New to Ohio (2017)

I love barrel-aged beers if we're not specifying the type of barrel--I have had very few pleasures in life greater than a finely balanced Saison or Sour. But bourbon--I have to admit, to my palate, very few great stouts have ever been improved by it.

That's pretty cool you've have enough Crooked Stave that you are able to differentiate between the year round bottles versus the more limited releases. Looks like Vieille may spend ~6 months developing, but many standard Saisons can sit anywhere from up to and over a year in barrels. For American breweries that haven't been doing this for centuries, this is always going to be a primary factor in the higher price point.

Either way, I've only had a few Crooked Stave myself, nothing I went bonkers over yet. Will be happy to have the option to try more though, since we don't get a huge variety of what they focus on outside of the classic offerings out of Belgium.

 

Please don't take this as me being defensive. I'm just genuinely curious...because this is a topic that concerns all of us that are growing. But what beers and what type of places do you see Columbus beers sitting around on shelves?? We want to get the right beer to the right places and in front of the right people. That's a huge challenge in the "growth" conversation. It's hard enough on the local level, let alone in markets outside one's home base.
We know that it's getting crowded out there, and everyone is feeling the pinch. But what are some glaring examples? You can feel free to PM me, since this prob isn't the appropriate forum for this. Thanks!

 

Crooked Stave pricing in Ohio is 4.99-13.99 per bottle.

 

For reference.
Nightmare on Brett w Blueberry - $13.99
Origins w Blueberry - 13.99
Petit Sour w Raspberry- $7.99
Hop Savant - $4.99

Not bad IMO.

 

Chillwave has dropped again and while I did not care for it last year, I am enjoying one immensely right now, FWIW.
Also grabbed some Frootwood at Arena Wine and Lazer Snake at Gentiles today in Cbus.

 

Hated the Chillwave I got last year, so this is encouraging, hearing it may be better around here this year.

For me, last year was just rough for what I got from Great Lakes, because before Chillwave, I grabbed some BA Blackout and almost threw the bottle at a wall with how disappointing that beer was, especially for the price. Just had nothing compared to some other BA stouts in the state.

 

I've stopped buying BA blackout. We've done vertical tastings of it before, and at least for me, something seemed to change after maybe 2012 (forget the exact year). The timing doesn't help them either, I drop way too much money on all the Midwest stout releases November - December.

 

Had a Chillwave on draft a couple weeks ago at GLBC and had a bottle last night. Draft was great, bottle was not.

 

Good to know I'm not the only one.

On a better note, this most recent batch of BA D.O.R.I.S is really on point and much easier to get.

 

I was wondering if it was only me. Had a bottle Sunday that was pure trash. Hoping it was just an off bottle because everyone is saying it's "back to being what it used to be" this year. This bottle wasn't a matter of preference. It was off.

 

the 4-pack of Chillwave I got this year may be even less impressive than last year

 

Okay, when will this end?

Countless beers I've personally had, as well as countless experiences posted here, continuously point, year after year, to drastic differences in GLBC drafts versus bottles. This is over the entire span of their catalogue, not just Chillwave.

WTF is going on with their bottles, or bottling line?

 

I will make it even more convoluted. The first 2 bottles of my 4pk were great - big dank sticky mosaic. The other 2 opened a couple days later were a boozy malty mess. Weird!

 

I haven't had anything in bottles in probably 5 years, besides the BA Blackout and the Chillwave last year and I was pissed I wasted the money.

I've pretty much resigned to the fact I'll enjoy a Xmas ale on draft just because it's tradition and maybe a Conways on draft near St. Patty's day, also tradition... other than that, I haven't had their beers in years because of how poor they've been in bottles. Being that I just now got on the forums though, I really had no clue if it was just me or a bigger issue.

 

I've completely stopped drinking their beer. Don't buy anything from them at all. My friend ordered a BA Christmas Ale last night at Taft's Ohio 9 event and it was very mediocre.

 

Listening to this makes me pretty satisfied, knowing I'm not the odd one out.

I feel like Great Lakes is always supporting beer festivals and whatnot around Cleveland and I couldn't be less impressed. There's not a beer there I would willing drink, aside from maybe a Chillwave or Lake Erie Monster. My boyfriend is from Houston and their two big breweries are Karbach (yes, I know they sold out) and Saint Arnold and they both make muuuch better year-round beer, so I'm always happy and excited to attend a festival supported by them. But it really sucks when I think the biggest brewery here isn't work a penny of my paycheck.

 

Four Roses barrels were used in 2012 and its been Heaven Hill since.

 

Founders Frootwood bottle dated 12/22/2016 and Cleveland receives this brew 2/7/2017.

 

I thought chillwave was good this year. For sure better then last year. To me still not as good as when I first had it years ago but who knows.

Had some juju on tap. It smells super citrusy this year I don't remember being that way. I feel the super juicy will be even better because of it maybe

 

I imagine great lakes is happy with who they are, a brewery that keeps a large mass happy with their repeating beers, while being reasonably priced. People love christmas ale, conways and oktoberfest. I suppose those pay the bills along with Dortmunder.

I do miss rye of the tiger, that was a good beer. Wright pils was a good clean beer. That spring pack they put out a few years ago ruined me, I got stuck with all those beers after buying the pack for a party and nobody touched a bottle.