chemman141
Well-Known Member
Who needs a job when you have whales?
The Official Modern Times League Of Partygoers & Elegant People Thread
- Thread starter drbenzo1
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk:
I purchased it instantly just in case it was a mistake and/or they changed their mind, lol.
wolf13
Well-Known Member
Well, since you have no job, I’m guessing you might have extra allocations you won’t be buying... As a lowly Leaguer, I’m more than happy to volunteer my services in purchasing your excess allocations just to help ensure you get invited to Theory again next year.
smithj21541
Well-Known Member
MT Doing Eleven league preview tastings! How big is the club going to be in '19?
sdreaper
Well-Known Member
I can say that they upped Theory to 125 for 2019...not sure if all that were invited renewed/bought in though.
I think the regular league will probably be kept at 1kish ppl. They haven't sold out the past 2 years, so maybe this is their way of making sure it will happen.
Padraig
Well-Known Member
Are there typically local folks interesting in proxying within this club?
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
sdreaper
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I am one of those "proxies for hire" (even though I don't obviously charge anything). I just help out when people can't make it and need a pickup or else when a couple of my friends won't make it in time for the IPA pickup so I collect and ship so they don't miss out. Basically, I am not a permanent proxy for MT's league, but I am for a couple other san diego based memberships.
Takeanotherswig
Well-Known Member
This may have been answered before but saw league memberships are going back up again.
As a NYer who has friends/family in OC. Do you think if I got a membership it would be worth it? Been curious every year but now there's an LA and Anaheim Location on the way. Not sure if you can chose pickup location for those included bottles and how long you have to pickup the included bottles?? Sorry lot of questions here. Also can a proxy or friend get perks in your name? Help? Thanks!
As a NYer who has friends/family in OC. Do you think if I got a membership it would be worth it? Been curious every year but now there's an LA and Anaheim Location on the way. Not sure if you can chose pickup location for those included bottles and how long you have to pickup the included bottles?? Sorry lot of questions here. Also can a proxy or friend get perks in your name? Help? Thanks!
3 months (90 days) to pick up allocations / orders as a league member. AFAIK you can indeed specify your pickup locations. Not sure on proxy perks but you are definitely allowed a proxy as a league member.
up to you if you think its worth it or not. tons of people like it and I have heard nothing but praise for their customer service so if you like the beer and want regular access then go for it.
Personally I think the parties and member events are almost the only reason to be in this club unless youre gonna try for theory. None of the beer feels all that special to me.
up to you if you think its worth it or not. tons of people like it and I have heard nothing but praise for their customer service so if you like the beer and want regular access then go for it.
Personally I think the parties and member events are almost the only reason to be in this club unless youre gonna try for theory. None of the beer feels all that special to me.
wolf13
Well-Known Member
I’ll add that it’s a 30-day pick up window for the IPAs, 90-days for everything else. Anaheim is supposed to open mid-2019. You can pick up currently in SD, LA, Encinitas (I think) and PDX. Pickups in Anaheim, SB, and Oakland when they open. Proxies get no benefits other than being kind and picking up your beers for you (I.e. No special taps/growler fills/member event access).
I hate adding to speculation and potential misinformation, but I believe proxies do indeed have access to special crowler fills when available.
Also, I don't believe Encinitas is a pick up option at the moment but they've said it will be in the new year. It's an effort to minimize the growing pains/learning curve for new employees.
sdreaper
Well-Known Member
Both of these are correct. Proxies CAN get you crowler fills of stuff that only members can get. Encinitas WILL become a pickup location starting in 2019.
yabu
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2015
- Messages
- 88
- Reaction score
- 83
Oh crap. I rarely have time for any parties or member events. None of the beer feels all that special? Yikes, that's pretty much the 99% reason I signed up. I was told the league exclusive beers are the best of their best. The hipsters have fooled me! lol. ):
Tyrsis
Well-Known Member
That's true for the most part. Yeah, some of them make it to the public, but it's not like they're distributing these bomb ass beers cross country.
wolf13
Well-Known Member
What?’ When did this happen, and why have I been sleeping on that?!
sdreaper
Well-Known Member
I think some time over the summer ModernTimesSteven acknowledged that it was fine to do when an out of state member had asked. I don't believe many ppl take advantage of it since the servers need to confirm the proxy, but it should be listed on their pos machines as <Member Name> proxy <Name> and it then becomes allowed.
ModernTimesLeanne
New Member
To clarify, you can indeed email us ([email protected]) with your proxies name, and we can add it to your tasting room account in our POS system. Proxies can get you fills of League crowlers. This is so that out-of-state members are given the same benefits as local members. '
However, if the beer is not one of the member-included bottles, Theory gets first crack at purchasing, then League, then public. There have been occasions in which bottles have sold out to members and never make it to the public. If it doesn't sell out during out online sale, the beer is sold in our tasting rooms.
To elaborate on this, League-included bottles will never ever go to the public. Any bottles we have left over after we allocate included bottles will be sold to members during that month's sale. In the event that there are still bottles left over, we hold on to them in our archive for future League events, or on-site consumption for members only.
However, if the beer is not one of the member-included bottles, Theory gets first crack at purchasing, then League, then public. There have been occasions in which bottles have sold out to members and never make it to the public. If it doesn't sell out during out online sale, the beer is sold in our tasting rooms.
sdreaper
Well-Known Member
I very much appreciated when spanish brandy mosnters park b1 was just sitting there for onsite consumption. That was nice. =)
Xul1
Well-Known Member
November 2018 Preview Tasting
Assorted Notes:
1) Sort of a meta-note, but I think Steven and Leanne deserve another round of applause for their efforts and the resulting club we all get to enjoy. They've been even more slammed than usual with renewals, new member tastings (requiring a good deal of travel), a surge of questions around 2019 membership, their usual jobs, and probably still hoping to have a bit of time left over for a personal life beyond sitting on their couch drinking beer as they doze off from exhaustion. I don't want to sell anyone else at MT short, it takes the whole team to make things happen, but if you see or talk to our League overlords, make sure to thank them. It's easy to get spoiled by the League, but if you've been in other beer clubs, you know how special this one is.
2) Another meta-note, but the crowd engagement at last night's SD tasting seemed a bit lower than usual. I'm not sure if people were just enjoying the show, enraptured by the beers, or in a mid-beer week malaise, but if you have suggestions on things you want to see, I'd highly suggest doing so either here or via email if you feel more comfortable doing so privately. They take feedback seriously and having people engaged and asking questions ultimately benefits all of us as more information is shared and more feedback is given.
3) Leanne noted very clearly that the pool is still going to be a part of the Anaheim location. Someone started this rumor of the pool being cancelled a ways back that seems to pop up every month or so and it just re-propagates until someone from MT steps in and quashes it.
4) Cellarmaker was down here for SD Beer Week events and brewed a collaboration - a stout that will have the highest starting gravity MT has ever done. Andrew described it as a hybrid between Beastmaster and Coffee & Cigarettes, which, needless to say, sounds absolutely ridiculous. It'll be going into barrels so we'll have to wait a while, but I'll be looking forward to that one.
5) They're looking to can more lagers as part of the monthly sales, but obviously, how well they sell will dictate the frequency with which it happens. If you like them, buy them. I'm not advocating buying beer just for the sake of it - although I will joke about that - but if you want to see more of something, sales numbers are one of the best ways to make that happen. I did my part for Tentbier, and I'm hoping there's not much left for the public by the time the League gets ahold of it.
6) Suffocation, Cattle Decapitation, and Krisiun laid waste to Brick by Brick last night (cheers to the few of you I saw at the show). I briefly considered writing a review of the show, rather than tasting notes, but I'm pretty sure there are a few of you who would consider shanking me the next time I go to Lomaland if I didn't review Cloud Daggers.
Tasting Notes:
1) Tentbier
Style: Festbier
Score: 4.25
Notes: This is a collaboration with Heater Allen - they constructed an entirely new recipe but used Heater Allen's brewhouse process for producing it. If you've never had a Heater Allen beer, you've been depriving yourself of one of America's great lager producers - remedy that ASAP. The aroma is centered upon lightly toasted white bread with mild biscuity overtones, with mild spicy notes from noble hopping and a faint grassy character (in a pleasant way, not the vegetal/excessively grassy way). The palate opens up with freshly baked biscuits, overlaid with touches of honey - think flavor without accompanying sweetness - before floral and mildly spiced noble hops come in for a dry finish that begs for another sip. An immensely quaffable beer, it's well suited for sipping and contemplating, hoisting a stein as you sit on your couch singing along to Blind Guardian's "The Bard's Song" at 1 AM, or providing sustenance as you traverse the Bavarian Alps with only a recalcitrant ox to keep you company. Hypothetically speaking, of course.
2) Grim Tusk
Style: Dessert Stout
Score: 4.0
Notes: I'm going to assume this is the first-ever collaboration between a brewery and a salt company, but I'd be curious to verify that. Modern Times got together with Jacobsen Salt Company in Portland and ended up using ten pounds of free-range, ethically harvested, gluten-free sea salt from the Pacific Northwest in this beer, along with 1.5 lbs of vanilla beans (whole batch, not per barrel) and 1 lb/bbl of toasted cocoa nibs. As one can assume from the adjunct ratios, vanilla takes on a supporting role, clearly evident from the first sniff as you're greeted with a big wave of semisweet chocolate, backed by hints of vanilla that prevent the cocoa from coming across as bitter or overly dry. The flavor largely follows the aroma with more of a dark chocolate element than the aroma provided, which integrates with the vanilla and base beer to create a brownie batter profile. A hint of restrained sweetness comes in towards the end, although this still seems to be the driest of the canned dessert stouts, or at least drinks as such.
3) Devil's Teeth Aged in Jamaican Rum Barrels
Style: Imperial Stout Aged in Rum Barrels
Score: 4.5
Notes: Originally packaged in 2017 - at the same time as the Turkish Coffee Edition that's available as an archive bottle this month - these were held back due to a QC test that came up with a positive hit at the time. As their QC equipment and processes have grown over the past year, they were able to revisit this batch, confirm that the initial test was a false positive, and they're confident releasing it to us now. For those who are new or might not recall, the Jamaican rum barrels from 2017 releases provided a rich character, but neither as strong nor as funky as the barrels from the 2018 releases, so don't be scared away if you thought the recent ones were a bit much. Dark fruits jump out of the glass - cherry, date, a bit of plum - followed by brown sugar, cocoa, and hints of vanilla. Barrel character dominates more on the tongue as the dark fruit hits hard up front, focused more on cherry than the nose with supporting date, plug, and hints of black fig. Cocoa mingles with brown sugar and faint oak-derived vanilla towards the finish, coming across perhaps a touch sweeter than the nose but not terribly so. I was a big fan of the barrel character in the 2018 releases, but having tried this, I think the 2017 barrels work beautifully for a release with no adjuncts - excellent rum character that asserts itself without entirely overwhelming the base beer.
4) Cloud Daggers
Style: Imperial Porter Aged in Bourbon Barrels w/ Maple Syrup, Pecans, Cocoa Nibs, & Vanilla
Score: 4.5
Notes: A collaboration with Bottle Logic that began life as a salted caramel imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels evolved into what we have before us - some might bemoan the change from a stout to a porter (which is silly considering the styles are so ridiculously blurred at this point) or the change in adjuncts, but I think they achieved a similar end result and should please those who were looking forward to it. Six lbs/bbl pecans, three lbs/bbl cocoa nibs, and a half lb/bbl vanilla. The aroma opens with toasty pecans, followed quickly by maple syrup and dark chocolate that combine to form a moderately sweet candy bar effect, along with bourbon and vanilla wafting around the edges. The flavor is led by a wave of dark chocolate before pecans cut through, followed by a wave of maple syrup that's somewhat more assertive than on the nose, blending nicely with the barrel notes both the balance the drier adjuncts as well as to provide a richness to the beer. This is definitely on the sweeter end of the beers Modern Times has produced, but not terribly so - it stays well clear of beetus territory and remains drinkable in portions bigger than a half ounce. As I said, I think people will be pretty damn happy with this one.
5) New Atlantis w/ Cherums & Apricots
Style: Red Wine Barrel-Aged Saison Blend w/ Cherums & Apricots
Score: 4.75
Notes: Having enjoyed the previous versions of New Atlantis quite a bit - including the base sans fruit - I was expecting to enjoy this, but this really blew me away. Four lbs/gallon and two lbs/gallon cherums were used and the end result certainly reflects such massive fruit additions. Ripe, fleshy plum leads the charge on the nose, followed closely by juicy cherries, moderate acidity, a big wave of apricot, light vanilla, and hints of earthy funk wafting around in the background. The palate sees the fruits switch places, but with no less intensity, as a big wave of apricot is followed by cherries and plums - more cherry and less plum than on the nose - with a more acidic profile than the aroma would indicate. Light vanilla and barrel character help round the edges but the acidity could still be dialed back just a touch. That said, the fruit profile on this is simply outstanding and drives New Atlantis to greater heights than I would've predicted.
Assorted Notes:
1) Sort of a meta-note, but I think Steven and Leanne deserve another round of applause for their efforts and the resulting club we all get to enjoy. They've been even more slammed than usual with renewals, new member tastings (requiring a good deal of travel), a surge of questions around 2019 membership, their usual jobs, and probably still hoping to have a bit of time left over for a personal life beyond sitting on their couch drinking beer as they doze off from exhaustion. I don't want to sell anyone else at MT short, it takes the whole team to make things happen, but if you see or talk to our League overlords, make sure to thank them. It's easy to get spoiled by the League, but if you've been in other beer clubs, you know how special this one is.
2) Another meta-note, but the crowd engagement at last night's SD tasting seemed a bit lower than usual. I'm not sure if people were just enjoying the show, enraptured by the beers, or in a mid-beer week malaise, but if you have suggestions on things you want to see, I'd highly suggest doing so either here or via email if you feel more comfortable doing so privately. They take feedback seriously and having people engaged and asking questions ultimately benefits all of us as more information is shared and more feedback is given.
3) Leanne noted very clearly that the pool is still going to be a part of the Anaheim location. Someone started this rumor of the pool being cancelled a ways back that seems to pop up every month or so and it just re-propagates until someone from MT steps in and quashes it.
4) Cellarmaker was down here for SD Beer Week events and brewed a collaboration - a stout that will have the highest starting gravity MT has ever done. Andrew described it as a hybrid between Beastmaster and Coffee & Cigarettes, which, needless to say, sounds absolutely ridiculous. It'll be going into barrels so we'll have to wait a while, but I'll be looking forward to that one.
5) They're looking to can more lagers as part of the monthly sales, but obviously, how well they sell will dictate the frequency with which it happens. If you like them, buy them. I'm not advocating buying beer just for the sake of it - although I will joke about that - but if you want to see more of something, sales numbers are one of the best ways to make that happen. I did my part for Tentbier, and I'm hoping there's not much left for the public by the time the League gets ahold of it.
6) Suffocation, Cattle Decapitation, and Krisiun laid waste to Brick by Brick last night (cheers to the few of you I saw at the show). I briefly considered writing a review of the show, rather than tasting notes, but I'm pretty sure there are a few of you who would consider shanking me the next time I go to Lomaland if I didn't review Cloud Daggers.
Tasting Notes:
1) Tentbier
Style: Festbier
Score: 4.25
Notes: This is a collaboration with Heater Allen - they constructed an entirely new recipe but used Heater Allen's brewhouse process for producing it. If you've never had a Heater Allen beer, you've been depriving yourself of one of America's great lager producers - remedy that ASAP. The aroma is centered upon lightly toasted white bread with mild biscuity overtones, with mild spicy notes from noble hopping and a faint grassy character (in a pleasant way, not the vegetal/excessively grassy way). The palate opens up with freshly baked biscuits, overlaid with touches of honey - think flavor without accompanying sweetness - before floral and mildly spiced noble hops come in for a dry finish that begs for another sip. An immensely quaffable beer, it's well suited for sipping and contemplating, hoisting a stein as you sit on your couch singing along to Blind Guardian's "The Bard's Song" at 1 AM, or providing sustenance as you traverse the Bavarian Alps with only a recalcitrant ox to keep you company. Hypothetically speaking, of course.
2) Grim Tusk
Style: Dessert Stout
Score: 4.0
Notes: I'm going to assume this is the first-ever collaboration between a brewery and a salt company, but I'd be curious to verify that. Modern Times got together with Jacobsen Salt Company in Portland and ended up using ten pounds of free-range, ethically harvested, gluten-free sea salt from the Pacific Northwest in this beer, along with 1.5 lbs of vanilla beans (whole batch, not per barrel) and 1 lb/bbl of toasted cocoa nibs. As one can assume from the adjunct ratios, vanilla takes on a supporting role, clearly evident from the first sniff as you're greeted with a big wave of semisweet chocolate, backed by hints of vanilla that prevent the cocoa from coming across as bitter or overly dry. The flavor largely follows the aroma with more of a dark chocolate element than the aroma provided, which integrates with the vanilla and base beer to create a brownie batter profile. A hint of restrained sweetness comes in towards the end, although this still seems to be the driest of the canned dessert stouts, or at least drinks as such.
3) Devil's Teeth Aged in Jamaican Rum Barrels
Style: Imperial Stout Aged in Rum Barrels
Score: 4.5
Notes: Originally packaged in 2017 - at the same time as the Turkish Coffee Edition that's available as an archive bottle this month - these were held back due to a QC test that came up with a positive hit at the time. As their QC equipment and processes have grown over the past year, they were able to revisit this batch, confirm that the initial test was a false positive, and they're confident releasing it to us now. For those who are new or might not recall, the Jamaican rum barrels from 2017 releases provided a rich character, but neither as strong nor as funky as the barrels from the 2018 releases, so don't be scared away if you thought the recent ones were a bit much. Dark fruits jump out of the glass - cherry, date, a bit of plum - followed by brown sugar, cocoa, and hints of vanilla. Barrel character dominates more on the tongue as the dark fruit hits hard up front, focused more on cherry than the nose with supporting date, plug, and hints of black fig. Cocoa mingles with brown sugar and faint oak-derived vanilla towards the finish, coming across perhaps a touch sweeter than the nose but not terribly so. I was a big fan of the barrel character in the 2018 releases, but having tried this, I think the 2017 barrels work beautifully for a release with no adjuncts - excellent rum character that asserts itself without entirely overwhelming the base beer.
4) Cloud Daggers
Style: Imperial Porter Aged in Bourbon Barrels w/ Maple Syrup, Pecans, Cocoa Nibs, & Vanilla
Score: 4.5
Notes: A collaboration with Bottle Logic that began life as a salted caramel imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels evolved into what we have before us - some might bemoan the change from a stout to a porter (which is silly considering the styles are so ridiculously blurred at this point) or the change in adjuncts, but I think they achieved a similar end result and should please those who were looking forward to it. Six lbs/bbl pecans, three lbs/bbl cocoa nibs, and a half lb/bbl vanilla. The aroma opens with toasty pecans, followed quickly by maple syrup and dark chocolate that combine to form a moderately sweet candy bar effect, along with bourbon and vanilla wafting around the edges. The flavor is led by a wave of dark chocolate before pecans cut through, followed by a wave of maple syrup that's somewhat more assertive than on the nose, blending nicely with the barrel notes both the balance the drier adjuncts as well as to provide a richness to the beer. This is definitely on the sweeter end of the beers Modern Times has produced, but not terribly so - it stays well clear of beetus territory and remains drinkable in portions bigger than a half ounce. As I said, I think people will be pretty damn happy with this one.
5) New Atlantis w/ Cherums & Apricots
Style: Red Wine Barrel-Aged Saison Blend w/ Cherums & Apricots
Score: 4.75
Notes: Having enjoyed the previous versions of New Atlantis quite a bit - including the base sans fruit - I was expecting to enjoy this, but this really blew me away. Four lbs/gallon and two lbs/gallon cherums were used and the end result certainly reflects such massive fruit additions. Ripe, fleshy plum leads the charge on the nose, followed closely by juicy cherries, moderate acidity, a big wave of apricot, light vanilla, and hints of earthy funk wafting around in the background. The palate sees the fruits switch places, but with no less intensity, as a big wave of apricot is followed by cherries and plums - more cherry and less plum than on the nose - with a more acidic profile than the aroma would indicate. Light vanilla and barrel character help round the edges but the acidity could still be dialed back just a touch. That said, the fruit profile on this is simply outstanding and drives New Atlantis to greater heights than I would've predicted.
KevSal
Supremium Porter
wait what?! they are opening a spot in oakland??? will it be open this year?
edit: oh damn near drakes dealership! that’s 20 min from my house! hmmm if that’s a future pick up location i may be a member some day!
Last edited:
Xul1
Well-Known Member
They haven't announced exactly what it will be (tasting room, tasting room + restaurant, brewpub, some other location type I'm not thinking of), nor a timeline. Hell, MT hasn't even officially announced it themselves - it was mentioned at this week's preview tasting, but their only public/social media mention is in responding to Eater. I'm sure they'd like to open ASAP, but I'd temper expectations about the timeline until they say more about it.
It's a joke, Steven made a comment about the salt being free-range during the preview tasting.
ABSTRACTlegend
Well-Known Member
No date on when it will open
KevSal
Supremium Porter
they are waiting for the raiders to leave the city first
BigFrank
Well-Known Member
Did Cloud Daggers sell out?
Xul1
Well-Known Member
Yes, it sold out to the League on Friday.
ModernTimesSteven
Well-Known Member
Plus-one tickets for this Tuesday's member preview tasting are now available to purchase if you so desire. Party on.
Cheers,
Steven Michael
Modern Times Beer
Cheers,
Steven Michael
Modern Times Beer
Xul1
Well-Known Member
December 2018 Preview Tasting
Assorted Notes:
1) In spite of the initial expectation of having an unsupervised and unmoderated Andrew vs. Steven death match tasting, we ended up with Leanne, Justin, and Luke holding it down. While the degenerate side of me enjoys watching Andrew and Steven rip on each other non-stop for 90 minutes, the serious side of me would be remiss if I didn't say that they did a stellar job. Leanne even managed to mix some soft trolling in a few times - Steven and Andrew better watch out, the balance of preview tasting power might soon be shifting.
2) I believe this has shown up either in a recent email or in the League FB group, but our draft/crowler credits for 2018 expire on Christmas day, so make sure to use them by then or elect a proxy to do so. These are not cellphone minutes circa 2005, they don't roll over.
3) Beginning this month, pickups will be available in Encinitas. If you want your included beers for December to be sent to Encinitas along with your order, you must email [email protected] by 12/9 to request that. As an additional note, past orders can't be transferred there. If you have October or November beers at Lomaland, you'll still need to head down there to grab them.
Tasting Notes:
1) Probability Engine
Style: Dessert Stout
Score: 4.25
Notes: The batch contains 25 lbs cinnamon, 180 lbs almonds, 1.5 lbs/bbl Black House Blend coffee, and I missed the amount of vanilla, but I want to say it was 1.5 lbs? Interesting note - they recirculate the beer on coffee first, then infuse the other adjuncts in a second recirculation step. I don't know about anyone else, but I really love hearing the process nuances at these tastings. The nose opens up with a big wave of coffee followed by lightly toasted almonds, while cinnamon wafts around in the background - sufficiently restrained that I'd be surprised if even its detractors find it to be objectionable - and vanilla rounds out the aroma without being particularly noticeable in and of itself. On the palate, almond hits first, giving way to coffee and semisweet chocolate, followed by cinnamon that's more assertive than the aroma would indicate but still on the lighter end of the spectrum. This is easily the driest beer they've produced in this series - in perception, even if not by the numbers - and I'm a bit curious where they're taking the dessert stout cans as time goes on. I actually enjoyed this quite a bit more than some of the recent entries in the series, but I'm curious to see if they return to the Beastmaster/Temple of Silence template or continue down this path.
2) Wizard Blend
Style: Blend of Imperial Stouts (+ a bit of barleywine)
Score: 4.75
Notes: Several people have asked if there's a solera component to this year's blend and unfortunately, there's not, but they have set things up to resume that in 2019. That said, the final blend certainly didn't suffer from the aforementioned omission. The aroma is a textbook definition of complexity, revealing layers of dark fruits (dates, prunes, and dark cherries), dark chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, hints of sherry, caramel, toffee, and leather, all in varying orders and proportions as the beer warms and evolves in the glass. Similarly, each sip reveals a slightly different melange of flavor - with more or less the same components as on the nose - although I found the chocolate, vanilla, and dark caramel to come through in a slightly more dominant fashion. Barrel elements come to the forefront as the beer warms closer to room temperature, with touches of alcohol heat. I love Wizard Blend every year but this is likely the best yet, and I'd put it up against my favorite Firestone Walker Anniversary vintages. As hard as the Special Projects team goes with adjuncts, I think they're even better at barrel curation, selection, and blending.
3) Spider Harness
Style: Super Berliner w/ Passion Fruit
Score: 4
Notes: The first single fruited beer in the Super Berliner series, 4400 lbs of passion fruit were added to a 60 bbl batch. For those of you who are averse to math, that's a hell of a lot of passion fruit. The nose opens with a big wave of passion fruit, followed by clean lactic acidity and some hints of guava that could be entirely a mental byproduct of those fruits frequently being paired. The palate takes a similarly linear path, opening with passion fruit, a hint of grainy sweetness lurking in the background - not THP for those of you who are sensitive to that - and a clean finish. As well-executed as this is, it ultimately didn't resonate with me, as I feel like it would benefit from the addition of another fruit, as well as slightly increased acidity to help the fruit profile pop more. Don't take that (or the score "only" being a 4) as any sort of objective indictment of the beer. Based on what people were saying, this seems like it's going to be a popular one. If you enjoy passion fruit kettle sours, jump all over it, it just wasn't lighting my fire.
4) Rampart Junction
Style: Barrel-Aged Dark Sour w/ Peaches
Score: 4.25
Notes: 870 pounds of fresh peaches went into this, and the final product certainly shows that, as the fruit character is robust, to say the least. Peach skin jumps out of the glass before it's even up to your nose, followed by deep, juicy peach flesh, wine barrel character, touches of herbal tea, and light brown sugar sweetness. The palate carries considerably more acidity than the nose, perhaps a touch too much, but peach comes in on the mid-palate in a massive way, toning down the acidity and allowing touches of oak, leather, and vanilla to work around the edges and create a balanced finish. The fruit is very definitely the star of this beer, I'd prefer the acidity to be toned down a touch, and there's a slightly disjointed feeling between the way the base comes across on the nose and the palate, but it's ultimately still enjoyable.
5) News from Nowhere w/ Boysenberries, Peaches, & Vanilla
Style: Flanders Red w/ Boysenberries, Peaches, & Vanilla
Score: 4.5
Notes: The nose opens up with a heavy blend of bright berries and fleshy peaches, with the boysenberries taking a slight lead but leaving plenty of room for stonefruit goodness, while vanilla is supporting in the background along with light oak and lovely earthy funk. A moderate wave of acetic acid hits the tongue first, followed quickly by massive stonefruit and berries that present as slightly less acidic than on the nose, but still not quite hitting jammy. Vanilla is discernable but restrained in the background, along with hints of aged balsamic, wine barrel oaky notes, and light funk. I was quite optimistic about this one on paper, and the adjunct combination works beautifully, enhancing the News from Nowhere base while leaving space for it to shine through.
Assorted Notes:
1) In spite of the initial expectation of having an unsupervised and unmoderated Andrew vs. Steven death match tasting, we ended up with Leanne, Justin, and Luke holding it down. While the degenerate side of me enjoys watching Andrew and Steven rip on each other non-stop for 90 minutes, the serious side of me would be remiss if I didn't say that they did a stellar job. Leanne even managed to mix some soft trolling in a few times - Steven and Andrew better watch out, the balance of preview tasting power might soon be shifting.
2) I believe this has shown up either in a recent email or in the League FB group, but our draft/crowler credits for 2018 expire on Christmas day, so make sure to use them by then or elect a proxy to do so. These are not cellphone minutes circa 2005, they don't roll over.
3) Beginning this month, pickups will be available in Encinitas. If you want your included beers for December to be sent to Encinitas along with your order, you must email [email protected] by 12/9 to request that. As an additional note, past orders can't be transferred there. If you have October or November beers at Lomaland, you'll still need to head down there to grab them.
Tasting Notes:
1) Probability Engine
Style: Dessert Stout
Score: 4.25
Notes: The batch contains 25 lbs cinnamon, 180 lbs almonds, 1.5 lbs/bbl Black House Blend coffee, and I missed the amount of vanilla, but I want to say it was 1.5 lbs? Interesting note - they recirculate the beer on coffee first, then infuse the other adjuncts in a second recirculation step. I don't know about anyone else, but I really love hearing the process nuances at these tastings. The nose opens up with a big wave of coffee followed by lightly toasted almonds, while cinnamon wafts around in the background - sufficiently restrained that I'd be surprised if even its detractors find it to be objectionable - and vanilla rounds out the aroma without being particularly noticeable in and of itself. On the palate, almond hits first, giving way to coffee and semisweet chocolate, followed by cinnamon that's more assertive than the aroma would indicate but still on the lighter end of the spectrum. This is easily the driest beer they've produced in this series - in perception, even if not by the numbers - and I'm a bit curious where they're taking the dessert stout cans as time goes on. I actually enjoyed this quite a bit more than some of the recent entries in the series, but I'm curious to see if they return to the Beastmaster/Temple of Silence template or continue down this path.
2) Wizard Blend
Style: Blend of Imperial Stouts (+ a bit of barleywine)
Score: 4.75
Notes: Several people have asked if there's a solera component to this year's blend and unfortunately, there's not, but they have set things up to resume that in 2019. That said, the final blend certainly didn't suffer from the aforementioned omission. The aroma is a textbook definition of complexity, revealing layers of dark fruits (dates, prunes, and dark cherries), dark chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, hints of sherry, caramel, toffee, and leather, all in varying orders and proportions as the beer warms and evolves in the glass. Similarly, each sip reveals a slightly different melange of flavor - with more or less the same components as on the nose - although I found the chocolate, vanilla, and dark caramel to come through in a slightly more dominant fashion. Barrel elements come to the forefront as the beer warms closer to room temperature, with touches of alcohol heat. I love Wizard Blend every year but this is likely the best yet, and I'd put it up against my favorite Firestone Walker Anniversary vintages. As hard as the Special Projects team goes with adjuncts, I think they're even better at barrel curation, selection, and blending.
3) Spider Harness
Style: Super Berliner w/ Passion Fruit
Score: 4
Notes: The first single fruited beer in the Super Berliner series, 4400 lbs of passion fruit were added to a 60 bbl batch. For those of you who are averse to math, that's a hell of a lot of passion fruit. The nose opens with a big wave of passion fruit, followed by clean lactic acidity and some hints of guava that could be entirely a mental byproduct of those fruits frequently being paired. The palate takes a similarly linear path, opening with passion fruit, a hint of grainy sweetness lurking in the background - not THP for those of you who are sensitive to that - and a clean finish. As well-executed as this is, it ultimately didn't resonate with me, as I feel like it would benefit from the addition of another fruit, as well as slightly increased acidity to help the fruit profile pop more. Don't take that (or the score "only" being a 4) as any sort of objective indictment of the beer. Based on what people were saying, this seems like it's going to be a popular one. If you enjoy passion fruit kettle sours, jump all over it, it just wasn't lighting my fire.
4) Rampart Junction
Style: Barrel-Aged Dark Sour w/ Peaches
Score: 4.25
Notes: 870 pounds of fresh peaches went into this, and the final product certainly shows that, as the fruit character is robust, to say the least. Peach skin jumps out of the glass before it's even up to your nose, followed by deep, juicy peach flesh, wine barrel character, touches of herbal tea, and light brown sugar sweetness. The palate carries considerably more acidity than the nose, perhaps a touch too much, but peach comes in on the mid-palate in a massive way, toning down the acidity and allowing touches of oak, leather, and vanilla to work around the edges and create a balanced finish. The fruit is very definitely the star of this beer, I'd prefer the acidity to be toned down a touch, and there's a slightly disjointed feeling between the way the base comes across on the nose and the palate, but it's ultimately still enjoyable.
5) News from Nowhere w/ Boysenberries, Peaches, & Vanilla
Style: Flanders Red w/ Boysenberries, Peaches, & Vanilla
Score: 4.5
Notes: The nose opens up with a heavy blend of bright berries and fleshy peaches, with the boysenberries taking a slight lead but leaving plenty of room for stonefruit goodness, while vanilla is supporting in the background along with light oak and lovely earthy funk. A moderate wave of acetic acid hits the tongue first, followed quickly by massive stonefruit and berries that present as slightly less acidic than on the nose, but still not quite hitting jammy. Vanilla is discernable but restrained in the background, along with hints of aged balsamic, wine barrel oaky notes, and light funk. I was quite optimistic about this one on paper, and the adjunct combination works beautifully, enhancing the News from Nowhere base while leaving space for it to shine through.
swivelhips1
Well-Known Member
Just curious, how much where the tall cans of tentbier?
