[fredthecat]

To get back to the OP, as much as I love lambic I've never been able to get my hands on any Cantillon or 3 Fonteinen. I've also never had any Russian River. I know that there's a lot of other great US beer out there, but Pliny is really the only one that I'd like to try just to see what it's all about.

They actually have three types of 3 fonteinen in stock now at the LCBO https://www.lcbo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchDisplay?categoryId=&storeId=10203&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&sType=SimpleSearch&resultCatEntryType=2&showResultsPage=true&searchSource=Q&pageView=&beginIndex=0&pageSize=12&searchTerm=fonteinen&authToken=-1002%252CetYHJunN2fPHnqWYb6iXk2V4thGGKMCP7yRvypmsoac%253D

20 dollars and up for a 375ml bottle. lol



also, a lot of the extremely good and renowned canadian breweries like unibroue and dieu du ciel used to have their stuff stocked in ontario, but for some reason they are almost completely shut out. its crazy. the lcbo lists dieu du ciel stuff but they havent actually had it (at all, it didnt sell out) in years and years.

[allenhuerta]

Heady Topper is ok, but on the blow your socks off scale it barely raises a shoelace.

THIS.  The beer doesn't measure up to the hype.

I remember the first time I had Heady, the guy at the share who poured it for me seemed offended I didn't think it was the greatest thing ever. This is probably back in.. 2010-2013 time frame.. I honestly don't remember the share I was at.

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[Megary]

I’m wondering, for those that don’t care for Heady Topper, is it because you don’t care for Hazy IPA’s in general or because you think Heady isn’t a very good NEIPA/Hazy?

Full disclosure:  I’m not a big Hazy drinker, but I do think Heady is pretty good.

[allenhuerta]

For me, it's not that I thought the beer was bad. I thought it was good. But I've had many better beers, IMO. The guy looked at me with disgust and was like "THAT'S FRESH HEADY" I was like, "Yeah man, it's really good..." Then he stormed off.. I've never heard of it at this point and I googled it later and I was like oh .. ok. I don't care for Hazy/NE but I didn't hate Heady. I've had it since then but still it never hit my OMFG button. I respect that beer for what it is but what evolved from it needs to go away in most cases.

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[Megary]

For me, it's not that I thought the beer was bad. I thought it was good. But I've had many better beers, IMO. The guy looked at me with disgust and was like "THAT'S FRESH HEADY" I was like, "Yeah man, it's really good..." Then he stormed off.. I've never heard of it at this point and I googled it later and I was like oh .. ok. I don't care for Hazy/NE but I didn't hate Heady. I've had it since then but still it never hit my OMFG button. I respect that beer for what it is but what evolved from it needs to go away in most cases.

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I got you.  I feel pretty much the same way about it.  Pliny as well.  Good beer, won’t refuse it, won’t run someone over to get it either.

[denny]

I’m wondering, for those that don’t care for Heady Topper, is it because you don’t care for Hazy IPA’s in general or because you think Heady isn’t a very good NEIPA/Hazy?

Full disclosure:  I’m not a big Hazy drinker, but I do think Heady is pretty good.

It was the very first hazy beer I ever had.  I didn't object to the haze, it just didn't seem like there was any there there, if you know what I mean. Maybe I expected more after all the hype (it had just come out and was getting a lot of attention.)

[fredthecat]

theres also all those super highly rated scandinavian strong porters and imp stouts from several years ago. i think i might have had one, but certainly no more than that. im not sure where theyre distributed to.

ive had one mikkeller, but they were/are a massive name

[Megary]

I’m wondering, for those that don’t care for Heady Topper, is it because you don’t care for Hazy IPA’s in general or because you think Heady isn’t a very good NEIPA/Hazy?

Full disclosure:  I’m not a big Hazy drinker, but I do think Heady is pretty good.

It was the very first hazy beer I ever had.  I didn't object to the haze, it just didn't seem like there was any there there, if you know what I mean. Maybe I expected more after all the hype (it had just come out and was getting a lot of attention.)

Yeah, hype sucks.  I felt the same with Pliny. 
I also wonder, as it pertains to HT in particular, how fresh it was when you (or anyone, really) had it.  Definitely a beer best consumed ASAP as I don’t think it ages gracefully.

[narvin]

Hype sucks and can taint your opinion but I also think it depends on the bottle/can you get, freshness, your attitude, and even phases of the moon.  I've had Westy 12 that was sublime, and some that tasted like trash, Pliny that was delicious and some that was just bitter, and underwhelming Heady but also a delicious balanced can (though I totally agree about it being TOO fresh, and biting, at the source).  I did the Yakima virtual hop harvest in 2020 and was not much of a fan of the Bale Breaker and Single Hill beers they sent, but thought the Varietal was great.  I generally find Trillium to be great, but even that can vary depending on who knows what.  The one that I usually don't like is anything Treehouse... not sure if it's the Lactose or the bizarre combinations of yeasts they're rumored to use but it's not for me.  But the hype definitely adds to the disappointment... if I didn't have to stand in 8 lines and fight a bunch of bros to get it, I'd probably just say "Yeah, that's pretty good".

[MDixon]

I’m wondering, for those that don’t care for Heady Topper, is it because you don’t care for Hazy IPA’s in general or because you think Heady isn’t a very good NEIPA/Hazy?

Full disclosure:  I’m not a big Hazy drinker, but I do think Heady is pretty good.

At the time I had it the hype was off the charts. Hazy was a rather new phenomena. To me it was just a decent beer, nothing spectacular. If it matters I judged several rounds of hazy at GABF in 2018 and 2019.

[fredthecat]

I’m wondering, for those that don’t care for Heady Topper, is it because you don’t care for Hazy IPA’s in general or because you think Heady isn’t a very good NEIPA/Hazy?

Full disclosure:  I’m not a big Hazy drinker, but I do think Heady is pretty good.

At the time I had it the hype was off the charts. Hazy was a rather new phenomena. To me it was just a decent beer, nothing spectacular. If it matters I judged several rounds of hazy at GABF in 2018 and 2019.

i am far from an expert on hazy/NEIPA whatever, but i find it varies a LOT. if i was hired to categorize and breakdown hazy IPA, i could easily have 3 or 4 very different categories. again ive never had heady topper, but i do recall that time period where in general some IPAs were going in that direction with increased hazy (i guess due to hops and quick packaging rather than the oats/wheat grist... maybe? i do recall more and more wheat), but they were still hard, high IBU IPAs. the hazys i get around here are barely even IPAs imho, theyre as low as 30 IBU. then a middle of the road category as well. not to mention very different grists and gravities.

[pete b]

I actually have had a hard time finding SN Celebration this year. I only looked locally and I live in a rural area but most years I find it is available for a couple month in two or three stores. This year I found one six pack in one store.

[reverseapachemaster]

I am pretty spoiled for choice with beer but not always with the hype-iest of hype beers. I'm not a big fan of what has been most hyped for the past several years (haze, smoothie nonsense, pastry stouts) but I've had several with some good some not so great. IMO there are still plenty of great and better beers released into the market that quietly pass by.

These days my unfulfilled desires are usually lambic blends I can't get (but I have access to a lot right off the shelf) and obscure saison and biere de gardes. I've had very few Hill Farmstead beers and I'd like to try more but I've heard they've introduced a lot more acidity as of late into their beers.

Since we're on the subject of Pliny I've had it and I'm not a huge fan. It's a really good IPA for what it is but I'm not a huge simcoe and centennial fan and that's the flavor of that beer. I am far more a fan of Blind Pig which is a lot of cascade and amarillo--a hop combination a really enjoy in general.

[BrewingRover]

Since we're on the subject of Pliny I've had it and I'm not a huge fan. It's a really good IPA for what it is but I'm not a huge simcoe and centennial fan and that's the flavor of that beer. I am far more a fan of Blind Pig which is a lot of cascade and amarillo--a hop combination a really enjoy in general.

I'm with you on Blind Pig > Pliny, it's a really tasty beer. It's been on tap at Monk's in Philadelphia every time I've been there. I guess Vinnie goes way back with them.

I wish I could still get Goose Island Hex Nut Brown and Oatmeal Stout, but those are long gone after the InBev purchase.

[Visor]

   This is all kind of amusing to me, I've never had any of the beers mentioned so far as they aren't available here in BFE - pretty slim pickings for beer lovers. That's probably a good thing because if they were it would only be because they were months or years out of code and brought here after being pulled from the shelves somewhere more important. I did pick up a 4 pack of Ten Fiddy the other day, which totally surprised me. I would dearly love to have some Sheaf Stout again to see if it was anywhere near as great as I remember it being, but I don't know if it's even being imported to the U.S. anymore.