Equilibrium Brewery – Dhop 15

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, DIPA, Equilibrium Brewery, New York

Not sure why, but I’ve had this review sitting around for a couple of weeks before getting around to posting it.  I think with the cold weather setting in I have my sights set on some bigger beers, but I did want to make sure I got this one in.

Beer Name: Dhop 15

Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery (Middletown, NY)

Style: New England Double IPA

ABV: 8.2%

Description: The 15th entry in the brewery’s series of DIPAs experimenting with hop varieties.  This one focused on Enigma and was canned on October 2.

Appearance: Poured a golden/medium amber body with some white lacing across the top.

Smell: Opened with a burst of juicy tropical fruit and berry sweetness followed by a hazy pine background.

Taste: Sweet tropical fruits, especially mango and pineapple, mixed with melon and berries upfront with a warm piney bitterness on end that slightly warms the throat.

Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body that just a hair short of creamy.  The carbonation level was fairly moderate.

Hype: My usual elevated level upon opening an out-of-market beer from a well-regarded brewery.  The friend that gave it to said, on very good authority, that this was one of their favorites to come out of Equilibrium lately.

Overall: A very, very nice example of the style.  The beer had a nice juicy sweetness upfront combined with a warm bitterness on the end that came right to the edge of being too raw without crossing over.  If I lived near this brewery, I would definitely stay on top of this series.

Equilibrium Brewery & District 96 Beer Factory – Sexual Fluctuation

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Collaboration, Craft Beer, DIPA, District 96 Beer Factory, Equilibrium Brewery, New York

And now for a different kind of fluctuation!  Right on the heels of another Equilibrium collaboration I enjoyed the other day, this next beer was a joint effort between Equilibrium and District 96 Beer Factory (which apparently has some connection to a burger place as well).  Again, this was a gift beer.

Beer Name: Sexual Fluctuation

Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery (Middletown, NY) & District 96 Beer Factory (New York, NY)

Style: Double IPA

ABV: 8.0%

Description: As noted, this was another collaboration brew, this next double IPA offers up a blend of Citra and Galaxy hops.

Appearance: It poured a glowing golden/amber body with a thin bubbly white head.

Smell: Pineapple upfront, with a light citrusy bitterness in the background.

Taste: Tropical fruit juice, pineapple, and citrus zest gave this brew a juicy front end before it came to a creamy, lightly bitter ending featuring mango and a blend of earthy/piney hops.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a moderate level of carbonation.

Hype: Slightly elevated.  I recall seeing a bit of buzz around this when it was released.

Overall: It was a good double IPA but not particularly one that stood out for me, especially in comparison to how much I loved Dreamwave Fluctuation.  Still a very solid brew though.

Equilibrium Brewery & Other Half Brewing Company – Dreamwave Fluctuation

Tags

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

This beer was another gift to me from one of my friends in New Jersey who, full disclosure, now happens to work at Equilibrium.  Thanks to her I ended up bringing home a fridge full of goodies, though this one I found particularly noteworthy.

Beer Name: Dreamwave Fluctuation

Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery (Middletown, NY) / Other Half Brewing Company (Brooklyn, NY)

Style: Double IPA

ABV: 8.1%

Description: A collaboration between two hot brewers from New York state, this double IPA was dry-hopped with Galaxy and Citra and brewed in a manner combining each brewery’s signature style.  You can read more of the details here, but the quick takeaway point is that they used Equilibrium’s grain bill and added oats and lactose to give it an Other Half influence.

Appearance: The beer poured a thick, murky, almost glowing pale yellow/light orange body with a thin white head.

Smell: Tropical sweetness backed by resinous hops.

Taste: Mix of fruits upfront, highlighted by tangerine, pineapple, and peach, followed by a smooth, slightly creamy transition to a spicy, pine resin layer of hops.  There’s a lot of flavor going on, but it’s so balanced that the beer is super drinkable, only hinting at the ABV after sitting in the glass for a little bit.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, slightly above medium bodied with a fairly moderate level of carbonation.

Hype: I’ll go out on a limb and say elevated.  Beyond my curiosity about trying out a beer from where one of my friends works, I’ve noticed that these two breweries tend to generate quite a bit of buzz when they make a noteworthy release.

Overall: I really enjoyed this. It offered a nice mix of juicy fruit and hoppy bitterness in a smooth, balanced package.  Liked the bit of heat accompanying the closing bitterness.

Happy Hobbit Day 2018!

Tags

Baltic Porter, Equilibrium Brewery, Hobbit Day, JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Massachusetts, New York, Night Shift Brewing, The Hobbit, Wild Ale

September 22nd is a day I’ve had my eyes on for some time now.  As you probably guessed from the title of this post, today is Hobbit Day, a day set aside by the American Tolkien Society to observe the birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins and offer fans an excuse to celebrate the works of Tolkien by partying like Hobbits!  For my own celebration, I broke out two special brews I set aside for just such an occasion – There and Back Again (Mango) from the Middletown, NY-based Equilibrium Brewery and Elevensies from my locals at Night Shift Brewing Company.

In the course of preparing for this post I definitely felt the need to put the Lord of the Rings trilogy back on my reading list.  I’ve seen the Peter Jackson movies of course, but I last read the books about ten years ago and wasn’t in a particularly good state of mind while doing so.  I had come down with a bout of pneumonia that mixed with a stomach bug and a nasty sinus infection that conspired kept me off my feet for nearly a month. At the height of my illness I spent a solid week unable to sleep, eat, or really do much of anything besides be violently ill.  Reading was one of the main things that got me through this experience and the Lord of the Rings trilogy happened to be the first books I found near my bed.  Over the course of several sleepless days I read these books (plus The Hobbit for good measure) and perhaps even hallucinated a journey of my own across Middle Earth somewhere along the line.  I’m not sure how a reread would compare to that experience, but it feels like one is in order. But enough about me, bring on the beer!

Appropriately enough, my first beer of the day had a name that invoked Bilbo’s epic journey from The Hobbit.  There and Back Again (Mango), was a Wild Ale gifted to me by a friend during my trip to New Jersey a few weeks back.  It poured a cloudy golden body with a full, foamy white head and featured a moderately funky smell with a tart fruitiness.  Tastewise, the beer offered up tons of sweet tropical fruit, led by mango, that took a tart turn around mid-sip before closing with a mild funkiness.  The mouthfeel was roughly medium bodied with low level carbonation, though I could swear it felt like the beer got thicker as the sip went on. I was a huge fan of this one and really enjoyed how the fresh, clean fruitiness played off of the tart and funky aspects of the brew.  Definitely a strong way to start my festivities.

Beer number two was Elevensies, an 8.5% Baltic Porter aged in apple brandy barrels, initially enjoyed at the same time any observant Hobbit would be settling in for their third meal of the day.  I’ve had this bottle hanging around since its release back in December 2015 and figured now was the perfect time to finally open it up. It poured thick and black out of the bottle and didn’t leave anything more than a thin dark tan head even when I tried to force the issue.  The aroma was an intoxicating blend of sweet, boozy apple brandy and rich malts. Each sip opened with sweet notes of fudge, brown sugar, and dark malt before making a creamy transition towards a warm, boozy brandy finish that tingled my nose when exhaling. The body was silky smooth and on the heavier side with very low carbonation.  I thought this beer was absolutely amazing and given how it tasted a bit above the listed ABV it was also one that is likely to put some hair on your feet.

And thus I conclude my first blog-official celebration of Hobbit Day and I am happy to say that I couldn’t be more pleased with how this went!  I always enjoy the chance to think about my favorite stories and both of the beers I selected were absolutely fantastic. The bar has definitely been set high for next year.

Aeronaut Brewing Company & Finback Brewery – Improbability Drive

Tags

Aeronaut Brewing Company, Beer, Beer Review, Collaboration, Craft Beer, Douglas Adams, Finback Brewery, Hitchhiker's Guide, Massachusetts, New York, Towel Day

Happy Towel Day!  To those that may not be aware, May 25 is Towel Day, a day set aside to celebrate the life and work of English author Douglas Adams, best known for writing The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  After somehow missing Star Wars day this year, I was determined not to miss this one as well.  I wasn’t sure at first how I would celebrate, but fortunately my favorite bottle shop was there to pick me up.

Beer Name: Improbability Drive

Brewery: Aeronaut Brewing Company (Somerville, MA) & Finback Brewery (Queens, NY)

Style: IPA

ABV: 5.8%

Description: An IPA brewed with lactose and infused with orange zest and vanilla bean.  It also features some pretty awesome can art paying tribute to the book, most notably a certain free-falling whale hoping to make friends with the ground.

Appearance: Poured a cloudy, straw-yellow body topped by a layer of thick white foam that stuck around for the duration of the beer and left lacing along the glass.

Smell: Orange juice, mixed with a slight bit of cream on the ending.

Taste: Orange juice upfront, followed by citrus zest and sweet cream with hints vanilla lurking in the background with a very mild grassy bitterness.   Think orange creamsicle with a touch of vanilla on the end.

Mouthfeel: It had a super creamy, medium-plus body with a slightly less than moderate carbonation.

Hype: Elevated somewhat since this was a collaboration effort between two popular breweries, but not to the point where this was too difficult to get my hands on at the store.  Personally, my excitement level was quite high, and that would have been the case with or without Towel Day being a factor.

Overall: What an interesting beer!  Definitely a bit out of the ordinary, but that seems appropriate given what it’s paying tribute to.  I liked this a lot and had fun drinking it while looking up some of my favorite quotes from the book.

SingleCut Beersmiths – 日本から来たネコ IPA

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, New York, SingleCut Beersmiths

I’ve been really enjoying this brewery lately.  Their combination of outstanding brews and cool can art has definitely gotten my attention.  It also helps that my favorite bottle shop gets frequent deliveries of their stuff and seems just as excited about that as I am.

Beer Name: 日本から来たネコ (Cat From Japan)

Brewery: SingleCut Beersmiths (Queens, NY)

Style: IPA

ABV: 4.3%

Description: Listed on the brewery’s website as a juicy, tropical session IPA brewed with “new age” hops from the Pacific Northwest and New Zealand.

Appearance: Poured to a hazy, golden/orange juice colored body topped off by a fluffy white head of foam.

Smell: Tropical fruits with a pine and grapefruit bitterness on end.

Taste: Light tropical fruit upfront mixed with pale malt.  The finish brought on a mix of bitter grapefruit, tangy orange, and a dry crackery presence.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a slightly elevated level of carbonation.  Happy little bubbles were especially apparent at beginning and end of the sip.

Hype: As mentioned in the intro, I had expectations of my own for this one, but I don’t think there was any general hype around this.

Overall: Very tasty, but maybe a bit overpowered as this little session IPA packed quite a punch on the finish.  I’m probably still looking to pick some more of this up when the warm weather returns for good though.

SingleCut Beersmiths – Eric More Cowbell

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, New York, SingleCut Beersmiths, Stout

As soon as I saw an Instagram post saying this beer had hit one of my usual spots, I knew I had to have it.  Not only does the bottle literally have my name on it, but the beer has my initials as well! While I admit I don’t quite get the whole ‘more cowbell’ craze, I will still share a link to one of my favorite cowbell-centric songs anyway.

Beer Name: Eric More Cowbell

Brewery: SingleCut Beersmiths (Queens, NY)

Style: Milk Stout

ABV: 6.6%

Description: Listed as a lusciously creamy stout with a roast malt base and infusion of cocoa that have it ready to rock all night long.  

Appearance: Black body with a finger of thick tan foam.

Smell: Light roast coffee, sweet cream, and milk chocolate.

Taste: Roasted coffee upfront that got joined by dark malts and grain shortly after the sip began.  It went on to a sweet creamy finish that combined bittersweet chocolate and a hint of lactose.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, slick medium body with fairly low-level carbonation.

Hype: I obviously had my reasons for being partial to this but I drank it with an open mind.  I’ve also had some very good experiences with this brewery so my hopes were elevated in that regard as well.

Overall: Featuring a great blend of flavor and a very nice mouthfeel, this was an excellent example of the style.  My nitpick on it is that I wish the ending chocolate and sweetness stood up to the opening roast just a little bit more, but that’s really more a matter of personal preference.  I approve of having my name on this.

 

Radiant Pig Beer Company – Gangster Duck

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, New York, Radiant Pig Beer Company, Red IPA

Coming at you all with another Red IPA.  I was recently reacquainted with the style after a long run of stouts and just couldn’t stay away from them any longer.

Beer Name: Gangster Duck

Brewery: Radiant Pig Beer Company (New York, NY)

Style: Red IPA

ABV: 6.2%

Description: On their website, the brewers mentioned borrowing from a number of styles to create this tasty red with a style all its own that is bursting with hops and smooth malts.  The beer for this review was consumed about a month after the canning date.

Appearance: Partially see through reddish amber body with a thick, foamy light tan head up top.

Smell: Sweet and malty, with a subtle layer of piney hops.

Taste: Started out with smooth malts that were soon followed by a biting grapefruit and pine bitterness.  The finish combined crackery malts and a slight yeasty taste as the beer went on.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a moderate carbonation level.

Hype: None I guess.  All I knew about this when I bought the can was that I liked the name and style.

Overall: It was alright.  Not quite the flavor profile look for or expect in a Red IPA (I am admittedly very picky about this) so I was a bit disappointed in that regard.  Otherwise, I would say this was fine, but not something I’d pick up again.

Brewery Ommegang – Game of Thrones: Winter is Here

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Blizzard, Brewery Ommegang, Craft Beer, Game of Thrones, Massachusetts, New England, New York, Winter is Here, Winter Storm

Just so happens Mother Nature presented me with the perfect occasion to dip into one of my Christmas beers.  You may have heard that my area (I’m located just north of Boston) is currently getting hit with a blizzard, so I’m at home looking for ways to pass the day.  After seeing this bottle sitting in the refrigerator, I felt inspired to go out and brave the elements.

Beer Name: Game of Thrones: Winter is Here

Brewery: Brewery Ommegang (Cooperstown, NY)

Style: Double White Ale

ABV: 8.3%

Description: You can get plenty of details from the press release that announced the arrival of this brew, but to sum it all up this was a white ale brewed with pilsner malt, white wheat malt, and soft red wheat flakes, hopped with Saaz hops, and spiced with white pepper, sea salt, coriander and sweet orange peel.  My bottle was part of a gift set that included one other Game of Thrones-themed beer and the nifty glass shown above.  Since this was a present I don’t know what the exact price was, but I saw it around my area very reasonably priced in the $20-25 range depending on the store.

Appearance: Cloudy, pale gold/straw-colored body with lots of happy little bubbles running up from the bottom.  About a half finger of thick white foam up top formed from a gentle fill, more when poured more aggressively.  

Smell: Light floral spices.

Taste: Started out spicy with notes of coriander, clove, and pepper.  That was soon joined by an underlying sweetness that combined honey, wheat, and a slight floral presence, all of which very nicely complimented the spice.  The finish was dry and gave rise to a bit of Belgian bubble-gum yeast as the initial spices faded.  Smooth and refreshing throughout, this drank like a much lower ABV offering.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and moderately effervescent.

Hype: Moderate.  There is definitely some anticipation around Ommegang’s GoT series, usually peaking around season premiers and finales.  While that excitement seems to be a bit more measured in the show’s offseason, I was personally really excited about this gift.

Overall: It was really tempting to just kick back with this and drink it like the light Belgian pale ale/witbier it smells, looks, and tastes like.  It didn’t take long, however, to realize that this packs a bit more of a punch than you typically encounter with that style.  At least I got a chance to warm up a bit after coming back indoors!  I really enjoyed this as it blended light and refreshing tastes with a hearty and warming kick that served me perfectly on a snowy winter day.

Brewery Ommegang – Three Philosophers

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Brewery Ommegang, Craft Beer, New York, Winter

This bottle had been in my refrigerator for a little while and finally found time the other night to revisit another old friend of mine.  I was really into this beer a few years ago, but hadn’t gotten around to drinking it since I’ve been blogging here.  Time to change that.

Beer Name: Three Philosophers

Brewery: Brewery Ommegang (Cooperstown, NY)

Style: Quadrupel Ale

ABV: 9.7%

Description: The brewers describe this as a unique blend of a Belgian dark ale and Liefman’s Kriek, a traditional Belgian cherry ale.

Appearance: It had a reddish/brown body topped by a thin, fizzy layer of light tan foam.

Smell: On the sweeter side with dark fruit and cherry standing out against undertones of malt and yeast.

Taste: Opened sweet with notes of cherry, plum, and caramel malts.  These flavors carried into the finish where they were joined by a slightly spicy bubblegum yeast, a minor clove presence, and a nice little kick of heat.  As the beer settled into the glass it blended into a warm combination of cherry, caramel, and Belgian yeast.

Mouthfeel: Roughly medium bodied with a slightly effervescent finish.

Hype: Not particularly hyped at all.  Just another example of a readily available, high quality beverage that is way too easy to walk by.

Overall: I enjoyed this and once again had a wonderful time drinking a beer I haven’t had in a while.  The cherry aspect of the Kriek blend really gave the beer a delicious sweetness that makes this standout for me.