The Baltic Porter is making some more regular appearances in breweries’ seasonal lineups, so we find five local examples of the robust lager style to sample for this episode. We also ponder the benefits and drawbacks of barrel-aging this particular style, throw around the word “creamy” a lot, and admit we don’t always want the slow pour. Plus, Craig becomes Greg, Ryan keeps trolling the Young Sheldon podcast, and one brewery has made us almost entirely forget about a ska band.

Beers Reviewed

Old Irving Brewing Co. - Ursa Major

Goldfinger Brewing Company - Baltic Porter

Phase Three Brewing - Baltic Porter

Black Horizon Brewing Company - Forgotten Tomb (Bourbon barrel-aged Baltic Porter)

Imperial Oak Brewing - Bourbon Barrel-Aged Ragnarok

It’s been over a decade since Craig and Ryan have been out to beautiful San Diego, and thanks to listener Dave Adams, the podcast gets a lovely flavor vacation with beers from five of the city’s breweries. The lineup is stylistically diverse, the rankings deviate in the middle, and at least one beer surprises at every step. Also, there’s a lukewarm take on POGs from our youth; one brewer profile is seemingly inviting potential suitors; hop kief gets its introduction; and the path from Flavor Utopia is followed to meet Smokey Robinson at ‘Gasmville. 

Beers Reviewed

Burgeon Beer Company - Invita (Mexican-Style Lager)

Seek Beer Co. - Scenic Route (Strawberry & Banana Fruited Sour)

Ketch Brewing - Celestial Navigation (San Diego-Style IPA)
Pure Project Brewing - River Queen (Murky Triple IPA)

White Labs Brewing Co. - Frankenstout WLP096 Frankenyeast Blend (American Stout)

Sometimes you want a stout that’s not sweet, adjunct-free, and stripped down to just the base style interpretation, and we were so excited to find five readily-available local examples. (No barrels, coconuts, vanilla beans, or cacao nibs were harmed in the making of this episode.) In addition to our straight stout sippin’, we marvel at Dog Surfing Championships, discover that The Alley is still around, and speculate that one brewery must’ve put a chip in Ryan’s brain.

Beers Reviewed

Roaring Table Brewing - Baby You Don’t Know (Oat Stout)

Revolution Brewing Company - Repo Man (Rye Stout)

Half Acre Beer Company - Original Reaper (American Stout)

Mikerphone Brewing - Symphonic Stout (American Stout)

Hailstorm Brewing Co. - The Malt Slayer (Russian Imperial Stout)

Donning our heavenly jackets for this one, we drink the final set of Revolution’s Deep Wood lineup for the 2023-2024 season. Three ‘wines and a stout make up this unsurprisingly spectacular four pack, and even through all of our nit-picking we can’t deny who is making the best barrel-aged beers in the city and state. Plus, we’re doing our part to stop the TV game show idea shortage; Craig shares his Deep Wood release party recaps (with some glaring consequences); and Ryan gets to test out his Doug Veliky impression. 

Deep Wood 2023-2024 Beers Reviewed

Straight Jacket (Bourbon barrel-aged barleywine)

Ryeway to Heaven (Ryewine aged in bourbon and rye barrels)

V.S.O.R. Select (Ryewine aged in bourbon and rye barrels)

On & On Part 3 [collaboration w/ Half Acre Beer Co.] (Blended double barrel-aged stout)