Lawson's Releases - esp. Double Sunshine

Aside from Sip of Sunshine and Super Session #2, Lawson's bottle production and distribution is sporadic and somewhat unpredictable. You'll find the best information on the Lawson's website HERE. The most reliable way for an out-of-stater to obtain Lawson's bottles is to attend the brewery's anniversary event or other ticketed event (e.g. the Maple Tripple release earlier this year). This will probably all change when the new brewery opens up sometime in 2018.

 

There is likely no active thread because (1) Production is sporadic and when he does drop bottles, it has been less sought after brews of late (to those that use them for trade bait & bragging rights). Things like Maple Nipple and Big Hoppy aren't going to command the same things as Double Sunshine, Triple Play IPA, or Fayston MIS. (2) Also, IMO his quality has fallen off since concentrating on Sip and Super Session. Those beers provide a steady paycheck but have decreased his product's overall value. I used to be a HUGE fan of Lawson's. I have attended 3 Anniversary Sales, many Farmer's Markets, and used to plan my VT trips on Thursdays so I could hit up the Warren Store...not any more. With Farmer's Markets going the way of the Dodo, Anniversary Sales being ticketed now, & limits being only two bottles at the Warren Store, it makes more sense to hit up the Alchemist, HF, and Foam. Less travel and more bang for my buck. Hopefully things will change once he gets his new brewery up and running but to me, things have gone down hill since making SoS and Super Session readily available. I'll probably get crucified for saying all of this....

 

It's interesting, the last couple times I've had Double Sunshine I'd tend to agree with you but I don't think it has much to do with SoS and Super Session. Both of those beers are pretty consistently excellent to my tastes and who knows if Sean is still traveling to Two Roads to brew them or if they're in normal contract brew status at this point. And the last time I had FIS and Triple Sunshine I thought both were fantastic so it seems like the actual VT brewery is still on point. That said, I've had at least one really off bottle of Double Sunshine recently and Peril isn't my favorite, making its status as the only other repeat Lawson's brew of 2016 kind of a bummer.

The loss of the farmer's market sucks, I loved those. And I wish Hopcelot would come back.

 

A lot of locals have been saying things along these lines. Total speculation but the Oct newsletter says "Sean is traveling to Yakima Washington for hop selection in early October. It will result in a more consistent hop supply for Sip of Sunshine IPA and other Lawson’s Finest beers". I don't know if it's reading too far in to assume that this implies they haven't had a consistent enough supply to brew his other hoppy beers, but they will going forward?

 

As said all the Lawson's info is posted in his monthly update. Also Deviveries of bottles are very small. I don't think people realize/ keep in mind how some of an operation Lawson's and lots of other vt breweries are

 

I think one of the other issues with Double Sunshine at this point is that it's not as unique in 2015-16 as it was compared to the rest of the IPA market before its hiatus. I don't really think there were many beers that aspired to that same kind of juicy brightness, but now it seems like every brewery on the east coast is attempting to capture that flavor profile. Also for my money it was kind of inconsistent even back in its heyday; I was definitely disappointed by at least one recent bottle in the last year but I was also definitely disappointed by a few bottles years ago as well.

It's kind of funny how often Sip and SoS are blamed for anything people find lacking from the Vermont-brewed beers, as I've talked to people in CT who in turn hypothesize that Sean is too focused on the Vermont brewery and that's why more recent batches coming out of Two Roads don't measure up to earlier ones for them.

 

I'm not trying to blame SoS and Super Session for quality decline, but I think it is a change in priorities that led to a possible decline, in my mind. Focusing on getting more beer to more people with the cans and now focusing on expanding his brewery, instead of focusing on weekly drops of those high quality low batch bombers and ramping up for the markets, etc. I believe around the time that SoS became readily available, Sean also took a little break due to some family things going on. I have spoken with some of the folks at the last Anniversary sale and the Hops issue is one they sighted as well. My wife and I love Kiwi and we were told they hadn't been able to secure the Hop contracts to brew that recently. The Peril I had this past year had huge buttery notes...actually was a drain pour for me. I also felt the Coffee Fayston was a little lacking IMO. I think purephase is right though that his IPA's are not as unique with the advancement of other NE hop bombs. I still love Lawson's and Sean is definitely super friendly and approachable at all of his events. I wish them nothing but the best because they definitely deserve it. However, I'll likely take a break until the next anniversary sale. I too miss the Farmer's Markets.

 

maybe he's just focusing his efforts on the new brewery slated to open in 2018.

 

That was my guess. He's just not dropping bottles as much. There's no doubt that the success of Sip and SS#2 is consuming time and attention. How could it not? I suspect that they need that revenue to fund the new brewery. Since we have a house in Rochester 20 minutes from Warren, I'm pretty excited for the new brewery. Double Sunshine is amazing..quite a bit better than Sip. I'd love to get my hands on their beers more often.

 

I had Double SIP for the first time at GABF in Denver a few weeks back and was very, very disappointed (on a relative scale). I have been waiting for a long time to try it, but this batch didn't meet expectations - frankly, the batch of SIP wasn't up to snuff either. The Singlecut 2X Bon Bon was my favorite of the lot of beers at the East v. West Coast IPA event.

 

Do you mean Double Sunshine?

 

Yes

 

AB Fayston's coming in a few weeks

 

I didn't try any of the bottles, but the Double Sunshine on tap at the Maple Tripple sale was excellent.

 

Sip of sunshine and session hit Boston today for one hour. They were at craft beer cellar Fenway and fort point market. Fenway had a one can limit in sunshine. I hope this is a regular thing.

 

This was a one shot deal for now. Hopefully more in future but most likely not this year again.

 

Both SOS and #2 dropped at Coopers Corner in Florence today too.

 

Also dropped at Rapid and Redstone