What if...?

I suspect Green Flash did a better job brewing those beers than Cold Spring would have.

 

Has you not had anything from Cold Spring?

 

What if in the late 1960's Philip Morris had brought P. Ballantine and Sons instead of Miller Brewing?

 

What if Toppling Goliath hadn't decided to limit production of KBBS and instead made enough for at least some distribution? Could they have maintained the cult status it has and would it be the #1 beer on BeerAdvocate? Last I heard there were no dragon's teeth, unicorn hairs, or phoenix feathers in it so no apparent barrier to higher production. Once a year they disappoint and alienate thousands of potential customers, some of which have given up on TG all-together. What if they ramped up production?

 

But if they ramp up production it Won't Be As Good As It Was Last Year. Plus I Won't Understand The Cult Status/Hype For A Beer That's Just OK. (See KBS/CBS.) Do we really need more Self Turds taking up space from NEIPAs?

 

“What if” I never went to Bamberg? Would I have dedicated so much time and energy obsessing about a beverage?

I remember my girlfriend at the time saying, “I bought us plane tickets to go to Germany because I know you always wanted to go there.” I responded, “Huh, I never wanted to go to Germany... but great, let’s go.” That was the beginning of the end.

 

I could probably come up with a 100 "What If" entries just for Stone, DFH, and Sam Adams.

 

Even though Doc prohibited me from consuming beer/alcohol (and pretty much everything else I enjoy) it doesn't mean I can't read and think about beer, right?

What if these businesses combined forces and names?

-King David's Brewing Company + Toppling Goliath = David And Goliath Brewing Company
-Stone Brewery + Cold Beer Company + Dead Bear Brewing = Stone Cold Dead Beer Company
-Islip Cold Beer + Fall Brewing Company = Islip and Fall Brewing
-Catskill Brewery + Three Blind Mice Brewery = Catskill Mice Brewery
-Jackie O's + Robinson Beer + Brooklyn Brewery + Liquid Hero = Jackie Robinson Brooklyn Hero Brewery
-The Hay Merchant Bar + Kid Rip's Tavern + Old Europe Tavern = Hay Kid Europe Tavern

 

Sobriety can do funny things to one’s mind.

 

I appreciate (and am surprised by) your awareness of my closest local bottle shop. It's been in the same spot forever (50+ years and with who knows how many owners), but not exactly an iconic landmark. Did you formerly live down in this part of Suffolk County?

 

What if Korbel had never thought to open a little brewery side project in the late 90's?

 

I was there once good food better beer.

 

One of the biggest “what ifs” for modern beer is -

“What if” Fritz Maytag didn’t buy Anchor?

 

What if Celis hadn't sold to Miller who immediately ran them into the ground? Did Miller do that on purpose, because it seems odd that they were able to destroy a great brewery so quickly.

 

I tried Bad Boy a few years ago before I started reviewing, it was an eye-opener.
If the Cold Spring deal did go through my hope would be that Alpine Beers would have better distro in my region and of course remain at O.G. quality.

 

Wait... is that a really big "what if"? Anchor would've gone under, steam beer would have become a historic beer, and others would have eventually taken up the charge. The only question is who would have taken up the charge and when - it was bound to happen.

 

I’m not so sure what the current picture would look like if Fritz didn’t step in. Maybe I see it as more of a house of cards than something inevitable.