2019: resolutions, predictions and reflections

Picked up a 4-pack of Blackout stout this past weekend. Awesome beer. Got 3 more left and have 1 already penciled in for Saturday.

 

CPA confirmed

 

1. Stop getting FOMO of the hyped, "flavor of the week" NEIPA 4-packs and drink more great IPA's that I can find on the shelf on a regular basis. The NEIPA style always feel like a meal in a can to me anyway, and I can absolutely be happy (and so will my wallet) picking up fresh NvU instead.

2. Try to last most of the day at DLD with group A tickets (ya right). The last few years I've consumed plenty of water and food, only to have the "ya, it's time to go home" feeling around 2-3 pm.

3. Continue to not support breweries that have practices I do not agree with, or where I've experience very poor customer service. I know too many people who "practice" this, but rush over to get in line for the next hypeboi stout at these places - tie this into #1 with the FOMO I guess.

4. Try to spend more time/money at the physical brewery instead of purchasing retail if possible. Most of them have great food as well, so an added bonus for me.

 

Jeebus Christopher, I knew what I was saying was kind of a downer but I certainly wasn't suggesting "It would almost certainly thin the herd of breweries"!!!

(Although I do believe that's coming anyway just based on over-saturation and lack of quality on the lower end, which happens all of the time anyway, at least in the restaurant industry).

What I was trying to say is that the "relatively affordable luxury good" that craft beer is, will take a hit on its upper price tier, as will many other luxury items; and with that thought I tied in beers that are expensive to make, that's all. Some beers will have simply become too expensive to produce as they aren't bringing back the returns (and they only have a limited shelf life).

Beyond that, I think @Jsimansk is correct in that it will drive creativity (if I can't use vanilla beans what can I use?). That is a good thing!

But the recession will definitely also leave a void where some brewers cannot produce the interesting beers that they've been doing and don't have the creativity to come up with something else and thus need to fall back on more basic beers. We've already seen a resurgence of Pilsner coming from craft breweries, why not more beers along those lines?

 

I have had the exact opposite experience. Both of the past two years, I drank a Hopslam and a Stone IRS and wonder why the hell I even bought them.

For me the best beer isn't the old favorite, its the beer I have after not drinking for a while.

Combine a whale after a couple weeks of not drinking and its almost orgasmic.

 

It's January and budgets have been blown (per usual) so we are gonna get this trending: #DrinkTheCellar

 

Well maybe the problem was ever thinking Hopslam was special?

It definitely doesn't apply to every "old standard" beer, but I have been super impressed by some. Old Raspy is an example of one I didn't love still but Blackout Stout I loved almost more than I did before.