Kiwi Rising

There is no such thing as fresh Mass Rising in a retail store.

 

And the power of beers not technically labeled "IPA"...

Kiwi Rising wouldn't even crack the top 75 IPAs in terms of its rating, or the top 100 double IPA list, which would be a more appropriate comparison.

 

I am surprised that Wegman's jacked up the price on this one, usually they are pretty affordable even for special releases and whalezbros. I grabbed a bottle at Julios for $5.

 

Yeah it has to be some bar coding issue, like this is ringing up like a BA Framinghammer or some other limited release like that. I have never seen a Wegmans far above the suggested MSRP on anything...

 

I dunno, this would be in my top 25 or so and I'm not sure how many beers I haven't tried which would push this past a top 75 status. For example I had a double IPA recently acquired for in a trade, Freak of Nature from Wicked Weed, back to back with this. They share the same BA score of 95, but I would choose Kiwi Rising with no hesitation.

And Freak of Nature was in an identically sized 500 ml bottle with a price of $5.95.

 

I had that Freak of Nature too from a trade recently, was a drain pour for me. Really surprised by the rating, but I marked it up to just being spoiled by the abundance of great NE IPAs with a much different hop profile

 

IPLs are not IPAs. Do a side-by-side, you'll be surprised how different they are.

Kiwi is the 21st highest rated beer by Style+ at Beergraphs. Yes, that's because the competition in the "pale lager" style is really weak. But that's kind of the point. You're not going to find an IPL much better than Kiwi.

 

I apologize, I wasn't implying they're the exact same beer. Kiwi is a fine beer, and definitely top notch for hoppy pale lagers. But I feel an ale yeast works better to showcase hops, which are at the forefront by a wide margin for either an IPL or an IPA. The ratings seem to suggest an ale yeast is a better vehicle/compliment for hops as well (not that ratings are the be-all end-all for how good a beer is).

The point being, many will pay the higher price for this beer, when there is potentially better tasting hop forward beers in the IPA available at a lower price point, and greater availability. Just adding to @jbertsch's comments about Hoponious being just as good. Still, a solid beer for what it is, and one I've enjoyed in the past, and may still pick up (lots of new winter beers to get through already).

 

ABCS was so good. I asked Rob about it the likelihood of it ever being brewed again and he said "probably a long shot, but not impossible." Looking forward to grabbing some Kiwi and Hoponius when I'm down in MA later this week.

 

I wonder if this will see distro in Rhode Island. Either way, I'll pick this up if I see it in Mass or RI. This is probably their best beer in my opinion. Love the Australian hops and how they're integrated in the beer.

 

My palate knows nothing of scores or points or others opinions but it knows it likes this beer each year. It also likes Mass Rising but not quite as much. Happy to pick it off the shelf for the next month or so, even if it is a bit more than my wallet's comfort zone, while its still in good condition. Had a couple at the brewery this weekend along with the delicious House Lager and hoppier and more bitter than expected Excess IPL. Lovin this new bar and the 3x hopped hoponius. JA will be taking a good % of my paycheck home with them as long as the hops are flowin and food and service maintain current status. Great addition to my metro boston world.

 

Should be coming down to RI in limited quantities in the next week or so. Both bottles and draft.

 

but bolded is the point. other IPL/A's are available year round, which is exactly why people will go out and buy something different for the time being. I can buy IPA XYZ year round so why would I also buy it now when this is the only time Kiwi Rising is available? (assuming I enjoy them both roughly equally)

also with other IPL/A's are hard to figure freshness on. The Mass Rising in my local store has been sitting there for 9 months. other beers have a "best buy" date which is unclear at best. but I know the Kiwi Rising is super fresh, so that's another reason why I'll go buy it.

finally, "availability" isn't really an issue with Kiwi Rising. I walk by 2 liquor stores on my 10 minute walk home and they both have lots of Kiwi. which is great!

 

Fair enough, all good points, I almost picked some up myself. Again, not saying the beer isn't a solid one, I just don't see it as offering anything particularly unique from say even, Hoponious Union as @jbertsch pointed out.

I actually ended up picking up Celebration Ale instead, which has a hop profile vastly different than Kiwi/Hoponious aside from using an ale yeast as well. In particular, the flavor and overall balance provided by the malt profile is unique in my opinion, and it's far cheaper.

I'm not bashing Jack's Abby either. If I'm picking up a special release by them, or something unique that I can't find in abundance, I'm more likely to grab Jabby Brau or their House Lager. The former being a great sessionable lager that is Helles-like, and the latter being a bit heftier version. Either way, that's not a style I can find easily on the shelves, not fresh anyways.

Sorry, I should have clarified. By availability I was referring to it not being year-round, not it's literal availability on the shelves.

 

And I should clarify, I like Kiwi Rising very much, but I also like HU and Mass Rising almost equally for a hop fix. They merely just offer different character at a similar level of (high) quality IMO.

It's purely just fun to turn the sociological mirror on ourselves and see how we’ll pay more for a quality beer without flinching if it’s 1) not technically available year round, and 2) it’s FRESH. I can definitely attest to the freshness thing. I get tired searching stores for fresh hoppy beer, so it makes a beer like KR an easy buy upon its release.

The availability point makes me wonder (from a business owner standpoint) why there aren’t more breweries who have no year-round lineup and only rely on seasonals and limited availability brews to help draw customers back once they tasted (and presumably liked) the beer, knowing it won’t always be available to them. It's almost like the Twinkie effect we saw a couple years ago

 

I mean, IPAs are always going to be the best IPAs. But I enjoy hoppy belgians, hoppy lagers, hoppy sours, etc... I wouldn't say any of these styles are intrinsically "better" than the others. It's more what the creativity of the brewer and how well they're able to execute on that. If you like IPAs best, there's nothing wrong about that, but it doesn't mean that other hoppy styles aren't legitimate. Personally I like a lot of variety in what I drink. Kiwi might not be the best beer in the world (though it is very good), but it's a welcomed change of pace from what I usually have access to.

I mean, at some point, we all have a limited budget for this stuff, but I don't obsess over the dollars per ounce calculations as much as a lot of people in the community seem to. As long as the price is somewhere in the realm of sanity, it really doesn't figure into my decision making process about what I'm going to buy.

 

Maybe I am out of touch, but I don't see how $5 for a 16.9oz bottle of a double IPL using a lot of NZ hops is expensive.

 

I would consider doing this if I were a brewer. I often wonder how Celebration Ale would sell if it were year-round.

I also feel Sam Adams had to kill Noble Pils because it went year-round. It was a wildly popular seasonal, so they began brewing it year-round, I often wonder if it would still be in their line-up if they had left it as a seasonal.

 

I'm quite sure that year-round status is the graveyard where good beers go to die from lack of hype. Beer nerds are a fickle bunch. On a similar note, I'm stoked for House Lager in cans.

 

I totally understand being specific with the names/descriptions on labels for consumers but the red ipl one was odd.

1. LAshes is no where near red in color, it is almost the identical color to Hoponius - pale/yellow

2. Red IPAs are not usually big sellers and IMO not great tasting - can't think of a red ipa I drink.

Lashes is great though, really tasty beer. I just think its a wicked hoppy pale lager.