The Alchemist (May 2017)

I won't claim being an expert here, but if you were "sent" them, then I assume they were rather shaken up in the process. I know from my days of taking bottles of wine on a plane across the ocean that it was best to then let them sit 1-2 weeks before opening them, lest there would be a nice collection of particulates floating around, especially with the less-treated wines. I would not be surprised if the same happened with these types of beers. Let the cans sit upright for a while and then pour slowly and leave the last 1-2 oz in the can as many of said to do on here anyway.

 

Somehow I highly doubt you've had dozens of Alchemist cans and have SOMEHOW not noticed the coagulated protein that floats around in their beers...

 

I got a mixed case of Heady, Focal & Crusher back in December. Heady had some floaties, but Focal & Crusher were like a snow globe....especially as the beers aged a few weeks.

 

This. I would even say that he might have never had a can of Alchemist beer if he's never seen floaties. Cans from the new brewery almost universally all have floaties in both Heady focal and Skadoosh

 

I believe it's a combo of not settling enough in the can, but also that a certain % of each batch is going to be more or less the bottom of the barrel and contain more sediment. Like how getting the last pour as a beer is kicking at a bar, it's going to be yeasty.

It's really interesting bc buying hundreds of cans straight from the brewery, taking it home and putting it in my fridge.....I don't experience floaties anything like this.

Obviously these are unfiltered beers and never "clear" but I've never had anything close to the pics above. Kimmich has said "it's not like a loaf of bread"....needs to be stored upright, refrigerated and handled properly.

 

I go to the Alchemist weekly to pick up beer and I have had all of the Skadoosh releases. Honestly cant say I have seen floaties in any of them.

 

Not sure where that came from but no big deal guy!

Was lucky enough to make friends with a great trading partner way back in 2010 for the 1st Heady packaging release and we've kept it up since then. Never got sick of Heady....ever. Can't even count the cases I've consumed but Untappd says 500+ cans. Been there 3 times and a 4th is coming in a couple weeks. Haven't been to the new Stowe brewery yet though....just the old one before they shut it down twice and again for an awesome family vacation at Smuggs enjoying the area. New brewery did put a damper on cases of Heady though. Last time was able to pick up cases at the Coop in Burlingtion at least.

Like I said, only time I've seen particulate in Heady was when it sat for several months and the yeast fell to the bottom out of solution. A slow pour would take care if it.....this was different.

No matter, still tastes great and gives me them good Heady farts to share with coworkers the next day!

 

Purchased from retail recently. Poured into glass. No floaties I can see...

 

Just minutes ago I had Skadoosh citra for the first time. Definitely floaties but not the worst I've seen. I don't care at all though since it was truly delicious

 

How did you get the can? My 4-pack of Skadoosh citra purchased from brewery were almost clear.

 

I had floaties in my Focal cans that I got straight from the brewery last August. It wasn't the end of the world.

 

"Floaties" are one thing but the snow globe of proteins or whatever they are is a little bit much. Literally looks like a glass full of cold break. I've never seen this from any other Brewery and there are plenty that don't "filter" their beers. All focals I grabbed last summer and just a few weeks ago were like this as well as the Citra Skadoosh I bought. After this last visit to the brewery I'll probably never go back. The couple beers I had tasters of were not good (and tasted nothing like the cans I grabbed), the gross snow globe effect, and the fact that the beers just don't really stand out above the rest anymore. More for everyone else I guess.

 

Wow. Tough crowd here.

 

He got the can from me, which, of course, was also purchased at the brewery since that is the only place you can get it. I won't say I get floaties in every single can of Alchemist but certainly more often than not. But if I don't want to see them, I just do as the can says and drink from it.

 

Made my first visit to Alchemist last week, and just wanted to say what a great experience visiting their facility is with endless possibilities to evolve over time. It felt like what every "small" brewery would dream of having really - a beautiful and functional brewing space, nice area to sample the goods, plenty of space for people to hang and gorgeous outdoor space to roam. I would think over time they will find cool things to do (unless they already do this?) like host events, have food trucks or offer onsite food, etc. But maybe they like that people come and only stay for 30 mins max, keeps things moving.

Of course the absolute best part is not having to wait in a line and be able to choose from 5 different amazing offerings. In a world full of hazy juice bombs double dry hopped, lactosed, etc. there's something refreshing about how clean and complex these beers taste.

 

Sad.

 

I may have missed it but why are bars in NYC getting Heady/Focal?

 

There's more to go around with the new brewery? I know I started seeing Instagram/Twitter announcements about can drops at The Jefferson/Fool's Gold/etc. late last summer. AFAICT, it's legit distribution, not like the grey market cases of Heady we'd see in the good old days.

You could ask the same question about HF, which regularly distributes kegs to the better beer bars in NYC but hasn't been east of Worcester in years that I can recall.

 

I understand HF distro as it's been in place for awhile now. It's probably the simple answer as bigger brewery, more beer to go around. And it does seem legit as Alchemist has been tagged in these posts, not something shady like the usual past times.

 

Can anybody see in their crystal ball if tomorrow will be a shit show because of the long weekend?