I've been slacking on my check-ins, so I figure I should keep the momentum going in this thread:
Other Half/LIC Still Shinin'. 6.5% wheat and oat IPA brewed with Citra, Mandarina Bavaria, and Cashmere. This one's pretty good. Citrus flavors dominate this one with some tropical and stone fruits in the background. My only gripe is the mouthfeel. Still kinda thin for an oat/wheat IPA.
Other Half DDH Dream in Green. 6.2% IPA brewed with Citra, Motueka, and Wai-iti with oats and lactose sugar. This was the first of the oat/lactose sugar beers that really hit the spot for me. Perfect mix of juicy/creamy. One of my favorite Other Half beers so far this year. Can't really think of anything I'd change about this one.
Other Half DDH Forever Simcoe. Same as it's always been. Tastes as good as it looks.
Grimm DDH Forcefield. 6.4% IPA brewed with Azacca and Columbus. This one has me confused on a lot of levels. Last year's non-DDH version was much hazier and tasted completely different. This is a big step down. Earthy/spice/dirt notes dominate in this with a little fruitiness on the back end. Not a fan of this one. I'm about done with Grimm at this point. When they're good, they're great but when they're bad it makes you question why people make such an active effort to seek these beers out. Another instance where the juice was not worth the squeeze.
Westbrook Mexican Cake. Needs no introduction. Same as its always been. Great stuff. Haven't had an imperial stout in a minute and this was an enjoyable change of pace.
LIC/Other Half Drop a Gem. DDH Imperial IPA brewed with Galaxy, Motueka, and El-Dorado. When I had this on the day of the release it tasted exactly like your standard Other Half IPA. Not a bad thing, but was expecting something different. It's transformed nicely though. That Other Half intensity on the front end has mellowed off and it gives way to a nice bready/mellow back-end that I've come to expect with LIC Beer Project beers. Good stuff.
Other Half DDH Cabbage. 7.9% brewed with Vic Secret, Simcoe, Motueka, and Mosaic. This one is really nice. I was expecting this to be super intense on the day of purchase, but it's actually quite light and rounded. Flavorful without having hop residue stick to your teeth. Winner winner.
Other Half DDH Double Mosaic Daydream. Essentially DDH Double Mosaic Dream with oats and lactose sugar. This is still really fresh, so the hops are still dominating over the malts, but you definitely get a nice creaminess when it starts to warm up. Pretty easy to tell that this is gonna be fantastic in a week or two.
Other Half/18th Street DDH Powdered Cheese. 8% IPA brewed 100% with Citra, Simcoe, and Tomahawk lupulin powders. Very interesting concept that seemed to pay off. This is drinking like straight juice at the moment. None of the intensity that I come to expect with Other Half beers. This could have gone either way for me, but they delivered.
This is the regular version. Very little difference between the two. Still quite enjoyable.
LIC Beer Project Higher Burnin'. 7% IPA brewed with Belma, El Dorado, and Mosaic. Nice berry notes in this one. Has that subdued sweetness and bready backend I've come to appreciate with LIC beers. Great mouthfeel for 7%. Definitely a worthy purchase.
NY's beer scene has been blowing up as of late, and now it's extending into upstate NY. Equilibrium and Hudson Valley are doing can releases now and have been competing with the best of them. Hoping to get my hands on some of their stuff so I can post some feedback on here.
Happy Sunday, NT.
