2018 3-Way IPA

Just my 2 cents. The Block 15 Fresh Flow is MUCH a better than 3 way. Hoping they make it a few more times this summer. Perfect hot weather IPA

 

Block 15 has said it will be in production all summer.

 

Got some today at Chucks as well as fresh flow. Its ok, I think I liked last years better

 

O.K. so it's finally hit . Feels anti-climactic. Suddenly I'm in no hurry to get some. I'm sure I will eventually.

 

For me, the nose was promising, and the front end of the swig was tropical, bitter, and nice, but the middle started to fade, and then it seemed like there was no aftertaste. I’ll give my other can a try this weekend, and I’m curious to see if they might tweak this brew slightly in subsequent batches, but until then, the latter half of the beer fading out makes this my official Thanos Finger Snap IPA of 2018.

As a few others have mentioned, I also found Block 15 Fresh Flow a tastier hazy IPA.

 

Glad to see other people not liking it so much, means more for me over the summer.

 

Geezus, I really don't understand why I'm getting a strong Diacetyl smell & flavor (slick buttery taste) now! Anyone else experiencing this?

I was sitting here thinking today and realized this same exact flavor occurred with City of Dreams. If I recall, someone from Structures Brewing mentioned a possible Quality Control issue with distributors can lead to this. BUT, this has occurred with two different Fort George Beers. Could it be the from the yeast? (wonder if they are using same yeast with City of Dreams & 2018 3-Way).

I'm a little confused because Fort George makes outstanding beers! Especially their Fresh Hop Series which have NEVER produced this off-flavor to me personally.

The canning date is 06/04/2018 and purchased at Brigids Bottle Shop in Edmonds WA.

Wonder if I'm simply getting burnt out on this style. As others mentioned, Lagers and traditional style IPA's have been sounding/tasting more appealing.

 

I by no means intend to come off as condescending because you probably already know this, but Fort George’s canned offerings are not pasteurized, so they need to be delivered, sold, and kept refrigerated. (Hence, you’ll only find Fort George cans in refrigerators, even at the likes of Total Wine.) Perhaps someone dropped the ball regarding refrigeration?

 

Bottleworks keeps their 3way sitting on the floor in the middle of the store.

Hope there's nothing wrong with my cans; I assume they sat on the floor there for over 24 hours since the shipment came in yesterday.

 

@66jzmstr No offense what-so-ever! Funny, because I almost typed that Brigids (owner & employees) are steadfast in regards to proper refrigeration with the appropriate beers. This is one of the main reasons I continue to drive from Woodinville and pick up most of my IPA's, etc from Brigids, Beer Junction, Pint Defiance, & Chucks.

Curious if a beer would turn so quickly, considering it was canned on the 4th (Monday) and picked up from Brigids on the 6th (Wednesday). The weather here in Seattle area has been fairly mild. Not sure about Oregon or the back of Distributors truck/warehouse) I assume 3-Way was basically cross-docked and didn't sit in hot warehouse more than a few hours.

Maybe I need to try 3-Way on draft. But again, the exact same flavor occurred with my third rotation (6-packs) of City of Dreams late 2017. Oh well, not gonna stress over this. Huge fan of Fort George and sh!t happens.

 

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I have had this happen with a few FG hazys now. City of Dreams a couple times and also Fields of Green on two different batches. Diacetyl bombs. The weird thing is that I’ve had amazing cans from the exact same canning line/date and bought from the same store.

These beers are extremely sensitive to temp fluctuations and oxygen. Maybe that’s it?

 

$10.99 four-packs in the cooler at Total Wine? Sure, why not.

 

I believe the plan was to produce quite a bit more 3 Way this year as compared to last. I overheard that this may not be the case any longer. Curious if anyone knows more. I think this year is pretty tasty and was looking forward to sipping deep into the summer.

 

It finally hit Spokane yesterday, cans and on draught at Bottles, at least. It is less juicy than last years, but the little bit more mellowness is nice as it doesn't leave that mouth full of jam feeling I usually get from this style. At least not as much.

And a quick shoutout to HFoD V4 hitting bottles in can and tap as well.

 

If you’re looking in the Tri-Cities, I stumbled across 3-way today (and I checked, yes it is this year’s version*) at the Albertsons on Clearwater and Edison. I grabbed some for science.

*every now and then a seasonal from last year will make an appearance a full year later and the store tries to pass it off as the current one. For the record, this hasn't been noticed at Albertsons. Other stores.

 

Had 3-way on tap on Tuesday and just wasn't a fan. I'm already not big on hazy IPAs and this one missed the mark for me.

 

Cracked a 3-way to start a M’s rally (yes, I have that power) in the ninth (dang, it worked!). Must say, I dig it.

 

Aren't the cans different each year?

 

Not 3 way, per se. I’ve seen stone’s xocoveza, SN Bigfoot, for example. Now granted these two examples are poor because they could be easily drank with a year plus on them. But the stores weren’t claiming vintage or upping the price for “cellaring”. They were just put on the shelf when the current year’s version should have been. The current version never showed. I wish I could remember an ipa example. I want to say SN celebration (@John_M ), as well. They may have showed up in the summer time, though. Not a year later.

Edit: I actually believe it is the distributor(s?) guilty of this vs the store(s). Unloading old stock. Most of the stores here are grocery and they don’t have space to store a seasonal for a year.

Edit#2: I guess my original post was more of shock of coming across this. The last time 3-way cans made it to TC was when boneyard was one of the collaborators.