Blue Point Toasted Lager. Very nice.

Finished an early dinner yesterday and headed for our only local brewery, Nivol. We were happy to see it busier than on past visits, although they still had room for us at the bar. I started with their lager and finished with a peach version of their amber ale. The lager was nice, crisp and flavorful for that style. The amber didn't seem like the right vehicle for the peach flavor, not a marriage made in heaven.

Flying Dog Mango Habanero IPA. Had it last summer and loved it but it disappeared before I could get more. Found it again at Total Wine at the end of last week - perfect summer IPA with a burger and fries and a touch better than the Habanero Sculpin IMO (the mango makes a difference).

Troegs Independent Brewing Perpetual IPA and Foothills Hopjob Session IPA

Another habanero-based IPA? :(

HA I know, I just can't resist them - I'm trying my best to branch out but I keep coming back to these

I'm near the Troegs brewery. The nice thing about this is that Perpetual is basically a staple at all of the bars around here. :D

Sipping on Flying Squirrel #18 - a Smash IPA done by Strong Rope, a microbrewery based in Gowanus. I picked up a couple of their things from the Union Square farmer's market last weekend - good stuff ^

Victory Brewing DirtWolf DIPA ^
Grapefruit Sculpin :td:
Flying Dog Raging B$*+! - Meh

Interesting. We all have different tastes. Are you normally an IPA drinker? I like the plain Sculpin and love the grapefruit. It's the pineapple that I don't care for.

Sierra Nevada product is on sale at Publix this week for $7.99 a six. I bought a 6 pack of Sidecar. It went very well with take-out Chinese.

I wasn't a fan of Sidecar.

I used to hate IPAs (thought they were too bitter) and have gotten into them more over the past 12 - 14 months (I drink them more than any other type of beer with the exception of Oktoberfest beer in the fall) but more in the vein of Sip of Sunshine / Wicked Weed Pernicious. The common thread for me seems to be the inclusion of citrus-y hops to balance the the bitterness which used to keep me away from IPAs in the first place. I have switched almost e

I think my negative view of the Grapefruit Sculpin was more a function of my dislike of grapefruit (I like the Habanero, Regular, Unfiltered, and Pineapple Sculpins).

At end of business today, I will be celebrating International Beer Day with a growler of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. ^

Like all craft beers, IMO, the quality has gotten worse with broader distribution. I liked Sculpin a lot more several years back than I do now. I don't buy any Stone beers that say 'Proudly brewed in Virginia' - not because of any kind of regional bias, but because, frankly, the beer does not taste as good.

Scaling distribution vs. maintaining quality is always a challenge for the small guys. If you aren't in it for the money, it's better to stay small, IMO.

You definitely wouldn't have liked what I tried today. :)

Lazy Hazy IPA from Fall River Brewing. Very heavy on the grapefruit. WAY more than grapefruit Sculpin. Love this brewery and don't mind a bit of grapefruit in an IPA, but one of these was enough. I find I'm taking a liking to the hazy IPAs in general though.