My weekend was pretty enjoyable. Finally got my hands on All Green Everything and Equinox from a trade with @SmoothBalla All green is incredible! Its even more amazing when you consider its a 10.5% TIPA.
I had a lambo door from tap the other night, definitely flavorful but too expensive to get a lot of. I also had stacks on stacks from other half which was nearly as good imo There are a bunch of bottles of Grimm super spruce sitting at my spot, somehow the subliminal message bottles right next to it sold out while the super spruce didnt Also know a spot with Maple double negative but they are charging 20$ a bottle
The most recent batch of All Green Everything is ridiculous. Tasting better than ever. Can't stand Equinox though. Works well when it's paired with other hops, but it's to grassy/earthy/spicy on its own. Far and away my least favorite Other Half IPA.
Equinox is ok imo. Nothing crazy good but nothing awful either. Its the first straight up IPA I've had from them so I don't have much to compare it to. All Green is insane though! Thought it was going to be pretty rough as I usual don't like TIPAs but its my favorite Other Half beer I've had so far.
Hope this goes global lol. Or maybe Founders does their own mexican hot chocolate mix. Sadly Xocoveza is long gone around my way. Luckily FBS is still hanging in there. We're finally getting some November batches, so its not all bad This evenings haul Pops still likes his sam adams mixed 12 packs. I'll probably try some with him this weekend. I also got him his favorite munich helles lager by Weihenstephaner. I'm a community drinker/sharer by and large. Tell me what you like and I'll buy you something. As mentioned above, I did get more FBS, and some 15 day old La Cumbre Elevated. Man. I got burned today. I have been seeing some really old beers on the shelves lately. It's making me depressed. 4-5 month old IPAs. I'm really thinking about only going for the stouts from here on out, and local IPAs. Selection for the first time at TW was lacking big time. I guess all these places are in that february rut. There were a few spring beers coming out. But I guess since Im not too big on those, I sorta didnt notice. I did notice the very old beers all around though. So many choices, and people are buying these old beers up. I got half burned on some moon juice by San Tan. The label read 2/16/15 in the seasonal aisle. I shouldve checked the bottom of the can.. Caned just before Thanksgiving. Price was a bit up there. I'm drinking one now. For a 3 month old IPA, it doesnt have any true aromavibrancy about it. But it doesnt taste like old stall hops soaking in sweet malts. It has a solid bite in fact.. I took the plunge knowing full well it's a 86 BA beer. Citrus fruitiness. I am sorta glad I got the six pack. It's old but feels a lot like a Lagunitas beer imho. NOT BAD.
As far as their single hop IPAs, my breakdown is as follows: 1. Mosaic 2. Citra 3. Simcoe 4. Galaxy 5. Nelson 6. Amarillo 7. El Dorado 8. Equinox Bear in mind: there's a VERY wide margin between El Dorado and Equinox. The top 7 are all fantastic single-hop IPAs, but Equinox just doesn't make the cut.
Oof. Tried that last weekend and found it to be terrible. Too much rind and artificial watermelon flavor. Hard pass.
I've been investigating (searching google) about the whole grapefruit and other fruit blend varieties of beers. My findings aren't pretty. They can pretty much say "brewed with" and it mean just about anything. Then there are aspects that aren't real fruit, but in fact extracts or fake fruit "flavors". Even "natural" flavors can mean anything they want it to mean. From what I have seen, GF Sculpin adds some extra flavors at the very end of secondary fermentation. ie, when the beer is pretty much 100% done. Other places say they add it to the boil (maybe GF zest) or they add it to early secondary. I've seen some places say they add actual GF juice to their beers. I do know, adding real fruit to a fermentation is quite sketchy, as the fruit surfaces can cause infections and off flavors. Boiling fruits can be iffy as well. So extracts have taken over, or even adding the real flavors at the very end.. I wouldn't call it cheating but be very careful. There is a reason Victory @ Sea was able to have 8-10 different varities, including peanut butter. That base beer is likely the same for every product, with just drops or ounces of fake flavors to each "product". Not to be a downer, but Ballast Point built a billion dollar business on these secrets. Bottom line, take your favorite normal tasting IPA, add a splash of your own OJ or GF juice, and you are no worse off than the overpriced $16 GF sculpins of the world
^what are good habanero beers? Never tried that, but I am pretty open to trying different and all beers. I usually just stay with the casual stouts and DIPAs. Didn't like the taste of Duvel at first, but I am really enjoying those kinds of beers the more and more I have them
I tried habanero sculpin and couldn't fathom drinking a whole bottle of it straight. So I mixed it 50/50 with grapefruit and that's a delish combination.
Not surprised at all with the volume they produce. Time is money and they're not gonna take their sweet time to do things the "right" way. Especially now that they're owned by Corona, I'm sure there's more pressure to produce more in a smaller amount of time. "Efficiency" if you will.
Damn it! I wanna like IPAs and I keep trying them but that hoppymess is just too bitter. This is honestly one of the better ones but I'm glad I was able to buy just a bottle vs a 6 pack.
^ Me three lol. So far Two Hearted is the only IPA I have tried that I like. Not into sculpin, especially for the price.
Yeah I like an IPA here and there, I just always go stout or porter for the most part I like a good Gose too