There is a new pejorative term, “cheugy” that is used to describe wonky Millennials. It’s a descriptive neg that needles basic millennial girlboss grindculture energy. Some beers are good enough to exist beyond the scope of Generational disputes. Triple Oak is so fantastic, it supercedes GenZ criticism.

In a world devoid of inherent meaning, some people define themselves by what they are not. I might have LED lights in my ceiling, FILAs, and terrible thrifted clothing but I am not a craft beer cheugy. If something is inherently delicious, it is invulernable to these barbs. A barleywine aged in three different casks, sold in Alaska, with almost perfect oaky depth, intense prune and date heat, with an elegant Skor bar swallow doesn’t care when you were born.

Given the price, bottle count, small format, style, and all the factors surrounding TO, people are right to suspect it to be cheugy. When you have beer this good, with waves of Riesin, pumpernickel bread, and Sazerac crackle, it makes you question if you yourself are outdated.

Unlike the girl who boasts that she does coke “but has never bought it” and the dude who wears Allbirds and brags about his $41 crypto gains, Triple Oak is a radiant example of a stylistic pinnacle. It is likely in the DDB top 10 beers of 2021 if only because making fun of it is like playing ping pong against someone who went to summer camp every year as a kid. I can’t get out from under it. Each neg turns itself into a virtue.

The beer is overwhelming, but that’s where the malty coating and heat comes from. You may roll your eyes when they do a flashmob dance at a wedding, but Triple Oak is a throbbing radiant evening destroyer. There are no trends or fads than can contain it.

The 12oz experience is both concentrated and elongated, like people painted by El Greco. It’s scary but you keep returning to hit those Raisinettes.

To a generation obsessed with Van Life, a 12oz beer that sells for over $400 is peak cheugy. But intensity without compromise is the furthest thing from décor bought at Home Goods. Triple Oak seeks to destroy all generations equally, the anti-Cheug.