Beer Review: Back to Reality (Three 3s Brewing Co)
In the immortal words of Eminem:
Look
Eminem: Lose Yourself
If you had
One shot
Or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted
In one moment
Would you capture it
Or just let it slip?Yo
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti
He’s nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgettin’
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won’t come out
He’s chokin’, how, everybody’s jokin’ now
The clocks run out, times up, over, blaow!
Snap back to reality, oh there goes gravity
Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked
He’s so mad, but he won’t give up that easy? No
He won’t have it, he knows his whole back’s to these ropes
It don’t matter, he’s dope, he knows that, but he’s broke
He’s…
I can’t possibly be the only person who as soon as they read the can “Back to Reality” started hearing the lyrics to Lose Yourself in the back of their head right? Yea, I know, the can label is all about Back to the Future complete with the Deloreaon, but still…. ….I’m not the only one right? Right?
Maybe I am, maybe everyone else mentally runs with the Back to the Future imagery and goes with that. Perhaps its my generation, who grew up on Eminem, Limp Bizkit, Creed, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Staind, Disturbed, Korn, etc, etc, etc, that might think of Eminem. Maybe I just have a wire loose in the old noggin. (Most likely that…. 13 concussions and all that……)
So lets snap back to the present (…or to reality…………) and talk about this fun, delicious, bright beer. Sadly, I’ve only had a handful of beers from Three 3’s Brewing, but nothing has disappointed, that’s for sure. I’ve enjoyed them all and they’ve all been fun, delicious, tasty brews. They’re another of a handful of fun breweries doing fun beer names and labels. And luckily, unlike some breweries, they actually have the beer brewing chops behind them to insure you still get a good beer rather than like some that just coast on beer name and label alone on the hopes of you buying their beer. This is The Way by Broken Goblet is a good example of a beer name, label, (can art), and backstory that will sell cans… but is also a really good beer. Sadly, for every good example like This is the Way and Back to Reality, there is an equal or larger number of beers that don’t deliver despite their cool name and can art.
But before we get into the future, or go too far into the past, let’s stay in the moment, in the present, in reality, and review this tasty delicious beer:
Three 3’s Brewing Co. is a micro brewery out of Hammonton New Jersey. On Untappd they have 130 unique beers listed with a global average rating of 3.8 (as of 2.18.20). Their description on Untappd reads: “Stop in for a pour, taste and to grab a growler to go! Follow us for tap list updates and events! Just 30 mins from A/C & Philly.”
Beer: Back to Reality
Brewery: Three 3’s Brewing Co.
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 6%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Write-Up: A bright IPA in the truest sense. Heavy additions of wheat and oats create a lush mouthfeel. We walloped this one with some of our favorite American hops (Amarillo, Mosaic and Simcoe) in the whirlpool and dry hop. Notes of ripe orange peel, fresh picked tangerine and citrus. An all-day crusher that won’t tire the palate.
I love it when a description for a beer uses a word I’ve used several times (without me even knowing its in their description). It either makes me think I’m smart (to some degree anyway) or makes me wonder (and go insane doing so) if I had read the description and the word has entered my subconscious about the beer. The word for this one is: bright. I used it a few times talking about its appearance, and it is certainly bright. It has a orange hue, bright, a bit dank and hazy, not fully filtered, but not completely unfiltered either. There is a nice white foamy head and it left nice lacing on the glass.
Aroma is a blast of hop. You can definitely pick out the citrus of the Amarillo and the defined notes of Mosaic and Simcoe hopes. The dry hopping for the beer really brings these to the forefront, particularly Amarillo’s citrus and Simcoe’s defined, unique hop aromas and notes. The hops leave you with notes of citrus, tangerine, orange (mainly peel / rind) but you also get some distinct blood orange aroma notes.
Firstly, this is a smooth beer. There is no hop bite, and its all the more citrus and citrus fruit notes, so there’s no pine, no earthy, no musky, nothing but the bright fruit flavors that go with these kind of citrus notes. Been using the term ‘bright’ for this beer quite a bit in this review, but its just so apt. From appearance to aroma to taste, it just feels bright, it feels flavorful, it feels bold, it feels open, fruity, citrusy, it feels light. This feels like walking through a Florida orange orchard or grove or farm or whatever the terminology is for orange trees and growing and farming and what not. (I’m pretty sure its orchards… like apple orchards… etc.) Great orange, tangerine, blood orange, citrus, zest, all kinds of the bright orange fruit flavors just pounce on you as you drink this down. And it is incredibly smooth and easy to drink. Its practically like drinking orange juice. Luckily the low ABV (6%) makes this not a problem at all. Sadly I only had one can to drink, because I could easily drain a four pack of this in an hour’s sitting no problem at all.
My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.85 (as of 2.18.20)
This was one of many beers D. Scott had picked up from Breski’s Beverages mix-a-six. They have a wonderful selection of New England IPAs, singles, and great cans and bottles from a variety of breweries you won’t be getting at your normal distributors. Well worth checking them out for that.
So I know I said I might do the Intemperance last night as a double-blog-day, but I ended up at D. Scott’s where we worked on finishing his keg of Nugget Nectar and watched RedLetterMedia and talked about upcoming podcasts.
So a Mexican and a Scot Walk Into a Bar… is the podcast that my friends D. Scott, Esteban, and myself and a random assortment of other people do. They recently did a commentary track for “My Bloody Valentine (1981)“, so be sure to check that out. Me and Esteban will be finishing up the series on LOST soon, we’ve done one for Seasons 1 and 2, and will be doing two follow up ones – for seasons 3 and 4; and 5 and 6.
Speaking of podcasts, exciting news for me – B. Kline. I am going to be on two upcoming podcasts (dates and times to be determined). John Wilcox has invited me out to Exton PA to do a podcast with him about beer. John’s podcasts are called “Might Be Brews“. And Tony Russo in Maryland is going to have me as a call-on on his podcast “Beers with Strangers“. They have a nice, full complete library of podcasts you can listen to here: Beers with Strangers Podcasts. You can check out both Might Be Brews and Beers with Strangers on Facebook and Twitter as well.
Also, exciting news, Rubber Soul Brewing (soon to open here in my hometown of Hummelstown) has invited me out in the upcoming for a check-out of the facility and building. So I should be able to give an in-depth write-up soon. I’ve been wanting to write up about them opening, but been waiting to pull the trigger on it. Breweries in PA jumped me a bit by doing a write-up yesterday (2.17.20) on them. If you’ve been following our Facebook page you’ll see some pictures I’ve taken of the building when I’ve walked by it recently.
Speaking of Facebook, we’re currently at 399 followers. Can’t wait to hit 400, hopefully today! If you have friends, invite them to the page and let them know!
You can also see some of our recent posts – I Cannot Tell a Lie, Florence, Loki – Wild IPA, Brewery Visit to Mellow Mink, Doppelganger, Beer Share at Tattered Flag, and Valentine’s Day Beers.
Until next time everyone, peace, and cheers!
-B. Kline
