Holidupdate

     Just a quick announcement to say that this blog is going on a bit of a Holiday vacation, because hopefully all of you have something better to do than read this for the next couple of weeks.  While I can't say I won't throw up a quick entry if some interesting news drops, I can say the regular Wednesday updates and Friday #beertography will return after the 1st of the year.  Until then, why not entertain yourself by reading my Top 10 Beers I first drank in 2013?

     Merry thingstuff!

Obligatory End of Year List Time!

     As we get closer to the end of the year, it's time to do what every other dang blog in the world is going to do.  A Top 10 in 2013 list!  In this case I'm going to do The Top Ten Beer I had for the first time in 2013.  They don't have to have come out in 2013 (and I think that would be a less interesting list because it would ultimately include lower-rated beers thanks to the added criteria), just I had to have that beer for the first time in sometime in 2013.  That would include any "version" of the beer so... let's get an honorable mention out of the way.  I loved the heck out of Stone Brewing Co's Stone Enjoy By 04.01.13 IPA, it's technically just a different batch of a beer I had for the first time on 2012.  So, despite it being one of my higher rated beers in 2013, it didn't make the cut.  Oh, and if you're like me and noticing omissions of certain brewers I've shouted my love from the rooftops for, it's probably because I simply had most of their beers in 2012 or prior.

    Before getting in to this, I should add a blah blah that these are purely my opinions, but I also am notoriously bad about picking a favorite anything.  That said, I didn't want this list to be a cop out, so the criteria for ordering these is basically a mash-up oh how well I rated the beers on Untappd (and how consistent that rating was over repeated tastings) and my memory of how feverishly I sought out more of that beer because I just had to have more.

     Enough doobly doo, let's get in to it!

10.  Brash Brewing Company Smoglifter - The first couple of entries on the list are going to be pretty similar in that I only got to try this beer once, but was super impressed by it.  Smoglifter is a chocolate milk stout that lived up to it's name.  It's rich, sweet, and hides that fact that's got a 10% ABV pretty well.  When I aggregated this list, I was actually surprised I rated it so favorably but hadn't sought it out since, so here it sits at the bottom.  I may have to correct that mistake pretty soon, though.

9.  Founders Brewing Co Doom - Another big beer that I had only once, but this time that was due to the fact that this one's rather hard to come by.  Very often, as I've talked about before, I get less interested in beer when there's crazy hype around it and people stepping over their own grandmothers to get at a bottle, so I never personally sought this out.  Instead, someone brought it along to one of our monthly tastings, and I'm sure glad they did because it ended up beer of the night.  Silky oak, apricot, honey and perhaps a touch of rind made this a unique IPA if I've ever had one.

8.   Sixpoint Brewery 3Beans - Beer is pretty great, right?  So's coffee.  Some of my first ever craft beers were coffee porters.  Although Sixpoint never really makes anything that can be pinned down to any one style, this is a dang fine coffee something-or-other.  It's another big one, so it comes in one of those "nanokegs", which is a crying shame because I always wanted a bigger serving of this one.  Le sigh.

7.  Uinta Brewing Company Sea Legs - I'll tell you a secret about me, but you have to promise not to tell nobody.  Cool?  I love Baltic Porters.  If Baltic Porters were a sexy lady, I'd marry them.  If they were a bowl of Boo Berry, I'd have them for breakfast.  Porters are actually my favorite style of beer, and adding some anise and big boozy sweetness just ups the ante.  I got to enjoy this one a couple of times in 2013, and it was a dark and creamy good time on all occasions that we got to be in the same room.

6.  Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter - Yes, it's another dark beer.  Get used to it, bucko, because this is my list!  Also, it's another imperial, so let it be said that I've never been afraid of a beer that could take me in a fight.  This one was so lovely, I even recommended it to Aquaman (ah, the good old days).  Another hint at how much I enjoyed this one... my initial notes for tasting it just say "wow".

5.  Jack's Abby Brewing The ABCS - Let's step away from dark beers for a hot minute and talk about lovely, lovely Double IPL.  Jack's Abby has put out a few beers of this style, and they've all beer vastly different.  This one is downright tropical, and is a treat from the first smell.  In fact, this could probably top a best-smelling beer list, but we must taste beers, too!  The mouthfeel I can only describe as juicy.  I'm salivating a little bit just remembering it, which I think is very appropriate for a top five beer.

4.  Idle Hands Craft Ales Absence of Light - And just like that, back to the dark.  Now, I may be bending the rules for this one just a little bit, but if that makes you upset... well, why don't you get a friend with a brewing operation and write posts for him unrelated to his brewery in the name of web presence instead?  *ahem*  Anyway, I had a different version of this prior to 2013 when it was a pilot batch called "Belgo Stout".  I can assure you, though, that this is a different and more complete beer.  Everything about it works.  The candy sugars, which find cloying in some beers, really add to this and help it become an amazing stout.

3.  Slumbrew (Somerville Brewing Company) Sittin' on Hop of the World - Those sly devils at Slumbrew put out a lot of "limited" batches in the last couple of years, and this one is probably my favorite beer they've ever done.  In fact, in the limited window of release on this simply divine Peach IPA, I managed to have five full bottles of it.  It was just right.  Not too bitter, not too sweet, just enough peach... and smelled beyond amazing.  I even found a late, hop-faded bottle of this and didn't care because the smell was still that good.

2.   Stone Brewing Co / Aleman / Two Brothers Dayman Coffee IPA - Sometimes, love hurts.  This limited collaboration dropped at my local shop with a two bottle limit, and the idea of combining coffee and IPA had me all too excited to meet that quota.  When I tasted the dark, fresh coffee with just the right balance of citrusy hops, it was like someone had bottled the dreams that I never even new I had.  But, alas, after that first two bottles, I couldn't find any more.  And believe me, I looked at and called every place I could think of in the area.  I eventually found it on tap a few months later, and nearly dropped dead of joy-shock.  Unfortunately, both the coffee and the hops had faded, making it a bittersweet reunion with my one-time love.  Seriously, there needs to be more coffee IPAs out there.  I may have had one besides this ever.

...You're probably wondering what could possibly top that tale of passion.

1.  Jack's Abby Brewing Barrel Aged Framinghammer - The tale of a love denied can only be bested by the tale of a love fulfilled!  This big Baltic had it all, and I totally let it take me behind the jungle gym on the playground at the middle school.  Every time I saw this beer, I bought the heck out of it.  I enjoyed it myself on multiple occasions, and brought it along more than a few times when hanging with friends just so that they could experience this beer.  Bourbon, chocolate, vanilla and coffee notes.  The anise was a bit covered up, but still there.  This was a complicated beer to start, and it was even better with some age on it.  9 months brought out a really smooth, warm vanilla feel to it.  This beer is also mere weeks away from 2014 release, and you can be sure I'll be doubling down on this one now that I know what it has to offer.

     That's it for this year!  Agree?  Complaints?  Hate my guts?  Comment and list some of your favorites from this year!

Friday #beertography 9

Every Friday I share a few pieces of my aspiring #beertography in hopes that some of you will play along and share your own!

Left Hand Brewing Company - Milk Stout and Milk Stout Nitro

Brewery Ommegang - Game of Thrones: Take the Black Stout

Great Rhythm Brewing Co - Resonation Pale Ale

Elegy for The Barley Pub

     It is a sad day on the Seacoast, my friends.  The Barley Pub in Dover, NH is closing.  This is yet another body blow to the Dover craft beer scene, after beloved bottle shop Smiley's Discount Beverage closed last February.  In both cases, there was and is some mystery and possible subterfuge surrounding the closures.  In the case of The Barley Pub, on the night before the announcement, the pub's Facebook announced they would be closed for the night due to a sudden kitchen disaster.  The next day, they apologized for the "spin" and blamed their closure on the economy and their recent move.

     The Barley Pub had, almost exactly a year ago, expanded and moved locations.  Although they just moved across the street from their previous location, the new space was far, far larger and they had hopes of incorporating their own brews into the menu.  The new location, and this is possibly telling, was also one of those spots that never seemed to stay open for long.  Since I lived in Dover back in about 2007, I think the same spot has featured at least four different bars or clubs.

     It would be all too easy to engage in wild speculation here, as it seems we probably don't have the full story.  You can assume rent was steep on their little corner, and that moving and expanding certainly requires some capital, but the fact that a place that was doing well enough to want to expand closed within a year of doing so just stinks of something "else" happening.  That was the case with Smiley's, who had at first said they were closing for "renovations", and the real story eventually came out that several reasons, including soaring utility bills thanks to a neglectful landlord, contributed to the shop's closure.  And we may get some weird and unfortunate story about the Barley Pub.  Eventually.  Who knows?  Still, I'd rather indulge in some of my Barley Pub memories than cry conspiracy.

     Who in Dover hadn't been to The Barley Pub when it snowed and "the Guinness flowed"?  That means when the white fluffy stuff came down, so did the beer prices.  When living in Dover, there was more than a couple of days that an impeding snow storm caused my job to send us all home early... and that was excuse enough to head down to The Barley Pub for some inexpensive pints, some board games, and good times with friends.  It's a shame that I wasn't in Dover for more winters.  I did visit The Barley Pub at other times and in other seasons, but there was something special and infectious about the mood all of us got in whilst day drinking instead of working.  Seriously, what could be better than that?  Plus, if you got in early enough, you could totally snag the window seat and watch as the snow fell.

     

     It was also at The Barley Pub that Jay first told me about his plans for Big Red Beard Brewing Company.  So, in a way, The Barley Pub is somewhat wrapped up in the genesis of me writing this.  Sure, if it hadn't been there, I would have heard his business plan for the first time at another bar, but Barley Pub and it's mug club was the choice of our little circle for a reason, so it's wholly appropriate that that's where it went down.

     Fairly recently, some friends and I went on a Seacoast brewery tour.  There was no real reason for us to go to Dover.  At the time (and at time of writing), there were no brick and mortar brewery locations to visit that far up the Seacoast.  But still, we decided to travel a little further and start our day with lunch and pints and the good ol' Barley Pub.  Since I'm a transplant to MA, I hadn't actually been to the "new" Barley Pub yet, and this was my first and, sadly, last opportunity to do so.  Even without my natural affinity for the new location (when compared to the old), it was still a great kickoff to a great day.  The food was amazing (Barley Pub didn't really serve much food before the move), but I got to introduce my friends to a few choice drinks they still buy frequently.

     Of course, this news comes at an especially bitter time, not that there ever could be a good time for something like this.  And I don't just mean that snow is imminent and that a nice, dry stout pairs nicely with that, but that's also true.  More importantly, craft beer is really beginning to boom on the Seacoast.  I highlighted both breweries and restaurants along the corridor before, and I've really only scratched the surface.  It's a shame that a staple of the community, having been open for 14 years now, wasn't able to ride that lightning.  Barley Pub, I'm sad to see you go, but I certainly won't forget the good times.

Friday #beertography 8

     Oops.  Better late than never.

 

21st Amendment Brewery* / Elysian Brewing Company - He Said and He Said

(* Happy Prohibition Repeal Day!)

Baxter Brewing Co - Phantom Punch Winter Stout

Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams) -  Merry Mischief Gingerbread Stout

Boston Beer Corridor Gets Bigger

    I've talked about the beer corridor in and around Boston before, but there's been a few updates since then.  Plus, sometimes, it's just nice to be able to talk about something without having to throw out a contending opinion.  After all, more beery places to go is simply good for everyone.

    A bit of news popped up from Idle Hands Craft Ales' earlier this week.  They're entering in to a business partnership with Enlightenment Ales, formerly of Lowell, MA.  Both breweries will now be under one roof in Everett, with both company's beers available on site... and with Enlightement's Ben Howe taking the title of head brewer for the new joint venture.  All good news.  If you haven't had anything by Enlightenment, their specialty Enlightenment Brut (a "Bière de Champagne") is quite nice and a style not widely available, to my knowledge, save for Sam Adams' Infinium which, sorry, doesn't touch Enlightenment's interpretation.  But forget that... in my opinion, Enlightenment really shines with their saisons/farmhouse ales.  Illumination and Rite of Spring are both lovely.  And, as the weather gets colder, let's note that both companies have some great stouts.  Enlightnment offers an export style stout with Cosmos, while Idle Hands' Belgo stout Absence of Light garnered a rare 5 stars from me on Untappd.

     But that's not all the news!  Night Shift Brewery, located in Everett right dang next to Idles Hands/Enlightenment, is slated to be moving just a bit down the road to a significantly larger space.  With, thank goodness, parking.  And if you're paying extra close attention, this is actually significant alongside the Idle Hands news, as they will be free to expand into Night Shift's old space.

   And that's ALSO not all!  Now, this may not exactly be beer, but just about the finest cider I've ever had is Downeast Cider House's Original Blend (especially on tap!).  Unlike a lot of ciders I've had, which are thin, yellow and sweet, this stuff is cloudy brown and just a bit tart.  Basically, it tastes like actual apple orchard cider... but with booze.  Yay!  Anyway, Downeast is about to throw their launch party this Saturday, December 7th, in Boston.  Their place is just over the bridge from Chelsea, which I will note is home of Mystic Brewery, and just south of the other breweries we've been speaking of.  Seeing a theme here?  Beer corridor!

     Now that you've crossed the bridge into Boston, you can visit the three (yes, really just three) breweries there.  In addition to Sam Adams' "R&D Brewery" in Jamaica Plain, South Boston's Trillium Brewing Company and Harpoon Brewery are right down the street from one another and, while I'm sure everyone's had Harpoon, criminally fewer people have had Trillium.  And wouldn't you know, I have news related to that, too.  See, Trillium was originally unable to serve samples of its beer on site.  That problem has been rectified.  Now you have no excuse.  You can even follow it up with a pretzel at Harpoon's new(ish) beer hall.

     There you go, kids.  At some point, I'm determined to make one long, delicious day out of this ever-expanding line up of Boston beerishness.  I encourage all of you to take advantage of any and all of this good news at your soonest opportunity!

Happy Thanksgiving!

     This is just to say I'll be forgoing a proper blog this week, and I hope you all have something better to do than read this blog over the holiday, anyway.  So no blog Wednesday, no #beertography Friday until next week.  Until then, safe travels and good eats.  And, of course, good pairings.  I'll be bringing 21st Amendment Brewery Fireside Chat and Mayflower Brewing Company Thanksgiving Ale (an obvious tradition, I know) to dinner.  Hope you all have something tasty as well.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday #beertography 7

Every Friday I share a few pieces of my aspiring #beertography in hopes that some of you will play along and share your own!

Smuttynose Brewing Company - Baltic Porter

 

Sixpoint Craft Ales - 3Beans

Backlash Beer Company - Famine and War

Forget Seasonal Creep... Let's Talk Seasonal Switch

     We've spoke before about Seasonal Creep and how bent out of shape people get (especially in fall, as the beers of Summer and of Autumn are different to a greater degree than probably any other seasonal changeover), but usually that quiets down about this time of year (again, Fall and Winter beers aren't that different).  But then along came a displaced Spring beer.

     Late last week Narragansett Brewing Company announced via their YouTube Channel that their (absolutely wonderful, in my opinion) Narragansett Porter would not be released in their trademark tallboy cans this year.  It would, instead be released in 22oz bombers (ok, fine so far), but not until March (bwaaaaah??).  Porter, it seems, is joining their "Private Stock" series and coming out of the seasonal canned rotation, at least for this year.  This comes after two other pieces of news from 'Gansett.  The first was announcing a new beer, Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout, with a release date of December 16th.  Also, the label reveals it's destined for tallboy cans, and comes in with a lower ABV than Porter at 5.3%.  So, effectively a total replacement for Porter in the rotation, but I said there were two pieces of news.

     That's right, Narragansett Bock was released ahead of Autocrat, and are keeping it available until March.  Now, unless my memory is playing tricks on me, Bock has beer their Spring seasonal for some time... and even if it wasn't, I don't really think of it as a Winter release.  So technically, 'Gansett is running with two seasonal beers from different seasons but released in the same season, releasing the former Winter seasonal after the former Spring seasonal is out of production, and... well, who the heck knows when Narragansett Summer is going to end up.

     The whole dang thing just seems weird to me.  Even though, as a big fan of Porter, I'm a little sad to have to wait for March, when I'll most likely not want porters or stouts as much, and I will miss grabbing a 6x16 of the stuff, I'm pretty excited for Autocrat.  Coffee Milk just screams Rhode Island, and I certainly don't mind stout (especially a milk or sweet stout), so I think this could be a really special beer.  But the Bock move just has me scratching my head.

     Although researching "seasonal switch" proved a bit tricky, I can think of at least one other time this has happened.  So, if you thought to yourself Sam Adams White Ale, pick yourself out a Kewpie doll.  Once, long long ago, this was Sam's Spring seasonal.  It disappeared one year and (if I recall correctly) they went through two or three different options in as many years before settling on Alpine Spring as a permanent (for now) replacement.  But that's not to say White Ale disappeared completely.  It was seen just a year or two later... in the Sam Adams Winter Mix 16 pack.

     I know they say, in New England, that if you don't like the weather just wait five minutes... but I don't think the metaphor was meant to extend to seasonal beer.  But who knows?  Maybe 'Gansett and Sam are just readying for some much anticipated global warming by putting out Spring beers when the leaves are still falling.  Maybe they're adjusting for the Baby Jesus' real birthday.  I don't know, I'm not a sciencetician.  I'm just a beer drinker.  A beer drinker with a confused palette and not enough Porter.

Friday #beertography 6

Every Friday I share a few pieces of my aspiring #beertography in hopes that some of you will play along and share your own!

Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project - American Darling (Goodtime Lager)

21st Amedment Brewery - Hell or High Watermelon

Central City Brewing Co - Red Betty India Pale Ale

Seacoast Eats... Wait. Is that Taken?

     You can fake the funk on a nasty dunk*, but you can't fake a good craft beer selection in your restaurant.  Here are some quick hits and impressions about just a few of the different restaurants along the Seacoast that tout a craft beer menu.

(* Disclaimer - This blog in no way endorses faking the funk on a nasty dunk)

The Heritage Smokehouse (Route 1, North Hampton) - At the time of writing, this place has only been open just over a month, and I'm not so sure the word is out yet.  I was there for lunch on a Friday, and I was literally the only person there.  Then again... it was a late lunch and it was a weekday.  Anyway, this is a place that comes equipped with it's own narrative.  Everything is made from scratch with fresh, local ingredients.  For my meal, I had an amazing smoked meatloaf (everything is smoked, too) and mashed potatoes that were the TRUTH.  The beer list is very small, but I think that matches the whole fresh, local narrative, as they only carry a few beers each from local breweries.  In this case, Throwback Brewery and Smuttynose Brewery with three beers from each available on tap.  Even with the small selection, the styles offered within each were enough to make some good pairings.  Throwback's Love Me Long Time Pilsner went great with the main course... of which I was so impressed I just had to have the dessert suggested by my waitress: a "Southern" S'more.  Basically, a southern biscuit smothered with chocolate and melted marshmallow, ice cream on the side.  It went amazing with Throwback's Campfire Smoked Porter.  Oh, and the staff here is amazing and super friendly.  Plus, even though it was a slow afternoon, there was no dip in quality (or, if there was and this was them on a bad day, good days must be transcendent).  Can't say enough good things about this place.  Go go go go go.

Thirsty Moose Taphouse (Congress St, Portsmouth) -  There's good and bad points to this one.  For one, this is the kind of place that's probably more exciting to the lay beer drinker, because with 116 taps, if I recall correctly, it's a big, shiny, bouncy ball that's just fascinating to novice and intermediate craft fans.  Really gets the attention, you know?  And, I have to say, I like the food.  Last time I ate there, I had some kind of steak pizza special thing, and it was pretty happening,  The menu, though, like the beer list, might offer a few too many choices.  On one hand, the amount of choice is almost overwhelming.  On the other, on the two or three occasions I've been here, I honestly wasn't blown away by the tap list.  Out of 116 (or whatever) choices, I could find maybe 4 beers I really fancied (this was also confirmed as being "not just me", as I've been here with friends who felt the same), and inevitably 2 of them were kicked.  Strangely, I consider them being out of something a GOOD sign.  My greatest fear with a place with this many taps is getting old beer, so at least they're moving product.  Still, the staff is knowledgeable and more than happy to let you try samples.  A place like this definitely fills a niche by exposing more people to craft beer, even if it's not my first personal choice in town.

WHYM Craft Beer Cafe (Route 1, Portsmouth) - Full disclosure, Jay, the biggest, reddest beard of them all, works part time at this fine establishment.  I assure you, this does not affect my impression of this restaurant.  Although located in a quite strange spot behind an Inn just barely over the Portsmouth border, this place is (I have to say) fundamentally the opposite of a place like The Thirst Moose.  WHYM offers a small menu and a small tap list, but both are obviously well curated.  It's also the kind of place that will probably have vastly different beer on from visit to visit.  I know I've been there three times and there was always something new and fresh to try.  This, perhaps, is one of the better restaurants around for beer geeks.  They even offered a few beers I wasn't too familiar with (the beer menu is simply divided into "near" and "far" if you're interested in local fare), but the staff was more than happy to answer any questions.  Oh, and the food... equally as impressive.  Especially dug the Bleu Cheese Burger.  This is the kind of restaurant that doesn't have a ton of choices, but you can rest assured that all of them are good.

Joe's NY Pizza (Route 1, Hampton) - This surprised and intrigued me.  The local Pizza chain I knew from High School and college, where I would often pop in for a late-night slice was now jumping into craft?  I was skeptical when I saw the "32 craft beer taps" posted outside, but sure enough, these guys built a nice little bar in their side of the road pizza joint.  I don't feel like I need to say much about the food... if you're from the area, you've probably had their pizza, and if not... well, it's pizza.  Very good pizza, with lots of interesting specialty pizzas.  One this occasion, I dined on the Chicken Cordon Bleu pizza, and it was everything I could have hoped for.  Anyway... about that 32 craft beer taps?  Yeah, not exactly.  Some of these "craft" taps were "crafty", but even accounting for that there were still well over 20 true craft beer selections at a pizza place.  What's more, the selection is fairly diverse, and they actually had about 5 or 6 things I hadn't had before, and I consider that a pretty good percentage.  My major beef is that a lot of the beers, when not served in tulips, were served in frozen pint glasses.  SERIOUSLY, every restaurant?  STOP DOING THIS.  NOW.  Still, I had fun on my visit.  There were some townies at the bar with me, and they were open to my craft beer suggestions after hearing me talk with the bartender, who was even willing to mix up my suggested beer cocktail of Southern Tier Brewing Company Pumpking and Creme Brulee for us for dessert.  This place has a thing or two to overcome (seriously... frozen pints are antithetical to properly serving beer), but it's making an honest effort.

     That's it for today kids.  There's more ground to be covered here for sure, but let's pace ourselves and save some room for later.

Friday #beertography 5

Every Friday I share a few pieces of my aspiring #beertography in hopes that some of you will play along and share your own!

Troegs Brewing Company - Nugget Nectar

Founders Brewing Co - Backwoods Bastard

Backlash Beer Company - Salute

On My Beerbox #4: Everybody Panic!

     Every once in a while, you think you totally know what you're going to blog about, and then some major story hits and the internet cracks in half with crazy (or at least the craft beer section of the internet, which, indicated by its behavior today, is very much like the rest of the internet).

     If you have no idea what I'm alluding to, today The Alchemist, maker of the world-renowned (and in many places, highest rated) Heady Topper, announced that their cannery would no longer be open to the public as of November 15th.  Importantly, they note that this decision will not affect their production levels or their current distribution accounts.  Predictably, some of the loudest responses to this news were entitled flouncers, promising to take the Heady Topper stickers off their cars and cancel their planned trip to Vermont.  These are probably the same people who have been complaining about how it's so unfair that people show up at the cannery and buy the place out before they can get any Heady.

     I get it.  People are passionate about things they love, and Heady Topper is one of the best-loved beers in all of craft... but let's take some perspective from history.  Nowadays, The Alchemist just makes Heady Topper.  This is because of a little Hurricane named Irene.  The Alchemist was once a well-loved brewpub with several offerings.  It wasn't long after they had opened their cannery to scale up production of their signature brew that the storm destroyed their pub and their brewing equipment.  Because they were so loved, the new cannery saw quite a bit of business, to the point that there was trouble keeping up with demand as Heady's popularity grew and grew.

     I visited the cannery not too terribly longer after Irene, and I saw just a small piece of the fervor that would only grow over the months.  In just the short time I was there, I saw several people backing their cars up to the back door because they had just bought 4 cases.  With demand increasing and production being, well, understandably finite, this model wasn't sustainable.  The cannery started selling out faster and faster (their Twitter account was pretty much devoted to alerting people that they had run out until the next canning), and even the commercial accounts saw fans pouncing on deliveries as soon as the beer was wheeled through the door.

     At several points, The Alchemist expanded production and was up to brewing 180 barrels of Heady Topper each week.  That's something on the order of 44,640 cans, not accounting for spillage and such.  They tried their hardest to meet demand locally, and hoped to be able to make enough beer to send it to other markets, such as Boston.  Actually, this happened but once (at least officially), and I was lucky enough to get my allotted 2 cans (the maximum allowed at most places that got an allocation) at my local store... then performed a quick search online of who else got an allocation and found a store nearby that had NO IDEA that they had the Miles Davis of beer in stock (they had it out back in some corner of the cooler, at the bottom) and had no qualms about letting me buy as much as I wanted, even if they didn't quite understand why.  That, friends, was a good day.

     Digression aside, you might have guessed what happened.  The demand for Heady Topper kept increasing, and the ramped up production was quickly absorbed.  Even the touted 600% increase in their output over two years was no match for fans, people buying the beer as trade bait (since Heady is so hard to come by, people in the area will get some and use it to get other rare beers from trading partners all over the country) and the few bad apples (or at least questionable pears) that would buy cases just to resell them, sometimes on a retail level... which I guess isn't supposed to happen, but it totally happened.  The next step was for The Alchemist to put a cap on how much could be purchased at the cannery, but today's news would suggest this wasn't particularly effective.

     This is starting to get long, so let's wrap this up with some wild speculation.  Wouldn't be a "beerbox" column if I didn't!

     I know haters are going to hate, because the tautology wouldn't make much sense if they didn't.  Still, everyone loved Heady so dang much five minutes ago that anger over a necessary business decision seems, to me, like threatening to hold your breath until you turn blue, then passing out and hitting your head on the coffee table.  And to be sure, it was a necessary decision, even if we don't know the reason for it.  

     Perhaps they saw this as the only fair way to assure that a greater swath of people would be able to get their hands on their beer by shifting it all to their existing commercial accounts.  You might also note in their blog, they mention that they are not taking on new accounts at this time, but you really have to say that along with an announcement like this unless you want retailers kicking down your door.  It could also be that the level of business they were doing at the cannery was upsetting neighbors, and they didn't want something like what happened to Tree House Brewing to happen to them.  Maybe this is all part of a super secret plan to free themselves to brew different beers again, or even widen their distribution.  

     Whatever it is, they didn't do this just because they felt like it, and the panic and hate and flouncing are unjustified and, frankly, stupid.  Are you mad because you can't buy five cases of Heady Topper at a time, or because you'll have to go plan to go to stores instead on your Vermont trip?  I really do think that by essentially subletting the decision about how much a single person can by to the retailers, this will make Heady Topper accessible to more people than when it was being bought by the case at the cannery.  And you know what?  There are lots of other great beer destinations in the part of Vermont.  Check some of the other ones out on your way to the many fine stores that will still, now and in the future, carry Heady Topper.

     Oh, and if you actually want to be upset about something, Mexican Coke is soon to be no more.  You have my full permission to pull a nutty on that one.

Friday #beertography 4

Every Friday I share a few pieces of my aspiring #beertography in hopes that some of you will play along and share your own!

Sixpoint Brewery - Autumnation (2012, aka pre-Mosiac)

21st Amendment Brewery - Hop Crisis

Stone Brewing Company - Lukcy Basartd Ale

Last Minute Craft Beer Halloween Costumes

     I like to think that I provide a service with this blog.  I probably don't, but that doesn't mean I can think it.  Halloween is this week, and although a lot of people had their parties this past weekend, I'm sure there are quite a few out there planned for both this week and for Friday and Saturday the 1st and 2nd.  That means there's a chance some of you, like me, have a second party to go to.  Why be lame and wear the same costume again?  It's time for some last minute costume ideas that are cheap, easy and (of course), Craft Beer related!

    

    My original thought was to repurpose a devil costume and a beer stein into the Stone Brewing "Gargoyle", but why not up the ante by going as one of their actual beers?  As my clever Photoshop MS Paint skills demonstrate in concept, you can easily mock-up a label to have a bottle of their Enjoy By "expire" on Halloween!

    Speaking of mascots, here's another easy one.  A bow tie, some plastic hops (or a reasonable approximation of them... maybe some dollar store fake pine cones painted green) and a sticky-uppy wig to glue them to, and you're instantly transmogrified into the guy from the can of The Alchemist Heady Topper.  Boom.  Oh, you may need a fake beard if you aren't lucky enough to already have one.

     Obligatory Duffman suggestion.  This is actually here for this reason: if you decide to go this route, as many before you have, do the dang cans right too, please?

   Shave your head, get a bib, a spoon and a big bowl.  Paint "Founder's" on the bowl.  For bonus points, attend a party in New Hampshire and don a big red circle with a line though it and the word "BANNED".  Ta-da!  Your Founder's Brewing Co Breakfast Stout costume is now cool and topical!

     It should be pretty easy to find a plastic Jack-o-Lantern big enough for your head, or even just a Jack-o-Lantern mask.  The crown?  Heck, you can get that for free with your meal at Burger King.  Add maybe a cape and always have a couple of bottles of Southern Tier Brewing Company Pumking on your person to complete the look.  You can up your game by mixing your namesake beverage with Southern Tier Brewing Company Creme Brulee, a very acceptable beer cocktail for this time of year.

 

 

    This one might not get picked on by most onlookers, as it's a bit of a thinker (and a good bit dumb... a winning combination).  All you need is a headband, a small toy dog and toy fish to glue to said headband, and some kind of egg timer to wear around your neck.  Boom, you're Dogfish Head 60 Minute.  If you're wondering why this idea is so incredibly inspired, it's because unlike the other ones, I thought of this while writing this entry.  Because I was inspired, yo.



    So there are some ideas to get you started thinking about your own, or for you to outright copy as suggested.  There's a million things you can do, and a ton of ideas to be had just by browsing some of the more interesting labels at your local bottle shop.  Or you could be a completely lazy so-and-so like me and go the minimalist costume route.  This weekend, I will have just these two things to make my outfit:

    Lucky for me, costumes that are also puns are worth double points!