New to Ohio (2018)

Agree, hit the store yesterday and there was just too much going on. Think juju was normally a feb beer when nothing was going on after the holidays and was nice to grab. I saw fresh libre out too, but had to pass for the wet hops right now. I was going to finally grab some spooky tooth for halloween this week, I guess I missed the boat on halloween beers? The floor was covered with christmas beer yesterday.

 

I'm sure JuJu will also be out in Feb as well. Probably just an extra drop to celebrate the new brewery coming online. They also mentioned it likely will turn into a bi-annual release. The batch out now is awesome, don't let it slip by. Better than the wet hop offerings I've had this far, IMO. My Juju bottle opened tonight was incredible.

 

Yeah it seemed like there was literally one drop of Spooky Tooth this year and it was in September? I kept expecting more and it never came

The Market District Grandview had some of the Thirsty Dog BB Imperial Pumpkin in the "mixed six" section so I got a couple of those, but that was basically it by way of pumpkin beer.

 

Headed up to Melt in Columbus today and had some Masthead IPA (my first offering from Masthead)



I also got a chicken and waffles grilled cheese



Then I picked up another IPA on the way home

 

Anyone else a little underwhelmed with Juju? It’s obviously very solid, but doesn’t have that pop. A bit better than last year IMO.

 

It’s on the boozy side this bottling(draft, too), for my liking.

 

Yeah I thought it was a little boozier than I was expecting but otherwise still pretty solidly in the very narrow Juju realm.

 

Funnily enough I didn’t notice a huge booze note to it. Although I’ve hardly been drinking IPAs the past couple months, I just expected the heavy ABV flavor.

I’ve heard through the grapevine that Matt wishes the expansion would’ve been smaller. I wonder how their growth factors in to the quality.

Also, it’s funny that a lot of people are voicing quality issues yet the beers are still very good compared to other commercial standards. Matt really knows his stuff.

I just hope they eventually bounce back and get a good groove going on with the new facility.

 

It’s just boozy compared to my liking, not really harsh, though.

My one problem with FH’s is, outside of Matt, it’s all about money. They are definitely squeezing every penny out of the new space, most likely due to necessity.

Anyway, they had a bit of trouble starting up, but I think it will only get better from here. Hop Stalker was a “Damn, I can’t believe how good this is” beer again this time around.

 

After 2 of them, I can get on board with that

 

Just picked up Volume 3 of IW

 

And?

 

I liked it. It's not as "bright" as the 1st volume, but I really thought it was a well made IPA. It tastes a little more in tune with a "midwest style" IPA. Reminded me of a lower alcohol Creeper.

 

What's the bottle date on your volume 3?

 

Has anyone seen info on Bourbon County Black Friday events? I feel like we should be hearing about them now / soon?

 

10/25

 

This was on draft at 101 Bottles a month or two ago, thought it was just some random one-off keg, but looks like bottles are coming next Thursday. It was pretty pretty tasty.



Also, 300 is Black Friday. Triple barrel. Not sure how this will turn out, but 200 and 100 were basically extended bourbon barrel aged and they were some of the best BORIS variants I've had.

 

Hopin the club gets ability to purchase bottles early for at least B300, since I'll be in Chicago for Black Friday.

 

Black Friday releases are a cheap way to add that extra layer of hype to your product.

 

It's a fun day for the beer community, no need to be so skeptical. People aren't exactly clamoring for Hoppin Frog

 

It sits on shelves here in Chicago for ages with no one buying it. Including all their barrel-aged stuff.

 

I've seen that in Chicago as well, but haven't seen a lot of variety--just their most basic bombers, which I'd still take over a lot of the other hype I'm often disappointed by. I'd imagine with the switch to 12 ouncers they'll get picked up faster. They also release a lot of excellent stuff out of the taproom, and some others locally that never go your way.

 

It's a fun day for those with their priorities out of whack, if you ask me.

 

The Binny's by me has about a dozen different bombers, always fully-stocked on the shelves. And at least half of them are barrel-aged beers. I've actually never even picked one up, myself, despite thinking about it whenever I walk by them. Their price is usually pretty high on them, also, which may turn a lot of people off. One of the reasons I've never bought them.

 

That they are...but per ounce, not quite as high as you'd think. Actually lower than many of our other locals.

What should be the priority be on Black Friday, shopping at Target at 3AM or joining the exodus to the Midwest for a Side Project or Goose Island/ABINBEV stout release? I'll personally take beer over shopping, although I tend to stay home in either case to avoid the traffic. Not the best day to go out, but most people do for one reason or another.

 

The eighth grade level photoshop labels don't exactly scream "buy me" either.

 

Terrible. Columbus is obviously a great example of a successful re-design. You'd think Hoppin Frog would jump aboard that train at some point.

 

Although some of the newer labels have been an improvement, particularly most of the rare beer club stuff, the last thing you can ask for from them is style.

It's gonna be #rhombus4life

 

HF just comes from a time when basically all craft beer had shitty labels. Only a few of the bigger guys had decently professional looking designs.

I say leave it the way it is. It's almost like showing your clout, showing you've been around for a while.

It's certainly better than making your cans look like WD-40 or children's breakfast cereal or Hall & Oates hanging dong with Donkey Kong.

 

But you failed to answer the question. What exactly should our priority be on Black Friday to align with you? lol

 

If you really need someone on the internet to explain why standing in line at a brewery or taking a number at every grocery store in the county in order to spend hundreds of dollars on beer for yourself is a ridiculous way to spend a holiday then I don't think anything I could tell you would actually stick.

 

1. Never said anything about standing in line, but doing so with friends is a great time.
2. Thanksgiving is a holiday, black friday is not.
3. What exactly do you prioritize on black friday that is better than drinking beer?

 

There's more to life than bottle releases, which is what Thanksgiving is supposed to teach us. Do you not agree that those that are held on Black Friday are held on that day to increase hype?

 

What does Black Friday have to do with Thanksgiving being a holiday, though? I spend my time on Thanksgiving with my family all day. Eating, drinking, and being merry. Then on Black Friday, I'm out with some friends eating, drinking, and buying good beer that I like. Not sure what the issue is?

 

Bottle releases at Hoppin Frog ain't Winked they used to be.

 

In case you haven’t noticed, Mr. Wagon is the thread’s Captain Killjoy. Believe me, I’m overly opinionated but damn man, it’s OK not to have an opinion.

 

Honestly, I don't care if it's a holiday or not. The lengths people go to nab up beers can be absurd. Doesn't matter if it's a holiday, the day after one, a regular old Friday. The stories people share about BCBS should say it all. Seems like those types use Black Friday as an excuse to go even further out of their gourd.

 

Some people, yes. Not all. Should I be in Walmart buying a $200 TV that will go to hell in a year or two instead, and may even get stabbed over? Lol. Or hanging out with some friends and good folks, drinking some beers, and talking about something I happen to enjoy a lot? Why do you care so much about what other people do with their own time and life?

 

I don’t pop in here very often but I got to ask...do you ever have anything positive to contribute to these threads?

 

No. Never.

It's actually impressive, since just based on the law of averages, people fall into a positive contribution at least once in a while.