MWB wrote:It's sad, because Magic Hat used to make very good beer. They are a prime example of over expanding at the expense of their product.
I used to love #9. I thought maybe it was just me and that the beer's taste didn't change. Good to hear other people that have noticed the change.
Nowadays, #9 is more of an afterthought. If I go to a place with 100 beers, I'm not going out of my way for a #9. But if there's a place that says they have a few micros/imports and has nothing but the usual suspects like Sam Adams, Heineken, Molson, etc as my choices along with #9, I'd order a 9.
I tried #9 for the first time in a while this weekend. The initial taste was ok, but then it took on this weird perfume taste that completely weirded me out.
Yeah, I remember a long time where I thought #9 was really good, then I had it and realized that it wasn't that great. I do remember that it did have a weird taste.
Also, if anyone ever sees Piton in a store, tell me.
had a ST 2XONE over the weekend. it was pretty good.
I think ST makes some refreshing beers.
Phin & Matts, 422, Live, Hopsun, 2XIPA, harvest are all good beers.
I like their 2X stout out of a nitro tap way better than the bottle, but their porter, inquity, unearthly, gemini, warlock and oat are all good too. The only ones I don't care for are the choklat, creme brulee, and mokah and not because they are bad, but because they are too much for me.
At least to me, they have a nice variety. A lot of them may not be top notch, but they are a solid brewery.
shafnutz05 wrote:
Picked up a bomber of Southern Tier Oat at the store, thought they discontinued it?
Wha?!?!? did it have a date on the bottle? If it wasn't snowing so much, I may drive out just to pick up some. did they have a lot?
Yeah they had quite a few bottles. It was at the Wegman's in Malvern though
I'm calling the brewery.
can't get a hold of anyone, a couple weeks ago my brother got to have some beers with the brewmaster up there and he said the OAT will be back at some point, they just needed some room for new rotations. Said he used to live in Shadyside and brewed/named ST Left from his time there. Real down to earth guy, used to work in a lab for a pharmaceutical company then quit and went to beer school in Chicago (29 yrs old).
Ballast Point has offered up another stellar beer in Dorado. A DIPA, one of the best that I have ever had. On tap, Happy Hour price of $5.00 per pint. Searching for some bombers to chill at home.
Ballast Point has surpassed Stone in solid IPA brews.
Southern Tier is fine, I mean, it is all drinkable beer. I don't really care for Phin & Matts, Live, Xmas, and 2xIPA is average at best imo. That being said, I feel like it is more highly regarded than it should be. ST sort of reminds me of Dogfish Head only without doing interesting stuff. They don't really push boundaries at all or do anything too original (I have been wanting to try Plum Noir, which I might consider to be in that vein). They make fairly ordinary craft beer styles pretty well. I think the reputation is something more than that, though.
Creme brûlée is original and is the only beer of theirs where id be bummed if they stopped making it. Oat and chocolate are good, but not significantly better than the other options out there.
Kraftster wrote:Southern Tier is fine, I mean, it is all drinkable beer. I don't really care for Phin & Matts, Live, Xmas, and 2xIPA is average at best imo. That being said, I feel like it is more highly regarded than it should be. ST sort of reminds me of Dogfish Head only without doing interesting stuff. They don't really push boundaries at all or do anything too original (I have been wanting to try Plum Noir, which I might consider to be in that vein). They make fairly ordinary craft beer styles pretty well. I think the reputation is something more than that, though.
My view as well, which is why I think overrated fits. My perception of their perception is that they are one of the top craft breweries amongst the larger operations, which I don't think is deserved.
Dogfish Head I enjoy a lot more than Southern Tier. Palo Santo Marron alone is more interesting than anything else I've had from ST.
BigMcK wrote:Ballast Point has offered up another stellar beer in Dorado. A DIPA, one of the best that I have ever had. On tap, Happy Hour price of $5.00 per pint. Searching for some bombers to chill at home.
Ballast Point has surpassed Stone in solid IPA brews.
I almost pulled the trigger on a bomber of this, but went with the miles davis b*tches brew instead. It was good, not sure if I would get it again though...
Kraftster wrote:Southern Tier is fine, I mean, it is all drinkable beer. I don't really care for Phin & Matts, Live, Xmas, and 2xIPA is average at best imo. That being said, I feel like it is more highly regarded than it should be. ST sort of reminds me of Dogfish Head only without doing interesting stuff. They don't really push boundaries at all or do anything too original (I have been wanting to try Plum Noir, which I might consider to be in that vein). They make fairly ordinary craft beer styles pretty well. I think the reputation is something more than that, though.
My view as well, which is why I think overrated fits. My perception of their perception is that they are one of the top craft breweries amongst the larger operations, which I don't think is deserved.
Dogfish Head I enjoy a lot more than Southern Tier. Palo Santo Marron alone is more interesting than anything else I've had from ST.
I see what you guys are saying. I'm probably a little biased because I spend a lot of time up there being 20 minutes away. To me, their OAT was the only thing that really stood out as extraordinary. I thought everything else was mainly solid and convenient which I'm good with for easy access.
I guess I see them at 37 of top 50 from brewers association and that sounds reasonable to me, not overrated...
Yeah, being accessible is worth noting, eddy. Its hard to have a consistent rubric for rating breweries. And I have a definite bias towards avant garde-ness. I guess maybe this would be the best way for me to put it. If I met someone and they boasted about being a beer aficionado and they stated that their favorite brewery was Southern Tier, I would probably scoff. But if I went to a party and the host had a couple cases of ST stuff for the guests, I wouldn't have any sort of condescending attitude about those choices; quite the contrary, I would make sure to .
Reputation-wise, I sense that a greater number than should be would be okay with the ST statement in the first scenario.
Kraftster wrote:Yeah, being accessible is worth noting, eddy. Its hard to have a consistent rubric for rating breweries. And I have a definite bias towards avant garde-ness. I guess maybe this would be the best way for me to put it. If I met someone and they boasted about being a beer aficionado and they stated that their favorite brewery was Southern Tier, I would probably scoff. But if I went to a party and the host had a couple cases of ST stuff for the guests, I wouldn't have any sort of condescending attitude about those choices; quite the contrary, I would make sure to :thumb:.
Reputation-wise, I sense that a greater number than should be would be okay with the ST statement in the first scenario.
I guess that's where we differ. I'm not really interested in breweries that push the envelope or do exotic things. I'll definitely try them and see what I like, but I'd rather have beers that are solid in their given class. I think that's why I'm not a big fan of Dogfish. For me, breweries like ST, Founders, and Great Lakes offer great beers in the more traditional sense.
I'm sure of it, ha. And I should say, I would scoff to myself. I did this recently when I spoke with a gentleman about Butcher & The Rye (newish Pittsburgh restaurant). He asked if I was a beer guy. I indicated that I am. He told me that I had to go because Church Brew Works has to special brews for the restaurant -- "a 'light' on and a 'dark' one." "The light one may be one of the finest IPAs you'll ever have and the dark one may be one of the finest stouts." If I can keep my scoffing to myself on that one, it would take a lot to force an audible scoff.
Kraftster wrote:Yeah, being accessible is worth noting, eddy. Its hard to have a consistent rubric for rating breweries. And I have a definite bias towards avant garde-ness. I guess maybe this would be the best way for me to put it. If I met someone and they boasted about being a beer aficionado and they stated that their favorite brewery was Southern Tier, I would probably scoff. But if I went to a party and the host had a couple cases of ST stuff for the guests, I wouldn't have any sort of condescending attitude about those choices; quite the contrary, I would make sure to .
Reputation-wise, I sense that a greater number than should be would be okay with the ST statement in the first scenario.
I guess that's where we differ. I'm not really interested in breweries that push the envelope or do exotic things. I'll definitely try them and see what I like, but I'd rather have beers that are solid in their given class. I think that's why I'm not a big fan of Dogfish. For me, breweries like ST, Founders, and Great Lakes offer great beers in the more traditional sense.
Yeah, that seems pretty reasonable. I sense that eddy is the same way. Nothing wrong with that at all. I don't actually care for DFH, though I will admit to not having sampled a large portion of their stuff, but I do give them credit for doing some exotic things. It just seems like the craft market is flooded with "solid" these days to where I want a little more to be "wowed" -- not everyone's looking to be wowed, though. And it may also be the case that I only think that there's flooding because I'm more familiar with a lot of beers now, but I have read some commentary that seems to support that point.
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