Beer shop finds.

BA ten fidy at Northborough Wegmans

 

Canned and dated...my God. Arguably the greatest sessionable beer of all time at 4.3%.

So this is a different version we haven't seen previously, correct? I don't recall the bottles or even drafts being unfiltered.

Has anyone see this out in the wild yet? I was at Ball Square yesterday and didn't see it, but then again I wasn't looking for it either.

 

Correct. The can is the unfiltered, draft version. I got mine at CBC Belmont. Also saw that Row 34 had cans for onsite, obviously. Only places I’ve seen having via social media.

 

Tried it this evening. It's ok. Not great. Not awful. Has that very distinctive SA malt flavor which never seems to work too well in their IPAs.

What I will say is if you look at the can, they've gone for the "label on an aluminium can" look. So craft beer! So brewed in a barn and hand packaged!

Except it's not a label on a can. It's a full printed can made to look like a label on an aluminium can.

This is the saddest indictment of where SA find themselves in modern brewing. Trying so hard to be relevant and loved by the cool kids. It's the equivalent of going to Gillette stadium to watch AC/DC, wearing your just bought off the rack at target vintage look band shirt, pulled on over your summer button down blue Oxford with accompanying Nantucket reds.

 

LOL.
Haven't seen these in person yet but thought the image looked as you described - labels on cans. But I didn't think they went so far to actually design the whole can to look that way... completely hilarious.

 

The SA NEIPA was solid to good. It wasn't mind blowing, but it was well made. It was tropical, soft, and full bodied, while not muddy or turbid. I honestly didn't pay attention to the packaging, other than noting that it was bland.

I can't say that it would regularly find its way into my own fridge (we live in NE, there's ready access to some top NEIPAs). It's the type of beer you're glad is in the cooler of a company cookout. It was worth trying, but yeah, there's better stuff out there. There's a lot worse stuff out there too. It's above the middle of the pack for me though.

 

CBC Fenway has Salted Caramel Dragon's Milk Reserve. $22 for a 4-pack or $6 for a 12 oz bottle.

 

I'm crossing my fingers that it is at least passable, as it expands the beer options at stadiums and other places that are stuck with InBev/SA contracts. Despite my general disdain for what I believe is unfounded loyalty to SA, adding to the number of decent beers available just makes going to restaurants easier.

 

Grabbed some of the Sam Adams NE IPA tonite and I think it's pretty good. Roughly on par with something like Wally I'd say. Perhaps a little more bitter than average. I'll need to have it again before I feel comfortable saying anything more specific about it.

The faux low tech labels are kind of a funny touch. And the best buy date on mine is March 2018 so they're at least being aggressive about shelf time for a wide release. I'd prefer a born on date but this works as long as that they don't quietly change the 90 day window.

 

Came across Ipswich's new (?) barley wine at CBC Belmont today too: Hellbound. At apparently 11.8% ABV they really ought to put the ABV on the can for this one.

I don't drink a lot of barley wines but I'm probably enjoying this more than Bigfoot, though it's perhaps a little too sweet. Very raisin forward, almost like a dark Belgian without the yeast.

Be curious what those who are really into Barley Wines think.

 

Holy FUCK!!!!!!!!

Are these available in the States? If so, what is the price point on these bad boys!? This is a desert island beer for me.
I need these in my life, STAT!!!!!!!!!

 

I've gone to a couple of stores (Pemberton, Gordon's Watertown) and haven't been able to find it. Untappd indicates that Total Wine may have gotten a bunch.

 

They have a bunch of it at CBC Belmont. $16 for the 4 pack. If I knew it was this hard to find I would have grabbed it right then!

 

Shame on you for not grabbing one right then regardless of how easy it is to find.

 

I went in on a fairly specific mission, and once I had $60 of beer in hand I balked at plonking down another $16.

This does not explain why I didn't at least by one though...

 

Exhibit A beers have made it to Kappys in Fitchburg! Hurray!

 

I'm by no means a barley wine expert, but it sounds from your description that Ipswich's is an English style BW, where Bigfoot is firmly in the American camp. I'm not a huge fan of american barley wine. For me if a beer is going to be big and syrupy, I don't like over the top bitterness too.

 

Row 34 has the Schlenkerla Helles cans available right now for $9. I ordered one last night - perfect pairing with a half dozen oysters. I haven't had one in a couple of years. Crisp and delicious. Smokier than I remember, but in a good way.

Interestingly, the back of the can has a picture of the enormous tank container that B United used to bring the beer over from Germany. I saw these when I went on a tour of OEC/B United last year. About the size of a heating oil truck tank. The label says "Tank Container Canning Project. Brewed in Bamberg & canned fresh in Connecticut." Maybe more canned European treasures on the way?

 

That makes sense and I must be the same way. I just looked up their one sheet and they describe it as "their take on an American Barleywine" but it's only 35 IBUs and there's a lot of European hops on the bill.

http://www.ipswichalebrewery.com/SELL SHEET PDFs/Hellbound.Sell Sheet.pdf

 

Yeah, reading that everything sounds pretty English except the Nugget, which despite being an Americnan hop exhibits a lot of qualities associated with more old-world varieties.