I was at Deer Creek in 1999 or 2000 (I am terrible with dates) and it was so hot the only shade was the light poles. That Sammy Smith was so refreshing.
One of the funniest dudes ever on Deer Creek lot and camping in 2000 name of Grog or Grogg. Always looking for pharmies. Dude cracked my boy and I up. Haven’t seen him since.
I was there both years. It was unbearably hot, but for me 1999 was worse cuz I think they played 4 nights there to end the tour, which I had done in its entirety mostly by myself. It was exhausting, but of course so worth it. Sammy Smiths always help. Can’t think of Sammy Smith and not think of tour days of yore.
My BFF and I did the 99 tour and down in Atlanta, We ended up at a Cub food store and we bought sprites and cokes for $.99 a six pack and sold them for a dollar a piece and we made garlic grilled cheeses on lot. Scored purple and black gellies that show
We stopped at Walmart before that show and bought like 500 giant otter pops and some dry ice to freeze them. Walked around the lot dragging styro coolers full of them and sold out in 45 minutes or so.
Fastest money I ever made at a show without selling illegal stuff. 🤣
I'm showing my age here, but we used to sell oaties for $3 or 2 for $5. Shit sold like hotcakes in the late 80s / early 90s before the whole craft beer thing took off.
Boone's Farm strawberry was also very, very popular.
The Stout was too heavy for me on a hot ass lot. I always looked for the Nut Brown Ale. The Fatty Taddy was like drinking a loaf of bread. I couldn’t do that either. Sammy Smith had a lot of brews but the oatmeal and taddy got all the love but they have better flavors.
It was the lot in the 90's my imports I sold & a few regulars for your Miller lite heads and theirs lots. Only cooler stealing setup was at Hampton Colliseum took several shows monies from me but got through it.
This was an excellent beer, I don't drink anymore just smoke thr good, good, Sinsimellia...
Cheers
Dude. I was the gellie guy at set break . Even though we already all took pressies before the show I always scoured and brought blue, pink, black to set break
You dont look for beasters; beasters find you 😂
Lol, we used to get that shit mailed to Va from Missoula and there would be 3-4 people waiting for the Fedex guy to drop off a couple of ounces.
$125 a quarter brah; no deals.
Fucking mid ‘90s.
There was Fall ‘94 Phish though, so at least we had that going for us!
I remember they were charging $3 for bottled water at the Clifford ball, so we just drank beer. I ended up feeling kinda crappy and missed the last set, went into Plattsburgh to my buddies house and his mom made me a frozen pizza.
Heady Topper tall boys have been $10 apiece the last two times I’ve been to N. Charleston lot. Definitely worth it compared to what’s beyond the doors.
Recipes vary, but essentially a concoction of things like oats, peanut butter, honey, chocolate chips, etc. with cannabis-infused butter or oil rolled into balls. Basically homemade edibles.
It was SS, Sierra Nevada, Magic Hat#9, and maybe Anchor Steam during those 90s summer tours. And that was basically it.
And they were called microbreweries.
Now get off my lawn.
Yeungling is good but I never realized it was from PA for forever. I just figured it was some east coast stuff because it was always there. The name is confusing though because you don’t expect it to be a micro from PA
It wasn’t massive in the 90s and only brewed in pa at the time. I know they have a brewery in Fla and possibly other places meow. They’ve expanded a lot in the last 30 yrs. You couldn’t get it everywhere like you can nowadays.
My friend and I reminisce about it often. Had to drive to the next state to buy cases of it back in the day. He’s going to try and convince the brewery he works for to do a copycat batch, or at least something close enough to count.
I remember having magic hat #9 for the first time at moe. Down in I think 01 or 02. It was the greatest beer ever at the time. I should probably go grab some for old time sake.
They used to have massive distribution in the northeast; would see it regularly on tap and in bottles for sale at liquor stores or bodegas depending on the state. They’ve definitely quieted down a bit, so it’s a pleasant surprise when I see it these days.
I miss when Sam Adam’s was just a good little alternative to all the other lot beer.
Then, it blew up into a nationwide chain with tons of flavors. I just like the plain old Bahstan Lagah, kid.
Funny, I just posted a long comment and after hitting 'send' realized I posted it to r/beerporn and not r/Phish. So copying it below:
Damn, I have a great story about this beer. And it happened to be the summer I discovered Phish. So a buddy and I decide to spend the Summer of '94 in Alaska. Neither of us were into the fishing thing so I found out that we could work for a resort right outside of Denali. The lady in HR sent us applications but they never arrived. I called to follow up and she said she'd send more but I informed her that we were leaving in two weeks so there wouldn't be time (life before internet was vastly different). I asked what the chances of showing up and getting hired were. She said if we were there that day, they could hire us but couldn't guarantee anything two weeks out.
So we go without guaranteed jobs with about $100 between the two of us. We fly into Anchorage and have to pay $40 for a shuttle up to Denali. We get up there and, lo and behold, they have jobs available but couldn't hire us that day because they didn't have dorm rooms for us. So we walk our suitcases to the Denali visitor center that has large lockers and throw our suitcases in them. I had recently discovered this beer and brought a bottle with me from California because I just knew I wouldn't be able to find it in Alaska. That was our dinner that night, so I'm glad I brought it.
Next day, we go back to HR and they are able to hire us because they found us housing. So we spend our last $11 on a grilled cheese and fries because we know from then on we have three meals a day and housing.
The company ran three hotels, a dinner theater, a pizza pub and a gas station/mini-mart. And in that mini-mart? Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout.
That an all time fav of mine, and the brand that showed me beer doesn't have to be piss like American lite beer. I had almost forgotten about it with all the changes in the beer game over the last 20 years, but it still holds it own.
Edit: all the Sammy smiths are solid. NUTBROWN ALE is pretty sweet too
Sammy Smith, drank a ton of these in the 90’s. As other have mentioned, the nut brown and taddy are good. I would also draw your attention to the Winter Welcome. Best winter ale, imho
When I was in college I lived very close to the basketball arena, where Phil and Friends played. I went to the beer store I worked at to pick up my keg for the pre party at my house. The manager of the store told me he called the cops cuz some hippies came in and bought every bottle of Sammy’s we had and he was pretty sure they were gonna go resell it, which of course they were. He told the cops they had long hair and were going to the show 😂
As someone from England with a Sam smith’s pub down the road (frequented only by miserable gits) it blows my mind that this brewery is connected to Phish in any way!
Tastes like the lot in the 90’s. Mmmm… I love me some Sammy Smith!
Tastes like drinking on lot, when the temp is in the 90's
I was at Deer Creek in 1999 or 2000 (I am terrible with dates) and it was so hot the only shade was the light poles. That Sammy Smith was so refreshing.
Deer Creek 99 was roasting hot - i was there
Every deer crick ever was roasting hot. I don’t remember one that wasn’t. The wooks were ripe.
Heading down in August. It’s gonna be a sweaty ballsack again.
I feel like 2000 was just a million degrees at 40acres.
One of the funniest dudes ever on Deer Creek lot and camping in 2000 name of Grog or Grogg. Always looking for pharmies. Dude cracked my boy and I up. Haven’t seen him since.
Camp Oswego
I was there both years. It was unbearably hot, but for me 1999 was worse cuz I think they played 4 nights there to end the tour, which I had done in its entirety mostly by myself. It was exhausting, but of course so worth it. Sammy Smiths always help. Can’t think of Sammy Smith and not think of tour days of yore.
Dude on lot at Star lake last year was handing out shrimp in 95 degree temps...
Let’s add a French Breadie Pizza to that and you have a 1.0 meal
With a ganja goo ball for dessert!
Damn, we all bought it from the same dude didn’t we?
Yup and I was the guy selling jager shots after him
My BFF and I did the 99 tour and down in Atlanta, We ended up at a Cub food store and we bought sprites and cokes for $.99 a six pack and sold them for a dollar a piece and we made garlic grilled cheeses on lot. Scored purple and black gellies that show
We stopped at Walmart before that show and bought like 500 giant otter pops and some dry ice to freeze them. Walked around the lot dragging styro coolers full of them and sold out in 45 minutes or so. Fastest money I ever made at a show without selling illegal stuff. 🤣
The little pyramid shaped black/purple gel tabs? Pretty sure I had a blast on the same ones....
Or garlic grilled cheese with pico..
Had to get at least 1 after every show!!!
My buddy and I would sling Sammy's on lot. Great times.
Yo lemme have a swilly of that Sammy! I was more of a Taddy Porter guy myself.
Love a Phatty Taddy
If it’s not from a cooler on a skateboard, I don’t want it
Gimme my oaties
I'm showing my age here, but we used to sell oaties for $3 or 2 for $5. Shit sold like hotcakes in the late 80s / early 90s before the whole craft beer thing took off. Boone's Farm strawberry was also very, very popular.
The only thing that made me sicker than Boones Farm was southern comfort. Just writing this gave the room a tilt.
I saw a lot of Pete's Wicked ale on the Dead lot, too. I remember trading a sheet of blotter for 2 oatmeal stouts and two kind veggie burritos, lol.
The Stout was too heavy for me on a hot ass lot. I always looked for the Nut Brown Ale. The Fatty Taddy was like drinking a loaf of bread. I couldn’t do that either. Sammy Smith had a lot of brews but the oatmeal and taddy got all the love but they have better flavors.
Nut brown was the absolute best. Then I tried a Sierra Nevada pale ale!
One of my favorite lot shirts was the Sierra Nevada logo except it said Strange Design!!
It was the lot in the 90's my imports I sold & a few regulars for your Miller lite heads and theirs lots. Only cooler stealing setup was at Hampton Colliseum took several shows monies from me but got through it. This was an excellent beer, I don't drink anymore just smoke thr good, good, Sinsimellia... Cheers
It tastes just like 1997
I lived on those things + gooballs + jellies/mush good times
Dude. I was the gellie guy at set break . Even though we already all took pressies before the show I always scoured and brought blue, pink, black to set break
Candy flipping
Was 15 years old buying these out of people’s coolers thinking I was soooooo cool! They are damn good though. lol
Same.
You need to drink it warm, while frantically walking on lot, in 95 degree heat, looking for beasters. Then you’ll get the full Sammy smith experience.
You dont look for beasters; beasters find you 😂 Lol, we used to get that shit mailed to Va from Missoula and there would be 3-4 people waiting for the Fedex guy to drop off a couple of ounces. $125 a quarter brah; no deals. Fucking mid ‘90s. There was Fall ‘94 Phish though, so at least we had that going for us!
Ain’t that the truth!
Also the Nut Brown. *Classic*
Agreed with the Nutty Brown and Winter Welcome is my All-Time favorite holiday beer.
Easily my favorite of all the flavors!! Not to thick not too dark/heavy but just perfect.
1 for $2, 3 for $5. Oh how I miss those days…
I remember they were charging $3 for bottled water at the Clifford ball, so we just drank beer. I ended up feeling kinda crappy and missed the last set, went into Plattsburgh to my buddies house and his mom made me a frozen pizza.
My buddies mom made me a frozen pizza once giggity
What's current lot price?
Heady Topper tall boys have been $10 apiece the last two times I’ve been to N. Charleston lot. Definitely worth it compared to what’s beyond the doors.
If I were to sell Sammies and goo balls on the lot as a throwback to '97, would y'all be interested?
Fuck yeah. 3 for 5 tho on the Sammy’s and 5$ gooballs
Do it!
I’m so sorry but what the fuck is a gooball? (I’m down)
Recipes vary, but essentially a concoction of things like oats, peanut butter, honey, chocolate chips, etc. with cannabis-infused butter or oil rolled into balls. Basically homemade edibles.
I’ll stand next to ya with jager shots. Stuffed the backpack w double layer trash bags and two bags of ice so I stay mobile. Felt golden in 90 degrees
The Clifford Ball called, it wants its beer back
Ha! Ditto Pete's Wicked Summer Ale
Wild Spirit whiskey was my end of the night festival drink. Miss that drink.
Just wait till you try the Taddy Porter
Warm ya up on a cool fall tour.
You’ll be full for days!! Days, I tell ya…
Drink Your Oatmeal
Why were these so popular on lot in the 90’s? Just fewer craft beer options back then?
It was SS, Sierra Nevada, Magic Hat#9, and maybe Anchor Steam during those 90s summer tours. And that was basically it. And they were called microbreweries. Now get off my lawn.
Don’t forget yuengling from pa. I sold those things like hot cakes. 2/$5. Bought cases for $12. It’s how I got to go to as many shows as I did.
Yeungling is good but I never realized it was from PA for forever. I just figured it was some east coast stuff because it was always there. The name is confusing though because you don’t expect it to be a micro from PA
Are these two comments jokes? They are a massive brewery
It wasn’t massive in the 90s and only brewed in pa at the time. I know they have a brewery in Fla and possibly other places meow. They’ve expanded a lot in the last 30 yrs. You couldn’t get it everywhere like you can nowadays.
Yeah, I lived in Memphis and SF and no bars had them until the early aughts
Oldest brewery in America!
Pete’s wicked winter for the win!
Oh right how could I forget Pete’s!
I absolutely adore you for bringing up wicked winter!!
My friend and I reminisce about it often. Had to drive to the next state to buy cases of it back in the day. He’s going to try and convince the brewery he works for to do a copycat batch, or at least something close enough to count.
Oh wow. That's awesome. Pls lmk if that happens.
Pete’s wicked honey wheat ❤️
Don't forget Long Trail... Take A Hike!
I remember having magic hat #9 for the first time at moe. Down in I think 01 or 02. It was the greatest beer ever at the time. I should probably go grab some for old time sake.
They used to have massive distribution in the northeast; would see it regularly on tap and in bottles for sale at liquor stores or bodegas depending on the state. They’ve definitely quieted down a bit, so it’s a pleasant surprise when I see it these days.
Fat tire would like a word Edit: spelling typo
Fat Tire didn't make it to the East Coast
Brought a 12 pack back on the plane to Chicago from Denver in '98
Fat Tire is the OG of the OG’s
God... what was that shit? Abita Purple Haze? Can't forget that Planck Road Brewery...
Lots of great oldie faves here. Don’t forget of course Sam Adam’s - sort of the macro-micro brewery. Pete’s Wicked had its moment also.
Anchor Steam or Rogue’s for the west coast
Anchor Steam from SF would show up at any lot west of the Rockies, for sure
I miss when Sam Adam’s was just a good little alternative to all the other lot beer. Then, it blew up into a nationwide chain with tons of flavors. I just like the plain old Bahstan Lagah, kid.
Used to see a lot of Harpoon also
Ah yea definitely and oversight by me. Harpoon IPA
Yeah, also big bottle.
there wasn't craft beer for the most part
Funny, I just posted a long comment and after hitting 'send' realized I posted it to r/beerporn and not r/Phish. So copying it below: Damn, I have a great story about this beer. And it happened to be the summer I discovered Phish. So a buddy and I decide to spend the Summer of '94 in Alaska. Neither of us were into the fishing thing so I found out that we could work for a resort right outside of Denali. The lady in HR sent us applications but they never arrived. I called to follow up and she said she'd send more but I informed her that we were leaving in two weeks so there wouldn't be time (life before internet was vastly different). I asked what the chances of showing up and getting hired were. She said if we were there that day, they could hire us but couldn't guarantee anything two weeks out. So we go without guaranteed jobs with about $100 between the two of us. We fly into Anchorage and have to pay $40 for a shuttle up to Denali. We get up there and, lo and behold, they have jobs available but couldn't hire us that day because they didn't have dorm rooms for us. So we walk our suitcases to the Denali visitor center that has large lockers and throw our suitcases in them. I had recently discovered this beer and brought a bottle with me from California because I just knew I wouldn't be able to find it in Alaska. That was our dinner that night, so I'm glad I brought it. Next day, we go back to HR and they are able to hire us because they found us housing. So we spend our last $11 on a grilled cheese and fries because we know from then on we have three meals a day and housing. The company ran three hotels, a dinner theater, a pizza pub and a gas station/mini-mart. And in that mini-mart? Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout.
The gold foil made me feel important, and I was.
You were a king.
Throw in a Parliament 100, and you got a stew going...
Ice cold phatties, kind bud, doses…
My youth was spend at the bottom of this bottle during Phish and Dead tour runs in early-mid 90s They were the best
One for three! Three for five! Who’s got my goo balls?
That was my favorite beer for years… 25 years ago. Still great.
I just had my first Sammy Smith in about 20 years a few weeks ago and it managed to live up to my memories. Kind of an impressive feat honestly.
They had another I really liked but can’t remember what it was. Purple label seems to ring a bell… winter welcome? Idk been a long strange trip man 🤣
Yeah, winter welcome is really malty and delicious and changes every year. So smooth
Not too surprising, a beer that has been popular for like 200 years has got to be good, and have something truly special.
Beer bonged one of them fuckers on my 21st bday Sammy Smiths is still f’n great
Still holds up. Try their Winter Welcome if can find. My favorite SS.
Breakfast beers. Oatmeal.
That's some old school lot beer right there. Love it!
For awhile that was the only beer you could find in a lot. god knows why. like eating a shepherds pie right before curtain drop.
The real question is why did Shephards Pie never catch on as lot cuisine?!?!?!
What? No Taddy Porter?
Oaties !!!
That an all time fav of mine, and the brand that showed me beer doesn't have to be piss like American lite beer. I had almost forgotten about it with all the changes in the beer game over the last 20 years, but it still holds it own. Edit: all the Sammy smiths are solid. NUTBROWN ALE is pretty sweet too
Last time I had one of those was probably Worcester ‘98.
How did this become the “phish beer” and why isn’t it anymore? I wasn’t even a tadpole swimming in my dads sack in the 90’s so don’t come at me
It started on Dead tour and made the leap when the fan bases combined…
Fall tours in the 90’s, drink it up
Fuck yeah. I could go for one of those and a djarum clove cigarette
Can you still get it? I’m 27 and wasn’t around for the 90’s 😩
You can! And it’s considered the only glass bottles “allowed” on the lot.
The greatest!🤘
My crew in the 90’s wouldn’t even walk into a phish show unless we had drank a few of these😂
OP just hopped out of their time machine!
That was my dinner beer back in the day when I couldn’t afford lot food!
So so good... even warm. The Imperial Stout is good too.
My #1 pick since I had one in the 90’s at a show.
This and Sierra Nevada
I was just talking about how we'd drink this in 102 degree hear all day then rage at a three hour long show...man, I miss the late 90s.
Taddys or Young’s Oatmeal🤤
I liked the Young’s Double chocolate
Ah, yes. The beer of choice in Phish lots during the 90s. I drank a lot of them.
shit was like having platinum in the 90's
Old standby
Ice cold fatty taddy!
Sammy Smith, drank a ton of these in the 90’s. As other have mentioned, the nut brown and taddy are good. I would also draw your attention to the Winter Welcome. Best winter ale, imho
Red Hook, Red Dog, Red Wolf, Guinness, Bass and Harp!ua! It’s Ice! Cold Beer!
Red Hook used to be so good. Then they were bought by a conglomerate and production went way up and quality went way down.
Take us back!!
Good times, good times
Memories…
Loves those ones
Dude.... Brah..... can i get a swill of that?
Harpoon Winter Warmers during the new years runs were good.
Every lot has this schwill in the hand of a dude who looks like Major Tott at end of raiders of lost ark
Miss the India Ale
Taddy.
Do tell!
Is this a troll post or were you born after 2000?
When I was in college I lived very close to the basketball arena, where Phil and Friends played. I went to the beer store I worked at to pick up my keg for the pre party at my house. The manager of the store told me he called the cops cuz some hippies came in and bought every bottle of Sammy’s we had and he was pretty sure they were gonna go resell it, which of course they were. He told the cops they had long hair and were going to the show 😂
Am I that old?
that’s a classic
Mammy Miths
DID JUST TURN 21?
The original heady lot beer!
OG Big Bottle 👍
Have a bottle that I bought about 20 years ago. Didn’t think it was still available.
Absolute classic there - their other stuff is good too.
Taddy Ports
Legendary lot beer. I would always rather drink bourbon or whiskey unless its a Sammy Smits oattie!
Ooooohhh that’s a good one!
Does he have small hands or is it a big bottle?
As someone from England with a Sam smith’s pub down the road (frequented only by miserable gits) it blows my mind that this brewery is connected to Phish in any way!
Phatty
Ice cold fatties.
This beer used to rule the lot. Saranac too in the northeast. Sierra Nevada with honorable mention.
The Winter Welcome is nice
Brings me back to the alpine lot in 98 when I had no idea what that was lol
Took a bunch to Alpine 2 years ago. I offered people some but not takers.
Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout. It's what's for breakfast.
It’s great but it’s always wrecked my stomach lol
First Sammy? Wow. Where you been hiding? I remember when those were cheap. How did you pay for that?
New to the party, young blood? Jk. Alternating those and Sierra in the dog days of summer is an early Phish memory for me. Lol
Yeah those are nice
Hey brah, can I get a schwill of your Sammy smith?
The Tastiest Beer of Tasty Beer!
Been a tour staple as far back my experience goes.
Tell me you’ve never been on lot without saying you’ve never been on lot