Half Acre (2020)

Found regular Benthic today. Finally! Thought I completely missed the drop when a few places said they came a week or two ago. Wasn't going to be too sad considering the amount I've blown on beer the past 45 days, but really wanted to compare last can of '19 and a fresh can of '20.

 

Garfield’s???

 

Binny's McHenry still had it. Still 2x packs sitting there after I left. Limit 1.

 

Out of date info but Binny's Algonquin still had Benthic on Saturday. Limit 1 pack.

 

Big Hugs is crap and always has been. I love HA and they can otherwise do no wrong, but the one thing I would keep from Big Hugs is the kitty logos which are always amazing, change the formula to a non adjuncted Benthic base minus the coconut and go from there.

 

Wouldn't go as far as to call the barrel aged version CRAP, but also wouldn't waste my money buying it again given the multitude of other options that are superior and sitting next to it on the shelf space.

 

devils advocate - big hugs isn’t a high octane, wild palate ride. It’s... a comforting big hug of a beer. I’ve never regretted cracking one on a cold, lazy day. Benthic is a beast. I love it, but I only want it every now and again.

all that said, I’m going to pass on it this year. Because my cellar is a dark scary place over-spilling with terrors.

 

I think they have done something like this for the BA version. After Benthic and Catch Hell, I think there's a lot of reason to think BA Hugs is going to be excellent this year.

 

but it’s not the first year or second or third year of ba big hugs

 

Agreed, but I think its the only been a few years of Big Hugs moving in the Benthic/Catch Hell direction. Just what I've heard and I do feel like the BA version has changed in that way the last two or three years.

 

Not that Untappd is the gold standard, but statistically the ratings are flipped. BA Big Hugs has slipped each year with last year's version being the lowest rated.

Interesting the social media marketing for it this year is pitching it as the middle ground between an everyday stout and a high gravity pastry. That alone tells me not to be looking at BA Big Hugs as being more similar to Benthic or Catch Hell no matter the latters’ success. Half Acre will just have to come out with another new BA high gravity pastry stout.

 

Interesting and good points. Was 2019 the first year BA Big Hugs saw distribution?

 

I don’t need them to barrel age Big Hugs (never have). But if they could use the same base stout they use for Benthic/Catch Hell, I wouldn’t complain one bit.

 

Pretty sure I saw it and Benthic in 2018 for the first time.

 

I dunno, and maybe I just have a fond memory of 2019 Benthic, but this year's completely dropped the delectable coconut note in favor of some coffee and lots of booze. Definitely a bit of a letdown at the moment and want to revisit my 2019 against it to verify.

 

More Benthic (along with variants) available Friday morning. The limits have me...confused?

 

Yeah, that was an incredibly confusing way they wrote it. I think they were just trying to break down every way that you could organize 4 cans, but somehow accidentally added other words in there?

 

"Due to limited quantity, limits on Benthic are as follows: 4 beers per order per person. 
 - 1 4pk of Benthic 
 - 2 x 2pk of Benthic + 1 x 2pk of Benthic variant
- 1 x 2pk of each variant 1 x 4pks of Benthic, 1 x 2pks of Vanilla Benthic, 1 x 2pks of XTRA DUBL Benthic."

 

Truffles?