So listen, I love me some Oktoberfest, same as the next gal. But after a couple of years covering traditional Oktoberfest beers, and other, more hipstery German beers in my September column, I gotta say:
- Holy cow, my product photography has drastically improved. Much white balance. Such framing. Wow.
- I’m running out of things to say about fest beers other than, “For all that is good and holy, buy yourself a pack of The Time Is Nigh by Modist Brewing Co.”
So where does that leave us? You and me, sitting here, in the midst of Oktoberfest with nothing to say about Oktoberfest beers? Well. Uhh. I suppose it leaves us with three IPAs and two lagers.
Fair State Brewing Cooperative: Fonio Krush
Cold IPA / 6.0% ABV / ?? IBU
The good people at Fair State, in their vast wisdom, gave me a can of Fonio Krush for free. They even dropped it off at my house. This gig does come with certain benefits. After a couple of years, anyway. If I was a different sort of person—unprincipled, clout-chasing, superficial… an “influencer,” if you will—this sort of thing might automatically result in a positive review from me. Sadly, I am composed of only two things: integrity, and lesbianism. I’m like Abe Lincoln with boobs and strong opinions about how Joss Whedon did Tara and Willow dirty.
Where was I? Oh, yeah.
I liked my free Fonio Krush so much that I went out and bought four more cans of it once it hit the shelves. It smells like mango and citrus. Its flavor is floral citrus bitterness with a light stone fruit character. It’s on the lighter side of medium bodied, and bubbly. In other words, Fonio Krush is a great cold IPA, and very approachable. I didn’t pick up much of a flavor from the ancient grain it’s named after (fonio), but honestly, I’m fine with that. Good beer is good beer.
56 Brewing: Nersheast Nectar
Italian pilsner / 5.0% ABV / 20 IBU
This beer was brewed for Nershfest—which was a month and a half ago and featured my favorite local band Gully Boys. (Gully Boys, if you’re reading this, do you need any cool mom friends?) However, you can still find Nersheast Nectar on a couple shelves in the Twin Cities, and I didn’t get to cover it last month because I was busy trying not to get drunk at the State Fair. So, I’m going for it.
I talked a bit about Italian pilsners in my pilsner column this July, and I continue to think they’re neat. Nersheast Nectar has a light tangerine aroma, and tastes like light biscuity malt with a tart tangerine edge and maybe a hint of piney resin. Light bodied and effervescent, it’s a perfect beer to drink at a festival that you can’t go to because of scheduling issues—prime among them being the fact that the festival happened a month and a half ago. That might seem like a narrow category of beers, but if you look in your heart, I think you’ll find it isn’t.
Falling Knife Brewing Company: All Killer, No Filler
DDH double IPA / 8.5% ABV / ?? IBU
Readers of a certain age, more and more distinguished in their years and quickly approaching the nihilism of eternity—aka millennials—may recognize this beer’s name as a reference to the debut album by Canadian pop-punk band Sum 41: All Killer, No Filler. All Killer, No Filler was released on May 8, 2001—11 years, 8 months, and 20 days after Belgian Eurodance project Technotronic released their genre-defining anthem "Pump Up the Jam" (this joke stolen from Cunk On Earth).
As a cool millennial mom, I was part of the target market for the reference here, and was also drawn in by a can covered with so many pictures of folks I imagine are Falling Knife employees. I think that’s a pretty cool idea. More pictures of people who made the beer on the cans, please. All Killer, No Filler smells like bubblegum, strawberry, and tropical fruit in that order. Its flavor is sweet, with bubblegum and strawberry notes balancing hop bitterness. However, if you get a "Fat Lip" after drinking it, please see your doctor—you may have an undiagnosed allergy.
BlackStack Brewing: One Trick Ponies
American lager / 5.0% ABV / ?? IBU
BlackStack knows what you’re thinking. An American lager? From BlackStack? Where’s the haze, bro? But, if you’ve followed my ramblings at all, you’d know that in addition to having one of my favorite year-round hazies, these St. Paulites make a pretty tasty French pilsner, and one of my favorite stouts. One-trick ponies, they are not.
One Trick Ponies (the beer) smells like light floral hops with an undertone of biscuit. Its flavor is complex herbal hops intermingling with malt—the edges between the two are pretty fuzzy, and bleed out into the carbonation. It’s refreshing, light, and a great way to hold onto those last memories of summer.
Hammerheart Brewing Company: Åttebeint Hest
“Northern” IPA / 6.5% ABV / ?? IBU
I never got to try Åttebeint Hest during its original heyday with Hammerheart, so I was pretty excited to see it pop up on the shelves of my local liquor store recently. "Åttebeint Hest" means “eight-legged horse” på Norsk, a reference to Odin’s horse Sleipnir. If that little mythological treat wasn’t enough, I’ve already established that if Hammerheart releases a beer, I try it. Tide comes in, tide goes out. It’s that simple. Four extra legs on a horse? Now, that’s just icing on the cake.
Åttebeint Hest is significantly different from a lot of the stuff from Ely's Hammerheart that I’ve been trying lately—namely because it’s not smoked. Whodathunk? Non-smoked Hammerheart beers? In today’s America? Instead of smoky vibes, it’s got a lot of caramel malt aroma with an earthy pine hop edge. Homey. Inviting. Åttebeint Hest’s flavor is toasted bread transitioning to bitter pine. I don’t really know what a “Northern IPA” is, but if this is any indication, they appear to be “more complex west-coast IPAs.” I like that. More, please.
