It’s the tail end of a short week and we’re very much looking to another warm weekend in Chicago. This week we have 2 more bourbon barrel aged beers, a West Coast IPA, and a hazy double IPA to kick off the start of the NFL season. Let’s get into it.
Maplewood- Moon Fruit (8% DIPA w/ Galaxy, Citra, and Mosaic)
Maplewood has an incredible lounge in the city and it’s a spot we don’t get to enough. Fortunately, they’ve expanded their distribution reach and we were able to pick up a couple of cans of one of their much sought after double IPA’s- Moon Fruit. Brewed with Galaxy, Citra, and Mosaic hops, Moon Fruit pours a pale gold and retains a soft amount of foam. On the nose, I get pineapple, mango, and subtle amounts of grass. On the palate I get some tannic bitterness up front, but the beer quickly smooths out, giving us pleasant waves of peach. Moon Fruit finishes with refreshing complexity of sweet dank and grassy bitterness.
Brothership Brewing- Falcon Starship (7.4% DDH West Coast IPA w/ Falconer’s Flight, Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe)
The boys at Brothership really pack all of the hops into this West Coast double IPA. Let’s start with Falconer’s Flight, which is really a medley of a bunch of hops from the Pacific Northwest, including Cascade, Centenial, Chinook, Citra, Cluster, Columbus, and Crystal, in addition to a few experimental varietals. Add in some Mosaic and Simcoe and what do you get? You get a crystal clear hop bomb. On the nose, we get wafting berry and fruit punch. On the palate, we get the pine you’d expect in a West Coast beer and it finishes with an enjoyable amount of bitterness. This was a nice respite from the Chicago sugar bombs that seem to have taken over my fridge.
Revolution Brewing- Supermassive Café Deth (14.3% Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Coffee Stout)
If you’ve been following our Friday Four Packs, you know our affinity for Revolution’s barrel program. And while I’m not a huge fan of coffee stouts, Supermassive might make me reconsider. Supermassive Café Deth is a blend of the sweet components of Deth’s Tar meets freshly roasted Dark Matter coffee. Age it for 18 months, and this is what you get. Supermassive pours like liquid ink. On the nose, you get those huge notes of freshly steeped coffee grinds. On the palate, we get sweet, velvety chocolate that finishes with a bourbon spice that nicely masks the huge 14.3% ABV. The Dark Matter coffee is definitely the star of the show, but does not overwhelm. The beer is complex and nuanced that drinks just as good at 8 PM as it does at 8 AM before an 11 o’clock Badger kick off.
Werk Force Brewing- Bourbon Barrel Aged Mint Chocolate Chip Sleepy Bear (11.5% Russian Imperial Stout)
We saved the best for last. This mint chocolate chip version of Sleepy Bear is desert in a glass. Think Thin Mints meets fudge meets blender. This beer from Plainfield’s very own Werk Force Brewing is a blend of 8 different base Sleepy Beer Vintages, aged between 12 and 24 months. Werk Force then heaped in cacao, vanilla and mint. And while I don’t love adjuncted stouts, I do love this beer. It pours like an inside out Thin Mint, with the a rich chocolate base and foam that reminds me of the cookie portion of a Thin Mint. On the nose, we get big hints of chocolate, mint, and subtle amounts of bourbon spirits. On the palate, the beer packs fudge notes and a perfect amount of spearmint to cut it. The finish is complex, with big roasty notes and a minty bourbon medley that dance back and forth well after the beer has gone down. Really well done.
So there is this week’s Friday Four Pack. We hope you enjoy this post and another beautiful weekend as much as we enjoyed thinking and writing about these beers. As always, if you have any questions or feedback about what beers you’re drinking this weekend or your sanitary process equipment, contact a Triplex Sales Engineer today! Cheers!
