Even More Jesus (Evil Twin Brewing)

Like with wine, buying beer buy the label is normally a bad idea. I have been going back and forth about evil twin beers for quite some time. The price point is a little high for me, especially the bikini beer and hipster beers that I see in the market. I believe that the liquid is very good, but I am just not willing to pay 10-13 dollars for a 6 pack of a style designed to be pound able.  I had a friend on Untapped who had recently posted his Even More Jesus experience. I love stouts, and this was a beer that I was willing to spend a little more to get, even possibly have to trade for. I expected to have to trade for it, but then I found it at Dominion Wine and Beer in Falls Church, Va.

It was one of the more expensive weeks in beer in a long time.

Evil Twin is a brewery from Denmark that flies just below the radar. Most serious beer nerds have heard of them and maybe had some of their canned options, like bikini beer or hipster ale. The gypsy brewery has a completely different take on brewing recipes and normally abandons them after a production of beer. With one off beers, the success is either hit or miss. If you ask me the longer they try changing over and over, chances are pretty good the success rate will be high. Constant innovation causes brewer Jarnit-Bjergso to be inspired at the most random times in life. He once brewed another stout called soft dookie, the recipe idea came to him while changing diapers. I'm not sure I have the nose that can smell vanilla in do do. Eviltwin is what is known as a gypsy brewery, meaning they travel around and brew one off beers on other breweries equipment. Between 2006 and 2010 Mikkel Bjergso travels around the world brewing nearly 200 different one off beers.

It is a must to quickly photograph all cool purchases and send to friends.

As more and more people pursue their brewing dreams, innovation will continue with gypsy brewers who push the limits of brewing. It is a case of not feeling trapped by the business and getting tied down by a regular portfolio. These beers are usually sold before they are brewed, the owner and the shop I bought this from had committed to buying 6 months ago. He had forgotten he even ordered it, I asked him about it the week prior to it coming in. Check these guys and this movement out for yourself.  http://eviltwin.dk/

Black Note (Bells Brewing Company)

 Picture me sharing my 2 bottle score then giving
 you one.

Once upon a time in a far away place a small collection of drunks attempted to drink themselves into legendary stout status. Yeah, well I fell apart and did not survive when this beer was drank. Last year when this was released I had spent too much money on other already so I passed. I was getting stout burnt, what an amateur I was. The insanity was calm compared to the shit we went through for founders KBS. What if black note had come out first? I believe the same reaction. This stout is whiskey hot, thin sipper with a dense finish. Love it. 

#caferacer

I had a bunch of stuff to do Friday and would not be home in time to enjoy this per usual. So little Friday it was, with a fresh motorcycle mag I checked in with this heat. It taste like a stout with a whiskey float on top, which I enjoy. The float is so hot, boozy that is takes all the attention away from the thickness of the roasted malt finish. I hate your hopslam bells, but two hearted is a great utility IPA. This brewery from michigan has a very palatable image and only makes a few extreme beers. My mind is divided as to how I feel about these guys. I love me some Michigan breweries, Dark Horse brewing company. OK, Bells does make Kalamazoo stout, Expedition stout, and Espresso stout. I'm not a fan of Oberon, or the best brown (legend has that). Feel free to go check them out at www.bellsbeer.com. 

KBS (Founders Brewing)

The release of several limited beers has been a bit backed up thus far in 2014 which threw everything out of whack. We have received no reserve series beers from firestone walker since the start of 2014. It seemed like KBS was a late release, but I guess the April first release date for this was right on time. Why did they choose that date? I haven't a clue or care to look further into it. This dark treat is my personal #2 stout in the world, and once I find someone to write my beer app it will be official. You will find a 2013 and 2014 in my beer cellar. I quickly became worried this year that I would not be able to get any, but who am I kidding? 

There must have been buzz prior to April first. It was evident that the public knew ahead of time that this beer was coming in far more limited quantities this year. Why is that? Well, I don't work for founders but I do work for Brown Distributing and the Florida branch just began selling founders in the second half of 2013. I caught an interview from the owner of founders on you tube, and listened contently. The complete operation at founders stops to brew this beer. They make as much as they can in that week, but given the capacity for liquid in tanks and barrels, it is what it is. This year, what it was, was insane. Craft beer creepers waiting in parking lots, asking me as I walk into total wine if I worked there. People so concerned that this beer was being sold internally before being offered to the general public. I swear the old man had that crack head sweat going. Delightfully skipping with my single bottle back to the truck, I came across a scene that felt like something out of a after school special. First thing I saw was a women clutching her purse in front of her, her gaze directed to a man. A man trying to quietly attempting to give this women ten dollars to get him another bottle from this total wine. I wish he had really startled her and she had maced him. What a loser. I kick myself for not saying anything.

Founders KBS was the brain child of Engbers and Stevens, owners of founders brewing. The creation story begins in 2001, while working part time as a bartender. The earth, sun and the moon, or the chocolate covered espresso bean washed down with a bit of porter, and later a relationship with jack daniels snow balled into this. It is reported that KBS was not always an easy sell, and it was expensive to make. The extreme beer festival in Boston in 2005 was really the turning point for the legend and 100 point perfect KBS. Head over to www.foundersbrewing.com to check out the well rounded portfolio these guys provide. 

Southern Slice (Cigar City/Terrapin Collaboration)

If you could zoom out on this picture you could see a glorious family scene. Looking at this picture as I type makes me a bit sad. Sad that this back yard and the two people who are paying to own it will be gone soon. They will be shipped to the land of the rising sun, where my motorcycle came from. Sad that I paid thirty four dollars for this beer. I do feel some solace in saying that I don't buy beer with my phone out. I was guilty of impulse buying by the label tho. 

My general feelings about Terrapin has never been complimentary. The best beer I have had from them to date is wake and bake, none of the fancy ones, just regular wake and bake. I get a huge mouth of syrup with most beers from the turtle brewery. I want to enjoy their beers. I have a lot of family in Georgia and consider it to be the heartland. I have not completely closed the door on them yet, but it's getting close. I personally blame them for the syrup and sweetness of this beer, denying the fact that Cigar City could make a bad beer. The beer did have a nutty flavor with a hint of vanilla, the mouth feel just wasn't like what you expect from beer. The bottle is property of Cigar City, which I guess makes them more the guilty party. 

Falling in love with a collaboration is always a bad idea, a wise man once plead to me. So what you love it? It will probably never happen again, or the next joint project will be completely different. If you did happen to really dig it would you chase down every last bottle out of every cellar in existence? This too shall pass my son . . . We hunt for the next whale.