David Kline

9.1

Beautiful, shimmery pale gold with no variation. Smoky tangerine and lime with golden apple and brioche notably. Tastes of tart apple and tangy lime with with flinty aspects lead to a crisp peach perspective which lingers forever. Needs time to fully integrate for fans of older Riesling flavors, but it is at a really lively and zippy now. — 18 hours ago

David Kline

9.2

Brown-black with a root beer head, jungle-banyan lacing. Big whiskey barrel whiff on approach, showing vanilla caramel and heaps of coffee after. Stunner. There is a date bread and chocolate pie combo as well as dark nibs and rich ganache informing the malty mocha. Licorice extract, Madagascar vanilla with extract heat, clove and nutmeg energies, darkest caramel bordering on burnt. Raisin-date-fig ground up with brown sugar and exhibiting an almost pine bite. Cinnamon stick dryness to the finish, but still resonating with a resinous danger. This snake bites you and you know it. — 11 days ago

David Kline

9.2

Okay, just black. Blonde wood/ baked apple hurrah, and then the dark quiet of space, or the grainy expanses of closed lids. The lacing of lazy, wood-boring insects. Such sights have set me to worrying of late. Mornings being a struggle at times, especially after these nighttime wooden cudgels and dark devices. The rack anyone? Coconut on coals. Tar socks. Dried violets. Black strap cola. Scraped vanilla beans, and dark chocolate cookie covered coal. Anise cinnamon and thin mint. Well, that’s the smell of the thing. The mouth below is unsweetened baker’s dark chocolate, blackened iron, vine charcoal, charred bone, hot springs through rubber piping, black sugar, Spanish “chocolate” brandy/black strap rum and graphite/smoke with evergreen suggestions. Not the Dragon of fire and smoke I expected, but certainly a formidable cave monster, living inside a volcano. I particularly appreciated the mineral/ethereal aspect. — 21 days ago

David Kline

8.9

Lemon jello, just one shade lighter. Rabid creature foaming. Tangerine, lemon, toasted sesame, watermelon rind, soft hemp aromas, dried, diced pineapple. Pineapple with a yeasty streak. Grilled grapefruit, lemongrass, orange peel. Nice session that has a lot of beer flavor as well. Refreshing and easy. I’d hydrate with this. No Water! — 20 hours ago

with Courtney

David Kline

9.5

Looks like another über-opaque stout, black with tinges of brown, except up top where a rush of micro bubbles made a ton of macros that left a pretty, light-caramel colored flattop; orange tints. Short streaked and spotted lacing. Dark chocolate covered peanut butter, mocha, black cherry jam thumbprint cookies, grilled pepper steak, fresh toffee. Frankly, the list could go on forever. Aromatic acrobatics. Luxardo cherries under dark chocolate, aged balsamic complexity (think: 40 year), dark, barebones strong coffee with one sugar, Christmas figgy pudding, Barolo chinato, gingerbread, ginger beer, molasses, chocolate bitters. Clove finish delivers on the dry. Amazed as ever with this brewery’s offerings. The profiles scare the hell out of me, but the beers are always sublime. — 15 days ago

David Kline

8.9

Sweet grapefruit citrus, yellow tomato, tangerine, overripe lemon, lime zest, jackfruit and orange blossom aromas. Double doses pull down the cloud curtain on this cider colored, golden creature. Mimosa-greyhound combo leaning heavier on the ruby-grapefruit. Lemon cake with a light glaze, lime pith, lemon zest, and round with its muscles flexed to a lemon pudding. Nice sage and thyme on the finish. With just a fresh snap pea bitterness to keep it honest. — a month ago

David Kline

9.3

Big shout out to Mike Taylor for the Shatter. Orange tinted straw gold; hazy, no lacing save for isolated jots. Huge perfume nose of orange and peach blossoms, lilies, daisies, marigold, and dandelion. What a fantastic integration of mouthfeel and intensity! Orange and lime oil, with lemon pudding, ginger, sweet grapefruit, lemongrass, green pear, paw paw and crystalline honey. A really nice double ipa! Generous finish! — 6 days ago

David Kline

8.9

This one was lost in the shuffle, better late than never? Darkest brunette, white-ish top, loose, then tight and poof, gone. Slick with oils that allow no lacing. Ginger-chilies leap to the forefront. Chocolate-tiramisu, green peppercorn, vanilla, nutmeg, gingerbread, violets, the nibs. Ginger and cola, soft gingerbreads and fig newton, light coffee, chocolate cola, green pepper, vanilla, nutmeg, chilies, white pepper, and more tiramisu, with a good cinnamon dusting. Flavors may be a little muted. — 17 days ago

David Kline

9.1

All celebration in an ebulliently uplifting, white, cloud wall. Huge fruit cup of cherry and peach, pear and strawberry bounces from the glass, wafting outward. A funkiness evokes ripest dragonfruit, and yes, guava. Sourest lemon-orange combo pushes forward in a citrus hammer, with tart tartaric energy evoking lime and hybrid citrus fruits at various stages of ripeness. Tangy and sour while still maintaining the vestiges of a skin-and-all kumquat sweetness. Finishes dry, and acid-refreshing. — a month ago

David Kline

9.6

2013 FDR3. Red-hued dark brunette body with bib bubbles, big textured, loose and frothy. Just dud spots left and moth wing scatter of pressed flower residual. Awesome sour cherry, baked persimmon, aged balsamic over steamed carrot, peppercorn, and toasty oak scents disperse, while chutney and pickled apricot take the spotlight, locked in a dark embrace. This may be the perfect sour. Smooth from oak, but sweet with vanillin and cola-malt, and sharpness from grapefruit, sour apricot, sweet potato sugar baked black. Blackened cinnamon-soaked apples, dried, brined bing cherry flavors, grilled lime, with autumnal spice and landscape sensibilities flowing smoothly in between. Astounding. — a month ago