I was at Fair State on Sunday and saw the tweet across their digital menu above the bar saying that Cromulence won Best Beer. They didn't have it on tap at the brewery...so I'm really interested to hear how it is.
Really liked Whiskey Queen from Indeed. Same base stout as Rum King, but aged in whiskey barrels. Chocolate three hour tour from Town Hall and Wild One from Brooklyn were my other top beers. Enjoyed Waconia's Gin Barrel aged beer. Cromulace from Fair State was good, but I liked their oak aged sour better. It was their first barrel pull, as I understood. More of a mixed fermentation, oaky flavor than their berliners. Surly Nein was not my thing. Smoke/Oak just wasn't doing it for me. Hope it is better when it comes out on tap/bottles.
Too many peaches from schells was delicious.. I also like the blackberry/raspberry sour from Bemiji. If anyone else had that coconut chai black from bent paddles that was outstanding.
Completely agreed on Too Many Peaches. It was a pulpy, sour, glorious mess of a beer. Surprisingly, I thought Canal Park Brewing Company's Seabird India Pale Lager was killer - nice Vienna base with a huge floral hop bouquet and restrained bitterness. Surly Nein on cask sucked, in my opinion. Tarry bananas. No thanks. Fulton's Batch 300 Mosaic IPA was out of this world. So good, and I'm not even a huge fan of mosaic hops. Borealis Fermentery's Apple Berlinner Weisse also rocked my world.
I actually preferred Starkeller to Too Many Peaches (still both delicious). The new rye Berliner was really delicious as well. Liked the chai black. How did everyone feel about the meads from bent brewstillery? I really enjoyed those as well. Cromulence was yet another really tasty sour from Fair State, so glad to have them so close to home.
For those interested in trying Cromulence, it looks like it's exclusive at Republic. Released 7/30 6PM Uptown and 7/31 5PM 7C.
Wanted to follow up on my previous post, but I can't edit it anymore. Cromulence will be available in the taproom as well as at Republic.
Seeing if anyone knows the answer to this There are 3 checkins on indeed untappd...1 that says derailed imperial whiskey stout 10.5% then two more one says bourbon stout 8.5% and one says whiskey queen 8.5%..now I am guessing the bourbon stout and whiskey queen are the same beer. The imperial derailed whiskey stout was on at APN...now the question is are those two beers the same and the 8.5% doesn't exist?
I really enjoyed Schell's Apparent Horizon and Lupine's Murder of Cranberries. Barrel Aged Pentagram is always a treat. Grand Teton's Grand Sour Saison was very nice as well.
Highlights: Whiskey Queen, Chocolate 3 Hour Tour, Bourbon Barrel Spoke Wrench, Batch 300, Fitgers Blood Orange IPA, Fair State Test Batch #2, Cromulence, Coconut Chai Black, Bemidji Flanders on Blackberries and Raspberries, Lowlights: Nein, LTD Nightmare C&V. I know Nein was on cask with star anise, but I can't imagine the regular version being much better. One less $20 bomber to buy, so this festival saved me some money!
Aside from my complaint about the heat. APN is awesome. Met Todd from Surly walking around Canal Park after the event. Seems like a nice guy.
