Fresh Beer Experience

Having fresh Sculpin on draft in Vermont, roughly 5 years ago.

I don't believe Sculpin was available in NH at the time, and the only bottles of Sculpin I could find (also in Vermont), were at least 2 months old. Not "old" by any means, but not exactly fresh either. And they were always sat warm on the shelf.

Oh man. That draft pour changed me. One of the best IPA's I'd ever had at the time. I got another one right after. So good.

On the flip side, right across the street I had a pour of 3 year old Bigfoot. At that point I was against aging beer, but that definitely changed my mind.

God I love Vermont.

 

Pliny aged for a couple years. In all seriousness, most IPAs are night and day before and after a month canned IMO. My significant other looks at me like a fiend while looking through the bottom of all cans at the store.

 

Recently I enjoyed my first brewery fresh Hefeweizen, now I know there are better Hefes in this world, but I was knocked out by how sparkling fresh the hops and other ingredients were. Prost! Bavarian Hefeweizen by CraftRoots Brewing in Milford, Mass.

Went to Tree House last year and had my first brewery fresh turbid juice bombs and really enjoyed them. Not knocking TreeHouse but they are an hour+ away and there are dozens of closer breweries.

The point is, clean your growlers and growlettes and hit your local brewery if you want freshness.

 

That's Highlands AVL West Coast Style IPA. I love it! Also around here and generally very fresh is Foothills Jade. That is a tasty and sneaky draft beer. Goes down so easy....

 

Fresh Sip O Sunshine is really something else. I also live close to Industrial Arts, Wrench fresh is a real treat.

 

I had the Highlands at Barleys in Asheville with pizza, but that beer figuratively exploded with flavor. Can’t say what I’ve had canned comes close to that beer on tap.

 

It would be nice if some breweries would distribute to certain locations on a seasonal basis. A lot of regional breweries move into a new market, product is fresh and sales are brisk. Soon sales slow down and product ages. Then it seems to hardly move at all. If I see Jai Alai less than 6 weeks old I’d buy it usually closer to 3 months. Some story with many other beers. Last time I was in Chicago Psuedo Sue and Zombie Dust were stacked on the floor at 2-3 months old. It was kind of sad.

 

I go on mini hex benders everytime a new batch hits us. It is amazing for about the first 30 - 40 days, then it is ok for a good while longer. Just drank one that was exactly 30 days from canning earlier today and I felt like I could taste the looming cliff (a hyperbolic beer nerd cliff that goes from great to the terrible depths of good)

 

Can’t remember last time I had a Jade, I really like Foothills beers, and the food at the brew house is also exceptional.

 

A long time ago I was a QC supervisor for a bottle factory in So. Calif. I was sent to the A1 brewery in Phoenix (long since gone) They used our 40oz Mallox bottles for their A1 beer. Nice heavy bottle that could take pressure. In their break room was fresh unpasteurized A1 beer. The difference was astounding. But remember, this was before craft beer except for Anchor Steam, (which I also was sent to, but never got inside to the brewery), and possibly a few more. Later on it was certainly SNPA from donated 5 gal carboys at the San Luis Obispo Festival of Beers.Ah good times. But lately it's got to be Sticky Hands from Block 15.

 

I have two memorable experiences related to fresh beer.

1. Bavarian beer at the source is not something you should miss. If you haven't you need to go and experience drinking the most perfect beer on the planet. Until you move 3 km to the next town and do it all over again. If you have the chance you should inquire why the Helles in this town is so much better than the Helles in that town 3 km away. They will tell you, and they are right. It is beer heaven.

2. Close second. Iceland, despite having only legalized beer in 1989 (wtf!?) has a really great beer scene. PFM.
We visited Brehus Stedji in Borgarbyggd (and trust me, you stumble on these sort of places in Iceland... it is not a normal place...nothing is expected). Despite it being 4:45 and a posted closing of 5:00 the bartender/assistant brewer/owner was more than willing to sit around and talk shop. With a bus full of Icelanders singing drinking songs he apologized for not having everything on tap, then said well, why don't we just drink some beer from the bright tanks, out in the brewery? Reminded me of the US craft scene around 1990. A small group of like minded individuals who knew great beer was not only about recipes or process. Really great beer too.

I'd do both again just for the beer.
Cheers

 

Agree ,and that IPA is always so much better on tap.

 

For me the one IPA that falls of the fastest is Sculpin.

 

I don’t care for it personally, there’s far better options, never cared for Green Flash as well. But... I did like Grapefruit Sculpin straight up, and I liked to mix it with the Habanero too.

 

Might have been a time when my palate was different,but most likely it was B4 the sale of BP. Sculpin in the old label was just disto to Minnesota at about 12 days old, it was sublime. Sadly Sculpin is no longer the brew it once was.

 

I’m having trouble thinking of anyone here who thinks highly of Sculpin right now. Not likely there a mass palate shift, I’d guess it’s the beer.

 

I like this and wish more breweries would do the same. In Minneapolis we get Weldwerks,Hoof Hearted ,FFF, some limited Great Notion on limited drops its nicely fresh and sells out quickly it not a shelf brew and i like that.

 

FTFY. FYI, 'infinitesimally' means vanishingly small.

 

Is Masala Mama still a "thing"? I remember it impressing the hell out of me when I got a Growler in a trade.