Notable Releases - DC/NOVA/MD

Never had Tired Hands or Treehouse, so I don't know how it measures up to those.

But, I will say this - A Small Town in Ontario is the best Virginia IPA I have ever had (yeah, I know it's not saying much). It is very good. Reminded me a little of Lagunitas Born Yesterday. I have had a lot of California IPAs and it measures very well up to them.

The other offerings were average (except Deceiver which was slightly above average for me).

I am not trying to make them into something they are not, but that beer is the bomb! Worth a trip out there just for it!

 

Small Town isn't a juice bomb? Are we drinking the same beer?

I've been to Tired Hands twice in the past few months. And Aslin's IPAs are juicier, IMO. TH IPAs tend to be more earthy.

 

And when I asked Aslin what hops were in Small Town all they said was "a blend of American hops". I would bet there is some Citra in there.

 

I have had a lot of "NE IPAs" and Aslin is up there with the best of them. Again it comes down to pallet and personal preference. Most people who hype TH, Trillium, Tired Hands, etc. and put down local beers haven't done side by side taste testing.

Yes they may be new, but IMO you are off base and where they are at.

 

Canton Crossing in Baltimore has SMS.

 

Not sure about Treehouse and Tired Hands, but I sampled Mind the Hop side by side with Grimm's Lambo Door, Cloudbusting and Lumen, and Mind the Hop was just so much better it was on another level. It was very different from Small Town, which was super resinous and bitter, and not what I would call a juice bomb (it was juicy but the bitterness takes it out of juice bomb territory for me--semantics I guess). I loved Small Town, and enjoy that bitterness.

One guy who had just had Julius (which he thinks is the best beer in the world now) and Green said he thought Mind the Hop wasn't as good as Julius but just as good as Green, for what that's worth.

 

Why are we comparing Aslin and Tree House? One opened (in Herndon) in September and the other consistently produces the best IPAs in the world. Just cause Ontario isn't Julius (or Green or Haze) doesn't mean it's not really impressive, especially for a new brewery in the DMV.

If Aslin weren't just a figment of all of our imaginations, that is.

 

Wow if this is true I really need to get down to Aslin ASAP. Granted, those aren't Grimm's best (Tesseract and Afterimage), but those are still top tier IPAs that rival anything I've had from Tree House, HF, Bissell Brothers, Other Half, etc. Maybe off topic here, but does anyone ever trade Aslin growlers? I'll definitely check it out next time I'm in town in any case.

 

Trading will probably be easier once they get their crowler machine in.

 

That's great news, I'll be monitoring.

 

If I remember correctly, Small Town is Citra, Simcoe & Amarillo.

 

Do they not do growlers on certain beers? Planning to stop by sometime soon as it's pretty convenient for me but if they don't offer growlers for the more popular/better beers then maybe I'll wait until I have time to drink there.

 

Anyone remember that hot new brewery we used to talk about called Ocelot?

 

I think it just depends on their supply. This one was very low and they wanted it to last on tap through the day/night, if possible.

 

HAH I was just thinking this.

 

Drinking a growler of See the Light right now. Good beer.

 

I think between Ocelot and Aslin we have the best of both worlds--Ocelot is more the West Coast style (which they themselves told me they are going for), while Aslin is killing the NE hazy thing. Like I said, I've never had Tired Hands or Treehouse, but I have had enough Hill Farmstead and Heady Topper to feel like I can do a legit comparison, and Aslin is right there in terms of quality. Ocelot has consistently put out amazing IPAs as well, and I'd put Talking Backwards and some others up in the highest echelons as well.

The Aslin guys are ramping up quick and have some big plans. Andrew the brewer was telling us about it yesterday, including thoughts of an inside-the-beltway location. Finally, I get in on one before it was cool.

 

Why do you guys keep saying Tired Hands is in New England?

 

I don't think anyone said that, but they do make hazy/turbid "NE-style" IPAs, which I think is what everyone is talking about. Why people are mentioning Tired Hands in the same sentence as Tree House is a different question though - from what I've had, Tree House seems to be on a different level.

 

My personal opinion based on trying a few from each brewery:

Treehouse>Aslin>Tired Hands