Half Acre Brewing Co. (2023)

I am probably in the minority, but I thought that the vanilla was crazy overpowering, so the first night I opened one, I had a hard time (over the course of maybe 1-2 hours?) drinking through about half the can. The next night I tried the rest, and it was great. Still strong vanilla, but in a good well-incorporated way.

It seems as though I almost always need stouts with strong vanilla to oxidize before they are ready to consume. When they are fresh, they always seem to have too much of that extract quality, where you get that almost ethyl alcohol quality. But, let it oxidize (over time in the cellar, or open that night or in the fridge depending on the age) and they always seem to be much better.

For me, this is true across breweries and is unrelated to the skill of the brewmaster.

Because I enjoy vanilla quite a bit, that is actually the reason I thought I might buy a 2-pack of this. …because I could let it sit in the cellar and have no concern!

Nice body on the beer. Not thin.

 

Excellent beer. If it was 2016 we’d be lining up down the street and paying 4 times retail for it. It’s same quality as Catch Hell and Benthic just different adjuncts.

 

Sold out now, looks like it lasted a little over an hour.

 

Great barrel program. I thought the latest batch of Double Barrel Catch Hell had a little too much cinnamon, but still, great beer.

 

I wasn't thrilled with either Before Land Shook or Sickle Through Sable and passed on the former this go around. I also noted that they seem to have left out vegan when describing the marshmallows on this iteration and assumed that to be intentional. I found Before Land Shook to be perfectly enjoyable and obviously well-made, but it didn't wow me the way Benthic and most of its variants typically do.

 

I didn't enjoy last year's Before Land Shook as much as Sickle Through Sable, so I passed this go round. The heavy body didn't feel as balanced by adjuncts as Catch Hell's cinnamon and the bittersweet chocolate of Sickle. I'd have a pour on draft if I saw it, though.

 

Before Land Shook was my favorite non-benthic release last year. Happy to have stocked up this year!

 

I’m a person that thinks vanilla is an over/and improperly used adjunct in stouts. But I absolutely love Before Land Shook. Maybe it’s the sea salt that balances it for me. But it might be my favorite HA stout. But I also get why it can be too much for some.

 

man how I wish I had seen this earlier. I popped in as had been awhile and wanted to try new release on tap and have a burger which has always go-to at HA.

When I sat down at bar, super quiet — I think I was the 4th person. Bartender was talking to two guys who were in from out of town / suburb, and probably 6-7 minutes pass before another guy comes in, sits down between me and the others, which finally gets her to give him menus a couple minutes after. Eventually another person comes from nowhere and hands me menus, perhaps seeing I had been there.

I got the burger, had a few bites and thought — there’s no way this is the same burger as what I had before. Realized wasn’t a smash burger, but regardless just not very good at all. First time in years I either didn’t finish a burger or take home leftovers.

woof

 

I think that its really awesome. It's a vanilla bomb with lots of supporting flavors. Better than Benthic. Equal tier with Catch Hell.

 

2 wet hop IPA's on draft at Half Acre currently, including a "Wet Coast" double IPA (har har).

Forgive the low quality photo.

 

Absolutely not. I’m not saying that you’re better than that. You probably aren’t. You’d probably be the first to say that. But still.

I’ll die on this hill.

 

I know it's common to dunk on Half Acre's current food situation (God knows I've done it), but don't sleep on the Lumpia Shanghai. Nice lil' Filipino Pork spring rolls.

 

Mr. ourorboros? Thats some old school stuff from back in the day.

 

Here now and it’s tasting as good as ever (I still prefer Broo Doo over it but I’ll snag a crowler to go). The FieldRunner is more of a hazy though so not as much in my wheelhouse.

 

Have you had P3's as well? Curious how these stack up in comparison!

 

I haven't had P3's, unfortunately.

 

Saw this in the barrel room on the way to the bathroom...

I fully approve of more barrel aged barleywine from Half Acre.

 

Tf, figures they'd bring an old favorite of mine (Mr. Ouroboros) back now that they've moved out of my "range."

 

Hopefully they're not priced the same. I think p3 charged $12 for 6-8 lumpia.