The only thing I could think of for an intro is singing God Smacks Voodoo
for my Voodoo Ranger episode, and I'm not going to do that, So
let's just get on with the show. This is Beer in Front, part
of the Odd Pods Media Network. Sometimes the beer in front of you is
the best one yet. I'll talk about some old school beers that maybe you've
forgotten about, some new beers that have the potential to be a classic.
I'll also talk to various people around the beer world and get their stories all
about beer. That's Beer in Front and it's coming up now. Welcome to
the September eighteenth edition of Beer in Front. I'm your host, Dave's Alatoris
and Beer in Front is a proud member of the Odd Pods Media Network.
This week, I'm going to be talking about Voodoo Ranger and how that has
taken over the shelves and any grocery store, liquor store, gas station you
go to. You can't go into one of those places without seeing a ton
of Voodoo Ranger. So I'm going to talk about that later on in the
show, and I'm going to have a couple different variants of Voodoo Ranger If
you listen to the show a couple of weeks ago, you'll know I was
on Pops on Hops. You're gonna have to go check their podcast out because
they released the addition that I was on and we were talking about the great
album smithereens eleven. So I'll include their link in the show notes, but
definitely check out Barry and Abigail over it Pops on Hops. Octoberfest is in
full swing right now in Munich, and I know I have a couple of
people listening in Germany. So if you're one of those people and you went
to Octoberfest, get hold of me. I want to hear all about it.
Speaking big beer fests, this weekend coming up is the Great American Beer
Festival, and I have a correspondent. I'm going to have my friend DT
over at Space Castle. He's going and I'll get together with him, you
know, maybe sometime next week and we'll record a segment on the Great American
Beer Festival. Grandpa Beer sent me a suggestion on the Beer in Front email
hotline. You can too if you want to email me Dave at beer infront
dot com. You could also find me on all the social media channels.
At Beer in Front. I have a discord server too. If you're interested,
let me know. I'll hook you up with the link. I'm all
over the place, but seriously, if you have any show ideas, feel
free to reach out. And I'm curious, you know, let me know
if there's a beer you want me to try or whatever. Also, if
you could let me know where are you listening to this podcast? Because the
last couple of weeks, the shows have been good. The numbers have been
solid, but I'm having fewer listens on your traditional podcast platforms, but I've
been getting more on YouTube. So are you listening to the show on YouTube?
Because the numbers are pretty much the same. You know, here and
there, there's spikes, there's dips, but overall it's the same. But
more people are now listening to the show on YouTube. So if that's you,
it's a pretty boring thing. It's just a static image. But if
you are one of those people that listen to the show on YouTube, let
me know if you have any ideas and how I could make that better and
make it more enjoyable for you. In Beer News this week, if you
listen to the show for a long time, and thank you but you'll know
I'm a huge baseball fan, and earlier this year, Showhyotani of the Los
Angeles the California Angels. I'm an old school guy. They'll always be the
California Angels to me. But Showhyotani hit this ball and it was fouled by
just like a tick, but busted up a video board and Core's Light had
a commemorative can and it was like all pixelated with like where the ball would
have hit the video board. It knocked out and it looks really cool.
They sold this as a one off for seventeen bucks a can and it sold
out the same day, So that was pretty cool from Coors Light sticking with
Core's Light thanks to Bud lights demise this year Coors Light and Miller Light they're
all owned by Moulson Cores. Their last quarter was, according to their representative,
the single best quarter in the company's history, So both Miller Light and
Cores Light are picking up the slack from people that are no longer for whatever
reason drinking Bud Light. Big news out of Michigan where Bells is going to
come out with a new fall winter edition of their Oberon. Oberon is classic
summer beer. They've been putting out for years and years, so now they're
coming out with oberon Eclipse. This is going to be a little stronger and
a little darker than the usual one. It's still a wheat beer that's going
to have some cinnamon and citrus feel with coriander. So look that I think
that's coming out next week. I had the guys on from Go Brewing about
a month ago, and I was just reading an article on Fox Business that
non alcoholic beer, and I guess they're non alcoholic wine and spirits. I
don't know about that, but I guess they're out there, and sales of
these alcohol free options, whether it's beer, spirits, wine, they're up
thirty one percent over a year ago. Now I'm a proud gen xer,
but I just saw a report from Statista. I guess they're a statistic company
that's out there. But gen Z is a far more sober generation than the
rest of us. Now, Millennials, you're picking up the slack, you're
doing a lot of drinking. But gen Z is even lower than Baby Boomers
and Gen X and pretty much we're all dead. So gen Z is really
the more sober generation. They're not drinking as much alcohol as the rest of
us. There's a watchmaker out there called Original Grain. They've come up with
a new watch series in collaboration with Stone, and I guess like the watches
are made with some wood from wood barrels or bourbon barrels that they've aged their
beers in. The watches do look kind of cool. They're a little on
the pricey side, but they do look sharp if you want to look over
at Original Grains website. Last year, I believe it was Hams came out
with this cool retro packaging for their beer that had the look of I think
it was maybe the sixties, but it was a really cool look, and
that's now going to be I guess they're going back to that permanently, where
I think the sales for that was better than the regular can. So if
you were a fan of the retro Hams can, you'll find that all the
time. Now. Read an article over on Brewbound that Blue Moon is going
to revamp their appearance and their strategy to try to gain more sales. I
did not know this, but Blue Moon is still considered the number one in
craft beer. But yeah, they're going to redo their whole visuals and strategy
to try to get some more people to drink them. They're going to try
to attract more younger people that I mentioned earlier on this that you know,
more gen Z people aren't drinking as much alcohol, so they have a non
alcoholic blue moon, so they're going to be focused sing on that as well.
A b in Bev's Goose Island is coming out with a new ipa called
Lost Palette. This is gonna have mango in cinnamon. I'm not sure I
think that that has potential to be really good. I mean, I like
both flavors, so I'm sure I'm gonna try it. But yeah, look
for the new Lost Palette Hazy ipa from Goose Island. And finally, door
Dash and Aldi are joining forces and if you want alcohol delivered from Aldy,
door Dash will hook you up. Aldi has a lot of private label beers
and seltzers. I think they have wind as well, so if you're you're
in the mood for some Aldy beer, you could get it via door Dash.
There is Escaping Voodoo Ranger when you run out looking for beer. My
local grocery store sells five different variants, a variety mixed twelve pack in three
different nineteen point two ounces of those stove pipe solo cans, and I'm sure
you could find it in any convenience store or gas station that carries craft beer.
Voodoo Ranger came out from New Belgium back in two thousand and seventeen and
it was a revamp of their Ranger IPA line that lasted a couple of years.
I don't remember it ever doing well. I think it came out in
like two thousand and nine, two thousand and ten. Voodoo Ranger. It's
such a popular brand that it has its own website outside of the parent New
Belgium one. If you look at the website, Voodoo Ranger has nine different
variants, including a hard tea. In twenty twenty two, New Belgium was
the top selling craft beer according to bev industry dot com. It had four
hundred and twenty nine million dollars in sales, a twenty three percent increase from
twenty twenty one. Voodoo Ranger was a considerable part of that. How did
Voodoo Ranger take over the beer aisle? They have five of the top thirty
craft beer slots. According to Sircana, New Belgium also acquired earlier this year
to focus on Voodoo Ranger, the production facility from Constellation Brands built in Virginia
for Ballast Point back in twenty seventeen. The Voodoo Ranger character on every can,
I guess appeals to a younger social media audience that helps to create a
buzz. New Belgium is also distributed nationwide, so I think that helps too.
And we all know IPAs and Hazy IPAs have paid the light bill for
many breweries, so I guess to having a line that's exclusive to that is
a huge help. The price point here locally in Chicago is between ten and
eleven bucks a six pack, so it's a little less, if not the
same as say a comparable local one. For me would be like Revolution Anti
Hero here. I've noticed that the grocery store and the main liquor store chain
usually have promos on a twelve pack, so the price is lower than say
a comparable local craft ipa. If someone's just looking at the cost per beer,
remember rebel Ipa from Boston Beer. It came out and think twenty fourteen.
They tried different variants. I know they had a grapefruit and a session.
They wound up having to change the original recipe and faded away. There's
not even any you can't even find it on the Sam Adams website anymore.
Boston Beer, they threw a shit ton of money into that line, with
ads everywhere. I remember radio commercials, TV commercial type being. They threw
a ton of money into Rebel IPA and it only came out three years before
Voodoo Ranger. I wonder if Rebel would have had success today if they played
the long game with it. It's been a while since I've been at a
regular bar or restaurant with many tap handles. I'm usually at a tap room
that just focuses on you know that brewery stuff, But I don't recall ever
seeing Voodoo Ranger on tap. I'm guessing the majority of sales are in the
retail market, But how does the beer taste? That's the most important part.
I grabbed a mixed case at Costco featuring four different ones, the regular
Voodoo Ranger IPA, the Haze Glare, the Ranger Kashmere, and the Experimental
IPA. I'm gonna have each of them on the show and I'll give a
review later. All right, now, I'm gonna have the original Voodoo Ranger.
This as an IPA as seven percent ABV fifty IBus and I'm guessing this
is more old school West Coast. I haven't cracked it open yet. They
use Amarillo, Cascade, Mosaic, Chinook, HBC strata and citr hops here,
So let's crack open the original Voodoo Ranger IPA. Oh yeah, that's
definitely a West Coast style. Beautiful color, good foam here. The aroma
is really nice. I get a lot of like the citric here, so
I get more of your like New England style hops than I do like a
West Coast in the aroma. But the aroma does smell good. I'll give
it that pretty solid beer. I like it. I like the flavor here.
I get all of those hops. Little bit of bitterness at the end,
not I was expecting a little more bitterness from a fifty ibu beer.
That's a decent beer. Like if I was at the gas station and you
know they're going to sell this compared to some of the other stuff they had,
Like if I was looking for an IPA, I would probably grab this
one. This one's pretty decent. Yeah, it's not a great beer,
but it's a really good solid everyday IPA. So if you're looking for an
IPA, you're not out at a bottle shop or liquor store a tap room,
you could just grab a Voodoo Ranger and you'll get your you'll satisfy that
pop itch you have, all right. Next up on my tour of Voodoo
Ranger, this is Hazel Glare IPA. This is one you could vote on
to see if you want to make this part of the rotation. It's geared
towards gamers. The can has this Ranger dude and a hoodie backpack and a
hat on, so I guess that is what gamers look like. I don't
know. When I play MLB the show, I don't dress like this.
But I'm also a fifty six year old guys, so what do I know?
This checks in. It's seven point seven alcohol and has twenty six IBus.
The website doesn't tell you a lot about this, so let's just crack
it open and try it. Hay's Glare. It's very light in color,
good foam, decent aroma. The aroma is very fruit forward from the hops.
That's not bad, it's nothing. It's overpowering here with the aroma and
the taste but it's a decent beer. I think the taste is pretty good.
I get a lot going on here with the hops I even get and
it might just be my taste buds like the back, maybe even like a
little bit now Na flavor. But I get the tropical fruit notes and for
me, a little banana at the end. It's not a bad beer at
all. It's like I said, it's seven percent alcohol. Not a bad
beer at all. So I don't know if I'm going to vote for this
one. I'm gonna have to compare my notes with all the rest of them
to see which one I'm going to vote for. But Hazel Glare ipa.
Now, this is only available in the mix pack, So if you have
a cost Go or a Sam's by you, or you know, maybe your
grocery or liquor store sells this in like a variety twelve pack, keep an
eye out for it if you want to try Haze Glare ipa for yourself.
All right, The next one up in the Voodoo Ranger series is Kashmere Eyes
IPA. This is another one you could vote on and see if you want
it in the rotation. I'm going to assume that this has Kashmere hops in
it, because why else would you call it Cashmere Eyes IPA the label.
It's got that same voodoo guy with like a nice smoking jacket on, got
like a fake Louis Vatan like shirt underneath some nice sunglasses. I don't know,
but it's seven point five percent and twenty six IBus. So let's crack
open Cashmere Eyes. Cashmere Eyes had a nice can open there, pretty light
in color, very light. Actually definitely a hazy I pa good foam,
good two fingers of foam here. Smells nice, nothing overpowering with the aroma,
but you definitely get some fruit notes with the aroma. Big like melan
type taste that I'm getting from here. I get some like honey dew,
cantaloupe type flavors from this. It's another one like like the other hazy one
I had from them. It's not a bad beer. It's not great.
I mean, it's there. I don't know if I would vote for either
of these or would go back to buying it. I mean, there's nothing
I said. It's not a drain poor, but there's nothing about this that
makes me say, oh, I gotta keep an eye out for this next
time. I head over to you know, the grocery store or the cost
go or anything. It's just there. So I don't know. I think
you could do better for a hazy I PA, but you know you have
it for yourself. Let me know what you think of the Kashmere Eyes IPA
from New Belgium. All Right, The next and last of the Voodoo Rangers
I'm gonna have is the Experimental IPA. Now I was looking to see,
like what's experimental about this? I don't know. They only use Citra hop,
so that's not very experimental. Six point six percent alcohol thirty two IBus
on this. According to the website, they only use citra and they use
for malt pale malt, honey malt, and Pilsner malt. So let's crack
open the Experimental IPA. The experimental is very clear, so it's definitely not
a hazy or New England style. Nice poem on here, good color.
It does have that really good Citra aroma. So if you're a fan of
Citra hops from the aroma, I think you're gonna like that. But it's
really weird. Like looking on their website and I'm looking at this can and
it says that it's a hazy ipa brewed with Citra Hops. I'm looking at
the beer and it's crystal clear, So I don't know what they're trying to
accomplish here, but let's taste it. That one's not bad. I think
of the four that I've had, I might like this one the most.
I think it has a really nice flavor. Not a lot of IBus,
but I mean it's there. You get a little bit of bitterness. It's
mostly the aroma and flavor that I'm getting, But I think the taste is
really good here. Yeah, that's a solid decent beer if you're a fan
of Three Floyds and Zombie Dust, the other big Citra Hop. Now,
I think Zombie Dust is a lot better than this, but I guess if
you couldn't find Zombie Dust, this might be an acceptable substitute if you're a
fan of that Citra Hop aroma and taste. I still can't get over how
they call this a hazy I'm gonna have to take a picture of this and
post it on social media and you let me know if this is hazy,
because this is crystal ff and clear. But of the four, like I
said, this one I think is the one I like the most out of
the four. But and don't take this the wrong way. If you're a
fan of Voodoo Ranger, I want to know who's buying this. Maybe it's
because I'm in a large beer market that there's plenty of options out there,
especially in the IPA category. I can't recall ever seeing anyone go to the
grocery store, go to the liquor store, what have you, and pick
this up. So who's buying this? And, like I said, if
this is you, if you're a fan of Voodoo Ranger, I'm not saying
you're wrong. I'm not poo pooing your decision whatsoever. If this is your
jam, God bless you. Enjoy the beer that's in front of you.
But I'm still very curious how Voodoo Ranger has taken over the beer aisle.
All right, that's gonna wrap things up for this week's edition of Beer in
Front. I think you very much for listening. If you want to get
a hold of me, you can email me Dave AT's beer Infront dot com.
If you'd like to support the show, I have a Petreon page.
You could head over to Petreon dot com slash beer in Front for more information,
I will talk to you next week on the show. And remember sometimes
the beer in front of you is the best one yet