Half Acre (2020)

Really surprised to hear they're doing away with Tuna. I have quite a few of those "like craft beer but aren't crazy into it like you", and that's the most common beer they have in their fridge.

 

Is there any more info on this? I can’t seem to find anything on social media

 

Tuna always felt like the black sheep of the year round lineup. I never bought it despite it being delicious.

 

Gone Away won a GABF medal as well . Vallejo was excellent. People loved Navaja. No one is questioning whether the beers are good, it's whether a "stale" lineup moves product(and by stale I mean it's not a new product, nothing to do with the excellent taste/quality). They need to continually put something else out to keep people interested.

 

The last few posts are all evidence of how many good beers Half Acre makes. I'm in the same boat as someone who loves Tuna but doesn't buy 4-packs of it. Hopefully they keep it on tap at their taprooms because a nice pale at at 4.7% is my jam on draft.

 

I actually haven't seen anything since the initial email (their Feb. newsletter). Wondering if they're going to push it back, or drop it without much hype.

Yeah, we've discussed this a bunch of different times in different forums, but I would imagine one of the big struggles a lot of breweries have is balancing a lot of buyers' need to get something "hot and new" versus dialing in year-round offerings. I'm not saying everyone loved Navaja, but the general consensus around here was fantastic, and yet it clearly didn't get enough traction in stores to warrant year-round production. Most people who had it seemed to enjoy Tuna quite a bit, but my guess is that they realized that a low-ABV hazy IPA would probably be a bigger move in the current market than Tuna is (especially since so many of the Big Guys are going all-in on low-cal haze).

 

I think Half Acre's willingness to adapt while retaining their brand identity means they'll be around for a long time. It's not an easy thing to do.

 

Vlad the Conquistador is the only cinnamon beer I've ever had where I thought it might be too much.

 

Navaja. This is a beer I tried 4-5 years back at a beer store tasting on a fresh palate and only kinda liked. Fast forward to last November: I picked one up fresh from HA and absolutely loved it. Now I'm not much of a hop head, and this isn't the go-to example of palate-change that we talk about, but I chalk this up as a situation where I wasn't ready for that level of hop flavor at that point in my beer life.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that unless palates and beer buying habits stop changing we shouldn't expect beer lineups to stay the same either.

 

No....it was only listed in their emailed February release newsletter to individuals who signed up for notifications. Assuming theyll announce something in the coming days though.

Excited for this. Assuming there will be a little line Friday but well see. I'm hoping it's in the same mold as the recent benthic mouthfeel wise. Vanilla+Cinnamon should play well together. Also wonder the length of aging. If this is a big hit then it plus the benthics high praise should put HA back on the map stout wise

 

Same here. Whenever a place that normally avoids hazy beers decides to make one I'm very often disappointed.

 

Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed my visit to the Lincoln location last Thursday. I was in town apartment hunting and really had a nice visit. Smoking Gull was a really good pale that went nicely with the food (BBQ chicken burrito, chimichurri potatoes and bacon braised greens). Classic Future was a nice and bitter hazy...and the BA big hugs was fine. Small pour was perfect. Overall, looking forward to being able to visit a little more often now that I’ll be living there!

 

Remember, if you take an apartment that is a few hundred dollars less, you have a few hundred dollars more to spend at Half Acre....

Of HA's newest hops, I'd say Double Dungeons was the winner, Classic Future wound up being really good a week old, and a couple week old Fine Time is either meh or Sabro just messes it up.

 

Unfortunately those apartments that cheap put me in places I did NOT want to be! Going to be in Uptown.

 

A LOT of good food in that area, especially if you like Asian options.

 

That’s what my buddy told me! And yes, I do. I love that Hopleaf is within fairly close walking distance.

 

I can confirm that after thinking Classic Future was too sweet, the hops were shining through in the can I had last night. The sweetness I was getting previously was muting most of the hop presence, and bitterness, but the latter two were very much there this time.

I live just a few blocks up Clark from Hopleaf. That stretch of Clark is a goldmine for great food, especially the Mediterranean options.

 

And see, the I was getting abrasive hop flavor, but that subdued making for a wonderul beer. Sometimes, some time is all these beers need.

 

The peking duck at Sun Wah is to die for! And Demera is excellent if you're in the mood for Ethiopian.

 

We successfully converted my family from eating at a place in Chinatown for Christmas dinner, to Sun Wah this past Dec. While I don't love all their dishes, the ones I've had have at least been good, the prices are reasonable, and yeah, if you go there for the Peking/Beijing duck, that shit is awesome.