Half Acre Brewing Co. (2023)

Cherry Brandy, Sunken Ghost, regular Benthic, Land Before Shook and World of Bog just sitting in the coolers at Balmoral.

 

@eppCOS tell me someone sent you fresh Deep Space cans?

I can handle the job if necessary.

 

Was really impressed by the Cherry Brandy I cracked last night and haven’t grabbed any Bog yet, going to have to make the trek down soon

 

Yeah man, I've been distro'd and DEEP SPAC'D for days now... fond memories.
I don't think the new Space is getting distro, however. No worries, tho. Plenty of choices and I'm trying to be "good" (ugh) this month. Cheers!

 

Anyone know the current BA cans lineup available to go? In the post it looks like they have Benthic, Vanilla Benthic, Sickle and Orin?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CncNsdAuIQ2/

 

If that is a current photo, I see Orin, Sickle Through Sable, Before Land Shook, Benthic, Vanilla Benthic & World of Bog for BA beers there.

ETA: HA used to be good at updating their Beer To Go menu. Unfortunately, it seems to no longer be the case. The current menu does not appear to have been updated since August.

 

This can't be right, Nelson Double Daisy is a November release, Tend is the "Winter IPA". My guess is that someone is editing the file and not renaming it.

 

Good catch, you are likely right. I just looked at the file there.

 

I just bought a Nelson Double Daisy Cutter 4-pack off the shelf here in Minneapolis Friday and don't recall seeing on the shelves much earlier. You sure they wouldn't still be selling out of the taproom too if we're seeing distribution up here?

 

It didn't come out in August.

 

Nelson is shelf turding it up through IL, IN and WI so I would very much believe it is still available at HA.

 

I saw it on the shelf in the Twin Cities a month or so ago.

 

Shelf Turding? It was canned less than 2 months ago

 

And what do you think it has been doing on the shelves the past 2 months? Quiet quitting?

 

Oh, excuse me haha. Didn’t know being a shelfie was the same as a shelf turd. DDC Nelson isn’t even half way through its shelf life. You’re being ridiculous

 

New Year Round offering from Half Acre launches this week. Way Bird, Hazy IPA, 6.5% ABV

WayBird is where you want Hazy IPA to live. Rooted in El Dorado & HBC 586. Heavy waft Citrus & Stone Fruit. Just enough bitterness to keep it grounded in the Half Acre flavor realm. Big mouthfeel, easy drinking & clean IPA from your friends on Balmoral Ave.

 

Replacing anything? Seems a bit overkill potentially to have Bodem, Tome, Hallow, and this as year round beers. Can't remember the last time I purchased Tome or Hallow.

 

I was wondering the same thing but with the current wave of 6.5% accessible hazy IPAs hitting the market I think this is just Half Acre's entry into that market. I thought it might replace Tome but that's technically a Hazy Pale Ale coming in at a slightly lower ABV.

EDIT: Should also mention that Half Acre's current draft list also shows both beers as still available.

 

I enjoy a lot of half acre beers but it’s still strange to me when a brewery like this makes a marketing push for what seems like a new beer. Was it released previously, or maybe it had a different name? They release enough frequent one-offs - why not capitalize on momentum and scale up one that has already proven to be popular?

 

My guess is more thought goes into the marketing, name, etc when they go national. They probably are using a previous one off beer with minor tweaks- probably to the hop bill as they will need a readily available and consistent supply for a flagship.

 

I guess I'll have to do a side by side with Bodem, but they seem like they're basically the same to me. ABV (6.8% vs. 6.5%) and Bodem drinks like a hazy IPA.

 

I'm in the same boat. I usually keep a 12-pack of Bodem on hand as a nice everyday sort of option, but not the others.

 

I saw on HA’s website that catch hell is listed as a spring release. Anyone know if this is accurate?

 

Not sure, but I hope so...

 

Talked to a Half Acre brewer about two weeks ago and he said Catch Hell was either in the brite tank or canned and ready to go. Also asked if they're planning on double and triple barrel versions of it and he said no.

 

So that means they are going quadruple barrel then?!

 

Did you even ask about DB Benthic?

Wtf.

 

This may have already been discussed but was surprising to me since I mostly buy beers direct from breweries to support small businesses. I made a rare trip to Binnys today and never thought I would see plenty of Benthic just sitting there on a shelf. I love this beer, tried it maybe six - eight years ago for the first time? Just no way for me to justify buying it at that price ($54)...literally did not even consider. I guess some breweries are finally seeing the upper limits for what they can charge because there is no reason for this to be sitting around.

I bought stouts from Phase 3, Pollyanna and Pipeworks (6 cans) and spent $17 less...lol!

 

Were any of those thicc’er BA stouts with more expensive adjuncts like Coconut? (Don’t forget, it’s also hand-toasted, or whatever the heck they say on the can.)

Binny’s upcharges a little. I bought the box, and even after taxes AND a service fee from Ticket-fuckme-master, the cost was still only about $17 a can.

I don’t personally think $12ish for a can of regular Benthic is bad at all. It has huge coconut flavor, and is quite honestly the best bang for your buck coconut beer I can think of.

 

Totally get it, I don't blame you for purchasing. Like I said, I love the beer but too many other amazing options nowadays. 3 Floyds has (fortunately) spoiled us all on availability and cost for world class BA stouts.

 

No idea why they went to 4 packs. 2 packs allow a lower price point for people to enter and if they want to spend money on 2 2 packs to get 4 they can. I’m also not crushing high abv stouts so less is more. Make me drink 4 of the same high abv stout is a sure way to burn me out of your brewery.

 

Have you had them side by side? Im heading out to try Way Bird later today.
They shouldn’t be very similar in theory. Very different hop combos

 

I preferred 2x 16oz for $30...I split this year's box with a friend and skipped the extra 4 packs for $54 or whatever at binnys. Do I love it? Hell yes. Do I want it? Hell yes mll. Will I buy it in 4 packs at that price? Survey has thus far said no.

 

Looks like Oznr will be used for Catch Hell next week per their email. Glad they made the switch.

 

You might be the only one on here who thinks Oznr is an upgrade!

 

Maybe my palate has forever been ruined by 2x4, but I thought the coconut on the regular Benthic was actually quite subdued, I struggled to find it. The barrel presence was great, but for me it's a great level of coconut for a stout from like 5-10 years ago.
I blame 2x4... There's no going back now.

 

What is the downgrade? I've been stuck on Universe for +30 minutes at times not knowing if it has sold out. And it has crashed several times. I don't think I have seen Oznr crash before and it immediately says when it sells out after the sale opens. Fees are probably the same too?

 

Oznr regularly glitches and won’t load the payment card, or items don’t show up in the app until after they’re sold out. Universe is a website not an app so you can use multiple devices to wait in the queue, has never crashed for me either on phone or PC, always has my payment info ready when I’m logged in, never had an issue getting through the queue, have gotten every HA release since they moved online (even if I got a truffle refund, which was HA user error in their setup not a Universe issue). Will be interested to see if the fees go up as well.

Edit to say: check the Phase Three thread from November 16-17 and you will see a recent example of the shitshow.