Anybody else completely stoked about Burnt Hickory releasing Didjits in cans besides me?!?! I'll be picking up some today hopefully!!!
Not sure if recipe is different, but enjoyed last year's batch more. Had a growler of 2016 vs straight off the line bottles in 2015. 2015 batch was much clearer and had better aroma/flavor IMO. I'm sure I'll give the cans a chance to see if any different than the growler I had.
I really enjoyed last year's batch too even though the bombers I bought were several months old. I'm curious to see how 3 day old cans taste.
3 days vs 3 weeks shouldn't matter in cans...that's why so many IPAs are being canned now because of the much lower oxidation rate vs bottles. Keeps the hoppiness fresh for much longer. Had a small pour last year but wasn't too impressed...if it falls in my lap at some point, I'll definitely pick some up to sample though.
I also assumed cans were the better protector the integrity of the beer but on Twitter yesterday one of the Hill Farmstead brewers was taking Trillium to task for switching to cans. He said that due to the higher levels of dissolved oxygen present when the beer is packaged that canned beer will actually oxidize faster than bottled beer. https://twitter.com/Ryan_Witter/status/747992566759571457 https://thornbridge.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/brewery-news-2016/ I don't know enough about the science of the process but I found that interesting as it seems to be the opposite of what I understood to be true.
Oxygen can still slowly enter through caps, not through a sealed can though...so the oxidation that will take place in a can happens quickly in comparison and doesn't change over time. Bottles will contine to slowly allow oxygen in over time, so the beer quality will continue to decline over time. Therefore cans provide a more stable environment over time compared to bottles. To my knowledge, cans can be purged with CO2 as well before the beer is packaged in it, so that will lower the overall oxygen at canning and over the lifetime of the can. Even a vacuum used on a bottling line won't combat the slow absorption of oxygen through caps. Sounds like the HF brewer realizes they aren't the only kid on the block, and they're actually getting lapped now by a combination of many other NE breweries, so he's doing what any business person would do and try to shed negativity on the competition and make his brewery look more positive in comparison. The fact is, they need to dominate the market together (look at all those NE IPAs and DIPAs at the top of the 250 now) instead of trying to divide and conquer! There is plenty of room for expansion for everyone to get a bigger share, compared to trying to tear down other similar breweries to get that slice of the overall pie...they only make themselves look bad in the process! He is simply acting like a sore loser IMO.
The murky Didijits was good last year when the first batch came out. Bottles then got clearer, and didn't taste as good. Draft followed suit. Had one can of this years, 2 days old, and it was okay.. Nice orange and citrusy notes. Just really malt forward, and the body is a little hefty.
I'm lucky as hell...dating a guy at my beer store. He saved me a 6-pack of it. By the time I arrived at the store, they'd done sold 'em. Fuggin' awesome beer. I loved the citrusy aroma and flavor. The smell resembles that of Creature Comforts' Tropicalia. The body was a bit heavier than I expected, but I found it very enjoyable.
his main beef is with small canning lines which have been known to show very high DO levels vs. large canning lines. he didn't really gracefully say that, however (which he never does, it's his thing)
