Cooler notes
Reviews, arrivals, shop talk, and the occasional after-hours confession.
Highwater Hefeweizen: Banana, Clove, and Zero Regrets
This is the wheat beer that sells itself — bright, balanced, and disappearing from the cooler faster than I can restock it.
Pinewood Pale Ale: Citrus Up Front, Pine on the Finish
Clean West Coast profile with grapefruit, a touch of resin, and a dry finish that doesn't linger. Worth the cooler space.
Brookvale Amber moved twelve units in two hours
Friday afternoon rush cleared the middle shelf faster than expected. Worth noting for next week's order.
Delivery manifest said 18 cases, dock count says 19
Extra case showed up Thursday morning with no paperwork. Checked twice, still there.
Ridgeline Lager sold sixteen cases in four days
We doubled the order. It's already half gone.
Fieldstone Kölsch is back and the team is thrilled
We just unpacked eighteen cases of Fieldstone Kölsch — crisp, clean, and exactly what the front cooler needed. This one moves fast, so swing by soon.
Stonegate Pilsner arrived with the wrong IBU on the label
Brewery printed 28 IBU. My palate says 31, maybe 32. We opened six bottles to confirm.
Clearwater Pale Ale just restocked — here's why
We brought back the most-requested pale ale from last month, and yes, we ordered extra this time.
Cooler two, middle shelf, every Wednesday
Same six people buy the same kolsch every week. I moved it once and got questions.
Tallgrass Helles arrived at 18 IBU, not 19
The spec sheet said 19. The liquid says otherwise. Here's what I'm tasting at eighteen.
Ember Hill Amber measures 22 IBU and tastes like 40
Sometimes the numbers don't match the palate. Ember Hill's malt profile is doing structural work the IBU count doesn't acknowledge.
Reserve your Memorial Day six-pack before we run out
The cooler's stocked for the long weekend, and we've already seen two runs on the Hefeweizen. Get ahead of the rush.
Cascade Ridge IPA sits at exactly 68 IBU
Not 67, not 69. The brewer confirmed this over email and I have thoughts about the malt bill that got us here.
Three cases that moved without anyone noticing
The cooler tells a different story than the front display. Here's what actually left the building this week.
Pallet math and the case that shouldn't exist
Inventory says we have eighteen. The cooler says we have nine. The distributor's invoice says we signed for twenty-four.
The Porter nobody asked about, restocked anyway
Ember Ridge Porter moved six cases last month without a single question at the counter. Sometimes the quiet ones do fine.
Four things that didn't move this week
Priya checks the cooler data and finds the stragglers—good beer that somehow stayed put while everything else walked.
Truck was late — notes from the dock
Len waited. The sour arrived. The blog post arrived later.
Wrote this after closing, sorry
Bo remembered the post. The marketing plan did not survive the remembering.
What walked out the door Tuesday
Priya restocked twice. The pils did not need a speech.
A soft apology to the 45 IBU crowd
Dez meant the bitterness scale. The apology is for the paragraph after.
This week’s call to action (please use it)
Kara rolled out Hold a case. The case is metaphorical. The urgency is real.
Sunset Pils is a team favorite (I checked)
Mitch tasted it thrice and declared it civic infrastructure.