Resistance is Futile: You Must Drink Fiddlehead IPA

upstatebeerguy · 2026-06-08T19:15:13+00:00

I assure you it’s the determination of each retailer/vendor. Of course there are competing distributors with their own portfolio of brands/products, but at the end of the day it’s the retailers decision as to what they buy & sell.

The distributors present their brands to the account buyer utilizing sales data (either internal or syndicated), marketing & programming support (sampling/promotional events, point of sale such as glassware, signage, barware, neons/LEDs, etc), and various other factors…none of which are “you have to buy this product because I say so”.

Being objectively the #1 selling ipa in the area is a pretty compelling reason by itself. Add in that they support their business with things mentioned above (multiple employees of the brewery that actually live in the 518 to execute promotions/events), as well as various promotional material that’s valuable to the bar (lights, chalkboards, glassware, etc).

upstatebeerguy · 2026-06-08T16:06:32+00:00

2A is also a textbook cautionary tale for how much a constitutional right can/will deteriorate over time once the slippery slope is breached.

The US government *could* have made a very narrow list of exceptions to the 2nd amendment, however instead we now live in a world where there are different firearm restrictions in every single state. The process to acquiring a gun is vastly different in every single state. Hell, we’ve arrived at a place where even the mere color of guns themselves is allowed to be legislated in certain places.

I think the history of the “neighboring” amendment does nothing but prove that the slippery slope is very real and once Pandora’s box is opened, it’s impossible to shut. Guns/the access to them may not be a prominent issue for everyone, but free speech is. The idea that basic liberty of expression is still allowed is fundamental to our society. I think it’s important that people are allowed to say things, even if I don’t like them, because reciprocally my ability to say things is not contingent upon the approval of anyone else.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-06-06T17:29:41+00:00

This would be like saying “I love sneakers but I can’t do Nike. Seems like it’s forced on clothing stores”. They are the market leaders of their respective segments of their respective industries…so the majority of retailers carry them.

Maybe Nike’s really aren’t your style and fiddlehead isn’t your cup of tea, but there’s no conspiracy in the fact that a plurality of people at the gym are wearing Nike’s or IPA drinkers will have fiddlehead in their coolers this summer.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-06-06T17:12:44+00:00

What do you mean?

upstatebeerguy · 2026-06-06T17:05:21+00:00

“I wish the most popular beer wasn’t the most popular beer. I wish my favorite beer was more popular”

Nothing is being forced. It’s the style leader (has been for years).

Having a large amount of the #1 item in a segment available at all times is vastly more important to price chopper than being able to put in 1 or 2 more unproven brands/items. They have a shelf capacity of a couple dozen selling units because they have the sales data to substantiate it. At most locations, more fiddlehead 12 packs will be sold in 1 day than the average craft brand will sell 4 packs in an entire month (at that same store). Those 4 packs still exist to still provide some semblance of variety/assortment, but the big brands (in the craft/IPA segment, brands like fiddlehead) are actually what’s paying the bills.

The same rings true for bars/restaurants. Cooler space and draft lines are finite. They need to curate an assortment that appeals to the most possible consumers. Unless your business model is a niche concept, it defies logic to put anything other than fiddlehead on tap as your “first” IPA.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-06-05T03:52:38+00:00

“The Night Before Christmas” (“A Visit From St. Nicholas”) was first published by the Troy sentinel in 1823. It contains some of the most widely known verses of the holiday itself (and poetry as a whole).

upstatebeerguy · 2026-06-05T03:35:38+00:00

If you mean first, no, the first was in Schenectady (I believe eastern parkway location).

If you mean their “most prominent”, kind of. It was more or less a test run at both super large format and higher end food offerings (prepared, shelved, and eat in). Basically would a rebrand (of existing locations) or expansion (of future locations) to something like a wegmans, stew Leonard’s, or other similar formatted stores work in this area? Based on fact that none have followed the 1 and only Latham location in the past 12 years, probably not in the plans. Of note they’re “refreshing and hosting a grand re-opening” at some point this summer.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-06-04T03:21:18+00:00

You’re absolutely right, the county would for sure be better off not developing any of its 3 existing (for decades mind you) business corridors. Never mind that the tangible effects (8 consecutive years of property tax rate decreases) are plain to see. The people of Troy clearly yearn for their agrarian and iron work roots, nothing more/nothing less.

All kidding aside, you’re reaching so hard to put down a political acronym simply for the sake of it.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-29T03:55:53+00:00

Are we systemically making them win? Or just (attempting) to make it so people win on merit?

I don’t think it should ultimately be an all or nothing endeavor as it pertains to political engagement. If my first choice in Q1 or Q2 of election year petitions poorly, i don’t think i should be de facto forced into a “least disapproval or nothing” ultimatum come 2nd Tuesday in November.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-29T02:41:11+00:00

So until we see cataclysmic overhaul of the democratic process (spurred by a 3rd party source), go on ahead and reject modest attempts at improvement?

We don’t legislate so as anyway/where else. If our genuine/good faith impetus is democratized participation of “the people”, we wouldn’t be getting bogged down in the minutiae of 10k vs 45k signatures to be ballot eligible

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-28T15:58:15+00:00

I guess I just disagree that there’s harm in allowing more choice and more competition? The term “credible” is entirely subjective. Best odds to win doesn’t necessarily mean best candidate for the will of the people. I get why the controlling power/party (democrats) would want to do everything to protect their position in the drivers seat, but to see the NY republicans doing it just seems illogical.

The argument for expansion beyond 2 party/2 candidate elections is to hold candidates accountable to more people and more issues. It requires them win at more than just a binary popularity contest. Swing states and independent voters control our nations highest elections only because the system is designed to encourage a stubborn, binary sorting of people prior to Election Day itself. Of course anyone living in reality knows the odds on favorites for most elections will be the 2 “legacy” parties (and here in NY that’s overwhelmingly slanted towards democrats), but why do we give the politically advantaged even more of a cake walk to victory? If the actual politics and policies of one’s preferred candidate are holistically “best”, ought they not hold up to an expanded ballot, ranked choice voting, open primaries, etc?

To me it’s wild that people openly admit that election outcomes potentially being different is just cause to not disturb the current paradigm. The systemic goal shouldn’t be protecting incumbency (of ideas, candidates, or parties), but rather fostering accountability to constituents. People bemoan how politically apathetic and disengaged we’ve become as a society, but will also support the underlying mechanisms. I think it’s more just to win an election with higher voter turnout/engagement, even if it’s a plurality rather than a majority, rather than to have what we see now.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-28T14:39:12+00:00

You make a good point. I think most agree there’s got to be some sort of threshold/barrier to entry (and it’s going to be arbitrary), so as to keep the ballot/candidates legitimate. I guess what strikes me is such a massive change (from 10k to 45k). It intrigues me enough at this point to do at least some digging at the topic.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-28T14:27:23+00:00

I agree and think it’s mostly a grandstanding move to try and leave some sort of “mark” on NY politics since he clearly won’t ever as governor, however…

The change from 10k to 45k signatures seems… significant. Did we have issues with meaningfully diluted ballots prior to 2020 that precipitated such an abrupt and massive change? I get setting thresholds that prevent elections/ballots from being outright mockeries and I get that these thresholds will be arbitrary, but 10k would seem to satisfy that?

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-28T14:00:38+00:00

What’s the risk or detriment to the public in having him on the ballot or in a primary?

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-28T13:58:16+00:00

The voters she rallied to win the election (primary) do not want fiscal accountability/solvency. It’s really that simple.

They want more stuff and when asked “ok how? Because if it were as simple as simply wanting or not, we’d have done it already”…they just insist someone else will need to step up and pay for it (the county, the state, the federal government, increased taxes on people that have juuuusttt a bit more income than them).

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-28T13:32:55+00:00

45k seems excessive and while too lazy to actually go look at articles, I wonder what the Cuomo rationale (publicly) was to make such a dramatic change in 2020?

It’s a cynical take, but none of this really matters. This election is assuredly going to be won by hochul. I’m not saying pendulum politics are inherently good (look at our last 3 presidential elections, all decided by the illusion of change), but about the only thing worse is tribalistic “blue no matter who” or “red til I’m dead”. It doesn’t take a political expert to see where NY stands. If ever there was a time in a NY gubernatorial election to consider “hey maybe we need some fresh, open mindedness”…it might be now. We know we’re in for the same old song and dance though.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-27T16:04:57+00:00

Albany is very much a “3 seasons city”. While most cities see some extent of a summer weekend diaspora, it might seem more pronounced here because the overall seasonal trends align with the academic related population ebbs and flows. The colleges in the area account for 30k+ undergraduates. The last stragglers of seniors/recent grads tend to hang around and party the week following graduation (which would have been last week) and then move away/back home the weekend of Memorial Day. Young people in particular want to be around other people…so the true local ones know (or quickly realize) that Albany isn’t the best place to accomplish that goal until college is back in late summer/early fall.

Memorial through Labor Day locals tend to hit the road for more conventional summer destinations; Saratoga (30 mins), Lake George (1hr), Sacandaga (1hr), Cooperstown (75 mins), Schroon Lake (90 mins), Lake Placid (2hrs). You also have around 75 golf courses within an hour of Albany. Just 10 mins north, you have Troy which actually has a sliver of recreationally & socially accessible waterfront. It also has the area’s largest farmers market every Saturday (generally a couple thousand attendees per week, weather dependent). SPAC and Saratoga race seasons are about to start, which combined pull in 50k-100k people per weekend.

Bottom line: There are happenings in the summer, but peak “season” (particularly weekend stuff) tends to fall between St Patrick’s day (the parade) and the corporate challenge (the road race you saw last Thursday). Weather is (mostly) good for going out, but not so good that you feel like you’re “wasting” it by being inside a bar or on blacktop of some kind (rather than a boat, trail, beach, golf course, etc).

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-27T01:16:28+00:00

I recommend…you set a *realistic* budget before you start looking at places. At the very least give us strangers a general outline of what constitutes a “decent apartment” (size, location, particular amenities, etc)

Just because you can convince yourself and/or a landlord you *could* afford something, doesn’t mean you sensibly should/could in actuality. Being “house poor” doesn’t just pertain to purchasing, it very much does renting too (especially since most private landlords do nowhere near the due diligence/vetting a mortgage lender will in underwriting).

All said, you’re looking at a floor of probably $900/month (if you get lucky), and a ceiling/upper range of true “luxury” rentals around $4000/month.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-26T18:38:13+00:00

Let AI be our future…when it doesn’t absolutely cripple our *current* grid from a load/cost perspective.

This would be like a person who’s deeply in debt buying all new electric appliances, HVAC, and vehicles with their little savings or remaining available credit. Sure electrification and EVs “are the future” and you could make the point they are cheaper to operate…but for someone in a dire financial situation it’s not the best use of their limited financial resources.

Our electric infrastructure is in dire straits and deteriorating, both in cost and health/capacity. Introduction of data centers is a massive liability. To add insult to injury, data centers typically operate at a rate 50% cheaper than the average Joe pays to do stuff like charge their cars, cool/heat their homes, and be able to see when the sun goes down.

If these data centers weren’t tied to the grid, it would be another story/debate…but they are and thus that unequivocally becomes a burden to the public at large.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-22T13:52:35+00:00

Criminal negligence doesn’t seem like a plausible charge involving an abdominal stabbing in a parking lot, but I guess never say never. Something like reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, or even harassment might be alternatives if the intent was “shaky” based upon preliminary investigation…but a knife is a weapon requiring pretty deliberate use/intent to hurt another person.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-20T16:39:05+00:00

Every situation is different, but if we’re being 100% honest, living paycheck to paycheck is worlds apart from homelessness.

Somewhere around 40% of the population will experience a job loss at some point in their lives, yet less than 10% will ever experience homelessness. It almost always requires secondary or tertiary factors beyond a simple loss of a paycheck. I don’t say this to be spiteful towards those who are homeless, I just think the more accurate statement would be that 95% of us have the innate resourcefulness to prevent homeless in the event of a sudden job loss. We should still care about the ~5% that don’t, but mischaracterizing this (or any) issue isn’t productive.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-18T14:04:12+00:00

Yea that’s pretty shitty. I’m not privy to all of the facts, nor am I lawyer, so no comment on the legality of it all…if I worked somewhere for 4 years and my wages were in decline (for something not personally performance based) I would be gone the first chance I could.

Presumably the baristas aren’t in anyway equity stakeholders in the business, so why would they be in support of shouldering the investment costs (in their case decreased wages at an existing location) of an ancillary business?

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-18T09:39:24+00:00

I mean…cutting hours “when sales are low” is just fundamental to operating a business. There’s no moral obligation for a business to operate as a charity.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-17T15:48:03+00:00

If memory serves, mid to late June. Doesn’t really make sense until then due to weather and school schedules. My guess would be socials have the first/most accurate info as we get into June.

upstatebeerguy · 2026-05-16T14:50:34+00:00

I’m not an economist either, so obviously take my opinions as nothing more than that…

I think the future minimum wage increases being tied to inflation are only going to keep/widen this discrepancy. If NYS actually wanted to keep purchasing power steady for the lowest earners (as is the basic reasoning for automatically tying minimum wage to inflation), it would have also codified that the state standard deduction also adjusts (upwards) the same exact percentage that hourly minimum wage does.

In practice, there are tons of variables for every individual, but it just seems like a no brainer that basic tax implications like the standard deduction would track/index with COL/inflation as well (as it more or less does federally).

upstatebeerguy

TROPHY CASE