We also decided to hit up Aslin Brewing in Herndon for their first ever bottle release (don't get me started on why the brewery was bottling in the first place, even more so at 750mL...). Aslin is a super-hyped brewery with lines for crowlers of their "juicy & hazy" New England style IPAs. I understand why there's hype - there's a lot of beer drinkers in the northern Virginia area that have been deprived of good beer for a long time. While Bluejacket, Right Proper and 3 Stars are all doing great things, none of them are riding the IPA hype train that's taking over the country right now. Aslin is doing just that and has expanded astronomically since the first time I visited them in June.
Now, maybe it's just me, but Aslin's IPAs are murky messes with no depth beyond being "hazy." In my opinion, if you compare an Aslin IPA, you'll get a thick layer of hops and a lot of sweetness with no back-end to the palate, no softness, no mouthfeel. They're purely taking advantage of a hype trend. Not that they're bad brews, but they don't deserve the extremely high praise they're getting from NoVa beer geeks. Aslin still has a lot to learn, and I'm excited to see what they do with their new facility and expanded production.
/end Aslin rant
Side note: I won't be including Other Half's Broccoli or Blowin' Up The Spot in my ranking because I've previously had them and had little more than a sip so my friends could have more. As I really enjoy both beers and thought Broccoli was one of OH's best releases of the year, I was shocked by their reaction, they thought both smelled very boozy & like rubbing alcohol. Maybe I'm just used to that OH style?
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| The Graveyard |
A new category in the ranking this week...Plain old missed:
15. Lickinghole Creek - Supreme Leader
Curious as to why this is so highly rated and hyped. This beer had way, way too much going on (bourbon barrel aged, Mexican peepers, vanilla, cinnamon, cocoa) and was super thin. Got some good spice on the nose, but the mouth feel was off and it had no barrel character. Was surprised to learn it was aged in bourbon barrels considering how bland it was.
14. Aslin - All Eyez On Me
Aslin has been one of the hottest breweries in the Mid-Atlantic (north of Richmond) and is super hyped by DC-area people for their hazy New England style IPAs. All Eyez on Me is a collaboration by Aslin with Dominion Wine and Beer, a nice bottle shop in Falls Church, VA. It's a double IPA brewed with Waimea, Vic Secret & Amarillo hops and was limited to ~100 crowlers (selling out within the hour). Unfortunately, the crowler was canned on 11/11 so this DIPA was ~6 weeks old when I got to try it and had considerably fallen off.
13. Fonta Flora - Urban Monk
The only beers I had drank from Fonta Flora previous to this were two really nice wild ales, Need A Hug (blueberries & elderberries) and Meemaw (cherries), and they were great (even beat out Wicked Weed blueberry & cherry sours in a blind tasting). Urban Monk was disappointing. Aged on whisky soaked oak spirals, it smelled like a bit of whisky but tasted like nothing. With reports of infected bottles, glad this one wasn't. It still wasn't good though.
Just missed:
12. 3 Stars Brewing - Starsky & Dutch
I first had this beer at Galaxy Hut in Arlington last Thanksgiving and I was impressed. I was really glad to find out 3 Stars canned it and get some from my friend. The nose on this is all cocoa, has a great thicker mouth feel and is super chocolaty. Perfect non-BA dessert stout.
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| By the way, who doesn't love a good canned stout? Breweries need to do it more often! |
11. Deschutes Brewery - The Abyss (2015)
First time trying this highly acclaimed barrel aged stout. Got some bourbon barrel & a lot of molasses but not much other depth or complexity.
Top Ten:
10. Jackie O's - Oro Negro
Jackie O's continues to impress me with their stouts. This is the "worst" one I've had from them but it was still really nice, I bet the bourbon barrel version is even better.
9. Jackie O's - Bourbon Barrel Dark Apparition with Brown Sugar
Regular Dark Apparition was really good, one of the better Russian Imperial Stouts I had last year and it was the first Jackie O's beers I tried. I still rate BBA Champion Ground higher than this, but it was quite nice.
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| Didn't get too much brown sugar, but maybe it's because of having it after adjunct-heavy Oro Negro. |
8. 3 Stars Brewing / Other Half Brewing - Ricky Rosé
Ever since I learned about this collaboration last summer I wanted to try this beer. An ale aged in chardonnay barrels with blackberries sounds just lovely. It was. Very clean & tart with great blackberry - one of the best collabs Other Half has done.
7. Interboro - Mad Fat! Fluid
This might be one of the best local IPAs of 2016. I think I might slightly prefer Premiere, but this was absurdly good.
6. Cigar City Brewing - Kalevipoeg At the Gates of Hell (Rum Barrel)
Went into this beer with low expectations thinking I wouldn't enjoy it because it's a baltic porter aged in rum barrels (not my style) and comes in at a whopping 13.5%. It was great. Lots of rum and sweetness, not too much spice. Really well made. Rum barrel fanatics (looking at you Pirate Noir fans) should seek this out.
5. Goose Island - Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout (2015)
I reviewed this one last post when I had it at my last bottle share. Since I tasted it just a few weeks prior, I opted for a smaller pour to let me friends try more. This time, I didn't get as much barrel character but it was still great.
4. The Rare Barrel - Afterlight
Rare Barrel continues to kill the sour game in my opinion. I haven't had a disappointing beer from them. While this isn't the best I've had, this dark sour aged in French Bordeaux wine barrels was a delight. Got a lot of dark fruit and vanilla notes on this and it wasn't super tart.
3. Hill Farmstead Brewery - Earl
Bottled 1/13/16, this was my first time trying Earl, an oatmeal stout with coffee added. The roasted malts played a huge part of this beer's flavor along with the flaked oats giving the stout a really full body. The coffee was not overwhelming or bitter & HF's classic well water always adds a nice touch to the taste. A really impressive non-BA stout that is underrated compared to HF's other offerings.
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| A beer that deserved a better picture! |
2. Great Notion Brewing - Crazy Fingers
Named in homage to The Grateful Dead, this IPA brewed with Vic Secret (Australia) and Motueka (NZ) hops was really, really nice. Only the second Great Notion beer I've had after Juice Box, this beer was really soft and juicy. Motueka is a great hop (and I love what Other Half does with it) with really unique citrusy aromas. Gonna need some more GN crowlers soon!
1. de Garde Brewing - Petit Nectarine
Everyone knows by now that de Garde is probably my favorite brewery, so giving this the top ranking probably isn't a surprise. But honestly, every time I have a wild ale from these guys, I'm blown away. I popped this anticipating it wouldn't be as good as Nectarine Premiere which I opened for my birthday share. It was better. I'd like to further understand the difference between "A Wild Farmhouse Ale" (Nectarine Premiere) and "A Tart Farmhouse Ale" (Petit Nectarine). Is one brewed in a coolship (hence wild) and the other inoculated with house cultures? Either way, I really enjoyed this. Despite it having less fruit added to the barrels than NP (I believe), the nectarine/stone fruit flavor was fantastic.
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