So I’ll be hitting up oxbow in June when I go to Maine. I’ve been loving what I’m able to get from them in cans in NYC. Nightfall is an absolute favorite dark lager but the smoked maple amber lager saphaus is a beer that stands out in my mind as one of the best beers I’ve had. That being said - when you go to oxbow you drink and buy the mixed ferms. It’s a dying style and I think it’s awesome they are still doing it to this degree. let’s say I was to fill a box with 6 bottles. What should I get? It’s hard to narrow it down. They have a ton of stuff available. I really like everything from a neat little pale table beer to a dark barrel aged sour, so I’m truly an open book. I definitely like straight up pale saison that have touched down barrels so I thing BAFPA would be a given. I noticed the stuff they have written in a cursive script on the label seems like their barre aged saison line. All those sound awesome. I bought one of their dark bourbon aged bottles once by accident many years ago thinking it was a pale saison and it ended up being one of the most memorable beers I’ve ever had. Maybe it was arboreal? I don’t remember. I’m also down for something with some honey or some blueberries or whatever. Any suggestions would go a long way. Thanks!!!
Liquid Swords is a great beer; less than a year ago they had some deep vintages for sale up there. I also love the BAFPA, and BAFPA with grapes is super impressive.
I actually cracked a 2013 liquid swords this past summer. Shouldn't have waited so long. Love grabbing one every year though, I remember being blown away by the 2015 a long ass time ago.
If Pastoral and Native Wild are available, those are musts IMO. Been quite some time since I had any Oxbow, but those were always favorites of mine.
It's really hard to keep up with them all, haven't bought any in quite some time for some reason. Last one I had was Eternal Sunshine - a clementine mixed ferm - and before that Amorous, which I believe was made with rhubarb. Been years but also recall really liking Again & Again, a table beer of sorts with brett. Like 3%, bottled in green glass. They used to be pretty affordable. Again & Again, Pinkette, Magenta, etc. used to be $10/750. Not sure if that's still the case.
Per their website, the 500ml's run between $12.50 and $15 with the majority of them at $15 and the few 750ml's are $25. Some bottles are cheaper and some are more than those prices, but it gives you an idea of the going rate.
I had Liquid Swords a few years ago and I did not like it at all. I tried it on draft after I had already bought a bottle so I'll cellar it for some more time and give it another go. I really like their grape must blended stuff. Blue Noir is top tier. Mixed ferm with blueberries and Pinot Noir must. Amazing beer. Had a Native/Wild 2016/2017 a month or two ago and it was incredible. If I drank it in Brussels I wouldn't have thought twice about it being a great lambic.
the amount of fruit on blue razz was a bit underwhelming but it was still decent. I don't think any of oxbow's beers are really over the top fruity, which is fine I don't mind. I guess I was just expecting a little more from raspberry and blueberry.
Liquid Swords is their grand cru and is different every year. I think they alternate light vs dark blends each year, or at least used to. Agreed that Native/Wild is excellent when aged. Had a 15/16 (which I think is b1) about a year ago and it held up really nicely for about 8 years in bottle. I don't think it tastes that much like traditional lambic like Fox Farm's Triolet (my favorite Am Lam), but Native/Wild is still a great beer with a very distinctive character.
Have you had Koelbus Oude Melange? I don't know what batch I had, but I swear it tasted like an oude gueuze from Brussels. I'm actually wondering if he used a bottle of Cantillon or 3F to inoculate wort.
Never had anything from Koelbus, but I've heard of them. Are they still active though? Don't see much about them online recently.
I'm so out of the beer game these days but Oxbow is still a place we always stop in when we go to portland. Long ass time ago they made a beer called Caverns that was aged with oranges and I think I had 4 glasses of it at Eventide when they had a tap takeover there. The good ol' days of craft beer when it was still cool. Second what everyone says about Native/Wild. Best lambic style you can get without dealing with HF or Belgium
