury of waiting in a big line.

 

These are usually available through the weekend. Stop by Friday afternoon and you should be fine. Of course, you can't take anything for granted here in Chicago either!

 

My guess is you'll be fine. The previous beers have not had lines at all. Even double daisy was pretty subdued.

If you're not making haze bombs, people don't line up I guess

 

I think it has more to do with HA's production increases meeting local demand. There is enough supply that we know we can walk into a store and get it so we don't have to go Soviet Russia bread lines for their beer.

 

While production does seem to be up, if they made a haze bomb along the lines of TH, Trillium or even some of our other Chicagoland brewers, there would be lines. The supply could probably still last a couple days or more due to the size of their production, but there would definitely be lines.

 

I think there are multiple things in play when it comes to HA.

1) Production is up, so people don't feel as much of a need to get there ASAP (so lines are down).

2) Some of their stuff (DDC) isn't as hyped as it used to be for various reasons (they've released better stuff, other breweries have released better stuff, etc.)

3) They haven't released an explicitly "NE-style" beer yet, and haze sells right now, regardless of who is doing it (at least the first batch, before everyone knows what to expect). HA would probably have crazy lines for their first NE beer, and I don't doubt they would continue if it were a good try.

 

Imagine that. Here I was thinking someone saw a stack of DDC in one Binnys store because it's a 'mediocre' beer.

There are still some of us who aren't enlightened IPA drinkers. Just consider us a subset of AAL drinkers. Maybe one day we'll see the haze, er light but until then keep making mediocre beers, HA.