North Park Beer Co. (2020)

After striking out on Wild Thai Banana, I managed to get a bottle of NPBC4. Glad we are seeing these delicious-sounding stouts pop up more frequently.

 

Bought 2 4 packs of party cup because of everyone on here. Tried it last night. Wish I bought 2 more. Delicious, and insanely easy to drink. Once you’re done drinking you just want another. Trying to drink lighter beers other than ipa and stouts. Loving what Enegren is doing, love Highland Park Timbo pils, Bruery helles, will be adding party cup to that line up whenever I can get it.

 

I was chatting with a friend this morning about the early DBD releases. On one hand, I sort of miss being able to wander into the brewery days after the release and grab more bottles, as was the case with Vanilla DBD. On the other hand, and more importantly, I'm genuinely stoked that Kelsey and the NPBC crew have gained such wide acclaim. Seeing people get excited not just about their stouts, but their lagers and WC IPAs as well, is a testament to how they're executing at an incredibly high level across the board.

 

My favorite brewery in SD as far as I'm concerned.

 

I wouldn't be able to call a favorite between North Park, Modern Times, and Pure Project, but the fact that they are now in that contention for me speaks highly of the beer they have been producing lately.

 

The new release of Hop-Fu (b51) is probably my favorite batch to date, slightly surpassing the one that was on tap in early February. The bitterness and malt profile that were lacking in b50 have been restored but with some of the aromatic improvements left intact. This embodies everything I want out of the classic interpretation of a WC IPA - massive hop-driven aroma, assertive bitterness, a balancing but restrained malt profile, tropical fruit and resinous pine weaving a symphony of flavors that exceeds the sum of its parts. Phenomenal beer.

 

What

what’s the canning date on that one? I’d love to pick this batch up if my local gets it in.

 

Likely the 14th or 15th (so a few days ago) since I posted their email blast about the new batch then.

 

07/15/20. The date code text on the bottom of the can also says "BATCH 51."

 

Got 1 can of tikicito , and was hoping this would be a really good fruited sour because there’s a shortage of that style locally!


Really disappointed. Basically tasted like a sour , with coconut on the finish. Which isn’t bad if I wanted a sour, but don’t drink many sours nowadays.


Very glad that I didn’t buy a 4pack.

 

Basically the opposite of my reaction. It might be my favorite kettle sour ever. But I like them sour, although I'd say this had about an average amount of tartness, definitely nothing close to enamel-stripping. I feel like there's been an abundance of kettle sours lately that don't have any, and basically just taste like fruit juice. Not my thing.

 

I had a Fuzzy Logic from Frogtown Brewery that is probably more up your alley. It is low ABV at like 4.5%, but it was definitely fruity and just very slightly tart.

 

The fruited sours are my jam. From the answer, jreams, 450 north slushies, schmoojee, and anything around that lines. I'm sure I'll get exhausted with it eventually, but for now it is definitely very enjoyable.

Personally it' hard to drink sours lately. Sometimes I'll drink a 1-3 ounces of a sour and toss the rest. Not that it's terrible, but for the most part it's just not that enjoyable as it used to be.

 

I do like those fruited sours, when they're actually sour/tart. Some are, some aren't. The Wild Barrel Vice series (or at least, the few that I've had) are an example of just straight fruit juice. Not sure if they're called "kettle sour" even, but if so, they aren't what I'd consider a sour beer. Most of the newer MT berliners are like that too. I do like their "slushee" nectarnomicons, because they give me that "sour face", which I love. I do agree sometimes a sour can be a challenge to drink.
I definitely get a lot of pineapple and some orange from tikicito.

 

NPBC is releasing a new batch of Covington and cans of This Is Strata for the first time today. The draft batch of This Is Strata that they did back in December 2018 was stellar (quite possibly my favorite hoppy beer from them up to that point), so I have high hopes for this new canned batch.

 

Guess I will need to add a stop this weekend as I am doing the Alesmith BiB collab pickups.

 

Bummer, this is easily our most popular fruited kettle sour.

Just an FYI - We add the fruit in all of our fruited beers toward the end of fermentation so that the sugars ferment out and we don't risk having exploding cans. If you're looking for a straight up smoothie fruit juice profile, we're probably not the right place to look. Our Milkshake IPAs tend to be on the thicker side, but they still aren't going to be loaded with pulp or smoothie like.

 

This batch came out super good, probably better than that first batch from 2018. I'm pretty sure you'll dig it.