Aslin Beer Co. (2020)

Anyone get the 5th Anniversary bottles of Patch Cut or Bull of the Woods?

 

I snagged the full allotment. My wife must never know how much that cost.

 

Haha, congrats! I just wanted the two, but a work call ran over.

 

It sounds like the release had issues from Aslin's post on instagram and a lot of folks missed out.

 

Sounds like another unmitigated disaster in a long line of unmitigated disasters

 

Yeah...Aslin online releases are definitely not the benchmark to measure by. The in person releases were a bit better...still waiting in line but they at least handled out tickets and opened the tap room so you can essentially try before you buy.

 

Any updates on the Herndon tap room? I haven't driven by there in like 6 months but I assume they must have made some progress in that time. Maybe it will be the home of their cider and wine projects.

 

Not sure about the taproom itself, probably a ways to go, but they did open up an outdoor beer garden at the site a few months ago. Open Thurs - Sun. I believe they are just serving cans of whatever they have available. https://www.aslinbeer.com/herndon-beer-garden-info

 

What size are the anniversary beers? Looks like a 500 ml bottle. It not sure.

 

They are all 500ml

 

Aslin still pretty good? Worth revisiting?

 

I had Orange Starfish recently for the first time in a long while and it was outstanding.

 

Haven't had many of their beers too recently but that's because they were not very good/worth the price. That said, if I were you, I wouldn't go out of my way for them or have them shipped to me but if you have easy access then try a couple (OS and DOS are their best IMO, not an imp. stout drinker).

 

tl;dr version: You can probably guess the answer based on the dearth of enthusiastic, positive responses to your question.

Longer version: It really depends on what you're going for.

If you're going for hops, I would suggest checking recent reviews of the beer(s) you're interested in before taking the plunge. Aslin is having a lot of problems with IPA consistency, even between batches of the same beer. The average rating on a beer, or opinions on the most recent prior batch of that beer, may not be reflective of the current batch, even if it's one of their original beers and one that's in their regular rotation. It pains me to say this as a guy who started making the long drive to Herndon when Aslin was just a few months old specifically for their IPAs, but they've clearly lost some of that shine. To be transparent, I offer this advice based on reviews and feedback from others (lots of others), because I stopped gambling on Aslin hops around the time they started releasing beers brewed on their larger Alexandria brewing system. The inconsistency problems predate that, but that's about the time they snowballed.

If you're going for non-barrel-aged stouts, they've been toying with the recipe that serves as the base for most of their double-digit adjunct stouts. Several batches over the last five months have been excessively sweet and very boozy. The original recipe drew a fair number of complains over sweetness, but the recent iterations very noticeably kicked it up a notch. My preference is decidedly in favor of the original recipe.

If you're going for the barrel-aged stouts, those are still excellent, but be prepared to open up the pocket book. To-go bottles, which are pre-sold through their website weeks in advance, retail for ultra-premium prices, and the bottles they set aside for on-site consumption (if they're even doing on-site with BA bottles at this point) sell at secondary pricing. Some of the most high-demand bottles have gone for $100+ on-site.

 

Thanks all. On the fence about "bothering" to swing by. May have to bring some Trillium or Tree House w/ me instead. Schucks.

 

If it is any consolation, they did start doing tap pours again so you can "try before you buy"

 

I thought the most recent batch of Juan was terrible, way too sweet. Doesn't give me much hope for Belly Shirts (favorite Aslin stout).

 

They posted on IG saying they will be opening the Herndon brew pub before the New Year.

 

Did anyone buy the $80 bottle pairs today?