Metro DC Brewery Discussion Thread

Ok, thos ruffled my feathers a little when I read your post, but I looked at the event and they don't specifically call it a "milkshake" IPA. Its still a knockoff idea, but at least they aren't stealing the name too I guess.

 

At the risk of sounding boring, I would have preferred another round of Master of Karate or Orange Starfish.

 

^ I had a similarly skeptical reaction to this news at the Savor event at MP, but I was assured by a brewer that it was delicious. I have had a similar concoction at Hoppin Frog that was pretty good, much like a creamsicle, but a bit of a novelty in terms of drinkability. I say they should go for it - if it's a success, they could be onto something. If it flops, they'll just go back to the standard goodness.

 

Keep that crap out of my IPAs imo

 

Aslin's IPAs already run a little too close to the sweet side for my taste, adding vanilla just sounds cloying.

But people lose their shit over Tired Hands' milkshakes, so there's definitely a market for it.

 

What's wrong with being another Tree House? Tree House is phenomenal and still very much a regional brewery located in a different region. They aren't directly competing in any way.

 

They haven't pioneered a single thing except that oregano IPA though. Every beer they make either sucks or is a copy of an original idea from another brewery.

They also haven't shown that they can brew anything requiring skill or nuance. Their most popular beers are completely run over with hops or adjuncts.

 

I wouldn't go that far, but to compare Aslin to other established breweries--even local ones--is unfair at this point. They have what, a 4 barrel system? That's like 8 kegs per batch; basically everything they've done so far is a pilot batch and they've definitely found some things that work.

 

@beernuts have you tried their Berliner's? If not then you are missing out. Also, is doing s certain style copying other breweries? If so then all west coast beers are knock off of Sierra Nevada. Or Ocelot is copying Alpine. Aslin is not "copying" just one brewery too. They make great stouts, Ipas, and Berliners/gose. Name another brewery in this area that is at their level with those three categories?

Also to the milkshake IPA, it's a bit different. I don't think they are adding lactose or flour like tired hands does.

 

I think my attitude towards Aslin would be different if they produced at least a few very well-executed simple beers that proved that they knew what they were doing with their brewing equipment. To me that sets the baseline on how I view a brewery. I actually enjoy drinking their IPAs and I might stop by this weekend and try their berliners, but I can't help but feel like they are building a house of cards based on heavy adjuncts (including fruit) and NE-style IPAs, which are really pretty easy to approximate. Those types of beers check all the simple pleasure boxes and make you say "whoa this tastes like XXXXX!!!" but its really something anyone can do. If you homebrew you probably know this, its just london 3 yeast, a little water chemistry, no early addition hops, and ridiculous dry-hopping with the latest and greatest american hops. Those types of beers are so popular right now that it won't be long before there are lots of new breweries popping up to brew them, and Aslin will get lost in the sauce if they don't figure out how to really set themselves apart.

I do enjoy drinking their beers, I just want to see more from them.

 

Its still a business. They are killing it right now, nothing stays on more than a few days. What's the point of wasting their brewing space with a "well executed simple beer" when their IPAs and sours now are doing amazing. They need to still make money to expand.

 

@beernuts I disagree with you how easy it is to make a New England IPA. Look at Rar, manor hill, adroit, hardywood, three notch'd, and even the veil, all of these breweries have tried or are trying to make them with only one of them IMO coming close to the quality Aslin is doing for their IPAs. I ran into a friend at Aslin last week who did a blind taste test, five of the six people choose Aslin of Th, trillium heady. I'm not saying that Aslin is there yet, but do think you are discounting what they are doing a little more.

 

This. I don't homebrew, but it's quite clear that it's not "easy" to replicate top NE-style breweries (Treehouse and Trillium). If it were so easy, everyone would be spitting out beers of similar quality, and that's just not the case.

Sure, it might be easy to make it hazy, but it certainly doesn't seem easy to replicate the mouthfeel and taste. From what I've had, Aslin does a much better job than most places of replicating the Trillium/Treehouse feel. In fact, I'd probably put their beers right after Grimm in terms of Treehouse/Trillium "imitators."

 

I have to push back on this as well. It's fairly easy to *figure out* the main ingredients and methods that go into making this style, but there is a good amount of skill in both executing these methods and dialing in the recipes. I am friends with many of the best homebrewers in this area, and we often come close to replicating the soft/creamy mouthfeel and juicy/fruity taste of the best of this class of beers, but it's very difficult to perfect them and nearly impossible to do it consistently.

I would even go so far as to say that most homebrewers don't know what this style takes (or even is), and if they do, they don't have the skills to pull off each necessary steps flawlessly - the recipe formulation (wheat, oats, acidulated..), water chemistry (low pH, high chloride), fermentation (temp control), etc. Similarly, I think that even many (most?) commercial brewers don't know this style exists or simply don't care to make this style. It takes a daring brewer to take a leap of faith in producing this style (and producing it well) - you run a serious risk of having your consumers send it back... because it does look like garbage. I do think it will become increasingly popular over the next 2-4 years, but you'll also start to see more and more poor approximations, like 3 Stars' #uberfresh. In short, Aslin does this style VERY well, can hold their own with the best of them, and are ahead of the curve, particularly in our region.

/fluff

 

You're entitled to your opinion, but I don't think you'll find many people who agree with you.