After a week off, we’re back to steam roll into fall with 4 more beers we wanted to share with you for the upcoming weekend. This week, we have 2 barrel aged stouts, a barrel aged barley wine that tastes like one of Wisconsin’s favorite cocktails, and a good ole’ hazy IPA. With Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame this weekend, as well as Justin Fields’ first start as a Bear, we’re going to need all that ABV, so let’s get into it.
The Bruery- So Happens It’s Tuesday 2021 (15.3% Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout)
Coming to us all the way from one of the country’s largest barrel aged beer programs in Placentia, CA, we were finally able to get a can of this years release of Tuesday, and we jumped at it. I was so excited, I actually drank it on a Wednesday. So Happens It’s Tuesday pours a velvety black, with very little foam. On the nose, we get tons of chocolate, caramel, and vanilla, as well as some dark fruits, licorice, and cognac. The viscosity was a little thinner than I was expecting for a 15.3% ABV beer, but still very enjoyable, with some green, sticky coffee notes. On the finish, the barrel shines, and we get tons of oak and roasty chocolate notes. While this beer is really well done, what’s really amazing is how much of this beer they’re able to put out at high quality across the country. Very impressive.
Hop Butcher for the World- Meet the Nelsons (6.5% Nelson Sauvin Hopped IPA)
Meet the Nelsons uses Hop Butcher’s lighter 6.5% hazy IPA malt bill. We have loved other beers that use this lighter bill, including Snorkel Squad and Riwakamania, and Meet the Nelsons keeps the good vibes rolling. The lighter malt bill, which I assume uses a little less maltodextrin, really let’s the hop flavors pop even more, especially on the nose. Being solo hopped with Nelson Sauvin, we were expecting plenty of grape and tropical notes from the New Zealand hop and that’s exactly what we got. Pouring a pale off yellow haze with plenty of foam, we got big notes of tropical grape and green Jolly Ranchers. The palate was full of sweet greens and was surprisingly heavy for the light 6.5% beer. The beer then dries out and finishes with a really nice grapefruit zest. A very complex beer that was certainly worth the pour.
More Brewing- Double Origin (16% Adjuncted Barrel Aged Imperial Stout)
Brewed in collaboration with Bottle Logic out of Anaheim, this big ole’ stout was aged in barrels for 27 months and then blended with Dark Matter Coffee, cocoa nibs, and coconut. While I don’t typically love adjuncted barrel aged stouts or even coffee stouts for that matter, this one was a real treat. All of the flavors melted together perfectly. We were able to snag a bottle pour Monday evening and were immediately greeted by pleasant baking spices on the nose- think ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. An incredibly smooth 16% ABV, Double Origin greets the palate with soft coconut and vanilla sheet cake. And the Dark Matter Coffee really amplifies the roasty malt backbone, creating an incredibly complete beer. On the finish, the barrel blasts back and we get plenty of bourbon heat that lingers. Awesome beer.
Riverlands- Old Fashioned Googly (11% ABV Barrel Aged English Barleywine w/ Orange peel and cherry)
Everyone knows it’s Stout Season, but how about Barleywine Season? We absolutely love barleywine, so we saved the best, and most eclectic for last. This 11% English Barleywine was brewed in collaboration with Hopvine. Riverlands took the base barelywine and aged it in used bourbon barrels for about a year. Then, the barleywine was blended with orange peel and sweet cherry to create a “knockoff” of one of my favorite cocktails- The Old Fashioned. I drink my Old Fashioneds with brandy in Wisconsin (always Korbel) and bourbon everywhere else (usually Buffalo Trace). There aren’t many things in life I’m strict about, but that’s one of them. So to get a beer that took me back to those places was a real treat.
Old Fashioned Googly pours a muddy brown and we get that oak from the barrel and some orange zest on the nose. On the palate, we start getting cherry, dark fruits, and bread crust. It finishes with chocolate, cherry, and some heat. It’s amazing this beer is still sitting on shelves in some Chicagoland beer stores. This one is too good to pass up.
So there’s the four beers we have this weekend as we look forward to the Wisconsin Badger’s sure victory over the Fighting Irish at Soldier Field. The game is an 11 o’clock start, and we’d strongly recommend any of these beers for that time of day. So grab a beer and enjoy the beatdown. On Wisconsin!
