Seven Stills

Not from this morning! But I tried this Imperial Red Ale from 7S/Libertine.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I found this beer confusing. It supposedly has Swedish Fish added to the beer - which may be the case... I may not have ever had Swedish Fish before? But for me, the dominant note is malt. Like, we talk about certain beers as being "malt bombs" such as Hopslam. But this one almost tastes like a porter, with notes of chocolate. But at the same time, it lacked the roasty bitter character of a porter. I also felt cheated in the hops department, as I couldn't really pick up any of it.

I don't think it's a horrible beer, but I found it one dimensional and off-balance.

 

By request @Ma9573 ...

5 Pounds per BBL. Cans are sold out, so this is draught. 100% Mosaic 7% IPA.

Not surprisingly, it tastes like the little brother of 8 Lbs. It's tropical fruits and a little floral/soapy, as Mosaic tends to be. The hopping is less aggressive than 8 Lbs, but all the notes are there. Personally, I like this more because the ABV is lower and the 12 oz cans make a lot of sense.

But honestly, this is exactly what you'd expect, and want, it to taste like. Thank goodness they've gotten beyond their yeast issues and we're back to talking about the beers.

 

Correction, it's 6.7% and 8 pounds is 7.2

 

Honeydew Harvest - 6.8% Honeydew Melon Kettle Sour collab with Track 7.

I was curious to see how this would translate to a beer because honeydew is a delicate fruit. Sure enough, the fruit character is at its best subtle, and is mostly unnoticeable overall.

That being said, this is lightly tart to complement the mild flavors. It reminds me a lot of Umbrella Drink. If you like cucumber sours, this isn't much different other than losing that slight vegetal edge.
It's light, refreshing, and easy to drink for any occasion. I like it quite a bit.

 

So when I had the Honeydew Harvest, I wanted to try Holy Guacamole as well. But the Outer Sunset Taproom sold out of it and the bartender said it was surprisingly good, so I actually took a trip to the original Bayview location immediately afterwards to pick up a 4-pack.

Holy Guac is their collaboration with Casa Sanchez, and is a 7% IPA with guacamole and tortilla chips! I'm already used to this kind of savory style beer, thanks to the annual Taco Hands release from Cellarmaker/Tired Hands, so I kept an open mind.

You can kinda smell the guac. But honestly, if you didn't tell me beforehand, I wouldn't have guessed. But you will definitely pick up on the most prominent contribution of the guacamole: lime. It mostly tastes like a lime IPA, with tortilla chip corn coming through in the aftertaste. Taco Hands is a little bit more savory and complex, but this one worked out. Not my favorite, but certainly fine.

 

5.7% IPL collab with Tioga Sequoia.

Never seen a hazy IPL before, but I'll take it. This one is chock full of hops: Motueka, Wakatu and Mosaic, so it doesn't taste at all like the muted IPLs of yore. It's got bright citrus, WC bitterness, and a barely there malt bill. Crazy that it's so flavorful for a sub 6% beer. Among the best cans they've put out.

 

Unrelated but my roommate in college and my wife (2 different people) both loved Chilly Bin Sleeper, so don't "sleep" on it. My old roommate Mike hasn't liked 7S hoppy beers until that one.

Anyway for today...



7.5% Horchata Ale collab with Hard Frescos. I actually think this beer is fun and worth trying. Does it taste like horchata? Sadly, no. Neither in flavor nor in consistency.

But as an adjunct supported cream ale, it quite works. This one has cinnamon, vanilla and maple. All those things give it a unique profile that complements the "cream". Yet as sweet as it sounds, there's also a prominent generic bitterness to curb the sugar. I personally like it, but find this much more suited to sharing. I couldn't drink a 4-pack of this.

 

6.5% Nelson Sauvin hopped Kettle Soured Saison with Sauvignon Blanc grapes.

In the end though, it's a generic kettle sour. It doesn't have bold flavors (sure a little grapey, if you look for it - not so much Nelson), but you can tell the malt bill packs a little bit of ... well I hesitate to call it booze. It doesn't taste high octane. But you can tell there's something there that makes it a bigger beer, even if the flavors don't.

Pretty meh.

 

Been a long time since I've posted about them, but here's their latest canned IPA. I wasn't a fan of Beer Money, which also sports "Loop Juice" (Hop Hash something or other), and this is no different.

It has a nice slick, full mouthfeel, thanks to the 8% ABV and the oats. But taste-wise, there's a not quite distinctive tropical note to it and what I perceive to be yeasty taste to it? Not the Belgian infected yeast that 7S had problems with last year, but definitely a flavor that seems like it doesn't quite harmonize with the rest of the beer.

Overall, non-offensive, but not something I'd want. I think they should make a WCIPA next :/

 

Here's a 8.5% Imperial Oatmeal Stout with chocolate and peated malt. I decided to crack it open given how cold it's been.

This is the creamiest, smoothest 7S beer I've had, so they nailed the mouthfeel. Taste is roast, and chocolate, and peaty smoke. I actually think this beer is well made - for what they tried to make, they completely nailed it and I couldn't say I have any issues with it. I just personally don't like peaty aroma / tastes in my beer or my whiskeys, so this isn't really my thing. But if you're a scotch fan and a stout fan, I think you'd love this!

 

Interesting enough...

1.21 Gigawatts is a limited 13.3% Imperial Oat Stout collab between Seven Stills & Tioga Sequioa. They were on Eventbrite preorder for $10/can + fees, 4pp limit, but they sold out. (Releases Friday for release party, Saturday publicly)

But looks like K&L just got it in for $6.99? I already got 2 at the Eventbrite price so not going for more. But for everyone else who may be interested - you should jump on that!

 

Next stout with... Moksa?

 

Incoming!



Secret Ingredient - 7S / Temescal collab 8.8% Honey DIPA. A little bit gimmicky, but I kinda enjoyed it. The honey definitely comes through and adds an element I've not experienced in an IPA before. Of course this beer is sweet, but actually was somewhat constrained considering the ingredients. If anything, it was just a touch sweeter than a normal WC DIPA, but the imparted honey notes made the sweetness make sense? Not something I'd drink everyday, but this was fun.



Slo Flow - 5.5% Czech-style Pilsner.

I'm really happy they added a Pilsner to their year-round portfolio. This one is pretty solid and hits all the Pilsner notes you expect. Grainy, crisp, touch of minerality, and goes down easy. It's just not particularly complex, so won't go down as one of the best of them. But hey, nothing wrong with a serviceable Pils. I wish every brewery would have one.



Coastal Cocktail - New World Ales 4/20/2019 collab, a 8.4% DIPA with Kiwi and Peach. They label it as a NEIPA, but I'd say it's pretty WC/NE fusion. I hated the 2018 collab and drainpoured it.

This year? Actually I dug it. Maybe it's cuz I drank it on 5/26 (ie 1mo+ past can date), but the fruit isn't really noticeable and just gave it the normal fruity notes you encounter in new school hops. But what this is was a green danky beer with a touch of fruity sweetness and finished with some bitterness. This package may have been their most successful of all the IPAs I've had from them as of late. I only bought one can but I think I'll pick up at least another.



And finally.... 1.21 Gigawatts. Collab with Tioga Sequioa, a 13.3% Imperial Oat Stout (and their 1.21 Gigawatts Whiskey made with the same beer counterpart!)

I went to their release party so this beer + whiskey combo was a fantastic price of $10.

The beer: I'm wary of high ABV beers, especially since the beer isn't barrel aged and is just a big beer. (Like... why?) That being said, although this one felt boozy, thankfully it didn't really taste boozy. This is a velvety & thick imperial stout with a lot of roasty notes, and a little bit of tart accents. I liked that it wasn't particularly sweet - and for how windy and cold SF has been lately, this seems like a great sipper. I'm a little torn on the tart cherry note though. I didn't enjoy it at first, but it started to grow on me the more I drank it. I have some cans for home that I'd be interested in exploring the beer more.

The whiskey: 49.5% drink tastes like 49.5%. It tastes like whiskey (of which I'm not an expert), but there's a distinct chocolatey note to it too. Having two high octane drinks next to each other, I may have been less sober than I'd like to give a true impression... but I have a bottle of this for more in depth impressions later down the line too.