It is #beersaturday again and I have been off exploring the region looking for new beers to share with the world!

Beer blogging comes naturally to me due to years spent brewing for myself and restaurants, working with breweries on their technology & marketing, and the decades spent imbibing. Hence, the self-decreed title of the #Blockchain #Beerologist doing my best to consume, report and even brew to do that title justice.

This week, I have discovered another edition of the IPA Fun Box with some older and newer IPAs of varying styles.

FUNBOX TIME!

I really do like a taster pack or variety pack when it comes to beer branding for the blog. I love it even more when it is one made up entirely of IPAs. Then, you find ones that keep arriving in a series and you manage to snag them all!



I spied the 6th edition of the Refined Fool Brewing Company https://www.refinedfool.com/ IPA FUN BOX on the shelves this time! As usual, 6 foolishly good IPAs in a nice variety pack with some old favourites and new ones that catch my eye.



https://www.refinedfool.com/collections/ipas/products/ipa-fun-box-6th-edition Similar design from the last few you and a couple familiar beers like Zane Lost His Avocado Bag, Van Full of Weirdos and Catstronaut Hazy Session IPA. You are free to browse through past editions of the Hops for reviews on those editions and beers. This one, I will focus on a couple of the new ones that caught my eye.

Where Are We Going?

The OJIPA tasted as you might expect with no complaints at all so I skipped to the new oat IPA. Oats are used in so many of the regional IPAs which may not jive with the Purity Law purist who insist upon only barley malt, hops and water in their beer. The oats seem to really smooth out the texture and make even the haziest and hoppiest of IPAs slide down your through like silk. Where are we going? Let's see!



Not much on the side label except their slogan and location west of here an hour or so away. This one is described as, 🏃‍♀️ Where Are We Going? — 6% Oat IPA: A silky smooth, full-bodied beer featuring notes of sweet fruit and creamsicle. As you can see there is the fruity haze of an unfiltered beer and I did enjoy this one along with a session of gaming. Another random branding/naming exercise where I can't imagine what they were thinking but5 definitely an enjoyable new beer to share.

FAT BABY

This is the one that caught my eye the most when considering the box at the store. The funny cartoon start on that chubby little dood and bubble letters like we used to draw in the 80s drew me in with its vacant stare. Continually hopped? I gotta try this! A straight up 6% ABV catches my eye as a little bit of a contradiction when continual hopping is the feature. Usually, the hoppier the more alcohol by volume we are talking.

Described on the website as 👶 Fat Baby — 6% Continually Hopped IPA: Apollo, Simcoe, and Zythos hops take center stage, creating a piney, resinous, citrus-heavy bitter beast that will have you crying for more. The details on the side of the can fill you in even more as it pushes the boundaries of your hopping imagination with so many stages of brewing. Mash, first runnings, 90, 75, 60, 45, 30, 15 and 0 minute hoppings, the centrifuge filtering whirlpool mechanism, and 3 separate dry hoppings? If they would have hop backed this one (filtered it through a basket of hops into the kegs and cans) then this might end up being like crunching through a mouthful of pinecones in each sip.

Turns out this is just a full-bodied beer that punches your tongue from the tip to your throat and is not that crazy. Just a little chubby and I would buy this beer again if it arrives on its own.

Well done Refined Fool. I may need a trip to Sarnia!

#BEERSaturday!

Here is to all you Beer Heroes who trek to the pub or tap house to capture and release with @detlev and I and the gang at #beersaturday This week, you can join us at @detlev/beersaturday-305 for this week's #beersaturday post. Grab a pint and join in the fun with a beer story of your own.

This week for #BeerSaturday, I would like to invite my new friend @michupa who is coming up on 2 years on the blockchain and is enjoying the #zealy rewards....thirsty work. Take a few pictures, tag #beersaturday and raise a glass with us on Hive!

Cheers to our global family of beer-drinkers!!

I am honoured to curate for:

Which of the 6 would you like to taste most?