The Bruery White Oak

Yet another day of staying late at the office. The only good thing? I get to leave early on Saturday (supposedly). So, here’s a beer that I picked up awhile back and really heard nothing about. On balance, I either love beers from this brewery or I hate them. The major thing that I have against them is the price point, which can be a bit…inflated, to say the least. So, these are my thoughts on this one.

ABV: 11.5%

Style: Wheatwine

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “White Oak is a blended beer– 50% wheatwine aged in Bourbon barrels (we call it “White Oak Sap”), and 50% Mischief (our Golden Strong Ale). Vivid caramel, coconut and vanilla flavors blanketed in a crisp yet robust wheat ale, White Oak is an exercise of balance.”

Random: Dom Brown is on fire for the Phils right now. He hit another home run this afternoon.

This brew poured with a one finger white head that dissipated quite slowly. It left a crown on top of the body and some nice lacing on the glass. The body was a cloudy light orange color with lazy carbonation visible throughout. The nose was delicate. I got notes of coconut and bourbon. The bourbon was relative smooth and light on the nose. The taste was a magnified sample of the nose. I got coconut and bourbon first and then some apricot and caramel came through with yeast finishing up the sip. The booze was absolutely undetectable on this one, which was really nice. The body was a medium thickness with very light carbonation, which was my only complaint. It could have used a bit more fizz. The finish was long and sweet. Although I really enjoyed this one, it would have been a great beer to split with friends, especially given the booze.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0

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Three Floyds Boogoop

This was a brew I had on Saturday with Katie. I got this nasty virus on Saturday which involved not being able to keep anything down, which meant that I was completely and totally unproductive. Very annoying. But, once I felt decent, I had to open a brew. I mean, it was Saturday night and this was one that I was very excited to try. Especially because I tend to really like Mikkeller and I’ve never had anything from Three Floyds. Let’s pop this bad boy open.

ABV: 10.4%

Style: Wheatwine

Trivia: According to beerpulse.com, “Please join us for the Chicago release of Boogoop, a collaboration beer between Mikkeller and Three Floyds. The fourth collaboration between these breweries, Boogoop is a Buckwheat Wine, weighing in at 10.4% ABV.”

Random: This is a collaboration brew between Three Floyds and Mikkeller.

This brew poured with a huge and fluffy three finger off-white head. It dissipated painfully slow and left a huge amount of lacing on the glass. The body was a hazy mahogany color with no visible carbonation on it, due to the color. The nose had a decent amount of booze, a bit of wheat and hops. This almost smelled like a boozy IPA. The taste was unique. It started with a dose of sweetness, quickly followed with a generous amount of hops. There was a little bit of wheat, but not much. I honestly didn’t know what to make of this beer. The body was on the medium side with low carbonation. The finish was long with some booze warming on it. The booze was also very apparent on the taste. I would say that this beer was interesting, but I just don’t completely get it. It reminded me a little more of a barleywine than a wheatwine, but I would have it again.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0

Terrapin Gamma Ray

By the time you read this, I’ll hopefully be finishing my birthday dinner with my family and I’m now hitting up a bar with Aly (the infamous girlfriend). As you can tell, I actually had a two brew review night last night. I’m now 28, which means I’m even closer to 30. Yeah, that part isn’t fun. But, at least it’s a long weekend, and I have a lot of fun stuff planned. I may even crack open some of the cellar beers this weekend. This beer is from one of my favorite breweries and yet again, has an incredibly cool label. So, onto the brew!

ABV: 11%

Style: Wheatwine

Trivia: According to wikipedia, “Gamma rays are usually naturally produced on Earth by decay of high energy states in atomic nuclei (gamma decay). Important sources are high-energy sub-atomic particle interactions in natural processes and man-made mechanisms. These include processes such as electron-positron annihilation, neutral pion decay, fusion, fission (important man-made sources) to lightning strike and terrestrial gamma-ray flash (rare natural sources on Earth). Gamma rays are produced by many astronomical sources in which high-energy electrons are produced. These electrons then produce secondary gamma rays by the mechanisms of bremsstrahlung, inverse Compton scattering and synchrotron radiation.”

Random: I’ve never had a wheatwine before, so I don’t really know what to expect…but pretty much everything I’ve had from Terrapin has been great.

This beer poured with a barely there white head that dissipated quickly and left no lacing on the glass. The body was a cloudy orange color with very mild visible carbonation. On the nose, I got a bit of booze, followed up by a syrupy, honey sweetness. After a bit of searching, I also got some banana, but honey was dominating the nose. The taste is definitely different. I got a lot of different things: banana, clove, lots of honey and a bit of wheat. In a way, it almost reminds me of a Belgian because of the sweetness. I think this was also because of the breadiness that I got from the brew. The booze was definitely present and warmed a little bit on the end. The finish was incredibly sweet, but pleasant. All-in-all, a solid brew that was pretty complex, but I couldn’t have more than one of these. The sweetness combined with the high ABV makes this a beer I would sip on, but not pound. This is definitely worth a try.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0