Oliphant I'm A Crighty Pooster

Oliphant I'm A Crighty Pooster Milkshake IPA. 5.8% ABV "Milkshake" IPA, with lactose and vanilla.  Oliphant Brewing, Somerset, WI.

Growler filled on my visit June 11, consumed and notes
taken June 20, published July 5...because I'm blazy.

So, I'd heard that Oliphant had a "milkshake IPA"...huh? ....and it was called "I'm A Crighty Pooster"...double huh. I'd heard of the milkshake IPA before, but didn't quite get it. Why would you call any beer a milkshake? There have been some versions put out by Dangerous Man, but I hadn't had a chance to try them yet. I knew they didn't invent this style, though.

Who did? Tired Hands Brewery in Pennsylvania and the gypsy Swedish brewer Omnipollo combined their talents to craft the first of many versions of this style that was named out of spite. BeerAdvocate.com co-founder Jason Alstom gave a poor review to one of their cloudy ales and spoke vehemently on Twitter about these "Milkshake" beers. "Bah!" he bellowed, and Jean Broillet IV raised his fist and cried out to the heavens that he would show him, and craft the milkiest milkshakes ale of them all. And now it's all the rage from coast to coast. (Maybe.)There's an in-depth article here.

So, here's what I believe is Oliphant's first stab at the style, but probably not the last.

Highly hazed...."milky"?...bright orange coloring, beautiful, slim white head, looking good.

My first taste of I'm A Crighty Pooster, while
watching Bugs and Elmer in "The Rabbit of Seville"

In the nose: nicely hopped, plenty of citrus and pine, lots of fruit, but moderate bitterness. All is pleasant. Utterly delightful.

In the mouth: the shock of the bitter comes, as it inevitably does, then the creamy, smooth mouthfeel, then more bitter, then more deliciousness. Creamy, yes. A little sweet, fairly yummy. And bitter, and fruity. It does the trick, but...I'm not so sure this is what I want to drink. Is this the ultimate evolution of IPA? Do we want the creamy with the bitter? Is that best? I'm not sure if I'd say yes.

It's interesting. It's different. But, this milkshake IPA thing....what's the point? Is it supposed to be better than a regular IPA? Am I becoming a grumpy old man? I liked the old IPAs the ones that were bitter, and unpleasant, and hard to drink, and you liked it!

Tippie-tay-onna-cappa-town!

Say-da-tay!

Oddly, I didn't get a good picture at the taproom of the chalkboard illustration of this beer, whichis my normal fashion, but I was in awe of the chalkboard for the St. Paul Beer Fest, which was hanging in the lounge.  As you can see, Pooster has been erased, but look at the rest, aspects of the other beersenter into the Star Wars spoof: David Cross/Gobias as Han Solo, Xuul from Ghost-busters as Yoda, Josh Miller of Oliphant as Ant Ray Cow Pants, and Mothra as him
(her?) self. I don't know who the other guy is, but it doesn't look like Pootie Tang.
In any case, I've never seen a more elaborate or artistically accomplished
illustration on a beer fest chalkboard.

Oh, yeah, the mystery of the name. At the taproom, Jeremy #2, not chalk artist Jeremy Hughes, told me they had the beer at the St. Paul Beer Fest the day before and public reaction was so negative they may consider changing the name. (It was not negative towards the beer itself, or course.)Why, was it offensive? Was it because it was so strange and hard to remember? Is it a worse name than dg2c2mf?

So, it got to Googling and found that the phrase is from a scene in the film "Pootie Tang" (original title: "Pootie Tang in: Sine Your Pitty On the Runny Kine") from 2001, and a song performed by the title character and one played by Missy Elliot. The meaning? None. Offensive? In your imagination, perhaps. I'm glad they gave it this title, though, for it finally got me to see that film, written and directed by Louis C.K., who took his name off after studio tinkering. It is silly and slightly childish, much like making an IPA into a milkshake. Ah, well, beer is in new hands now, young ones, fresh and imaginative ones. And that's a camma camma leepa chai, my damies, you dig?