Brouwerij West

Yep, it's subjective.

Just blind taste tested 42 day old Picnic and 9 day old Julius.

Picnic won for me, won for one of my buddies and Julius won for the other.

Maybe being shipped in hot weather ruined it.

 

This is one reason why I stopped trading. I was able to ship my bottles/cans using FedEx 2 day shipping. While my recipient usually shipped ground shipping (which could take up to 6 days to get to me). So not only I was taking a chance on not fresh beer, but the change in temperature while in transit. So I just fly to the source these days. Or do in person trades (local or at LAX as they fly into LA).

 

Interesting -- may be a topic for another thread -- but I too have found through personal experience that hoppy brews shipped across the country have consistently been disappointing and tasted a little "off" or at least muted. That's including TH, Veil, Aslin, Bissell etc. None of them are bad per se, but they just seem to lose or fade some of that hop "pop." I wonder if anybody's ever done a side by side with beer they shipped back from the east coast vs the same beer that they brought home in their suitcase. I didn't want to believe it, but it just seems like kind of a constant thing that I'm never blown away by these supposed legendary east coast hoppy beers after they're shipped to me. (esp. not enough to pay what seem like ever-increasing and exorbitant shipping costs)

Which is a big reason I'm so happy the quality and availability of these Brouwerj beers. Super Collider hit it out of the park for me and I just scored a 4 pack of fresh Starfish for under 20$ from the LBS down the street. I believe their overall quality has been trending up. And the art is just another plus for me -- Nychos being one of my favorite artists of all time.

 

I've noticed degradation even when flying some Trillium stuff back from Beantown. Bottles were still cool on arrival but the flavors didn't pop like they did pre-flight. TETO

I think I need to revisit Picnic. The can I was gifted from a friend didn't impress me.

 

Sitting in the tasting room, sipping on some Starfish and wondering if I should pick up cans of that or Super Collider.

I have yet to try SC and it's not on tap but Starfish is tasting great.

 

This batch of Starfish that just hit distro is fucking great - better than Supercollider IMO.

 

Currently drinking a Starfish, and I respectfully disagree. It's good, but I thought Super Collider was much better.

To each his own, of course.

 

When was this batch of Starfish canned? I'm getting some shipped to the East Coast this week and I'm hoping recent freshness wins out over the long trip.

 

Mine is dated 8/3.

 

Ok so it should be about 2 weeks old when I get it. Excited as I've never had any BW before

 

Update (for anyone who cares): I decided to get cans of both. Based on the strength of their previous canned offerings, it will be quality stuff.

 

I have yet to try the SC, but every bottle shop I go to has sold out of it. Just have to wait until they restock up on it. I very much liked all the BW IPA cans except dig my earth so far, that one was just OK

 

Dig My Earth is far and away the best BW beer I've tried.

 

They're crushing it. I like that little pine note too, reminds me that its a west coast IPA, really good batch.

Cheers,

 

I've got to admit that my desire to chase can releases has diminished quite a bit in the last 6 months. So, finding good quantities of very good IPA's at local stores here in NorCal is awesome. I've only had Dig and Starfish so far. They both smell amazing. I want to say I liked Dig a little better if only for the better mouth feel.

 

I'm liking StarFish a little better than Picnic Lightning and Super Collider right now. Still all 3 cans plus dig are good releases. Keep them coming. Keep em' fresh.

 

Just cracked open a can of Starfish, I think it's a bit more harsh and less smooth than on draft. Still tasty, though.

 

Maybe I'm crazy, but if all it takes is a cross country flight to make these so-called "legendary" IPA's not pop, then there wasn't much pop to begin with.

 

I was at an event for the eclipse this weekend, Brian and the Brouwerij West crew brought Popfuji, Dig My Earth, Supercollider, and Starfish in generous quantities. Great people and impressive beer.

I thought their IPAs were on par with my favorites from the NE (relatively few examples) and the PNW (a lot more examples).

The Popfuji impressed me the most, though. Not one of my favorite styles, but I went back to it multiple times with dozens of other options in front of me.

Got to try some Monkish, Beachwood, Highland Park, and Alvarado Street too, but Brouwerij West was the highlight for me.