OT: Whatcha Drinkin' II: Another Round!

DaveG

Noted Jerk
Apr 7, 2003
51,016
47,855
Winston-Salem NC
I had a bottle of something that I had a similar experience with. I think it was Grand Cru?
Yeah something like that I might expect that sort of aftertaste from if it's been a shelf turd for long enough or if it was just flat out not ready and they bottled it, or if there was an infection that they didn't pick up on before bottling. Working with sours is a motherf***er man.
 

Discipline Daddy

Brentcent Van Burns
Nov 27, 2009
2,605
6,780
Raleigh, NC
I had a Grand Cru one time and it tasted straight awful. I could not handle the thing at all and I love sours. It tasted like pure concentrated cherry medicine.

Last weekend my brother ordered a super expensive pint of Wicked Weed's Dark Age (12% imperial stout). I would not have ordered it, because Wicked Weed, but I do love that beer. Then my brother took one sip and said it was too intense for him, and asked if I could trade. Loved every drop.
 

Finnish Jerk Train

lol stupid mickey mouse organization
Apr 7, 2008
4,035
7,924
Raleigh
I have a New Belgium sour that has been sitting in my fridge for months. I don't know whether it's a bad representation of the style or if I just don't like sours. Either way, it is on a very short list of craft beers that I flat-out hated.

I have a friend who is a big fan of sours. I should give it to him and get his thoughts.
 

Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
48,174
97,102
@DaveG @garnetpalmetto

I see on the news that there is another brewery opening in Cary called Cotton House Craft Brews. From what you see at Gizmo, do you think the market will still continue to add breweries at the rate they are being added in this area? Or do you see some sort of slowdown/saturation?

A friend of my wife is the head brewer at one of the breweries in Asheville and he indicated they are seeing things start to level out a bit so seeing a slowdown in growth. Was wondering if that was the case here as well.
 

DaveG

Noted Jerk
Apr 7, 2003
51,016
47,855
Winston-Salem NC
@DaveG @garnetpalmetto

I see on the news that there is another brewery opening in Cary called Cotton House Craft Brews. From what you see at Gizmo, do you think the market will still continue to add breweries at the rate they are being added in this area? Or do you see some sort of slowdown/saturation?

A friend of my wife is the head brewer at one of the breweries in Asheville and he indicated they are seeing things start to level out a bit so seeing a slowdown in growth. Was wondering if that was the case here as well.
It's going to see a slowdown in growth for sure, though the Triangle, despite being a market that's almost as open toward the industry as the Asheville area, is a bit underserved still in some regards. Maybe not Raleigh itself at this point, but definitely the Wake County suburbs, Durham, and Chapel Hill. That said, it has nowhere near the room left to grow that Greensboro area has currently and some other areas of the country.
 

Discipline Daddy

Brentcent Van Burns
Nov 27, 2009
2,605
6,780
Raleigh, NC
Crazy thing about the Triangle area is we have lots of medium and small players but no big players that I know of. Every time Victory, Sierra Nevada, New Belgian, or others opens a NC spot they go to Asheville or Charlotte. I don't know what the deal is preventing a large craft brewery a la Lagunitas from opening up an East Coast operation in the Triangle area. I know real estate is pricey but you can put it on the outskirts of town and still make a ton of money in tours and restaurant sales. What am I missing here?
 

Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
48,174
97,102
I think Asheville has a more defined and centralized culture. When people think of Asheville, they have a view of what it is. When people mention the triangle, it's much less defined and more diverse. RTP? Tech? NC State/UNC/Duke? Chapel Hill? Durham? Raleigh? etc....

The fact that Asheville has more breweries per capita than any other city in the US also makes it kind of like a "Napa Valley" of beer. I found an article on it and here is an excerpt.

Jenn Vervier, New Belgium's director of strategy and sustainability in Fort Collins, says her brewery will be receiving nothing upfront but has "negotiated a certain incentive" with the city, county and state that will be based upon property tax reports and how many local residents New Belgium employs at the planned $150 million facility. She says the new brewery will employ 140 people, mostly locals.

But Arnold stressed that Sierra Nevada did not choose Asheville solely because it's getting some support from the state. Access to good water for brewing and the outdoors for employee recreation were key factors, he says.

New Belgium, too, says it was attracted to Asheville because employees and customers would be able to walk or bike to the brewery.

And Oskar Blues, which is not receiving government financial incentives, according to spokesman Chad Melis, is moving to the town of Brevard simply because its owners liked the area.

"We're from a place with great mountain biking, music, beer and adventure," Melis says. "We found a similar atmosphere out here.
We knew we were growing, and we thought, rather than keep expanding our first brewery, it would be a hell of a lot more fun way to get bigger to become a part of a second small community."
 

sheriff bart

Where are the white women at
Nov 11, 2010
2,755
14,074
Rock Ridge
Sours suck

Summer is a rough time for me with a lot of craft brews. That's when all the fruity stuff comes out, and a stout and porter lover like myself has trouble. Finding a good, balanced hot weather beer isn't always easy. The heavier stuff that I really like the best isn't great for chugging outside when it's hot. The craft brewery I frequent the most (Koi Pond Brewing Co in Rocky Mount) has a lot of live music outside and in the summer, getting the right beer is a must. Enough body and taste to be satisfying. Not too fruity.

There is also Hop Fly Brewing Co in the area that does a good job with IPA's.
 

vorbis

bunch of likes
Feb 9, 2013
2,533
13,328
YTZ
I love sours

but I think I'm kind of losing my taste for beer overall (he says literally the day before he goes to Hamilton, Ontario for an all-day beer festival).

the carb crash that gets me after a few is only getting worse, and I may or may not have some degree of allergy to some of the common ingredients. I drink one beer and it's a coin flip whether I get an immediate massive headache.

think I'll just transition into a bourbon hobby or keep mixing myself sazeracs on the patio until the end of time.
 

RodTheBawd

Registered User
Oct 16, 2013
5,529
8,604
Sours suck

Summer is a rough time for me with a lot of craft brews. That's when all the fruity stuff comes out, and a stout and porter lover like myself has trouble. Finding a good, balanced hot weather beer isn't always easy. The heavier stuff that I really like the best isn't great for chugging outside when it's hot. The craft brewery I frequent the most (Koi Pond Brewing Co in Rocky Mount) has a lot of live music outside and in the summer, getting the right beer is a must. Enough body and taste to be satisfying. Not too fruity.

There is also Hop Fly Brewing Co in the area that does a good job with IPA's.

I'm a stout/porter guy myself, and was initially turned off to sours, particularly goses. But after Beericana last year, I made a 180. Fruit cup sorcery from Bond Brothers was fantastic and recently found Gizmo's Strawberry Gose. They absolutely destroy my stomach, but great summer beers.
 

DaveG

Noted Jerk
Apr 7, 2003
51,016
47,855
Winston-Salem NC
Sours suck

Summer is a rough time for me with a lot of craft brews. That's when all the fruity stuff comes out, and a stout and porter lover like myself has trouble. Finding a good, balanced hot weather beer isn't always easy. The heavier stuff that I really like the best isn't great for chugging outside when it's hot. The craft brewery I frequent the most (Koi Pond Brewing Co in Rocky Mount) has a lot of live music outside and in the summer, getting the right beer is a must. Enough body and taste to be satisfying. Not too fruity.

There is also Hop Fly Brewing Co in the area that does a good job with IPA's.

Honestly this is one of the big critiques that I have, and I get that you have to follow customer demands for the most part. But yeah if you're in to IPAs summer can be fine, but if you're in to darker beers and aren't in to IPAs? Summer is probably the worst time of the year, even when a lot of the stouts that are made are actually lower in ABV then a lot of the IPAs. You don't have to make some imperial stout to have out in the summer, that would just be stupidity, but something lighter is usually a nice option to have. Though we have to follow the market demands as well which is the fruity stuff that we don't even really enjoy that much ourselves typically (aside from the strawberry gose) but which sells like crazy.

I'm a stout/porter guy myself, and was initially turned off to sours, particularly goses. But after Beericana last year, I made a 180. Fruit cup sorcery from Bond Brothers was fantastic and recently found Gizmo's Strawberry Gose. They absolutely destroy my stomach, but great summer beers.

Yeah something about sours can really REALLY screw with ones system, I can't do more then 1 or 2 in a sitting myself honestly.
 

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