IPA - Triple New England - The Beer Thrillers

Beer Review: I’m 40% Galaxy (Local Craft Beer)

B. Kline — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 01:00:24 +0000

Beer Review: I’m 40% Galaxy (Local Craft Beer)

I’m 40% Galaxy by Local Craft Beer

Futurama is Back Baby

Futurama aired it’s first episode of “Season 12” (and I put that in quotations) on Hulu today (or Disney+ if you have the bundle). The A-plot is another Bender existentialism episode where he meets his family from Mexico, and the B-plot is a heist about stealing NFT’s.

While the idea being the NFT’s is pretty cringe and very dated at this point, the overall episode is pretty solid (as most Bender episodes are). Its not as funny as the FOX era or some of the best Comedy Central episodes, but its a decent episode, that on first viewing I felt “meh” about due to the NFT story beats, but then with a second viewing I enjoyed a bit more. Most likely falling in the 6.5 or 7/10 range for me.

Interestingly Danny Trejo voices Doblando, and I am currently reading his book – Trejo.

I’ll post more thoughts on the episode, and some references and things after the beer review.

Beer Review

I’m 40% Galaxy by Local Craft Beer (LCB)

Brewery: Local Craft Beer (LCB)
Style: Triple New England / Hazy IPA
ABV: 10%
IBU: 15
Untappd Description: More like 80% Galaxy but Bender doesn’t care as long as it’s beer!

As Bender might say, “I’m 40% Galaxy” is 100% amazing. This Triple New England IPA from Local Craft Beer (LCB) pours an inviting, hazy golden-yellow, reminiscent of a glowing sunset over New New York. Topped with a thick, creamy white head that shows impressive retention, it leaves a delicate lace that would make even the most indifferent of robots take notice.

The aroma of this beer is an olfactory feast dominated by the hallmark characteristics of Galaxy hops. Imagine Fry’s favorite Slurm drink, but transformed into an explosion of tropical fruit aromas featuring passion fruit, ripe peach, and zesty citrus. These fruity notes are complemented by subtle undertones of pine and resin, adding complexity and depth, much like the intricate plots of “Futurama.”

From the first sip, “I’m 40% Galaxy” delivers a smooth and juicy experience that would make Leela trade in her single-eye view for a taste. The tropical fruit flavors take center stage, with passion fruit, mango, and pineapple dancing on the palate like Hypnotoad’s mesmerizing performances. The sweetness from the malt is perfectly balanced by a gentle bitterness, ensuring that the beer remains refreshing and not cloying, akin to the refreshing humor that “Futurama” fans adore.

The mouthfeel of this Triple NEIPA boasts a medium to full body with a luxuriously creamy, velvety texture. The moderate carbonation provides a lively yet smooth drinking experience, much like a seamless delivery run by the Planet Express crew. Despite the high ABV, the alcohol is well-masked, making the beer dangerously easy to drink, even for a robot with Bender’s legendary tolerance.

The finish is long and satisfying, with lingering notes of tropical fruit and a mild, resinous bitterness. There’s a subtle warmth from the alcohol, reminding you of the beer’s strength, but it remains well-integrated and pleasant. This is a beer that, like the best episodes of “Futurama,” leaves you wanting more.

“I’m 40% Galaxy” by Local Craft Beer is a stellar example of a Triple New England IPA, showcasing the beloved Galaxy hop in all its tropical glory. The balance of flavors, the creamy mouthfeel, and the masterful hiding of the high ABV make this beer a must-try for hop enthusiasts. Its complexity and depth ensure that each sip offers something new, making it a perfect subject for a detailed review. Just as “Futurama” continues to captivate with its blend of humor and heart, this beer captivates with its blend of flavors and aromas. Cheers to a beer that would make the Planet Express crew proud!

My Untappd rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.02 (as of 7.29.24)

Futurama Season 12

Futurama Season 12 picks up after the 10 episode “Season 11” aired last year (2023) on Hulu. In 2025 there will be another additional 10 episodes, and then another 10 in 2026. So, I suppose you could say – Futurama is DEFINITELY Back Baby!

Season 11 of Futurama on Hulu (and I am using Hulu’s season and episode numbering here) was…. ok. I reviewed some of the episodes (you can find the links below). I am hoping for a rebound season with Season 12, and this was a decent kick off to it.

For a list of the Futurama episodes you can view the Wikipedia article here: List of All Futurama Episodes.

A fun review of “The One Amigo” (S12: E1) by Johnny 2 Cellos:

Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos.

For some fun Instagram posts (PG-13+ rated) check these out: Alana Acker. Alana Acker.

I might post some more video reviews the episodes from this season, if I do, they will most likely come out on Wednesdays or Thursdays. We’ll see. Would everyone want to see them?

All of Our Nerd Content

Here’s all of our nerd content, served up best in one single place. Enjoy!

I know ya’ll here for the nerd reviews. So check out our other nerd reviews below:

Star Wars:

Futurama

Lord of the Rings:

Magic the Gathering:

New Belgium Teams Up with Magic the Gathering for Vastwood Seer IPA

Zelda:

Rick and Morty:

Beer Review: Peace Among Worlds (Cushwa Brewing Company)

Space Balls:

Beer Review: Moon of Vega (Equilibrium Brewery)

Game of Thrones:

The Simpsons:

Back to the Future:

Beer Review: Back to Reality (Three 3s Brewing Co)

Scrooged:

Beer Review: Scrooge IPA (Iron Hill Brewing)

Groundhog Day:

A Christmas Story:

The Peanuts:

Pro Wrestling:

Soccer:

World Cup:

Phillies:

Philadelphia Eagles:

The Philadelphia Eagles Running Back – D’Andre Swift – Visits Bald Bird Brewing Company

Matrix:

Matrix Monday

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Beer Review: Terpenes in Time (BAREBottle Brewing Co)

HP Lovecraft / Cthulhu:

Beer Review: Azathoth (Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company)

Seinfeld:

The Muppets:

Other:

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

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We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

MAPS OF BREWERIES

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

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The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

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If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

Have you ever picked a beer based on the can art?

AmyMWolfe — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 01:46:59 +0000

Ben’s picture of the Full Bloom can by Idiom Brewing while he was in Atlantic City for the AC Beer and Music Festival

Have you ever picked a beer based on the can art?

Have you ever picked a beer based on the can art? I’ll admit it, I did it. And it was an excellent choice!

It was during the Frederick trip for World MS Day that I wanted to grab a 4 pack when we headed out and I needed to make a quick decision. If you know me, you could have guessed the sunflower can art got my attention.

(See our Trip to Frederick MD.)

Anxiety

Amy showing off the guns (and I guess her tattoo too)

I’ve shared in another article I live with depression and anxiety (see Amy’s article from last year – Brewfests with Anxiety) I got this awesome sunflower tattoo as a symbol to always fight for my happiness despite the depression and anxiety. So, naturally I grabbed a 4 pack of the Full bloom.

Full Bloom by Idiom Brewing Company

To my delight it felt like the stars….I should say it felt like the sunflowers aligned and it was the perfect beer over a cookout this past weekend. Full Bloom comes in with a sneaky 11% ABV. This Triple New England IPA is delicious and smooth, maybe a little too smooth. It paired perfectly with the chicken, spinach and feta sausages I drank it with. It has an average rating on Untapped at 4.02, which is a bit low in my opinion. There is one review on untapped that says “May just be my new favorite” according to Meredith S., so I know I am in good company.

Full Bloom

Beer: Full Bloom
Brewery: Idiom Brewing Co.
Style: IPA – Triple New England / Hazy
ABV: 11%
IBU: N / A
Untappd Description: Full bodied and deceivingly smooth, this Triple was brewed with a mix of toasted golden naked oats and flaked oats. On top of this lush base, we threw Lotus and Citra Incognito hops into a low-temp whirlpool and then double dry-hopped with Ella, Lotus and Vic Secret. Juicy, creamy and full of a mix of nuanced flavors, like candied grape, orange, vanilla, tropical fruits and a touch of star anise.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4.02

That first sip is light and tantalizing at the same time. This Triple IPA is the smoothest TIPA that has ever danced across my tongue. You get a few more swigs in you and you can feel that 11% tickling you. According to Scott on Untapped It is “Great balance. Sneaky 11% for sure!” The only thing I know for sure is I’m gonna try to hustle down there again soon to grab another 4 pack. Because I have one left and I’m already looking at it like “My precious”

My Preciousssssss…….

-Drink More Beer!

Weekly Column

Amy is back with her weekly column; just eight (8) days behind. Last week was a bit of a hectic week for Amy and Ben. Friday through Monday – Ben was with Drew in Atlantic City. Monday and Tuesday Amy was very busy with her tremendous work with the Alzheimer’s Association; so she took the week off from her weekly column. (Its ok Amy, we’ll forgive you this one time.)

Last night was Ben’s father’s 69th birthday. (Happy Birthday Paw Paw.) Between the festivities and Amy doing a dogsit she decided to wait until tonight (Monday, June 12th, 2023) for her weekly column.

But we certainly weren’t slacking here at The Beer Thrillers. You can read about our trip to Frederick last Tuesday – (May 30th, 2023), to go to Idiom Brewing (as well as Brewer’s Alley, and Monocacy Brewing Company) to recognize World MS Day.

To read about that trip click here: Our Trip to Frederick MD.

Ben was also busy in the convening days, with his Atlantic City trip with Drew, as well as the Renaissance Faire brewfest two days ago (June 10th, 2023).

Amy’s Column Series

Since getting back to writing for the blog after a short hiatus, Amy has started up a weekly column style writing for the blog. You can find these articles here:

Brewfests with Anxiety (Amy’s original weekly column start)
I’ve Missed Drinking (A Look at Non Alcoholic Beers)
Beer and Pretzel Review: Legends and Lore (St. Boniface Brewing Company) and Garlic Parm Pretzels (Pretzels.com)
Peanut Butter Eggs, Easter, Beer, and YAH Brew’s Shimmy Shake (Beer Review)
Cox Brewing Company: Back to Their Roots
Amy’s Day Off
It Was All A Dream (A Visit to YAH Brewing)
Just Another Weekend (A Hike at Saint Pete’s Trail and Hares Hill Brewing)
I’m Pretty Darn Lucky (Happy Mother’s Day)
Ready to Kick of the Summer
Beer Review: Beer Devil IPA (Niagara Brewing Company)
World MS Day
Have you ever picked a beer based on the can art?
You can find all of Amy’s articles here: Amy’s Archive of Articles.

For More Info About Idiom Brewing Company

The following information comes from Untappd. Idiom Brewing Company is a micro brewery from Frederick, MD. They have 339 unique beers and over 75,800 ratings with a global average rating of 3.91 (as of 6.12.23). Their Untappd description reads: “Idiom Brewing Co. has a simple goal in mind – To bring people from all walks of life together, to enjoy themselves and each other. Whether you’re a hop head looking for explosively juicy IPAs; are one of the adventurous few looking to try boozy, sour or complex flavors; or you’re just looking to enjoy classic styles and seasonal favorites, we’ll have a little something here for you!”

You can follow them on their social media pages:

Articles About Idiom Brewing Company

Beer Review: Level Up (Idiom Brewing Company)
Impromptu Two-Day Trip to Frederick Maryland
Road Trip to Monocacy Battlefield (June 19th – June 20th, 2020)
Our Trip to Frederick MD

Thank You For Reading

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

Beer Review: Missile Toad (Ever Grain Brewing Co.)

AmyMWolfe — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 12:01:16 +0000

Missile Toad by Ever Grain Brewing Co.

Missile Toad

When this tasty season treat came out last year when we were all stir crazy from quarantine I went on a long, long adventure with my friend the Missile Toad. I am normally not a fan of the grapefruit notes in my beer, but this triple IPA holds up with a high ABV, very light straw color and a not so boozy taste.

Beer Review

Beer: Missile Toad
Brewery: Ever Grain Brewing Co
Style: Triple New England/HAZY
ABV: 10.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: “Seasons greetings from a hop rocket of holiday happiness. Exploding with juiciness, this hazy Imperial IPA combines citrus notes with a soft piney finish. It’s like a tropical vacation in the middle of winter.”

The tropical vacation we all wish we should go on. Ah yes, the part of the holiday season I look forward to, holiday beer releases. They don’t all provide a high ABV and the MT will quickly sneak up on you.

That first sniff is a wonderful citrusy aroma. The Citrus flavors in this TIPA carry on and linger but are not overpowering. Just when you think that is about all this beer has to offer the light pine taste comes in and you glide down to a soft landing that combines this subtle tropical citrus taste and somehow delightfully pine taste

I first tasted this one a year ago before reading the description. A pine and a citrus flavor description beforehand would have given my taste buds a SCARE. The light tropical flavor with an aroma of a citrus sleigh ride bring back that thrill of getting your first crate of grapefruit or oranges over the holiday season. It didn’t matter if you ate them until your mouth was raw, that fresh citrus flavor was unmatched and you craved it.

The pine flavor. I thought I would hate it. Right away I envisioned picking pine needles out of my teeth, maybe a slight sticky sap feeling crossed my mind too. “little full, lotta sap”

This is the magic of drinking a well brewed beer. The flavor and aroma you end with brought back some of the first memories of rounding the corner to dive into your pile of presents on Christmas morning. That thrill of making sure your siblings were in-tow when you raced to the tree and that light pine scent danced around you as you believed in the magic of Christmas. But as an adult, I also believe in the magic of holiday beer releases.

In case anyone is looking for a Christmas present for me, I wear a size – 4pack of Missile Toad!

Drink more beer!
Cheers,
– Amy

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Beer Review: Virtually Inseparable (Celestial Beerworks and Turning Point Beer)

BKline — Sun, 10 May 2020 19:00:24 +0000

Virtually Inseparable by Celestial Beerworks and Turning Point Beer

This was a juicy, big, bold, IPA that was sent to me as part of that Texas beer mail package. I’ve done a few other reviews from the beers sent to me – Road Trip Snacks, Thursday (2016), Islla en el Cielo, $#!+ Ton, Daebak, Chocolate Confidential, Sunshine and Opportunity, Azathoth, Citraquench’l, Paradise Lost, Irish Table, Athena, Vanilla Ice Cream Stout, Reve Coffee Stout, and Ghost in the Machine. (In short, I love getting beer mail; and love doing beer reviews of them!)

This is another gem from a beer mail / beer trade. Haven’t had too many misses on my beer mail and beer trades (thank the maker). While we’re all stuck inside due to the snow squalls and cold May weather here in Central PA; lets check this out.

Virtually Inseparable (a quarantine collaboration between Celestial Beerworks and Turning Point Beer)

Beer: Virtually Inseparable
Brewery: Celestial Beerworks
Collaborator: Turning Point Beer
Style: IPA – Triple New England
ABV: 10%
IBU: None listed
Untappd Description: A “virtual collaboration” with our cyber pals at Turning Point Beer. It’s a triple IPA brewed with Citra, Strata and Sabro. It has aromas of passionfruit and pineapple, and is jam packed with flavors of coconut, mango, taffy, and melon. It has a soft and fluffy mouthfeel and is the absolute brightest 10% glass of juice.

Interesting hops for this – Citra, Strata, and Sabro. People seem to be on the fence with sabro hops (some love it, some hate it).

This looks pure orange juice. Bright, beautiful golden orange color. Little foam to the head, not crazy head to it, but enough to be good. The bubbles are interspersed and varied. This is certainly hazy, with a few ‘floaters’ but nothing egregious.

Aroma is strong, super strong hoppyness. As obvious as the appearance of the beer is, the aroma kicks in as soon as you crack the can and lets you know right away that this is a Triple IPA. You get immediate notes of coconut, passionfruit, mango, pineapple, and a bit of melon.

Lets take this opportunity to look at the hops involved in this delicious triple IPA:
* Sabro – Sabro is an aroma hop that is notable for its complexity of fruity and citrus flavors. It imparts distinct tangerine, coconut, tropical fruit, and stone fruit aromas, with hints of cedar, mint, and cream. Sabro’s pedigree is the result of a unique cross pollination of a female neomexicanus hop.
* Citra – Citra hops are now one of the most coveted aroma hops in the US and have a strong citrusy profile with elements of grapefruit, lime and tropical fruit.
* Strata – Bittering with Strata brings a nice balanced bitterness. Flavor and aroma additions bring out the fruity side with tropical fruit and fresh berry brightness. Brewers say that dry hopping deepens the grapefruit and dank/herbal/cannabis elements.
(Information comes from Yakima Valley Hops, Hopslist, and Learn.Kegerator; respectively for all three.)

This has a soft mouthfeel. Its very juicy, very dank, but extremely drinkable and no booze or strong bite despite its 10% ABV. The flavor this is fantastic. You get notes of coconut, passionfruit, mango, slight berry notes, a bit of citrus poking through at points (primarily in a tangerine or orange taste), a little bit of pineapple. I think the biggest hop fruit flavor is mango, which explains why I enjoy it so much, thats always one of my favorite hop or fruit flavors in beers. (Funny because I don’t eat mangos as actual food, but love the flavor of them in beer.) There is little bits of floaters in this, but nothing you actually taste or detect as you drink. There is no dryness to this, and very little bitter or hop burn as well, its just genuinely a smooth beer, with a decently heavy mouthfeel but overall it tastes light and airy but still juicy. It goes down relatively quickly too, especially for a 10% beer. Having multiples of this around could be a danger that’s for sure.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.46 (as of 5.10.20)

This was a wonderful beer to have at home, sitting relaxing, after I did a 10+ mile walk with my dog (Leela) walking the Conewago Recreational Trail. I walked it from the start on Rt. 230 near where Elizabethtown begins, and took it all the way to the Lebanon County line (where it becomes the Lebanon Valley Rails and Trails) and, went a bit further, than turned around. After the walk, stopped at Moo-Duck to support local breweries. I got a taco flatbread pizza, and a crowler of Hades Chocolate Rye (which I drank later that night with my friend and was delicious).

We’re rolling through May everyone, its now May 10th, which means we’re 1/3rd of the way through the month. I hope everyone is having a wonderful May, and is enjoying the blog, hopefully also, everyone is staying safe, staying (primarily) home, helping local small businesses and breweries, and doing their part to beat this virus. We’re all in this together.

Would love to give a shout out to all the hard working nurses, doctors, people who are volunteering for their communities by handing out lunches at schools, taking care of elderly, or doing whatever they can for their fellow neighbors and people. And a big thank you to people still working at some of the ‘centers’ of this; grocery store workers, cashiers, hospital employees, medical professionals, firefighters, etc. Thank you to all of you!

We’ll get through this. We’ll get back out there to life, and we’ll all sit down for some beers together! Until then, cheers from afar!

-B. Kline

Hoppy Easter – IPAs

BKline — Mon, 13 Apr 2020 00:00:50 +0000

In honor of Easter (and what a weird Easter this is too), and since we’ve all been stuck inside all day. I figured I’d do a listicle of some of the IPAs we’ve reviewed. I’ve done a few other listicle articles (not too many, as I’m not a huge fan of them), but I figured its been a while, and since its Easter, lets do a “hoppy” one about the various IPAs we’ve reviewed.

Firstly, the other listicles I’ve done:
* Our Most Viewed Articles (September, 2019)
* Some Old Posts (September, 2019)

From our friends at Let Us Drink Beer Blog:

ETA IPA by Wild Leap Brew Co.

Beer Review: ETA IPA (Wild Leap Brew Co.)

Beer Reviews by J. Doncevic:

Colonization by Adroit Theory

Beer Review: Colonization (Adroit Theory)

Beer Review: EBK – Gashadokuro (Ghost 782) – Adroit Theory

Envie and and Envie 4XDH by Parish Brewing

Beer Reviews: Envie and Envie 4XDH (Parish Brewing)

Beer Review: Ekuanot Astronaut (BAREbottle Brewing Co.)

Ghost in the Machine by Parish Brewing

Beer Review: Ghost In The Machine (Parish Brewing Co.)

Enigma by Anchorage Brewing

Beer Review: Enigma (Anchorage Brewing Company)

Ectogasm by Drekker

Beer Review: Ectogasm (Drekker Brewing Co.)

After a few months of us doing the beer reviews, I added the category – styles; where you can click through to find your favorite style or if you want to check out reviews for a particular style. I haven’t gotten to go back through and add the old reviews to the new categories, but I will. In the mean-time, we currently have 26 (and growing) in the IPA Category. You can find it by clicking it here: Categories: Style: IPA.

IPA Beer Reviews by B. Kline:

40th Anniversary Ale by Sierra Nevada

Beer Review: 40th Hoppy Anniversary Ale (Sierra Nevada Brewing Company)

Icicle by New Trail Brewing

Beer Review: Icicle (New Trail Brewing Co)

Trial by Wombat by Thin Man Brewing

Beer Review: Trial by Wombat (Thin Man Brewery)

Furious IPA by Surly Brewing

Beer Review: Furious IPA (Surly Brewing)

Back to Reality by Three 3s Brewing

Beer Review: Back to Reality (Three 3s Brewing Co)

Pete’s Secret Stache by Revision Brewing

Beer Review: Petes Secret Stache (Revision Brewing Company)

Loki by Karl Larsen at Newfangled Brew Works

Beer Review: Loki – Wild IPA (Newfangled Brew Works)

Doppelganger by Tree House Brewing

Beer Review: Doppelgänger (Tree House Brewing)

This is the Way by Broken Goblet

Beer Review: This is The Way (Broken Goblet)

Julius by Tree House Brewing

Beer Review: Julius (Tree House Brewing)

The Hog by Boneshire Brew Works

Beer Review: The Hog (Boneshire Brew Works)

Citraquench’l by Heist Brewing

Beer Review: Citraquench’l (Heist Brewery)

Moon of Vega by Equilibrium Brewing

Beer Review: Moon of Vega (Equilibrium Brewing)

Paradise Lost by Southern Prohibition Brewing

Beer Review: Paradise Lost (Southern Prohibition Brewing)

Fuzzy Nudge named by Ffej by Troegs Independent Brewing

Beer Review: Fuzzy Nudge (Troegs Independent Brewing)

King Sue by Toppling Goliath

Beer Review: King Sue (Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.)

And there are plenty more too! From breweries like Boneshire Brew Works, The Millworks, Tattered Flag, South County, New Trail, Troegs Brewing, Anchorage Brewing, Rotunda Brewing, ZeroDay Brewing, Newfangled Brew Works, and so many more! With more getting added constantly.

We’ve been running this blog since late May last year. I (B. Kline) have done a few podcasts (for both beer and pop culture). I am also doing a Beer Education series right now, with a running table of contents. You can see the table of contents (so far) below:

The Beer Education Series:
* Beer Education: Series
* Beer Education: Syllabus
* Beer Education: Introduction
* Beer Education: Module One: The History of Beer Brewing
* Beer Education: Module Two: Barley and Malting
* Beer Education: Module Three: Water

Hopefully (fingers crossed) there will most likely be Module Four released and posted tomorrow.

I hope everyone had a wonderful, hoppy, and happy Easter. It wasn’t my usual, but it was an Easter spent with family. So that in and of itself made it a good day. Got to do some grilling for Easter dinner:

Grilling Easter Dinner

Nothing beats grilling and drinking a wonderful (D)IPA like Time Keeper by Fourscore Beer Co.

So from us here at The Beer Thrillers to your family, we hope you had a wonderful hoppy Easter. Please stay safe, and cheers everyone!

Have a Hoppy Easter!

Multiple Beer Reviews: Tattered Dreamz (Tattered Flag), Twin Mount .50 (Newfangled Brew Works), Government Spending 2019 (Tattered Flag), Seven.Point.Six.Two (Tattered Flag), 556 Stout (Cox Brewing Company)

BKline — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 04:47:02 +0000

My flight of 5 beers from Tattered Flag (as well as their collaborations with Newfangld Brew Works and Cox Brewing Company) on Veterans Day

Monday was Veteran’s Day and it was a bit of a busy day for me. At least at work it was; as usual most Monday holidays tend to be a bit busier at work. So after work I jumped right on I-81 and drove the 26 minutes to get to Tattered Flag. And to be honest, I couldn’t think of a better place to be Monday night than at Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery. A veteran owned brewery with veteran employees on Veterans Day sounded like a perfect idea to me.

As anyone who has been familiar with this blog knows, I did the 556 Stout review already, (two days ago in fact), but I will gloss over it at the end of this flight review. Needless to say it’s my favorite of this flight.

Also, anyone who has been checking in with us daily has seen that I am doing a blog post per day the entire month of November. This is day 14 and this is my 14th blog post of the month. It is also blog post #100 (if counting small posts discussing our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, and counting our two listicle posts – Old Articles and Most Popular Articles). And its amazing to see that today we also hit 100 likes on our FaceBook page with a total of 102 followers counting RSS. We also pushed up to 80 on Twitter. So today is a bit of a milestone in that sense. So I would like to take the time right now to thank everyone who has read any of the posts, commented, liked, followed, subscribed, up-voted, thumbs-upped, retweeted, or anything else. We greatly appreciate it. It means a lot to me and J. Doncevic. Thank you!

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, lets move on to this wonderful beer flight!

Tattered Dreamz – a sour collaboration between Tattered Flag and Wolf Brewing Co.

First up on my flight is Tattered Dreamz. This sour behemoth is a collaboration between Tattered Flag and Wolf Brewing Co.; created for the Brewsgiving Brew Fest. This is a special collaboration brewfest where each beer you have there is a beer created by breweries in a joint collaboration effect. Tattered Flag worked with Wolf Brewing Co. at the brewfest. Other breweries that did brews together included Pilger Ruh with Snitz Creek, as well as Liquid Noise and Cold Spring, Hidden Stories, Lindgren Brewing, Cave Brewing, Rotunda Brewing, and many others. Always sounds like a killer and fun event and one I’ve been wanting to check out for a while but unfortunately due to work I haven’t yet. The winners compete for tag championship belts. Last year Tattered Flag and Wolf Brewing Co. won and this year they came in second place.

This beer is worthy of second place minimum. Its a terrific high end, high ABV, sour that will just blow you away.

Beer: Tattered Dreamz
Brewery: Tattered Flag
Collaborator: Wolf Brewing Co.
Style: Sour – Fruited
ABV: 10.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: A Collaboration with Wolf Brewing Co. This fruit imperial sour was brewed with Apricots, Peaches, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Vanilla.

First off, its a rarity to see or find sours that cross the 8% threshold. Especially ones that are done this well. The few 8%+ ones I’ve had ended up tasting too boozy or just being a bit too all over this place. Not the case for this beautiful gem.

Appearance is a soft orange. Similar in look and coloring and appearance to that of hazy NEIPAs; it has the unfiltered opaque look with a sugary-ness left over on the glass as you drink it similar to a lot of other fruited sours and smoothie sours. The lacing on the glass s legit and well, and at initial pouring there is a thin ring of head to it. A small look of sediment but nothing too bothersome.

Aroma is kind of similar to milkshake IPAs and fruited sours. You get notes of vanilla, notes of apricot and peach. A lot of apricot aroma as you inhale deeply on it. Small traces of the cinnamon and nutmeg but almost imperceptible and subtle. Not a whole lot of nose on those flavors. The vanilla is noticeable and gives it a nice creamy smell to it that like I said gives kind of a nose of milkshake IPAs.

Taste is just phenomenal and will blow you away. This is extremely delicious. Easily drinkable and with how delicious it is, and at the high ABV that it is, this is just scary. My initial quick Untappd write up on it reads: “ Extremely delicious sour. Vanilla and apricot heavy with notes of peach. Not a whole lot of nutmeg and cinnamon but a slight spice finish. ” And this pretty much holds up; just needs some explaining. It is extremely delicious (and it is a sour, duh). You do get mostly vanilla and apricot from drinking this especially at the start. The vanilla and lactose makes it smooth, and gives it a creamy taste. Apricot takes the forefront of the flavors with some peach coming in. The cinnamon and nutmeg is very minute however. Which is probably a good thing because I’m not sure how those flavors in abundance would have affected the taste of this, and this is so damn good as it is right now, I’d think it might make it worse. The mouthfeel for this is smooth and thick, very heavy, very textual, lovely. Nice pulp left on the glass after drinking.

This is still currently on tap at Tattered Flag; not sure how much they made in addition to what they made for the Brewsgiving event, so it might not last long. I believe they did a minimal canning run for this as well. So make sure to stop in and grab a draft (or cans if they did canning / have any left). You won’t regret it!

My Untappd Rating: ****.50
Global Untappd Rating: 4.17 (as of 11.14.19)

Another sour from Wolf Brewing Co we reviewed: Wolf Prints.

What a great way to kick off this flight. And moving on….

Twin Mount .50 by Newfangled Brew Works with Tattered Flag, Cox Brewing Company, and 717 Armory

In honor of Veterans Day, three local breweries, as well as a local armory all joined forces. All three breweries are veteran owned, as well as the armory. Those breweries are: Tattered Flag, Newfangled Brew Works, and Cox Brewing Company. The armory is 717 Armory. All four joined up to brew three different beers, giving each brewery their own one as main credit, and the other two breweries being listed as collaborators on each one. Those three beers are: Twin Mount .50 (Newfangled lead), Seven.Point.Six.Two (or 7.62) (Tattered Flag lead), and 556 Stout (Cox Brewing Company lead). The beers will be on tap at each of their locations, and all of them are on tap at Tattered Flag. On Veterans Day they also did a special sampling session at the 717 Armory (located on Derry Street in Rutherford, right next to Boneshire Brew Works and the BBQ food truck), where they also gave veterans a free hour on the range.

Tattered Flag’s beer is an IPA (the 7.62 IPA), the Cox Brewing Company is a stout (the 556 Stout), and Newfangled Brew Works’ beer is a Belgian (the Twin Mount .50).

Beer: Twin Mount .50
Brewery: Newfangled Brew Works
Collaborators: Tattered Flag, Cox Brewing Company, 717 Armory
Style: Belgian Tripel
ABV: 9%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: Belgian Tripel brewed as an all Veteran Collaboration with Tattered Flag, Cox Brewing Co and 717 Armory.

Belgians, Tripels, Quads, Dark Belgians, Dubbels, any and all Belgians are one of my favorite styles (when done right obviously). It always just has wonderful taste, wonderful notes, wonderful characteristics, and isn’t done that often, that it makes it such a fantastic style. And this is certainly no exception.

Appearance is similar to that of the Tattered Dreamz but translucent rather than opaque. Not hazy, filtered rather than unfiltered, no sediment or pulp or sugar on the glass. Thin ring of head that looks good and shows a nice carbonation. Good lacing on the glass as you drain it down. The coloring looks slightly more IPA-ish than a normal Belgian, but I think thats due to its sweetness. Which is unusual for a Belgian, but not unheard of, and not in a bad way.

Aroma is all about that yeast. That typical Belgian yeast brings out a forefront yeasty smell on the aroma that is typical for Belgians and is just classic. If you like the style you can note it a mile away, even without knowing what style or what kind of beer you are smelling or tasting. There is also a sweet smell to this that ties in I think with the coloring, and certainly ties in with the taste.

Taste is your usual Belgian. Very high note of the yeast strain that is common to Belgian. You get a lot of coriander and the usual Belgian spices. But this has an overarching theme of sweetness to it. An underlying taste to it that is just sweet and makes this a very smooth Belgian. I’ve had a few like this in the past and its a nice change of pace to that of regular Belgians. It adds a nice complexity to an already dense and complex beer style and just creates a bit of a different mouth feel and flavor than one you normally expect or are prepared to expect in the beer.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.97 (as of 11.14.19)

Another Newfangled Brew Works beer we reviewed: Pumpkin Stout or Guava Lemonade Kettle Sour.

Moving on to a regular IPA from Tattered Flag, and solely their own creation, no collaborators for this one.

Government Overspending 2019 by Tattered Flag

I know from talking to the guys at Tattered Flag that this is a different version than last year’s. They tweaked and changed the recipe of it enough to feel confident calling it “Government Overspending 2019” rather than just continuing with “Government Overspending”. Interestingly though, I couldn’t find the original check-in for this on Untappd (No Government Overspending listed anyway on the app) and I don’t believe I had it; or if I did, I don’t recall it, and unable to look it up. So I’m not sure if they ret-conned it and retroactively changed the name of the old version, or if it got deleted, or if it never really existed like I thought it did. Not sure. But I do know from talking to the actual brewers and owners, that this is a second version of this beer. Regardless of whatever the prior version was called.

Beer: Government Overspending 2019
Brewery: Tattered Flag
Style: IPA – Triple New England
ABV: 10.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: Its time to overspend again. This year we used a ton of Galaxy in this years version of Government Overspending. Then we used more Galaxy Citra and Mosiac to Triple Dry hop this beer.

So right there, from the Untappd write-up you can tell its the second year of it. Just no idea what happened to the original version of this in the app.

(So… I’m not crazy… …maybe…. sorta…. …possibly…)

Anyway….. back to the beer…. appearance wise… its a golden orange, hazy, unfiltered, as per the NEIPA style. This is probably slightly more on the yellow spectrum then most NEIPAs, especially TIPA (Triple IPAs) ones. Again, as per with the rest of the beers of the flight, the carbonation was good, giving it a nice foam head, small ring of diverse bubbles, and followed by good lacing on the glass.

Aroma is straight hop. Juicy hop. Fruity citrusy hops. Galaxy is really a wonderful hop and has quickly become one of my favorites. Even before reading the write up on this, from aroma alone I could pinpoint Mosaic and Galaxy. They are such distinct, wonderful hops and provide such great aroma and taste. The triple dry hopping really brings the hop aroma to the front.

Taste is pure hop juicyness. No bitterness. This is soft, pillowy, very dank, delicious hop brew. All kinds of wonderful hop notes and citrus and juicy hop flavors play over your mouth as you drink this down. The high ABV is barely noticeable.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.02 (as of 11.14.19)

We’ve done several IPAs from Tattered Flag in the past: You Hoppin On Me? , Banana Milkshake IPA, Inexplicably Juicy, and Multiple Beer Review – Levante and Tattered Flag.

Seven.Point.Six.Two or 7.62 IPA by Tattered Flag with collaborators Newfangled Brew Works, Cox Brewing Company, and 717 Armory

Tattered Flag’s turn to take the lead on one of the collaborations from Vet Collab day. And of course they’d make an IPA. …or maybe a sour… or… or…. But yea, Tattered Flag has become known for their IPAs (and sours) in recent years, and for good reason: they are pumping out some amazing IPAs (and sours).

Beer: Seven.Point.Six.Two (7.62) IPA
Brewery: Tattered Flag
Collaborators: Newfangled Brew Works, Cox Brewing Company (CBC), 717 Armory
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 7.62%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: Seven.Point.Six.Two a 7.62% NEIPA made with veterans blend hops The 2019 Veterans Blend is comprised of five different Pacific Northwest-grown varieties including Simcoe®, Loral® and Ahtanum®. It will perform well in any hop forward beer, providing a well-balanced mix of tropical, citrus and herbal aromas. Proceeds go to wounded warriors family support fund. Collaboration with Cox and Newfangled brewery.

It is always heart warming, and awesome, and amazing to see when beers and breweries give some of their proceeds and money earned to charities. Especially ones in such need like Wounded Warriors. Just a great showing by Pat (owner of Tattered Flag) and the others from Newfangled, Cox Brewing, and 717 Armory, to do this. I cannot fully endorse this more.

This has more of that typical NEIPA look than even the Triple NEIPA (Government Overspending 2019) had. This has the hazy, opaque, unfiltered, glowy orange juice like look to it. And once again, nice carbonation, and nice lacing. Good theme going for the day on both of those fronts.

Aroma is very floral hoppy. A nice selection of different style of hops brings out a very well rounded aroma to this. Sometimes a wide variety of hop can provide for too much of a jumbled aroma, with competing smells of floral or herbal or citrus or pine, (same thing can happen with taste, too many bitter vs. citrus hop blends that don’t pan out well), but here this all works well, its a nice varied combination to make a layered floral hoppy bouquet. It just works.

Taste is similar to aroma, as is often the case. Its a floral hoppy cornucopia of hop flavors and tastes. I like this a bit more than Government Overspending (2019) primarily due to it having a bit of a bitterness to it, kind of uncommon for NEIPAs, but there is just a bit of a bitterness bite to this that provides it with a kick and a punch to it that is lacking from Government Overspending. I like that, and despite it, there is also a smoothness to this, probably some lactose or other smoothing agent in the beer (possibly vanilla as I get slight notes of it, which could also be lactose, or could also be a sign that this is beer #4 in a flight of 5).

This compares nicely to the recent New Trails Broken Heels I had.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.23 (as of 11.14.19)

556 Stout by Cox Brewing Company (CBC), with Tattered Flag, Newfangled Brew Works, and 717 Armory

Ok, so I reviewed this one separately, and in more depth just a few days ago. You can read that review here: 556 Stout by Cox Brewing Company (CBC).

But, I will give the bare-bones information on it here:

Beer: 556 Stout
Brewery: Cox Brewing Company (CBC)
Collaborators: Newfangled Brew Works and Tattered Flag
Style: Stout – American
ABV: 5.56%
IBU: No
Untappd Write-Up: Vet Collab Stout with Newfangled and Tattered Flag

Fast forward through a lot of the review, to just my thoughts on the taste (if you want to read more, check out the other article, its far more in-depth):

” Taste is what really drives this. It is immediately amazing. Wonderful flavor profile, wonderful mouth feel, wonderful taste, wonderful notes and characteristics, and …. wonderful any other cliche catch-all terms that you want to use. Its sweet, its malty, its caramel, its dark, its heavy, its low key and not boozy, and only a 5.56% ABV (get it… … …you know… since the name is 556… they made sure to work the OG and sugars to make it 5.56% ABV). This all combines perfectly and into one wonderful stout. A perfect cold weather stout, a perfect warm weather stout, a perfect all year round stout. But more importantly, a perfect Veteran’s Day stout. “

Some other stouts we’ve reviewed are: S’Mores LazaRIS, Walkers Station Stout, Vanilla Ice Cream Stout, Salted Caramel Moo Hoo, and Irish Table.

My Untappd Rating: ****.75
Global Untappd Rating: 4.1 (as of 11.14.19; on the previous article, there wasn’t enough ratings yet to give it a global rating).

(I will point out that the 556 Stout was my absolute favorite of the flight. And if I had to rank my flight of 5, it would go like this:

1. 556 Stout
2. Tattered Dreamz
3. Seven.Point.Six.Two (7.62) IPA
4. Twin Mount .50
5. Government Overspending

Thats not to say any of the lower ordered ones were bad, just how this flight went. And considering my ratings for them, you can see that it was an amazing flight!)

Well, I’m shooting a buzzer beater with this one. Finishing this up right now its 11:40. So just barely getting this to print (or to screen) before the deadline and maintaining my blog post per day. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little bit smoother and I get my post up sooner. I am also going to be doing more work / editing on this in the morning. So if you read it now, and then re-read it around 9AM, there will be some edits, links added in, and other things. I’ll note them here at the ending in an “UPDATE: EDIT” section.

Thanks for reading everyone. Thanks for getting us to 100 blog posts. And thanks for getting us to 80 Twitter Followers and 102 FaceBook followers. We appreciate each and every one of you!

UPDATE / EDIT: Ok, so starting at 6AM when I woke up… well… ok… 630AM after I watched The Mandalorian’s newest episode…. I went through and linked up things to their correct places. This should look better. No content changes, just cosmetic changes. Last night I was pretty tired and feeling kinda lazy to do a lot of the HTML / inside / behind the scenes work of the blog, and just posted up the writing side of it. Now it looks more accurate. Sorry for those who read the original version and didn’t see the links. (Not a huge change made.)

Also, just to reiterate we are on the Top 100 Best Beer Blogs currently sitting at #11. We debuted at #137 and second week went to #11 and have sat there ever since. Would be great to gain some momentum and move up! Be sure to check out the site, and click back to us, not sure if it helps, but it certainly can’t hurt anyway.

We’re making a lot of big strides here at The Beer Thrillers. We just hit 100+ posts, 100+ followers on Facebook, and 80+ Twitter followers. Coming in with the new year we are looking to move over to a full blog status, adding a home brewer to our writing staff, and possibly one or two more writers to our staff. Lots and lots of content for lots and lots of people to read, so make sure to like, subscribe, follow, and do all the fun stuff so you can see all our hard work! We appreciate you checking us out, and thanks for making all of this hard work so much fun!

Cheers All!

-B. Kline