Twin Cities Bottle Hunt - 2019

Surly Yummi Bear is excellent, as expected when it was mentioned to be a slight tweaking of Liberty Spikes. Herbal, almost minty, and brutally bitter; the sort of IPA that blew people away ten years ago before we collectively lost the ability to handle bitterness. Surly (of all breweries) seems terrified of using the term "bitter" in a beer description these days, and the name makes it sound like it's going to be some floral, juicy, sweet, modern mess, but it's the exact opposite: Clean, sharp, and smart. I'll call it the best Minnesota-made IPA to hit liquor stores in years, for people who like the real deal within the style.

 

Waconia Brewing Lunchbox PB&J porter is being released in cans next week for those interested in such things.

 

Grabbed it tonight along with all the fresh hopped beers - wet, cd mosaic, and born yesterday. Yummy bear was my favorite, but I was really happy with all of them.

 

I didn't find yummi bear to be bitter at all. I do drink a lot of IPAs so maybe thats why. But even when it was my first ipa of the night, i found it to be pretty well balanced between piney/fruity/bitter hops and some sweet malt.

Been considering taking a 2-3 month break from beer, maybe this will recalibrate my taste buds.

 

I enjoyed Yummi Bear, but I actually preferred Bauhaus Sno-Cal for recently released, local, West Coast IPAs

 

5. Zombie Dust (Three Floyds)

Three of the top five? Yes, Floyds has been that revolutionary. Munster, Ind.'s finest not only gets credit for first planting the flag on pale ales with Alpha King, it also gets credit for revolutionizing pale ales nearly 15 years later with Zombie Dust. First released in late 2010, Zombie Dust showcased the uber-fruity Citra hop and helped send an entire industry careening into the "juicy" place it now stands. Contemporary Zombie Dust doesn't taste much like it did during those early days, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the brewery's most popular beers. By the way, this beer is nowhere near as satisfying as Alpha King.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/craving/ct-chicago-best-beers-ever-food-0322-20170316-story.html

 

I had Zombie Dust for the first time recently, it's not good at all.

 

Can you provide more detail?

 

That's another opinion. Doesn't change mine. Still an excellent IPA.

 

So my expectations were very high, as it's a beer I've desired for quite some time and it's highly rated. I was expecting that citra goodness I'd heard about but I got none of it, it just tasted overly bitter (not in a good way at all) with some metallic off flavors, I bought 2 six packs before tasting it which was a huge mistake, I'm going to need to pawn it off on friends to get rid of it.

Then I saw on here they no longer use citra hops in the beer (which is what made it famous) and it all made sense.

TL;DR the new recipe sucks

 

It's you.

You're wrong.

Your taste buds have changed.

 

Thanks.

 

Lol WTF... ZD still outperforms a helluvalot of local offerings. If it sucked by normal standards, it wouldn't sellout the day it drops in markets where it's normally received.

 

I like 2019 Zombie Dust (in large part for its lack of "juiciness" by modern standards), regardless of any recipe change that might or might not have occurred,* but it definitely doesn't sell out the day it drops in Minnesota in 2019. I've seen it sitting for weeks at local liquor stores.

* Is there any evidence of that claim beyond @MNPikey's declaration?

 

It's a shelf turd at my local despite being very rare with the limited distribution.

 

You have a future in comedy. Quit your day job immediately!

 

Googling Zombie Dust cascade doesn't return any results other than home brewers asking if they can make a clone using cascade instead of citra.

So, yeah, I am curious too. Where is any evidence of a change?

 

Hey look, an actual post about finding beer in the Twin Cities metro coming up!

Revolution's Deth's Tar made it's way to Casanova and Chicone's over in Hudson. Casanova also got Cafe Deth too, limit two cans of each style at Casanova. Looks like Chichone's is selling their Deth's Tar by the 4-pack.

 

Not here in MN, people just don't know about it. The closer you get to Indiana the quicker the stuff goes. They're obviously producing more of it now, but it wasn't that long ago that Chicone's would sell out within half a day.

My primary complaint to the poster I responded to was the claim of having to 'pawn off' the remaining beer, and how it sucks. Everything 3F puts out is about as well balanced and properly made as a beer can get. And in an age of cloudy, juicy NE IPAs, ZD is killer.

People also have to remember, ZD isn't an IPA. It's an APA, you aren't going to get the same IPA characteristics. And the sh*t is STILL ranked #1 on the BA.

 

I like Three Floyds a lot. I think it makes very good, flavorful, boundaries-pushing beer in a variety of styles. I think there's a good case to be made that it was the most influential brewery in the country in the '00s.

I don't think most consumers in 2019 care about that history and those bona fides, and I don't think most consumers in 2019 are looking for well-made beer or bold beer if that boldness does not take "juicy" forms or involve flavoring adjuncts. If anything, many if the most plugged-in craft beer consumers today turn up their noses at Three Floyds as old-fashioned. Their loss.

So I agree with you on the artistic merits of Three Floyds and disagree with you on the commercial value of those merits.