More Brewing (2020)

Walked in at 12:30. No line. I’d say the hype is a firm medium. Incredibly glad I didn’t complete a trade that was Benthic for these.

 

Cherry Truffle sold out after S’mores which clearly shows the reviews of yesterday made an impact. I shared a can of Truffle today and it was not particularly good. I wouldn’t call it cough syrup like some have, but it’s cherry dominant and a bit thin. I opened a can of S’mores tonight and it’s a far cry from Batch 3. The graham cracker element is fine but it’s very sweet and the cocoa is nowhere near the first edition. It’s a passable s’mores stout but the Henna brand is basically dead unless it’s still in a barrel and brewed by Shaun. I’ll keep giving More a shot but the quality has noticeably dropped

 

It’s obvious the huge wave of FT Henna cans means consumers know the beer is sub par compared to past Henna releases. Anyone saying otherwise is purely ignorant. It’s one style in the brand but really interested to see what happens with the new Huntley location. Good luck, More.

 

How many batches of Henna have they brewed without Shaun? Is this the first batch? If so, give the new guy time to perfect it. Didn't it take Shaun a few tries to get his feet under him on recipes at More after switching from RAM, and then again at P3 after leaving More?

What are brewers using these days for cherry stouts? Cherry puree or extract or essences or syrup? What causes the medicinal flavors? Is it the fruit undergoing fermentation or something else?

 

First Hennas but it’s been several stouts now (Arketype series). Your point about an adjustment period was probably true for his IPA’s but not really for stouts. Double Rainbow and Curvature were both great out of the gate. I’d give him another shot but I don’t think $44 for 4 cans would be a smart move again without trying the 5 oz tasters first (was mostly not an option this release).

 

IMO, he came out swinging with his first stout at each new location. Henna Double Rainbow and Curvature Hazelnut were both top-notch right out of the gate.

 

Fair enough, but all those were brewed by Shaun I believe. I know they’ve brewed Arketype since Shaun left (I believe), which people spoke highly of, but I think this is the first stout packaged for purchase to go. Eric made one or two really nice stouts at Corridor before leaving, and I was/am hopeful he will get the recipes down. It just seemed strange to me for people to be lining up for something without much of a track record. And with such an abundance of solid options that are easily available on the shelves.

 

See, I think the primary flaw in your point here is that you are introducing reason and logic into your opinion. With many FOMO uber-hype level beers, there's not much place for either of those things.

EDIT: And I'm not trying to knock either side here. Just an observation on my end.

 

For me it’s still just about supporting my local brewery. I don’t line up for anything else. My big purchases are any More releases, Dark Lord Day and Bourbon County Black Friday. Between those 3, that usual keeps me flush for the year. I still do it to keep trying just about everything from More. I’m still Brand Loyal even with turnover and changes.

 

They did Hush of Night which had a mixed reception though I didn’t have it so I can’t weigh in. There’s been some confusion with 2 head brewers. With Eric taking over Huntley there’ll be more clarity provided we’re able to tell which brewery brewed which batch. We were told yesterday that releases will be split evenly outside of the lottery bottles where you’ll pick your pickup spot.

 

If they have another underwhelming reception to a release like the one from this past weekend, they won't have to worry about that.

 

I live 5 mins away, didn’t have any plans, so I went over yesterday. Got there about 10:30, and was back home by 11:30. Not too much effort on my part to give these a try, and was a little skeptical of the early reviews.

Mrs and I opened a s’more this morning, and she summed it up pretty well:

Mrs - “Is this the cherry one?”
Me - “Nope”
Mrs - “This is very sweet, and tastes nothing like s’mores!”
Me - “Yup!”

Can’t wait to try the cherry one.

 

Wish my wife liked morning stouts...

 

Now I really want to know how the relationship between Shaun and the owners fell apart. I have no idea what happened so I wont speculate on who was in the wrong, but the owners losing their brewer (who basically created the value of More) seems like an awful mistake. Even if they felt like they had good brand recognition and a good brewer replacement, its a huge gamble to take on a volatile market, especially with a second location in the work. Hopefully they get things on track since I want as many good breweries around here as possible, but the whole situation is just crazy to me.

 

My feeling is that the situation could never have been long term. I think it was inevitable that a talent head brewer with a following would want to strike out on their own. But the relationship falling apart certainly sped up the move to Phase Three

 

AFAIK, Arketype is exclusively a product of the new brewer. I've had the regular (non-adjuncted), the french silk, and one other one I can't remember (Vanilla, I think), and they have all been really good. I know they want to keep the Henna name and hype alive (and they probably should), but they really need to start canning Arketype too.

 

People seem to keep wanting to contemplate this...

That place is almost always packed. There's no real noticeable day to day difference since the change in brewers. Nothing against the new guy, but basically the owners could plug anyone in there and business wouldn't skip a beat

They have a cornered market in that neighborhood for good food AND serving beer...otherwise you're going to downtown Lombard or Elmhurst (neither of those being particularly dazzling themselves), unless you want fast food.

IMO, the best beer they've made/make is Villa Pils. Arketype smokes any of the Henna, so the hype on those is completely lost on me...and as long as soccer moms and jeep brahs want to down tulips of shitty DDH orange juice, they'll keep grinding along with all those Dusties and packing in that tap room.

 

I did not get to try to B3 s'mores but I thought this version was pretty dang good. Sweet? Yes. But I think that's the point of the beer.

Cherry truffle was a big miss like others have said. Didn't absolutely loathe it, but I only really enjoyed the first sip.

 

The last Arketype I had was just brutal. I believe it was maple/vanilla, and neither I or my friend finished our 5 oz pours.

 

I don't agree with some of the comments about specific beers, but I agree with you generally about keeping the place going with a brewpub crowd. Reminds me somewhat of what Corridor is going through - it's the neighborhood brewery that people can go to for good food and a good time. It doesn't need to be something that appeals to beer nerds all the time.