Beer shop finds.

Starting to become the perfect time of year for drinking imperial stouts on the porch in the evening.

Also, lol, the DIPAs were straight from the cooler so were just begging to be cracked. Had one other iteration of the Fresh IIPA series and really dug it, but still was cautiously optimistic about these. Expectations exceeded.

 

A beer store rant:

Before the Patriots game on Sunday, I loaded up on snacks -- peanuts, cheese & crackers, etc. -- and headed to the store to grab something to drink.

In the midst of looking around (I had my sights set on a few things: Modern Times Black House, Notch The Standard or Dog & Pony), I realized this: I hate four-packs. They’re the worst. They’re worse than bombers. Here’s why:

• I’m paying the same price for four beers (64 oz.) than I used to for six (72 oz.)
• With a six pack (JA notwithstanding), two beers = 24 oz. With a four-pack, that’s 32 oz. That’s eight extra ounces I don’t always want, but am committed to with a four-pack.
• Let’s say I’m having a few. In a six pack, I have three beers. That’s great. I have three left (which is, to be honest, the extent of the quantity I can drink). With a four-pack, I drink three and I’m SOL for the next night. I have one beer. Whoopie. I need to get more.
• What if my wife wants one or two? So, what? We each have two beers in a four pack and we’re out of beer (#math)?
• I feel like I'm being forced to get two four-packs when one six pack would do.

I ended up with Bell’s Porter, a six pack of bottles. Delightful. I had two. My wife had two. Guess what? We still have two beers left a few days later. This wouldn’t be the case if I had a four-pack.

TL;DR: Four packs stink. Bring back the six packs.

 

I think you're very much in the minority when it comes to that point of view. I believe a pint is the most common serving size of beer around the world so selling beers in that format only makes sense... I usually have one to two beers a night and I find that serving size the most ideal by far.

If only all of our problems were so small as having to drink or pass up on an extra 8 oz of beer.

 

A similar micro rant related to the 16 oz can format - hey it's a slow day at the office...

Why do breweries that exclusively sell in 16oz cans (read:nearly everyone) offer glassware that's just a little too small to fit 16 oz. I really dig the look of the Teku glass but 14.37 oz is a BULLSHIT size. I guess this is really more of a complaint about Teku's but I do have a lot of sympathy for the 6 pack argument and wouldn't mind more breweries doing 12 oz. cans.

INB4 "but growlers"/"but that dregs swig tho"

 

I say this to myself every time I pour to the top then have to take 2 sip to be able to pour the rest of the can into the glass. First world problem I know, but annoying as fuck.

 

Perhaps it's the four-pack I have the most issue with. Having a pint (see: Jack's Abby Copper Legend, for instance) is cool with me for the most part because I typically stick to 4.5%-6% beers. I suppose those extra 8 oz. won't kill me, though I'd prefer not to have those extra 8 oz. when I'm drinking a 9% double IPA.

 

for me it's the beer type. I'm pretty fine with 12oz for standard IPAs in the 6-6.5 range but I'm cool with pints too. For bigger beers, anything over 7/7.5% really, I would prefer 12oz, mainly cuz I'm a lightweight. There's some exceptions there. I'm always satisfied with with exactly one pint of Second Fiddle. But I'm sure I'd get buy if it were 12oz.

Guiness I want the pint. Jack's Abby House Lager I want the pint all day, but the problem there is the price per oz is less if I opt for the 15pk of 12ozers. I still generally buy the pints cuz I don't often drink enough to justify a whole 15pk in my fridge, but if I'm entertaining or whatever I'll get the 15pk. Maybe I'll just buy a bigger mug and start pouring two 12oz cans at a time.

Pints are also making craft nerds fatter. Just sayin'.

 

But what if the line started at the shed at TH? That's a whole, like, 600 steps dude. That's enough to cancel out those two pours and three Haze, right? (I have to be honest: I have no idea where the shed is. It could be a mile away, idk).

 

Thanks captain obv. But yes, those 4oz add up. Quite a bit. Plenty of people's drinking went from 24oz to 32oz per day they have a couple. For some that's 4-5 nights a week. That's an extra 500-1000 cals per week depending on the style/ABV.

So yeah, it matters.

 

YES.

I fucking hate 16 oz. cans. Especially for anything that's a higher ABV. For most craft beers this makes that "one" 16 oz. more than one standard drink. It would be akin to a bar pouring you 10 oz. of wine as a standard serving size.

Stuff that's < 4.5% I don't mind it as much, but I'd still prefer a 12 oz. can. I hardly ever drink just one beer though. So if I want to try multiple beers at home, 16 oz. cans make this quite difficult.

At the very least there's NO reason whatsoever for a double IPA or imperial stout to come in a 16 oz. can. None.

 

This coupled with the rise of the IPA/double IPA. Your average Joe six pack is drinking Bud and Bud Light at 5% and 4.2% ABV respectively...and mostly in a 12 oz. format. He can have a six pack of Bud Light that's probably equivalent in terms of calories to your two Heady Toppers.

How many people don't bat an eye at having two Heady Toppers in a sitting? Which is also >4 standard drinks, or the definition of binge drinking (I have more than 4 in a sitting sometimes, so I'm not pointing fingers).

 

yes. I def went through a phase where I was having a couple of pints of haze a night. Was, uh, not great, Bob.

 

think of it like this, you get a few sips and then you still have a full beer.

 

Please never change Sweatshirt.

 

I'd be lying if I said that I'm personally bothered by 16 oz DIPAs, but there's no denying that you're completely correct. That said, I do tend to treat those as 'special' beers and am very unlikely to have more than one in a sitting.

Much more often than not I also have another beer of some sort and finish the night off with a finger or two of bourbon though, so I'm not exactly the voice of reason on this topic.

 

How many people do you think actually take into account alcohol percentage and higher carbohydrate count in craft beer? And then calculate that into how many extra calories they're drinking?

There aren't nutrition facts on most of these beers.

Even if you're just having a regular IPA at 7%. Do you think the guy having two of those in a 16 oz. can with the Sox game tonight knows this is roughly equivalent to 600 calories...or about six Bud Lights? He probably thinks it's just "a couple of beers".

I don't really expect most people to agree with me, or for the industry to change. Clearly the 16 oz. format is incredibly popular.

 

He's our own angrier version of DDB