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Beer |OT2| Can't stop won't stop the fresh hop

E

eyeball_kid

Member
Rei_Toei said:
Thanks for the advice guys! One Mile House and the Ginger Man sound and look particularly good, and are prettty close to other stuff I want to check out.

But uhh.. Other Half recommendation was a joke? :) I wouldn't mind visiting a brewery, but I'd rather steer clear of obsessed beer geeks gone full retard about limited releases. From a non-American point of view, beer culture in the US is already wonky enough.
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I've heard Proletariat bar has a pretty good selection as well. Regarding US beer culture, keep in mind that American craft beer has only exploded in the last 10-15 years. For most of the 20th century we didn't even have much of an indie beer scene due to lingering laws from our Prohibition (thanks to President Jimmy Carter for repealing those). So compared to Europe, we're still amazed at having choices and quality beer. And Americans love new flavors and experimenting. But wrt to the beer subculture of people lining up for beers and whatnot, like any hobby fanatics they go a bit overboard. It doesn't represent most people here who enjoy craft beer though.

There was a small bar I went to when I was last there in NYC that I really liked, lots of local beers, but can't remember the name now, or even where it was. I remember walking down a few steps to enter it, it was dark and narrow...anyone know what I'm talking about?
 
D

distantmantra

Member
Rei_Toei said:
Thanks for the advice guys! One Mile House and the Ginger Man sound and look particularly good, and are prettty close to other stuff I want to check out.

But uhh.. Other Half recommendation was a joke? :) I wouldn't mind visiting a brewery, but I'd rather steer clear of obsessed beer geeks gone full retard about limited releases. From a non-American point of view, beer culture in the US is already wonky enough.
Click to expand...

I wasn't joking. I mean, don't waste an entire morning waiting in line for cans, but stop by on a non-release day and check it out.

My favorite local brewery is insane on a release Saturday but super chill the rest of the time.
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Release obsession is one of those things you eventually give up because it's too expensive and time consuming and there's too much good beer that's easily available to waste time standing in a line.

The only thing I ever go out of my way to get is KBS and I have a spot that never sells out whenever it releases so I have a fucking lot of KBS.

I did get some of the Rye-barrel Aged Vietnamese Coffee Speedway. I proxied for a guy who bought 8 bottles from the release window (which had a limited Numbskull BA variant also) which seemed insane at 30 bucks a bottle.
 
R

Rei_Toei

Fclvat sbe Pnanqn, ru?
eyeball_kid said:
I've heard Proletariat bar has a pretty good selection as well. Regarding US beer culture, keep in mind that American craft beer has only exploded in the last 10-15 years. For most of the 20th century we didn't even have much of an indie beer scene due to lingering laws from our Prohibition (thanks to President Jimmy Carter for repealing those). So compared to Europe, we're still amazed at having choices and quality beer. And Americans love new flavors and experimenting. But wrt to the beer subculture of people lining up for beers and whatnot, like any hobby fanatics they go a bit overboard. It doesn't represent most people here who enjoy craft beer though.

There was a small bar I went to when I was last there in NYC that I really liked, lots of local beers, but can't remember the name now, or even where it was. I remember walking down a few steps to enter it, it was dark and narrow...anyone know what I'm talking about?
Click to expand...

Thanks, stands noted! With regard to indie beer, I can imagine the enthousiasm when it's been such a recent development. Even though the indie brewery scene in my country (Netherlands) isn't that much older (save a couple exceptions such as De Molen en IJ) we've had the luxury of great Belgian and German beers being around for since like forever for reasonable prices. Quality non-macro beer was something my friends and I started with basically end of highschool.
 
B

Bacon

Member
codhand said:
where are you buying beer? im in southern ct, and paid 10 :/

either way this batch of parabola was weak af, brew at Boulevard brehs
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I only saw it in a Stew Leonard's liquor store. I wasn't really seeking it out or anything, I was just browsing and happened to see it. If I was really looking for it I'm sure I could have found it at a better price I guess.
 
B

Bacon

Member
Hey, Stew's is great.

Like I said I was just browsing, and it seemed like that price was crazy. Good to know it can be had for cheaper, but I would definitely not spend 10 dollars on a 12 ounce beer either unless I was at a bar.
 
C

codhand

Member
have a seat Bacon imma tell you a story

Tax fraud

In 1993, Stew Leonard Sr. was convicted of committing tax fraud through an elaborate scheme to divert more than $17.1 million in cash register receipts over a ten-year period.[15][16][6] The fraud involved a computer program designed to skim off sales. The fraud was directed by Stew Leonard Sr. in concert with the company's CFO and store manager. Skimmed cash was placed in bundles in Leonard Sr.'s office fireplace, to be later moved offshore or disguised as gifts.[17][18] Leonard Sr. was caught in June 1991 carrying $80,000 cash en route to the island of Saint Martin.[17][19]

Stew Leonard Sr. plead guilty to the charges and in 1993 was sentenced to 52 months in prison.[20][6] He ultimately served 44 months before being released in June 1997.[21]

Short-weighting

In 1993, shortly after Stew Leonard and three executives had plead guilty in the tax fraud case, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection charged Stew Leonard's with short-weighting customers on multiple products. The department measured a 47% violation rate, compared with a statewide average of 7.2%. Stew Leonard Jr. and Tom Leonard denied that these actions were intentional and claimed that "a larger percentage of products checked were, in fact, overweight than underweight" and that "we corrected every [mistake] before the inspector even left the store."[22]
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stew_Leonard's


but by all means, pay a 50% markup above retail on beer there

:-/ :-/ :-/
 
C

codhand

Member
Bacon said:
I know the story, everyone in CT does. It happened 25 years ago at this point.
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surprised they survived it tbh, good to know they still overcharge


canada is one thing, but CT is really the worst, we have a "state minimum" meaning you must sell beer at a minimum above cost, by law

Stew Leonard's obviously using this to their advantage, which, while legal, is still extremely dubious

Total Wine (also pretty evil) are fighting the CT state minimum law,

their plan is simple, sell things at or barely above cost, so that competition cant compete, and are forced to close doors, then jack the prices back up...brilliant really.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
codhand said:
their plan is simple, sell things at or barely above cost, so that competition cant compete, and are forced to close doors, then jack the prices back up...brilliant really.
Click to expand...

Total Wine did a damn fine job putting the only bottle shop in South King County (the suburbs South of Seattle) out of business. They just couldn't compete with their prices.
 
B

Bacon

Member
Pennsylvania has some pretty absurd beer laws as well. You can only buy 6-packs from bars and restaurants, otherwise you are forced to buy beer from beverage distributors, who can only sell 12 packs, cases and kegs. Extremely inconvenient.
 
C

codhand

Member
distantmantra said:
Total Wine did a damn fine job putting the only bottle shop in South King County (the suburbs South of Seattle) out of business. They just couldn't compete with their prices.
Click to expand...

while i agree the ct state min. law here needs to change, Total Wine is still cancer

Bacon said:
Pennsylvania has some pretty absurd beer laws as well. You can only buy 6-packs from bars and restaurants, otherwise you are forced to buy beer from beverage distributors, who can only sell 12 packs, cases and kegs. Extremely inconvenient.
Click to expand...

yup, and the "bottle shops" that sell individual bottles charge huge markups

NY is goat, im assuming youre near Danbury, drive the extra distance to DeCiccos in Brewster.
 
B

Bacon

Member
codhand said:
while i agree the ct state min. law here needs to change, Total Wine is still cancer



yup, and the "bottle shops" that sell individual bottles charge huge markups

NY is goat, im assuming youre near Danbury, drive the extra distance to DeCiccos in Brewster.
Click to expand...

Yeah Deciccos is my go to, the selection is great and the bar there is amazing. Vinny is a great bartender as well.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
Washington state has super easy laws about buying beer. Available every day of the week, can get it almost anywhere. Singles, 6-packs, whatever. Growler fills are literally everywhere (drug stores, gas stations, etc.) and you're allowed fill it in almost any sealable container you can think of.
 
Mitch

Mitch

Banned
Buying beer in CLE is just as easy. The gas stations here have such a huge selection.

There are 4 bottle shops in downtown Lakewood, which is a 5-10 minute drive away. Plus a few "hidden" bottle shops that nobody really hits up. They usually offer great stuff that is always snatched right up at the other places.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
My neighborhood family-owned pharmacy does growler fills and has an impressive selection of bottles. I've found barrel aged Fremont beers there months after they're sold out everywhere. They've still got some 2015 Abyss hanging out at cost, too. Whoever picks their six-packs knows what they're doing.
 
C

Chris R

Member
Alaska's laws aren't terrible, though some people hate the mandatory carding. When I was a cashier older people would always freak out and yell at me for carding them. Only downside is the split stores requirement. I'd love to grab a 6 pack WITH my groceries instead of needing to check out in the grocery portion of Fred Meyer before walking into the liquor area of Fred Meyer :\
 
D

distantmantra

Member
Chris R said:
Alaska's laws aren't terrible, though some people hate the mandatory carding. When I was a cashier older people would always freak out and yell at me for carding them. Only downside is the split stores requirement. I'd love to grab a 6 pack WITH my groceries instead of needing to check out in the grocery portion of Fred Meyer before walking into the liquor area of Fred Meyer :\
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I've noticed that some grocery stores in Nebraska have a separate "liquor store" section of the building, but you can buy that stuff at the regular checkouts.
 
R

riotous

Banned
distantmantra said:
Total Wine did a damn fine job putting the only bottle shop in South King County (the suburbs South of Seattle) out of business. They just couldn't compete with their prices.
Click to expand...

99 Bottles?

If so; they kind of sucked.. the male owner was a total prick, and they would take year old beers out of their cellar and double the price on them. Which.. was convenient if you have the money to blow, but doing that in Federal Way of all places...

The female owner acted nice, but Burc over at Beer Authority said she had a blog where she made fun of customers, I found it and it was true lol. He had some stories about the dude too; the guy was a total prick to Burc for no reason.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
Yep, 99 Bottles. I used to work down South so it was nice to have a place where I could snag stuff during the day and not really have to deal with truck chasers and the like. Rolling in and having my pick of Cantillon without anyone else there was awesome. I never had a bad interaction with the staff there, mostly dealt with Jon who was a really nice dude. I've had shitty experiences at places people love (Bottleworks and Beer Authority), so I'm not discrediting anyone else, just never ran into that myself.

I never took part in their yearly cellar sales, but lots of places do them. See the old barleywines, stouts, sours and $300+ bottles of old lambics currently available at Bottleworks. Like that PNC you bought. ;-)

Fortunately CRFTBEERS recently opened in North Auburn (good bottle selection, drink on site or growler/crowler), so the South End yet again has a place to buy beer that isn't a grocery store, BevMo or Total Wine.
 
R

riotous

Banned
distantmantra said:
I've had shitty experiences at places people love (Bottleworks and Beer Authority), so I'm not discrediting anyone else, just never ran into that myself.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah me too for sure; the only places I haven't had at least 1 rude experience at are the 2 Chucks and Beer Junction. Bottleworks main guy can randomly be kind of rude, and yeah Burc at Beer Authority can be pretty negative when he's drunk. Ask him about a beer and he might give you a 5 minute rant about the distributor; and his regular customers who sit at the bar are a bit off putting at times. Stare at you, maybe make a snide remark that sort of thing.

And yeah obviously I've paid markup at other places; 99 bottles just did it for anything over a year old. They had stuff like 2014 mirror mirror for $50; meanwhile Chucks had the same bottles for $18. It was there business to do that of course, but I'm not sure how much it benefited them. Either way I really liked the place; the high prices kept the bottles on shelves for suckers like me lol.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
riotous said:
Oh yeah me too for sure; the only places I haven't had at least 1 rude experience at are the 2 Chucks and Beer Junction. Bottleworks main guy can randomly be kind of rude, and yeah Burc at Beer Authority can be pretty negative when he's drunk. Ask him about a beer and he might give you a 5 minute rant about the distributor; and his regular customers who sit at the bar are a bit off putting at times. Stare at you, maybe make a snide remark that sort of thing.
Click to expand...

I used to get flippant remarks at Bottleworks when I started going there years ago (I was once told they never got a certain beer in when I could see it behind the counter), but I'm in regularly enough and buying normal shelf beer that I'm no longer viewed as one of those people who only comes in for special limited releases. Only been to Beer Authority twice, and you're on the money with the regular thing. It always feel more like a social club than a business. People behind the counter didn't even seem interested in letting me buy stuff. It's a bit out of the way for me so I've never been back.

I've also never had a bad experience at Beer Junction and both Chucks. I like Last Drop, too, but their inventory is never as thorough.
 
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