184. Sun King (Indianapolis, IN) - Lupulin Astronaut

“Lupulin Astronaut is an India Pale Ale brewed in honor of those brave souls dedicated to discovering new worlds of citrusy hop flavor.”

Another lightly flavored IPA from Sun King. Possibly a touch more interesting than the other Sun King offerings I have tried recently, but not by much.

183. Black Circle Brewing Co. (Indianapolis, IN) - Two-Tun Common

No description apart from Kentucky Common Ale. One of the first things Black Circle has done in 12-ounce cans. The nutty chocolate flavor is very strong, but there’s also a crisp, dry finish. I’ve had this once before, in the taproom, but I don’t remember it being this interesting.

182. Single Cut Beersmiths (Queens, NY) - Softly Spoken Magic Spells

“Far away across the field there is a golden IIPA with a tropical/bright citrus/mild pine and smooth/soft lightly sweet malt that will take you home again.”

I drank the first one out of the can yesterday, and it was…not unpleasant, exactly; but it tasted big, and wasn’t all that enjoyable to drink. I also got a lot more pine than fruit. Today, I poured one into the mug, and it was a much better experience. Still tastes a little bit big (because it is, at 8.6%), but the flavors are more balanced.

181. Guggman Haus Brewing Co. (Indianapolis, IN) - Azacca’s Secret

“We’ve collaborated with Black Circle Brewing Co. for the latest IPA in our experimental series. Azacca’s Secret offers a medium body with flavors of ripe pear, sweet orange and passion fruit, with an aroma of peach, apple, strawberry and mango. For the first time, we’ve highlighted Vic Secret and Azacca hops along with a more fruit-forward yeast that creates a hybrid between the appearance of an American IPA and taste of a New England IPA.”

The description makes it sound like more of a Guggman Haus joint than a Black Circle joint, but I don’t know how these collaborations work—whether it’s Lennon-McCartney or McCartney-Lennon, you know what I mean? I picked it up in an aluminum crowler at Black Circle earlier this week. I don’t taste any specific kind of fruit on its own, but it’s definitely a fruit-forward IPA, with a lingering sweetness and moderate bite (7.7%)—both of which are a little heavy for me, but not really bad.

180. Black Circle Brewing Co. (Indianapolis, IN) - Mama Trye’d

“Our Carney Rye’d Rya IPA brewed with Centennial, Citra, Azacca, and Simcoe hops.”

I feel like this one lands somewhere between Dan’s original and Philip’s more bitter version. This one has a bitter finish, but a lingering sweetness.

179. Upland Brewing Co. (Bloomington, IN) - Juicy Beast

“Juicy Beast is the first beer of the 2020 Side Trail Series. This Imperial IPA is brewed with a monstrous amount of hops and enough malt to give it the highest ABV to date of our New England-Style IPAs. Two of our favorite hops, Citra and Galaxy, make up the hop profile for this beast. Two dry hop additions, one at the beginning and one at the end of fermentation pack in a gratuitous amount of rich tropical flavor. A healthy proportion of oats and wheat along with a fruity English ale yeast help to ensure a full body and a succulently sweet finish.”

It’s fairly light and easy to drink for something so big (8.5%), but too sweet for me.

178. Sun King (Indianapolis, IN) - Keller Haze

“Keller Haze is an IPA with pronounced flavors of pineapple, citrus, tropical fruit, and orange peel finished in a slightly hazy kellerbier style.”

I would not have noticed this if I hadn’t tried this one right after I had an Osiris, but they both have the same light finish. Neither the tropical nor the citrus flavors qualify as pronounced, but the tropical ones stand out a little more. I thought it was a little bit dank and sharp at first, but that might just be in contrast to how bland the Osiris is. Sun King needs to take a lesson from Indiana City and can some of the more interesting beers that they’re currently only serving in the taproom.

177. Sun King (Indianapolis, IN) - Osiris

“Osiris Pale Ale is an assertive West Coast-style Pale with a distinct citrus hop punch.”

There’s a little bit of citrus there, but it’s certainly not a “punch.” And the use of the word “assertive” here is akin to Vizzini’s use of the word “inconceivable” in The Princess Bride. Not bad—just boring.

176. Metazoa Brewing Co. (Indianapolis, IN) - Chairman Meow

“Crisp, clean, and commanding with robust tropical fruit notes and a dry, tart finish.”

There is some tropical fruit and citrus up front, but the high alcohol (8.5%) hangs heavily over the proceedings. That and the (very) dry finish become more pronounced as it warms up. Interesting, but not especially enjoyable.

Deep Thoughts #186 - Special Topical The World Has Lost Its Fucking Mind Edition

Part of me wants to get a six-pack of Corona and go drink it on the sidewalk in front of a Chik-fil-A, just to scare the right-wing retards.

Deep Thoughts #185

Can you believe that an unfit, unqualified moron doesn’t even know how to respond to a crisis, much less handle one? Who would have guessed?

175. Sun King (Indianapolis, IN) - When the Lights Go Out

“When the Lights Go Out is a porter brewed with locally roasted coffee for maximum aroma balanced with creamy malt sweetness and a dry finish.”

Yeah, okay. Just not particularly impressive.

174. Single Cut Beersmiths (Queens, NY) - Jenny Said

“There’s good reason IPAs are the favorite child of us Beersmiths; so many new hop varieties are becoming available annually and we love digging through these options hunting for great original lupulin expression. JS IIPA is brewed exclusively with a variety of these newfangled flowers for a unique spin on the tropical stone fruit/bright citrus/dank resin profile that is our trademark.”

This has almost the same taste profile as the Full-Stack DDH, but with more citrus and a bit less alcohol (7.2%). Also a bit more bitter on the back end. That bitter finish is more pronounced as it warms up. More interesting than the Full-Stack DDH, but both are excellent.

173. Single Cut Beersmiths (Queens, NY) - Full-Stack Double Dry-Hopped IIPA

“Ah, good ‘ol Full Stack. So smooth, tropical, citrusy, just such a friendly IIPA. Well, no more—we gave it our DDH treatment for a mega-assault of what you loved about this brew in the first place.”

At 8.2%, this isn’t the kind of thing I want to drink more than one of at a time, but it’s awfully good. I don’t get much citrus, but it’s got nice tropical and stone fruit flavors. I don’t find it aggressively flavored or hopped. The only assault I feel is from the alcohol. Stoney’s has Single Cut on sale at $8.99 for a four-pack of tallboys, so I may be posting about more of these in the next week or so.