Being The Blockchain Beerologist definitely has its perks, including but not limited to getting paid to tour breweries and sample new beers! When I am not globetrotting and chugging pints, my fridge looks like a colourful mosaic of regional craft beer I enjoy sharing with the #beersaturday alliance of #beer bloggers on #hive.
This week, I fish another IPA tasters pack from the vibrant and busy craft beer section!
Nickelbrook Brewing Company https://www.nickelbrook.com/ has produced my favourite IPAs since my slippery slide into obsession over the first regional IPAs. Not the best known brewery but among the first of new wave of craft breweries since we stopped calling them microbrews. These days, there are a hundred to choose from and though Nickelbrook has some stiff and fresh competition, I still drink their beer regularly.
If discovering a gift pack to share on #beersaturday is nice, finding it is entirely made up of IPAs is even better for me. When it is from an old favourite like Nickelbook, I am grabbing that and smiling like a kid on Christmas morning. You may recognize Naughty Neighbour APA, Wicked Awesome NEIPA, and my favourite Headstock West Coast IPA from past blogs so I will stick to featuring the new ones on this edition.
Crystal & Cashmere
As much as I like finding an IPA I love that is regularly available for repurchase, I enjoy sampling and discovering new ones just as much. Plus, if I featured the same beer every week or 2, I would probably not have legions of followers who show up every week to watch me abuse my liver with something new. Crystal & Cashmere is rare enough that it doesn't even have its own page on the website. You can see here that it sports a mystic design which promises to open you to a new plane of existence and pours like an ice cream cone.
Not much going on the occasionally informative side label of this Hazy IPA except a relatively light 4.3% alcohol content, and their typical inclusion of oats and wheat for a fuller and smoother texture. The apricot and plum mention as well as the mango colour prepare you for a lighter but still substantial fruity taste for a nice beer if you like cloudy. The jury is still out on the GOOD FORTUNE inclusion but it is fortuitous to discover a lighter yet tasty balance perfect for sharing on a patio in mid summer with friends.
Party Dad
When I flip my #beerologist cap backwards, it also says Party Dad on it as I am many things to many people. When one of your favourite breweries brews a beer like this, you kinda think the universe and brewers are speaking directly to you at the same time. You have your old skool New Balance shoes and the promise of crushability which is part invitation and part challenge...which party dads should be up to.
Party Dad Crushin' IPA is actually classified as light beer with its very low 3.5% ABV and creatively worded 5-am-sunrise colour. Not sure if you can tell but I am enjoying this one after doing dad stuff like mowing trhe lawn and relaxing on a weekend. Lively taste for a light beer and very nice of them to sport the big bold branding and keep the ABV in the fine print so when you crush 5 of these, the younger generation is in awe at your ability to put IPAs back without stumbling or napping!
Cosmic Cowboy
Cosmic Cowboy seemed incredibly timely as a theme for this one with all of the whistleblowing going on in this area south of the border here. A nice classic style for the art that is half wanted poster and half new sheriff in town. No day drinkin' this one as you can see it was enjoyed during an evening gaming session.
This IPA is a little more like what I have come to expect and enjoy from Nickelbrook with its 6.5% abv and nice yellowy hazy power. I have never enjoyed a beer with INTERGALACTIC GLOW colour but probably would again. This one was a bit more of a punch in the mouth as you might expect and it may be the lack of oats to smooth it out. Great for that gaming session but I must admit I can't recall how it tyastes stacked up against Wicked Awesome or Headstock. I may just have to god grab another one of these before they are gone and conduct a public taste of opinion trial. All of the fine beer will make it another good decision.
Big Foot is probably right again. You can join @detlev, myself and all the other beer bloggers at https://hive.blog/hive-187719/@detlev/beersaturday-321 for this week's edition.
This week for #BeerSaturday, I would like to invite @sheepgetsheared who is new to Hive and is a friend of the OG from the West/West @broncnutz Take a few pictures, tag #beersaturday and raise a glass with us on Hive!
@detlev, myself and all the other beer bloggers at https://hive.blog/hive-187719/@detlev/beersaturday-321 for this week's edition.
@sheepgetsheared who is new to Hive and is a friend of the OG from the West/West 
@broncnutz Take a few pictures, tag #beersaturday and raise a glass with us on Hive!
