A little later than usual, but here are my tasting notes from last night...
Preface:
These probably won't be my best tasting notes ever. I was supposed to fly home from the Bay Area on Monday night but my flight was canceled due to weather, so I didn't get home until around 4:15 PM yesterday. Suffice to say, I was feeling a bit haggard after a weekend of concerts, beer, and four straight nights on friends' couches/air mattresses.
Tasting Notes:
1) Monsters' Park Aged in Jamaican Rum Barrels w/ Almond, Vanilla, and Cocoa - 4.5 - Aged for eight months in Jamaican rum barrels that originally housed bourbon. Andrew said the barrels were super wet when they arrived and that really showed in the amount of barrel character that came through. The barrel hits hard on the nose with massive dark fruit notes, followed by really expressive vanilla and cocoa building in the background. Taking a sip yields a burst of vanilla, followed by dark fruits/rum character and bakers chocolate. Vanilla comes back through for a long finish, along with a really nice toasted almond character that melds well with the vanilla sweetness. This variant is definitely on the sweeter end of the Monsters' Park spectrum - I think it stays well away from cloying, but a couple people did comment that it was a bit much. I suspect that will be a personal thing for most, as the way the vanilla and rum worked together was just excellent in my book.
2) Monsters' Park Aged in Jamaican Rum Barrels: Turkish Coffee Edition - 4.0 - Same barrel info as the AVC variant, adjuncts are coffee, vanilla, and cardamom. Those who had the Turkish Coffee DT last year likely remember the cardamom being upfront when fresh, and this batch might be even a bit further in that direction, especially on the nose. Coffee comes through as do hints of vanilla, but the cardamom is definitely on the strong side. I found the palate to be more balanced, with the cardamom taking on a more complementary role, coffee asserting itself better, and the vanilla shining far more than it did on the nose. The rum barrel character was also a bit lighter, with the adjuncts tempering some of the darker fruits. I suspect this will be a bit polarizing, and I'd like to note that I'm scoring it based on how it tastes now. Having had the Turkish Coffee DT at various ages, the cardamom should fade with time and for my taste, it will become a considerably more enjoyable beer.
3) Essence Glider - 4.25 - This is the pilot beer for Space Ways, the seasonal replacing Oneida, hopped with Nelson, Motueka, and Simcoe. Andrew revealed last night that Modern Times is one of the first, if not the first, US breweries going down to New Zealand and selecting hop lots rather than blind buying. I was actually really, really excited to hear that as a lot of NZ hops have been fairly inconsistent. I'm sure some growers will stick to the current model since it benefits them, but for a brewery like Modern Times, being able to select hops should help both in really dialing beers in, as well as reducing waste when getting stuck with a mediocre crop. Bit of a tangent, but an awesome one in my book. The nose has nice white wine notes and tropical yeast esters, along with some moderate dankness and mild cat piss. The palate had a nice dose of that classic Nelson profile blended with Simcoe cat piss, Motueka wasn't shining to me but different people are sensitive to different hop compounds. I was actually glad to find out that it's the pilot for a distributed beer, intended to be priced in the $10 - $12/4pk range, rather than a pilot for a monthly ~$20 release. For the former pricepoint, it hits right where I expect it to and I suspect they'll even manage to improve it between now and the wide release. This may sound like being an apologist, but I consider cost to be an important piece of context in judging a beer, and it's simply unrealistic to expect a $10 shelfie to hit with the same level of flavor and aromatics as a $20 special release.
4) Blanc on Blanc on Blanc on Blanc (or Blanc^4 as I prefer) - 4.5 - Made with Sauvignon Blanc must; hopped with Nelson, Hallertau Blanc, and Citra; and co-fermented with London III and VIN 7, which is a yeast traditionally used to ferment Sauvignon Blanc. Massive fruit character on the nose with tropical fruits, citrus, bright white wine grapes, and some light floral notes. The palate goes strongly tropical up front but transitions to more vinous flavor profile with citrus floating in and out. Lovely soft body, just a great creative riff on the hazy DIPA style. They said last night that they're planning on canning it at some point - apparently, that was a rather common feedback request - which I'm thrilled to hear.
5) Transit of Venus w/ Raspberries & Peaches - 4.25 - Aged for roughly 13 months in mostly neutral red win barrels. 400 pounds of peaches and 1000 pounds of both black and red raspberries were added - I didn't catch the batch size, but it sounded like a rather unreasonable fruit addition, as they seem so fond of (not that I'm complaining, mind you). The nose on this one really drew me in with everything going on, obviously that much raspberry is going to result in strong aromas, but it's hardly overwhelming. Peach flesh was evident right behind the raspberries along with the lovely funk profile from the base beer, moderate acidity, and some faint vinous notes. The palate largely followed the nose in composition, although the raspberries came across a bit jammier than it did on the nose to me, and the rye spice stuck out a bit more towards the finish. Time in barrels really allowed the acidity profile to develop, although it's still largely restrained. Definitely a good beer, but I'm a bit torn on how to contextualize where to rank it in my personal pantheon. On one hand, I honestly prefer the original base beer, as I was in love with that funky grisette profile that was an absolute crusher. On the other hand, this is a damn good example of complexity and integration in a fruited sour, where the fruit, funk, acidity, and base beer are all working in harmony. I might be underrating this just a touch because of how much I like the base beer...your mileage may vary.
Assorted Notes:
1) As much as I enjoy when Jacob, Rick, Luke, or others participate, Andrew and Steven have become quite the charismatic tag team on the mic. If you haven't yet considered doing a Modern Times podcast, I'd suggest throwing the idea around, and I'm not generally a podcast listener.
2) The Ides of March event at the Lomaland Fermentorium should be pretty fun, there will be a couple of new specialty beers with a metal theme, some good grub, and metal playing in the tasting room. I considered petitioning for an entire evening of Sonata Arctica, but I have a feeling that would get me thrown on the "Banned from ToLC due to being a piece of ****" list. Cheesy power metal digressions aside, I'm definitely looking forward to this event.
3) They'll also be doing the 4/20 smoked beer event again, which I suspect most people are somewhat less enthusiastic about. I'm a big fan of smoked beer and mostly loved last year's selection of specialty taps, so it's a safe bet I'll be in attendance. No idea if the taplist is already set, but can I suggest a smoked Oblivion Ring or Infinity Gauntlet variant (cc: Andrew)? On Monday afternoon, a friend and I had an impromptu blending session with Firestone Walker Bravo and Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier while sitting at a bar. Once the rest of our group got done judging the **** out of us, they tried it and realized a 2:1 ratio of Bravo to Fastenbier was actually really damn good. I realize the idea of having to sell through a 10bbl batch of smoked barleywine would probably give your tasting room managers and sales team an aneurysm, so brewing up something new might not be realistic, but perhaps a blend or some other riff on the style.
4) The next included League bottle is slated for May, but that's not a sure thing yet. Steven Michael told us not to quote him, but I'm a rebel with no regard for instructions, so here we are.
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