Hoof Hearted Brewing (2017)

I've never had any HH beer and was pretty set on making the drive sometime this year from chicago. After this thread I think I'll reconsider until they get their act together.

On a side note: lots of people are upset about the DLD variant distribution this year, but the kind of shit you read about in this thread necessitates it. People who take all of the fun out of the hobby should not just be stopped, they should be punished.

 

Knowing Hoof Hearted, Atomic Wedgies would be the chosen form of punishment.

 

You are correct. It was completely hypothetical. Just based on their model and business practices. We were talking in like how no established brewery touches this style. The craft beer bubble is quite large right now.

 

To each their own, of course, but how are NE IPA’s “sophomore” shit? Why bash a certain style of beer, just because you don’t like it? That seems “sophomore” shit to me, not a brewery producing a certain style of beer. If they were so easy to produce, why is it that so many breweries (big or small) tend to have difficulty in producing it well?

I don’t understand your logic that brewing NE IPA’s means you are inexperienced or just trying to stay relevant… That’s just silly.

NE IPA’s are just another style… Embrace it. If you don’t like them, so what? If you love them, so what? It’s beer, just drink what you like. No need to try and categorize breweries into being “juvenile” because they focus on NE IPA’s or any other style… That is why we have choices!

 

Agreed.

Don't forget, Hill Farmstead is the most likely originator of this style, and few would dare consider anything they put out sophomore shit.

 

It just goes against a lot of what brewers have been taught and have learned over the decades. A lot of the more old school guys look at NEIPA and see a ton of flaws and silly technique. Same goes for kettle souring, which most NEIPA breweries do a lot of as well. Look at how proud Jackie O's is to not use kettle souring to produce any of their Berliner or Gose releases.

 

The craze over konkey is most likely the fact that it's the only thing Ohio has right now that resembles what trillium/tree house and the like are putting out

 

So are you saying the birth of the west coast IPA was a flaw and silly technique? The same style that is now the bread and butter for many breweries? I am sure there was a bunch of stubborn breweries at the time that say, Pliny came out, or Anchor’s Liberty Ale for that matter, that many considered “wrong” and thought that it wouldn’t get popular or established as it did. This is the same exact thing!

Times change, styles evolve and what is wrong today will be the gold standard years from now.

As far as kettle sours go, I personally love them. I love them as much as the traditional lambics or barrel aged sours… They are different, just like styles of beer. When I want that clean, lacto-pucker without the oaky, brett funk… Kettle sours are my jam. No denying “traditional” sours are more difficult to make and have a far more complex flavor profile… Does it make them better? Subjective. That does not make one better than the other, even if a brewery tends to think so.

It’s just stupid to bash on particular styles of beer just because you may or may not like that particular style, or because your favorite breweries don’t produce them.

 

Thing is, I don't think Hill Farmstead, Tree House, Trillium, Tired Hands etc have really fully divulged how they are truly producing their IPAs, but from all I've gathered the process is a lot less disrespectful to brewing tradition than all that, and in some ways is both new and very old, and very meticulous if done right.

This is partly true, but they are definitely making their Berliner in a pretty unorthodox way that might surprise quite a few brewers.

Well, and that label--every second person I hear of looking for KD just wants a decorative piece.

 

While this is pretty true, Hill Farmstead does not put out super turbid juice bomb product. I used to consider their IPA's to be NE style but based on what the style has developed into, I am not sure I'd call Hill Farmstead's IPA's NE style at this point. Who knows.

 

I'm mostly just saying why I think a lot of breweries will not be making NEIPA any time soon. It's not really considered ideal by a lot of them.

I know when Pliny and Ruination came out some people thought they were ridiculous, undrinkable, incorrect and all that too.

 

Well I personally am obsessed with the style so I'm gonna drink the hell out of them while they are plentiful

 

Who gives two shits about what's OK to brew, what's cool and what not? I just wish I could pick up a 4-pack of HH beer more consistently & not be forced to deal with a horrible "ticketing" process. When I am lucky enough to run across their beer at a beer store or bar, it's like Willy Wonka and the golden ticket.

Someone earlier was talking about the craft beer bubble and it's true. If HH continues to market its beers this way they won't be around in the future. I try to buy local as much as possible and Bodhi is always in my fridge. I'd be nice if HH was there with it. Maybe InBev can buy them and make it more available.....

 

Totally judging here, but to me they seem just like the group of guys who would sell to big beer. They act like they have little interest in their customers on a personal level as evidenced by the can releases and overall experience at their pub (not sure if that's all A&R Group or not, but HH doesn't seem to be doing much to improve the pub experience either). They like it when people trade and mule their beer.

They didn't start out a NEIPA brewery, they picked that up when they saw it was an exploding trend.

 

I think the funniest thing about this whole NEIPA/HH hate thing, is they probably put out my favorite non-ba stout at the beginning of this year, in Fitness Freak.

 

Don't forget that they already had a lot of help when the Stone brewing campus fell through and went to Virginia before the ABV limit was lifted, Hoof was supposed to be a part of that and still rode that wave to some degree. Still, it's pretty funny @jdoncbus the old lady said the same damn thing about Hoof last night regarding ABInbev...

Fitness Freak was a damn fine beer...

 

Thing is they aren't big enough to be on any big beer radar. Getting people lining up for cans is only a minor success. What big beer firms want to purchase are brands with regional recognition and a demand for a wider audience.

I doubt cans with cartoon drawings of penises will do very well at the big box grocery store level.

If Hoof ever gets big enough to catch the eye of AB-Inbev or the like they will most likely have to make some brand adjustments before signing off on a contract.

 

Fitness was delicious, and it is sitting in barrels I believe. I may get 20 tickets for that one.

 

I'd just be happy if they had visibility in the Columbus area like Seventh Son or Four String. You can't find them everywhere but it's not too difficult to track down their offerings. I visited their pub a few weeks ago with my wife and 2/3's of the kids in tow; it was pretty disorganized but I got to drink some beers and they nibbled on some food.

 

You can usually find one or two of their beers on tap at The Crest since their pub is owned/managed by the same group that owns both Crest locations and a couple other bars and such around town.

I seem to have better service and a cleaner bar with better selection of drafts at The Crest than at Hoof itself.