Flower Power 12-Pack Cans

I used to go to college in Ithaca and I agree that Flower Power used to be better.

 

This thread sucks but I can’t help keep checking back for the answer. And I’m getting let down each time. 2018 is boring so far.

 

Like many other beers, the newest generation of beers has eclipsed the older generation. When I first started drinking craft when I could find it fresh drank a lot of Flower Power.

 

I think you and I paid for Ithaca's expansion.

 

Is that just for the 12 oz cans? Because their 16 oz cans have no date on them whatsoever.

 

I always try to avoid breaking confidences, so I won't comment on things many in this thread wonder about internal process at Ithaca other than to say suspicions are completely warranted.

But, you don't replace a brewer like Chief. You try to make the best of a situation, and hope quality can stay the same. When Chief left Peekskill brewery the same thing happened as at Ithaca, the beer went downhill, despite his replacement, Matt Levy, being a talented brewer, and now Amit Ram who also is very talented and replaced Matt, also can't achieve the quality Chief created.

 

I also live in Ithaca. I live so close to the brewery that I can't listen to a full song on the radio before I pull into the lot. And yet I consider my Upstate my local brewery. That place is always worth a visit, and the hops are bright and wonderful.

 

I can definitely echo the sentiment of the reduced quality of FP. I used to slug FP on a daily basis and considered it in the upper echelon of beers, even when IPAs were not my preferred style. Hell, I’d like to thank FP for turning me on to IPAs. The last few times I’ve had it over the past 3 years or so, it has not even been close to the same beer. The last time I had a good FP was on tap in the club house of a golf course in Oneonta. That was 2013.

 

The first time I had Flower Power was back in early 2012, (before Chief's departure?), and was still fairly new to craft in general (4 years in), and particularly to IPAs. Thought it was outstanding, an eye opener. I've only had FP once or twice since 2012 (not within the last 3 years). Thought it was still excellent. So the apparent consensus that it's a shadow of it's former glory saddens me. But, even if the head brewers who followed Chief had been able to perpetuate the FP magic, it's unlikely I'd ever drink it again, for a couple of other reasons – not being able to consistently find it reasonably fresh and the fact that I am more into trying new beers than revisiting. It's a shame, but having so many other IPA choices from an increasing number of breweries (local or not) makes it easier to move on.

 

Jeff was already gone then; he left Ithaca in the fall of 2011.

Cheers!

 

Hmm, maybe I got the last batch he brewed, though if so it would have been past it's prime.