Three Floyds is Coming to MA

On the general topic of freshness, and this is certainly a tangent, whenever I consider buying any beer, I always check for packaging dates without exception. Then I run that beer and the date through a complex algorithm (sometimes it's a bit improvised) that considers the style, the brewery, the beer, whether I've had the beer before, the various ages the beer was when I've had it before and what I thought of each, the price of the beer, the format of the beer, the quantity I'm buying the beer in, the store I'm buying it from, where I found it in the store I'm buying it from (in the cooler, on the shelf, in front of a window, etc.).

Do others always check packaging dates before purchasing beer? If not always, when do you check? How do you process that information?

 

Looking forward to this.
I;ve had several of their beers (including Dark Lord, of which I have several aging away from a trip to DLD (and my nephew's baptism) a ways back. As long as we can get it pretty fresh, it should be an exceptional list. Gumball, Alpha, Zombie... their stouts are great too, not even counting DL. Hoping those come this way.

 

yes- and I do a similar mental algorithm as well! on a related note I also hate when expensive beer, especially NEIPAs don't have can dates. A non-dated NEIPA is a no buy from me.

 

To be fair, it's very rare that I buy an IPA (or even something hop-forward), but when I do I basically use six weeks as the cutoff. If I'm buying something from the big ol' lager tree (way more often), I usually cap it around three months.

When it comes to saisons and farmhouse ales, it's a crap shoot. Oxbow, for instance, is really good about making prominent not only when it was brewed (and for how long), but also by when it should be consumed.

 

Three floyds recently entered NY, too, and 6 packs of zombie dust are in the $14 range; gumball head is similar; Lazer snake 4 packs around $12-14.

I would rate them a buy (as long as reasonably fresh).

 

It was fresh. I love the pine and grapefruit duo hop profile but I didn't get it. Perhaps I'll give it another shot at some point. Would only buy a single though.

 

CounterWeight, specifically Headway, is right in that zone, if not below, at $10 a 4pak. Now that Fat Orange Cat is brewing at Twelve Percent some of their stuff, specifically Baby Kittens, is right there too.
What bums me out is, I can't find comparables in MA. Jack's Abbey maybe but they aren't really New England IPAs except for their Brau series and I would put NEBCo, CounterWeight, and Fat Orange Cat ahead of those.
Can someone help me out with a good, MA brewed, pale ale or New England IPA in the $10-$12 for a 4 or 6pak?

 

For price and hops, Be Hoppy, but not really a New England IPA.

I thought Fort Hill was doing a decent job with reasonably priced NEIPAs. Don’t know their current availability status.

But, overall, agree that NEBCo and Counterweight are better options in the price/quality ratio than anything MA breweries are doing. All the Fat Orange Cat I’ve seen has been pricy, but maybe that’s changing. Pipeworks and TG’s standard offerings can scratch this itch, but obviously not brewed in MA.

 

I almost mentioned Fort Hill.
I can't believe I forgot about Wormtown. That is embarrassing.

Those are CT prices. Fat Orange Cat gets marked up when it crosses into MA. NEBCo and CounterWeight don't make it here at all.

 

I always check. I genuinely think Toppling Goliath makes top tier NEIPAs, but unfortunately they tend to sit. If I see TG cans of SOSUS that are under a month old, I'm buying it. But a lot of TG sits sadly so it's easy to get burnt.

Same goes for Second Fiddle when I'm in the mood (my fave IPA but I've cut way back on DIPAs).

Glad someone mentioned Fort Hill cuz I've loved a bunch of their stuff but rarely buy in the past year. Partly cuz they don't date and I often saw cases stacked up at a few packies. Would love them to date.

 

I agree. If you’re listening Fort Hill... please start dating your cans. You make killer hoppy beer at a great price, but I’m not buying it unless I know it’s fresh.

 

Personally I reach for Mighty Squirrel’s Cloud Candy when I want a reliable, local MA NEIPA.

I’d kill to G-Bot gbit back regularly in MA, and am excited about Zombie Dust.

 

Same. Want to buy them much more but can't. You no date, I no buy.

 

I love it.

They say it’s Bohemian, but it leans more German to me. The same way Sierra Nevada Summerfest does to my palate.

If you can find it fresh you should try some!

 

Another one to try would be Expedition Stout. One of my favorite imperial stouts. Roasty, bitter, viscous, strong.

 

Perhaps at some point I will but I had Black Note, which I believe has Expedition stout in it, and I didnt love it. I think I enjoyed one of the bottles fine but the rest of the pack were all hitting my palate oddly in different ways so I didnt love the inconsistency.

 

Cloud Candy is $12?

 

Cosmic Distortion, a DIPA, is $13 for a 4-pack of 16oz cans, so Cloud Candy being $12 seems like a safe guess.

Edit: confirmed, Cloud Candy is indeed $12 for a 4-pack (16oz cans).