Controversial Beer Opinions (Round Two)

Well... (BBC owned) Truly Is Selling Hard Ice Cream With the Same Amount of Alcohol as a Can of Seltzer

 

I thought lemonade-hard seltzer was bad enough, now spiked seltzer ice cream... My point of view is this company gives BBC more money and profits to fight against BMC/Big Beer and other corporate giants like White Claw. Or maybe it was just a wise business strategy to make another big hard seltzer brand to profit off of the market. Either way Samuel Adams has always helped breweries in the industry, donating hops when needed, promoting brewery independence and the craft beer revolution, and now is helping out the whole brewery and restaurant industry with the Restaurant Strong Fund. I think BBC has helped and worked with craft brewers, and are even aligned with Dogfish Head now, another fierce independent craft brand.

 

Truly is not a separate company, but simply a brand of Boston Beer Co. From BBC 2019 Annual Report:

"Corporate giants"? According to the Brewers Association's stats for 2019, BBC's total beverage production* is pretty much the same as White Claw's owner, Mike's Hard US sales ( actual name Mark Anthony Brands).

Boston Beer - 5,307,000 bbl.
Mike's Hard - 5,140,000 bbl.

* The B.A. in their "Craft brewer" stats only counts BBC's "beer" barrelage (deleting seltzer, tea and cider), which has fallen to well under half of the total 5.3M bbl. at 1.74M bbl.

 

Are you implying that BBC has a long way to go to reach the likes of White Claw owner's Mark Anthony Brands or Bud, Miller and Coors, or are you saying that BBC is a corporate giant itself? In which I would reply good for them that they made it this far, at least they try to be on the right side of things within the industry. At the end of the day all business is competition even when you act friendly and collaborate with others. I guess BBC would be seen as our own ABI that is on our side.

 

No, I'm not implying anything - I simply quoted stats from BMI published by the Brewers Association that show that Boston Beer Co. and Mark Anthony Brands are in the same 5 million barrel/year range making them, respectively, the Fifth and Sixth largest "suppliers" in the US.

Who is "our" in this statement?

 

The craft beer industry, a lot of brewers and consumers.

 

I just experienced it for the first time in 2018 and it was among my all time favorites. I had seen it in previous years, but at $15 a bottle there were always more compelling options . . . but on a whim I finally bought a bottle. I drank it and went back and bought all of the TWEAK and Uncle Jacob's at the store.

Curious what I missed in the old version.

Also curious if the taste varies a lot from year to year. To me, at least, KBS and BCBS, seem to vary a lot from year to year . . . from incredible to so-so.

 

That's fair.

I should probably have said "Not to me" instead of the "Not the ones I've had" because I might not know a great lager if I drank it and I might not appreciate it if I knew it.

 

The OG tweak was espresso dipped brownie essentially. The bourbon barrel detracts from that for me. I dont like Carmel or marshmallow and those seem to be the flavors that I perceive in that beer that are contributed by the barrel. As for variation year to year , the same happens to tweak. Some blends are barrel heavy. Some are very coffee forward. The fourth iteration was very light on barrel and coffee forward. I bought a case. I haven't had one blow me away since.

 

I was just messing with you. Of course color is part of the beer experience. Drink on!

 

It says you're in New York (though I know the state is more than just NYC and Long Island), you'd be able to find great lagers at Suarez and Threes, for example. In fact, you'll find them making some of the best lagers in the country, in my opinion.

There are many great lagers in the New England area, worth trading for. Notch is absolutely the heavyweight -- if by heavyweight, you mean a place making lagers mostly 4.5% and under. Seek them out.

 

My problem is that I hate the beers that I hate even if they aren't so bad.

 

I’ve started to shy away from barrel aged beers. Not that I don’t like their flavor, but the barrel aging always obscured the base beer, and they end up being very similar to me.

Like OP, I’m not really into flavored beers anymore. I want to see how close a brewer can get to roasty coffee flavors without actually adding coffee.

 

1. $10 Hill farmstead shelfies > 99% of craft beer.

2. When I travel and the beer selection consists of local beers with a 3.6 rating, I'll drink a PBR or Miller lite instead.

 

Yes. I like well-crafted Pilsners & Kolsch beers.

I drew the line at sheep skulls aged in liqueur barrels. OK.... only six ratings and I was one of them... it was a "tic".

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14/444697/

... Would I try it again? NO. ....... Did I mention well crated Pilsners & Kolsch's?

 

Well we all don't have the luxury of Hill Farmstead shelfies...

What the shit? When did CBC do that? For one of their Pumpkin Fests?

 

I believe so. I think each of the CBC brewers usually brews a pumpkin beer for it.

 

Meaning the shelf at the brewery? Or Willey’s in Greensboro 4 miles from the brewery? Or the one other store in the same town selling it?

Controversial opinion - I still curse the person that came up with the term shelf beer, but it’s especially / uniquely bad when referring to a place like HF.

 

my beer all comes from 1 of 2 surfaces. either a satin pillow, royal purple with gold frilly trim, or directly from the hand of the head brewer as they kneel to present me with my purchase. anything else is beneath me. plus, if it had time to get to shelf *eck!* it's probably already gone bad

 

I think we should rename the word shelf "seat of honor", that way the only people who will have trouble with it will be those who quibble about the use of the noun "seat" for something that isn't a chair or government center.