Other Half in May!

Having had Pile of Crowns, the Threes/Grimm collab, LIC Interstellar Overdrive, and Spicy Meatball today, Spicy Meatball is my favorite of the bunch at the present moment.

 

Can we have a bit more of a comparison, Mr. Ford?

 

Yes, and given there were more cans released from Finback, as well as additional cans by OH and LIC that he did not try today, an incomplete comparison indeed.

 

Let me schedule the paracentesis first, guys.

It's not all about you.

 

But it is fine to line up at OH when you clearly don't need to? While in almost all circumstances you can go off hours for Finback, the quality of their stouts will draw a line. Between the Dead is better than any stout OH has ever done.

On the hop side, Finback Four Year is better than Pile of Crowns (and Interstellar, and both of those are really good). Didn't have this weeks OH cans, but it is also better than all of the OH/EQ Collab weeks beers. I was surprised it was, and just an added bonus.

Point is it is hard to validate waiting for anything unless it is a given.

 

I'm just throwing shade on Finback because I've never had a good experience there and don't think their beers (stouts included) are special in the least. And you know that you do have to line up for OH sometimes if you want all the beer. I don't; but I can at least understand why people would want to make sure they get a hot OH release. Also, I’ll take a double IPA over a triple every day of the week.

 

I don't disagree with your sentiment at all. I don't go to Finback often, only when they have stouts because I feel theirs are better than an NYC area brewery save probably Grimm. It has just gotten to a point now it is all a crapshoot. I was stoked for the OH/EQ collab week, and collectively the beers were a let down. Same can be said for the Monkish week and the Burial collabs among others. Gimme a week of Mylar, Mosaic + Motueka, DMD, and DDH Hop Showers and that would shame most of the releases this year without the unnecessary hype.

 

Stopped by the taproom to grab some Spicy Meatball cans, had a pour of 570nm and really enjoyed it. I heard all three cans yesterday were double batches, would be nice if this was the norm moving forward. I don't usually hang out at the taproom much on Saturdays cause of the crowd, today was super mellow.

 

I think we've finally hit a tipping point where OH beer is easily accessible all weekend long. Congrats to upping the supply to meet demand.

I was in the area yesterday afternoon and decided to make a quick stop. Had all three of the new beers on tap and honestly if you had me taste them first to identify them, then blindfold me and have me taste them all again I would not be able to distinguish them apart. They all tasted VERY VERY similarly so I just bought a four pack of the Spicy Meatballs because that was the cheapest one of the three lol

 

Palate fatigue is beer advocate's badge of honor, your burden every can you consume. It does make me realize though that this wave of breweries we're showering with praise may have mastered coaxing magnificent flavors out of individual hops through brute force, but they are still not quite adept at making a melange as distinct as the individuals they are composed of.

The dual hop series is the necessary step in that direction and probably why it is IMO the place where the most exciting new flavors emerge. Every time another beer with a food-themed name is released (or a collab, which almost always involves three or more hops) I know it will be delicious, but I'm rarely able to distinguish it from the last one.

 

I've been thinking that this is also more true on a general level. Seems to me that particularly over the past year, we have seen a very significant increase in supply, from OH , existing breweries in the mid-atlantic and NE (treehouse increasing production by what 5x), and new breweries. Also, we seem to be hitting a point where there is only so much different you can do with these hops; recipes must be "dialed in" at this point, and what possibly can now be done with a citra and galaxy blend at 8.5% to make it that much different than any other top brewery's citra and galaxy? (We can add oats/lactose, and we can now start to be more specific about the exact citra hops, as we have started to see). So now we have lines or huge demand only mainly to "tick the box" or because some enjoy the lines and shares, or the idea that collaborations are a one time pinnacle beer (more often than not its a disappointment). Huge lines for Wangies, Triangle Test, Monkish collabs, etc... in retrospect these beers not really that different or maybe worse if we are being honest.
So we are now basically at the point where week-in and week-out, you can get really great beers as much as you want. Unless you really need the "hot" release (which may be worse than the repeat release), these will generally be easy to get and enjoy. Let's be honest-- with this year 1/3 over, have any of you had a DIPA beer that is that much better than some of the best beers last year? And I wonder if we tasted blind that would keep us honest...
I think this will quickly start to put pressure on breweries to figure out how to expand production while still keeping onsale at site (where margins are a multiple of those when you distribute). There is and will be a push for more locals buying beer and hanging out in the tap rooms-- it seems like there is only so much DIPA you can sell on a saturday morning. And since you pay rent for 7 days a week and make revenue in a span of a few hours one one day, you need to figure out how to make money the rest of the time.
I think most of our top breweries are doing fine, but I would think the challenges of this may cause some interesting changes in the coming months as brewers adapt to this.... Meanwhile, its great for consumers!!

 

or they could go the treehouse way. have a rotating cast of your "core" beers available by the case each and every week. Then when beer starts hanging around and/or lines start to die down -- silent release a "whale" at 1-4pp.

Granted, TH is definitely an outlier but they are basically printing money while producing over 1k barrels a WEEK.

 

Did Crickets sell out? I looked at the site and they aren't listing it for cans to go.

 

Darn I was looking forward to getting some cans from OH that weren't 8+% IPAs...

 

DDH Mylar Daydream: 8% Doubel dry hopped Imperial oat cream IPA w/ amarillo, citra, galaxy, mosaic, lactose, oats, citra + mosaic lupulin powder.

DDH Broccoli: 7.9% Double dry hopped Imperial IPA w/ cascade, hallertau blanc, mosaic, simcoe + mosaic lupulin powder, oats + wheat.

DDH All Citra Everything: 8.5% Double dry hopped Imperial IPA with mosaic hops.

DDH Southernhopalistic: 7.5% Double dry hopped IPA w/ nelson sauvin, motueka + topaz.

DDH Go With the Flow: 6% Double dry hopped IPA w/ citra, motueka, simcoe, citra + simcoe lupulin powder.

Etheral Haze collaboration w/ Modern Times: 11% Double Dry hopped Imperial IPA w/ mosaic, amarillo, motueka, cashmere, 2-row malt + oats.

 

Interesting move replacing the citra hops in ACE with mosaic. Will really turn that beer on its head. For those of you who say Other Half is stagnating, I point you towards this innovative move.

 

That ultra rare variant. Though, I will hold out for the Triple Dry Hopped Lactosed Version.