Night Shift Brewing

I found the cinnamon to be way overpowering, completely masked any maple flavor. It honestly reminded me somewhat of Fireball, which is a good thing if you like that, but came off as artificial. Coffee on the other hand, was excellent and very well balanced.

 

I thought bourbon hot and too much cinnamon. Bourbon hot was common across the four varieties I tried on Black Friday.

I went intending to buy Darkling bottles, but after tasting those at $22 a bottle against the $16 four packs of Second Breakfast, went with SB. Not at all the same beer, but personally I’d be drinking them in the same context, and thought Second Breakfast was way better.

 

I thought regular Darkling was delicious. The maple was probably my least fave of the ones I tried. Just a bit muddled.

 

Just popped open my MC Darkling, thought I'd check back in.

I have to echo the previous criticism: barely a hint of maple, hefty on the cinnamon. I'll probably give my second as a gift and keep the third to pop open when I try the 2018. I actually have high hopes for aging, as hopefully it will cool off the cinnamon and better blend the flavors. I think it has promise!

I also agree with previous posts that the Coffee is better (but sweet sassy molasses try the Perennial Sump if you ever get a chance... it's one of a few stouts I could drink all day... but this is a NS thread so enough of that)

 

Anyone else think the Gravitas was a top beer for them. I was blown away with the skill level on that beer. Triple IPAs are usually too boozy and more like barleywines. That beer is all NEIPA that drinks like it's 8%.

They need to put that thing in the rotation. I'm just pissed I gave away 2 of my 4.

 

My critique of the MC Darkling is similar in that the maple was non existant. It felt super thin as well. As someone mentioned before, if I bought a 4 dollar can of it, no problem, but the bomber style is brutal for mediocre beer.
I still love visiting the brewery and love the set up but I go knowing that ill grab a few things on draft and expect average beers and not get anything to go oppose to I stop at trillium, have a glass or two then drop 80 bucks on a few 4 packs of world class beer.

 

I’ve been a supporter of night shift for the last few years. Love seeing their beers on the shelves. Bring my friends from out of town to the tap room as the experience is awesome! Also like the fact that they tell you when it was bottled on the menu. I’m having an Annie oatley right now so good. Also I had the everglow at the brewery the other day and I think it holds its own to trillium and tree house beers.

 

MC Darkling was my first experience with Darkling and after cracking it on New Year's I really wish I'd bought a bottle of the regular and coffee to compare. IMO the MC was a mess, one of the least enjoyable beers I've ever had from Night Shift. At cellar temp it was just an overpowering Mrs. Butterworths fake-butter flavor? Tasted like someone had melted margarine into beer, mouthfeel was greasy/oily too. That dulled a lot once chilled and the bourbon came forward more but that buttery taste was still present. Really the only swing and a miss I've had from them, they're my go-to brewery and I'm there a few times a month.

 

Sounds like you're describing diacetyl. It's not an uncommon off flavor, and the worst cases of it I've experienced have been in BA stouts. Never gotten it from a Night Shift beer though.

 

I'm also a big Night Shift fan and enjoy the taproom when it's not too packed. The last issue I had with them was when they were selling mixed Morph 4-packs, which I thought was a cool idea until I realized it was really a way to sell old stock. Dumb of me to not think of that, but a bummer to get home and have one of the beers be nearly 2 months old (if I recall correctly).

 

Yeah I felt that was the same reason at the time.

However, its nice that they have kept up the single can sales. With the amoutn fo beers they produce, its great that I can head there after work today and grab a 4pk of 4 different beers.

 

I got a heavy mouthfeel of Diacetyl in the last batch of Fluffy (which I previously loved). I’ve seen/heard other people experience this in the latest batch as well.

Also random but they completely changed the recipe for Swell from this summer to this most recent batch. Went from West coast style to much more NEIPA. Found that interesting.

 

Personally I think that was a bit of growing pains for them (then again maybe I'm a fanboy since I have a keg of Santilli with a Night Shift tap handle at the moment ). Most of their stock seems to be selling pretty quickly now from the brewery. Not sure if they've tweaked the amount of beer they produce or tweaked their distribution so that there's not so much stock at the brewery.

 

they definitely got carried away with the Morph at one point this year. They had at least 4 or 5 in the tap room at one time, hence the need for the mix 4pks to get rid of the older stuff. I think they were doing two morph per month for the beginning of the year, whereas now they have slowed to just one per month

 

Probably a good idea. I think most Boston-area breweries have to assume slower turnover going forward than what they've experienced the last several years. Everyone is scaling up and canning. I'm sure Night Shift wants to avoid the Lord Hobo issues of having stacks of old & new beer sitting in local stores at all times and having to ship to every corner of the country to clear your inventory.

 

Is it still really crowded there on the weekends? I've gone a few times on weekends (albeit a few months ago), and I was a little disappointed by the crowd size, noise, and wait time at the bar. I haven't been back because of those experiences... has it gotten better?

 

Also been months for me. Everett is just annoying to get to, so it takes some convincing to drag friends/my wife out there. Add in the fact that half the place seems to spending an entire day in the taproom (seriously, tables turnover so slow), it's often not worth the uber out there. On a weekday afternoon, it's a great place to drink good beer.

 

Its still usually pretty busy, though not as bad as the summer months can be. Their tap room can get busy to the point of insanity, and I'll never forget the time that someone decided to throw a children's birthday party there. That was a mess, children climbing on the furniture and running around.

 

They used to have a bunch of nice leather sofas and chairs in the back room, they’re gone right? I was in a month or so ago and it seemed like they were replaced by long beer hall type tables