Double Sunshine

Agree w everyone on the order of these beers. I find SOS a slightly above average DIPA w a great pedigree -- I now seek it out as trade bait for my favorite Cali beers like Alpine Nelson and Pliny etc. I wouldn't waste a pint on SOS when hitting the Three Penny or Worthy Burger or one of the bars in Waterbury -- where it seems to be on tap constantly. I do think it was a pretty successful and ballsy move for Sean L -- not an easy thing to do taking such an iconic micro/nano brand and developing something that most people seem to think lives up to expectation/reputation.

Similar situation going on at Toppling Goliath where they are trying to can PSue at a brewery in FL -- and the Idaho faithful are wigging out -- understandably since they just lost their head brewer.

I'm also reminded of the one time last winter that Trillium was forced to brew a batch at Mercury because of their licensing issues -- FB90 - a complete unmitigated disaster of a DIPA. It's just not that easy for a great brewer to recreate their unique magic at another brewery.

So Props to Sean Lawson -- but please please find a way to brew more 2XSunshine in VT.

 

Double Sunshine is my top brew and I look forward to having it again (hopefully soon)....but...I do appreciate having access to Sip on a regular basis and being able to get more of it. It's a 2.5 hour trip for me each way and picking up bottles of DS is great, but hitting a few places and coming back with possibly up to a case of Sip is a nice consolation. I certainly think it is an above average beer, especially for the price. I personally would not trade it for Pliny but to each his own on that.

The other nice piece for me is that my mother (who lives up that way) can walk into a store and pick up a couple 4-packs of Sip, while I would never ask her to stand in line for DS...

It's a balance, but I think Sean has made more people happy with the current arrangement and made his beer more available than ever before.

But I sure hope DS is back soon!

 

I agree. Absolutely amazing. Arguably better than Double Sunshine IMO.

 

Double Sunshine is a far superior beer to Sip of Sunshine.

Lawson's wanted to create a mass-produced flagship beer in Sip of Sunshine and Two Roads helped make that a reality. My guess would be that adjustments were made to the original Double Sunshine formula to allow for large scale production, which would involve removing certain harder-to-acquire ingredients and substituting certain hops based on availability, amongst other things.

Now, many in the industry (and by this I mean the pretentious, hipster barkeeps of Vermont and the register crew at local bottle shops) claim that Sip of Sunshine is the same exact recipe as Double Sunshine, the only difference being the water being used in the brewing process. This is simply untrue. If this actually was the case, this would raise serious concerns about the quality of Connecticut's water supply...

In terms of when the next batch of Double Sunshine will be released, I would imagine that we will be seeing the gold foil tops within the next six weeks to coincide with the first summer Farmer's Market sale, but this is purely speculation.

 

This is a bit harsh. FB90 certainly was not nearly in the same ballpark as the Trilliium on site brewed DIPAs, but the phrase "complete unmitigated disaster" would not have come to mind.

To keep this somewhat on topic, I've only had SOS a couple times, and found it to be pretty damn tasty, but agree it is not DS good.

 

I just looked at FB90 reviews - somehow it scores a 92 -- purely on the coat tails of the Trillium name. The 5th or 6th reviewer called it a "complete abortion" -- at least I wasn't that harsh... My point -- it wasn't a Trillium beer-- whatever influence JC T was trying to impose on the brew at Mercury did not translate. People actually think SOS is a Lawson beer -- even though it's brewed by people that aren't Sean Lawson at a brewery 200 miles away -- that's impressive.

 

SoS was at least originally brewed by Sean, just at Two Roads. I've assumed that that changed with the switch from bombers to cans, but I've never got clarification here. Either way, he was at least for the first several months of production going down there once a month to brew it himself.

Man, I'd love to know whether or not it's the same recipe. The crow would be delicious.

 

Double Sunshine is probably the best DIPA I've ever had. And I've had many bottles of DS and a lot of the other stuff out there. King Sue comes pretty close, though..

 

SOS is really good. DS is just really more gooder. As far as I've heard he still goes down.

 

Sean was still going to Two Roads at least in the December/January time frame, so post can standpoint. He was actively involved in the brewing process. I cannot speak to the current situation.

With respect to water, I asked Sean about it at an event in CT and he mentioned the water at Two Roads allowed him to adjust the chemistry to what he liked.

SOS is not nearly as good as Double Sunshine, but still a solid DIPA!

 

Double Sunshine is serious business.

 

it's funny that it's totally possible that SoS is more what sean wants out of an IPA than DS. maybe the freedom the large facility provided him actually resulted in an IPA closer to his preferences.

i still think DS is a few tiers above SoS, but i really wouldn't be surprised if SoS is exactly what sean wants it to be. the guys at two roads (and sean) know wha they're doing.

 

It's a good theory, but I think "Double Dose" blows SOS out of the water. Being that DD was a collab brew and one where they brewed a small batch the way they wanted to, I would be surprised if his preference was closer to SOS. Obviously DS is again superior to DD but....I would take Double Dose any day over SOS.

Like others have said SOS is not a bad beer, but when I think of Sean Lawson and what I expect from those beers it's a bit malty and bitter to me. Just not the same as other offerings I have had numerous times from Lawson's.

I wouldn't order it again at a bar unless it was the only gem on the list.

I would order ANY other Lawson's beer on a menu first. Think on that....

 

SOS is good for two things. Trading and extras

 

It is good for those things, but honestly my favorite thing to do with it is drink it. For me living in Burlington it is my go to DIPA that I'll take over Heady 9 times out of 10. As other have mentioned SOS isn't as consistent as I would like, but the 3/20 canned batch was amazing and easily with any of the top DIPAs IMO, including DS. But its been so long since I've had a DS at this point it is getting hard to really compare it to anything anymore. A fresh batch of DS is definitely needed!

 

"... the IOWA faithful ..." But hell, maybe the Idaho faithful, too.

And to add one more "me too" comment: I'd sure love the opportunity to do a Double Sunshine/Sip of Sunshine side-by-side tasting!

 

Double Sunshine is untouchable when it comes to DIPA'S in my opinion. The only beer who got close to DS was Tree House's Very Green and the reason it's still below DS is because it was brewed once. Double Sunshine it's just perfect, Hard to find any faults to the beer.

 

I think Goliath has been toppled

 

So your saying you have better taste than Mr Lawson?

 

I haven't had every beer Lawson's has put out, but I've had most of the beers he's put out in the last year and a half. Imo Sip of Sunshine is a cut above Ava, Chinookered, and Double Dose as far as beers it can be directly compared to, and among those that are less direct comparisons Big Hoppy, Rye, Session 2, and Spring Session. Just my opinion and certainly a matter of taste, but it's surprising to me that there are some here that think it's good at best.