Beer shop finds.

Lamplighter pressure drop
Singlecut Jenny Said & Wired and Gilly
Finback Sublimated
Cisco Madaquet Double

To name a few noteables that i've gotten locally, recently

 

Question if I may given that a number of people have brought them up. I tried a couple of Lamplighter's beers right around the time they started canning (can't remember which ones) and wasn't very impressed.

Have the beers changed notably since then or are they maybe just not my cup of tea?

 

Grabbed a six pack of Fort Hill's Doppelbock today for the basically absurd price of $6.99. Those folks are not messing around in terms of carving out their own niche on the shelves.

I don't have a lot of doppelbock experience so I can't speak too much to authenticity, but it's a pretty tasty beer regardless. Raisiny brown bread, not too much sweetness, and a little booze make for a nice sipper.

Once I drink another can or two I might need to add this to the Fall Beer thread.

 

Where are you buying this stuff for $6.99?

 

This was at Redstone but I've also seen that price at Rapid. Not all of them are that cheap though. The DIPAs are $9.99 for instance.

 

I do get your point but on the local level it feels like it's largely been a race to the top for a while now so I'm happy to see someone buck the trend.

As for the nationals, my guess is that the only ones who are going to be left standing in the long run are the ones who can compete on price like SN, Lagunitas and Founders. And I think that will remain as a someone separate market from whatever is happening at the various local levels.

To be clear, I'm completely talking out of my ass here.

 

How about finding a good beer shop? Anyone have any favorites in the Canton area? Wegmans in Westwood is big but pretty bland. Wines n More in Walpole is also pretty good but pricier...

 

I think there's been a notable increase in quality. Out of the IPAs, birds of a feather is good. Their porter is very nice.

 

Craft Beer Cellar in Braintree isnt too far from those places

 

Reading your post made me realize I was overlooking a non-trivial portion of the local market. I think I would stand behind my guess that the ~$15 four pack and ~$15 twelve pack markets won't overly cannibalize each other, but I wasn't taking into account all the locals playing in that $15 twelve pack market. If I'm reading you right, your point is that a brewery like Founders can weather any storm in that price range a lot better than smaller places like Ipswich, Otter Creek, Wachusett,etc.

I guess part of the question would be how much those larger local/regionals benefit from the "buy local" movement vs how much they're seen as just another large-ish brewer offering affordable 12 packs.

Definitely food for thought that I hadn't considered.

 

I can't speak for cans (only draft). I thought they were solid to good when they opened and the beers have just gotten better since.

 

When Fort Hill Fresh Pick is in stock at Fort Point Market, I find myself thinking about how good a value it is for $9 bucks a six compared to 2 cans of a Trillium IPA (which I still buy often).

 

Wachusett Wally seems spot on. The SN octoberfest good too. Always find Night shift Santilli and 87 in my fridge. Night shift kolsh was good too.

 

I really enjoyed all the german beers coming out of Night Shift's distribution. Riedenburger, Zoller-hof, and Distelhauser were all well priced and high quality. Plus it's one of those times you can assume the beer is fresh.

 

+1. I live further south (Mansfield area) and have increasingly resorted to hitting up Fort Point and Trillium and carrying small amounts home on the train. Would prefer a local place, but Wines & More and the few locals are hit or miss and often way pricier than Fort Point.