Hi neighbour! Where are you? I suspected we'd be close because you drink a lot of the beers we tried at All Pints North last year. Have you been to that beer fest? Last year was our first time; our local brewery arranged 2 buses to take folks down and back; so much fun and a bit overwhelming. Unfortunately, we can't make it this year.

Funny, I'm closer to you than I am to any of my fellow Canucks on this board.

That is pretty funny! I have not been to All Pints North, though I'd love to go sometime. I live in the suburbs about 15 minutes north of both downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis. I do get up to the North Shore fairly often though, and I've always wanted to visit Thunder Bay but never have. I bet it's cold as fuck in the winter. I'd love to live in Duluth, but I never will because of the winter weather that lasts 8 months a year. I bet TB is similar.

Yup, Thunder Bay weather is just as bad as Duluth's, possibly a bit worse. I didn't realize the Twin Cities got off easy. I've been to Minneapolis once to see a Canadian band of all things, saw the Mall and went to Ikea.

I've never been to ikea, seems like a real shit storm. The Twin Cities definitely doesn't get off easily, but the wind off of Superior is a completely different animal and it makes winter last forever in Duluth.

Has an aftertaste just like an orange creamsicle. I'm liking it less the more I have.

Three of these tonight at AZ Wilderness. Arrastra Belgian Golden Strong. Almost 10%. Pear, hoppy, dry finish. Tasty AF.

My fiance manages the restaurant at another AB owned High End brewery. She was there for about a year before the buyout and so far nothing about the way the restaurant operates has changed aside from a new local chef entering the picture, but I suspect the timing of that move was more coincidence than anything else.

Do you think the restaurant at Four Peaks has gone through changes since the buyout?

To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t been there for at least 3 years. And many of the changes in the kitchen could have happened before the change-over.

That being said, I do know the brewery part has seen significant changes. The PHX craft brew “scene” is pretty incestuous and most of the big players here were employed at Four Peaks at some point. I know the original brewers at AZ Wilderness and SanTan and a dude who works at DRAFT Magazine and they all say the AB buyout resulted in big changes on the brew side.

My favourite American beer:

I only drink Anchor Steam when I’m in San Francisco.

Which means I haven’t had one in over 2 years.

I'm super interested in this conversation after watching the craft beer community turn on Karbach this year. Nothing about the beer has changed here...yet. In fact, some of my favorite brews they've done have been developed after the buyout. I'm not sure Karbach is a good example of how AB runs the High End division though because I don't know anything about how Four Peaks, Elysian, Goose etc were run before their buyouts. Karbach grew super fast in the years leading up to the buyout, boasting this insane German brew system that AB would be dumb to replace. But then again, that system was paid for in large part by Silver Eagle, their big dog distributor they've had a relationship with since the early days. SE also distributes AB products...

TL:DR - Karbach has always sort of been a big craft beer and nothing really seems to have changed.

Still, it's very disappointing (but not surprising) to watch the close knit community here eat Karbach employees alive on social media every chance they get. I get it, and I probably wouldn't notice or care as much if the buyout didn't directly affect someone I love, but it's hard to watch a community turn on a brewery and the good people who still work there literally overnight. If my fiance worked at Lone Pint or Brash, I'd probably be right there with the haters though...everyone's a hypocrite.

Do you know much about how Four Peaks was brewed before and after the buyout? I wonder if AB's strategy is to buy breweries that are already rapidly growing?

I don’t really know all the details and I fully suspect there’s a bit of craft beer snobbery going on.

Four Peaks in general was in decline, particularly after a couple of magazines declared AZ Wilderness “the best brewery in America.” After that the craft beer market completely exploded. And Four Peaks was kinda passé. I currently have 4 really good breweries within 10 minutes of my house.

I suspect AB is buying breweries that are rapidly growing and breweries that have a solid reputation, but have seen their fortunes stagnate in the “craft beer revolution.” That’s a total guess however based on a very tiny sample size and total specualation.

All of this being said, Four Peak’s Hop Knot is still my go-to cheap local IPA that I can get at all the grocery stores. It’s still very good and cost $8 for a sixer.

I like to think of it in terms of music, particularly the early 90's grunge explosion. On one hand you've got the commercialization and commodification of something considered pure, homegrown and local. On the other hand you've got people who worked their asses off and were rewarded with a payday, more resources to make more things and an opportunity to expose a much larger group of people to something that otherwise would stay local and obscure.

I don't honestly know why craft beer snobbery takes precedence over common sense and personal preference at the grocery store and bar apart from a seat on a moral high horse. This issue feels compounded in Texas thanks to some serious corruption from the distribution lobbyists, but I don't fully buy that choosing buyout beers over brewers guild approved craft is a zero sum game. Glad to hear that thoughtful drinkers with good taste like you still reach for the Hop Knots of the world if you still like it, '2death.

Spoiler: show

Also, great to talk things with you again. You were always one of my favorite posters.

Back at you, friend.

Midnight Run Coffee Stout from 12 West Brewing. Usually not in the mood for stouts when it's 120 outside, but I had a hankerin'. Delicious.

Looks really good.

The town I grew up in got it's first brewery this month.
https://www.facebook.com/MagicCityBrewingCo/

KiloHop. A super dense DIPA that's surprisingly smooth. One of the few "malty" IPAs that I actually like and the best beer SanTan produces by a wide margin. They used to be one of AZ's best, but seem to be far too caught up in distribution these days. They'd easily rank in the bottom quarter of AZ breweries now and I hate to see the garbage they ship out of state.