Brix City Brewing – Lychee Boom Boom

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Beer, Beer Review, Brix City Brewing, Craft Beer, lychee, New Jersey

This next beer was a special treat.  My wife and I had friends in town for a night last weekend to hello and pay their regards to the baby before heading up to points further north.  These friends also just so happen to have a fondness for beer, so much so that one of them turned their fondness into a job brewing at Brix City in Little Ferry, NJ.  It was a really cool experience sitting down to drink and talk about beer with someone so intimately involved in creating what we had in front of us.

Beer Name: Lychee Boom Boom

Brewer: Brix City Brewing

Style: Brett IPA

ABV: 7.5%

Description: Created in collaboration with three local (i.e. Northern New Jersey) pubs, this beer was a rare commodity; a Brett-fermented IPA brewed with lychee and heavily dry-hopped with Citra and Galaxy.  I poured the sample for this review out of a 32 oz. growler we had opened the previous evening.  

Appearance: Super hazy, with a murky and opaque yellowish-amber body.  Some wisps of white head formed across the top.

Smell: A blend of tropical fruit, piney hops, and just a bit of Brett funk.

Taste: Very unique and distinct.  Started out with pineapple and tropical fruit up front before the lychee took over in the middle along with a dank and piney hoppiness that crept in.  These elements then built up to a finish that was quite unlike anything I’d come across previously; an aggressive bitterness mixed with lychee and an extra level of Brett induced funk.  It built up to be pretty intense about half-way through, but in a way that slowed me down to really appreciate the flavors.  Slowing down was perhaps just as well considering the beer gave no hint of the alcohol content.

Mouthfeel: Juice-like body with carbonation just shy of moderate.  Worked really well in backing up the big flavor profile.

Hype Factor: There was definitely some excitement going into this beer: not only did my friend help make it, but I’d been eager to try a beer brewed with lychee for some time now.

Overall: I liked this beer a lot and found it both interesting and deliciously flavorful.  It delivered on the lychee flavor I’d been hoping for and upped the ante with a finish that blew me away.  I really enjoyed the creative mix of funk and exotic fruit, something that reminded me a bit of a beer Night Shift might have quietly put out while brewing away in their old warehouse location.  If you like lychee and/or Brett IPAs, you need to try this, or any follow-up beers like it, if you get a chance.  I’d be very interested in having this again and would also be curious to see a non-Brett version if such a thing could be arranged.  Very nicely done.

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Trillium Brewing Company – Scaled Up Double IPA

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Beer, Beer Review, Boston, Craft Beer, Massachusetts, New England, Trillium Brewing Company

This next offering breaks up my theme of session beers, but it came out the same day I went to pick up the Skimpy Sparrow cans and I couldn’t resist getting it as well.  I’d missed out on this beer during its previous releases, so I took advantage of the fortunate timing.

Beer Name: Scaled Up

Brewer: Trillium Brewing Company

Style: Double IPA

ABV: 8.0%

Description: According the company website, this was the first recipe produced at Trillium’s new facility in Canton, MA.  It features four types of hops, including the Galaxy variety they consistently put to such good use.  You can read up on more the beer’s specs by following the link.  A four-pack cost me $20.20, which is at the high-end of their canned offerings but in line with the rest of the brewery’s prices.

Appearance: The beer had a golden/light amber colored body with the hazy opacity typical of the brewery’s hop-forward offerings.  Topping it off was roughly a finger of fluffy white foam.

Smell: Sweet tropical fruits with just a hint of hops.

Taste: Fruit juice all the way through, primarily a sweet blend of orange, peach, and pineapple.  The sweetness upfront was mixed with light bready malts and had a piney, spicy hop bitterness coming at the very end of the beer and in the aftertaste.  Fairly moderate at first, this bitterness became increasingly aggressive as the beer went on.

Mouthfeel: Medium-plus fluffy body with a slightly less than moderate amount of carbonation.  It felt a bit heavier on the finish where the beer took on a dry, sticky character.

Hype Factor: Not really hype, just high expectations.

Overall: Very good beer, right inline with my high expectations from this brewery.  I’d personally rate some of their other brews slightly ahead of this one, but it is definitely worth trying if you the chance.  It is certainly recommended.

Short Stories: Pawn’s Gambit: And Other Stratagems, by Timothy Zahn

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Book Review, Books, Reading, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Timothy Zahn

For this next reading I ended up with a collection of short stories by Timothy Zahn.  I usually prefer novels, but I had been wanting to read something else by this author and the only other options available to me were either beginning a new series, which I’m not currently in the mood for, or more Star Wars EU, which I am pretty done with for the time being.

A little more than half of the 15 short stories in this book were originally written in the 1980s for Analog and Amazing Stories magazines, with the rest having been written in the last ten years or so.  That said, there were a couple you could say were a bit dated: one dealt with the aftermath of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union and another with a phone book (yeah, I feel old now).  Overall, the stories were quite enjoyable and mostly in the science fiction and fantasy genres; aliens, spaceships, trolls, wizards, and the supernatural were all well represented within these pages.  The tone of each story ranged from silly to serious, with some of the stories looking at social issues like abortion and for-profit prisons.  Although there were some stories I liked better than others, every one had interesting characters and satisfying developed settings.  My favorites were probably Cascade Point (1983), in which a space transport must find a way to escape an alternate dimension, Troll Bridge (2009), about a troll working as a toll booth operator on the Tappan Zee Bridge, Protocol (2002), set on a world inhabited by human colonists and lumbering alien giants who kill without hesitation when their elaborate meeting protocols are not followed, and Pawn’s Gambit (1982), a story of alien abduction and high stakes tabletop gaming. 

I really enjoyed this reading, perhaps even more so than I might have expected going into it.  I am definitely keeping Timothy Zahn on my reading list and might even  check out some more short stories as well.

Summer Session: Trillium Brewing Company – Skimpy Sparrow

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Beer, Beer Review, Boston, Craft Beer, Massachusetts, New England, Trillium Brewing Company

This next beer sort of pushes the boundaries of what I had previously considered a session IPA.  It will probably end up being one of the larger beers (relatively speaking) I drink as part of my summer series, but it’s advertised as a session beer so who am I argue?

Beer Name: Skimpy Sparrow

Brewer: Trillium Brewing Company

Style: American Pale Ale

ABV: 5.4%

Description: Part of the brewery’s “Small Bird Series” of lower ABV offerings, this brew features a variety of fine malts and hops.  You can check more of the details and the brewer’s notes on their website.  For this review, I poured one of my 16 oz. cans into a snifter glass.  The four-pack of tallboys cost $13.20 which was pretty consistent with the brewery’s pricing model and fittingly the least expensive canned option.

Appearance: Poured a cloudy straw body with hints of a darker amber/orangish color in the depths of the glass.  It was topped off by a thick foamy white head that would slowly but steadily bubble away.

Smell: Sweet tropical fruits with dank, piney hops in the background.

Taste: The beer started out sweet and juicy with grapefruit and pineapple notes leading the way.  These gave way to orange zest and a moderately dank pine resin finish.  Refreshingly sweet and hoppy, this beer offered a ton of flavor without any particular aspect overpowering the other.

Mouthfeel: It had a medium, fluffy body with a slightly less than moderate level of carbonation.  The dry, sticky finish served to really accentuate the hop profile quite nicely.

Hype Factor: There was a little bit for me.  This wasn’t a special release or anything, but I’ve come to have high hopes for anything I bring home from this brewery.

Overall: Another excellent beer from Trillium, one that kind of reminded me of smaller, lighter version of their Galaxy Dry Hopped Fort Point Pale Ale.  Everything about it came together really well and I look forward to finishing off the rest of my cans.

Summer Session: Peak Organic – Fresh Cut

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Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, Maine, New England, Peak Organic Brewing Company

Last week it was my turn to pick out the Friday afternoon work beer again.  It was pretty hot out that day, so my orders were to bring back something not too heavy.  Fortunately I’ve been doing plenty of research on that sort of thing lately.

Beer Name: Fresh Cut

Brewer: Peak Organic Brewing Company

Style: Czech Pilsner

ABV: 4.6%

Description: Described in some detail by the brewers here, this pilsner was dry hopped with Chinook, Citra, and Centennial to give an IPA-like quality.  I picked up a six-pack of cans at a convenience store for $12.99, a price point I felt was reflective of location.  The cans were pretty fresh at least, bearing a 6/10/2016 date stamp.  We happened to have some pilsner glasses hanging around the office, one of which I put to good use for this review.

Appearance: It poured a translucent, pale yellow/straw-colored body topped off by a plentiful foamy white head.  The head eventually settled down somewhat, but did stick around for a significant portion of the drinking experience.

Smell: Mild sweetness mixed with grassy and piney hops.

Taste: Crisp, clean, and surprisingly hoppy, this beer was true to the brewer’s notes and a near perfect pilsner/IPA hybrid.  Light bready malts, a touch of citrus zest, and a grassy, earthy hop bitterness all combined to make this one flavorful beverage.  Each component had its place in giving the beer a light and refreshing taste that highlighted the best aspects of each style it aspired to.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate-plus carbonation.  Suited the taste profile very well.

Hype Factor: No hype here.  Honestly, I decided on this brew because I needed to come back with something not too heavy and it seemed like the best option available even though I wasn’t quite sure I was in the mood for a pilsner.

Overall: This turned out be an excellent choice, even at what I felt was a downtown price markup.  It was a really good, refreshing beer that delivered exactly what we were looking for at the end of a stressful summer day in the office.  I think this would have been a solid pilsner on its own, but the dry hopping took the beer to another level by adding an extra dimension of flavor that complimented the base brew nicely.  Satisfying pickup.

Summer Session: New Brewery Edition – Bone Up Brewing Company, Part 2

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Beer, Beer Review, Bone Up Brewing Company, Craft Beer, Massachusetts, New England, Orange Line, Summer, Summer Session

I finally found a good time to open up that second growler from Bone Up Brewing Company I picked up the other day.  After really enjoying the first one last week, I was eager to taste what this one had to offer.

Beer Name: Black Witow

Brewer: Bone Up Brewing Company

Style: Dark Wheat Ale

ABV: 4.7%

Description: The brewery’s take on a Belgian Wit, only made dark for, well, reasons.  You can read up on the brewer’s notes and thought process here.  For my side of this exchange, I opened up the sealed growler and poured myself a drink into a snifter glass.  As with the previous beer, the growler cost $8.49 (plus a $2.50 deposit) and was filled on 7/22.  I had my first taste of this beer a week later on 7/29.

Appearance: Poured a dark black body with just about a finger of tan, foamy head.  At a glance it was deceptively similar to many imperial stouts.

Smell: Smelled a touch wheaty with a hint of zesty citrus fruit.

Taste: Light and crisp, the beer featured toasted malts upfront before picking up some of the more expected characteristics of the style.  Following the initial taste came a blend of orange zest, mild herbs/spices, and a wheaty/yeasty presence that picked up some banana esters on the finish.  An intriguing and well-balanced blend of roasted malt and traditional wheat ale fixings.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a slightly more than moderate amount of bubbly carbonation.  Feels nothing like one might have expected based on appearances alone.

Hype Factor: No hype, just more curiosity.

Overall: I liked this beer, but wasn’t really blown away.  Perhaps I just don’t get overly excited by wheat ales.  It was definitely intriguing and different, but I can’t quite put my finger on whether or not they did that for some higher purpose or the sake of being gimmicky (see again their quirky descriptions).  Either way, based on my experiences with Black Witow and Key Lime White I would definitely try out more this brewery’s offerings, though preferably without having to acquire any additional growlers (I’ll have to look into that).  I’ll also keep an eye out for when their taproom opens so I can experience what they’re about firsthand.  So far, they definitely seem like another solid addition the local brewing scene on the north end of the Orange Line.