Are we spoiled in 2019?

yes I agree

 

We have it too easy which is great. Neighbor told me a group of friends would go to Colorado skiing in the late 70s and bring back trunks full of Coors. Now i can get beer from Vietnam and Iceland and other far away places at a store 15 mins away.

 

if you even to ask this question you are. I remember when the only craft beer you could find on the east coast was Ballentine IPA. In the early 90's a great craft beer (known them as micro brews) had Saranac, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and some imports. Vermont at the time, you would get excited if a bar had Magic Hat.

 

Spoiled may not be the right word, but the amount of options in even the worst of beer stores is a blessing these days. We drove the market to be options-centric, and stores have adapted or died. I think it's the fruit of our labor more than a spoiling of sorts. Lot of people worked very hard to give us the options we see every day, might as well recognize their influence and skills than lament how "spoiled" we are.

 

I don't know, but I think it has contributed to a mentality that has everyone just running from brewery to brewery looking for the next crazy milkshake IPA or pastry stout, ignoring the classic styles many of us older beer fans cut our teeth on (and still enjoy).

 

I agree. New brewery just opened up here in the mountains. His brown ale is probably the best beer he has. He tried for a hazy ipa and failed. The brewer doesn’t even like ipa’s so how can he be expected to make a good one...

 

You might be surprised at how many brewers of highly regarded NEIPAs* personally dislike, even detest, the style. While it does have some legitimate fans, it's a widely disrespected style in the industry, including by many of its (often reluctant) producers, but, for now at least, it sells.

* Admittedly, "hazy IPA" often denotes a turbid but non-New-England IPA.

 

True. And even if Brewers don't like it, if it sells well and pays the bills, then that is just tough medicine they have to take. On the upside, customers who like a breweries IPA's, would be more receptive to buying perhaps a pils, lager, or sour from them based on the positive feedback. Who knows, that customer might start buying more of your beer instead of just a particular style.

 

I see where you are coming from and sympathize. More choice cut both ways.

As far as the bar and pub scene disappearing there may be other factors at play as well. Probably a separate post and I don’t know about the places you frequent, but what I’ve seen to date as a now 38 year old in the Midwest and West Coast of the U.S. were bars/pubs unwelcoming of newcomers or the younger crowd (mid-thirties and below). I won’t return to a place where the regulars leer at and ridicule with no reason given other than a position that this pub is their place, not to be intruded upon. I’ve also seen several of the same close their doors.

I’d rather have a couple drinks at a bottle shop or brewery which is welcoming to all.

 

I've noticed an increase in welcoming, convivial bars in the last half decade at least. I see more and more places opening up that don't have tvs, don't blast their music or dim the lights to cave levels. There are certainly places where you feel like you walked into an old west saloon as the new guy in town, piano cuts off, only sound is the creaking door hinge behind you and the clank of the grumpiest old guy setting down his empty mug as he eyeballs you.
But I have had tons of great conversations with strangers (at SARA's Portal in santa cruz last month I met a peruvian google employee who spontaneously bought some 3 Fonteinen bottle to share with me after 15 minutes of conversation about his move from the east coast and his quest to find the good beer spots in the wider bay area) at breweries and better beer bars. Going out to a decent bar by myself remains one of my favorite activities for just that reason

 

In a word, yes. Within a 30 mile radius or so of where I live there's at least 40 craft breweries of varying sizes. I've lived in the same area my whole life, and 10 years ago there were maybe 10 breweries within that 30 mile radius. The options of locally produced, fresh craft beer very easily available to me now is absolutely overwhelming, and it is impossible to keep up with all the beers being released by all these breweries. The stores I go to to buy beer stock way more local offerings than they did 10 years ago because there's so much more that exists now. And as a result, over the past year or 2 my beer drinking habits have changed in that I'd say that about 75% or so of the beer I consume is beer produced locally by the 40 or so craft breweries in the areas that I live. When I go out drinking, I'm much more likely these days to deliberately make the choice to go to a specific brewery to drink their beer on-tap than to simply go to a bar that I know has a good craft selection. Again, this was not the case 10 years ago. 10 years ago, I'd say about 25% or so of the beer I consumed was locally produced.

Eric

 

This is exactly my experience. I live in Atlanta, and could ride my bike to Scofflaw (speaking of IPA's) and perhaps ten other local craft breweries. Get in my car and I probably have 30 or 40 to choose from. Shelf space at my local liquor/beer/wine store and at places like Total Wine is all about local Atlanta and Athens (another hotbed) beers. Even Costco has pallets of Monday Night and Sweetwater and Red Hare. Unless its in national distribution because they've partnered with a macro, or its from the great North Carolina build-our-second-brewery-here crowd, you don't see it. Californians like Stone and Lagunitas have all but disappeared. Even Dogfish Head is rapidly losing shelf space. If its in national distribution AND local (Terrapin, looking at you) its ubiquitous. Terrapin even has brewpubs at the airport and SunTrust park.

 

I’d bargain with the guy for the aged Bigfoot, if it’s 3 years old he might jump to move some of it if you offer to buy a few 4 pks. Makes it worth his while, if he moves on the price I’d buy in volume.

 

Fuck that. We're just well taken care of. At least I'm going to tell myself that.

 

I’ve been enjoying beer since Boston Brewing Company (Samuel Adams) was still new* and hard to get, and “Craft Beer” wasn’t a marketplace term so much as a burgeoning philosophy.

If you live in a sizable city, I would say that you’re spoiled for choice now more than ever before, and if you’re paying close enough attention you realize that this has been true for about twenty years, now.

Enjoy it while it lasts — it might change!

*Dang, thirty years. When did I get old?

 

Our high spot was about the time Alpine was first being distributed here, don’t remember the year. There was a big presence from Moylans, Lagunitas, Knee Deep, Ballast Point etc, just a ton of beers on the self. As the sales slowed they all but have disappeared here, now there’s a glut of indistinguishable local brewers. For the most part even regional beers are gone, beers from Victory are especially missed. So no, the high water mark was many years ago and certainly not today. I’m sure most retailers are nervous in this environment, it’s really the crossroads.

 

Do you travel much to drink at local brewery tasting rooms? And if so, are you happy with the quality of those beers?

In my area over the past year or so there has been an 'explosion' of new local breweries opening and those beers are of high quality. If I chose to I could never visit a beer store again and still have lots of high quality choices for drinking (and purchasing for home consumption) craft beer.

Cheers!

P.S. One example would be Root Down which opened in the summer of 2017 and they won BIG at the 2018 GABF:

“Root Down took the top award in the American-Style IPA category with its Bine beer, beating out 310 other contestants. It was also the only gold for a Pennsylvania brewery at this year’s competition.

Root Down had a great showing in the Gose category as well. It managed to win the silver for its Salty by Nature beer.

And these were not the only honors Root Down brought home.

It’s also a champion brewery for 2018, as it was crowned the Mid-Size Brewpub of the Year. This category covers breweries that produced between 750 and 1,500 barrels in the last year.”

https://vista.today/2018/09/phoenix...rushes-competition-at-national-beer-festival/

 

No I don’t, I’d say 99% I have my beers at home. There’s no shortage of places I suppose I’m just super leery of drinking and driving. Red Oak is 10 from here and I’d bet I’ve been there 3-4 times in the last year. If I do go to a bar or brewery I always cap it at 2 beers.

 

This is a great attitude to have. Not just for your own personal situation, but for everyone on the road in your area.

I never say this here, but "cheers"!

 

Everyday it seems there’s a driving impaired story in the news, it’s preventable. Same with using cellphones or texting and driving, every day there’s a story. Last week a guy was dui and rear ended a sheriffs patrol car, oops, talk about karma.