what beers are you drinking?

[small h]

Threes Origin Story. Right now, at Threes. It’s everything I want in a beer - bitter, slightly citrus-y. There’s a wedding going on in the yard.

[AaronS]

industrial arts brewing company state of the art series wa wet hop dipa - 8.1% abv. this is the second of two double ipas single hopped with chinook, the first was made with new york state hops and this one uses hops from segal ranch in washington, which is probably the first hop farm I knew by name because the industrial arts guy mentioned them all the time when he was at peekskill. I had the other version of this on tap and really didn’t like it, it was all overly sweet pine with almost nothing else and while this isn’t great it’s hard to believe that they were made with the same hop. this is a clear shade of yellow and has the classic west coast mixture of pine and resin/dankness that doesn’t really have any citrus or other fruit underneath it, and there’s not much direct malt presence here either. single hop beers can be more interesting than good, which is where this ends up and so on and also on. it’s been an increasingly long time since I’ve had an industrial arts beer that I’ve enjoyed as much as the stuff he made for peekskill or the early industrial arts recipes. 

[AaronS]

hill farmstead double galaxy double india pale ale - 8% abv, on tap at a bar! I feel like a lot of the galaxy beers I’ve had from places like other half over the last few years aren’t nearly what they used to be, everything is overly bitter and there’s not the kind of detail that there used to be. this actually follows that general trend, but there’s a lot of ground between their beer and bad beer and this is still extremely enjoyable. there’s a really delicate set of grain notes and some mildly bitter tropical fruit that has more peach and lychee than you expect from galaxy. I have a bunch of beer in my fridge I’ve been meaning to post about, but the bar I saw bands at tonight lost the majority of my tab and refused my offer of payment, and even if this isn’t this the best thing I’ve had from hill farmstead it’s a shitload more enjoyable than whatever I have at home. recommended.

[AaronS]

abomination brewing company forbidden pumpkin imperial milkshake style india pale ale brewed with pumpkin, spices, vanilla & milk sugar - brewed at the twelve percent beer project, 9.3% abv. as nietzsche says when you look into the fridge, your fridge looks back at you.. or maybe not. this is the first pumpkin beer I’ve had in a long time and I’m a little disappointed that this is the same color as any ne style triple ipa. it definitely smells like baking spices instead of beer. I’m not current on the starbucks thing that inspired this, or orik’s hummus, but I’m confident one can say that these flavors go better with coffee than they do with a vaguely vanilla like double ipa. this actually tastes like hops, which is usually a plus with ipas, but I’m not sure that what seems like a fairly typical mix of citra and mosaic actually helps the ginger and cinnamon in the finish. this isn’t as well put together as a lot of the evil twin beers with a similar concept, so I doubt that this would even work for someone who found the concept interesting.

[StephanieL]

Attempt at making a Berliner weisse, with homemade woodruff syrup and Weihenstephan Kristallweissbier.  IMO, not a great combination.  I liked the syrup, so we probably used the wrong beer.  Unfortunately, there wasn't a particular Berliner weisse beer available at our local Total Wine the last time we went.

[AaronS]

I think you mean berliner weisse mit schuss - a berliner weisse is the sour wheat beer that's apparently often used with woodruff syrup. finding a berliner weisse that didn't already have some kind of fruit in it would be pretty difficult in nyc.

[AaronS]

sierra nevada celebration fresh hop ipa - 6.8% abv. I post about how much I enjoy this beer every year, which is still true, and I'll reiterate that this would be best described as a red ipa. I'm extra excited about this years version because they've also released an all centennial fresh hop ale. as far as I know this is still the original recipe and uses centennial, chinook, and cascade on top of enough caramel malt to give this a deep amber color. this has the classic mixture of pine, resin, and a little grapefruit along with a fairly sweet malt presence and some bitterness. recommended to the nostalgic.

[Behemoth]

15 hours ago, StephanieL said:

Attempt at making a Berliner weisse, with homemade woodruff syrup and Weihenstephan Kristallweissbier.  IMO, not a great combination.  I liked the syrup, so we probably used the wrong beer.  Unfortunately, there wasn't a particular Berliner weisse beer available at our local Total Wine the last time we went.

Berliner-style wheat beer has an added lactic yeast which gives it a sour taste — then the syrup is added to mask the taste. I don’t understand it either but I have a Bavarian bias.

Eta: sorry just saw beer expert Aaron already responded. 😁

 

[StephanieL]

15 hours ago, AaronS said:

I think you mean berliner weisse mit schuss - a berliner weisse is the sour wheat beer that's apparently often used with woodruff syrup. finding a berliner weisse that didn't already have some kind of fruit in it would be pretty difficult in nyc.

And in California too, apparently.  North Coast Brewing makes some nice Berliner weisses, but they have the fruit in them already.

[Sneakeater]

Industrial Arts State of the Art Zappa/Triumph 074 Hazy IPA

I was very careful not to review Aaron's tasting notes until after I’d started this.  And I was pleased that what I came up with on my own was "weird NE IPA".  I get the feeling I'm more inclined to NEs than Aaron (the less malt the better, I say), which is why I think I was more taken with this (up to a point) than he was.  But I totally agree that this is not something you'd drink every day -- or even, maybe, more than once.

The sticking point -- which Aaron articulated whereas I just had this feeling I couldn't put into words -- is the unspecifiable weird stuff that comes up after the fruit (which fruit I REALLY like).  Cuz this is the kind of "weird" that's also vaguely unpleasant.  So this isn't, "oh this is different from other NE IPAs and I like it."  It's, "this is different in a way I find slightly offputting".

Which is a pity, because until then, the fruit is very winning.  To me, this has one of the better opens of any beer I've had lately.

[Sneakeater]

Do LOVE the hazy yellow color, though.

[AaronS]

have you had their ubiquitous wrench? I like it a lot more than any of the one offs from the last year or so.

[AaronS]

sierra nevada northern hemisphere harvest wet hop ipa - 6.7% abv. I wasn’t surprised to see that sierra had released an ipa single hopped with centennial at the same time as celebration, but I was surprised to see that it’s exactly the same color. I’m okay with that, as sneak knows, but I guess this has always been like this and they just stick with the same malt base and use whatever hops they can get delivered within twenty four hours of picking. (I’ve only had this a few times over the years, but their newer beers are definitely a lot lighter and the next seasonal looks pretty modern.) so.. is this that different than celebration? it’s a little bit hoppier and has basically the same three flavors, only there’s less bitterness, which changes the way the citrus tastes and heightens the sweetness and the pine is a little more herbaceous. I think I prefer the nostalgic comfort of celebration. recommended.

[Sneakeater]

16 hours ago, AaronS said:

have you had their ubiquitous wrench? I like it a lot more than any of the one offs from the last year or so.

No.  Thanks!

[AaronS]

põjaha forest bänger imperial stout with rowan berries and juniper a banging imperial stout with smashed rowan berries, estonian juniper, and smoked malts - 12.5% abv. this is a really terrific stout. it starts out with some odd berry and bright pine stuff that gives way to light caramel, anise, and almost peaty smoked malt notes, and there’s a fair amount of actual beer flavor throughout. this is an extremely well made beer, there’s no apparent alcohol, all of the flavors work well together, there’s real depth of flavor, the body is very light, etc. strongly recommended.