The great Queens beer-maker Finback is selling the fifth in its series of Oscillation IPA’s and they’re producing enough of the stuff in cans so that you can get it without facing the kind of deliberate scarcity imposed by some of the area’s other prominent brewers.
As a neophyte to this routine of buying and enjoying high-octane, dense-in-sniff/flavor IPA’s, I’ve learned a couple trends on the consumer side. Saturday is typically the day when cans of the good stuff are released. At Other Half in Brooklyn, there are lines down the street and often sell-outs by the time I get over there on Sunday.
A recent Sunday visit to Other Half was an exception when I scored a 4-pack of Baby Diamonds (16-oz cans) which is down a few notches on the ABV but an unbelievably tasty burst of bubble and flavor. I’m limited by what I can haul by hand on the train and bus but I’ve discovered its best to get cans when I can because it sits in the fridge longer without losing its freshness. Seems like the top brewers around here don’t even sell their best and most popular products via jug fill. If I know I’m gonna be sipping at home in the immediate 48-72 hours upcoming, I’ll get the big growler topped off with whatever the best IPA they’re selling is via that delivery method. And then I try to get cans if they have them.
On all of Finback’s colorful labels affixed to plain silver 16-ounce cans, the following advisory is printed near the brewer’s address: “As always, enjoy with good company.”
This is advice I don’t follow unless one considers one’s self company in the presence of only one’s self.
In that respect, the tap room experience at all of these breweries here is really something I’ve enjoyed getting immersed in. You really are in good company. The top finished products are sold on site in real time in plain sight of the equipment, raw materials and labor that created what’s in your glass. I was slow to learn this – and appreciate this – but that celebration of the harvest feeling is something you very much get hit with (as much as the alcohol) as you sip in the tap room.
Finback’s third version of the Oscillation project was so tasty that they’re reviving it. Oscillation 3 returns this weekend with a new name. It’ll be called “Moss” – and they’ll sell it in cans starting on Saturday.
Hopefully they’ll be some left when I get over there next.
-Matt Lauer was surprisingly aggressive with his back-in-New York Lochte slice and dice but spare us all any question that starts with: “Let me play devil’s advocate for a second.” Also, Lauer wasted words and time when he joined the mistaken chorus of journalists who think it relevant the swimmer faces a ban that would keep him out of the 2020 games in Tokyo. Lochte is 32. He’s not swimming in the Olympics four years from now not withstanding a ban isn’t merited for the kind of tangled mess he got himself into post-boozing.