Beer shop finds.

Grabbed a couple of cans at Rapid last night. Very average. Instantly forgettable,

Saw it and another of their IPAs in total wine today. Strolled right passed them and grabbed some fresh Lizard King for less than $9 and a sixer of JA Saxony.

 

Mate threw me one of each of those during the week. Whichever was the double with mosaic and galaxy was superb.

 

I think that was the Mind/Body one. I was in a hurry and grabbed a 4-pack knowing (basically) nothing about it and was impressed.

 

Not loving this as much as last year but not giving up. I remember Saxony a little bit different than this iteration. I buy all the Keller series so that may be skewing my memory but I remember Saxony having a fresher hop profile than this year's. A few more 6pk might change my view.

 

Drinking a Pipeworks Cryo Citra right now. Hadn't dabbled in their 22oz bottles before, but will in the future. This is delicious. Drinks very smooth (booze-wise and bitterness-wise) for a 10% DIPA.

 

Picked up a 22 oz Coffee Break Abduction. It was a very good dessert stout - excellent mouthfeel, vanilla-forward with mellow notes of milk chocolate and subdued lightly roasted coffee. Definitely on the sweeter end of the stout flavor spectrum. I'd probably opt for something from Clown Shoes in the future when looking for a bomber with a similar style at a similar price point.

I'm a big fan of the Lizard King and Ninja v. Unicorn. Looking forward to trying some of the 22oz. hoppy stuff if I can find it at a reasonable price point.

 

Nice to hear about Coffee Break Abduction. I've got one of those too and I dig sweet stouts.

I picked up the Cryo Citra bottle at CBC Fenway for $10.50. Thought that wasn't too bad for a 10% ABV DIPA. Saw the Idaho 7 one dropped somewhere else. Might have to hunt that one down.

 

Hype for Daisy Cutter? The beer is probably almost 10 years old. It's a (semi) old school west coast pale ale, not sure what you're expecting

Still a great beer, IMO

 

I completely agree. When it's fresh, it's killer. I visit my sister in Chicago every year and when we go out that (and Zombie Dust) are a must pint.

 

Grabbed a 4 pack of Solemn Oath Wonderful and Strange. It's marketed as a double dry hopped NE IPA........yet pours crystal clear without much aroma.

It was tasty, but I wish breweries would stop using this description on the label. They set themselves up to be scrutinized far more than if they just used "IPA".

 

They probably prefer someone to buy it and scrutinize it, then to not buy it at all, which may be the reason that they put NE IPA on the label. Might mproves sales...

 

Bunch of Fantome bottles at Redstone in Stoneham. I grabbed a Printemps, Pissenlit, and Jester King's Fantome Del Rey.

 

Same thing happened to me in December. Prob won't give them another shot.

 

I've seen Fantome around quite a bit lately. Which is nice, with the one minor hangup being that I've hated every one I've ever tried.

 

Not exactly a beer shop find, but not sure where else to put this, but I was delightfully surprised to find Babylon by Hudson Valley Brewery on tap at Mystic Station in Malden. First time I'd personally come across any Hudson Valley in the area, beer shop or otherwise.

 

Craft Mass has them, from what ive seen its draft only for now, maybe more to come!

 

Hype in that it just came here & people were scrambling to buy the limited stock.

I was expecting a good Pale Ale & got a very mediocre one, so yes you can say I was disappointed (& therefore my post).

 

I thought the same thing in terms of how we're using "hype" here.

More than anything, I think these sorts of situations point to the fact that now that there are so many places with sprawling beer scenes the "best stuff" from each area is all going to be pretty similar to each other. Open fermentation stuff would be an obvious exception, as would new flavor profiles before they spread (I'm sure there's a dozen states now making something comparable to Treehouse these days).

What's funny is that it's probably the more overlooked beers that are more worth shipping around the country than the ones that get all the attention. I'd love to get something like Yards Brawler (a mild) up here rather than another IPA or Pale Ale that's perfectly fine but not meaningfully different from anything we already have.