Night Shift Brewing

It is (was?) in cans recently. I'm pretty sure I sampled it at Redstone, and recently (maybe last weekend) saw it at Ball Square.

 

So Nightshift has scrapped the "barrel society" right? I believe it's been almost 6 months since the last "barrel society" release of AB El Lechedor. I know Darkling typically comes out this time of year but i havent heard a peep about it.

 

Black Friday for Darkling I believe, and I wouldn't be so sure, I joined the barrel society about a year ago and emailed them after about 5 months of radio silence to make sure I was actually subscribed and sure enough I was, there's just many months long stretches of no barrel releases. I'm guessing something may go out about darkling but just a guess.

 

Sidenote, has anyone opened an AB Lechedor recently? Thoughts?

 

Traffic cone is absolutely delicious. It’s what Julius used to be before Charlton.

 

Them be big words partner.

 

Traffic cone was ok but I didn't think it tasted remotely like Julius, before or after Charlton. It tasted like an IPA with Orange added which it is. If it didn't have orange added it might have been better.

 

I had it in a can a few weeks ago, bought it from Vinal Square Craft Beer House in North Chelmsford. Personally I thought it was the worst beer I've had from Night Shift. Perhaps I had an off one since its rare that I don't at least like a NS beer.

 

100% agree. I stand by my statement. Very nicely surprised by this beer.

 

Had it on draft a couple months ago before it kicked and thought it was solid. They were pouring a limited amount of the 2016 yesterday but I didn't make it over there.

 

Well that's disappointing. Though that would likely have been the very first batch brewed and maybe what I had on draft was a newer batch that's been adjusted?

Or maybe my palate was out to lunch that day. I guess we shall see.

 

I asked Joe (head brewer) about the Barrel Society recently and the response was understandable in my book... basically to meet the production schedule for the wholesale beers and all of the tap room releases they just have trouble dedicating time to getting barreled beer into the brite tank for packaging. Joe broke down the basics of their production schedule for me (which I won't go into detail here) and after that I had no basis of complaint. The guys/gals in that production space are gung-ho brewing/packaging core beers and taproom specialties just to meet demand.

 

I'm not sure if they made more than one batch. Maybe its personal taste or perhaps its just due to something I drank before that threw it off. This is a rare time I actually disliked a NS beer vs just thinking it was ok. I drink a lot of NS since I've had several kegs at home over the past 10 months.

 

Been watching Night Shift emails and hoping for some news about a Black Friday Darkling release but haven't seen a thing. What's up with Darkling this year @robNSB?

 

Not doing barrel aged beers anymore would be a huge loss to me. I dont like any of their core beers and their one-offs are usually not worth me driving over to pick up from the tap room.

 

They have Owl King, a BA Stout, coming out in late November. I thought I saw another note somewhere alluding to something happening on Black Friday as well. If you look at their last few BA releases they didn't sell out super fast. I don't believe it was due to lack of quality but lack of demand. People aren't going out of their way to buy as many of these BA releases anymore unless they are super hyped. I've found BA releases across the board to be easier and easier to obtain the last few years. Beers that used to be very difficult to find are now pretty easy to get.

 

I looked on their website -- some kind of cellar bottle sale for Black Friday? Definitely a draw for some, but I'd probably sit that one out at a bottle or two of things I could have gotten before...

Apple Brandy BA El Lechedor and Coffee Darkling are probably my two favorite releases from them over the past year, so hope they're not entirely doing away with BA beer. Definitely surprised though to not see a Darkling release -- it was a fun day last year that generated a huge line at open for bottles to go only and they had different variants of it on all day.

 

Darkling didn't make it into barrels in time for a Black Friday release. We do have a batch resting in oak right now that will likely come out in Winter 2019. Core beer demand led us to not have the time to brew it earlier. We are maxed out at the brewery for the time being so its hard to squeeze in non-core stuff (besides the taproom one-offs).

 

Thanks for the quick reply! Glad it wasn't rushed for the sake of having it available -- looking forward to trying it after it spends some more time in hibernation. Cheers!

 

Its hard to justify running down there for beers I may have already had and are going to be $20+ per bottle. If Darkling is a barrel society release I'll probably purchase it but I wish they'd switch to smaller formats than 750ml. I'd rather buy 2 12 oz bottles than 1 750 ml bottle even if the cost per ounce isn't better. 750 ml of a 10%+ ABV beer is a lot and there isn't always someone else around interested in sharing it. A $10 or $12 12 oz BA release would be a must purchase every single time, the 750 ml at $20-22 and it becomes questionable.