Other Half December 2018

now that you can grab cans of Suarez Qualify at a certain other place nearby, there is even less of a reason to drink OH's pilsners than ever

 

Hmmm.. I may have to stop by said certain other place today. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Interesting read at Vine Pair about some beer drinkers always seeking that "new new".

My two cents: "ticking" (the term used by the article for the desire to "collect" beers, thus focusing on trying only new beers rather than seeking out good beers) is probably a normal phase that anybody geeking out on something goes through. When I first moved to NYC I was "ticking" off cocktail bars, ramen restaurants, hell- I was even ticking off chocolate chip cookies at one point (but stopped at Levain, amirite?).

I assume most of the regulars here had that phase at some point, but with experience and reflection, I've found that I tend to develop focus that allows me to enjoy my favorites over and over, and critically select the new beer experiences (like passing on the food-themed beers, or opting for tasters of the often iffy stouts OH releases) I seek.

So when Gage Siegel (of Beer Menus) suggests "modern beer consumers are less concerned with the caliber of individual beers", I think he's focusing on new beer drinkers, of which there are many; NEIPA's, sours, and craft beer generally has no doubt created entirely new demographics of beer drinkers. The only way to know what you like, quickly, is to try a ton of new shit.

 

Did anyone go to last years NYE event? Was it a total shit show, well run, overcrowded? $150 does suck, but it kind of comes with the territory of NYC and I d rather pay it to Other Half then the alternative...

 

#mylarforever

 

I wonder what we are staying tuned for

 

As far as "ticking" and "collecting" goes, you can definitely thank Untappd for that. I'm guilty of this and have bought beers solely because I haven't checked it into on Untappd and gotten burned. Looking at you Idaho 7 + Mouteka. It's a well made beer, and I'm sure it's enjoyable. I've just never had an Idaho 7 beer that I've enjoyed, and this was no exception.

The quote about modern beer drinkers being less concerned about caliber of individual beers makes sense to me. I don't know how true it is, but for the past few years NEIPAs seem to be far and away the most popular style of beer in the US. It's easy to see why since NEIPAs are easy to drink if you're not really into beer. A friend of mine recently asked me about getting into beer, so we met up at Industrial Arts and had a few beers. I did my best to describe the different styles, and at the end of the day one of their beers was by far his favorite. Guess which one?

I think there's also just not a whole lot of nuance to NEIPAs. A friend of mine once told me all of Tree House is the same shit with different cans. When you get to the top, obviously there will be things that set Other Half, Tree House, Trillium, Monkish etc apart from the rest of the pack, but when you get down to your IPA factories like aforementioned Magnify it all kind of gets blurred together. I couldn't begin to tell you a Magnify beer that I've had recently that really sticks out to me outside of Trade Proof. By the way, as a fruited sour it's another style that is easy to get into for novice beer drinkers but really pushes the envelope on what exactly a beer is.

 

OH thread having a woke moment today. What's going on? Everything okay at home, people?

 

Eternity.

 

shhhhhhhhhh

 

Spill it, no secrets here

 

Not only can you get suarez there, but also vliet which is also better.

 

Wink Wink

 

So many Elite Palates™️ And In The Know Bros®️ in here

 

Went to grab a 4 of the Mylar DD and while waiting for a growler fill I noted that one of the cans was missing a sticker. Made a mention of it and the generous bartender gave me the blank can plus a new fully stickered 4 pack.

#OHolidayspirit

 

All Eternity Everything

 

...and Tesseract (praise Jeebus I don't have to schlep up to Williamsburg as frequently...I simply can't compute what's going on up there).

 

#PilzPalz

 

Looks like the gigantic stout is only cocao and coffee, no coconut.