I don’t know how we are supposed to return to the small format acidity of the fruited @sideprojectbrew wilds when faced with this masterpiece. It crushes the pits out of Montmorency with tact and elegance. There’s this luxurious cherry limeaid aspect that has a Riesling structure to the swallow. If prior STL bangers aligned more in the Upland Indiana schism, the is decidedly more subtle and Casey Colorado. I am absolutely for this tectonic shift in the game, if this is a sign of things to come then open arms for these cherry poppers.

The mouthfeel and sustain of that crackle leaves something to be desired and the cling is a bit Ocean Spray for my tastes, but the structure is forgiven by the overall watermelon Agua Fresca experience of the whole affair.

Where the fuck did this no name brewery arise from? Holy shit they mapped the most continental iteration of the blaugies model this side of the Atlantic. It’s goose feather duvet soft, inoffensive like a soft spoken democratic representative from Denver, a whipped egg mouthfeel that lovingly delivers the gentle sous vie yolk in a creamy way. Acidity like Orval in that it is totally integrated and forgettable, borderline BPA. This is the most underrated but also intriguing brewery I’ve seen in a bit: was this intentional? If so, Casey has an interlocutor for the most intentional execution.

Colorado and their typical keeping silent on amazing nuanced offerings. I don’t think anyone but ddb will lose it over a completely restrained offering but, seriously, its toddler gentle and I love it.

Does Michigan ever release normal beers? Every box I get I have to cash in PTO for hangover time. Everything is ice distilled with exotic fruits or highly attenuated bee cum. People in that snowblind arctic tundra come up with some bonkers ass recipes.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I used to load Elk Valley Brewing beers down with qualifiers like “amazing for Oklahoma” and “world class for beers coming out of states near Texas” but now I can confidently shed the regional modifiers. They make awesome beers. I hate bastardized barleywine progeny because you can massage the BALs in most instances to get the flavor profile organically but this is easily the prop13 of the old ale world. 
Waves of coconut and vanilla, a dialed in almost too thin body that lets the other elements shine by way of reduction. The barrel presence is scaled back but lends an overseeing nod of lightly tannic caramel that chaperones all these confectionary assholes on this field trip. This exists as the Shasta prairie paradise, Unflinchingly Well done, no Oklahoma asterisks necessary.

DDB hit threes off balance. When it’s DONG u need hand bottle hitters in these streets

Stoked to do this year and b1 straight jacket side by side to see if the infamous first place winner of the ddb blind barleywine challenge has held up over time, and whether the proud tradition continues

Now to try and get someone to baby bird me that VSOJ 

How fast the petulant seasons shift from radiant summer to the scrotum-tightening chill of winter. It feels like just yesterday that the Old Oude was out, the b1 masses heralding the second coming of the prophet Unblended 40. 

This beer defies conventional beer “wisdom” and is almost identical in scope and execution to batch 1 Oude du Ble. It is old hat to decry against the “new” batches and distance yourself from the present by emphasizing the quality of the past, like some AARP card gripping geriatric railing on about orange groves. Citrus orchards indeed, this beer delivers the same candidate promises as its predecessor: kumquat, tangerine, grapefruit pith, the fleshy interior of jazz apples spilling bountifully from this musty gourd.
The mouthfeel is dry but more substantial than those Dickensian white label offerings what with their simple lemon tones, hat in hand darkening the saison doorway. The acidity is refined and never overbearing, but a splash of some old world wallonian grist would balance things out a touch. Oddly the second pour is more turbid with a bit of sediment and gave it a belini coffeemate punch that rounded out the mouthfeel. And like a 3D printer operated by a farmer with scatalogical fetish: that is when shit became real in the field.

Compare the first and second pour, the difference is subtle but the messier aspects pang of heavy tome loads in your chest hair. 

Overall this is a fantastic offering that comes scarily close to the absolute pinnacle of Art and its progeny. In terms of the god tier saison realm, this is the best dollar to weight “bargain” in that realm. Diminishing returns enveloping like foreskin in an outdoor shower.

Gitchusum.

Highland park has the hop and saison game on lock, every massive malty offering has been getting better and better. But they still haven’t released a barleywine so I reserve my right to complain incessantly until that happens.

Time to absolutely ruin a secret farmhouse gem for the Tacoma locals. E9 is absolutely incredible in the fruited and funk game. If that’s all they are capable of, that’s entirely fine.

It’s only January but I am confident that I won’t receive a box this ridiculous for the rest of 2017. Might as well quit while DDB is ahead. 

This lineup is The Who’s who of my favorite blends from the SP “accessible” white label joints and shit on the compleeeete other end of the spectrum. 

If tickers ain’t sippin loud then be quiet.

What if I wanted to do dry January?

People just expect me to keep punishing my body W delicious beers for their amusement? Funny what like a clown? DDB is funny how.

Kinda ridiculous that all this shit landed on the same day. Rip in peace FedEx man, union wages for that l5-s1 sciatic bulge.