Blind BIF 7 - Visually ImPAIRed - Reviews

River town just started making sour beers about a year ago. They are having variable levels of success. The hibiscus in this beer haunts my memories. That was what passed as your kill shot. The rest should be good to great. Enjoy!

 

It begins...

As a certain Jet would say: "Can't wait!"

 

Ha - kill shot on the first beer of the entire BIF!

 

Honestly it's sounds like it taste better than my memory of it. Perhaps it was a bit young when u drank it?

 

It's funny when a horrible beer tastes better if you taste it blind... I had Indian Wells Amnesia IPA the first time I was part of this BIF, and it tasted like a mediocre bock, instead of a horrible IPA.

 

Ok, popped bottle 4 because my wife wanted in and I had suspicions that 1/2 weren't her favorite style.

Pours a dark golden color with an ample white head. 4.0
Big smell of Brett fats off the giant head. Further smelling leads to more flavors of Brett and additional light apple. Smells pretty nice. 3.5
The taste is confusing. The presumed Brett not only drives the flavor, but dries out the finish substantially. First pass, a bit of metallic joins smaller amounts of malt sweetness. More time and the beer opens up to bring more of that apple flavor, no more metallic and improved balance of sweetness. It reminds me of some odd combination of Fantome Extra Sour and Jacks Abbey Biere De Garde Brett beer. That slightly fruity sweetness that emerges over time and the (again presumed) Brett dryness are clearly not for everyone, but I am digging it as I explore further. 4.0
At first, this beer was over carbed with a medium body and some fear that I would never get through it. As its opened up, it's become highly drinkable. I am having trouble with the ABV because the sweetness that normally gives things away is covered by the dryness. 4.0
Overall, I was suspicious that this would not be all that great early, but it has really grown on me. 4.0

Reveal - Odell Deconstruction. Woah! Partially wine barrel aged blend of golden ales with "wild yeasts and lacto". The presumably white wine barrels totally threw me off. Very interesting! Thanks for the awesome start!

 

Loved Deconstruction the beer was a bit confusing at times but I remember it being super tasty.

 

Glad you liked the deconstruction! I was particularly happy with that one as a blind beer because 1) it is one of my favorite beers 2) looks like it is new to you 3) it is so rediculously complicated in the layering of flavors.

 

I was completely thrown off the scent with it for sure. I had been drinking a fair number of saisons and brett beers (like crooked stave stuff), and I was pretty well convinced I was drinking a brett saison that whole time. The pour and the initial smell were very much like that. The white wine barrels and the oak in those settings can sometimes get mixed up for me with other things. But, really, for anyone who has had these two:
Brett Bière De Garde - Jack's Abby Brewing "Aged in white wine barrels for three months with the wild yeast brettanomyces."

Fantôme Extra Sour Special Original Creation - Brasserie Fantôme

it reminded me so strongly of the combination of the two. The Jack's Abbey beer is super clean whereas the Fantome adds the fruitiness.

I both really enjoyed the beer and drinking it blind. Thanks for an awesome start to the box!

 

Dam! 2 of those bottles with big problems. Had a bottle of the cherry man not long ago and it was carbonated. Kentucky monk was a bit lactic from the tap. Your reviews have changed the beers I was going to send out for the Value BIF.

 

Giving a run at bottle #3 figuring I should get at the swing top growler right away.

Pours like apple cider with a head on it - looks like fall! - 4.0
The smell is really nice - a bit of difficult to define fruitiness and sweet malts. Low key, but very inviting. - 3.5
Woah, this tastes really good. The fruitiness is still present, with apple emerging and combined with something else. The sweet malts really blend nicely. This tastes like fall - perfect timing for this beer. - 4.0
The mouthfeel is nice, with a good carbonation and a solid moderate body. - 4.0
Overall, I really like this beer for a crisp, rainy fall evening. - 4.5
I have no clue what this beer is...best guess is some sort of enjoyably weird apple Saison.

The reveal...Brynhildr's Gift from Olvalde Farm and Brewing Company. "Minnesota Farmhouse Juniper Ale". Well, the juniper berries must have been that other unidentified sweetness. Farmhouse ale does make some sense. Another fantastic beer to try blind and another I would happily drink again. thanks!

 

Popped open 16oz cans 1+2, from a MN shipper...needless to say, I'm pretty excited. Cans open and waft delicious hops my way:

#1 is a touch clearer and yellower than #2, but not by much. Both have ample whitish heads and golden amber bodies. Both look great - #1: 4.5, #2: 4.5
The smell off of both is fantastic. Both give off pretty strong hop flavors with a good malt balance and with the first one being a bit more mild than the second. #2 smells a bit more traditional and is reminding me a bit of the single hop simcoe I just had from HF. #1: 4.5, #2: 4.0
The flavor of both are quite similar, much like in the previous situations. Both are very hoppy with sizable malt backs. #1 is much smoother. #2 is rough and the edges and the bitterness sticks in the back of your mouth much longer. Both are quite enjoyable, but only #1 is exceptional. The thought of simcoe or another very traditional hop sticks in my mind on #2. - #1: 4.5, #2: 3.5
The body and mouthfeel are very similar on these. Both feel like big, bitter, malty Midwest IPAs floating around 6-7%. Good carbonation - #1: 4.0, #2: 4.0
Overall, I prefer #1 over #2. The difference wasn't as apparent at first, but it emerged over time. The second one is just a bit rougher with a hop flavor that is less appealing to me than the former - #1: 4.5, #2: 3.5

I'm deeply suspicious that I am looking at Surly Beers (Furious/Wet). I'm a bit confused, however, because I thought I read that this years Wet was made with Simcoe, which makes me thing it is the second one, but having had both of these beers in the past, Wet is like a more refined version of Furious, which would suggest Wet #1, Furious #2. That all said, I'm almost completely sure that #2 is not Furious. I'm guessing #1 is Wet and #2 is...I don't know.

The reveal. Ok wow. Dougofthefuture, you are awesome at blind BIFs.
Can #1 IS Surly Wet. On the can it is written in tape : "this beer is fresh"
Can #2 IS ALSO Surly Wet. On the can it is written in tape something to the effect of: "this beer spent a week outside and a week on a heating vent" and is dated 9/20/12.
Bad ass. Thanks again!

 

Nice twist on the kill shot?

 

That is one of the most ingenious things I've ever witnessed. Now THAT'S a curveball. Outstanding.

 

Excellent! I'm glad that worked out. I got the idea for this after having a box with a leaky growler sent back to me by UPS after a trip to the East coast. I had a Surly Hell in the box as an extra, and I was able to drink it side by side with another can from the same 4 pack that had been in my fridge the whole time. The difference was astounding.

This can actually had a pretty good week to be outside - highs around 65, lows around 45. It was in direct sunlight though, and one day did get to 80 degrees. Then, we started to get freezing nights so I moved it in to the top of the heat vent. It got warm, but I've taken bottles out of boxes from trades in the summer that were warmer...

So, yes - it was a "kill shot". Obviously not the worst beer in the world, but it was interesting to see that there were significant differences. Apparently freshness does matter!