Three Floyds is Coming to MA

Haven't tried any of their hoppy stuff before, but so long as it's reasonably priced, easy to find, and less than 30 days from packaging date, I look forward to trying it.

 

Or Two Hearted? I love having it available, (relatively) fresh, and <$20 (out the door) 12 packs. Plus it's my wife's favorite and you know what they say about that...

OK, @mrnegativenelly! (Good point though, we'll see...) And any ties to Idaho? I lived in Ketchum for a couple years...

 

Well, I’m sure it’ll be at least easy to find...

Legendary well made beer for sure, but I wasn’t a big fan. Nothing wrong with it, it just didn’t jive with me. But I’ve been meaning to revisit it.

 

Haven't had it. Good? It wasnt one of my first 3 tries from Bells that comprised my "3 strikes and you're out" rule. But I'd be willing to give that one a try still.

 

Two hearted annoyed me - felt useless. Drank like a solid 5% amber ale. Not what I want in a 7% IPA. And I'm not looking for NEIPA character in it either.

 

That’s probably what my wife likes about it, it’s a real easy drinking beer. And I can’t find much wrong with it, until about the three month mark at least

 

Was it fresh? I'd encourage you to give it another chance. It's a phenomenal IPA in my book. The pine/grapefruit combination of Two Hearted is unmatched in any other IPA I've found.

As for FFF, Robert the Bruce, their scotch ale, is another good beer to look for if you like darker styles, and one that will not fall off as quickly as the hoppy beers. I have my doubts much if any will make it out this way, but if I see it, I'll buy it.

 

I have never heard of an IPA fan not liking Two Hearted. I think it is a great go to if nothing on the shelf catches your eye.

 

I have not ever been a huge fan, probably because of the darker malt bill. If I’m buying a reliable WC style IPA off the shelf from that era I’m reaching for Jai Alai.

 

I feel like the midwest kind of has it's own IPA thing going on right now. It's not quite east, not quite west, and not quite new england. I suppose Two Hearted is kind of an og in that area though so maybe it is a west coast IPA.

 

All the ones I've tried that have landed in NH were malty with muted hops. Used to be a fan but much better options out there nowadays.

 

Two hearted on cask at their cafe in Kalamazoo was/is the best beer I have ever had.

 

I've never really thought of Jai Alai as a true WC style IPA, Two Hearted is closer to a WC style IPA IMHO.

The thing with Cigar City and Bell's is that they, rightly, sell these beers a bit more towards the mid-priced IPA range. You can buy a 12 pack of either at a decent price and you are getting a great beer at a great price. They aren't competing so much with high priced 4 pack IPA's. Toppling Goliath is competing with the high priced 4 pack IPA's. The OP's link failed for me so I can't see what price point Three Floyds is coming in at.

If Three Floyd's is going the Toppling Goliath approach and positioning itself as a high end $16-18 4 pack I don't see them succeeding. Three Floyd's is a bit more old school than Toppling Goliath from what I can remember. They make great beers but its a hard sell for me to choose Three Floyd's if its at $16 for 4 if I can buy a 12 pack of Two Hearted for a few bucks more. I've never seen a 12 pack of Jai Alai up here but when I've bought it in Florida its pretty reasonably priced. I guess we'll see but there is a lot of competition and I'm surprised to see so many breweries expanding out here.

 

Right. It’s not as if there haven’t been an advancements in brewing technique or new hop varietals, so yes, less get our 2009 on.

 

I wasn't impressed with Two Hearted cans I had last summer. First time I tried Two Hearted was on tap somewhere in NYC and it was fantastic.

Got a 6er of Zombie Dust once from a beer bro in Chicago. This was maybe ~2015 or 2016. It was good but didn't blow me away, but I wouldn't mind revisiting it.

 

I think people expect transcendent experiences with these beers (myself included). Two Hearted is good. I could see someone loving it.

In a way, it’s probably a lot like Allagash White inasmuch as I love it. It’s constantly in my fridge. If Allagash suddenly expanded to Alaska and I told a friend there that they “have to have it, it’s incredible” i think it’s probably possible that they don’t love it as much as me (which means they’re amateurs with terrible taste, obviously)

 

The link only includes pricing for draft product, which is rather competitive compared to a lot of beer in this market. Packaged beer is a mix, with some "core" beers coming in 6-packs of 12-ounce cans (and 12-packs in the case of Gumballhead), or 4-packs of 16-ounce cans for "specialty" offerings. Strangely, Alpha King, which will become a staple in my fridge the moment it hits the market, also comes in the 4-pack format. I would expect to see 6-packs of Zombie Dust on the shelf for around $14, and 4-packs of Alpha King for around $12.

 

My one long time friend that I swap boxes with in Chicago often throws in a couple Zombie Dust so I've had it in the last year or so.

I'd put Zombie Dust in a a category similar to the IPAs the NEBCO makes down here in CT. Zombie Dust is (I believe) all Citra which I guess means that I'm comparing it to Fuzzy Baby Ducks but I've never had them side-by-side or anything.

 

Thanks, I tried the link in another browser and now I can see it. Their keg prices are competitive, sounds like they will be pricing in the mid-priced range. $90 for a decent craft beer keg is really good IMHO (1/6th barrel that is). Now that I see that I think they could do pretty well. I'd like to see more NE breweries start to have more offerings in these ranges. Jack's Abby, some of Night Shift, Stoneface, and Zero Gravity are basically in that zone, if not just slightly above. EDNOSE just mentioned NEBCO which I think is also in that range. Good beers, maybe not blow your socks off, at good prices and mostly more balanced than most of what's out there today (IPA/Pale Ales).

Its always very difficult to judge a beer that you have really high expectations of. Once in a while I'm really blown away by how good a beer with a lot of hype is but for the most part my first try is a let down. Sometimes it's also the context of when you drink it, early in the hype or later. When a beer is no longer unique it doesn't really matter whether it was the first one, even if its still the best.

 

I'm excited for this, have always enjoyed ZD when I've traveled to Chicago. But as with anything, freshness and price will dictate how much I buy. And price will likely dictate freshness too since expensive 6-packs will sit and new shipments will be slow to come.