Wandering Haze: 6.5 – Taking another chance on Hazy IPAs to see if there’s a trend, and the answer is yes – Hazy IPAs are the way forward for the IPA type of beer. (Okay Milk IPAs too). There’s hops and bitterness, but there’s also a healthy amount of citrus and it’s incredibly pleasant to drink.
Price Average: $10 for 4-Pack 16oz cans
Website: https://www.ciscobrewers.com/
As we inch closer to Christmas expect the reviews to have more of a whiskey bent, simply by nature of gifts, although we do have something truly special for xmas later this month that’s not a whiskey. Here we have a gift we got ourselves as it’s been a while since there’s been an Irish Whiskey on the site. Thankfully this is a gift well received, and despite it’s very brash design, be assured it’s not nearly as brash in the glass having been calmed with spices and honey.
Black Cherry Sour: 4.0 – So last week we reviewed the Blueberry sour, but in real time this was sampled roughly an hour after it. The prevailing theory is however, what the hell difference is there? The color is certainly changed, but the taste – it’s so subtle a change to be non-existent. Just another mediocre sour that has as much black cherry flavor as a La Croix.
Price Average: $20 for 12oz 8-pack
Website: https://smuttynose.com/
Sometimes it’s been a hell of a week so you decide – fuck it, let’s splurge and buy an over 80 dollar bourbon just to feel things. However while for the most part Scotches are fairly stable at that price range, with bourbon you really are making a shot in the dark. All to often everything is priced wildly with some things being far less or too much with no barometer to help you. What then of this expression with it’s barrel shaped bottle and Wegmans pedigree? (Yes because of the single barrel labeling this actually says Wegmans on it which is hilarious) Oh right, the result – well it’s mixed.
Blueberry Sour: 4.5 – It barely even tastes like blueberry. Sure it’s clearly a sour, and the lingering aftertaste of cereal is certainly the low point. However the main problem is there’s no high points. It’s not crazy or wild or delicious – just inoffensive.
Price Average: $20 for 12oz 8-pack
Website: https://smuttynose.com/
It’s a bit unfortunate when something doesn’t taste like it smells. This comes up often in spiced rums smelling like a delicious bevy of spices only to taste like sugar – but sadly it’s true here as well. On the whole a tequila that has some smoky aspects to it without it being an Anejo and mellowed out sounds enticing. However the result here is a more on the palm sugary side and is above all – middle of the road. Mixed or straight it simply just does nothing great.
Caaaabulous: 3.5 – We don’t normally rate/describe/care about color like many other sites and reviews do because – well who really gives a fuck what shade of reddish brown it is? However it’s inescapable here – this shit is red, like blood wine dark red. Given it’s a wine aged sour that makes 1000% amount of sense, but damn. As far as taste goes, it is very much a sour beer with some wine flavor. However there’s two problems. The first is the lingering aftertaste of cereal which isn’t great. The second is you’d expect the wine to add sweetness here even if it is Cabernet – but it’s all dry. The result is something you wouldn’t mind a small tipple of, but really not much more.
Price Average: $10 for 32oz Crowler
Website: https://wormtownbrewery.com/
Ahh some nice Highland scotch, not a peat monster or too light and fruity – sounds great, and there’s the sherry cask to rain our parade. The problem is however how hard it is to tell if such casking is actually the best parts of this whisky. Overall it’s not great, but at it’s best it’s the fruity aspects that make it work in at least a few categories, while doing awful to mediocre in the rest.
Kriek Mythology: 8.0 – It’s been a good decent while since a sour actually knocked us on our ass, recently it’s been awash of subpar and mediocre outings. Everything just having a hint of tartness, and sadly very little funk. It’s not too much a surprise that the skunkworks of Jack’s Abby in Springdale did well here. Their past outings were a mix, but down to the barrel. As for this? Well you are gonna have to like cherries friend, but it is shockingly tart, incredibly refreshing, and fruity as well as funky. When you ask for a sour you are asking for some wild shit, and this fits the bill.
Price Average: $15 for 500ml
Website: https://springdalebeer.com/
