Boston.com – In quite possibly the most New England beer collaboration ever, Maine-based retailer L.L. Bean has teamed up with five Maine breweries to create a limited-edition craft beer collection in celebration of its new collection of Small Batch Bean Boots.
This takes the cake. The quintessential “comfy but style-less” New England clothing company teaming up with a number of Maine CRAFT BEER companies. This is the most new England thing of all time. It makes you wonder who is coming for this throne. Maybe Cuffy’s will team up with Dunks? Mary Lou’s and the Black Dog? A heroin dealer and Reebok? This honestly could create a sort of apparel/refreshment collab turf war that no one saw coming.
Now I don’t pretend to be a craft beer expert but I was a bit ahead of the curve thanks to an older brother in-law that looks upon Bud Light as a sin of the flesh. I also have a few friends who are either in or have been in the craft beer business. So if you do make it up to South Canada to try one of these (unless they all are making the same thing) I’d go Mast Landing or Thresher. Both make a solid pop.
WCVB – Two Boston beverage powerhouses are joining forces to launch a new drink for fall. Dunkin’ and Harpoon Brewery combined Dunkin’s Espresso Blend Coffee and Harpoon beer to create Harpoon Dunkin’ Coffee Porter.
I think my rise to beer snob has been well documented on this blog. I was once a green college student jumping at the chance to buy as much beer as possible for as cheap as possible. That usually was a case of Busch Lattes, but one time I was at a liquor store in the Bronx and bought a case of tallboys of FAMOSA because it was like $5.
I’ve yet to ever see that brand of beer anywhere ever again because it was probably straight poison. But over the years I’ve grown into a sophisticated adult getting drunk on nothing but IPAs, DIPAs, Sours, Stouts and more.
So when this news story about Harpoon’s latest concoction came across my desk I had to address the situation.
Coffee flavored beer?! Ever heard of it? I have because my good friend Drew Carey came up with the idea way back in 1996 when he invented Buzz Beer TWENTY TWO YEARS AGO. Fuck, I’m old.
Now Harpoon and Dunkin Donuts are teaming up to swoop in and steal Drew’s idea? i won’t stand for it. Drew may be flush in all that Price is Right money, but all us fans of mediocre 90s sitcoms remember who the true innovator was here.
To be honest, I feel like Kramer when Calvin Klein stole his ocean scented cologne idea.
PS – I can’t do basic math for shit, but I can remember plot lines of TV sitcoms from 1996. Some kind of useless Snapple Facts trivia brain I have apparently.
For those of you who don’t know, former Red Sox stud Kevin Youkilis has dedicated his post-baseball life to an honorable and enviable pursuit; brewing delicious delicious beer.
Youk set up shop in southern Cali with his venture, Loma Brewery. I hope to one day crush some suds with the dirt dog himself out in Cali, but until then I’ll just have to hunt down a couple of his brews myself. I feared that would be a bigger challenge than my goal of collecting all the Ommegang Game of Thrones beers.
Not easy.
However, Youk recently partnered with local beer giant, Harpoon, to start distributing his craft creations this fall and I am stoked.
As we all know, a great beer is about 51% taste and 49% creative name. Look no further than 21st Amendment Brewery’s Hell or High Watermelon or Ruckus Brewing Company’s Hoptimus Prime.
Youk’s signature beer? Greek God of Hops.
To be honest, this beer could taste like paint and I would still buy it.
We had a huge guest this week as the co-founder of Reds Army, John Karalis, joined The 300s Podcast to discuss everything Boston Celtics, his entrepreneurial background, the state of digital media in 2018, and we even break down some of the best craft beers to enjoy during a game.
You’ve seen and heard John on FOX 5, 98.5 the Sports Hub, Boston.com, as well as the Locked On Celtics podcast. As one of the hardest working guys covering the NBA today, you can find John on twitter @RedsArmy_John as well as http://www.thesportsdaily.com/reds-army/ and his latest endeavor with Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/JohnKaralis
Yahoo – Remember the excitement you felt as a child when your parents brought you to Blockbuster to rent all of your favorite movies? Well, now you can tap into that feeling as an adult with a Blockbuster beer.
While the video-rental company is now down to its last store in Bend, Ore., it seems like people aren’t ready to completely let it go extinct. Instead, those behind the company have teamed up with 10 Barrel Brewing Co. to create a craft beer in its name — quite literally — dubbed the Last Blockbuster. And according to the brewing company’s co-founder Chris Cox, it’s made to pair well with your favorite movie theater snacks. “The Last Blockbuster beer pairs perfectly with buttery theater popcorn and your favorite movie-size chocolate, with a light body, smooth finish, and hints of nostalgia,” Cox told Business Insider.
Well if this isn’t the greatest marketing promotion of 2018 then I don’t know what is. Apparently, the only Blockbuster left in the country is in Bend, Oregon. They must be falling like dominoes because we actually wrote about one of the other last remaining Blockbusters recently. How this store stays in business is beyond me. After kicking it around with Big Z the only explanation we could come up with is that internet is shit out there so streaming Netflix isn’t a viable option.
Either way, a nearby brewery, 10 Barrel Brewing Co., is honoring the last samurai of VHS rentals by brewing up a custom beer.
As a fan of all things obscure, nostalgic, and limited edition promotions, I am sitting at my desk just going back and forth between browsers looking at prices of flights to Oregon.
But, since we’re in the trust tree here I’ll just say it; Blockbuster is dead. They went from THE place to be on a Friday/Saturday night for everyone that grew up in the 90s to an afterthought. Netflix took them out behind the shed and put a bullet in them after Blockbuster failed to innovate and got passed by. In fact the Blockbuster CEO actually passed on the opportunity to buy Netflix for a measly $50 million when Reed Hastings approached him. Netflix is valued at over $150 BILLION today. Woof.
Its always risky to buy/sell a company in its infancy, but I am forever hesitant to ever sell any company I have any stake in solely because of the Justin Timberlake speech as Sean Parker in The Social Network.
ANYWAYS
The greatest thing about marketing is branding and Blockbuster seems to be throwing up a couple of Hail Marys with promos like this. They’ll obviously never be a billion dollar business renting out VHS tapes ever again, BUT if they can play on nostalgia and keep that BRAND alive then they could rise like a phoenix from the ashes.
I don’t know what that move is, but its been done before. Hell, Sears’ stock just went through the roof earlier this week after it was announced they had signed a deal with Amazon to offer a ship-to-store tire service. This is after we’ve heard nothing but bad news and how Sears is shuttering more and more locations. Its called pivoting and call me crazy, but I think Blockbuster could do it. Thats the power of branding. I haven’t been in a Blockbuster in 15 years, but goddamnit do I remember walking those blue and yellow aisles vividly to this day.
It’s too bad this is happening all the way out in Oregon because if it weren’t 2,900 miles away from Boston I would consider making the trek to the lone remaining Blockbuster to taste this fine brew. Its reasons like this we need to invest in a company credit card for The 300s.
ESPN – After peeling back prices on some of their most popular items last year to unprecedented levels, the Atlanta Falcons are ready to shock the sports world again with a $5 craft beer.
The Falcons will sell the $5 craft beers at their regular-season games — starting Sept. 16 against the Panthers — and any home playoff games. The craft beer price, along with all other concession prices, will remain the same next February when Atlanta hosts Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, despite the traditionally elevated concession prices at Super Bowls.
God bless Arthur Blank. We may have dropped years worth of 28-3 jokes on you and your franchise, but goddamn if the man doesn’t know how to please a broke cheap football fan.
Last year the Falcons made waves for slashing all their concessions prices to absurdly cheap levels, comparatively speaking. While having much lower prices than their peers, the Falcons are saying they did more business so it seems to be worth their while. Now they’re doubling down on that and will be selling craft beers for $5 a pop. That is insane.
When I go to games at Fenway, I go to the last beer vendor by the bleachers, which the same woman has worked at every game I’ve been to in the last decade, just so I can get the sweet sweet deal of a tallboy can for $11.50 instead of $10.50 for a 12 ounce Bud Light.
True story: I’m a huge craft beer guy. I never thought I’d turn into the beer snob, but here we are. My dad never drank anything, literally anything, other than Bud Light cans. So I was always a Bud Light guy, when I could spring for it, or some cheaper light beer like Busch when I wanted to get blind drunk for $22 bucks.
With the explosion of craft beer and breweries being the only bar I can actually bring my dog to without getting the cops called on me, I gradually started drinking more and more obscure shit.
Started with IPAs, dipped into Sours, discovered that Double and Triple IPAs are a thing and before we know it I’m three sheets to the wind off a handful of beers.
Downside to all of these mega alcoholic brews though is the fact that they are expensive as shit. College me would slap 29-year-old me in the fucking face if he witnessed what I did at the packy yesterday. Saw the brand new Nightshift Double IPA (I’m on the email list NBD) at the packy and audibly gasped when I read the price tag for a 4-pack of tallboys.
$18 dollars. Eighteen Dollars for FOUR beers.
You’re goddamn right I bought those beers.
And now we sit here going through bank statements and credit card receipts wondering where all my money goes saying things like “well if I cancel Netflix and my car insurance I should be able to cover rent this month.”
Another day, another out of touch Red Sox tweet. While the Yankees were trading for Giancarlo Stanton and the Angels were negotiating with Shohei Ohtani and improving their teams, the Red Sox had other business to tend to. They had to lock down an official beer sponsor!
Fenway Park is starting to feel like the Finer Things Club. Now we can enjoy a Sam Heavy to go with our Lobster Poutine or Fenway Farms Kale Salad.
I don’t know about you, but I have enough trouble trying to eat a hot dog in the bleachers without getting mustard on the guy next to me. Who the hell is messing around with forks and knives to eat a salad on their lap? I’d rather eat a salad on the Green Line than in my seat at Fenway Park.
How much does Red Sox ownership look down on their Bud Light swilling fan base? Enough of this high brow stuff. If you can’t get me a hot dog for less than five bucks, stop telling me about the official $13 beer of the Boston Red Sox.
I might be more enthused if Sam Adams were going to brew a Fenway Park exclusive, but it sounds like regular old Sam Heavy – Boston Lager. Been there, done that. I know it’s Jim Koch’s favorite but there are so many more exciting options they could have gone with.
Another option entirely would have been Harpoon. At least then the official beer of the Boston Red Sox would actually be brewed in Boston, as opposed to Cincinnati or Lehigh Valley.
Nothing gets me ready for the holiday season better than a Samuel Adams Winter Lager on a 72° day in Boston!
Look, it’s hard to rag on Jim Koch. There are definitely a few too many varieties of Sam Adams these days but he is the granddaddy of the American craft beer movement. He was making beer in his kitchen before it was cool. Still, I can’t help but point out the absurdity of the Sam Adams seasonal schedule.
The Sam Adams seasonal schedule is no longer based in reality. Summer Ale at Fenway Park on April 1 is comical. Seeing Summer Ale get pushed aside for Octoberfest when it’s still hot-as-balls in mid-August is depressing. Popping open a Winter Lager on 72° day is preposterous. And the poor old spring seasonal White AleNoble PilsAlpine Spring Cold Snap only gets about six weeks every year. At least it’s around for the Super Bowl.
And it’s probably going to get worse. With global warming and el niño, how long until Octoberfest becomes a beach beer?
If you’ve ever wanted to pretend to be Aerys Targaryen and down a bottle of Wildfire, well this stuff is for you.
For anyone that knows me you know I will die defending Mountain Dew as the greatest drink the world has ever seen. It’s delicious, green poison and it had shit tons of caffeine before Red Bull was even a thing. Hell, back in college I was so broke I used to have a giant Mountain Dew and a pack of Reese’s for dinner.
BUT, I have always been extremely cautious about what I mix my booze with. You ever drink too much of a certain type of alcohol and its ruined for you forever? That’s vodka for me. The worst part about it though is that as an 18 year old you’re mixing booze with all kinds of shit and screwdrivers were the drink of choice my freshman year for whatever reason. I still remember laying in my bunk bed hung over as all hell from a bottle of Vladimir watching the NFL Draft (when it was still on Saturday afternoons). The worst part? It ruined OJ for me. I couldn’t drink orange juice for YEARS after that.
So now theres an alcoholic Mountain Dew? I want to try it. I need to try it. But its dangerous territory. I’m gonna have to force myself to just sip it like I’m taking communion because if I black out on Mountain Dew booze and ruin the soda for myself I don’t know if I can continue on in this world.
The 300s 