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Hops Spring Eternal

G-Fafif Mar 28 2012 05:51 AM

Times wine critic slums to do beer as it applies to baseball, takes too long to get to the point, then slams Citi Field selection. In New York, the situation has been dire. The selection has never been good at Yankee Stadium, where you were lucky to find a Guinness Stout among the mass-market brands sold at absurd prices. It was scarcely better at Citi Field, where the big breweries buried an initial effort to sell local craft beers. Aren't there two sizable concessions, one beyond center, the other in the Promenade food court, devoted to selling all kinds of crafts and imports, including some local representation? WTF's with "scarcely"?

Ceetar Mar 28 2012 05:53 AM Re: Hops Spring Eternal

G-Fafif wrote: Times wine critic slums to do beer as it applies to baseball, takes too long to get to the point, then slams Citi Field selection. In New York, the situation has been dire. The selection has never been good at Yankee Stadium, where you were lucky to find a Guinness Stout among the mass-market brands sold at absurd prices. It was scarcely better at Citi Field, where the big breweries buried an initial effort to sell local craft beers. Aren't there two sizable concessions, one beyond center, the other in the Promenade food court, devoted to selling all kinds of crafts and imports, including some local representation? WTF's with "scarcely"? oh, this is going to make my day, thanks. I'll go into detail when I get to work. (those concessions you mean are ALL Aneuseuer Busch distributed btw)

G-Fafif Mar 28 2012 05:56 AM Re: Hops Spring Eternal

oh, this is going to make my day, thanks. Happy day after birthday!

Ceetar Mar 28 2012 07:07 AM Re: Hops Spring Eternal

I'm always suspect of wine people that claim to like beer but then only review it once in a while. Although i'm surprised he's even aware of this: It was scarcely better at Citi Field, where the big breweries buried an initial effort to sell local craft beers. Likely true, although unconfirmed by anyone. Brooklyn Brewery's Twitter told me that they were basically priced out by the Mets. The assumption has been that one of the big breweries told Aramark "We'll give you $$$ for those taps." There are stories about macro beer companies doing this in other places, walking into bars and paying to tap out a beer and take over a tap. There was a show on Discovery about craft beer that was supposedly canned by Big Beer. But I digress. I'm not sure what the purpose of linking beer to baseball in a porter review either besides to fill space because he doesn't have enough to say about the beers themselves. It seems like a stretch. "Hey, night games! night is dark, and Porter is dark! perfect!" ..Like summer evenings in NY aren't often sticky and hot. Which isn't exactly the best time to drink a dark rich beer. Porters are practically meals themselves, it's more of an after party beer in my opinion. I could see a good porter being a nice post-win beer. Savor the rich taste of success. But drinking a couple during the 3rd inning in the hot promenade is a heavy task. The timing of this is odd, since I _just_ posted yesterday about the new beers at Citi Field. I'm sure Asimov doesn't read Optimistic Mets Fan, but a week before the season opens and his assertion could change ,it couldn't have hurt to do a Google search about Citi Field Beer Lists. He's not totally wrong, the Mets are not where Philly is with beer at CBP, but they added a couple of new beers this season AND three craft beer stands devoted to it. The entire Big Apple Brews stand is distributed by Anheuser Busch, but some of those, like Kona, ,Widmer (They had Widmer at Shea), Redhook (which is in Brooklyn) and Goose Island (now owned, but perhaps not operated, by A-B) are still craft breweries. This is vastly superior to Yankee Stadium.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 28 2012 10:45 AM Re: Hops Spring Eternal

The buying-out-taps thing does seem commonplace, if what I've read/heard from hospitality-industrial types holds. But, yeah, it does kinda suck that they built/fostered that relationship with the Meyer stuff/Brooklyn (one of the few independently owned breweries in the area that get national respect) then torpedoed it. But, yeah-- porters? And THOSE porters, besides? Not unless you're summering in San Francisco. In April. Also, there's Bluepoint, which should ALWAYS be your first beer at the park, if you can help it.

Edgy MD Mar 28 2012 10:47 AM Re: Hops Spring Eternal

It speaks of the larger issue of concourse competition --- something that every new ballpark seeminlgy opens with the promise of, and that promise pretty regularly fades with the reality of the value of an exclusive marketplace.

batmagadanleadoff Mar 28 2012 10:52 AM Re: Hops Spring Eternal

I'm not surprised. I also thought that the quality of the food at CF has been slipping since its inaugural season. Same old fucking' Wilpons. Another year or two, and the teeny tiny Mets Hall of Fame that exists only because the Mets were shamed into bulding will probably shrink by a third, too.

Ceetar Mar 28 2012 10:55 AM Re: Hops Spring Eternal

Edgy DC wrote: It speaks of the larger issue of concourse competition --- something that every new ballpark seeminlgy opens with the promise of, and that promise pretty regularly fades with the reality of the value of an exclusive marketplace. I'm going to get back to Philly this year, but they do it right. There are some other good parks out there as well. I think the Mets made the right first step by designating a 'craft beer stand' (3 of them) so that it's outside of the other stuff. If Budweiser wants more taps, they can have them. If they want the space, the craft beer can move. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Also, there's Bluepoint, which should ALWAYS be your first beer at the park, if you can help it. Yeah, and they've added two more (or so) varieties. Also moved some of the better stuff outside the Delta Club. Sixpoint Sweet Action is another awesome local brewery. And a 'good neighbor' in Brooklyn. I'm going to a Sixpoint event this weekend supporting the ASPCA. (Beer for Beasts) This is basically my focus, because Sixpoint this offseason started canning their beers. perfect for the ballpark.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 28 2012 11:05 AM Re: Hops Spring Eternal

Forgot about Sixpoint. LOVE the Sweet Action and the Bengali Tiger. One quibble: "available at Delta Club" is "unavailable to 95% of paying clientele;" it's silly to pretend otherwise, really.

Ceetar Mar 28 2012 12:21 PM Re: Hops Spring Eternal

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Forgot about Sixpoint. LOVE the Sweet Action and the Bengali Tiger. One quibble: "available at Delta Club" is "unavailable to 95% of paying clientele;" it's silly to pretend otherwise, really. oh oh, definitely. sweet action, ommegang, sierra nevada, magic hat #9, Victory Hop Devil for some of the ones only available inside last year. This year i'm 99% certain that all those, and others, (except Victory and Ommegang) will be at the three craft beer stands.

G-Fafif Mar 29 2012 01:33 PM Re: Hops Spring Eternal

Pre-Opening Day buzz, locally produced, here.

Ceetar Mar 29 2012 01:41 PM Re: Hops Spring Eternal

Pre-Opening Day buzz, locally produced, here. Sounds interesting, the odds of me making it to the seaport by 6:30 on a Wedneday though, slim. I miss working in Manhattan.

Ceetar Mar 29 2012 07:06 PM Re: Hops Spring Eternal

hell, might as well keep this as the Beer at the Ballpark thread. I thought it was a mistake on the beer list. The Mets listed "Blue Point White IPA" as a beer, and I'd never heard of it. it's not on blue point's website. I assumed it was just the hoptical illusion. I was wrong. It's a new beer that just came out today.