At once sweet wheat and citrus, there's a little more tartness and bitterness to this beer than makes me love it, feels a bit like a gimmick.
Grassy and bitter, which is nice, but not as clean as I’d like. What threw me off was a pretty oily, hoppy finish, along the lines of what I'd expect more in an IPL (although this wasn't as strong).
Grassy, bitter, slightly brackish, a touch sweet; would have made a great drinking Helles by itself. The smoke is woody, somewhat bittering, maybe not 100% integrated into the flavor. I liked it but it was a thinker.
Very sweet, accurate to the name. Punches you in the face with vanilla, big buttery flavor, and a cloudy, yeasty golden ale underneath, but it's all out of balance. Not to mention it's very strong, ~9% ABV, and that sneaks up on you.
Intense, sweet, definitely cherries. Could deifnitely stand to mellow out with some aging.
Nice caramel opening, clean, but overly hoppy - starts a touch dank and process to acrid bitterness, before fading back out to caramel.
Pretty much exactly what you'd expect from this flavor. A treat more than an experience.
A decent if puckery-tart mango opening, a fruity orange juice ending, and in between a flavor that is not unlike what I imagine drinking Scrubbing Bubbles brand toilet cleaner would taste like.
Lots of pith, orange citrus and high alpha bitterness that remains strong through the finish. Sticks in the throat.
Quite sweet, mellow, very pleasant. Very close to a juice.
At first I was horrified by this, but it mellowed out over time. Definitely mushroomy, buttery-then-earthy, some burnt caramel sweetness. Otherwise intense in roast and over-syrupy in a way I kind of expect from this Stillwater/Mikkeller/Evil Twin bunch. It's a strange mix of flavors and never settled into a comfortable place for me.
Pretty good, actually. A notable but appealing bitterness counters, lager-like, a piney hazy hop opening that is definitely not sweet and, in fact, almost on the savory side.
A pretty in-your-face resin bomb. I think some would like it but it's the least likely style to ever convert me.
I thought this was tasty but there was something odd about the flavor that I never quite came to terms with. Wish I could remember more.
A little intense but also maybe as enjoyable as this style will get for me. Fruit-forward, pineapple? Drying pine and a clean, slightly bitter finish.
Somehow this isn't as satisfying today. Tastes a little insipid, though the aftertaste is kind of a nice cereal flavor. I think this is better than the Smithwick's though.
Lightly sweet, cola like. Could be fizzier, maybe? Aftertaste is a bit cloying.
Definitely a strong one. Strong notes of cherry and wood, and the big bitter roasty backbone you'd expect from a Yeti. Liked it a lot.
Propolis Zephyros (2019)
Opens with some sweet florality but transitions to a moderate sourness pretty quickly. Not identifiably fruity, but you can definitely taste the hoppy overtones. Really tasty.
Comparing this to the Zephyros from the day before, this was somewhat less appealing though it is, I think, meant to have a similar flavor profile. The sourness is sharper, more unrelenting, and I don't think I got any interesting hop flavors. Maybe the elderflower in the Zephyros is what made the difference? Or maybe this was just not as well-conceived.
Can't tell how this was flavored but it passes my "not too sweet, not obviously fake" test and is quite quaffable.
Ugh. You cannot name something “Matterhorn” and be this dull. This is super unfortunate because I had even gone down to their brand new tasting room where I met the owner and talked him up and everything… only to find out that I was four months early… they were still working on opening it up to the public. So I did what I could and bought a bottle at the grocery store next door. At least I didn’t have to hide my disappointment in front of him…
Having enjoyed the Hell Quöllfrisch, I figured I’d try another beer from the same brewery, and they delivered! This one is much less musty, while maintaining a cereal base upon which some sweeter, almost fruit almost wildflower overtones mix. It’s nice.
Seems to be right at the perfect stage of aging. Fruitier, a little fizzier, just a touch more bitterness than the XXI. More toffee, more bourbon. Can definitely tell there is booze here, still.
Almost to the edge of too smoothed out, but still delicious. Light date flavors, caramel, just a hint of bitterness before dissipating to nothingness. Whatever edges were there are gone. This isn't the oldest anniversary ale I have, makes me wonder how the XIX is.
This was the most disgusting beer I've had in a while. It smells nice, lightly ginger, lemony, kind of like a Long Island iced tea. The flavor is acerbic and woody with a lot of oily ginger but no fruit or acid at all. Rooty-not-fruity. If I wanted a beer to taste like Chinese herbal medicine, I wouldn't have grown up Asian.
Smells strongly of strawberry puree, just deliciously fruity. The flavor is just a bit more tart than I was expecting, but still bright. This was delicious, and definitely lives up to Barrelworks' name.
"Musty," "sour," not sure those words from earlier logs are applicable here, but this was kind of watery and unremarkable.
Honestly i expected a little more complexity but it goes fine with my pulled pork sandwich.
Is it a blonde ale? No. Is it a refreshingly light raspberry beer? Yes.
I don't know if this went bad but this was actually quite sour, and not in an "oh, that's brett" kind of way. I'm not especially against sour IPAs but that nagging feeling that this wasn't the intended flavor profile was something I couldn't quite let go to enjoy the beer for what it was.
Smells and opens with a super-realistic Hawaiian Punch character but then kind of overdoes the sweetness; combined with the strong hops it ends up tasting rooty and artificial. Honestly, made me feel a little ill.
Juicy, and quite definitely primarily pineapple juice. IPA is kind of like the secondary personality here, though it shows up by providing a bit of dry bitterness at the end.
Very light, cola-like, maybe my palate was off balance but I could detect no roast whatsoever. Lightly fruity but not sweet. Felt like this needed a bit more "milkiness" to feel like a schwarzbier.
Slightly watery, wet prune/hay flavor. Sweet but ends clean, probably because it’s so dilute.
Light, lightly fruity with caramel, somewhat strong bitterness. Barrel is kind of a light overtone rather than a heavy weight.
Carakale Black Camel Spider (2017)
Bold and thick, the first thing you notice about this beer is that the cardamom is front and center. Lightly sweet, molassessy date flavors and coffee round it out, pretty much exactly as advertised. It's not quite as well-integrated as a top-class beer but you have to give it points for going bold with the flavors and succeeding.
Doesn't taste much like an IPA, much less a hazy one; this is lightly fruity but mostly bready, starts light and sweet but has a little bit of a yeasty, bitter backbone. Finishes clean but there's a little bit of funk to it. It doesn't smell great though, a bit pungent in a way the flavor doesn't back up.
Really can’t taste peaches*. Hazy, slightly acrid up front but ends up lightly sweet, understated and mellow. *Maybe a bit "fuzzy" at the end, maybe those are the peaches poking through?
