What beer are you drinking now? #1863

Good morning BA, have a great Sunday! Been a nice relaxing and indulgent weekend, but now it's time to get back to the daily grind again tomorrow. Made my usual holiday weekend beer haul, and ended up with 2 full cases of 12 ounce singles, all new beers. Amazing finds this weekend. Have a lot of bottles to return and laundry to catch up on later today. Going to be pretty busy.

Incredible again this year. Flavors of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, cream, nutmeg, chile pepper, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, and toasted dark/brown bread. Light roast/char/spice bitterness on the finish. Medium-full bodied; great creamy/silky mouthfeel, with some light sticky/chalky roast/spice notes. Lightly increasing bitter/spicy/roast/char dryness. Zero pepper heat. Balance is pretty much perfect between spices and stout flavors. Already grabbed 2 packs, but I will definitely get at least 1 more. Went through 3 packs of Mocha IPA this year. Also grabbed a bottle of Charred recently. Already reviewed it, but I feel it is worth the price to revisit.


Absolutely mind blowing stout! Flavors of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, vanilla, maple syrup, marshmallow, molasses, toffee, fudge, whiskey, toasted oak, coconut, dark bread, and light spicy rye/smoke. Light roast bitterness and rye whiskey/oak spice on the finish. Very full bodied creamy, silky, velvety, rich mouthfeel. Minimal chalky roast, oak tannin, or dryness. Insanely smooth, perfectly balanced barrel and malt complexity. Mildy warming finish, with zero booze. This is a masterpiece. Thicker, richer, and more complex than the regular Hipster; and even more aromatic, without any booziness as it warms up. I still love the regular Hipster Brunch, but this is a whole other level of amazing. I still have quite a few left over from the Feb release to distribution. Haven't tried one in over 6 months, but it is getting even better now too.


2017 is tasing amazing as usual. Flavors of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, nutty dark roasted coffee, caramel, molasses, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, toasted oak, coconut, and dark bread; hint of smoke. Aromas were pretty muted, but nice and balanced. Bittersweet roast and lightly spicy bourbon/oak tannin finish. Creamy, silky, velvety, rich full body; touch of chalky roast and tannic oak dryness. Mildly warming 11.8%, no barrel booze; though there is a bit in the aromas as it warms. Pretty much perfectly balanced between chocolate, coffee, malt, and barrel character. Glad I grabbed a lot this year. Was much easier to acquire than I remember previously.


Incredible stuff!! Super fresh. Aromas and flavors of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toasted dark bread, and light nutty/smoke/charred malts; with balanced grapefruit, tangerine, orange peel, citrus rind, pepper, pine, and floral/grassy hops. Moderate roast/char and pine/grassy/spicy hop bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body. Great creamy/bready malt mouthfeel, fair amount of hop stickiness, and slight chalky roast. Lightly increasing bitter/roasted dryness. Never acrid/astringent. Just as amazing as I remember when I reviewed it 4+ years ago. This is basically a Black IPA at release right now, which is how I reviewed it. Balanced C hop character, with great well rounded American porter malt complexity. Will definitely be grabbing this one again before the season is over.


Cheers