Night Shift releases, events, etc.

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lambandtunaphish

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Registration now open for the 2014 Night Shift Barrel Society.

http://www.nightshiftbrewing.com/site/product/barrel-society/
http://www.nightshiftbrewing.com/si...-society/2014-night-shift-barrel-society-faq/

7 different bottle releases, 2 Tekus and a Tshirt. $150 for one bottle of each, $250 for 2 bottles of each and $450 for 4 bottles of each.

Seven different barrel-aged beers from Night Shift Brewing (750 ml corked-and-caged bottles), exclusive to the Night Shift Barrel Society. While we’ve yet to finalize exactly which beers will be featured, the group will likely include a 100% brett-fermented ale, a barleywine/wheat wine, a sour dark ale, a wild saison, a Berliner Weisse featuring exotic fruit, and two non-sour imperials (stout/porter/tripel/bock/lager)

For anyone who joined last year, what was the verdict? Worth it or not? As a non-local (who still needs to pick up my sour futures) the $150 price tag doesn't seem too bad, so I'm considering the lowest level.
 
$150 doesn't seem too bad if money is burning a hole in your pocket but Night Shift has been incredibly underwhelming to me other than a few of their Berliners. I've heard the barrel society releases weren't that impressive either. Haven't heard of any drain pours so I guess that's good.
 
2013 member here. Haven't reupped yet. No drain pours (although, tbh, Paradiso was close), but nothing really amazing so far either. The -bal belgian double IPA that was the last release was v. good though.

$150 is pretty crappy, IMO, for 7 bottles. The swag is nice, but I would really like to see them move to a Bruery model, guarantee a certain # of bottles and have available more for purchase - they have done this in 2013, but usually only 1 additional bottle available.

I really like the guys, and the brewery, which is the main reason I joined - and I'm thinking about reupping for that exact reason, but I'm not sure it's worth it for the beer, yet. Doesn't mean it won't be down the line.
 
$150 doesn't seem too bad if money is burning a hole in your pocket but Night Shift has been incredibly underwhelming to me other than a few of their Berliners. I've heard the barrel society releases weren't that impressive either. Haven't heard of any drain pours so I guess that's good.
Underwhelming, is an understatement. And seriously, that keg of sommerweiss they sent to NotF should disqualify them from attending any fests in the future.
 
Underwhelming, is an understatement. And seriously, that keg of sommerweiss they sent to NotF should disqualify them from attending any fests in the future.
I've always disliked somerwiess. Tastes like some weird Thai inspired 7up.

They are a short bike ride from my work so I've had a lot of their beers. Between the house yeast and concepts always falling short of expectations I just don't really care for them anymore. Sea glass was alright and after having Oasis a couple times I got a good pour of it at flatbread.

My after work growler fills and bike rides are better well spent at Trillium now. Plus my girlfriend lives pretty close to them.
 
What I wrote on BA a few weeks back:

Most people I've talked to have been underwhelmed by most of the releases. The descriptions on the bottles have been so appealing, but in general the beer hasn't lived up to it. I kinda like Paradiso (my review), but I expect most won't love it. On that basis, I'd say I wouldn't ante up again (especially since this first membership was a gift). At this point, it will really depend on the forthcoming releases.

Last 3 seem pretty legit, so here's hoping:
  • A Berliner Weisse aged in red wine barrels on blackcurrants & blackberries
  • The Barrel Society Community Beer - a sour red rye aged in wine barrels on on dark cherries
  • A barleywine fermented with maple syrup, aged in Jamaican rum barrels
I happened to be there when the brewers were tasting the society berliner weisse and barleywine. They were definitely not done/carbed, but... they were both awesome. Really looking forward to them both now.

The caveats: A few were made with Brett, so it's possible they could get better/more interesting with time. All the beers have been unique at least, and that means there's always a chance to stumble on something incredible. The glasses and shirts were pretty nice. Extra beers have been available for purchase for all the releases. They haven't used bourbon barrels nor made most of the typical -bal styles, so I don't want to write off their barrel program entirely based on creative swings for the fences.
 
I forgot to mention that the Once Made Nightshift beer is really good right now. Raspberries and brandy barrel all day. They should really look into some sort of spin off of that.
 
meh I joined mostly because i want the glasses and damn if their sours are not yummy so i'll throw them some money for more better beers down the line.
 
meh I joined mostly because i want the glasses and damn if their sours are not yummy so i'll throw them some money for more better beers down the line.

The glasses are truly dope. Seriously, if they had changed the glass shape this year, that very well might have been enough to push me over the line... I just have too many tekus now!
 
The glasses are truly dope. Seriously, if they had changed the glass shape this year, that very well might have been enough to push me over the line... I just have too many tekus now!
are they as ****ing brittle as the FFF ones? im scared about them both getting here... hint biglobo8971 one of those suckers is yours since (I at least think) thats a glass you dont have
 
are they as ****ing brittle as the FFF ones? im scared about them both getting here... hint biglobo8971 one of those suckers is yours since (I at least think) thats a glass you dont have

They're the exact same glass base, yeah. I've shipped at least 4 of the NS glasses and had no issues with them breaking, just make sure you wrap them well and protect the stem (this is good advice for all stemware).
 
I haven't had either since the spring but King **** all over my ceiling with the GF opened it. Didn't taste wonderful. Queen was the better of the two, and I just had a friend open a box last week and said they were both drinking amazing. So that's good to hear. Two boxes left.
 
Art series #5-7 has been around at some local bars (heard decent things about #7, an imperial stout, as far as I know their first) and Motuekanation on draft/growler-only at taproom.

Mainer Weisse release party 10/16: "Berries & Barrels". Mainer Weisse bottles available limit 2, also on draft. Other drafts available: "We'll also be putting a variety of experimental, barrel-aged beers (including at least one sour) on tap for drafts at the party. We have a very limited amount, so can't guarantee the beer will last beyond the party, but we can guarantee it will be some unique, delicious, oaky goodness while it's pouring".

Taza Stout release 10/9, guessing it will be in bottles around town soon.
 
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Crazy pants. That was one of my favorite beers of 2012.

Maybe it just doesn't match my tastebuds or something. Ever Weisse is probably one of my top 5 favorite beers ever as long as it's fresh, Cape Codder Weisse is amazing, and I am a defender of Somer Weisse, although it is obviously not in the same class. I thought Mainer Weisse kinda sucked, and I love blueberries. Tasted like yogurt. And based on the descriptors and Night Shift's demonstrated ability to make great fruited berliners, I was just insanely let down.
 
Maybe it just doesn't match my tastebuds or something. Ever Weisse is probably one of my top 5 favorite beers ever as long as it's fresh, Cape Codder Weisse is amazing, and I am a defender of Somer Weisse, although it is obviously not in the same class. I thought Mainer Weisse kinda sucked, and I love blueberries. Tasted like yogurt.
Did you have any of the Somer on keg at NotF? Straight vinegar.
 
Did you have any of the Somer on keg at NotF? Straight vinegar.

No, I didn't, but I heard about that. I dunno what's up with that, I've had a few bottles from various batches this year and they've been fine, and I drank Somer all the time on draft last year while it was still year-round. Again, definitely not in the same class as Ever and Cape Codder, but I think it's fine, and I liked having a regularly accessible berliner...
 
if you dont like it, i'll still snag some from ya tehzachatak

Sounds good, I'll let you know when I acquire some and perhaps we can do some for some Surly. Don't think I'm going to make the release but if it's like the other berliners this year there will be plenty to go around for a long time.

EDIT: just posted three times in a row. I suck. Please ignore me
 
No, I didn't, but I heard about that. I dunno what's up with that, I've had a few bottles from various batches this year and they've been fine, and I drank Somer all the time on draft last year while it was still year-round. Again, definitely not in the same class as Ever and Cape Codder, but I think it's fine, and I liked having a regularly accessible berliner...
Reactions varied. I personally like that in my sours and I think it was phenom, others understandably hated it. I went back for multiples.
 
by the way get me as many bottles of any of their sours they make and you shall be rewarded... i figure with a few folks looking out for their sours for me+the barrel society i should get almost enough of the sour yummy goodness
 
Anyone at or going to the Mainer release party tonight? I heard from a birdy theyd be showcasing a few blends/debuts tonight.
 
as long as it's fresh

So I non-chalantly haven't picked up ANY of my berliners yet, nor even thought about the prospect of them sucking/being devoid of their fruit dankness by the time I planned to get them at the end of this coming winter. How much has the fruit dropped of in say, Ever, recently?
 
nor even thought about the prospect of them sucking/being devoid of their fruit dankness by the time I planned to get them at the end of this coming winter. How much has the fruit dropped of in say, Ever, recently?

My experience with their berliners is that they just get more sour with time. The fruit maybe takes a back seat to the acid.
 
So I non-chalantly haven't picked up ANY of my berliners yet, nor even thought about the prospect of them sucking/being devoid of their fruit dankness by the time I planned to get them at the end of this coming winter. How much has the fruit dropped of in say, Ever, recently?

My feelings about Ever are not really the fruit dropping out. I get some of what Auror said, they get a little more sour, but I've also had some older bottles of Ever recently that have thrown some acetone notes... which is not awesome.
 
Did you have any of the Somer on keg at NotF? Straight vinegar.

Sounds like the infected batch. Batch #15 and #16 were infected and Night Shift is now recalling all kegs and bottles from those batches. They are also offering replacement bottles at the brewery. Bummer, as the bottle I opened last week was my first taste of Night Shift, but really happy to hear that is not how they intended that beer to taste. That was absolutely horrible.
 
Sounds like the infected batch. Batch #15 and #16 were infected and Night Shift is now recalling all kegs and bottles from those batches. They are also offering replacement bottles at the brewery. Bummer, as the bottle I opened last week was my first taste of Night Shift, but really happy to hear that is not how they intended that beer to taste. That was absolutely horrible.

Link/info? I didn't see anything about this at all and can't find anything else.
 
Link/info? I didn't see anything about this at all and can't find anything else.

On the other site. Copy and pasted post from Rob @ Night Shift:

Hey All - Sorry to hear so many of you had a bad experience with Somer Weisse. We take this very seriously. Being a small brewery we do our best to not let any bad product out the door and we are not afraid of dumping beer or recalling beer from store shelves (we have done it in the past). Every bottle and every customer is critical to us. We never bottle beer that doesn't taste to our standards. After reading this thread this morning we tasted 5 different batches of Somer Weisse. It seems that some of the batches have become infected (way too sour and vinegary) and aren't to our standards. The bad batches are batch #15 bottled on 8/28 and #16 bottled on September 4/5th (batch 16 bottled 8/28 is fine). Batches 14, 17, and 18 all taste great and are how we designed/intend the beer to taste.

We are constantly working on our recipe, processes and controls to put out the highest quality of beer possible. We continue to invest in equipment & people to improve our beers. Nonetheless, we wish we caught this problem ourselves and sooner. Honestly, thanks to everyone on this thread for bringing the problem to our attention.

Today we begin the fun part of dumping Somer Weisse that is in kegs and bottles and working with our retail partners to remove the subpar product. For those of you who have bought bad bottles, we would be happy to offer you a replacement bottle. Just swing by the brewery and we can offer a replacement. While you are here we are happy to have you try a sample of a good batch of Somer Weisse that is on tap at the brewery.

Please continue to give us feedback and alert us of any bad beer of ours that you purchase. We will do our best to never have this happen again.

Cheers,
Rob
 
On the other site. Copy and pasted post from Rob @ Night Shift:

Hey All - Sorry to hear so many of you had a bad experience with Somer Weisse. We take this very seriously. Being a small brewery we do our best to not let any bad product out the door and we are not afraid of dumping beer or recalling beer from store shelves (we have done it in the past). Every bottle and every customer is critical to us. We never bottle beer that doesn't taste to our standards. After reading this thread this morning we tasted 5 different batches of Somer Weisse. It seems that some of the batches have become infected (way too sour and vinegary) and aren't to our standards. The bad batches are batch #15 bottled on 8/28 and #16 bottled on September 4/5th (batch 16 bottled 8/28 is fine). Batches 14, 17, and 18 all taste great and are how we designed/intend the beer to taste.

We are constantly working on our recipe, processes and controls to put out the highest quality of beer possible. We continue to invest in equipment & people to improve our beers. Nonetheless, we wish we caught this problem ourselves and sooner. Honestly, thanks to everyone on this thread for bringing the problem to our attention.

Today we begin the fun part of dumping Somer Weisse that is in kegs and bottles and working with our retail partners to remove the subpar product. For those of you who have bought bad bottles, we would be happy to offer you a replacement bottle. Just swing by the brewery and we can offer a replacement. While you are here we are happy to have you try a sample of a good batch of Somer Weisse that is on tap at the brewery.

Please continue to give us feedback and alert us of any bad beer of ours that you purchase. We will do our best to never have this happen again.

Cheers,
Rob

Gotcha. Kinda wish they would post this on twitter/facebook, but understand this is less than fun.
 
I have an extremely hard time believing they didn't know about this problem at all. Even after some other posts about it on BA and I brought it up in their barrel society thread. Or even the fact that this isnt isolated to batches of Somer Weisse. At least they are offering replacements.
 
Looks like the long awaited barrel society blackberry Berliner, Knight Weisse, will be released on Monday. I tried an uncarbed sample and (I admit I'm not the most experienced uncarbed taster since I don't do much homebrewing) I thought it was delicious. The bad news is no extra bottles available.

Also tentative barrel society party scheduled for December 14th. Each member gets 2 tickets, so suck up to that dude you know in the society now (that is if you liked the beers they released already).
 
Picked up and tasted Knight Weisse today. Thought it was very good. Art #10 - not so good. Tasted like they took some random barrels, plus some random infected barrels, and blended them together.
 
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