So... Clown Shoes

Still have my Vampire Slayer in the closet. Had Flight of the Pimp last night. Not great, but good enough for me to finish with gusto.

 

Vampire Slayer is good, but fresh Blaecorn Unidragon is awesome if you like uber-hoppy stouts.
also, look for the blends they've been doing with barrel aged Unidragon. Angry Beast and Flight of the Pimp have been very good.

also their hoppy feet 1.5 is good if fresh, and their miracle IPA is good for the price.

Also, seekabrew is constantly needing updating as breweries enter new territories, so don't take it as gospel.

 

With all due respect, never had it and haven't been in a hurry to try it. I've been wholly unimpressed by anything I've had previously from Clown Shoes. Basically, if the beer is as good as you say, the reason it probably isn't as highly regarded is that FFF and Founders have a solid reputation of consistently putting out brews that are clearly above average. Frankly, Clown Shoes seems to have a reputation of being consistently inconsistent, or being consistently below average depending on who you are talking with. I'm fairly confident that many BA's feel the same way I do, and haven't tried it either. However, I'm totally open to trying it out.

 

in hindsight, i hated blaecorn so much that i won't try their beer again unless it's free. it's like a worse-but-way-more-expensive version of storm king stout.

maybe i'm being too harsh, but i find it hard to believe that they're more than style over substance. that they just came out with a bunch of "pimp themed" beers furthers the "these guys are a joke," impression i have.

 

Out of the 3 Clown Shoes beers I have tried, Vampire Slayer is the best so far.

 

Unidragon almost drinks like a black barleywine or huge black IPA, not saying it in a bad way. Vampire slayer is much more of a traditional RIS, also wonderful indeed. Fresh Hoppy Feet 1.5 another treat. Miracle showed me it doesn't have to have a larger ABV to have a excellent hop flavor. Have not had the opportunity to get Angry Beast or Flight of the pimp do to it selling so quickly. This brewery is for real, excellent brews and a nice variety, especially for hop heads.

 

They are solidly middle of the road quality wise and upper tier price wise. And do they have a brewery now? I thought they contract brew?

 

Blaecorn and Vampire Slayer are very different beers. Vampire Slayer is quite good, but I wasn't a big fan of Blaecorn. Look at the reviews' descriptions of their flavors. I was pleasantly surprised by how good Vampire Slayer is.

 

Good beer for a good price.

 

Contract brew at Ipswitch still, I believe.

 

Gotta wonder why such a small operation has to send beer to far away markets instead of selling it all off locally.

 

Considering RR is difficult or impossible to get in many places in CA and they send their beer to Philly, I don't think distribution patterns are a reliable judge of quality.

Personally, I've only had three or four Clown Shoes beers, but they've all been at least solid. I actually really liked Clementine--it was one of my top few witbiers for sure, though I'm not the biggest fan of the style.

 

Of course the same beer from Founders or FFF would be more highly regarded... those breweries have been around much longer and have earned their reputations. Clown Shoes is only a couple of years old and their reception amongst the beer geek crowd seems to be all over the place. Personally, the few I've tried haven't impressed me enough to want to seek out other beers from them. Plus, I'm pretty sure the brewery is actually run by a bunch of horny teenage boys considering the names and labels of their beers.

 

They aren't bad beers, they have a wide variety of styles, so someones is sure to find one they like.

I didn't like Tramp Stamp, but the stouts were okay.. Little heavy handed with the smoked malts, IMO.

Worth a try, just wish they were cheaper as it's an expensive experiment.

 

While some of their beers are definitely "meh", I really enjoyed Vampire Slayer, especially for the price point, and would definitely have it again (in fact, there is another in my fridge right now....). Solid beer at a very good price.

 

Right but the RR-Philly thing is a special case, due to the concentration of great beer lovers there and Vinnie's personal relationships, from what I understand. Also the first part of your sentence is operative here: Clown Shoes is doing fairly well, but their beer does not fly off the shelves in their home market the way RR's does.

This is not to say the Clown Shoes beers in WA are necessarily "authorized". I have no idea.

 

I think Vampire Slayer is so good because they make it with Holy Water.