Ninkasi Ground Control

I bought it im not sure if i want to pop it open or save it as a colllection item...Im not a huge fan of ninkasi but its a cool bottle to have, at least thats how i look at it.

 

Haven't had their hoppy stuff in a while, nor any space yeast-brewed beer, but I did have their helles-style lager, Lux, recently and thought it really quite tasty. At the very least, I plan to check out more of their lager offerings.

 

Had it on tap at their tasting room Monday night. Really enjoyed it. Not a whole lot of star anise flavor and had a nice booziness at the end. I work at a bottleshop and taphouse in Eugene and we have bottles going for $20. I've been telling customers to buy a bottle and age it and then try to get it on tap somewhere (at Ninkasi).

 

Bottles at ES were $22. Cool looking box, but I just don't see the value there.

 

Bottles here have been around $20. I agree with beertunes though - hard to see the value for me. Love Ninkasi's IPAs but i'm yet to have a stout from them I enjoy. Unless I can try it on tap, i'll be passing on this one.

 

It would appear that they spent all their money on marketing and artwork, and forgot that they actually had to brew a beer. That's got to be the most expensive Ninkasi bottle released, you can get 3-4 of their other 22oz beers (if you wanted), for the same price.

I don't think they kegged any of it. 22oz is is the only option, just look at their damn boxes ha. This one may be better with some age on it, but fresh it is just pure sweet hazelnut and random star anise flavor, almost artificially so. Did not care for it.

 

Saw it at Meridian St. Haggen for $20, so my hopes for a sub-$20 bottle are still alive.

 

I agree, their lagers have been a pleasant surprise, and I'm happy to see a typically hop-driven brewery brewing some more subtle styles as well.

As for $20 space yeast beers... I might split one with a couple people at Beermongers, but I can't see buying one to take home and drink myself.

 

They did keg off a bit of it. I had some on tap last Friday at their Wonder Ballroom event, and we're expecting to get a 1/4bbl of it once we clear out some of the CBC leftovers and have room.

 

Might it only be available on draft in OR? That would make sense. Our distributor in Whatcom County only has bottles to offer.

 

So reading this thread makes me feel waaay better about picking it up this morning at the local corner store for $6.99.
If anyone's still looking for it, but wary of a $20+ novelty price

But seriously -- that's a hell of a discrepancy...

 

$6.99 is CONSIDERABLY lower than cost. So yeah, take that and run with it!

 

Bastard!!!

 

just picked up 1, surprised to see it in an organic food market. was curious & just discovered this thread. i have seen what looked like 2-3 cases in a local bottle shop a week-2 back, $24.99 tho'. today's find was shelved at $19.19 - when ole' girl rang it up she applied a 10% discount knocking the total to $17.27. all things considered, that's still steep but based solely on comparison shopping - feeling like i didn't do something too stupid.

 

Same here anything Ninkasi at a taphouse and its a struggle to get in the door!

 

I never drink Ninkasi anymore. They havent made a new or interesting beer in years. Every IPA or Red Ale just tastes overly hopped and damn near identical. I still like Tricerahops a little bit, but rarely is that the best option when Im out for a beer.

For a brewery that has done as well as they have, and have been around as long as they have, they havent developed much past basic IPAs, Red Ales, Stouts, and Porters

 

I see Ninkasi's growth toward a regional brewer is due to hitting a sweet spot of beer drinker between those just starting to crossover or discover craft beer and the nerds here (and pulling some from both ends of that spectrum too). Whether acceptance of $15+ for a single beer has trickled down enough into that segment will be interesting to see, though I'm pretty sure Abyss and others have paved the way.

 

I'll admit I don't buy much of their beer these days, but all of their new lagers have been spot on for their respective styles, and that Dark Rye beer they collaborated on with Devil's Backbone was solid.

 

Anybody in,or coming through, the Bellingham area, the Food Coop still has some, $19.50 + tax.