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Would you line up for Ontario beer?

Discuss beer or anything else that comes to mind in here.

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boney
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Post by boney »

I haven't been to HF yet. I probably will get there eventually. I'll make the pilgrimage, line up for growlers and probably be disappointed by very very good but massively over-hyped beer. I'll probably line up for beer in Ontario again too, with proportionate post-consumption disappointment. Why line up at all? Anticipation is fun, events are fun and I've met some cool people along the way, so why not?

liamt07
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Post by liamt07 »

boney wrote:probably be disappointed by very very good but massively over-hyped beer.
I genuinely feel bad for anyone who can (or may) enjoy a selection of Hill Farmstead beers and not be blown away. Some sensational stouts and saisons, with easily the best collection of IPAs/DIPAs produced by a single brewery. HF is way more than just hype. They're the real deal.

And I would line up for them any day of the week (and have a series of times). Not only can you do some small sampling while in line, you're also privy to some of the most beautiful landscape in the NE USA simply by looking out that garage door.

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Belgian
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Post by Belgian »

zane9 wrote:I don't know if this still happens, but a few years ago I would see wine lovers (snobs?) lining up on a Saturday morning outside LCBO stores with a big Vintages section. They had eagerly devoured the latest release catalogue, and circled some brutally overpriced cab sauv. The LBCO would limit purchases of that particular swill to 2 bottles per person. The entire stock would be gone in 20 minutes.

The wine industry set the bar high in terms of marketing, and has perfected it over the years: create an artificial scarcity, get a favourable review, set the price high, give the product an aspirational vibe, tie it to lifestyle and income...and they'll line up outside your door.

When Ontario craft brewers become "crass brewers" and adopt the wine trade's practices, will we fall for that and be in the line-ups? I won't.
LOL, hope not.

Regarding Vintages wines, yes those are genuinely marketed to actual scarcity, not just the trade pushing some labels to insane demand but also vintners can only pull so many good crates of grapes off a specific magical piece of terroir (and only have so many 'perfect' vintages weather-wise) - no fault of their own that's how grapes grow.

With 'cult' beers, I think that most beer-loving people are not that crazy to hunt and line up (they'll happily drink other great brews) and of course the brewers could make more if they wanted to eliminate 'scarcity' regardless of crop yields or weather - they mostly buy their supplies don't grow them. But I don't blame them for their response to either situation, our lining up like fanatics isn't their problem and their not expanding production is not their problem. In fact we can blame ourselves.

So why blame the people that make the product, that's what I'm asking. If there's a feeding frenzy some people will enjoy jumping into that, it's fine!
In Beerum Veritas

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Belgian
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Post by Belgian »

liamt07 wrote:I genuinely feel bad for anyone who can (or may) enjoy a selection of Hill Farmstead beers and not be blown away. Some sensational stouts and saisons, with easily the best collection of IPAs/DIPAs produced by a single brewery. HF is way more than just hype. They're the real deal.
Yes, that nothwithstanding what I just said. Could be fun going by HF some year when I'm skiing at Owl's Head, sounds cool regardless and you may get some rainy days during the spring!
In Beerum Veritas

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boney
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Post by boney »

liamt07 wrote:
boney wrote:probably be disappointed by very very good but massively over-hyped beer.
I genuinely feel bad for anyone who can (or may) enjoy a selection of Hill Farmstead beers and not be blown away. Some sensational stouts and saisons, with easily the best collection of IPAs/DIPAs produced by a single brewery. HF is way more than just hype. They're the real deal.

And I would line up for them any day of the week (and have a series of times). Not only can you do some small sampling while in line, you're also privy to some of the most beautiful landscape in the NE USA simply by looking out that garage door.
Haha. Yeah, well not having experienced his beers yet, I may have to eat my words. I wont be too cool for school about though and it and I'll cop to it if it happens.

That said, tasting is subjective and each persons history with beer is their own. The more I drink the more I find my opinions of new or "new to me" beers regressing to the mean of my experience. The more I have the less likely I am to find a true outlier, either super awesome or super awful. Not to say I don't discover really good beers, but very few that will throw all others in their wake or change how I think about or appreciate beer. And I'm not saying that I have had any more or less experience than anyone else on BT. Just my 2 cents.

Sorry for the thread jack.

TheSevenDuffs
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Post by TheSevenDuffs »

liamt07 wrote:
boney wrote:probably be disappointed by very very good but massively over-hyped beer.
I genuinely feel bad for anyone who can (or may) enjoy a selection of Hill Farmstead beers and not be blown away. Some sensational stouts and saisons, with easily the best collection of IPAs/DIPAs produced by a single brewery. HF is way more than just hype. They're the real deal.

And I would line up for them any day of the week (and have a series of times). Not only can you do some small sampling while in line, you're also privy to some of the most beautiful landscape in the NE USA simply by looking out that garage door.
+1 to everything Liam said.

Kel Varnsen
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Post by Kel Varnsen »

Kekumba wrote:I think if there's a chance the bottle could sell out if everyone currently in the growler line maxed out on it, they don't allow people to buy it in the bottle line. Makes sense to me.

If you ask me there's no perfect time to visit HF (besides if you think a bottle is going to sell out...then by all means get there early). I've gotten there at 11am Friday on a holiday weekend and no one else showed up until 11:50. Two weeks ago we got there at 2:30pm on a Wednesday and were 15th in line. If we had showed up 5 minutes later that would have been 50th in line. Just show up and expect to be there for 1-2 hours.

Thread derailed.
Wow that is crazy how busy they have gotten. I was there in 2011, shortly after their 1 year anniversary (I remember because they had the anniversary beer on tap). We visited in the afternoon and I can't remember if it was a weekend or a weekday, but there is was no line. Walked right up to the bar and ordered some samples, and chatted with Shaun Hill.

As far as they hype vs quality, one thing that always impresses me is when you read any interview or story about Shaun Hill is how how seriously he took his training (he wasn't just some homebrewer who bought his own brewery, he trained in Europe) along with how much thought and effort he seems to put into creating his beers.

Ceecee
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Post by Ceecee »

Thanks for the info and sorry about the tangent.

As for the original question...I don't get to the GTA very often so if I made it out to Bellwoods/IAH/GLB and they were releasing a special beer, hell yes I would wait in line for it. Here in Ottawa, I would line up for BtP and maybe Whitewater if I was up the valley for some reason.

zane9
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Post by zane9 »

Belgian wrote:...
LOL, hope not.

Regarding Vintages wines, yes those are genuinely marketed to actual scarcity, not just the trade pushing some labels to insane demand but also vintners can only pull so many good crates of grapes off a specific magical piece of terroir (and only have so many 'perfect' vintages weather-wise) - no fault of their own that's how grapes grow...
Indeed, vintners have only so many chances at making a great wine during their career.

But it's well known in the wine trade that vintners pull vines out of the ground to drive up scarcity and price. So yes, it's their own fault.

The world is awash in oceans of wine.

A
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Post by A »

liamt07 wrote:
boney wrote:probably be disappointed by very very good but massively over-hyped beer.
I genuinely feel bad for anyone who can (or may) enjoy a selection of Hill Farmstead beers and not be blown away. Some sensational stouts and saisons, with easily the best collection of IPAs/DIPAs produced by a single brewery. HF is way more than just hype. They're the real deal.

And I would line up for them any day of the week (and have a series of times). Not only can you do some small sampling while in line, you're also privy to some of the most beautiful landscape in the NE USA simply by looking out that garage door.
Well... :)

Yes they are good, no doubt. But the quality of IPAs in Vermont is so high that they don't really stand out that much IMO. For that matter, the quality of IPAs in many parts of the US (and even here in Toronto) is high enough that its just not worth the effort in my opinion. I was actually much more impressed by the Anna Saison, which has a nice tartness to it that you don't find often in the style. Wish I bought a full case!

The sampling in line is nice, although the landscape is probably the least scenic in Vermont. And the massive construction site right now doesn't help either.

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Cass
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Post by Cass »

I think the "HF experience" would simply not be tolerated in Ontario, regardless of quality. As A pointed out, HF doesn't pre-fill growlers so it's massively inefficient to get their beer to consumers. Regardless of the quaint-ness of the experience of going out to a farm, a brewery would be vilified in ON for that.

PeenSteen
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Post by PeenSteen »

Cass wrote:I think the "HF experience" would simply not be tolerated in Ontario, regardless of quality.......a brewery would be vilified in ON for that.
And that there is the problem

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Cass
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Post by Cass »

PeenSteen wrote:
Cass wrote:I think the "HF experience" would simply not be tolerated in Ontario, regardless of quality.......a brewery would be vilified in ON for that.
And that there is the problem
Of course. Craft beer is still fighting an uphill battle with the government, ballparks, fine dining restaurants, festivals, bars and the general public. Culturally we're not there yet, as a place like VT is. The idea of *truly* appreciating and celebrating something of our own is not ingrained into Ontarians just yet. But it's getting there.

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Belgian
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Post by Belgian »

zane9 wrote:
Belgian wrote:...
LOL, hope not.

Regarding Vintages wines, yes those are genuinely marketed to actual scarcity, not just the trade pushing some labels to insane demand but also vintners can only pull so many good crates of grapes off a specific magical piece of terroir (and only have so many 'perfect' vintages weather-wise) - no fault of their own that's how grapes grow...
Indeed, vintners have only so many chances at making a great wine during their career.

But it's well known in the wine trade that vintners pull vines out of the ground to drive up scarcity and price. So yes, it's their own fault.

The world is awash in oceans of wine.
Your second paragraph strongly implies 'all vintners' are to blame and they all thin their root stocks and it's always to create scarcity not finer yield (major points of clarity around both integrity and quality.) Just reads that way to me.

But yes overall (not specific to select terroir) the world's over-supply off good wine defies it's pricing, not to mention the severe lag in value for the dollar by the time it hits the LCBO shelves (separate issue.) Countries like Spain and France can supply fine red wine for soda pop prices. Trader Joes has had great Chilean wines for literally a few bucks (in the USA where rare wine hysteria is also prevalent.)
In Beerum Veritas

zane9
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Post by zane9 »

Belgian wrote: Your second paragraph strongly implies 'all vintners' are to blame and they all thin their root stocks and it's always to create scarcity not finer yield (major points of clarity around both integrity and quality.) Just reads that way to me...
Nah, didn't mean to paint all vintners with the same brush. That would be silly of me. But, someone humorously posted elsewhere that some nefarious winemakers should take their linear relationship between yield and quality to its logical conclusion: zero yield=maximum quality!

In Spain we had so much wonderful wine for so little $. And the craft/micro brewery biz is growing so quickly there! That exploration was a great part of our trip.

Now that my complete hijacking of this thread is done, I return you to your regularly scheduled back-and-forth about lining up for beeer. :D

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