Half Acre (2020)

I happen to have a leftover 2019 Orin, and the 40+ temps has me night dreaming of BA [insert preferred term for basically a barleywine here]. It is drinking amazing. This truly is a criminally underrated beer. Up to temp it's a slugger, and the creaminess of it really stands out for the style.

 

Beautiful, what a glorious beer. Sounds like they may have made plenty from their Instagram post.

 

Yep I had the same reaction (imagining DIPA).

But this actually sounds pretty good...

 

Any idea when the Benthic details are going to drop?

 

They said we have to buy all the Orin first. /s

 

teaser post was 10/28 last year and then specific variants afterwards. So we still have a little time before the beer budget crisis becomes real

 

Pretty sure we're already at DEFCON level 2.

 

Am I the only one who prefers Orin to Benthic? I don't mind if I am, just kinda curious more than anything else.

 

You’re not. I’m definitely bigger fan of Orin. Benthic is too sweet for me. But with Orin and Benthic being two different styles, it could be that just as much as the beers themselves (I’m not biggest additive stout fan exactly).

 

anyone try this batch of sailors kush? thoughts?

 

Soooo has Orin always been this good? I finally gave it a go and holy shit.

 

Correct on both. It's always been good.... it's just continued to get better year after year.

This year's may be the best yet and I plan on having a can every 6 months over next couple of years to see how it evolves (emphasis on word plan, as I may just say f**k it and drink them all within the next month anyway). I'll be disappointed if they aren't as good as fresh, but I'm very encouraged by @FBarber 's take on the '18 Orin.

 

I’m in the minority (maybe?) on this one. Don’t get me wrong, Orin is a great beer. But I’ve decreased my rating slightly each year (or at least the past 2 years). Granted, I’ve only had the regular version, none of the chai, etc variants. First batch of both, I preferred it over Benthic by a good margin. But I think Benthic has gotten much better, especially the past 2 years. Having had one can of this years batch, I’m fine with this one 2 pack. Was hoping I would enjoy it like I did early on. Maybe it’s the brandy barrels, who knows.

Again, great beer, just not hitting what I’m hoping for these days. As far as incongruous styles are concerned, this one just makes me want to see FW Double DBA on the shelf again.

 

You don't have to keep it down. There's very little demand for this beer, even in Chicago. In fact, if you love Orin, you should probably shout from your rooftop how great it is.

I could see a scenario where HA stops making it because it sells so slowly (despite the very fair price) compared to other barrel aged beers that take up the same amount of resources / space / time but sell out in a day for more profit.

I've never liked Orin, but I understand that many folks I respect (including the kind strangers on this thread) love and enjoy it...but I think you should be loud & proud about your appreciation of this beer, before HA just uses the barrels for some random stout in 2021 (assuming a swarm of locusts don't just eat us all on 12/31/20, which seems kinda likely).

 

Kush is one of my favorites from HA. This year's batch has a nice bitterness on the tail end of it which I always appreciate from HA's haze game. Fair warning though, I had my first can yesterday and the Sabro influence is pretty strong. I feel like HA does Sabro well by blending it with other hops and not letting it overtake their beers (Double Sunset Vallejo was fantastic) but I was getting a lot of coconut undertones throughout the pour, way more than I recall from last year's batch or any recent Sabro beer from them. It definitely adds some complexity but as the beer warmed the coconut flavors seemed to blend together with the alcohol/malt sweetness cutting the drinkability for me. Will be interesting to see how this beer develops but if the coconut flavor remains that prominent you may want to shy away if you are not a Sabro fan. I love HA but it seems the majority of recent hazy offerings from HA have Sabro in the hop combo, would like to see more doubles without it in there since I know it can be pretty polarizing.

 

Kush is great. Those fearful of sabro hops should ignore their sabro fears. The beer tastes just like the name. It’s bright and dank. This is hazy ipa for OG ipa drinkers. Sabro isn’t the star or the show. It’s a collective effort. Relatively dry, huge aroma, and tons of flavor. This is NOT for hazy hop candy fans. If you discovered classic ipa before hazy ipa was a thing, this beer might blow your mind. It’s got a little bit of everything

 

Now I’m intrigued.

 

Catch Hell is back in howlers for curbside.

 

Guess it depends on how sensitive you are to Sabro. It’s not exactly overpowering but to me it totally sticks out and isn’t well-integrated. Getting more Sabro taste from this than Alive in its Jaws. Not what I remember from last year. Im calling this good but not great.