Barrier Brewing Co.

All-In is an absolutely killer beer. These guys are (somehow) quietly pumping out some absolutely superb beers -- hope it stays quiet, too, because right now they're all easy to get.

 

Now Barrier is making a milkshake IPA? I thought they had principles!

 

The principles of Evan and Craig seem to be much different from the opinions of the current day to day brewing team.

 

What do you mean by that?

 

Yeah I'm confused too.

 

Add me to the list

I also thought Craig wasn’t part of the picture anymore and that Evan was “freed” up to do more en vogue beers. So Craig is still involved?

 

Line life haze boyz are already on line!

 

This milkshake IPA prompted me to post this in another thread "When your local brewery losses its true essence":

 

I don’t think it’s really fair to get on them for this. They’re still brewing all different types of beers. I just got cans of a Baltic Porter from them. They’re making pilsners left and right. Their tap list consistently has variety.

Have they shifted their “focus” a bit? I think so. But you can say that about a ton of breweries around the country now.

 

Didn't mean to cause confusion, Craig has been gone for 3 years now. That said, when it was just Evan and Craig they were less interested in chasing trendy styles. Don't have to look into this much further than the backstory of 'Money', it was a beer created to chase just that.

Craig has been gone for a few years now, but Evan over those years has brought in more brewers who have a different perspective and it's my understanding that it's the newer guys who are doing most of the day to day brewing while Evan is running the overall business.

 

I'm in agreement with @guinness77 . Considering that they recently bottled their Kolsch (and considering that it's a damn fine beer), recently brought back bottles of a past saison, recently canned their "Baltic porter," etc... they haven't turned their backs on beers from their history or non-IPAs. Of course they can IPAs more than they can anything else by a huge margin, but it's not like they used to can/bottle everything back in the day either. To me, they still resemble the same brewer as before despite the fact that they no longer brew my personal favorite beer from them. I don't grab every IPA that they can, but I also decided against doing such things with them before they were canning beers. One change I really see is their slowly increasing presence in stores. Trader Joe's had a stack of Tanto along with their Super Bowl display. Good for everybody. Just to be clear, I do agree that their focus has shifted in terms of the ratio of new IPAs to various old brews. Your complaint there is legitimate. I just don't think that says it all though.

I think you're also exaggerating things when you talk about their conflicting "principles." Even using that word puts far too much unnecessary weight on the topic. In their timeline, you'd place Money closer to their beginnings than to the brewer of today. So if they were "chasing money" with an IPA back in the day, then surely their principles haven't changed so much compared to today.

 

Great point about distro. Picked up several fresh cans from my local Korean supermarket in park slope on Monday

 

I'm trying to remember where he went, but I just can't recall anything. Anybody know?

 

While I can't speak to interpretation, there is zero attempt on my part to exaggerate. I haven't made any sweeping generalizations and everything I've said is factual. I have no issue with the direction Evan is going, it's his business and he can do as he likes. I also have no issue with the way he did business with Craig for that matter.

The only reason I used the word 'principles' is because I was responding to @ecpho saying "Now Barrier is making a milkshake IPA? I thought they had principles!" I was merely pointing out that things have changed, it's up to you the consumer to decide if it's for the best or not.

Barrier was established in 2009 and Money IPA was added to BA on 07-09-2012. That said, Money didn't really start to become a staple until 2013 after they had moved to the current brewery and cleaned up from Sandy.

 

I believe it was Chicago, I had asked him what he was going to do and he said his wife had an amazing opportunity that they couldn't pass up. Don't know if he works in the beer industry anymore.

 

Works with his wife. Some sort of greenhouse business I believe. Nothing beer related anyway

 

After all this back and forth, their milkshake IPA is fantastic.

 

Which one is that? I've been pleased to find their stuff at the 7th Ave Key Foods lately, but haven't seen it in smaller shops...