NipMongers

Blvd Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale in 25 & 12 oz bottles

I know I love nips. I love when I hear I’m not alone. I popped into BeerMongers yesterday where I saw The Oregonian’s beer columnist John Foyston and the bottle shop’s co-founder Sean Campbell, and promptly discovered that I’m not alone. We love nips. Not just 7oz bottles, but all smaller, more responsible packaging.

I bought two beers: Fifty Fifty Eclipse (Brewmaster’s Grand Cru version in the copper wax) at 9.5% ABV and Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale at 8%. The coveted 22-oz bomber of Russian Imperial Stout cost me $25.35 (five-six bucks cheaper than Belmont Station’s selling it for). Most people think of Tank 7 as coming in a 750-mL bottle–which it does–as part of Blvd’s Smokestack Series for specialty beers. But around Christmastime, they put out a four-pack sampler in 12-oz bottles dubbed Little Smokies. Because BeerMongers sells everything as singles, Sean broke ’em up and sells the 12-oz bottle of Tank 7 right below the cork finished wine bottle. The price difference? Get this: $4.25 and $11.80, respectively. Same fantastic farmhouse ale, but at 35 cents an ounce for the single-serve bottle, but 46 cents an ounce for the fancy-looking one. Not only do you save $3 by buying two of the 12-oz bottles, but it makes it way more practical to enjoy a beer like this–that is so versatile it goes with practically anything you’re having for dinner.

The larger format bottle may sit around waiting for the right moment. That’s exactly what will happen with that bottle of Eclipse, which both John and Sean echoed. It’s one of the most amazing beers on the planet, but when will we actually pull the trigger on bottles like these? Not to mention, the brewery literally released SEVEN iterations of it this year, matured in various brandy, rye, and bourbon barrels. It’d cost you almost $200 to buy just one of each. Who the hell’s gonna do that? Especially since the only proper way to appreciate the nuances between them is to open them simultaneously for a parallel-tasting. Hey Fifty-Fifty, if Blvd could sell half-bottles at under half price, we’d love to see this series released in bottles one-third size at a “full” one-third price.