Yikes! Bitter, bitter, bitter...

Those of you that want to try Barrel Trolley IPA, you need to contact someone in a Southern state for a trade. Here's a list of places that carry it:

http://barreltrolley.com/

 

I thought so, but I know a few Cali guys who are dead serious about having the best beer and don't need anything else.

 

I feel the same way about Smuttynose FinestKind. I simply don't understand how they let that stuff out of the brewery.....

 

Isn't World Brews a contract brewer for different companys/areas? Safeway has one line that they sell exclusively. Brewed from World Brews.

That said this sound like it was too heavy on the early addition hops and not enough late addition hops. Amarillo and Simcoe are generally high alpha acid hops. That would contribute to the high bitterness. Maybe they also didn't put enough malt in to add sweetness and take away the harshness of the hops. I suspect that the "goal" for this particular beer was to make it extrimely bitter because that is what they think people like/want. Instead of making something balanced and therefore more pleasant to drink.

FYI:
I love IPAs. I love a dry, in-your-face hop aroma AND bitterness.
Hope this helps.

 

Not exactly - World Brews is a division of The Winery Exchange and acts as a sort of middleman between the contract brewery and the store(s) - a "custom brand supplier" as they put it. It's a different twist on the traditional private label deal, since the labels are often sold by different retailers in different states.(I assume in most cases the labels are owned by WE). Formerly a grocery store chain like Safeway had it's own brand (in their case, Brown Derby) and had their own contracts with brewers for the beer.

The World Brews contract brewer in this and many other cases is Genesee in Rochester, NY but they've also used City in La Crosse, WI as well as some foreign breweries for their Mexican and Euro knockoff brands.

 

I'm feeling more and more like there is zero problem with that. I'm sure there are people from every region who feel that way, and you know what? If every region makes and/or has access to great beer, then it stands to reason that our needs can be completely taken care of locally. Sounds to me like they've just decided to investigate deeper into their region rather than making random grabs at other beers from across the country, and why not? We'll never be able to try every beer under the sun, so they've found what they like and are sticking to it. Good on them.

 

Saw this stuff at Total Wine in CA. Kinda looked like a house branded contract brew, ala Coastal Fog and Cable Car for Bevmo.

I picked it up, checked and saw that it was brewed by World Brews, and put it back down.

 

Thank you for the clarification. Sounds like a weird business model, but if it works then good for them.

I still think the mentality of this particular beer is to make it extremely bitter because that is what they think people want.

 

It might just not be your favorite IPA, but brewers can add loads of hops early in the boil, which will make it more bitter.

And Ive only had 1 single hop Simcoe beer that I like: Jai Alai. Could also be the Simcoe flavors.

 

just covering all the bases. Too many alpha acids and bitterness was the problem I had with Hoptimum, yet I love Devil Dancer.

 

This is truth. Too much hops early in the boil, and not enough malt or aroma hops will yield a beer you describe.

This discussion is not about E vs. W coast beers - those who say things like "move to the west coast" have likely not tried one of the hundreds of great IPAs from elsewhere in the country. This is about the inability to brew a good beer, or getting an old beer.

 

I'm pretty sure Jai Alai is not a Simcoe only beer

 

Or just dry hopped with Simcoe.

 

I loved Tenth, just had a bottle Monday with friends, excellent. Like I say I love bitter, but some are too much. All of us are on the path of learning those beers and styles we enjoy best.