Memorial Day - The Beer Thrillers

Rubber Soul Brewing to Open New Taproom Saturday

B. Kline — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 15:18:30 +0000

Rubber Soul Taproom Exterior (photo courtesy of Rubber Soul Brewing)

Rubber Soul Brewing to Open New Taproom Saturday

This Saturday – June 22nd, 2024, Rubber Soul Brewing is set to open their brand new taproom on North Hanover Street, in Hummelstown PA.

After quite a while building the brand new building (and not without some town controversy) the opening is right around the corner. The new taproom will also host their brewery in the lower level (visible from the giant parking lot). Their original location will now just be a full restaurant and taproom. (See: A Sneak Peek at Rubber Soul Brewery.)

Original Location

Rubber Soul Brewing was originally intending to open their first location in Hummelstown around March of 2020, but with the pandemic, things got pushed back, and they finally held their grand opening in October of 2020. Their current location is in the old Hummelstown Police and Borough Building, located at 136 S Hanover St, Hummelstown, PA 17036.

The current plan for the original location is that they have removed the brewing production from the location to their new brewery facility and taproom, and extending the seating and restaurant.

New Location

Rubber Soul Brewing’s New Taproom Interior (photo courtesy of Rubber Soul Brewing)

The new location is located at 17 N Hanover St, Hummelstown, PA 17036, just 0.3 miles north of their current taproom (on the same street). The new facility took over an old warehouse that formerly sat on the property, as well as Maritza’s House of Style, which they had removed for extra parking. The new taproom has their brewing facility on the lower level, and the upper level features a deck and patio area that faces the 7-11 across the street and some abandoned buildings / businesses.

Hummelstown is currently in the midst of a big tourism push, including the mayor, the governor, and other officials and board members (some of which are involved with Rubber Soul Brewing). At a town meeting where they got permission to bulldoze the Maritza House of Style (despite having full ownership technically as per law at the time), Rubber Soul Brewing stated that their parking lot would be usable by the public for events in town including the parades, carnivals, as well as parking for other Main Street square activities (2nd Friday’s, Memorial Day, etc.)

Another interior shot of the new Rubber Soul Brewing taproom (photo courtesy of Rubber Soul Brewing)

Opening on Saturday – June 22nd, 2024

Rubber Soul Brewing’s Promotional Piece for their Grand Opening

The grand opening for the new taproom and facility will be on Saturday, June 22nd, 2024.

Get ready to tap into the excitement with us at Rubber S𝗢ul’s brand new Tap Room opening weekend! We are so excited to share our newest space with the community – Stay tuned for our upcoming summer hours

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱:

𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆: 𝟰-𝟭𝟬𝗽𝗺

𝗪𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗪𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀

𝗠𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗴𝘇

𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆: 𝟯-𝟵𝗽𝗺

𝗥𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗶𝗻’ 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘆𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗕𝗕𝗤

𝟮𝟭 𝗡 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘁 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗹𝘀𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻, 𝗣𝗮 𝟭𝟳𝟬𝟯𝟲

Come check out the new space & grab a brew with us in celebration this weekend!

#RubberSoulBrewing #NewTapRoom #RSBTapRoom #HummelstownPa #CentralPa #OpeningWeekend #RubberSoulBeer #WeekendPlans #CelebrationTime

Rubber Soul Brewing Company – Facebook Post

A quick map from their current location to their new location: From Rubber Soul Brewery to Rubber Soul Brewing Company’s New Taproom. Their current location is still not listed on Google Maps. The old warehouse which was removed was listed as 17 North Hanover Street. As per their Facebook post their brewery’s address will be “21 North Hanover Street”.

Rubber Soul Brewing Company was originally a brewery located in Salisbury Maryland. They were bought and are now owned by Ghost Brewing LLC. They were bought whole-stock, meaning the equipment, recipes, and social media passcodes and usage were all part of their purchase.

More Information on Rubber Soul

The following comes via Untappd.

They are listed as a brew pub from Hummelstown, PA. They have 123 unique beers and over 51,000 ratings, with a global average rating of 3.77 (as of 6.21.24). Their Untappd description reads: “We are pumping the air back into the tires of Rubber Soul Brewing Company. New location, new owners, new (and familiar) beer…same old sOul! In this world of instant gratification, superficial “likes” and followers instead of friends, we think it’s more important than ever to find your sOul. See, more and more often, people are so focused on doing what’s ‘right’ by someone else’s standards, obsessed with how other view them that they forget who they are. They give and give and give, follow all of the rules and do all of the ‘right’ things, until one day they wake up and realize their empty. Spend 5 minutes on social media and you will see countless bright pictures of smiling faces, but how many of us are genuinely satisfied? We’re talking deep, within your sOul, fire blazing, satisfied. At Rubber Soul, our mission is to refuel each and every sOul that walks through our doors. Our craft beer and local vibe is the end result of people who decided to just go for it and follow their passion, regardless of the opinion of others. We look forward to welcoming you to our brewery. No judgements. No impossible standards. #NoFilter. All that we require is that you do a little sOul searching.”

You can find them on these social media platforms:

Brewery News

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4 Great American Craft Beer Variety Packs For Memorial Day

B. Kline — Mon, 27 May 2024 12:47:09 +0000

Troegs Brewing Summer of Sunshine Variety Pack
(photo courtesy of Troegs Brewing)

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a special occasion when America pauses to honor the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives in service to our Armed Forces.

It also signifies the unofficial beginning of summer, a season for cookouts and gatherings with friends and family over food and drinks. To make these celebrations even better, you’re going to need beer. Here are some fantastic new craft beer variety packs that are making buying in bulk exciting again!

Variety Packs

Perfect for Memorial Day picnics, get togethers, and grilling hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill – variety packs are a perfect pick-up item to grab at your local brewery (or grocery store or beverage distributor) and bring to that shindig.

Craft beer variety packs have become increasingly popular among beer enthusiasts and casual drinkers alike. These packs offer a selection of different beers from a single brewery, providing an excellent way to explore a range of flavors and styles without committing to a full six-pack of one type. For newcomers to the craft beer scene, variety packs serve as a gateway to discovering personal preferences, whether it be hoppy IPAs, rich stouts, or refreshing pilsners. This diversity within a single purchase can turn any beer tasting into a mini-adventure, perfect for gatherings and parties.

Beyond the sheer enjoyment of diverse flavors, craft beer variety packs also showcase the creativity and skill of the brewers. Many breweries use these packs to highlight seasonal or limited-edition brews alongside their core offerings. This not only gives drinkers a chance to taste unique and experimental beers but also helps breweries gain feedback on new recipes. The inclusion of special and sometimes exclusive beers in these packs can drive excitement and anticipation among craft beer fans, making the act of unboxing and sampling each beer a thrilling experience.

Additionally, craft beer variety packs are an economical choice for those looking to stock up for events or simply fill their fridge. Buying in bulk often comes with cost savings compared to purchasing individual packs of different beers. Moreover, these packs are convenient, offering an all-in-one solution for catering to diverse tastes within a group. Whether for a casual barbecue, a festive celebration, or a quiet night of beer tasting, craft beer variety packs provide a versatile and appealing option that enhances the enjoyment of high-quality, artisanal beers.

Summer of Sunshine

Troegs Brewing Summer of Sunshine Variety Pack

Hershey, Pennsylvania-based Tröegs Independent Brewing is embracing summer with a new variety 15-pack that includes a beloved year-round classic and four exclusive beers available only in the Summer of Sunshine Variety 15-Pack.

Here’s how the brewery describes the contents:

Sunshine Pilsner (4.5% ABV) – This award-winning American craft pilsner features a complex balance of two-row barley, zesty Saaz hops, and lager yeast. Secondary fermentation creates natural carbonation, delivering soft notes of fresh-cut straw and flowering herbs.
Sunshine Salt + Lime Lager (4.3% ABV) – This bright and crisp lager offers a zesty hint of lime and a touch of salt, perfect for transporting you to the shore. Exclusive to the Summer of Sunshine Variety Pack, it’s the ideal beach beer.
Summer’s Here Lager (4.2% ABV) – Made with pilsner malt and flaked rice, this exclusive lager employs krausening for a crisp finish and subtle fruity esters. Dry-hopped with Citra and Saaz, it showcases notes of bright citrus, lemon rind, and flowering herbs in a pale white-gold brew.
Leisure Cruise Raspberry Wheat (4.7% ABV) – This Raspberry Wheat Ale is a classic lighter-bodied beer with big flavor. Real raspberries added after fermentation ensure bright pops of fruit are front and center.
Perpetual Haze (7.5% ABV) – Combining the clean, crisp bitterness of a West Coast IPA with the softness of a hazy, this beer features pale malts for underlying complexity. Raw wheat, London 3 yeast, and vigorous dry-hopping create a haze that cradles a citrusy hop blend, with Citra and Cashmere unlocking juicy notes of orange, passionfruit, and nectarine.

Perpetual Exploration Variety Pack Volume 2

Perpetual Exploration Volume 2

If IPAs are your thing, the Tröegs Perpetual Exploration Variety Pack Volume 2 offers a fantastic selection of the brewery’s finest India Pale Ales, including:

Tröegs Perpetual IPA (7.5% ABV) – This Imperial Pale Ale is perpetually cycled using the brewery’s HopBack vessel and dry-hopping technology, creating a robust beer that can withstand the season’s cooling temperatures.
Tröegs Graffiti Highway (6% ABV) – This India Pale Ale features bright citrus and tropical fruit notes. Like many of Tröegs’ beers, this IPA began as a series of test batches in the brewery’s Research & Development brewhouse, known as the Scratch Lab.
Tröegs Field Study (6.2% ABV) – A slightly hazy IPA with vibrant grapefruit, mango, pear, and melon notes, it evolved from the brewery’s small-batch, experimental Scratch Series.
Tröegs LolliHop (8.2% ABV) – This Imperial IPA boasts a slightly hazy character with bright notes of pear, citrus, and a hint of melon, built on a sturdy foundation of Pennsylvania-grown Rustic pale malt.

Some of the Troegs best summer time IPAs all in one package. Perfect for the unofficial kick off to the summer. Troegs Brewing is open Memorial Day – 11:30 AM to 9:00 PM.

Dogfish Head Off Centered Variety Pack

Milton, Delaware-based Dogfish Head’s Variety Pack features two fan-favorites, 60 Minute IPA and Slightly Mighty, along with the new Tasty Traveler Lager, and the Delaware-centric Blue Hen Pilsner, a beer developed at its small-batch brewpub in Rehoboth.

60 Minute IPA (6.0% ABV) – This IPA is continually hopped for 60 minutes with a boatload of intense Northwest hops. The result is a brew that is abundantly hoppy without being overly bitter, showcasing bold citrusy and grassy hop flavors.
Slightly Mighty (4.9% ABV) – The top-selling lo-cal IPA in America, Slightly Mighty is a full-flavored IPA with just 95 calories per can. Brewed with a hint of monk fruit for added body and complexity, it delivers tropical notes of pineapple, coconut, mango, and citrus while being light in calories and carbohydrates.
Tasty Traveler Lager (5% ABV) – Making its debut, Tasty Traveler is a crisp, refreshing lager brewed with Oaxacan green corn, Baja Salicornia, sea salt, and Mexican lime juice, offering a unique and invigorating flavor profile.
Blue Hen Pilsner (4.8% ABV) – This crisp and refreshing pilsner is brewed with just four ingredients: water, yeast, earthy Saaz hops, and Delaware-grown and malted barley. The label pays homage to Dogfish Head’s home state, featuring the Delaware state bird and colors reminiscent of the Delaware state flag.

Widmer Brothers Hefe Variety Pack

Portland, Oregon-based Widmer Brothers Brewing is celebrating Memorial Day Weekend with a new variety 12-pack that highlights their renowned American Wheat Beer style. The Widmer Brothers’ Hefe Variety Pack includes their flagship Hefeweizen along with several unique wheat ale variations.

Here’s what’s inside:

Hefe (4.9% ABV) – First brewed in 1986, Hefe was a groundbreaking creation for the Widmer Brothers. With its floral citrus notes, naturally cloudy body, and refreshing finish, Hefe was unlike anything they had ever tasted. This golden, cloudy brew became an international staple of craft brewing, known as America’s Original Hefeweizen.
Imperial Hefe (8.0% ABV) – A bolder version of the original American Hefeweizen, Imperial Hefe features a high ABV of 8.0% and prominent tropical hop notes. This beer exemplifies balance, offering a bold wheat flavor while remaining smooth, delicious, and elegant.
Widberry Hefe (4.9% ABV) – Infused with the sweet and juicy flavors of blackberries, Widberry Hefe combines these luscious berries with their signature wheat beer, capturing the essence of summer in a can. Refreshingly smooth and fruity, it offers a unique drinking experience.
Apricot Hefe (4.9% ABV) – Originally introduced as Velvet Summer, the brewery’s summer seasonal in 2023, this fan-favorite is now available year-round in the variety pack. Brewed with sun-kissed apricots, Apricot Hefe delivers a refreshingly fruity, bright, and juicy flavor profile perfect for any season.

Purchasing

Each of the variety packs can be bought at their respective breweries (Troegs Brewing in Hershey, PA; Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware and Rehobeth Beach, Delaware; and Widmer Brothers in Portland, Oregon). As well as the Dogfish Head and Troegs Brewing variety packs are in their full distribution footprints (look for it in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Washington DC, and surrounding areas). The Widmer Brothers Variety Pack is located throughout their distribution footprint in the upper Northwest Corner of the United States. As well as in select stores throughout the country.

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.

MAPS OF BREWERIES

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

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Beer Review: Social Distancing (Tattered Flag, Abomination Brewing, and Pilger Ruh Brewing)

BKline — Tue, 26 May 2020 00:00:38 +0000

Social Distancing by Tattered Flag, Abomination Brewing, and Pilger Ruh Brewing

Friday, as you guys have read, I was lucky enough to help out at Tattered Flag’s canning run for their collaboration effort with Abomination Brewing and Pilger Ruh Brewing for their version of Social Distancing. Abomination Brewing has set this collaboration up, and they have done it with a few varied other breweries (notable ones include Ever Grain Brewing and Breaker Brewing).

Abomination Brewing’s press release on the beer:

“The Beer industry has always relied on community, now more than ever. And since we can’t drink a beer together, we’ll BREW a beer together, but responsibly apart, to get us through these hard times. Social Distancing is a massive collaboration with some of our favorite folks in the industry! Each collaborating brewery will be brewing up their own unique version of this DDH DIPA, so trust us, you’re going to want to try them all! We will be updating the list below as we announce collaborating breweries!” (Abomination Brewing – Social Distancing)

A full list of participating breweries include:

Saints Row Brewing
Kinsmen Brewing
Hoof Hearted Brewing
The North Brewery
Breaker Brewing
Ever Grain Brewing Co.
Pilger Ruh Brewing
Ten7 Brewing Company
Rotunda Brewing Company
Tattered Flag
Front Porch Brewing
Icarus Brewing
Bolero Snort
Lost Tavern Brewing

Its quite a hefty list. Each beer brewed is a collaboration, all with Abomination Brewing as the genesis. For example; Rotunda Brewing is a collaboration with them and Abomination Brewing. Ever Grain Brewing is them and Abomination Brewing; Breaker is them and Abomination Brewing, and the one I will be reviewing here today – Tattered Flag’s – is a collaboration with Tattered Flag, Abomination Brewing, and the guys at Pilger Ruh Brewing.

So grab a chair, sit six feet away, grab a glass and a Social Distancing, and lets check this bad boy out!

Canning Day at Tattered Flag (5.22.20)

Firstly, lets look at the breweries involved – Tattered Flag, Abomination Brewing, and Pilger Ruh Brewing. For many readers, Tattered Flag will be very recognizable, especially on this blog as I’ve reviewed several beers from them (Tattered Soul, You Hoppin On Me?, Tattered Dreamz, Member Berry, Wasted Away Again, Inexplicably Juicy, Should Have Put Him in Custardy, Pink Guava, Boulangerie Stout, and lastly another collaboration involving Pilger Ruh Brewing and Abomination Brewing [as well as three other breweries – Wolf Brewing, Rotunda Brewing Company, and Snitz Creek Brewing] – Abbra Collabra Six-Way Banana Milkshake IPA).

So, astute readers of the blog should recognize Pilger Ruh and Abomination Brewing as well. From the various reviews as well as event coverage I’ve done (like Ffej of July, and different brewfests). Tattered Flag and Pilger Ruh have ‘hooked up’ several times over the recent years, and each time has resulted in a homerun, and this certainly is no different.

For some background information all the same:

Pilger Ruh Brewing – Nano Brewery, 63 unique beers, a global average rating of 4.03 (as of 5.25.20). Untappd Description: Future nano brewery coming to Schuylkill County PA!
Abomination Brewing – Contract Brewery, 133 unique beers, a global average rating of 3.94 (as of 5.25.20). Untappd Description: Nomadic brewers specializing in out of this world experimental ales. #beermonster.
Tattered Flag – Micro Brewery, 416 unique beers, a global average rating of 3.79 (as of 5.25.20). Untappd Description: (blank).

Social Distancing Canning Run

So we canned this just Friday; 5.22.20 at the Tattered Flag brewery. Have no fear, we all maintained social distancing and practiced safety and precautions given everything going on. Justin as head brewer for Tattered Flag supervised the canning and the guys from Pilger Ruh Brewing (Tyler and Conlan Budwash, and Anthony Deppen) were on hand as well. As well as myself and two other volunteers. The canning run went smoothly, very few low-fills and no disasters (like a few times in the past). Starting at 10AM and ending around 1:30PM, not a bad, quick, easy, smooth canning day. I got to hang out with the guys, drink a few (…ok three) of the Social Distancing beers, as well as sample the Pineapple Upside Down Cake (Custardy series), and try out the Breaker Brewing and Ever Grain Brewing Co’s variants of the Social Distancing beer.

I figured for the review though, getting to have this beer with family on Memorial Day (again, social distancing was performed, and all people mostly quarantined together, and all in good health, as well as only an attendance of 7 people counting little ones), this would be the perfect, appropriate time to review the beer. So without further adieu, lets review!

Petunia Pig loves Social Distancing

Beer: Social Distancing
Brewery: Tattered Flag
Collaborators: Pilger Ruh Brewing and Abomination Brewing
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double New England
ABV: 8%
IBU: (none listed)
Untappd Description: Social distancing is our newest collab hosted by Abomination Brewing co and brewed in our facility with Pilger Ruh Brewing Co. With a base of 2-row, wheat, and oats each brewery put a spin on this collab by selecting different hop varieties. Our version was whirlpooled with Motueka, fermented with Kviek Voss, then slammed with a Citra and Strata dry hop for notes of mango, fresh berry, bright citrus, and gooseberry. Please enjoy no less than 6′ from your drinking buddy!

Canning day the whole brewery smelled delicious, like walking into a hop filled bakery. And cracking this beer just three days later retained that same smell. Strong juicy New England style hoppy deliciousness as soon as the tab cracked and the can opened. Very strong, citrus, floral and fruity notes, hint of peach and mango especially out of the fruit.

Appearance is very pretty, as my dad even noted “looks like you have lemonade and mixed a little bit of orange juice in it… boy” (…….thats a direct quote to. Also after he admonished me for using Petunia Pig instead of the Sylvester Cat pint glass too. He stands by his statement that Petunia wouldn’t drink but that Sylvester was a lush.) He is pretty right about the appearance; it is a lighter orange juice coloring. Typical for a New England IPA, its unfiltered, its juicy, its dank, its hazy (or as the cool kids would say “hazy AF”…. no clue what the A and the F stand for…). There is floaters but nothing crazy snow-globe like. It did manage to turn Petunia’s eyes an evil Sith Lord like yellow / orange.

Taste is genuinely juicy delicious. No hop bite, even the day of canning there was no ‘green-ness’ to it and hop bitterness. This is just a juicy, fluid, smooth beer. Immediate notes of peach, mango, floral, juicy, citrus hops; smaller notes of berry flavors like fresh picked mixture of blackberry, raspberry, and gooseberries. There is a floral note to the hops as well, and just a bit of an underlying wheat and oat tasting to it. The dry-hopping really brings out the bright and juicy hop notes, and keeps the bitterness down especially. No strong hop bite makes this extraordinarily smooth and juice like drink. It also masks the 8% making this feel a lot lighter and airy. With the small foamy pillowy head, you definitely get a vibe of lightness and airyness from this, just a gentle nice summer drink. Perfect for parties, or by the pool, or hanging out…. while being six feet (minimum) apart from friends. Made for a wonderful Memorial Day weekend beer (had a few the night before and then one at the party), also made for a fantastic post-7 mile hike at Gifford Pinchot beer as well Saturday night. This is definitely a fantastic and easy juicy beer.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.16 (as of 5.25.20)

Hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday I’ll wrap up Module Ten in our beer education series (which is the last module), and we’ll have that all finished. Also, make sure to check out the canning article from my day volunteering and helping the canning run for this wonderful beer. Thank you everyone for checking us out, make sure to like, subscribe, follow, share, etc, etc, etc, etc. We here at The Beer Thrillers greatly appreciate it!

Also, make sure your staying healthy out there, make sure to drink plenty of juice (wink wink nudge nudge) and stay six feet apart (…social distancing one might say…). Enjoy your Memorial Weekend, and remember why we celebrate it. Why you would have the day off (even if you weren’t furloughed like I am), and respect and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Cheers everyone! Happy Memorial Day, happy beer, and see you guys once this is all behind us! We’re getting there, almost out of the woods!

-B. Kline

Beer Review: Black & Blue Tastee (The Veil Brewing Co.)

BKline — Tue, 28 May 2019 01:00:32 +0000

We all have that one beer we find in the back of the fridge from months ago… and we all know we can’t let it go to waste, so we drink it, and sometimes we end up pleasantly surprised, and other times
not.

Looking in my fridge after a long day of work on Memorial Day while everyone else was out picnicking and enjoying a beautiful sunny day, I was thrown all over the world in the casino working numerous different games, getting yelled at by numerous different types of guests, and just needing something to drink, like a usual night after work. This time instead of grabbing something new and familiar from the front of the beer fridge I decided to see what all might be lurking in the back of the fridge, and to my surprise, I found this.

I had traded/bought a four pack of this straight from The Veil Brewing Company over a year ago (according to my stats, my first time having it was on 2.23.18, and this is currently now 5.24.19). So this is definitely going into the “science experiment” beer drinking category. And have no fears as a review, this is going to be based on the beer when I had it the original time with my original notes on it, as well as how it is *NOW*.

Black and Blue Tastee from 2.23.18, in comparison to the above taken on 5.24.19

These were gushers when first released. Meant to be drank pretty much the day of. And even then there typically was still fermentation in the can and a release when poured the day of/after/soon-after.

The first time I had this, I had it 3 days after its canning release, and the fermentation in can wasn’t too extensive, and I had kept it cold (after receiving it cold) so as not to let it warm and allow the yeast to do more work inside the can. Even still, there was a bit of foaming and loss, but nothing horrific and nothing more than a good sip’s worth.

So diving into the beer, we have:

Beer: Black & Blue Tastee

Brewery: The Veil Brewing Co.

Style: Sour – Ale

ABV: 5.5%

IBU: No IBU

Untappd Write-Up: Tastees are kettle sour ales clocking in at 5.5%. We add a ton of lactose to these and brew them intentionally to be fuller bodied to try and replicate a fruit smoothie. We then select two different fruits and bomb them out in secondary fermentation at just shy of double fruited goses levels of fruit. For the third fruit blend in this series, we decided to use Blackberry and Blueberry. This one is literally like an adult fruit smoothie.Tastes like grandma’s blueberry pie filling with some acidity to it.

If replicating a smoothie was the goal, it was accomplished with 100% accuracy. For those who do that dreaded “work out” stuff and drink smoothies and all kind of muscle-building and dieting concoctions that require blenders can attest to, this is exactly what the pour looked like right out of the can after the foaming settled. Likewise, that’s how it tasted, a sour version of a blackberry and blueberry fruit smoothie with just a hint of alcohol in it, enough to give you the slightest buzz after a full-drink.

For those with lactose intolerance (your gracious reviewer included) this is definitely loaded with lactose and will result in the ‘results’ therein. The sour of the beer is never complete full on pucksucker but it definitely has that sour flavor and the slight bitterness to it that comes with the kettle souring process.

The true hero of the beer though is the blackberry and blueberry base. They are a perfect combination, especially for a sour, and even moreso for one that is to be an “adult smoothie”. Always been a huge fan of blackberry and blueberry flavors, in beer, in food, in pretty much everything, and the two work so well together. Especially with the slight acidity of the kettle souring that really brings out the flavors of the two berries.

So, now onto the “science experiment” portion of drinking a beer 1+ year old that was potentially a “fermentation bomb” only a week old. …Well, it definitely continued stayed that way. It obviously hit some point where it stopped fermenting, and being left cold in a fridge for this entire time it never got to the true temperatures needed to really make the yeast do what it does, but it was much more of a ‘bomb’ than when I originally had the first three. I would say roughly 45-55% of the beer was lost to foam and carbonation and overflowing issues (thus why I opened it in the backyard and far away from anything I didn’t want stained purplish).

As for the aroma and colorization and other visuals it held the same as it did in it’s release.

The taste was still spot on to what I remembered, though more sour now with the year on it, and more acidic. It went from being tart to full sour and pucksucker, but no bad aftertaste that “older” beers sometimes get.

The year of sitting in the fridge didn’t harm it or really make it worse and it was still pretty much the same beer as I originally had a year plus ago.

My Untappd rating: ****.75

Global Untappd rating: 4.3 (as of 5.27.19)

-B. Kline

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