Fast Fjord Norwegian IPA | ABV 6.3%

BJCP Style: Specialty IPA

Hops: Idaho Gem, Citra, Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, & Mosaic

Malts: Unknown

Brewery: Gate City Brewing Company

City: Roswell, GA – 43 MAGNOLIA STREET

Kveik “Ka-Wike” has become a popular yeast strain craft brewers have embraced over the last couple of years. The primary advantage to it for brewing is that it can speed up fermentation time, allowing a brewer to produce a finished beer several days sooner than average, without producing unwanted off flavors. To the average craft beer drinker, you’re not going to really note the difference in a beer produced with Kveik versus one using some other ale yeast. That being said, breweries are producing some unique, enjoyable beers with this crazy yeast strain. Locally, I have found Akademia Brewing Company’s Skal Norwegian Wheat Ale to be one of my favorites. It is a fantastic summertime ale, light bodied and exhibiting various floral and fruit-like aromas and flavors. This past fall I discovered Gate City Brewing out of Roswell, GA sporting a Norwegian IPA that utilized Kveik in a tap room only release. After sampling it, I immediately hoped they would can it for release. Wish granted! Back in late March, Gate City released to distribution Fast Fjord Norwegian IPA. Naturally, I had to snag some for a review.

 

To enjoy a beer like Fast Fjord, I definitely recommend pouring it into a Tulip or Snifter style glass. That will allow you to really enjoy all the competing hops aromas as you drink your way down to the bottom of the glass. The beer pours to a hazy amber color and develops a nice, frothy white head. With a very generous dose of five different hops, you get a plethora of citrus and tropical fruit aromas and flavors. If you detect some pineapple or stone fruit-like aromas, those are most likely from the Kveik. If you want to compare it to a New England style IPA, this beer has virtually no bitterness either. It has a medium body to it, a nice prickly bite from the carbonation and a finish that is relatively dry and satisfying.

Gate City Brewing Company is one of two craft breweries located in the Historic Roswell Downtown District. The other Variant Brewing Company. Both are located within easy walking distance of each other, along with multiple restaurants and bars, which makes it a great area to spend and evening or two socializing with friends and family. Some of Gate City Brewing’s more popular offerings include Awe Juice IPA (American), Copperhead American Amber Ale, OTP Imperial IPA, Terminus Baltic Porter, Citras Maximus IPL, and Ex Pat Munich Dunkel. They also have a solid Sour Beer and Barrel Aged Beer program.

Thanks for reading and until next time…Let Us Drink Beer!

As always, please drink responsibly.

• BJCP Style: American IPA
• ABV: 7.5%
• IBU: 40
• Hops: Unknown
• Malts: Unknown
• Brewery: Wild Leap Brew Co.
• City: LaGrange, GA (Atlanta Metro Area)

• Aroma: Tropical fruit, Pine, no malt aroma
• Appearance: Hazy, straw yellow, fluffy white head with good retention.
• Flavor & Aftertaste: Tropical fruit, pine/resinous flavors from hops, restrained bitterness, low malt sweetness.
• Palate: Low carbonation, medium bodied, finish is short and dry, moderately bitter.

Hi The Beer Thriller readers! Greetings from Let Us Drink Beer in the ATL and my first beer review of 2020. To start of the year, I bring you ETA IPA, an award winning India Pale Ale from Wild Leap Brew Co. in LaGrange, GA. Nationally syndicated radio show Beer Guys Radio hands out the Best of Georgia Beer – Reader’s Choice Awards in December each year. Awards are based on nominations and voting by Beer Guys Radio listeners and blog readers (yours truly being one of them). In the category of Best New IPA in Georgia, the winner was Wild Leap Brew Co.’s ETA IPA. This new local favorite is also rated 86 by The Beer Connoisseur Magazine.

A fine example of Hazy IPA, ETA IPA checks all the style boxes. Pours a hazy, straw yellow color with a fluffy, white head. You’ll be delighted by it’s lengthy head retention. The nose exhibits mild tropical fruit and pine aromas; but no discernable malt. You’ll discover matching resinous pine and tropical fruit flavors. Bitterness is moderate. The beer has a surprisingly soft, fluffy medium bodied mouth-feel to it for it’s straw yellow color. As you complete your round trip with this wonderful IPA, the finish will strike you as short and quite dry.

Wild Leap Brew Co. has become a bit of a juggernaut in the Atlanta beer scene. They dominated the Best of Georgia Reader’s Choice Awards in 2019. Their Alpha Abstraction Double IPA rotating IPA series has been one of the most popular beers in Georgia for the past couple of years. I’ll be posting a review of their latest in the series – Volume X – on my blog soon. They were also voted Best New Brewery in the U.S. for 2019 by USA Today’s Readers’ Choice Awards. If you find yourself in Atlanta for a few days and want to experience some of the best craft beer Atlanta has to offer, be sure to head down to Southwest of the city. Wild Leap Brew Co. is located in Downtown LaGrange, GA at 308 Main Street. It’s well worth the trip!

Thanks for reading! Until next time, remember…Let Us Drink Beer!

And, as always – I encourage you to please drink responsibly!

Some blogs will be beer reviews, some will be brewery reviews, some will just be about interesting news in our areas. Either way, when you visit either blog, it will be easy to find our respective posts. Here on The Beer Thrillers look for “Let Us Drink Beer” and you’ll see their posts. On Let Us Drink Beer you can look for B. Kline or The Beer Thrillers and find my posts.

We, here at The Beer Thrillers, will make sure to keep you updated on both their posts here at our blog, as well as our posts on their blog, on our various social media platforms (primarily FaceBook and Twitter, but elsewhere as well) as well as here on the blog itself.

You can read about their take on our guest blogging and their write-up about it here: Guest Blogger – Let Us Drink Beer at their blog.

So far they have written two blog posts on The Beer Thrillers for us; you can read Let Us Drink Beer’s blog posts here:

• Beer Review: Koki Buni (Creature Comforts)
• Five Must See Breweries When Visiting Atlanta

You can view my two blog posts at Let Us Drink Beer here:

• Beer Review: Walker Station Stout (Pretoria Fields Collective)
• Breweries Near Hershey Pennsylvania

So please check out their blog and show them some love (and vice versa too of course). And be on the lookout for more fun, exciting, and amazing stuff coming to The Beer Thrillers in 2020! Can’t wait for the new year, the new decade, and plenty of new beer!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

I would dare say this might just be one of the best Milk Porters on the market. Creature Comforts introduced Koko Buni Milk Porter in October of 2014 as their first seasonal beer. There have been a few tweaks along the way; however, it’s basically the same recipe today as it was back then. It was a big hit then and is still a much anticipated release today. What makes it so special? All the ingredients are perfectly harmonized and balanced start to finish.

As is typical of Creature Comforts, they source some local ingredients for additions to the recipe; coffee beans from 1000 Faces Coffee and cocoa nibs from Condor Chocolates in Athens, GA. They reached outside of Georgia to Ethereal Confections of Woodstock, IL for additional cocoa nibs. The results are a silky smooth Porter with just the right amount of cocoa nibs and coffee to play well with the roasted and chocolate flavors from the dark malts grain bill.

Koko Buni is jet black and pours to a fluffy tan head exhibiting very good retention. You won’t encounter any hops aromas in the nose; but you be delighted in the distinct coffee, cocoa and roasted malt notes that drift lazily from the frothy head. The mouth-feel is full bodied, soft and silky smooth. Every sip brings complex, yet balanced mix of roasted malt, coffee, and chocolate flavors laced with coconut. There is a very mild baker’s chocolate-like bitter sweet character that flows start to finish. The finish is very pleasing and medium in length.

As you can tell, this is definitely a favorite Porter of mine and I look forward to it coming out every year mid to late fall. This is one of those beers you feel right at home with on a snowy winter evening in front of the fireplace; but also don’t mind pouring right into your favorite coffee cup on a cold Saturday morning. Creature Comforts has made a nice supply of 12 oz. cans available throughout it’s markets.

Thanks for reading. Until next time…Let Us Drink Beer!

As always – Please Drink Responsibly.

One of the best things to do on a cold Thursday night in mid-November is to drink a delicious IPA; and watch the newly released Disney+ – in particular, watching The Mandalorian and then the Simpsons.

So thats exactly what I did last night. I got under the covers, booted up the Disney+ to watch the new Mandalorian show and drank a fantastic DIPA.

Beer: Alpha Abstraction Vol. 8
Brewery: Wild Leap Brew Co.
Style: IPA – Imperial/ Double New England
ABV: 8%
IBU: 46
Untappd Write-Up: The eighth edition of the Alpha Abstraction series, Volume 8 is a juicy, double dry-hopped IPA with Enigma hops.

This is a beautiful looking DIPA – New England style; and an even better tasting one. Appearance is that of a typical new NEIPA. Hazy, unfiltered. Nice head to it, nice body, nice look and appearance as a whole.

Taste is every better. This is a very hop juice / orange juice to come up for. Great mouthfeel, great flavors. The hops are strong, powerful, and pungent, but the hops combine to make a nice tasting hop juice rather than a hop overload thats just too much to taste and too many different hop combinations and flavors. Nope, this is spot on juice that is extremely delicious.

My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 4.17 (as of 11.15.19)

Thanks for reading everyone.

Cheers!

– B.Kline

So after a long day at work yesterday (my monday) followed by a Halloween / remembrance party at a friend’s house I’m back at it this morning. Got to keep the streak alive and continue going 30 for 30. Can’t let you all down now. So I’m hitting the ground running with a wonderful stout I had the other day from Pretoria Fields Collective. I had received this can in a beer mail trade a few weeks ago.

Pretoria Fields Collective is a micro-brewery from Albany Georgia. You can check their Untappd page here: Pretoria Fields Collective. They have 79 unique beers with a global rating of 3.68 out of 9,257 ratings.

From the beer mail I received a nice collection of South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina beers. And I’m working my way through them, and I thought since the day was cold, it’d be nice to warm up with a delicious stout.

Beer: Walkers Station Stout
Brewery: Pretoria Fields Collective
Style: Stout – American
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: (blank)

This was a perfect beer to enjoy on a cold, misty, ugly, Halloween Thursday afternoon waiting for the kiddos to get done from school and to inform them that no trick or treat was happening that day. (Don’t worry, we went to Pizza Boy where they absolutely had a blast – you can read about that in my St. Thomas review.)

After cracking it open and pouring her, which had a fantastic and wonderful amount of carbonation by the way, you are hit with the roasted malts. You get all kinds of notes of roasty and toasty malt action; caramel and chocolate a bit, some coffee, but you can tell you’re in for a nice bitter blended stout here just from first whiff.

Appearance is as per usual with stouts – dark black, with a very heavy dense foamy head to it. Its a creamy rich head, light brown, with lots of carbonation letting it retain for quite a while.

And taste is exactly what you expect from the appearance and aroma of this. You immediately get a deep, resonating heavy bitter, heavy roast, every toasted, malty stout. You get bitter, you get roasty, you get toasty, you get all that you expect from the dark malts and dark grains. Its got a heavy mouthfeel but not cloying or too thick, just enough to make it a good thick stout, not too thick that you are chewing it down.

My Rating: ***.75
Global Rating: 3.8 (as of 11.3.19)

Going strong so far, 3 days into November, and 3 posts done. Somewhat keeping up with my goals and challenges I’ve set for myself this month (though I missed my step-goal of 10K every day in November last night/yesterday by 1200~ {ended somewhere at 8.8K} but I did get a walk in in the morning for 2 miles, and with the party, I’m not too bummed by missing my total).

Please keep hanging in there with me and see if I can make it 30 for 30. Fingers crossed. So far I’m 3 for 3. That just means 27 more to go. I got this!

-B. Kline

(EDIT: [12.17.19]: For our good friends at Let Us Drink Beer blog, as a guest writer, I have uploaded this review for their blog as well, to go alongside their review. The review on their blog is mostly the same as this, with just a few changes. You can read my beer review here: Beer Review: Walker Station Stout (Pretoria Field Collective). Let Us Drink Beer also did a review on this [hence why I uploaded this review to their site], you can read theirs here: Pretoria Fields Collective – Walker Station Stout. Make sure to check them both out and show their blog some love. Thanks everyone!)

It took the Phillies fifteen innings to win last night. Fifteen. Against the Marlins. And people wonder why they didn’t make the playoffs. Sigh. Ugh. At least I had this delicious gem of a beer to keep me company while watching the monotony of the game.

Earlier in the day I had received my second “porch bomb” or “beer mail” package, successfully completing my second beer trade. (I must admit, I am now hooked, its so awesome getting beers from different parts of the country that I most likely won’t be traveling to in the near future in exchange for some locals from my area.)

This trader lived in Aiken South Carolina and had access to several breweries I’ve never been to (or even heard of), and sent me a lovely package that contained beers from South Carolina (SC), North Carolina (NC), and Georgia (GA). Including beers from Edmund’s Oast, Westbrook, and Creature Comforts. So I was very hyped for this box.

As you can see there is some killer beers in that package and I can’t wait to tear into them all and review them here. Also starting Friday I began to house-sit for my parents while they are on their anniversary weekend, celebrating their 38th Anniversary. Original plan for Friday night was to go to D. Scott’s to do our podcast, but he wasn’t fully setup and ready. And I kinda then just chilled at my parents home watching their fish (indoor aquarium and outdoor ponds), watching the Phills, and enjoying a fantastically lovely stout.

Wasn’t sure where to start really on this package, but decided the Vanilla Stout while sitting and watching the Phills would be a good place (and kind of solidified my ‘not going out’ and not dropping the book off at the library like I was supposed to do). A 10% stout will do that to you.

So I started off with the stout from Wild Leap Brew Co. Wild Leap is home to La Grange, Georgia, and is listed as a micro-brewery on Untappd. Their Untappd bio reads: “Formed by friends and innovators, Wild Leap Brew Co. is dedicated to delighting customers with approachable, easy-drinking and handcrafted beverages in an atmosphere that’s always easy-going and enjoyable. You could say, when it comes to beer, we’re raising the bar.” They have 190 unique beers listed and a global rating of 4.02. So definitely not bad right there. Their top beers all for the most part are IPAs, the first being Chance IPA, followed by a series of beers they have running: Alpha Abstraction Vol. 7, Vol. 6, and Vol. 8. (I received the Vol. 8 with my beer package.) Next is a Golden Blonde Ale called “Local Gold Blonde Ale”, and then a few more from the Alpha Abstraction series – Vol. 5, Vol. 4, to be broken up by a creamsicle milkshake IPA called Truck Chaser, before their top list rounds out with another Alpha Abstraction – Vol. 3.

Beer: Vanilla Ice Cream Stout
Brewery: Wild Leap Brew Co.
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double Milk
ABV: 10.5%
IBU: 35
Untappd Write-Up: Vanilla Ice Cream Stout is a thick, sweet n’ creamy milk stout brewed with vanilla and milk sugar.

Appearance is dark black beer, with a lovely light brown creamy foamy head. Bubbles are varied, nothing bad, and just a nice dark black look. A “Razor Ramon hair color” beer.

Aroma is like an ice cream float. Very heavy vanilla, very heavy malt, you can smell the sugar, you can smell the cream, you can smell some chocolate (from the malt) though its much lighter compared to the other aromas.

Taste is very delicious. It has an oily mouthfeel that coats your tongue but slides and goes down, nothing cloying and nothing bad about this. There is some thickness but its not too much. There is a lot of creamyness to this and its delicious. Its like a vanilla float but instead of coke you got a stout, with the ice cream melted and at the bottom of the glass, it just makes you want to chug to get to it all. There is a bit of boozyness to it, which I suppose shouldn’t be too surprising since it is a 10.5% ABV, and there is a slight bitterness that comes with it, perhaps due to the malts used, perhaps due to it having a 35 IBU, perhaps from other characteristics.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.02 (as of 9.28.19)

Finally, going on 12:30 or so AM, the Phillies finish their marathon 5 hour game against the Marlins, winning at home just to get back to .500, and thanks to two walks (one intentional), and an error on the final play. Thats the Phills for ya.

J. Doncevic is already out with the Rotunda Crew for Kennett Square Brewfest (already checked in to a Chewbacca from Rotunda at 8AM, so looks like his day is going strong already). So if you’re heading out there, stop in there and say hi to him.

Also, it appears, if you are looking for this beer, it is currently listed on Tavour, so you might be able to find it that way if you want it in the Central PA area.

Cheers!

-B. Kline