Big Tide Double IPA

[Jayme]

Anyone else try their double IPA this year? My sister was recently in St. John so I asked her to bring back a growler. She got me one of the bitter and the DIPA. I tried the bitter first, and it was ok - a bit oxidized and some other strange flavour I couldn't pint point - I just chalked it up to filling growlers from a tap and a long car ride to reach me. Then I tried the DIPA - it was a much more drinkable beer and I couldn't really find any flaws except one really, really obvious one - it wasn't a DIPA!! Dark like a bown ale and no hop presence whatsoever. I just don't understand how anybody could try and pass that beer off as a double IPA. I get not dumping the batch, but call it something else!

I was talking to Nash about it since I knew he was out there the previous year and he eluded to some questionable practices going on in that brew house. Being the first time I've had beer from that brewery, I'm just wondering if anyone else has experience with their beer.

[benwedge]

Anyone else try their double IPA this year? My sister was recently in St. John so I asked her to bring back a growler. She got me one of the bitter and the DIPA. I tried the bitter first, and it was ok - a bit oxidized and some other strange flavour I couldn't pint point - I just chalked it up to filling growlers from a tap and a long car ride to reach me. Then I tried the DIPA - it was a much more drinkable beer and I couldn't really find any flaws except one really, really obvious one - it wasn't a DIPA!! Dark like a bown ale and no hop presence whatsoever. I just don't understand how anybody could try and pass that beer off as a double IPA. I get not dumping the batch, but call it something else!

I was talking to Nash about it since I knew he was out there the previous year and he eluded to some questionable practices going on in that brew house. Being the first time I've had beer from that brewery, I'm just wondering if anyone else has experience with their beer.

I lived across the street last fall (when Nash came down for his brew). They're pretty hit and miss. Lots of drinkable stuff, but nothing worth bragging about, IMO. The owner thinks he knows everything there is to know about beer and insists on running the bar but can't pour a pint to save his life. The other thing is that the brewmaster doesn't do much of the brewing - it's a side gig for her, and the owner and one of the cooks (perhaps others?) do much of the brewing and each apparently formulate the recipes for the brew they do. The cook, for example, is the IPA guy, it's his baby. So they lack consistency from having one trained person really running the show from a brewing perspective, and the place suffers from the institutional knowledge that that would bring.

It's not a bad spot, and I have lots of fun memories from there, but they wouldn't be able to compete with a product like they have in a place like Halifax where the microbrew market is mature and competitive. Despite its flaws, it sticks out in the mediocre beer market of Saint John, especially since most places serving Picaroons and Pumphouse are out-charging the pubs in Halifax, and Big Tide is fairly cheap.

[Jayme]

Despite its flaws, it sticks out in the mediocre beer market of Saint John, especially since most places serving Picaroons and Pumphouse are out-charging the pubs in Halifax, and Big Tide is fairly cheap.

Charging more than Halifax...? That's brutal. It's soon getting to the point you could buy a 6-pack at NSLC for a price of a pint. Or for that matter, an entire batch of homebrew!

[benwedge]

Despite its flaws, it sticks out in the mediocre beer market of Saint John, especially since most places serving Picaroons and Pumphouse are out-charging the pubs in Halifax, and Big Tide is fairly cheap.

Charging more than Halifax...? That's brutal. It's soon getting to the point you could buy a 6-pack at NSLC for a price of a pint. Or for that matter, an entire batch of homebrew!

Yep. The bar across the street wanted something like $7.75 per pint of Picaroons. No thanks.

[LiverDance]

I lived across the street last fall

You lived at O'learys! That's awesome

[NASH]

Anyone else try their double IPA this year? My sister was recently in St. John so I asked her to bring back a growler. She got me one of the bitter and the DIPA. I tried the bitter first, and it was ok - a bit oxidized and some other strange flavour I couldn't pint point - I just chalked it up to filling growlers from a tap and a long car ride to reach me. Then I tried the DIPA - it was a much more drinkable beer and I couldn't really find any flaws except one really, really obvious one - it wasn't a DIPA!! Dark like a bown ale and no hop presence whatsoever. I just don't understand how anybody could try and pass that beer off as a double IPA. I get not dumping the batch, but call it something else!

I was talking to Nash about it since I knew he was out there the previous year and he eluded to some questionable practices going on in that brew house. Being the first time I've had beer from that brewery, I'm just wondering if anyone else has experience with their beer.

Well since it was my beer to begin with I know it was a fairly light-coloured big DIPA over 9% ABV with multiple dry-hop additions that you'd be hard pressed to get done inside a month not to mention a beer of that magnitude needs conditioning time. Recently they posted on my Facebook wall they were going to raise my soul to brew it the following Sunday (or something like that), 12 days later it was on tap! I was like WTF It might be a great beer for all I know, but it's not the Tidal Wave I created

PS: Driving a growler from there to here isn't going to oxidize the beer inside unless it sits around a few days

[Jayme]

Well since it was my beer to begin with I know it was a fairly light-coloured big DIPA over 9% ABV with multiple dry-hop additions that you'd be hard pressed to get done inside a month not to mention a beer of that magnitude needs conditioning time. Recently they posted on my Facebook wall they were going to raise my soul to brew it the following Sunday (or something like that), 12 days later it was on tap! I was like WTF It might be a great beer for all I know, but it's not the Tidal Wave I created

PS: Driving a growler from there to here isn't going to oxidize the beer inside unless it sits around a few days

Yeah i think we concluded Friday that what I drank was not your beer. Maybe a Frankenstein, mutant, bastard, zombie incarnation? I don't know what your recipe was, but i can just envision whoever brewed this batch... "Let's see here... calls for crystal 30. Well, I've got a bag of Crystal 120. Crystals are shiny, bigger number must just mean the beer will sparkle more! Perfect. Now on to the hops. Hmmmm calls for 12% aa Centennial. I've got some 5% aa East Kent Goldings - probably the same thing. Dry the hops? Well normally I just throw them in the dumpster but i suppose I can dry them out after the boil - but what the hell do i do with them then? Oh well, best listen. That Nash fellow seemed to know what he was talking about".

It was still a fine beer - I'd gladly drink it again. It just ain't no goddamn muthafuckin DOUBLE IPA!

The growler did sit for a few days but you're right, it shouldn't have oxidized that quick. I've treated some growlers of lighter beers that I've brewed pretty poorly that have had little to no oxidized flavours at all. I was just trying to give them the benefit of the doubt

[benwedge]

I lived across the street last fall

You lived at O'learys! That's awesome

Above Britt's. Which was a pretty sweet apartment, but O'Leary's and Winger's or whatever loved competing with noise some nights. Honestly blasting football games on outdoor speakers was worse than the O'Leary's crowd.

[brufrog]

I was away in Scotland drinking F*&$ing great cask beer and missed this incarnation of Tidal Wave. I will go in this week and see what's on. You guys are right about the hit and miss. They also have this chlorine/cleaner flavour that slips in from time to time. That might be the odd taste reported. The one that won at the SJ beer fest as people's choice was loaded with this flavour, so clearly some people don't mind it! I can't stand it. I gave a sample blind to Esty from Picaroons and he said it was cleaner.

I know that the Pilsner has at times been fantastic, and the stout has been really good. The bitter is just OK at best. I know Wendy is too busy to brew all the time. They should hire a qualified brewer.

And, SJ is prime for a new brewpub when they develop the waterfront.

Oh, and Ben is right on about SJ craft beer pricing. Scandalous! I wrote several articles about that when I wrote for {heer} (sic) but got slammed by the pubs for it... It should be the same as Fredericton. Nope. To get a pint of NB craft beer is $9-10 by the time you tip.

Craig

[brufrog]

Got the sampler today. No IPA or Double IPA right now. The Blonde and Bitter were clean. That's a good sign. The Blonde was actually quite refreshing. Mildly bitter, but nice and crisp. Bitter was good, not complex by any means, but good. The Weizen was decent, with just a bit of that "rubber/model glue" character brewers sometimes get from that yeast. The raspberry, well, it was so cloudy it looked like milk. It tasted OK, but that is a hard sell. I posted a pic to my Twitter @frogspadca

[mr x]

At those prices, the beers had better be good.

[brufrog]

Oh, Big Tide's prices are fair - those high prices were for Picaroons, Pump House, Garrison etc. at "posh" pubs like Britt's, Church Street and Saint John Ale House.

I went for the Moose Cask Ale at SJAH tonight. I think it is just over $7 for the pint, plus tax, + tip... Picaroons Bitter is $6.75 ++ I think, so that's $9. They don't even put prices on their site! http://www.saintjohnalehouse.com/drinks" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think Pepper's Pub has slightly lower prices for Picaroons, and they have Happy Hours with it too. Like that place a lot.

But if you are in Fredericton, you can get a pint of Pic Bitt for $5-6 ++, sometimes less than $5 before tax.. Pump House has decent prices at their Moncton locations. Not sure why SJ has such high craft beer prices. Because the market bears it? I don't know. I love SJAH and go there a lot so I don't mind paying for a good pint. But I don't drink much when out on the town because of the prices. If you want to drink cheap there, drink Moose Red (pale ale) for $5 a pint in the daily Happy Hour from 5-7.