Stacked Deck Angry Monster Spaceship Double IPA.
8.5 % ABV, Stacked Deck Brewing, St. Paul, MN.
I might be about to once again break my boycott on the hazies, against my will, but before we discover if I will or if I won't, a confession.
I am a hypocrite. I love the double IPA style so much, I wish every brewery made a great one, and they were available all the time. As it is, there are very few that are around nearly constantly, and I am grateful for them.Steel Toe Sticker Fight. Pipeworks Ninja vs. Unicorn. Odell Myrcenary. Rogue Collosal Claude. When others show up, I grab them up as best as I can, but how I wish that they weren't made only once or twice a year by most breweries. I want to drink them constantly, year 'round.
And then it happens, and it's the new thing. The trendy breweries are putting them out on a near weekly basis, but there's a twist. They're almost always "hazies" and New Englands, and I'm sick of that shit. Local breweries like BlackStack and Modist and Falling Knife are trafficking in this stuff, but there's one that has been leaning hard on it recently. I've noticed it at the retail store where I currently work. Stacked Deck of St. Paul. It seems that every week for a few months now they've sent out a new DIPA, along with their regular "hazy", Weekend at Larry's, or whatever sours they're pushing. And they always have excellent artwork by Brent Schoonover, and I can't buy them because they're alway at least $18, and I can't be sure that they're not going to be Hazy/NEs.
Hence, my hypocrisy. There are these breweries, even local ones, making double IPAs all the time. Just not the kind that I like.
And the latest from them was one that I nearly paid the $18 for, because I was so taken with Brent's Kirby-esque illustration for the dumbly named Angry Monster Spaceship. I nearly bought it, but they gave us a sample, and my boss gave it to me, because he does not drink double IPAs, I guess. He just likes beer that tastes like pastries. Look at me, picking up scraps.
Anyway, let's drink this sucker and see if I got tricked into drinking another Hazy DIPA, because that's all anyone knows how to brew anymore...
Of course. Of course I was. It's thick as...hell, it's just as damned glass of OJ, which the kids like these days. Sigh. Hardly any head. Dull orange color. More sighs.
In the nose: Citrus and fuzz. Orange and grapefruit and pineapple. Very fuzzy.
In the mouth: Overwhelming fuzz. Big citrus, high hops, low bitterness. How many times do I have to say, when I want a double IPA, I want double bitterness, not just double alcohol. Damn! Why does no one get this?
It's not a pretty beer, it's rather drab. And it's just...lazy. Hazies are lazy.
Alchohol rises to prominence quickly, amidst a chalky residue. So much yeasty, fuzziness, some small hop bitterness, waves of citrus...and it lacks spark, lacks crisp, lacks a lot. Lacks what I want in a DIPA.
I am only drinking this because it was thrust at me, and that is a motivating factor when it comes to writing reviews sometimes. I might have spent that $18, then regretted having to slog through three more of these.
Well, I'm twice warned, again. Watch out for Stacked Deck, they're just riding the hazy train. Unless that's what you dig. And good for you, I guess.
They should totally collaborate with their St. Paul neighbor and make a BlackDeck beer. It's inevitable. And it would be so hazy.
So, I know my opinion is against the tide, and I've decided to check in on the opinions on Untappd. Let's check them out.
Keith W. says, simply, : Delicious. 5 stars.
Nice Hoppy Bite, says Brian F., giving 4.5 stars.
Marc S. offers the following: Not quite all there. Maybe canning line off but good hip flavor but the carbonation is off.
I think by hip he means hop. His friend Mike adds: It's fucked up.
And there's a whole lot of people disagreeing with me, and then this, from Robb L: This is a great beer, great hop combo between the vic secret and nelson making a grapefruit, earthy dankness with a great bitter hop bite. Well done Blackstack!
(See what Robb did there? I don't think he meant it.)
Dan K. says: Too earthy/Danky for me. (not enough for me--A.)
Mike says: Weirdly murky. Seemed off. Fizzy like Alka seltzer then quickly went away. Drank it anyway.
I don't know what's going on with Andrew N: Oh my! Soft pillows upon pillows! This might be my new top favorite from Stacked Deck! This is fantastic. Great aroma, smooth throughout with just enough bite to remind you it is an IPA! Wünderbar! 4.85
Man, what to unpack first? Wünderbar? I want to imagine what LGBTQ icon he most resembles, but ...okay I'll do it. Jim Rash as Dean Pelton on Community. There, I nailed it, don't come at me. I. Nailed, It.
Or...maybe...Charles Nelson Reilly? I'm also hearing his voice...can't help it.
Also: Snagglepuss.
Also, who eats pillows? Why do we describe beers as pillowy, when pillows are not things that we eat?
Wow, I am thoroughly in the minority here. I should just quit, right?
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