Oliphant Teenage Muten Ninja Roshi Double IPA

A new view of the beer below, circa 2019.

Somerset, Wisconsin is a small town situated by a big river, the Apple River, which has long been home to inner-tubing tourism. Oliphant Brewing sits inauspiciously behind a liquor store, with a few signposts pointing out it's existence. Their stark logo is signal enough. Any curious onlookers are sure to blink and zero in on it's oddness. "What the heck is that? There's a brewery there? Pull over, pull over!"

Based on my two visits to the brewery, it's abundantly clear that the brewers are serious about making great beer, and unserious about every thing else. It's a pop culture playground. VHS tapes and video games for the big screen TV, board games and such for people who don't care to stare at the giant box (on this visit, I read questions from the Simpsons trivia game, which Jason excelled at, and Steve howled at the both of us: "How do you know that?"), and various curios abound, some directly referencing the beers, which reference the pop culture that the objects reference. A trucker hat with the "Wayne's World" logo in honor of the beers called "Party on Wayne" and "Party on Garth". A toy of the dancing bud of the regenerating Groot from "Guardians of the Galaxy" for the beer called Groot, a gruit. (Who makes those?Nobody.) I'm sure I've missed some, and I'm also sure there's more to come.

It would seem like silliness, if the ales weren't so altogether excellent. I'm going to want to visit this place as often as I can, that's for sure.

The first half of my flight from last Sunday: Lenny Leonardson, Zaphod Branigan, and Commander Ryeker. 

And now, on to a double  india pale ale from Oliphant, who attempts to reference the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in it's name, but goes awry. "Muten" instead of "mutant", "roshi" in place of "turtles". I don't know why. Maybe someday I'll learn the reason. For now, I'm going to drink it. All that I know right now is that it's 8.8% alcohol by volume. The rest is yet to be discovered.

Appearance: I'd want to call it "golden" if it wasn't so murky. A dull, yellow amber, under a prodigious head of chalk-white foam, leaving gracious lacing. Wouldn't call it pretty, but I like it none-the-less.

Aroma: Muted pine and citrus. "Dank" is a good descriptor. Wild, wooly, weird, and funky, but not that kind of funky. Just a little unruly, shall we say. Vibrant fruit lies just below the muck.

Taste: Pow! The hop bitterness comes pouncing on the palate right out of the starting gate, but with it comes creamy, and fruity. Delicious. I don't know what yeast they use in this unfiltered ale, but it is, how you say, scrumptious. Sweet, at times, creamy, yes, it's true, but unmistakably and resiliently bitter. Medium-bodied, with a long, lovely hoppy finish. Beautiful.

A bit rough around the edges, a little unrefined, but still, beautiful.

This is a picture I did not take, it was stolen from...I forget where, the internet, I think. While I was there last week, someone was always sitting in front of it, and I didn't want to be the weird guy who pestered someone to move while he takes a picture of the chalkboard.