Style

The Bruery Mélange No. 14

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The Bruery’s Mélange series is their line of experimental blends. They’ve amassed quite a few barrels of beer and have been siphoning off small portions of those barrel aged wonders for blending purposes for quite a while now. Most appear to be one-offs, but a few are recurring. They’ve generally had limited availability, but this particular iteration looks to have been spread far and wide. The components used in this beer are 85% of “some of our most vintage barrels of barleywine and old ale” (presumably stuff like their Anniversary beers and Mash) and 15% of “both Tuesday–themed releases and Share This” (i.e. imperial stouts).

I would be genuinely curious about exact proportions of components, as blending is a tricky beast. Of course, I don’t have any particular experience with it, but my blatant speculation is that it would be very difficult to blend such strongly flavored beers in such a way that would allow them to become more than the sum of their parts. Indeed, I suspect many attempts at blending lead to one component dominating the others, or perhaps even resulting in a beer that is less than the sum of its parts. Blending in other arenas is often done to smooth out rough flavors, but that also has the added effect of making the result blander and more homogeneous. I don’t think that’s what the Bruery is going for here, and most of these Mélange beers seem to be well received, so I guess they’re doing a pretty good job.

The Bruery Melange No 14

The Bruery Mélange No. 14 – Pours a muddy looking, vivid dark brown color with a half finger of light tan head. Smells of rich caramel, bourbon, oak, vanilla, toffee, a hint of something darker lurking in the background. Taste is very sweet, lots of crystal malt, much more on the fruity side, dark fruits, maybe coconut, plenty of booze. As it warms, the fruit subsides a bit and the bourbon and oak come out more, but it’s still distinct from your typical Bruery BBA lineup. Mouthfeel is on the lighter end of full bodied, moderate richness, finely carbonated, some pleasant boozy heat. Very complex, lots going on, a slow sipping beer for sure. Overall, this is really nice, typical Bruery barrel character, complex, maybe a bit off balance and muddled, but still delicious. More delicious than its components? I’m not so sure. I definitely have a thing for the Anniversary beers and I love Mash and Black Tuesday. This is a nice change of pace, I guess. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 13.4% ABV bottled (750 ml). Drank out of a tulip glass on 9/9/16. Bottled: 05/23/16.

Always fun taking a trip through the Bruery’s barrel program. I’ve always wanted to try Melange No. 3 (a blend of Anniversary, White Oak Sap, and Black Tuesday) and would be really curious about Melange No. 1 (a blend of Oude Tart and Black Tuesday) even if it seems a bit odd to blend a sour with a stout. I also realized that I neglected to review this year’s anniversary beer, but then, I’ve reviewed most of them already, so there’s little else to say… No more Bruery on the horizon, but we’ll certainly see more from them on here sometime.

Burley Oak Sour Diesel

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Not wanting to (literally) beat around the bush, beer has a relationship with weed. Not one that I’m especially interested in or care much about (not my thing), but it’s hard not to recognize the affinity amongst certain infamous brewers. There’s often an almost certainly false speculation that hops and marijuana are biologically related, mostly because they sure look and smell similar. Then again, this requires a working knowledge of biology and, well, my main takeaway from this examination is basically: “1) Don’t become an angiosperm taxonomist unless you love frustration, because 2) taxonomy can be a giant pain in the butt.” Which is to say, well, they’re both plants and it passes a literal sniff test, so that’s probably good enough for most.

So what the hell am I talking about weed for? Well, after my exhaustive research session of searching Google for “Sour Diesel”, this beer is clearly named after an infamous strain of Marijuana. Not sure why that’s a great name for weed or beer though. I mean, yeah, I guess it indicates a certain dynamic flammability, but that’s not generally something I look for in beer. Anywho, starting life as a stout made with chocolate rye malts and fermented in oak barrels, this was then soured (er, sour dieseled?) with lactobacillus (no mention of Brett or Pedio, for what it’s worth). The label sez it’s a “satisfyingly dank experience”, so let’s find out:

Burley Oak Sour Diesel

Burley Oak Sour Diesel – Pours a very dark brown color, almost black, with practically no head whatsoever. Smells nice, fruity, that sour twang, maybe some cherries. Taste hits those sour cherry notes hard, lots of dark, sour fruits, some heft from the dark malt, a little one note, but tasty. Not particularly dank, but sure, it’s sour. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, low carbonation (maybe just enough, but lower than I usually want out of a beer like this), moderate sourness. Overall, this is a nice lactic sour, a little one note, but a good enough note. B

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (750 ml). Drank out of a flute glass on 9/10/16.

One more Burley Oak sour in the pipeline, but I’ve had it before. It’s also a sour stout, but it felt like it had more character than this one, even if I feel like it might strip all the enamel off of my teeth if I drink a whole bottle. Stay tuned!

Tired Hands Bottle & Can Directory

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The other day, someone posted a thread on Facebook asking folks to post their top two breweries with the highest count of unique beers tasted (Untappd helps keep track of this sort of thing). For me, number two was Victory with 60 different brews.

Not too shabby, but regular readers (all 3 of you) who remember my epic recaps of hundreds of Tired Hands beers might guess that brewery would place number one. And they’d be correct! How correct? Oh, you know, something to the tune of 356 different beers. That’s all. Ok, fine, before you start preparations for my intervention, there are a few mitigating factors. One is that, according to Untappd, there are 975 different Tired Hands beers (Beer Advocate only lists 769 beers though). So I haven’t even had half of them! Second, the grand majority of these have been 4 or 8 ounce pours, with the occasional bottle and very rare pint (i.e. there were times where I’ve visited and had the equivalent of two pints, but that’s 8 beers in 4 ounce increments). Finally, this is over the course of three years and while I used to pop over to Tired Hands every week, I’ve slowed my roll considerably of late.

Anywho, I’ve mostly given up on writing up notes when I visit, but I do tend to take note of their bottled offerings, so I’ll probably continue posting these roundups from time to time, even if they’re nowhere near as comprehensive as they once were. I’ve also managed to snag some cans from time to time, but they’re generally released on Wednesdays at 4 pm or 5 pm and I have this thing called a job that prevents me from waiting in line for a few hours. I know, priorities, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Some of these are more detailed tasting notes, and others are more general observations, so take them with the appropriate mountain of salt.

Tired Hands Only Void Single-Origin Awake Minds Ethiopian Coffee

Tired Hands Only Void (Single-Origin Awake Minds Ethiopian Coffee) – Cold conditioned on heavy amounts of Awake Minds Ethiopian coffee from ReAnimator Coffee – I feel like people slept on this release, as I just kinda walked up an hour after the release had started and snagged a couple four packs. You all know I’m not a big coffee person and while this doesn’t exactly change my mind, it was a superb example of the style. Tons of roast and coffee, rich, intense but incredibly well balanced. Not sure how these cans are drinking now (released in April), but worth looking out for the next release. Since I didn’t take formal notes and it’s been several months, I’ll refrain from rating, but I figured it was worth mentioning.

Tired Hands Living With Ourselves As We Are

Tired Hands Living With Ourselves As We Are – French oak fermented wheat Saison conditioned on heaps of Meyer lemon purée – Pours a very pale straw yellow color with a finger of white head. Smells of tart fruit, those lemons coming through here, but a nice dollop of funk and oak pairs well. Taste has a nice sweet backbone, plenty of tart fruit, again with the lemons, but maybe some other fruity notes making themselves known (vinous fruit?) and plenty of oak, finishing on those sour lemons. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, medium bodied, moderately sour, quite well balanced. Overall, this is very nice, one of the better bottles of the year… A-

Beer Nerd Details: ??% ABV bottle (750 ml). Drank out of a flute glass on 7/16/16.

Tired Hands Rustic Pentagram

Tired Hands Rustic Pentagram – Sour Mango Saison. Brewed with Wheat. Hopped with Amarillo. Fermented in one of our large French oak foudres. Conditioned atop freshly made mango purée. – Had this at the Fermentaria anniversary and loved it, but it’s even better out of the bottle. Pours a very pale, almost radiant yellow color, only slightly hazy, with a finger of white head that leaves some lacing. Smells amazing, a beautiful funk character mixed with a well balanced mango aroma and some oak playing go-between. Taste is sweet up front, with those mangos coming through strong, almost immediately followed by a big sour bite, then comes something a little more earthy, funky, almost cheesy and gueuze-like, and a well balanced oaky streak ties the whole thing together, finishing with another sour bite. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, moderate to high acidity, but very well balanced. Overall, this is spectacular, best TH bottle in a while. A

Beer Nerd Details: 6.9% ABV bottle (750 ml). Drank out of a wine glass on 7/29/16.

Tired Hands Pineal

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Pineal – Have had this a few times on tap, one of Tired Hands’ first recurring IPAs (and by recurring, it’s like, once a year for the first two years? Though more often since they’ve started canning), it’s always struck me as a pretty standard Tired Hands IPA. Fantastic, especially when compared to most other breweries, but not quite top tier TH single IPA. In the can? It’s cloudier and juicier, I rather like it better. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV canned (16 ounce pounder). Drank out of the can, like a man, on 7/31/16.

Tired hands Milkshake IPA

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Tired Hands Milkshake IPA – I went over the origins of this before in discussing the Northeast IPA, basically an IPA brewed with lactose, wheat flour, and strawberries – Pours a turbid, chicken broth looking pale yellow color with a finger of white head (I poured some out to see, but drank most out of the can). Smells great, huge wafts of juicy citrus, pineapple, orange, vanilla. Taste hits those big juicy citrus notes hard, lactose sweetness, mild bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is full bodied, thick, and chewy, well carbonated, did I mention thick? Overall, surprisingly enough, this is absolutely delicious. A

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV canned (16 ounce pounder). Drank out of the can, like a man, on 7/30/16.

Tired Hands Believers Club Bottle 1

Tired Hands Believer’s Club Bottle 1 – Fermented and conditioned with our magickal Saison yeast in French oak barrels. It was conditioned atop a copious amount of mango at a rate of one and a half pounds per gallon of beer and then dry hopped with Mosaic. – Pours a slightly hazy but still radiant straw yellow color with a finger of white head. Smells great, lots of musty funk, stone fruit, mangos, oak. Taste is sweet and tart up front, some of that mango showing itself, followed by some earthy notes and oak, finishing on that sour mango swerve. Mouthfeel is medium to light bodied, a tad lower on carbonation, moderate acidity, all very well balanced. Overall, this is fabulous, very, very similar to Rustic Pentagram and I could see it growing more complex over time too. We’re splitting hairs here, so let’s just go A- for now, though I’m guessing it will continue to evolve over time.

Beer Nerd Details: ??% ABV bottle (750 ml). Drank out of a flute glass on 9/2/16.

Tired Hands ROOMARAK

Tired Hands ROOMARAK – Saison brewed with local Deer Creek Malthouse barley and wheat, fermented and aged in a Vin Santo foudre with a ton of Merlot grapes from local Karamoor Winery – Pours a striking reddish orange color, robey tones, very little head that doesn’t stick around at all. Smells very nice, musty funk, vinous fruit, oak. Taste hits that vinous fruit character hard, apparently that Merlot making itself known, even getting some wine tannin here, a little oak, finishing with a sour bite. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, medium bodied, only mildly acidic. Overall, an interesting wine/beer hybrid and a tasty beer. B+ or A-

Beer Nerd Details: ??% ABV bottle (750 ml). Drank out of a wine glass on 9/3/16.

Phew, I think that’s enough for now. Next up on the Tired Hands bottle front: Parageuisia 6 and 7 are being released this Sunday. If you are in the area, it’s worth trying to snag a bottle, they’re wonderful.

Hill Farmstead Dry Hopped Arthur

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Farmhouse yeast! Well water! Segal Ranch Cascades! The reanimated corpse of Sean Hill’s grand-uncle Arthur! YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!

Ugh, stupid Mark. Clickbait goes in the headline, not the body of the post. I’m the worst. You know what’s not the worst? Hill Farmstead! They are, in fact, the best. Arthur is one of their flagship saisons and this particular bottle went through an additional dry-hopping process with, you guessed it, Segal Ranch Cascades. They’re really cornering the market in Cascade hops you guys. Let’s see how much that treatment impacted the base (hint: not much, but who cares):

Hill Farmstead Dry Hopped Arthur

Hill Farmstead Dry Hopped Arthur – Segal Ranch Cascade – Pours a slightly hazy, very pale yellow gold color with a finger of white, fluffy head and decent retention. Smells great, typical Hill farmhouse character, fruity, hints of that dry hopping contributes additional resinous citrus notes, but it’s really quite subtle (very much like… regular Arthur). Taste starts sweet, hits a nice tart fruit character, lemony, a little farmhouse in the middle, maybe a little of that citrus and resin hop character, but it’s very, very subtle, finishing on a clean lactic sourness. Mouthfeel is crisp, light bodied, and refreshing. A little more acidic (lactic, not at all acetic) than I remember, but no worse for it, it’s actually very refreshing. Overall, yep, it’s Arthur all right; the dry-hopping is quite subtle, but nice. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (750 ml). Drank out of a charente glass on 8/27/16. Bottled: 2016 06 30 DH (that appears to be the only indicator of the dry hopping process on the label).

Oh, another world-class saison from Hill Farmstead? Go figure. Stay tuned, we’ve got a couple other Hill Farmstead (or HF adjacent) efforts on the way.

Union Royal Farmhouse Double IPA

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Baltimore’s Union Craft Brewing continues to be an underrated gem. They don’t put out a huge variety of beers, but their Duckpin Pale Ale and Double Duckpin are both fantastic go-to beers that aren’t too difficult to track down. The single Duckpin, in particular, is an underrated beer that deserves more attention. Or not, because I like being able to reliable grab some anytime I’m in the Maryland area.

This is one of their one-offs, a Double IPA made with Columbus, Mosaic, Citra, Amarillo and Simcoe hops and fermented with a farmhouse yeast strain to give it a little Belgian kick. Not my favorite mashup of styles, to be sure, but it’s always nice to change things up from time to time and hell, that farmhouse Rooster on the can has a crown on its head and thus deserves some semblance of respect. Or at least a review:

Union Royal Farmhouse DIPA

Union Royal Farmhouse Double IPA – Pours a mostly clear golden orange color with a finger of big bubbled white head that sticks around for a while and leaves lacing as I drink. Smells very nice, big citrus and resinous pine, hints of musty Belgian yeast. Taste hits those Belgian notes harder than the nose, some spicy phenols, but a nice fruity ester character that matches well with the citrus and pine hops, finishing with a nice bitter bite. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, relatively dry, with just a hint of boozy heat. Overall, I’ve never been a huge Belgian IPA guy, but this is good. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8.5% ABV canned (16 ounce pounder). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/27/16.

I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to find more Union beer to review. I always grab something during my periodic pilgrimages to State Line Liquors in MD, but it’s hard to pass up the Duckpins, so I rarely branch out. I probably should!

Evolution Hand Picked Series Double Feature

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For centuries, the the Delmarva Peninsula of Maryland has been known for producing bottles of barrel-aged sours that grow on trees. Truly a freak of nature, Maryland’s own Evolution Craft Brewing has exploited that land for their “Hand Picked” series of beers. Straight from the tree!

Alright, fine, they grow fresh fruit on the the Delmarva Peninsula and that just happens to be right by Evolution, who use that in their series of barrel aged beers. I may have gotten some of the continuity wrong, all right? Get off my back. Anyway, I recently spent some time in Ocean City, Maryland, and on the way back to Kaedrin HQ, I met up with some friends and toured a few Maryland breweries. You will most certainly be hearing about them in later posts, but for now, we’ll hit up Evolution. We’re no strangers to their generally well received wares here, and these limited sours seemed worth a flier.

Both use their standard Belgian-style pale ale as a base, but the treatments are slightly different. One is aged in red wine barrels for 18 months with half a bushel of peaches per barrel and a melange of fermenting bugs: Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, Brettanomyces Lambicus, and L. Brevis. The other is aged in port barrels for 16 months with 100 pounds of raspberries and just Brettanomyces Lambicus. First up, the superior treatment:

Evolution Hand Picked Series Peach Sour

Evolution Hand Picked Series Peach Sour – Pours a dark orange color with half a finger of fizzy, short lived head and visible sediment/floaters. Smells great though, lots of peach and a hefty oak character. Taste starts off sweet, lots of peaches, oak, some light lactic sourness in the finish. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, medium bodied, medium acidity. Overall, this is a rock solid sour, a little one-note, but the peach matches well. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (500 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a flute glass on 8/19/16.

Evolution Hand Picked Series Raspberry Tart

Evolution Hand Picked Series Raspberry Tart – Pours a reddish brown color with a finger of fizzy, short lived head (no sediment/floaters in this one). Smells nice, raspberry fruit rollups dominate, but that oak is there too. Taste seems a little more muddled, much less raspberry than the nose would have you believe, muted oak, not even particularly sour, an almost bitter aftertaste. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, medium bodied, and lightly acidic. Balance seems a bit off here and the raspberry comes off a bit too artificial, but it’s not excessively bad either. Overall, it’s fine, but disappointing and the Peach was a lot better. C+

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (500 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a flute glass on 8/21/16.

So yeah, go for the Peach. They’re better than raspberries anyway. Stay tuned for more from the Maryland trip, which should be coming once I finish drinking my way out of all these Vermont IPAs…

Weyerbacher 21st Anniversary Ale

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It’s been a while since I’ve checked in with the semi-local booze hounds up at Weyerbacher. They made a big splash with last year’s Sunday Morning Stout, which might be their all-around best beer that is regularly available (I’m still partial to Whiskey Barrel Aged myself; alas, that was a one-off), but then my now legendary indifference to coffee dulled my personal response. As usual, my instinct upon drinking a well made coffee stout is to wonder what it would be like without the coffee.

On paper, Weyerbacher’s 21st Anniversary ale seems to fit that bill perfectly. An 11.9% ABV imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels with cocoa nibs, cocoa powder, and vanilla beans. It sounds grand, but I’ve often found Weyerbacher’s barrel aged entries boozy and unbalanced (or completely lacking in barrel character, which makes for an odd dynamic for sure). One reason Sunday Morning Stout has caught on is that it actually coheres into a well balanced little treat. Will this one fare as well? Well, sorta, but I’ll tell you one thing: It really made for a nice palate cleanser after drinking gallons of VT IPAs over the past few weeks. Let’s get to it:

Weyerbacher 21st Anniversary

Weyerbacher 21st Anniversary Ale – Pours a very dark brown, almost black color with a finger of tan head. Smells of vanilla, a bit of roast, dark chocolate, and hefty amounts of bourbon and oak. Taste starts off with that hint of roast and dark chocolate, followed by a sweet wallop of vanilla, then lots of boozy bourbon. Mouthfeel is full bodied and well carbonated, pretty boozy, not particularly balanced, though it does get better as it warms – this is a beer to let sit out a bit, methinks. Overall, this is a good, tasty little beer, it lacks the integration and balance of the best in style, but if you’re a fan of vanilla and bourbon, you’ll like this sucker. (For the record, I like vanilla and bourbon quite a bit.) B+

Beer Nerd Details: 11.9% ABV bottled (12 ounce). Drank out of a snifter on 8/6/16. Packaged On: 06/22/16

Definitely a contender for best Weyerbacher Anniversary beer I’ve had, but then, they tend to be a little hit or miss. I haven’t done a good job keeping up with their Brewer’s Select series of one-off experimental beers and I see they’ve now renamed it Jester’s Choice. I shall have to keep an eye out for those beers. If one catches my eye, you’ll probably be hearing about it on here!

Alchemist The Crusher

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I’ve already wonked out on the history of Alchemist, but basically they started out as an obscure brewpub that was destroyed by the dread Tropical Storm Irene. Fortunately, they had just built a production brewery and canning line, so they survived by making tons of Heady Topper and pretty much only Heady Topper for a few years. The brewpub was never reopened, but a couple years ago, they started reviving old recipes and doing limited releases. Flash forward a couple years, and they’ve opened a new (gorgeous) production brewery that basically doubled their capacity and allowed them to start making those other recipes on a more regular basis. The focus of the new brewery seems to be Focal Banger, their 7% IPA, but they also have some capacity dedicated to a “rotating” beer, which for now is The Crusher.

The Crusher is an odd duck, something I have a little trouble wrapping my head around. I mean, yeah, sure, it’s delicious, but it occupies a weird territory somewhere in the middle of the DIPA, TIPA, and Barleywine triangle, like this diagram I spent a whole 5 minutes creating:

The DIPA TIPA Barleywine triangle

Rich, hoppy, and boozy, it’s a tasty little monster. I don’t think I like it any better than Focal or Heady, which oddly makes this the “worst” beer I’ve ever had from The Alchemist, but that’s a silly way to look at it since it’s still glorious. Let’s look closer:

The Alchemist The Crusher

The Alchemist The Crusher – Pours a dark golden yellow color with a finger of fluffy white head, good retention, and lacing. Smells good, citrus and resinous pine hops, crystal malt, maybe some honey-like aromas, not as aromatic as Focal or Heady but still great. Taste starts off with rich, sweet crystal malt, notes of caramel and honey, with those citrus and resinous pine hops kicking in towards the middle, maybe a little booze too, finishing on a nice, bracing bitter note. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, rich, and well carbonated, finishing dryer than most TIPAs. I wouldn’t call it balanced, but that feels like the point. Add some more malt here and you’ve got a very nice Barleywine. Overall, this is really good. Not quite the paradigm establisher that Heady or Focal represent, but a worthy entry in The Alchemist’s portfolio. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 9% ABV canned (16 ounce pounder). Drank out of a snifter on 8/12/16.

Now I really want to try more of Alchemist’s back catalog. Luscious, Beelzebub, Ouroboros, Petit Mutant, the list goes on. Hopefully the “rotating” slot at the new brewery will rotate, even if The Crusher seems quite popular…

Frost Beer Works Plush

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Moar Vermont Double IPAs! VT DIPAs forever!

This one hails from Frost Beer Works, a bit southeast of Burlington. Not technically VT beer roulette since I’d actually heard of these guys before and Eric recommended I grab a bottle as it had just been released and was thus fresh. Oh, and it’s apparently pretty good. It’s part of Frost’s “Research Series”, basically their experimental arm of one-offs (or are they? This seems to have been made before, so perhaps they’re still “researching” this, though from what I can see, it’s clearly ready for the big time). Supposedly this is a double-dry hopped version of their standard DIPA, called Lush, though their website lists a different Research Series beer that was also that, so who knows?

The description sez it’s a double dry-hopped DIPA with a soft mouthfeel and juiciness reminiscent of stuffed animals and STP. Er, what? Like, STP the motor oil? Stone Temple Pilots? Or ohhhh, 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine – a psychotropic known by the street name STP (meaning Serenity, Tranquility and Peace)? Oh wait, there’s more on the label: “Where ya going to tomorrow?” I see, so we’re back to Stone Temple Pilots and yes, they have a song called Plush and that’s a lyric, duh, I’m the worst. Let’s drink this thing:

Frost Beer Works Plush

Frost Beer Works Plush – Pours a hazy dark gold color with a finger or two of fluffy white head that leaves plenty of lacing as I drink. Smells quite nice, sweet, candied citrus, mangoes. Taste also hits those sweet notes up front, lots of citrus of the mango kind, not much bitterness here but enough to feel balanced. Mouthfeel is finely carbonated, medium bodied, surprisingly quaffable for an 8% DIPA – I downed quite a bit of this without noticing how much. Overall, whoa, another VT DIPA that’s really good, shocker. B+ or A-, I don’t know anymore, my palate is drowning in hops. In, uh, a good way I guess.

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (22 ounce bomber). Drank out of a charente glass on 8/12/16. Bottled: 07/28/16. Label sez: A tribute to Scott W (RIP)

Damnit, another VT brewery I need to explore more from? You know it. Alas, nothing else from this trip, so you’ll have to wait for Operation Cheddar VI: Night of the Living Cheddar (tentative name). In the meantime, one more VT DIPA review on its way until things return to normal…

Burlington Beer Co. Double Feature

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I know what you’re thinking: Ugh, more Vermont Double IPAs? Well, um, get used to it jerks, because we got a few more VT DIPAs in the pipeline this week. And for good reason! These VT brewers love them some hops, and when Kaedrin friend Cian McGuire heard I was passing through town, he suggested I stop in and say hello, which was a great idea. I got a small taste of Strawberry Whale Cake (a tasty little hoppy cream ale made with strawberries) and saw Cian packaging some beer, and picked up a bunch of stuff. In fact, I think the only dark beer I picked up during Operation Cheddar V was from here (a peanut butter porter called Chunky), so there is that. But first we’ve got to drink those hoppy beers fresh, so we’ve got a pair of DIPAs for your perusal.

First up is the awesomely named It’s Complicated Being A Wizard, their year-round DIPA brewed with wheat and oats. Lovely artwork, and the title inspired me to break out the AD&D rulebooks. I am such a dork. It turns out, it really is complicated being a Wizard. So many spells, man. Just ask the Harrys, Potter and Dresden:

Its Complicated Being A Wizard

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Burlington Beer Co. It’s Complicated Being A Wizard – Pours an almost clear (imagine that) golden yellow color with a finger of white head. Smell has a sweetness to it along with a decent citrus and pine hop aroma. Taste follows the nose, sweet, citrus and pine hops, hint of bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is finely carbonated, light to medium bodied, crisp and clean. Goes down faster than your typical 8% DIPA. Overall, yet another tasty VT DIPA. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV canned (16 ounce pounder). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/13/16. Canned: 7/20/16. Batch: OCTARINE.

Next comes Peasant King, which is a heftier DIPA bordering on TIPA territory. I’d like to make another D&D reference here, but it seems there’s actually a pretty robust history of commoners becoming monarchs. Go figure.

Peasant King

Burlington Beer Co. Peasant King – Pours a slightly hazier yet brighter golden yellow color with a finger of big bubbled head. Smells sweeter, with more citrus and pine hops. Taste starts off sweet, hits those citrus and pine notes, finishes with a bigger bitter bite. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, medium bodied, a little boozy. Overall, this is quite good. B+ or A-

Beer Nerd Details: 9% ABV canned (16 ounce pounder). Drank out of a tulip glass on 8/13/16. Canned: 7/27/16. Batch: HE IS HAPPIEST.

Phew, that’s a lot of hoppy beer. Stay tuned, we’ve got two more doozies coming up this week. Then things should return to a more normal Saison and BBA stout fest.