Fieldwork appreciation thread

What I had on tap just seemed overly sweet, under-carbed, one-dimensional. That and the Galaxy Juice were my first exposures to Fieldwork, and I wasn't terribly impressed.

 

Is this going to be at Berkeley as well?

 

I thought the King Citra Cans I had were good (got mine in Sacramento).

The Galaxy Juice cans were off as described above. I have one left that I am letting mellow further.

+++

The batch of PULP last week was GREAT. Had it on tap and took home a crowler.

Hoping to get a fill of Grove Stand today or Tuesday if I have time.

 

Probably an unpopular opinion but I personally don't feel like Fieldwork is top-tier even when their beers are on point. Don't get me wrong... I'm glad they exist. They consistently are brewing what people like (even if inconsistently doing it, apparently.) I just never thought they were on the same level as Cellarmaker or now Moonraker.

 

They haven't said if Galaxy Sauce is going to be a Sacramento exclusive. I am sure they will post more info about it again this week.

It is for the kick off to Sacramento Beer Week and so far it is only posted on the FW Sac Tap Room Instagram and Facebook.

But they are canning and brewing it in Berkeley, so you would think it would be there also for release.

 

Yeah, both of the new batches were no where near what they have been in the past... especially the Galaxy Juice. As some people mentioned, I noticed a Belgian yeast thing going on when I had it on tap. It was a bummer, man.

On a positive note, the last canning run of Pulp was killer. Cracked one last night and it crushed it a little too quickly. I love that beer.

 

Disappointed with GJ but glad I took home a crowler of Pulp... my friend liked it even more than the Cellarmaker/OH/Trillium collab

 

Maybe, but as you said I sure am glad they exist. Have a crowlers of Grove Stand and Cocoanut coming tonight. Heard Cocoanut is great.

 

The King Citra I had last week in Sac was very meh. Pulp, fantastic though!

 

It is impossible to know what exact beers they will have on in May. They rotate their entire lineup weekly. Sometimes certain beers will only last on tap for a few days.

They do usually have at least two NE Hazy style beers on tap at all times. Although it will be a different one each week. The "PULP" ne ipa is probably the most known and popular beer they have done in this style.

Here is the link for the Berkeley tap lineup that changes daily. : http://fieldworkbrewing.com/berkeley/

They do can releases about twice a month. So you may hit one of those when your here, but they are different every time as well.

 

1. My favorites from them are:

Stump - Galaxy/Mosaic/El Dorado NE-Pale
Galaxy Juice - Galaxy hopped NE-IPA
Orchard Street - Amarillo hopped NE-IPA
St. Thomas - Mosaic hopped fusion-IPA (They call it NE style, but all the batches I've had aren't really "juicy" so to speak...)

2. They're less than 2 years old so I don't know if they have a "seasonal" yet

 

For hoppy stuff I'd agree. However I definitely love their Chocolate Milk and grab it anytime I see it.

 

Yeah, I heard good things about that but haven't encountered it yet. Of their dark beers, only tried Hot Chocolate, Barrel Aged Eliza and Bad Conduct. They were decent/good, but nothing outstanding. I'd like to try Cocoanut at some point too.

 

I enjoy:

1. Pulp
2. Galaxy Juice (when it's on point)
3. King Citra
4. Cocoanut
5. 2017 Viking's Lament (2016 is too damn syrupy for my taste)
6. 2017 BA Eliza
7. Bad Conduct (when served at cellar temp)

Many of their IPAs not named above are described as NE-style but are more a hybrid West Coast/NE to me. Also, a lot of them, and there are many, start to taste very similar to one another.

 

for me my favorites have been:
In the IPA category Pulp Orchard Street King Citra (I've only had good batches) and Grove Stand. I haven't come across Galaxy Juice yet.
For darks I like Cocoanut Night Moves and Hot Chocolate.

 

If you look at Fieldwork's 30+ different beers across several different styles, I think you could comfortably put them in an upper tier in Northern California. Maybe not at the very top with Cellarmaker, but in that next group, a top 5-10 if you will. With 3 Tap Rooms they have made good beer very accessible.

For IPAs I have liked Pulp, Orchard St, King Citra and the first run of Galaxy Juice. Also their more West Coast styles like Tundra and Misfit Stream.

Don't sleep on Broken Clouds. That was a solid DIPA when it came out.

Fog Ripper was solid. Cocoanut and Hot Chocolate were good

 

I gotta somewhat agree but I'm more disatissified with their recent inconsistency and the fact that they are still doing can releases of off batches. That shows they care more about profit than QC. I've heard of moonraker and monkish scrapping can releases because certain batches weren't up to par.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by Broken Clouds! I might have enjoyed it more than King Citra.

Anyway, sorry to derail the thread. My opinion of Fieldwork primarily comes from the fact that it's not my local beer place, and if I have to travel 45+ minutes across The Maze to get there, and it's not as good as Cellarmaker (15 minutes from work), it's not destination worthy for me. I finally realized that after dropping by their Berkeley taproom about 7x, and not really being blown away.