#BeerSaturday is at week 211 and I am in the mood for a box of fun!

Source: https://www.pinterest.pt/goldensaintbeer/ with a little Zeke design on top.

I became a beer blogger because of the years I have spent brewing for myself, the breweries I work with now on their technology and marketing, and the decades spent imbibing combine for the self-decreed title of the #Blockchain #Beerologist.

This week, I picked a sampler/promo pack off the shelf, which I normally only do to entertain you. Will this one be different?

Pint of the Week

I sent this picture of the Pint of the Week to Black Swan Brewing https://blackswanbrewing.ca/ because I thought it was a rather good one! Good enough as a local endorsement of their refreshing looking beer enjoyed on a local patio. Meeting beers have to be one of my favourite and we have 2 of those right there. May this IPA mark the start of a long and profitable relationship!

How About A FUNBOX?!

Usually, these variety packs are filled with random beer and I am suckered into buying a couple stinkers just to get at a unique IPA. While I generally skip over many of the Refined Fool Brewing Company https://www.refinedfool.com/ beers, I absolutely HAVE to purchase a whole box made up of different IPAs.

In fact, having tasted only a couple of these, I am going to award the coveted seal for having the game to assemble 6 different IPAs at once. https://www.refinedfool.com/collections/beer/products/ipa-fun-box-2nd-edition Well done!

Science

I started with the lights, silliest looking one. Science light IPA https://www.refinedfool.com/products/science-light-ipa seemed to be the perfect beverage for sitting on the deck in the afternoon while prepping for a D&D session. I am wondering what they were thinking with this branding besides weird and different. It would be on brand, knowing their other beers, and perhaps the science is attaching a couple things which shouldn't be: Light and IPA.

Looks like this well-dressed sheep is interested in the fantasy roleplaying. The beer itself was expectedly light and did have some flavour. Boasting only 3.7% ABV, I was not expecting much. Turns out I was right but it wasn't all bad...maybe along the lines of Sunnyside by GLB https://www.greatlakesbeer.com/Beer/sunnysidesessionipa/ Watery and citrussy and light and refreshing.

And Then Bernice Flipped the Canasta Table

This label has one-off brew written all over it with the strange colours, overdone contrast and the peculiar lady gracing the center. https://www.refinedfool.com/collections/beer/products/bernice-east-coast-dipa is a double east coast IPA with, one would assume, lots going on. She is a granny about to go batshit crazy at card night so I better be careful.

Weighing in at a very respectable 8.2% abv, Bernice is indeed a serious mistress. I snuck up on it all curious as it seemed to be hopped heavily with the secondary hops I have seen in double IPAs (Citra, Amarillo and Simcoe.) It really was an adventure in every mouth-full, the only way to properly evaluate the flavour of a bold beer. I did find myself spacing those gulps a good distance apart as it was more tasty than refreshing. All in all, I like Bernice! Maybe as much as some of my favourite imperial and double IPAs. I doubt it will return to shelves individually but I will have to taste it again if it does.

Van Full of Weirdos

I featured Van Full of Weirdos Juicy IPA https://www.refinedfool.com/collections/beer/products/van-full-of-weirdos-juicy-ipa during a Christmas box set from Refined Fool. The retro cartoon branding with vibrant colours and interesting weird people in the vanagon, well, it just works! The fact I have it in my brand new Clutch http://www.pro-rock.com/ mug I just received in the mail! Looking forward to this pint for sure!

I am getting the picture that the RF brewmaster really likes his Simcoe hops somehow just remembering this brewery is in Sarnia, Ontario. They left the weirdest dood for the back of the van and packed plenty of smooth but bold flavour into this solid 6.2% Delicious as it was last Christmas.

#BEERSaturday!

Thanks again for this wonderful #hive #beer gift by @spirall on Twitter! Hop in on the marketing push with us and invite the world of beer bloggers to join us on Hive.

It is week 211 (that is right...211 weeks of #beersaturday s on the blockchain!) and you can visit our session here https://hive.blog/hive-187719/@detlev/have-a-beer-and-let-us-know-what-happened-beersaturday-week-211 Make sure you pop by https://friends.beersaturday.com/ and drop a beer in the box to have a shot at being the Beer King and create your very own beer blog so you can be drinking with the cool kids from across the globe.

I invite a friend to the party every week and this week it is a brand new Hive Blogger @stevemed1973. He is drinking from the firehose of content and complexity here and could use a drink and a follow.