2016 Night Shift Barrel Society Release #4: Matterhorn

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Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, Massachusetts, New England, Night Shift Barrel Society, Night Shift Brewing

With this post I am finally caught up on my Barrel Society beers for the year.  Since the next release hasn’t been announced as of this post, this one will have to tide me over for a little while.

Beer Name: Matterhorn

Brewer: Night Shift Brewing Company

Style: Sour Saison

ABV: 7.2%

Description: The label billed this as a sour saison aged in white wine barrels.  To excerpt from the official brewer’s notes: pours straw in color; aromas of lemon, white grape, and hints of green tea; sips with tart notes of vanilla, pineapple, pear, and a funky vinous character; finishes dry, oaky, and pleasantly acidic.  For this review I poured from a well refrigerated bottle into a snifter glass.

Appearance: Poured a translucent straw yellow body that was topped off with a thin bubbly white head.  The head pretty quickly fizzled down to nothing and left little to no trace it ever existed after a few seconds.

Smell: Not entirely unlike a white wine, with some sweetly tart and funky notes added in.

Taste: Again very reminiscent of white wine.  It started out with a sweet, fruity taste that was predominantly pear and grape.  From there it transitioned towards a very dry finish which blended funky, tart fruit, a bit of oak barrel, and a touch of sweet acidity.  I got a tiny hint of that peppery yeast presence I attribute to saisons somewhere in the middle, but otherwise I don’t think I would have picked that as the beer’s style without reading the label.  I would have guessed golden sour ale or maybe even wine if presented as such.

Mouthfeel: The body was on the thinner side with some tingly bubbles coming out to play on the finish..

Hype Factor: Usual spiel for these beers, expectations were heightened going in.  I did keep them tempered somewhat given how hit or miss I find saisons sometimes.

Overall: Not my favorite release of the year, but not bad.  This beer wasn’t quite my thing on its own, as the wine barrel influence totally dominated the beer and I just wasn’t in the mood for that profile when I had it.  I could, however, see this pairing really well with a nice meal or cheese plate, which is something I will keep in mind for next time.

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Oskar Blues – G’Knight Imperial Red IPA

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Beer, Beer Review, Colorado, Craft Beer, Oskar Blues Brewery

This next beer was a nostalgic pickup for me.  One of the first brews I ever considered a  favorite, it also started my long-running love of the Red IPA/Imperial Red Ale style.  Lately it hasn’t been as common a sighting as it once was, so when I saw it on the shelf the other day I knew it was time to get re-acquainted.

Beer Name: G’Knight

Brewer: Oskar Blues Brewery

Style: Imperial Red IPA

ABV: 8.7%

Description: The brewery offers a brief description of the beer and its back story on their website.  In brief, what we have here is a dry-hopped red DIPA that’s not afraid to show off some malts along with its contingent of sticky hops.  After pouring my first glass I noticed that my six-pack was canned on 1/28/2016, which some might consider a bit old for a hop-centric beer.  I’m not a huge stickler for things like that, but past experiences still might have made me think twice had I noticed this in the store.  Since the place wasn’t even open in January, I am definitely going to keep this in mind on my next visit.  Price was a nice $10.49 for a six-pack of 12 oz. cans.

Appearance: Poured a reddish, deep amber body topped off by a healthy finger and a half of a light tan/off-white foamy head.  The foam slowly dissipated to a thin covering for most of the beer’s time in the glass.

Smell: An inviting blend of caramel and toffee malts stood out a top a more subdued piney bitterness.

Taste: Started out with a heavy dose of sweet caramel malts that transitioned into a moderate piney, resinous bitterness about halfway through.  These two tastes were both distinct and yet they blended together seamlessly.  The alcohol was well hidden, only showing up on the finish after the beer had been sitting for a little while.

Mouthfeel: Body was on the thicker side with a smooth, creamy feeling.  A moderate amount of carbonation added a bubbly tingle on the end, just in time to put some more focus on the hops.  Very well suited to carrying the flavor profile.

Hype Factor: Just my excitement about going back to an old favorite.  This beer has been around for quite some time now and generally isn’t that hard to come by at stores that carry this brewery.

Overall: My initial concerns about the canned date were mostly unfounded.  The beer was just about as good as I remember it and I still consider it to be the shining example of its style.  Something about combining caramel malts and piney hops really makes my mouth happy and this beer does that perhaps better than any other I have tasted.  I want to say the finish wasn’t quite as hoppy as I remember (especially when consumed from the can), but I would prefer to try a fresher sample before totally committing to that opinion.  Regardless, I was still very happy with the pickup.

Trillium Brewing Company – Little Rooster

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

I’m a bit late with this one, but last Friday we closed out the work week with our semi-traditional round of beer at the office.  Have I mentioned lately how lucky I feel having Trillium Brewing Company right down the street from us?  Also, random spoiler on an upcoming book review.

Beer Name: Little Rooster

Brewer: Trillium Brewing Company

Style: Pale Ale

ABV: 5.7%

Description: Listed as another installment of the brewery’s “Small Bird Series” of lower ABV offerings, you can check out the full details of this beer on the company website.  To give you a general idea, it was a pale ale hopped with Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin.  Not sure I consider something 5.7% “small” or “sessionable,” but who am I to argue?  We got a 64 oz. growler filled for $13 and made use of the office glassware.

Appearance: Poured a cloudy, pale straw-yellow body with a healthy amount of white foam that steadily fizzled away.

Smell: Very light, hints of citrus and fresh-scented hops.

Taste: Subdued sweetness upfront, highlighted by orange zest and kiwi.  Light bready malts and a hint of yeast come in towards the finish, as does a mild to moderate grassy bitterness.  The finish is also rather dry, allowing the hops to linger for a bit after the sip is over.

Mouthfeel: Super light, almost feels like the beer is floating in your mouth.  That said, there was a bit of a juicy quality here as well and some tingly little bubbles at the end.

Hype Factor: It’s Trillium!  Pretty fair to say that they’ve raised people’s expectation on just about everything they put on now.  

Overall: I thought this was a good, though not superlative, beer.  It didn’t blow me away like the rest of Trillium’s beers tend to, but that’s not to say there was necessarily anything wrong with it.  Maybe I’m just not that into Nelson hops?  Certainly worth trying, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for this alone.

Other Half – !, an Imperial IPA

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Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, New York, Other Half Brewing Company

Here we are with another offering from Brooklyn, NY’s Other Half Brewing Company.  This was a leftover gift beer from a few weeks ago; the demands of raising an infant and severe seasonal allergies prolonged the can’s life for a little bit longer than I had originally anticipated.

Beer Name: !

Brewer: Other Half Brewing Company

Style: Double IPA

ABV: 8.3%

Description: I had to do a bit of work on this one.  In addition to naming the beer something nearly unsearchable, the brewery apparently doesn’t do descriptions on their website.  I was, however, finally able to track down an Instagram post in which they shed some light on the situation.  Featuring Nelson Sauvin, Wai-iti and Topaz hops, they called it a New Zealand juice bomb.  Canned on date was 7/28/2016.

Appearance: Poured out a hazy golden-yellow, ever so slightly amber body that was in real life a bit lighter than the picture above suggests.  A bubbly white foam gradually settled in across the top.

Smell: Lots of juicy tropical fruits, from both the can and the glass.

Taste: There was a mellow melon taste up front that got quickly overcome by an aggressively bitter boozy quality.  The finish was rather dry, allowing tastes of grapefruit, lemon zest, and earthy/floral hop resin to take over.  Without a significant malt or fruit presence to stand up to it, the bitterness easily dominated the beer and its aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Medium, juicy body with a slightly more than moderate amount of carbonation.

Hype Factor: I always appreciate a gift beer, especially one from a well-regarded brewery that I wouldn’t be able to try otherwise.

Overall: This might not have been the beer for me.  The bitter finish was a bit astringent for my taste and I’m not sure it mixed well with the booziness.  Hardcore hop heads might really go for it, but I thought this one ended up being a bit much.  Definitely see where they got the name from though.

Book Review: The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman

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Book Review, Books, Fiction, Neil Gaiman, Reading

Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book came highly recommended by my wife, who not so subtly hinted that I would really enjoy reading it.  Since we now have a son who will be spending a significant amount of time walking through graveyards and cemeteries with us, I saw potential in it despite some initial reservations; namely I wasn’t that into the last book I read by this author (American Gods – yeah, I know, you disagree) and I was wary of picking up a YA title.  Her persistence paid off, however, and I ultimately gave it a read.

The book follows the childhood adventures of Nobody (Bod) Owens, a boy who is orphaned in the first chapter after his family is murdered by a mysterious assassin.  Although only a toddler, he was able to escape from harm by hiding in a local cemetery, where the ghostly denizens decided to take him in.  Granted Freedom of the Graveyard, he is allowed both residence and certain powers within its domain.  Through a variety of otherworldly teachers and caretakers, Bod learns about life and survival in the graveyard and beyond.  Though there is an overall story, the book is divided into several episodic chapters each taking place at different years in boy’s life wherein he typically meets a new challenge and makes new discoveries and acquaintances.  As the story progresses, Bod grows into a young adult and eventually faces the man responsible for killing his family.

So here’s the part where I say that I ended up enjoying this book a lot.  It was a nicely told story that, despite a somewhat grisly opening chapter, was rather heartwarming and fun.  The author did a good job conveying a sense of child-like wonderment and adventure throughout.  I also really liked how the story came full circle by the end, with seemingly random bits and pieces from each chapter all coming together.  The other characters, though used somewhat sparingly, were all interesting and each added something of value to the story.  While this wasn’t a particularly deep novel, it was something that I am glad I took the time to read.  I might even look at the cemeteries we walk through a bit differently as a result.

2016 Night Shift Barrel Society Release #3: Elbrus

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Beer, Beer Review, Massachusetts, New England, Night Shift Barrel Society, Night Shift Brewing

I am admittedly a bit behind on my Barrel Society beers this year.  The third release came out back in late July, but I never got the chance to try it on tap.  I was, however, recently able to find a quiet night to kick back and treat myself to one of my bottles before bed.

Beer Name: Elbrus

Brewer: Night Shift Brewing Company

Style: Russian Imperial Stout

ABV: 9.2%

Description: The third installment in this year’s lineup of Barrel Society beers, this big stout was aged in bourbon barrels and bottled at some point in June.  The label has the following description to offer: “Brewer’s Notes: pours black in color; aromas of walnut, dark fruit, and dark chocolate; big flavors of molasses, raisin, and brownie batter; dry, oaky finish with notes of vanilla and fudge.”  Of course this went into my trusty 2016 Barrel Society snifter.

Appearance: Poured a thick dark brown/nearly black body with an even thicker foamy tan head.

Smell: Sweet notes of chocolate and brownie batter before coming to a slight bourbony finish.

Taste: Sweet upfront, with the fudge and brownie batter notes joined by dark fruit and malt.  The finish brought on a moderate coffee and dark chocolate bitterness accentuated by a hint of vanilla and oak before getting closed out with a touch of bourbon heat.  While I wouldn’t necessarily call this beer boozy, it did taste a bit bigger than the listed ABV.

Mouthfeel: Thick, smooth body with a rather low amount of carbonation.  Suited the big flavors nicely.

Hype Factor: As I’ve said before, the Barrel Society offerings always come with heightened expectations.  That, combined with Night Shift’s tendency to release some really great stouts, had me pretty excited to try this.

Overall: A very good beer, I really enjoyed the malty sweetness it had to offer.  In fact, I think I would have loved this had the finish been just a little tamer; it just seemed a bit exaggerated in terms of bitterness and heat.  My thought is time may end up doing some excellent things in this regard, so I am going to keep my remaining bottle well hidden from myself and try this again in a year or so to see how it aged.

Book Review: Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline

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Book Review, Books, Ernest Cline, Reading, Ready Player One, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction

Published in 2011, Ready Player One was the debut novel of Ernest Cline.  Despite seeing high praise for this work in numerous book listings, it wasn’t until I made my preparations for this post that I found out it was apparently a big thing; the original print versions contained clues to win a DeLorean, the audiobook version was narrated by geek-culture icon, and occasional Stone Brewing collaborator, Wil Wheaton, and none other than Steven Spielberg is currently directing the movie adaptation.  Let’s take a look at what I’d been missing out on.

The story is set in the year 2044, and life is looking pretty bleak.  Years of warfare over Earth’s dwindling resources have left the world on the brink of political and ecological collapse.  To mitigate the struggles of everyday life, a significant portion of the population has immersed themselves in a virtual reality program called OASIS; a free-to-access environment offering a fusion of communication, commerce, education, entertainment, and MMORPG gaming.  When the eccentric founder of OASIS dies, control of both the program and his immense fortune up are put for grabs by means of an in-game Easter egg hunt.  The clues leading to the prize are hidden within a series of cryptic riddles referencing the deceased founder’s obsession: 1980’s geek and pop-culture.  Almost overnight a subculture of OASIS users emerges, committing to memory and analyzing every movie line, song lyric, and video game no matter how obscure to win both the prize and bragging rights.  The story of this hunt is told from the point of view Wade Owen Watts, typically through the guise of his OASIS avatar Parzival.  As the first person to solve the hunt’s initial clue, he finds himself in a race against newfound friends and enemies in his effort to win a fortune and protect the virtual world he loves so much.

This book was amazingly fun to read.  It had excellent pacing with plenty of entertaining moments throughout.  The key component to the story was its wealth of geek/pop-cultural references that dominated the lives of the characters.  While the focus was the 1980s, pretty much anything and everything from the last 30 years or so was likely to pop up in one way or another; movies, video games, television, and anime were all heavily drawn upon for inspiration.  Being of an age to fondly recall and having an inclination to be interested in these things really made the book stand out for me.  I didn’t get all the references down to the last detail, but I was at least passingly familiar with the majority of them (with a special thank you due to the Angry Video Game Nerd, without whom many of the copious Atari 2600 references would not have been appreciated nearly as much).  

Underneath all this, the book did raise a few more serious points about OASIS and the role of technology in people’s lives.  On the positive side, the author explored through the treasure hunt issues of what is gained by having free access to information, particularly to those economically and socially marginalized in society and the possibilities for uniting people of common interest.  On the negative, he also looked at what is lost by those who go too far in using the program as a replacement for real life and the personal and societal consequences of when this option is the preferred choice of the masses.  This leads me to the one thing I would have liked to have seen more of in the story: what the real world of the novel looked like.  We’re given a few glimpses, but the great majority of the action takes place online.  In terms of the nature of the story I think this worked out for the best, but this is an area in which I was left wanting more.

My guess is that there is definitely a target demographic for this book that will absolutely love it: geeks in their early-30s to mid-40s that are into modern technology while still maintaining some sense of nostalgia for the relics of their childhood.  Being unabashedly in the book’s target demographic and one who took delight in witty references to things like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Godzilla, Pacman, Zork, Firefly, Highlander, video game arcades, Dungeons and Dragons, etc. it often felt the author was writing for me specifically.  Outside of that demographic, the reaction might not be as strongly positive, which makes me very curious to see how the film adaptation fares.  With that caveat, I highly recommend this book.

Summer Session: Other Half Brewing Company – Baby Diamonds

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Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, New York, Other Half Brewing Company, Session, Summer Session

With the unofficial end of summer approaching I wanted to make sure I got in at least one more session beer before the season changed and fall seasonals take over the shelves.  This next one was a very timely gift from friends that just so happened to have a very relevant name.

Beer Name: Baby Diamonds

Brewer: Other Half Brewing Company

Style: Session IPA

ABV: 4.8%

Description: Listed as a smaller, session version the brewery’s Green Diamonds double IPA, this offering features Galaxy and Amarillo hops.  I gave it the usual snifter glass treatment, with a few leftover sips coming right out of the can.

Appearance: It poured a hazy (but of course) golden-yellow body with some tinges of amber underneath a thin layer of white foam.

Smell: Bursts of sticky sweet tropical fruit the instant the can was popped open.  The aromas were more subdued in the glass, but pretty intense upon first opening the can.

Taste: The taste continued where the smell left off, starting out with tropical fruits that quickly blended into a strong mixture of earthy and piney bitterness.  Going into the finish the beer picked up more of a bready malt and grapefruit character that subtly changed the nature of the underlying sweetness.  The hops lingered throughout, so much so that they left a lingering aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Medium sticky body with a moderate amount of carbonation.

Hype Factor: I always hear a lot of great things about Other Half, but I so rarely get to try any of their beers.  It sounds like their releases can be in pretty high demand as well, so additional thanks to the friends who hooked me up with this.

Overall: An aggressively hopped beer that had all the taste and mouthfeel of a much larger DIPA.  As such, I’m not sure how sessionable I would consider this on my palate, but it definitely was tasty.  All I can say is that it’s bigger brother, Green Diamonds, must be one hell of a beer.  I recommend this for sure if you can get it, though I wouldn’t plan on making a day out of drinking these unless you need to fulfill a serious hop fix with your session brews.