Phase Three Brewing (2021)

I did, so that's a good call. After having both, I feel like Goose Island was going for something different. Mon Cheri seemed like it was using it in conjunction with the cherry to create their flavor profile. And full disclosure, I was one who got the medicinal flavor (though many others didn't), so it wasn't a great variant for me.

Crunch Time is a full-on pastry version and when you take a whiff, granola smacks you right in the face. Like, "hey, this smells like a Nature's Valley granola bar." And then you taste it and it's like "hey, this tastes like they ground up Nature's Valley granola bars in here."

So short answer is yes and thanks for the reminder. The two beers were executed very differently and probably why I forgot about Mon Cheri.

 

Split the new Minutiae bottle with a friend last night; we really took our time with it & drank it over the course of 2 hours or so.

In a word: SUBLIME. Went from a harsher, robust Russian imperial stout to a fudgy, American style over the course of the session. Bakers chocolate, black licorice & earth notes up front made way for brownies, cocoa nibs and some cream/vanilla flavors after it really opened up.

I think it's light years better than the 2020 version. If you only had it on draft during the power hours at the taproom, I implore you to give this the space it needs to really blossom.

 

I think your #trashpalate (let's cover all of them: #trashpallet #trashpalette #trashpanda) seems to be off as I liked it too.

I shared mine on Thanksgiving with two guys who like craft beer socially but do not partake in any sort of beer nerdery. Both mentioned the dark fruit/raisin notes right away, which I definitely agreed with. As you mentioned, as it warmed, it balanced out quite a bit and the alcohol burn all but disappeared. It was a nice bottle to open and chill with the guys after dinner.

As a side note, I brought some Chocolate/Vanilla Niu and that was a hit with the whole family. That's a fun one for people casually into beer.

 

I know that I am not local to Chicago, so my contribution to this thread is almost non existent. -Buuuut, I love all the feedback and contributions everyone provides. It’s really nice. I’m able to get a pretty good picture of both what P3 does and how people feel about it without trying to decipher what an untappd rating means or trying to sort through a mess of beers on untappd.

 

I don’t understand. This isn’t possible.

 

Drinking this tonight. It's about 3 months out. Didn't mean to let it go that long, but it happened. Holding up great, IMO, which I think speaks to the quality.

I'm no hop head - people know this - but I do enjoy hops sometimes when they aren't bitter. I definitely do notice when some hops are fresh, and when others get old. TO my taste, this isn't appreciably different than it was when it was about 4 weeks old.

I've probably had 5 - 8 different P3 hops at this point. All have been good. Thanks for sharing, Chicago.

 

Looks like some goodies this week:

• Dopplebock
• Warmest Wishes
• Peppermint Warmest Wishes
• Just Use Your Wings "Winter DIPA"
• Lulz Cactus Crush (smoothie style with prickly pear, strawberry, banana)

 

Interest = piqued.

 

Seems like a new favorite style in the Midwest.

 

As it should be. I think we are turning a corner. I see lots of fans are getting back to basics. Props to breweries for making these beers, hopefully it pays off. I don’t expect dopplebock to topple hazy ipa or dessert stout, but lager programs seem to be thriving as we enter 2022

 

Phase Three holiday beers available in their webstore (& Oznr) as of 3p. Peppermint Warmest Wishes sold out in 5 min or so last year & was released brewery-only, so thought I’d give heads up. I’m assuming that’s why they haven’t posted about their forthcoming releases this week... I would think they made more of the Peppermint this year, and that it would see distro, but who knows. Anyway, it was a hit at our Christmas gathering last year, looking forward to this year’s release.

In addition, grabbed regular Warmest Wishes (which I love), along with Just Use Your Wings ‘winter’ ipa (which I take to be their nod to SN Celebration; trying for first time). Last year, pretty sure Just Use Your Wings did not last until Christmas for those contemplating. Cheers!

 

Glad there’s a new Lulz as well even if it’s not exactly seasonal.

 

Tried all today. Warmest Wishes (and the peppermint version) are super solid. Same as last year.

Just Use Your Wings is certainly in the same vein as SN Celebration. Really dark, malty, piney DIPA.

Tried that as well. The combo was melting my brain. Probably the banana (personal note, not a huge banana fan), but an enjoyable tropical smoothie, if that's what you are looking for.

And I am not a dopplebock connessieur, but that was a nice toasty break from the others. The 8.2% was very well hidden.

I don't know about everyone else, but I forsee the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny Kaye.

 

Thanks for the reviews. I will definitely grab the doppelbock. I do enjoy the fruited/smoothies as post run beers…er…seltzer’s even in this cooler weather.

 

Sure thing!

Side note, I realize it's not a hyped beer anymore, but they also have Darkstar November as a guest tap.

 

I wish I could say the same. my beer was way darker, drank oddly flat despite pouring a big head, and had very low bitterness compared to celebration. My 2 cans were bland and a bit of a bummer considering i think p3 is on a bit of a roll lately

I like that breweries are paying homage to beers like Celebration, but my 2 cans of Just Use Your Wings didn’t get finished. And I’ve already drank nearly a case of celebration with my father this year. It might be a hoppy red ale, released during the holidays, but celebration fans are going to be left wanting celebration

 

This week looks like Double Pixel, TDH Triple Creme Citra, Run It (DIPA w/ Amarillo, El Dorado, Mosaic and Simcoe), and Winter's Bone (Winter Warmer, collab w/ Skeleton Key).

And holiday bags starting tomorrow which includes Brooklyn Bagel, 8 different cans, 2 glasses, and an ornament.

 

Bottle pours of Eunoia 7 this weekend, along with the leftover What Could Be batches from the Minutiae release. And yes, I asked them if they were new batches or the leftovers. I believe they said there should be 4 of them on tap.

 

The dreaded back-to-back-to-back post.

What Could Be 2 (vanilla) and 5 (coffee) are on now. From what I heard 4 (vanilla and marshmallow) and 6 (cocoa nibs and cinnamon) are the others that will get tapped.

Others pointed it out earlier and I realize the point is they are test batches, but you can really tell the difference in how different the What Could Be pours are when you have an Eunoia right next to it. More bitter, higher carb, and less barrel are what really stuck out to me. Maybe it speaks more to how well Eunoia is crafted as a finished product? And don't get me wrong, I do like these fun trials so those are minor issues in my opinion.

That's all for your daily P3 update.

 

I've been there, amigo. This week, in fact.