Flower Power 12-Pack Cans

I wish I could tell you. I've been having trouble deciphering Ithaca's dating codes, too. Their four packs of 16 oz Flower Power cans don't have any date at all, and on their bottle necks I usually can't figure it out.

 

Is there something on the 12 pack box? Maybe it’s not on the can. They used to use a best by date I believe.

 

I stopped buying it years ago because I couldn't find any fresh.

 

It's pretty sad - Flower Power once had one of the easiest to read date codes on the cases - they simply rubber stamped the bottling date in the bottom corner of one of the top flaps.

Granted, some complained since it was harder to determine on individual bottles or sixpacks (I think they were notching the labels at the time, maybe?), but it was (note- "was") a great beer at the time and one that got to NJ and was on the shelves within a week or 2. Probably bought a case every other month back then...

It is also one of the very few beers of the "modern craft era" which I agree belongs in the "just not the same beer as it was" category.

 

I remember a buddy bringing me a sic pack from the brewery 4-5 years ago and I still vividly remember how good it was. I haven’t had it in years now. I think we are just more spoiled with local fresher options these days.

 

Gotta say I do not agree with this at all, and I think it's actually a perfect example of how beer drinkers' palates change over the years with all of the style changes the IPA has gone through.

Think about IPAs when you started drinking: Flower Power, 60 Minute, Hop Devil, Finestkind, Southern Tier IPA, etc. Those were its competition, there were no New England IPAs, no milkshake IPAs, no sour IPAs, no cryo, no flaked oats or lactose, no nelson, galaxy, wataku, or hell even mosaic hops.

It's been as drastic of a sea change as could have ever been possible, and a beer like Flower Power -- even when Chief was still brewing it -- just has trouble standing against its modern-age contemporaries.

 

Well, maybe I should have bolded even more of statement, like this:

Nope. Mine were Ballantine IPA in the '70s, and then Anchor Liberty, Grant's and SN Celebration in the 80's. I did regularly drink a few of the above when they hit the market in the 1990s and after that... and still do.

Hop Devil, in particular, became a regular "house beer" purchase starting in the late 1990s and, though I don't drink it as much as I once did, it tastes the same to me. Ditto for Liberty and SNCA. No "palate shift" - in part because, if anything, I drink more non-IPAs (mostly pilsners and other lower abv/ibu styles) than I did in the '90s and '00s.

But, see, while I realize those are currently the "hot" beers much talked about on the forums, etc., _I_ don't regularly drink any of those "styles" or beers with those ingredients.. (Frankly, I'm not even sure what a New England IPA is but I think you have to stand in line for them?)

Nor, from what I've read from others posters in recent years, I am hardly alone in my opinion of the current version of Flower Power. Hey, while I probably seldom respond to them in the forums (other than with a mental ), I also am vary wary of the many people who find fault with every new vintage of a seasonal or older brand (it's watery, it's dumbed down, ain't t'same...). That's why I qualified my statement.

 

JK, I am 100% with you here. I was a HUGE fan of Flower Power when it was brewed by Jeff O'Neill but when he left this specific brand never tasted the same (i.e., a decrease in flavor quality for my palate). I don't know whether there was a business decision to change how this beer was brewed after Jeff left or the new brewers couldn't replicate this beer or...

Whatever the explanation this is a beer I no longer purchase.

Cheers!

 

Not sure what the arguments or confusion is on Flower Power tasting different from how it did years ago when Chief brewed it. They have changed the recipe several times over the years and Ithaca has confirmed this.

 

Me too, I’m in complete agreement with JK and Jack. I just don’t buy it anymore. It definitely changed years ago and not for the better.

 

I would be impressed if you ever hear back. I’ll only drink it from the tap room and I live in Ithaca. I’m not sure what happens in packaging, but the product takes a turn for the worse once it hits the bottling line. I’ve tried some cans of FP and some have been horrible, some good. The last box of hop cans was alright, but still below what they have at the tap room.

 

Have you ever had Flower Power on draft at someplace other than the taproom?

Cheers!

 

Yes, it’s ok, but not the same as straight form the brewery. Maybe it’s a freshness issue. I’ve taken visitors who have also been surprised.

 

But here is the thing: back in the day when Jeff O'Neill was the head brewer (e.g., 2010) the bottled Flower Power was excellent. I was an enthusiastic purchaser of those beers. Why do we in 2018 need to travel to Ithaca brewery to consume tasty Flower Power when just 8 years ago we could just go to our local beer stores and buy tasty bottled Flower Power?

Have you noticed the same disparity of beer quality in other Ithaca beer brands (i.e., taproom vs. non-taproom)?

Cheers!

 

Let me be clearer on that. FP is a shadow of its former self when brewed by Chief. They have strayed far in quality since then. I’m just saying the best tasting FP is at the source. I don’t seek Ithaca Beer out honestly when so many better options exsist on taps.

 

man.... 2010 flower power.... loved that stuff.. i remember getting into craft stuff with shit like NN, FP, storm king etc etc... those were the days

 

assuming you checked if it was Julian date coded?