The Beer Thread

[Jocephus]

Heineken buys stake in craft brewer Lagunitas

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/08/heineken ... nitas.html

[33anda3rd]

I'm not a Lagunitas fan. I find most of their stuff undrinkable. It's my least favorite of the nationally-known craft brewers.

[ZigZagCardsFan]

I don't like most of Lagunitas' offerings as they overdo it with their septuple IPA [expletive], but I picked up their Imperial Pils last weekend and it was fantastic.

Will definitely drink again soon.

[haltz]

We put Sumpin Sumpin on the menu and I like it a lot. The straight IPA, which is probably their flagship unless I'm forgetting something, I really don't care for.

[33anda3rd]

I don't like most of Lagunitas' offerings as they overdo it with their septuple IPA [expletive], but I picked up their Imperial Pils last weekend and it was fantastic.

Will definitely drink again soon.

I agree, their pils is good. It's too bad it's only a fraction of the beer they make.

When I buy beer, I buy a bit from my politics. I don't buy any beer from the sexist-leaning Flying Dog (Raging [expletive] IPA, Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout) or Pig Minds (Panty Dropper Blueberry Ale) or SweetWater (Happy Ending, which basically depicted a sex worker cleaning up ejaculate on the bottle before they were pushed hard to change it. I don't buy from brewers who self-distribute and have crappy customer service. And I don't buy from people who just kind of rub me the wrong way and don't share my values, since my beer list is an extension of me, not just a bunch of stuff I like. Lagunitas rubs the the wrong way, with the silly lawsuit last year and presenting an aw-shucks faux-humble attitude while building a brewery in Chicago that's bigger than every other Chicago brewery combined to extend your distribution reach while lowering costs and pushing into the turf of other craft brewers.

[Jocephus]

im an awful crumbum 'cause i like their IPA. i also live in kansas, am not in the food industry (dont follow beer politics) and will take what i can get. though now i can sense that i will certainly think twice about buying their beer.

another day ruined. life sucks. then you die.

[33anda3rd]

I dunno if the crumbum comment is b/c I came across as a snob in the post two up, or if it's a swipe at my general persona on here as a snob, but I didn't mean to stake any kind of claim to having a vast incredible knowledge of the beer business or whatever, afforded to me by being in the food industry. I don't think one needs be in the loop to make a decision based on personal politics with beer. One needs not know that Adam Vavrick singlehandedly threw a wrench in SweetWater's Chicago debut by refusing to carry Happy Ending to understand the politics of supporting that brewery via a purchase of that beer with that label. One can look at the label, see the racist, sexist stereotypical Asian sex worker and the box of kleenex on the bottle and ask "would I want my daughter/son/wife/mother seeing this in my fridge? What message do I send to them by supporting this brand?" I think in craft beer there's a microclimate of bros who are not very thoughtful in their packaging and marketing, and one needs not be Mr. Beer Advocate to see it on the labels and take a pass. I'd like very much for them to be continuously shamed and to have beer either rejected by stores/bars or sitting dusty on shelves as the consumer rejects the ugly message it sends out.

A LOT of micro-/nanobreweries are not going to survive. Some won't make good beer, some won't have a good sales team, some won't have good business management, there's a bunch of reasons. I'd like to see the market clear of the latent racism and sexism that some folks seem to think is ok. If clearing the market of them means that there's a little more time for the great brewer with bad business sense to figure it out, that's a good thing.

As far as Lagunitas, I know a lot of people who love their IPA. I don't, but it's just a matter of taste. I'm not a big hophead, would rather have a sour or a saison or a German lager. That's why the beer--forget the politics, just the beer--doesn't resonate with me. There's not right or wrong in taste, and I think if someone likes their beer and doesn't have a concern over their local craft beer landscape being effected by a massive Lagunitas plant, then they should certainly enjoy the crap out of some Lagunitas IPA. If Lagunitas doesn't impact you, who cares? For me, it impacts a lot of the brewer friends I try to support and work with.

[haltz]

Everyone's palate is different. I used to drink IPAs, huge red wine and scotch because I thought it was cool, but I'm typically happier with Newcastle (Ellie's for beer cred), bordeaux blanc and bourbon or Irish whiskey.

I did wine tastings for a long time and make drinks for people every day (OK, the four nights I work) - people should be open minded but drink what they like. Unless you order hot chocolate while it's 90 degrees and a vodka shirley temple, then I might threaten to walk like I did a few weeks ago.

[33anda3rd]

Hot chocolate + Chartreuse is the move.

[haltz]

Speaking of, I've made about 20 of The Last Word in the last week, which is about 10x more than usual. I always wonder where these spurts come from exactly.