As we head into Week 2 of Gincember? (working title) we have some confusion – so to simplify this. New Amsterdam has decided to label both of their gins under the moniker ‘Stratusphere’ with a version that is called ‘The Original’ and this ‘London Dry Gin’. A London Dry typically involves a slightly different process, and a higher proof. There is something slightly odd afoot though because at first blush this seems more like the old version (with a bit of kick)
DDH Light Speed: 6.0 – That bit of citrus really helps a lot here because this is one hoppy bastard. It thankfully leaves with an aftertaste of said orange citrus in your nostrils, but ther overall bitterness from the double dry hopping is a step too far from it being great.
Price Average: $14 for 4-pack cans
Website: https://www.tgbrews.com/
Le Seul XVII: 7.5 – Pineapple and watermelon – well sure, but don’t for a second think this wild ale will be like other beers that state things like pineapple and/or watermelon on the bottle. This thing is bonkers tasting, and sure you certainly get more pineapple like it’s coming out of your ears, but this truly tastes unlike any other ‘fruit + beer’ combo than you’ve likely had, and for those that care for it – a dream.
Price Average: $14
Website: https://www.uneannee.com/
So as we get close to Christmas time we decided to do some further reflections on gin, so this will be week 1/3 in gin reviews, and the spirit of the season has graced us with something excellent. Beyond that and we truly mean this as well – as good as this is – there is another. (#StarWarsTLShype)
Green Zebra: 6.0 – It’s overall a nice sour and while it’s got some juice, some tart, and overall good flavor with nothing too crazy going on; it lacks a distinctive character to the sour. It tastes like it’s been blended or even watered down a bit too much.
Price Average: $10 for 6-pack cans
Website: https://foundersbrewing.com
This was brought up in the latest episode of Whiskeypedia (a podcast about drinking whiskey and Wikipedia), and as mentioned there – we buy entirely random, and often to our own detriment. This whiskey irks us especially being a slight contradiction and also because it doesn’t even mix well.
Oxbow Harvest: 7.0 – We’re perfectly sure if given the same beer where one is dry-hopped and the other wet you could tell there’s something different about it. As for what exactly that is bringing to this saison though – it’s hard to say. This is mostly because by being an Oxbow saison it’s pretty freaken good, and you’re not sure if that’s typical oxbow character or specifically whatever magic wet-hopping does.
Price Average: $5
Website: https://oxbowbeer.com/
We’ve had a string of bad reviews lately, and it feels like we buried the lead sometimes. Hard pass on this vodka y’all. Anyway with that out of the way the review must go on – this is a small batch Vermont vodka, and while we’d love to sing the praises of people in the Northeast of the USA doing good honest work – they bloviate and fail to produce something of true quality and instead make something okay that costs too damn much.
