Sabro - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com Central PA beer enthusiasts and beer bloggers. Homebrewers, brewery workers, and all around beer lovers. Tue, 23 Apr 2024 04:45:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://i0.wp.com/thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cropped-The-Beer-Thrillers-December-2022-Logo.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Sabro - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com 32 32 187558884 Tröegs Hop Cyclone Releases Today https://thebeerthrillers.com/2023/08/21/troegs-hop-cyclone-releases-today/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=troegs-hop-cyclone-releases-today Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:27:05 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=12376
Hop Cyclone (photo courtesy of Troegs Brewing)

Hop Cyclone is Storming In

Hurricane Helms

Move out of the way Field Study… move out of the way Hopora…. there’s a Hurricane … err… I mean Cyclone… Coming through!

The next IPA in the ‘hop cycle’ series releases today – Hop Cyclone. Hop Cyclone takes its name from the dry hopping system that Troegs Brewing has been using for over a decade. This custom piece of brewing equipment creates a whirlpool (or a cyclone if you will) that circulates hops through the fermenter to ensure the hop oils hit every last drop of beer, this way it fully ensures that the entire wort is getting the essential hop oils to give it that bright, juicy, over the top taste.

Grains

The Hop Cyclone is made with pilsner malt, Vienna malt, and wheat – which gives it that hazy look – and helps prop up the hop oils which normally fall off during the fermentation process.

Hops

Possibly the most important part of the Hop Cyclone (outside of the hop cyclone device) is the hops! The hops used for Hop Cyclone are Citra, Sabro, Simcoe, and Sultana. These hops deliver notes of ripe pineapple, soft citrus, and juicy peach.

Hop Cyclone Artwork

The art for the Hop Cyclone was designed by Devin Watson; a former winner of the Art of Troegs.

For the Hop Cyclone label, I imagined these groovy 60’s hop graphics and seeing them swirl all around the can.

Devin Watson

To learn more about the Art of Troegs – visit the Troegs Website about it: Art of Troegs.

Hop Cyclone

Hop Cyclone is 9% ABV, a double New England Hazy IPA. It is available starting today – August 21st – at all Troegs distributors and local shops, as well as at the Troegs Brewery’s tap room and general store. In stores it comes in 16oz four packs.

More Troegs Independent Craft Brewing Related Articles

Looking for more Troegs in your diet? Here’s some other Troegs Independent Craft Brewing related articles we’ve written:

For More Information on Troegs Independent Craft Brewing

According to Untappd, Troegs Independent Craft Brewing is a regional brewery with 148 unique beers listed (despite them nearing scratch 500). They have nearly 2.3 Million ratings and as of 8.21.23 have a global average rating of 3.79. Their Untappd bio reads:

Founded in Pennsylvania in 1997 by brothers John and Chris Trogner, Tröegs Independent Brewing is driven by a sense of adventure and curiosity. Our brewery has been built by family, friends and kindred spirits who share a love of great beer. Together, we all make Tröegs. You might know our Perpetual IPA, the best-selling IPA in Pennsylvania. Or the dark, malty and crisp Troegenator. You may have come across such iconic beers as Nugget Nectar or Mad Elf in your beer travels. Perhaps you’ve been lucky enough to try one or two of the hundreds of experimental Scratch Series beers we’ve brewed over the years. Whether you’re already a member of our extended family or you’re just getting to know our brewery, there’s always something new to discover with Tröegs.

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Beer Review: The Pandalorian (Tattered Flag) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/11/20/beer-review-the-pandalorian-tattered-flag/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-the-pandalorian-tattered-flag Fri, 20 Nov 2020 14:36:43 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=5429 Its another Friday, and we all know what that means – another episode of The Mandalorian. So of course, I waited til today to drop this review. As soon as I heard them announce this, I had to grab a four pack of this.

First, Tattered Flag is one of my favorite local breweries, and secondly, its a Mandalorian themed beer, and thirdly…. Pandas. Seriously, what could go wrong here?

Absolutely. Nothing.

The Pandalorian by Tattered Flag

So, since I am still doing some ‘at home’ quarantining after my trip out to Indianapolis from work, yesterday I did a bit of day drinking and had to make sure this was one of the several wonderful beers I had, and as you can see, I made sure to use my new glass I got from the Vonnegut Museum and Library.

On The Beer Thrillers we have done several Mandalorian and Star Wars themed beers before, so it should be obvious to any reader of ours that I am a huge Star Wars fan. You can see our Mandalorian themed beer reviews here:

And our Star Wars themed beers here:

Space Balls themed beer:

If you use our search function on our blog and type in STAR WARS, these are some of the various articles where I mention Star Wars in them: STAR WARS on THE BEER THRILLERS.

Rotunda Brewing Company in Annville (and their brewpub in Hershey) are re-releasing their Chewbacca beer this weekend, a black IPA which I have had before. I am going to be getting a can and doing a review for that as well. (Can never have enough Star Wars themed beers to review on here, believe me. So if you know of any, or have any and would like to see me review it, contact us through the CONTACT US page.)

As you can see, like I said above, I am also using my brand new Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library glass. It has such a great quote of Vonnegut which he also used in Slaughter-House Five:

“I have this disease late at night sometimes, involving alcohol and the telephone.”

Story had it, he would drink and call people, just to basically yell something poignant and quick to them over the phone, and then slam the phone down. Not to strangers or random numbers, but to his friends and colleagues. I can certainly relate to some late night drunk texts (I think a lot of people can actually). So I see where he is coming at with this.

Alright, now that we’ve established the background for the beer and for the glass, let’s actually review this beer shall we.

The Pandalorian by Tattered Flag

Beer: The Pandalorian
Brewery: Tattered Flag
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double New England
ABV: 7.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Hazy Imperial IPA made from a blend of base malts, generous wheat addition, oats, and flaked maze bring forth a sweet backbone complimented by Sabro in the kettle and a massive Sabro Cryo dry hop. Expect sweet coconut ? up front followed by citrus lime and a sweet creamy finish.

As you can see above, this is hazy, but on the lighter, softer orange – yellow – golden scale. Not the deep heavy dank, but a lighter, softer looking hazy New England style IPA / DIPA. Justin, the head brewer for Tattered Flag does a lot of New England style IPAs (and a lot of sours) and does them all very well, making them different from each other too, which is sometimes hard to do with the style. You have some that look bright orange to golden with a very dank and heavy haze, and then you have some that are lighter softer yellow to golden like this, with some haze. There is some orange here, but I would say its mostly yellow and golden. There is a thin head to it, and great carbonation, and left nice lacing on the glass.

Aroma is a blend of hop, mainly a blend of coconut, tangerine, the fruity and citrus hop aromas. Sabro is a pretty strong hop and gives this a very strong hop presence and nose. On the nose you get coconut, tangerine, hint of cedar and mint, with some cream, some lime.

This is a very smooth and drinkable DIPA. At 7.5% its in a middle ground of ABV for IPAs and DIPAs. In comparison, Troegs Brewing’s Perpetual IPA (their flagship West Coast IPA) is a 7.5% (and right there is where the comparison between the two of these stop). 7-8% is a good middle ground area for IPAs and DIPA’s I feel. Its enough to get you to notice the ABV, but not enough to make it boozy, to heavy, or to get you too drunk. A nice general buzz is all that is needed and required. This looks and tastes similar to New England IPAs, but its not a generic New England IPA / DIPA. The Sabro hops gives it a very different taste than most New England IPAs, as Sabro isn’t really a much used hop, especially in the Cryo style. This gives The Pandalorian an interesting start with a different finish to it. It has a coconut, tangerine, citrus, taste at the beginning, but it ends on more of a zest lime, cream flavor. Overall its a silky smooth drink that is very easy to drink. There is a bit of an ending bite as you get to the bottom of the glass, but that is typical for most IPAs especially as you get closer to the finishing last sips. Despite the Sabro hops and the nose, there isn’t much of a cedar or mint flavoring that I was able to pick up on, but I did get tangerine, coconut, lime, and cream. My one friend suggested grapefruit, but I wasn’t able to pick up any grapefruit, and thats also not typically a characteristic of Sabro hops either. I very much enjoyed the smoothness of this, and the flavor profile, the aroma was on point, and the ABV was nice for a good buzz, a four pack is nice for sharing with buddies while streaming (which me and my friend did during the Konami games live stream we did on Knights of Nostalgia). This adds to the growing list of good and great New England IPAs that Tattered Flag has put out over the recent year. Definitely make sure to check this out, either for namesake or for the beer itself. Not sure how much longer the four packs will last at the brewery, so if you want the great can art be sure to pop in soon, they also have it on draft which will probably last a bit longer. This is a good smooth, tasty New England DIPA that will certainly not disappoint.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.84 (as of 11.20.20)

You can check out more beer reviews I’ve done from Tattered Flag below:

Also, Tattered Flag now does statewide shipping through their SUPPLY DROP. Make sure to take advantage of that if you live anywhere in Pennsylvania and are unable to make it to their brewery.

On Black Friday they are doing a big bottle release at their upcoming Lancaster Barrel House location. More details can be found on their Facebook page – Tattered Flag @ Facebook and Tattered Flag Barrel House @ Facebook. I will be doing an article covering that shortly as well.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, I got the pint glass from the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library. You can visit them and donate as well as order online, and if you are a big fan of Kurt Vonnegut, I highly recommend it.

You can read about my trip (in recap form) to Indianapolis and back through the following:

The Trip to Indianapolis:

My time in Indianapolis is covered specifically in the Day Four recap.

The books behind the beer in today’s blog post are: “Happy Birthday Wanda June” by Kurt Vonnegut, “Armageddon in Retrospect” by Kurt Vonnegut, and “Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron” by Alexander Freed.

Also, be sure to check out some of our other beer reviews in recent history:

Star Wars themed articles:

You can check out the tabs at the top of each page to visit our BEER REVIEWSBEER EDUCATIONTRAVELOGUES, etc. Be sure to check out all the latest beer reviews, as we’re pumping a lot out in recent time.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – FacebookTwitterInstagramYouTube, 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!

Thanks for reading everyone, please stay safe out there, I know cases are on the rise and spiking, so make sure to wash your hands, stay distant, enjoy your craft beer, and wear a mask. Cheers and May the Force Be With You!

-B. Kline

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Beer Review: Virtually Inseparable (Celestial Beerworks and Turning Point Beer) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/05/10/beer-review-virtually-inseparable-celestial-beerworks-and-turning-point-beer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-virtually-inseparable-celestial-beerworks-and-turning-point-beer Sun, 10 May 2020 19:00:24 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=3129
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

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Beer Review: Sunshine and Opportunity (Almanac Beer Company) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/02/20/beer-review-sunshine-and-opportunity-almanac-beer-company/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-sunshine-and-opportunity-almanac-beer-company Thu, 20 Feb 2020 14:20:01 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=2296
Sunshine and Opportunity (by Almanac Beer Company) was the perfect choice of beer for a gorgeous, sunny, warm, February day in Central PA. A rare opportunity for lovely sunshine had to be taken advantage of!

Imagine this: its February 19th in Central PA; its usually cold, blustery even, possibly snow on the ground or snowing, icicles usually hang from gutters and roofs and trees, nobody is outside walking their dogs, nobody is outside period – unless forced to shovel – schools might even be cancelled due to snow or bad roads, cars stay parked along the roads, plowed in by local governments snowplowers, …..this is your usual February 19th right? Not 2020. Instead, its 2PM on February 19th, 2020, in Hummelstown Pennsylvania, and my phone says its 45 degrees, sunny, with the warm rays warming me more than the 45 even suggests. There’s a slight breeze. I take a pause from my yard work and long dog walks to sit outside and enjoy a delicious beer and read some books.

My first beer from the California beer mail I did a few days prior, and my first of that batch to be reviewed for the blog. When going through the beers in the fridge looking to find one to drink on this beautiful day, the name of this one leaped out to me (for obvious reasons) and thus became the de facto first pick.

My beer mail from California

My beer mail consisted of Almanac Beer Company, The Booth Brewing, Fallen River, Sudwerk Brewing, and one Sierra Nevada can. Ironically, while sitting out and enjoying me beer and reading, my friend Dan, who had gotten me the Tree House Brewing Company beers that let me do my series (Sap, Autumn, Julius, Haze, Doppelganger, and Intemperance), texted me that he was currently in the San Diego area of California. That he had just left Belching Beaver and was wondering if I knew of any other really good breweries in the area. (I let him know about Modern Times and Pizza Port, and then used Hop Plotter [which is going away soon by the way] to locate some others.) He told me you can’t walk more than five minutes down the streets without running into a brewery there. Oh what a problem to have!

Other than just the name of this beer, the beer caught my attention for how interesting it is. Its a barrel aged, dry hopped sour. Seems like a very interesting combination to me. You don’t typically see barrel aged, sour, and dry hopped, all combined, let alone any combination therein (barrel aged sours, or dry hopped sours, or barrel aging and dry hopping), so this called out to me all the more for it.

The side of the can explaining its madness – Sunshine and Opportunity.

The picture might be hard to read, and its not listed on their Untappd profile for the beer, so I’ll re-write it here:

“This is NOT a kettle sour. This mixed-culture farmhouse ale was aged in oak barrels with pear juice. A delicate dry-hop of Citra, Sabro, and Mosaic imparts a transcendent tropical aroma. Shine on! HOPS: Citra, Sabro, Mosaic. MALT: Admiral Pale, Oats, Wheat, Aromatic.”

So as you can see, there is definitely a lot going on with this bad boy.

Almanac Beer Company is a regional brewery out of Alameda California. According to Untappd, they have 286 unique beers listed with a global rating (as of 2.20.20) of 3.98. Their description on Untappd reads: “Our motto, “Farm-to-Barrel”, means brewing beers inspired by the great brewing traditions of the world with the best in locally sourced ingredients. Almanac Beer Company was founded in 2010 by Jesse Friedman and Damian Fagan.”

Sunshine and Opportunity by Almanac Beer Company

Beer: Sunshine and Opportunity
Brewery: Almanac Beer Company
Style: Farmhouse Ale – Saison
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: None Listed
Hops: Citra, Sabro, Mosaic
Malts: Admiral Pale, Oats, Wheat, Aromatic
Untappd Write-Up: Mixed fermentation saison, aged in oak barrels and dry-hopped.

This is certainly an interesting beer. As I cracked it open, the aromatic and citrusy and summer smelling, sunshine beaming, fruity and citrusy hops burst free, the pear juice, burst free, all of these things just from cracking the can. I poured it into my Ffej of July glass, making me think about the super fun party in July and envisioning even more sunshine and great weather, it almost looked like pouring champagne. It bubbled, it was effervescent, it was bubbly and happy and excited to be poured out. Its bright yellow / orange / wheat like golden hue was bright, bubbly, looking like a cross between a pilsner, champagne, and a saison. It had a big white fluffy bubbly head, with huge interspersed and diverse bubbles. This guy was carbonated and ready to play. As I drank, it left lacing. And as I drank, it still bubbled, tickling your nose with little pops as you drank.

This is also jam packed with a variety of smells. It is definitely an aromatic beer. Your nose is getting a workout with this one. First impression of the nose is pear and citrus and sunshine hops. You get a definitive pear juice presence right off the bat, as well as the Citra, Sabro, and Mosaic dry hopping. Quick background on those three hops:

Citra: “American aroma hop Citra was created by John I. Haas, Inc. and Select Botanicals Group joint venture, the Hop Breeding Company. It was released to the brewing world in 2008. Now one of the most coveted high-impact aroma hops in the US, particularly among craft brewers, it boasts a complex lineage that includes the likes of Hallertau Mittelfrüh (father), Tettnanger (US), Brewer’s Gold and East Kent Golding.” (Hopslist)
Mosaic: “Released in 2012 by the Hop Breeding Company, LLC, Mosaic hops feature complex but clean flavor characteristics and are known for their triple-use profile encompassing bittering, flavor and aroma. They have high alpha acids but low cohumulone which makes them pleasantly hoppy, carrying flavors of mango, pine, citrus and herbs and aromas of tropical and stone fruit. Mosaic is the first daughter of Simcoe and Nugget as has been humorously referred to by some as “Citra on steroids”.” (Hopslist)
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.” (Yakima Valley Hops)

So as you can see, these three hops really impart a very fruity, citrusy, juicy hop characteristic. Especially for aroma. Full of mango, citrus, spicy herbs, tangerine, stone fruits, tropical fruits like coconut, kiwi, passionfruit, stone fruits, you get a large rang of gamut with these hops. And they work kind of like a trifecta together. On top of the complexities of the dry hoping with these hops, and the strong presence of the pear juice, you get the distinct oakyness of the barrel aged process in which this beer went through, imparting it with the characteristics and notes of oak barrels. This is a bit fainter, especially on the nose, but the oak is there, as well as some of the spices and the yeast strain notes that accompany farmhouse saisons and ales, a bit of a background funkyness that you know is trying to peak and stick its head through when nobody is looking.

Enough blabbering about appearance and smell, lets get to the fun part of beer – drinking it. Do you have socks on? You better have shoes on too then, because if you don’t, first sip is going to knock those socks right off. One sip, first sip, barely in your mouth, and you get an explosion of complexities. You get the dry hopping, you get the pear juice, you get the oak barrel aging, you get the funkyness of farmhouse ales and saisons, you get a full rich and immersive beer on that first sip. So lets try and break this down (if I can!). Breaking it down by drinking it is the best approach I think because this beer changes as you drink, and you get more of the complexities evening out into their own compartments and it gets kind of sectionalized. First as you take your sip, those bubbles get you. This is almost like drinking champagne, I immediately felt the bubbles tickling my mustache, could feel the interesting yeast right away, a combination of champagne yeast and farmhouse saison style yeast. Beyond this then, you start to really pick up the pear juice, and this is where the tartness and a bit of the sweetness of the beer comes through. You get that funky Saison taste, that deep tartness unlike sours (or kettle sours or even berliner weisse’s), you get a funky, resonating tart with pear notes. Then blammo the hops take over. You get the citrus and sunshine bright hops exploding like mortar blasts all around you, like the trailer of 1917 as the guy is running criss-cross through the battlefield and blasts are going off around him. Citra. BAM. Mosaic. BAM. Sabro. BAM. Pop. Pop. Pop. BAMMMM. You get citrus, tangerine, coconut, pineapple, mango, more pear, kiwi and passionfruit, some cedar, some pine, stone fruits like plum and apricot, all blending in the hops and exploding rapid fire around you. And finally, you are left with the oak, the oakyness of the barrels, like a lasting, impression on your tongue as the beer fades away. It adds to that funkyness, it adds to the tartness, and it really brings out the Saison and Farmhouse aspects of the beer. The beer is also only a 5.8% so there’s not even really a buzz afterwards. There is nothing cloying, or upsetting about this, nothing heavy, or too dry, the juice is there, the tart is there, its slightly thin, but not problematically. This is just all around unique, tasty, and fun to drink.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.85 (as of 2.20.20).

I am currently in the process of going back and editing a bit of some of the recent blog posts. Namely, the Loki – Wild IPA, the Valentine’s Day Beers, I Cannot Tell a Lie, and the Back to Reality. Adding some references and stuff to the beer titles and things like that. Nothing altering the actual review of the beer, but just providing some extra information about the beer, its name, cultural underpinnings of it all, etc.

As I said in my last reviews, Back to Reality and Intemperance, we are really starting to hit our stride here at The Beer Thrillers. I will be on several podcasts in the near future – Might Be Brews, Beers with Strangers, and the one with my friends So A Mexican and A Scot Walk Into a Bar…, as well as lots of writing news as well. Invites to Rubber Soul Brewing opening (or re-opening) in Hummelstown (my hometown), Liquid Noise, and an interesting e-mail about doing some writing about breweries for Visit Hershey. (This could be potentially about the brewery that might be opening at the Chocolate Town area – which will be the new entrance to Hershey Park. I don’t know for sure, but I’m eagerly awaiting this meeting with the representative to find out more and let you all know.)

We are up to 412 followers on Facebook now, which is absolutely fantastic, and 128 followers on Twitter. We are currently listed as the # 9 blog on FeedSpot’s Top 100 blogs. The blog is certainly growing, we just hit 150 total posts recently (this is post number 152). The blog has only been live since near the end of May 2019. I am very excited for the growth its gone through and its continual growth. Our friends at LetUsDrinkBeer blog are also about to have their latest review of a brewery from Georgia for us.

We are primarily a Central PA beer blog, but we are also very much more, we’re doing beer reviews of beers from all over thanks to beer mail trades as well as Tavour (J. Doncevic’s favorite), we are also hitting up a lot of beer events this year (upcoming for me will be the AC Brewfest in early April as well as Little Big Beer Fest, and J. Doncevic will be hitting the big Prototype Invitational with Rotunda Brewing. With the guys from LetUsDrinkBeer, we are reporting on stuff down in Georgia. We are also getting invites to podcasts and writing for other blogs as well as brewery openings and events too. So we are going to have no shortage of things to report on. And with the guys from Default Brewing, we’ll have more homebrewing articles in the upcoming months as well. (Fingers crossed they’ll get something posted soon.)

For those interested, the books behind the beer in this blog post are: “I Am C-3PO” by Anthony Daniels, and “Desert Wisdom” by Yushi Nomura and Henri J.M. Nouwen. You can read my reviews of books at my GoodReads page.

As always (I feel like a robot on repeat saying this), please click the follow, like, and subscribes. Enter your e-mail to get up to date news on new blog posts. Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to see posts and pictures and videos that don’t always make it onto the blog.

All of us here at The Beer Thrillers, from the writers like me and J. Doncevic and AJ Brechbiel, as well as those tangentially tied in (D. Scott, Esteban from the podcast; D. Arndt and others who have helped to contribute) we all greatly appreciate you reading.

We love to hear from you; so if you have anything at all, comments, suggestions, questions, writing tips, information, news, queries about writing for us, or queries about us writing for you, be sure to leave a comment or use the Contact Us page to send us some direct feedback. We love to from all of you! Be sure if you enjoyed reading this, to rate it and like the blog post as well (that also helps with the SEO and page algorithm on sites like Google, Bing, Dogpile, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, etc.).

Thank you everyone, and cheers, and enjoy these all too few beautiful February days!

-B. Kline

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