Matt and Friends Drink the Universe
Welcome to Matt and Friends Drink the Universe, the podcast where comedy and great drinks collide! Join host Matt and a rotating crew of friends as they sample unique beers, wines, cocktails, and spirits, diving into the stories, history, and science behind each sip.
Packed with laughs, hilarious anecdotes, fun trivia, and drinking games, our show offers a laid-back yet enlightening experience for anyone who enjoys a good drink with great company. Tune in for “Stellar Sips” and “Cosmic Chugs” as we explore new flavors and share memorable stories along the way.
Whether you're a casual drinker or a cocktail connoisseur, sit back, relax, and let’s drink our way through the universe—where anything is possible! Cheers!
Matt and Friends Drink the Universe
Rocket Rankings - "IPAs Part 2, One Bad Apple"
Join us for a high-energy episode of Matt and Friends Drink the Universe as we humorously recount Rob "Straightfire Stehly's" recent, fiery ordeal that earned him his new moniker. Alongside Mike "Big Z", Christa, and Matt, we'll dive straight into our first beer tasting with the Fantasmic 2.0 from Second Sin Brewery, known for its impressive can art and flavorful punch.
From there, we embark on a flavorful journey through the craft beer landscape, savoring the well-balanced brew and one abhorrently bad apple! Wrapping up with our final rankings, we highlight the impact of tasting order and provide a fair evaluation of each brew. Don't miss out on ways to connect with us on social media and join Unfiltered Studios for more creative content. Tune in for laughs, insights, and a deep appreciation for the art of craft beer tasting.
We taste:
Second Sin - Phantasmic 2.0
Great Lakes Brewing - Vibatious
Ship Bottom - The Shack
Flying Dog - Giant Slice
Lost Tavern Brewing - The Steel
Neshaminy Creek Brewing - Shape of Hops to Come
New Trail Brewing - Back Cast
Victory Brewing - Dirt Wolf
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Cheers, and thanks for listening!
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. We have liftoff.
Rob:Welcome to Matt and Friends. Drink the Universe. Drink the Universe.
Matt:Welcome back everyone to Matt and Friends Drink the universe. Welcome back everyone to Matt and friends drink the universe. The theme for the episode today is Rocket. Rankings. That's one small sip for man, one giant taste For man. Yeah, yes, we go. And, as the joke I made last time, nasa changes up how they launch rockets all the time and praise they stay up in the air. So last time it stayed up in the air and that's what we're gonna do.
Matt:I just, I'm just gonna say something like yes, also a concern for middle-aged man, but go ahead no, no, no, no.
Rob:I just. I just need to recognize how hard the intro goes for rocket rankings it goes so hard yeah it's like listen to, like a really good metal band yeah.
Matt:Those two guys singing, by the way. Yes, they're sitting at this table, amazing.
Christa:That's crazy yeah.
Mike/Big Z:Thank you, I've done. I've done really well for myself.
Christa:Yeah, me too.
Matt:So Okay All right, so let's go around here, let's do a round of introductions.
Christa:We go. Oh, I'm gonna go first this time.
Matt:That's weird. It's mike or big z, whatever you want. Hi, it's krista, hi, everybody, it's rob and I am your host, matt, really excited about drinking some ipa today I'm so glad to be here. Thank you thank you so much, love it so, while we're getting started right now, I think we should discuss rob's latest nickname, which is is Rob Straightfire Staley.
Rob:Wait, whoa whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa why.
Christa:Why must we do this? I?
Rob:thought I was the accidental arsonist.
Matt:You're the accidental arsonist with oddly shaped feet. Yes, they are very oddly shaped. So, rob, did you or did you not start a small fire at a wedding reception recently?
Rob:It was very small and I put it up myself. Thank you very much. It was reception recently. It was very small and I put it up myself. Thank you very much. It was quite recent. It was yesterday. How did? Were you dancing? I was with my legs and you get the table. Okay, listen, who puts a lit real candle inside of a wicker basket? A wicker basket like possibly the driest material on earth wicker anyway yeah, I can't stick over dancing my way in okay, and I was like whoops.
Rob:And then I picked it up, saw it was a real candle, blew out the candle, tried to set it back up, set the whole thing back down, walked away for a second, turned back around, the whole wicker basket was lit a flame and I had to pick it up and kind of like slap it with a couple of napkins, spit on it and blow on it damn, you did all that in public good, you used napkins.
Christa:Good lord.
Mike/Big Z:When did the napkins come in? The first one didn't have napkins.
Rob:Why were you spitting on it, blowing on it Like a wet napkin? It was like a linen napkin. I was just smothering it.
Christa:He spanked it, spit on it and blew on it. Normally you pay extra for that, but I did it for free most weddings I've been to in recent years um use like the little battery operated yes, seriously, yeah, where were those?
Rob:they wanted authenticity, real fire and they clearly forgot to them they forgot you were coming yeah give the people what they want.
Christa:That's what this is what they. This is what they signed up for hashtag accidental arsonist.
Rob:I really hope the wedding photographer got a picture of that sequence. I really hope I'll be honest, I don't know. I really guess you'll find out. I'm a little concerned to see the video let's get into the ipas, let's jump in into it.
Christa:Yeah, as jojo cat would say best day ever go on. Yes, we're listening.
Matt:The first up is Second Sin. This is the Fantasmic 2.0. Yep second edition.
Mike/Big Z:All right.
Matt:Version two. Remind me because I'm not going to remember. This is for Mike. Yep, I brought this.
Rob:Mike brought this Love the can art.
Christa:I want to see the cart Show me.
Mike/Big Z:Bristol Township-based PA, so just outside of Philly. It's Like 20 minutes, half an hour outside of Philly.
Christa:Good, that was a good snack, good.
Mike/Big Z:They make great IPAs. They also make they have a cobbler in time, which is kind of like the Gelasto stuff that Lost Tavern does.
Rob:Okay, so they also do.
Mike/Big Z:A lot of that stuff and they have decent stouts.
Rob:I thought. I thought maybe it had to do with Making shoes. There's only one can, so don't Cobbling.
Christa:Yeah, come on now Cobbling, you have to share.
Matt:Rob, you have to share.
Rob:Hey, I poured less than you, you ass.
Christa:May I ask, because I am not a geographical person is Bristol far from here?
Rob:About an hour and a half.
Christa:Okay, that's not too bad.
Rob:It smells like a hazy. I mean it also kind of looks like a hazy as well.
Mike/Big Z:So phantasma is a type of hop, just so you know you've got galaxy and the phantasma together and you get this really nice nose on it.
Rob:There's a little dankness to the nose.
Christa:I don't particularly love the nose, but I do like the taste.
Matt:We discussed the bread fart nose in the last episode and that's what I'm getting a little here.
Rob:Buttered bread here's the word I'm going to give it. It tastes like buttered bread. It's gentle. The word I would use is soft. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mike/Big Z:It comes in and it hugs the tongue. It does not insist upon itself.
Rob:No, it's really priming the palate. Yeah, it's a great, it's taking its time.
Christa:There's no punch of flavor anywhere in particular that throws you off.
Mike/Big Z:It is just a nice, easy drinking beer. It's very balanced. It's a well-balanced beer.
Rob:I agree. I'll be honest with you. I'm going to be a little disappointed if this is the best beer we have all day, because we started with it. But it very well could be. You know what I'm saying.
Mike/Big Z:They do an excellent job. They're great, they're good dudes. They'll talk to you, they'll spend time with you, you're a good dude.
Christa:Well, I'll try.
Matt:We would love to say that Very good dude Very good dude.
Mike/Big Z:It's a good beer. It's a fantastic way to start this.
Rob:And this is something that I think I could have more than one of, and nowadays, I think oftentimes the beers that I'm drinking are like a one and done for like a sitting like because either they're they're too sweet or they're too, you know, insistent upon themselves to have more than one, and you're just like I can't drink this in perpetuity well, I feel like that's the IPA problem.
Christa:I feel like I do enjoy drinking IPAs, but I feel like everybody and their mother is releasing an IPA, but they don't really know what they're doing with it. You know what I mean.
Mike/Big Z:Well, I think the key is that you can hide a lot in IPA. Yeah, here's what I'm going to say about that. You can do that, but you can still do it poorly. Yes, the good breweries know how to do all that well. It is an oversaturated market.
Christa:It really is. Yeah, craft beer and and beer in general in the united states is very much like an open playing field everybody makes their own thing and everything tastes different. But at the same time I've talked to rob about this a little bit yeah a lot of ipas taste the same to me because they they use the same four notes, right, and I'm like I don't understand how this brewery is different from this brewery.
Rob:Does this one have any fruit in it? No, no.
Matt:No, that's surprising.
Rob:I'm getting like a tropical, like a very mellow, almost like a dragon fruit at the end. So you've got.
Mike/Big Z:Galaxy, nelson, salvinan, hightowl, new York Cascade. So there's four different hops in this with the Phantasma that give you these different notes.
Christa:I feel just straight hops, but it's not like a punch.
Mike/Big Z:Oh my god, it's a nice hop, I'm trying to find that. My guess is 7-2. It's going to be up there.
Matt:I would say buttery mouthfeel, and also on the back end. It doesn't a lot of IPAs. It's going to be up there. Yeah, I would say buttery mouthfeel, and also on the back. I'm getting buttery On the back end. It doesn't A lot of IPAs in my opinion. Sour out on the back end, or the flavor changes.
Mike/Big Z:This is not. This is very consistent.
Matt:I finished my sip a while ago and the flavor is still there.
Mike/Big Z:This is quite enjoyable. Remind me what buttery this is. Again, untapped it. Tapped it. Second sin second second sin phantasmic came in at 6.8 on the first generation okay, my guess was 7.2.
Christa:I'm staying there as someone who hasn't tasted the first gen. Is it wildly different, mike, or is it like?
Mike/Big Z:this is different than the first is it? It is oh, but 2.0 is not coming up batch two is and I have 2.0 right here 4.3 6.6 percent it's getting it's getting a 4.3 rating from only 39 posts at this point it's a brand new beer. It's a new beer shout out to my sister-in-law, who picked this up for my birthday. So thank you ashley, she did a great job, it's great, it's great.
Christa:Shout out girl. This. This is really good. This is really really good. I do love the little guy on it, the little hops guy on the table here.
Matt:I'm putting it in both first and last place. Since it's the first beer that we, I'm gonna put it first, yeah yeah, I think this is gonna be hard to unseat.
Rob:That's just my personal opinion. I tend to sway my tastes towards hazies, like I really like a hazy so I think it's important to go as we go through this.
Mike/Big Z:We have several different versions of ipa on the table and while this might be really good as a soft hazy ipa, there are going to be different styles of ipa that might be able to stand if you put them categorically where they should be.
Christa:I think I would put this in a top ranking, meaning like one through four maybe, but I do usually lean more towards fruity ones, just because IPAs to me taste like summery. So I like a good summer flavor with it and this is good.
Mike/Big Z:So, as Matt's getting the next one ready, I would say that when I started drinking IPAs, I wanted a kick of flavor, I wanted a punch, and now I like subtle. I like it not to be directly in your face.
Rob:Matt's going to make the bold choice of not rinsing in between.
Matt:No, because I finished my beer. All right, here we go. We have Juicy Vibacious. It is a double IPA from Great Lakes Brewing. One of my favorite beers is their Edmund Fitzgerald.
Christa:I love their Edmund Fitzgerald. I love Great Lakes Brewing, but you know their Juicy, Vibacious IPA that I have here today.
Mike/Big Z:Wow.
Christa:I find it very fruity, very summery. It's very strong.
Rob:Okay, it's 9.5. I see that right now it is 9.5.
Matt:It is 9.5%.
Mike/Big Z:Drink responsibly.
Rob:I'm getting punched in the face with the nose. It is very fruity. The nose is giving me mango.
Christa:Mango is one of the main fruits in it. I want to say, maybe like a pineapple or dragon fruit or something, is one of the.
Mike/Big Z:Okay, I got it untapped. Oh, let's go.
Rob:Can you give us the explanation on untapped? It just says a delicious intertwine of this bold, smooth-drinking, extra-juicy double IPA. It doesn't really say what's in it.
Christa:In my defense, it was on the box. That's what untapped says yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matt:Okay, well, so Hold on Copy paste Way to go.
Mike/Big Z:Yeah, exactly, I will tell you this. It ranks a solid four, which is good. Four caps is good on Untapped and it's been ranked by 854 people.
Rob:That's a lot of people, good people, all right.
Matt:Now. I'm going in for a sip, I will say this In no way, shape or form, tasting this beer, would I believe that it is 9.2%.
Christa:It is easy drinking 9.5%, 9.5% it is very easy drinking.
Matt:You could down three of these and it would end your day very quickly.
Christa:That was me last night.
Rob:Fair enough.
Christa:Drinking these with my sister watching some movies.
Rob:This is like an impossible situation here, because most beers above 8% for me have like a bite on the back end of it where it goes alcohol they really punch you in the face yes.
Mike/Big Z:Most. So I'll say this about this the melon on the front is really nice. Yes, the citrus on the front.
Rob:I'm a fan of melons.
Mike/Big Z:I like melons, bro, what I don't like about this is exactly what you said the first time as you get through this that malt really kicks in.
Matt:You get it on the back.
Mike/Big Z:So you get two different beers. You get a different beer up front and you get a different beer on the finish, and that's my opinion, but you get the malt at the end.
Christa:And that malt to me doesn't always go.
Mike/Big Z:Malt is good if you know how to use it. And I just feel like this is like I would take this at the beginning and bottle it and drink it all the time, but when I get the end I'm like eh.
Christa:I do like this one because I feel like it is a very summery feel to it. Oh, 100% I like a good summery IPA. It feels like I can drink this on a back porch.
Rob:I'm not saying that I don't like it, but I like the first one better.
Mike/Big Z:Well, here's what I would say between the two of them. I think the first one better. Well, here's what I would say between the two of them. I think the flavor up front in this one is better, but because you don't have that consistency, it washes out into something else, whereas the first one is very mellow and consistent.
Christa:Yes, does that make sense?
Rob:No I agree.
Christa:I agree, the first one is very much.
Rob:If that mango taste hung around to the end, I agree. Or if they reversed the taste order, like if it was like barley barley barley mango and then the mango persisted. I would love this.
Mike/Big Z:This is not done with oats, it's done with barley. And you can taste that I did, say barley, right, yeah, you can taste that I did taste that and you can tell by the clarity of it that it's not done with you can definitely tell the vibe based on the clarity of right here itself.
Christa:And, yeah, this one it definitely looks like. First of all, it looks like something you'd be able to sip all day, which, at 9.5, you better be at your house because, you could do that with this beer.
Matt:This is a drinkable beer, speak matthew. So I will put this one at number two because of the back end. But yeah, as krista said, like this is one you could drink all day but you should be home because of the taste up front. I've been on a lot of very pleasurable rafting trips like down the delaware river, the monongahela in pittsburgh and stuff like that just in a canoe or raft and enjoy and you like a nice beer doing that. If you did that with this one, you would never remember any of the rafting trip.
Christa:No, you'd wind up on a random island in the delaware yeah, and maybe this is me being biased, um, because I do like this beer a lot and I I've said I like fruity beers, I'm putting this one ahead of oh no, the fantastic one um, but different strokes for different folks, amen um, I'm putting this one ahead, but it's a very close race because I did really like the first one.
Mike/Big Z:So the key is between the two of them, and this is not to talk ill about Second Scent or Great Lakes. When you do oats and you go softer, you can hide more problems. Yeah, when you go barley and you go these intense flavors, there's more room for error, and I think that to me is where and I don't think that there's an error in this beer.
Rob:Yeah, I don't hate the malty flavor in the back. Personally, I just don't love how it finishes Well.
Mike/Big Z:I would call that an error.
Rob:But is it?
Christa:an error, or is it just my?
Rob:taste.
Christa:No, that's fair. Well, it could be Again different strokes for different bucks.
Rob:Were they trying to make it taste like that or did it just happen to taste like that and they were like meh? I would 100% drink this again.
Christa:Yes, oh, no 100%.
Rob:This is great, but the Philly Second Sin, fantasmic 2.0, was still my number one so far.
Matt:We're going to move to the Ship Bottom Brewery. This one's called the Shack.
Rob:It is 6%, the shack it is six percent. Uh, it is an ipa.
Christa:There's nothing else to this one. Oh, so it says brewed for the beach.
Matt:Yeah, okay we'll see about that. And so, uh, this is the second rocket rankings ipa that we did. I walked by this one the first time and I was like I want to try that, but I want to try other things. And then when I was like, hey, hey, advantage of having a podcast, you can get more.
Rob:wasn't that how you lived your life in college? Pretty much yeah.
Matt:Yeah, jackass.
Christa:Where's this brewery at?
Matt:This is Jersey Bottom of the ship. Oh, it's Beach Haven. It's Beach Haven, new Jersey.
Rob:Okay, just curious, and I literally was just in Beach.
Matt:Haven this morning.
Rob:That's where I lit the fire, so we have brewed the.
Christa:Beecher's Flesh.
Matt:So we have brewed and packaged by Ship Bottom New Jersey in Beach Haven I'm sorry, brewed and packaged by Ship Haven Brewery in Beach Haven, new Jersey, under special agreement in Pottstown PA. So yeah, they brewed it.
Mike/Big Z:Okay, so I'm sorry, so it's brewed in Jersey, but owned by.
Christa:No, it's brewed in Jersey, but owned by.
Mike/Big Z:No, it's brewed in.
Matt:Yingling. It's brewed in Yingling.
Christa:Yingling's going to brew this Interesting enough.
Mike/Big Z:This is going to be a high volume beer for us. 11.7 thousand people have checked this in on Untapped and it's a good ranking.
Rob:Now here's the interesting thing I've never heard of it Me, neither I have. I have never heard of it. Well, I have Me, neither I have, I have not.
Mike/Big Z:I have. I've had stuff from Shipwrecked before. It's a 3.66, but remember the volume of people that checked this in is much higher than what we had in the first two. Yeah, and here's what I would say about Untapped If you're above a 3.
Rob:The nose of this is generic, yeah.
Christa:I was going to say the nose.
Rob:I'm not getting much off of the nose.
Christa:The nose I don't love, but I don't hate it either Is this classified as a hazy as well, can somebody?
Mike/Big Z:No, just straight IPA, straight IPA.
Christa:Okay, interesting Traditional IPA it kind of looks hazy the flavor of it. I don't know. It's nothing particularly crazy. It doesn't hug you and is nice like the first one. But I don't hate it.
Matt:I wanted to love this, but this is a three stage. There's a taste on the front, there's a wonderful buttery, flavorful middle and then the back end it sours out.
Mike/Big Z:Are we drinking the same beer?
Matt:I'm pretty sure we're drinking the same beer.
Mike/Big Z:I get one flavor on this. Welcome to the island. The hops used in this IPA leave hints of musky, earthy, citrus, mango, tropical and stone frutaromas. I get none of that.
Matt:Yeah, I don't get any of that either.
Christa:None of that. Yeah, I can get the earthiness of it but beyond that, can I?
Matt:I will. No, I get three stage. Every time I have it, I just get beer.
Rob:There's nothing notable about this it tastes like a. It's not that it's bad.
Mike/Big Z:No, no, no, no, no, no, it's not bad, it's a beer, and it's a good beer.
Rob:But it has nothing. It's not bringing anything to the table.
Christa:And far be it from me, I do like when I go on vacation on the beach for like 10 hours yeah I don't drink beers like this on the beach this is a pounder, though, like I could have on the beach, I could have maybe seven or eight of these in a row.
Rob:No, you can.
Christa:You know it's a grass mower. It's a grass mower.
Mike/Big Z:Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah like it's refreshing, but well, I don't think it's gonna do well no, this is not given.
Matt:what on the ranking?
Mike/Big Z:However, I will say this it's not terrible.
Christa:No, it's not bad. It's not a bad beer. No, no, no, not a bad beer, a good beer.
Matt:I think this is a middle-of-the-road IPA. I don't think it's a low IPA. I think we're being like. Really, we're going to analyze the Everload shit.
Rob:You are sitting with at least two IPA snobs at this table and I am not.
Christa:And I'm the person that if I like it I'll drink it, type person. I'm one of these people that is I don't want to say raised on because that's going to make it sound bad but my mom is Irish, my dad's German.
Matt:We don't waste drinks in my household. I was going to say does your?
Christa:family drink beer by chance, so my dad and my mom both very much influenced my alcohol tastes. Because my dad is very much a. I've never seen this before. Let's buy it and see how it is type person.
Matt:I like him.
Christa:Yeah, my dad's cool, my my, I'm going to be so getting them on the pod. I'm going to be so sentimental for a minute.
Rob:My dad is my hero. My dad is my hero, I love my dad so much. To big P, to my man pat. I love him so much.
Mike/Big Z:My dad is like the best, frankowitz. This is either going to be interesting.
Christa:My vote is awful good. My vote is going to be horrific. Is this one of yours?
Rob:yes, this is, this is the flying dog giant slice. So apple pie pa I want to make a confession yes okay, I like flying dog.
Christa:Flying Dog is good. Oh my God.
Mike/Big Z:Only to be out done by Flying Fish. For me out of Jersey, why are so many beers flying? I don't know, but Flying Fish is a decent brewery.
Christa:This smells like a cider.
Matt:I almost grabbed a Flying Dog on the way, but I took my daughter with me to the beer distributor and we walked by Flying Dog and they have Snake Dog and if you've ever seen the label on that one, it is a dog with a snake head yes my daughter's not normally scared of things, but she looked at that label, literally tried to crawl up on me. She was like dad.
Christa:I was like okay okay, let's back off for a minute here, so so hold on. Mike is dying yeah, mike is dying slowly hold on, that's okay, I believe that this is actually in collaboration with giant grocery stores. Yes, it is. Oh my God. Shout out giant, Shout out my man, Marty 7.2%. Abv. This is 7.2?.
Rob:It's giving me on the nose. It's giving me like apple that has passed through someone's anus.
Christa:It smells like a weird cider. It smells like a weird cider.
Rob:It smells like apple, but then you just get ass. Fumes Is what I'm getting on the nose.
Mike/Big Z:This is Untapped Untapped 404 check-ins 4-4. Somehow 3.3.
Rob:Uh-oh, it did not mean Mike's 3.5 threshold. Okay, I'm going to take a sip of it. Good luck. I might like it, I might hate it.
Christa:I'm not super into this one it tastes like a bad cider.
Mike/Big Z:Dude did you see my face before I was like it tastes like a bad cider.
Rob:Remember that time we bitched at Matt for not having a pour-out. I'm pouring this out.
Mike/Big Z:No, you're not. You brought it. You're going to drink it and that's what we're doing. I'm not pouring it out.
Christa:I'm a champ. You've tried this. It's terrible.
Rob:No, take a swig.
Christa:Take more than a sip. This is horrible, Like the cranberries. Let it linger. Let it linger. No, it doesn't linger.
Rob:This was filtered through someone's colon.
Mike/Big Z:This insists about itself and I don't know what it's doing.
Christa:This is apple pie diarrhea. Hold, wait, let me Hold, I'm about to.
Rob:This is a very important thing to say to you right now. This may be worse than mezcal. Wow, this may be the worst thing we've had on this podcast. Really, you're going that far, I don't know.
Mike/Big Z:Grab the mezcal Grab the mezcal, it's right behind you.
Matt:No, no, no, no, no, no no no, no, don't touch it.
Mike/Big Z:No he can't find it, and it's okay. It's behind the buffalo trace.
Matt:It's behind the buffalo trace.
Rob:Don't do that to me right now. I cannot.
Matt:I'm not doing it.
Christa:I'm not doing it, you're not, I am Wow Hang on.
Rob:Hold on, oh Lord, oh, straight from the bottle.
Mike/Big Z:It can't be worse than that.
Christa:With the chaser of this awful beer.
Matt:I'd rather drink the mezcal. Yeah, man, I'd rather drink the mezcal.
Christa:It's not that good. I'd rather drink the worm for fuck's sake.
Matt:This is awful, the worm callback and I will tell you that mezcal you can use to de-green.
Rob:When I drink the mezcal, I taste the worm. When I drink this, I taste the anus.
Matt:Rob. Yes, we've been friends for a long time. Yes, I'm willing to suffer with you here. All right, let's do it hey.
Rob:Y'all have more than I have.
Matt:Here we go, all right, okay, oh God, black hole detected. Beware of the event horizon.
Christa:It really is not good Ah.
Mike/Big Z:Why would they do that and who gave that a three?
Matt:Okay, hold on.
Mike/Big Z:That will finish last for sure, I guarantee.
Rob:I know we've only had four beers. I was just going to say that I'm putting in an eighth right now.
Christa:It's not going to move from there. It's not looking good. Well, you know.
Rob:I thought we were going to get through this and say that we could honestly not have had a bad beer. That was horrific Wrong.
Mike/Big Z:Wrong, wrong, but this is exactly why the IPA scene is so problematic. Can we talk?
Rob:about how that had no IPA qualities at all.
Christa:No, it was rotten pie, it's just like a rotted cider.
Matt:So to recap, Anyway, you want to do a one through four recap right, I do so, mine are literally lined up right now, one through four recap.
Rob:Right, I do so, mine are literally lined up right now One through four, except number four is actually an H right.
Christa:Yes, that's bad, so bad.
Rob:I think for everybody but Krista it's Fantasmic. Then the Juicy Vibacious Yep, then the Ship Bottom Yep, yep, and then the ship bottom and then the crap.
Mike/Big Z:I would challenge you and we had this with the budget beer battle because Matt found things not to pick on. Matt found things nostalgic.
Rob:Please pick on him.
Matt:I take great pride in every horrible thing I'm not going to lie.
Christa:The last budget beer battle I listened to had Lion's Head up front.
Mike/Big Z:And Lion's Head won. Everybody loves Head. That's a fucking Neepah classic, bro. Well, I went to King's, so did I, all right, and I would buy beer out of the back of the brewery.
Christa:Yes, yes, this guy gets it.
Mike/Big Z:I would not have put Lion's Head.
Rob:Mike will go straight out the back.
Mike/Big Z:I got 100%, so anyway.
Matt:It's coming off the rails, here we go.
Rob:Try not to be nostalgic.
Mike/Big Z:Try to let your taste drive you.
Christa:I'm going to be so real. The Great Lakes vivacious one is new to me, it's very good.
Mike/Big Z:That's just a challenge, it's not something I've been having for years.
Christa:I've only had it in the last couple months.
Mike/Big Z:But the brewery Other half is my jam.
Rob:Where are we going next?
Christa:my friend Take me on this journey.
Rob:Other half's my jam Beer number five.
Christa:Was this Lost Tavern?
Mike/Big Z:I have a steal. This is my second beer and I brought this beer intentionally because this is to me a more of a West Coast IPA beer. Can I ask?
Rob:a question Is it steal like I'm stealing something or steal like Bethlehem steal? No, it's a steal like the Bethlehem steal.
Mike/Big Z:Oh love the can art. This is Lost Tavern. The cart is good. This is Lost Tavern.
Christa:The cart is good. The cart is good. This is Lost Tavern.
Matt:So this is a straight shot of nostalgia for anybody that lives that can't art, anybody that lives in the Bethlehem area.
Rob:If you've been here a while growing up, you- knew distinctly a different color than everything else we've heard so far.
Matt:When I was younger, you knew somebody that worked at the Bethlehem Steel. You knew many people that worked at the Bethlehem Steel steel. You knew many people that worked at the Bethlehem steel. I knew somebody, yes, growing up across the street I had a friend whose father was an electrician at the Bethlehem steel. I knew a girl who her father was actually an executive at the Bethlehem steel and the picture on the front here if you go to Bethlehem, you look where the steel mill was when it was a functioning steel mill. This is the picture.
Matt:It's the stacks right, yeah, this is the steel stacks, which we have a great concert venue down there there's a lot going on.
Rob:It's a Steele Stax which we have a great concert venue down there. There's a lot going on.
Mike/Big Z:It's a really cool area down there.
Matt:It's amazing, it is amazing and this is for a guy who grew up in Bethlehem, pa. This is a huge shot of nostalgia.
Mike/Big Z:I'm offering this beer to you because it's not like anything we've had today. Okay.
Rob:I'll tell you right off the bat it looks incredibly different.
Mike/Big Z:Yes, it's amber it almost looks lager-y. It's a traditional double IPA, Not a hazy, Not anything like that, I think. And a shout out to Lost Tavern for this A it's not sweet Because I feel like Lost Tavern has a lot of sweet beers. B it's well balanced. You're getting it against Citra the nose is just giving me hops.
Mike/Big Z:The nose is nothing significant. No, I do, it's very. It's balanced, so untapped, has this. I'll tell you what I ranked it. I gave it a three, five because it's not a hazy, and that's my, my own problem all right three five. But three five is my, is my kind of cut off line everyone 1.1 000 people.
Rob:378 okay, I will. Will tell you I've sipped it now. I do not like West Coast IPAs. I do not. This is not Period, typically.
Mike/Big Z:Okay, I would drink this. Yes, it's different. How wild is that? Because it's not a traditional West Coast IPA.
Rob:Yeah, so for me, this falls in fourth because I'm more of a hazy boy. I agree, falls in fourth because I'm more of a hazy boy, I agree, and and I'm I'm trying to, uh, I'm trying to be open-minded as we go through these tastings, but, uh, it's, this is a very solid beer I would argue this is above ship bottom, but not above great lakes I put this above, ship bottom.
Christa:I'm not gonna lie but, I would I put it above ship bottom, but I put it below um the phantasmic one let me go in for another taste.
Mike/Big Z:Let me go in for another taste. I have Fantasmic as one right now.
Christa:I have Great Lakes as one. Fantasmic as two. I have this one as third.
Mike/Big Z:To me, the difference between this and Great Lakes is this the fruit front that the state is going to be. There is there. Yes, I don't get a lot of the hops on this beat. There is there. Yes, I don't get a lot of the hops on this. I just got a balanced, slightly hoppy, slightly malty, slightly piney collaboration of things. It's subtle. It's the things that I like in the phantasmic, just not the same flavors.
Rob:I would move this to third because the ship bottom was very like tasteless. This has flavor no, I I'm tasting like definite layers of different notes of flavor.
Mike/Big Z:I think a 3.5 on on tap for me is fair. It's a beer that I can drink. It's a beer that I don't hate. It's a beer I like.
Matt:I also put this one in third.
Mike/Big Z:Just lit it up. That's interesting.
Matt:I will also say and we talk about Lost Tavern a lot- they're one of the local breweries. They are one of the far superior local breweries.
Christa:They are hands down my favorite in the area. I love Lost Tavern. I'd go McCall I have yet I'd go.
Mike/Big Z:McCall hands down over Lost Tavern.
Matt:I haven't been there enough to try more of their stuff. So I'm going to anger the two local people at this table. I've yet to go to McCall.
Rob:I've not had a beer at.
Matt:McCall.
Rob:Just go sometime, I don't want to go McCall's Hidden Dingers is really good. I'm not going to lie.
Mike/Big Z:I love that for the mulled lawn. I've not had any stouts or porters there.
Matt:You haven't had stouts or porters and you know I'm a stout or porter guy.
Mike/Big Z:However, their IPAs the Lehigh.
Rob:The roast Malone is very good. That is a porter, it's a coffee porter, it's very, very good and it's got like a post Malone smoking.
Mike/Big Z:So here would be my bitch About Lost Tavern. When I say bitch and if anyone from Lost Tavern is listening, I know you've had people on I don't mean this to be offensive.
Rob:Michael's nose is in the air when it comes to beer. We know this.
Mike/Big Z:No their shit is sweet, and that's what it comes down to.
Matt:Their eyes are sweet. That's why I love it.
Mike/Big Z:Exactly, but to me we go back to hiding things. You can hide a lot when you do sweetness, this beer to me, though the steel and the stinger and the swarm are beers that don't hide things.
Matt:I am going to actually move that up into second place because the more I think about it the more I think about it. In the second couple of sips I had there that's for you it's got a lot of flavor in there.
Mike/Big Z:I would definitely that's one I would go over and over at the bar. It's complex, subtle and it's a lot of things that we talk about.
Rob:I will stand fast on this. I find them to be the Willy Wonka of breweries. They combine flavors in a way.
Mike/Big Z:What they do with Gelasto. I don't understand how they can do it. It's fantastic.
Rob:Because it tastes like liquid versions of whatever they're trying to say it is that carrot cake one that we had, phenomenal. Dude, my favorite stout that they ever brewed was called something like it's Okay, bruce, or something Bruce.
Mike/Big Z:Yeah.
Rob:And it was a German chocolate cake stout.
Mike/Big Z:They do a lot of things really, really well.
Rob:I think their ipas are a little, but then I get to this ipa and I'm like this is, this is really good yeah, it's really good all right, I I cannot move it to two I can't either it finishes a little bit too bitter for my palate, that's all okay, um, there's a lot of flavor to this pair.
Matt:The next beer up here in the lineup is nishimani creek, and this is shape of hops to come.
Christa:This is the double dry hopped version, though I had to find it on tap I think I might have had this one if it had a colorful wizard on the front does the wizard have sleeves, so they also had this in creamsicle oh.
Mike/Big Z:Okay, this is done with oat flakes, which surprises me because it's not very clear, it's got a stank, it's not very soft.
Matt:I haven't smelled it yet On untapped.
Mike/Big Z:If I'm looking at the correct one, this is rolling in at a 4.1. 134 posts. Oh, that's a small sample size, right? It's not huge.
Rob:Sometimes smell does not equate to taste, but the smell of this is horrific.
Christa:Yeah, the smell is not good.
Matt:I wouldn't go so far as horrific. I think it's actually. It smells like a skunk.
Mike/Big Z:No, I actually prefer this to the nose of number one. It smells like a skunk.
Matt:I actually prefer this to the nose of number one.
Rob:It smells like a barley wine.
Matt:Oh, I prefer by far to the nose of Second Sin, to the Phantasmic. I think this is a much better nose. No, no.
Christa:Nowhere near it For number one. No, I'm going to taste it oh hang on.
Mike/Big Z:I would actually say, the nose in this is worse than every beer we've smelled.
Rob:Oh hell, no, no, the apple one was real bad.
Christa:The apple. One nose was not bad.
Mike/Big Z:It was because it had apple.
Rob:Because it had promise. Yeah, it smelled like it would be a good cider, it smelled turnt, though it smelled turnt, no it Apple.
Christa:I smelled like it could have been a promising cider, and it wasn't.
Matt:Oh I vehemently disagree with that.
Mike/Big Z:This smells exactly the way I thought it would taste Like malt and terribleness.
Rob:It tastes like old corn Yep Fair enough.
Matt:Oh, I know, sweet corn or red. Are we serious? Hold on a minute this is very sweet. This is giving me Belgian, are we drinking the same beer?
Rob:Yes, this is giving me Belgian. I love it, of course.
Mike/Big Z:I adore it, of course you do. I don't love it. No, because it doesn't taste like an IPA.
Matt:No, because it's giving me Belgian and it's giving me a little sweet.
Mike/Big Z:It is giving me Belgian. It's not an IPA, Matt.
Rob:No but it's a great beer. I love it, matt, it's not an.
Mike/Big Z:Imperial IPA either. It's not an IPA, it is a Belgian beer.
Rob:Yeah, this is a Belgian.
Christa:Even if you categorize this as a lager or a Belgian.
Rob:I still don't really love this, but it does not taste like IPA. This is in the seven spot for me. You get all the bread notes.
Mike/Big Z:Yeah, this is my second to worst honestly, you get all the bread notes that you're supposed to get. In a Belgium, you get everything. The malt backing A Belgian beer has its place, and I actually. For me, it's in the garbage, hang on.
Christa:I like Belgians, but I don't like this one. That's fine, but you're wrong.
Mike/Big Z:But, matt, I'm going to try, I'm going to jump to your level here. I get why you like this.
Matt:I'm getting feisty for this one you can't say this is an IPA.
Mike/Big Z:That's the problem. In an IPA battle, this cannot win because it's not an IPA.
Rob:It's not an IPA. I mean, that is the fairest thing. This is not a bad beer.
Christa:I would drink it again. I've drank worse beers.
Rob:I would drink it again, but I cannot call this an IPA. I think it tastes too much like a Belgian it has to go to the end.
Mike/Big Z:Does?
Rob:Untappd, say anything about it tasting Belgian-y it. It's weird that it's categorized.
Mike/Big Z:Does.
Rob:Untappd say anything about a taste in Belgian-y.
Mike/Big Z:It's a good beer. It's just not an IPA. Not the worst beer we've had today no, not the worst. But here's the problem no, not the best.
Matt:Neshaminy Creek. I tried to fight for you.
Christa:Unfortunately, they are correct. This is not an IPA, and that's the killer part.
Matt:It's going to the last. Can I say something?
Rob:controversial. No, go ahead. No, the terrible tasting apple pie. Ipa tasted terrible.
Mike/Big Z:But it was an IPA but it still tasted like an IPA.
Matt:Oh shit, that did not taste like an IPA. No, yes it did.
Mike/Big Z:Yes, it did. I'm fighting on this one. No, no, no, it was a bad IPA.
Matt:Hell no, it was a bad IPA. Hell no In the grand scheme.
Christa:I ranked this one higher than that Apple IPA. I'd have to as well. It's got to be higher.
Rob:I'm not going to stand upon ceremony here and say that I have to put an IPA ahead of this, Because, no listen, I would never drink that again in my life I would not.
Mike/Big Z:So it's got to be last. But here's the thing. This is false advertising. This is not an IPA.
Rob:It's nowhere near an IPA.
Mike/Big Z:It doesn't even hit the same.
Rob:Can we?
Matt:say that they're both last. The host did not bring a shitty beer here. The host brought a good beer here. Unfortunately, the can said IPA and it is not an IPA.
Mike/Big Z:I want to reiterate I am 100% going to agree with Matt here. Matt has brought a good beer. It's just not the style, which is why it goes at the end, because it cannot be in an IPA competition.
Matt:At the end of the day, this is a subjective ranking, meaning that I don't have any objective criteria that I have to actually adhere to, so he's putting it at one. What an asshole.
Rob:No.
Matt:I'm not. You're not in last place, you're in second to last place.
Christa:Okay, okay, that is fair yeah.
Matt:Coming down to number seven, number seven Seabin. Moving on On Seabin.
Christa:Are, we're coming.
Matt:Seven number seven, sieben moving on, are we on a u-boat like? What are you doing? Okay, so number seven here in the listing is the back cask hazy double ipa from new trail brewing and, regardless of what uh siobhan and and Chris said about you in the last episode, we're going to give this one a fair shake here.
Mike/Big Z:I like New Trail Brewing. I love.
Matt:New.
Mike/Big Z:Trail A lot of their IPAs are pretty solid Okay.
Christa:So, New Trail reminds me of my aunt.
Matt:Fairness to Chris and Siobhan. My issue with New Trail is what they said. I've had a lot of beer from New Trail and it all tastes like the same beer. Good, a lot of it tastes very similar, yes.
Christa:Give me some more. I love Neutral.
Matt:Why did I get a splash in my gut? For me, the nose is generic.
Rob:Thank you, but that doesn't really mean anything.
Christa:I do agree that their noses all feel kind of the same, but in my own personal opinion, neutral feels like being out on a boat with my aunt marie, uh, in the middle of the summer, and we just straight chilling, nothing to do, nowhere to go, and just straight vibing in a june afternoon.
Mike/Big Z:I love it yes I'm gonna say why because you've now had several different beers. I will tell you that I gave this a four on untapped. I've had friends. I've had friends. Six friends give this a 4.17. And 6,800 have given it a 4.0.
Matt:Okay.
Mike/Big Z:I taste this beer and I'm underwhelmed.
Matt:Really, I am not underwhelmed, I am whelmed.
Rob:I like this beer. I'm whelmed, but I agree with Matt, I'm I am Whelmed, I'm not overwhelmed, but I'm not underwhelmed. It's, it's. It's right in the pocket Okay, it's in the pocket of an IPA, and for me it's going just above the ship bottom, which was kind of like no taste.
Christa:I agree. Um, um, I think I'm going to rank this as four above ship bottom, but below five.
Rob:Remember, we still haven't tasted the last beer yet.
Christa:Real, that's real. There's a gap there. There's a weird five. Okay, yes, thank you.
Rob:Well, I thought that steel moved up for some people.
Mike/Big Z:I have steel. Third, I have this. Fourth, I have steel as third.
Christa:I have this fourth. I have steel as third. This is fourth, but this does taste like just.
Matt:Oh, I'm going to mess this up so bad. I'm sliding this one. The second I really like this one oh.
Rob:I really like it. Listen, it's got that same buttery mouthfeel. This is an IPA. It is an IPA On the back end, so it's nice to come back after a beer that wasn't one.
Christa:On my way here, when I was driving, I was listening to Summertime by Kenny Chesney.
Rob:Summertime.
Christa:No, no, no, Two bare feet on the dashboard.
Mike/Big Z:A yoo-hoo and an old.
Christa:Ford yeah, this is what this beer tastes like to me.
Mike/Big Z:I love your description and I wholeheartedly disagree with you.
Christa:Love it, hate it.
Matt:Wow, love this description Mine just comes in sideways Fuck you, I agree with you.
Mike/Big Z:but no, I get what you want out of this beer and I get that vibe, but I feel like it's nostalgia for you.
Christa:It's not the taste of the beer.
Mike/Big Z:And the problem is that and this is what happens often to me as a straight ipa drinker is I'll have a beer I think was really good, and then I'll have a better beer, and then the next day I'll start with the bad beer and I'll realize all its flaws.
Christa:See the way I drink ipas, and I've expressed this to multiple people before express it again I'm not a what I would call a repeat offender with ipas. I definitely will drink an ipa and enjoy it and love it and be like this was really good. But I'm not somebody who goes back to ipa, a particular ipa, unless it's really good um we gotta get you on that train.
Christa:So I neutral is one of the few brands that I I will circle back to a lot, because I do really like their flavors and I like how they express their IPAs.
Mike/Big Z:So I like Storm. I like a lot of the Nutrell stuff.
Christa:When.
Mike/Big Z:I taste this. I'm severely underwhelmed.
Rob:What's the ABV on this? Sorry?
Mike/Big Z:9%.
Rob:Oh, interesting.
Mike/Big Z:Yeah, I wouldn't have picked that at all. You picked a couple of those.
Matt:I't have picked that at all. No, you picked a couple of those. I thought it was like maybe 7-2. No, you pick a couple of those out of the cooler at a picnic and you're going to be comatose in the Chase Lounge real quick.
Mike/Big Z:I would enjoy this with a burger. Yeah, oh yeah, I agree with you. Some beers beg for food.
Christa:Yes, agreed, oh Agreed, oh, you know what that's my take on it.
Rob:Like some beers are like if you have it with food, it's like a whole different experience. Whereas, like, if I'm not eating, I want the beer to give me more, where, if I'm eating, like, I would drink this, like you said, at a picnic, at a barbecue.
Matt:Oh yeah, this goes with cheeseburger. You're right, this goes with cheeseburger, because to me, I don't need the beer. Which he loves to do. Ayo ayo, ayo.
Mike/Big Z:Like a big hot dog.
Christa:Yeah.
Mike/Big Z:I'm going to put this as number four.
Rob:Okay, my problem with this beer is I mean four is high for you to tell me that you have a problem with it.
Christa:I also rank this as number four. Hold on hold on.
Mike/Big Z:Based on what's on the table. It would not be number four if we had other beers on the table.
Christa:Shout out to Chris and Siobhan. This is exactly what happens when all they do is IPAs Okay, okay, yeah, like generic-y tasting.
Matt:Yeah, well, that's the thing. You're comparing IPA to IPA and you're trying to call it out. Okay, so number eight here is Victory. Dirt Wolf, it's dirt.
Rob:It's a wolf. There's dirt and wolves.
Christa:Dirt and wolves.
Rob:Listen, I'm very, very excited that I have maintained.
Mike/Big Z:It stinks so bad.
Rob:I've maintained sobriety.
Matt:Let's hold on. Let's discuss the nose on this beer.
Christa:You can smell it without brain.
Rob:It is dank AF and it smells like a joint.
Mike/Big Z:Alright, untapped. I have this as a 4.0. 4.0?. I'll check when I rate that in. It's probably a long time ago.
Rob:It's probably a very long time ago. This is a very common beer, correct? How many reviews are there?
Matt:I've never seen this one before.
Rob:Oh, really, this is like their flagship yeah.
Mike/Big Z:This is 192.5 thousand people have rated this.
Rob:This is the most ratings that we've had out of any of these beers 192.5 thousand.
Mike/Big Z:That's the most ranked beer we've looked at.
Christa:I might be stupid, but in my 192.
Rob:I do love the can art. What's the ABV? It's right there on the front bud. Victory usually has good can art.
Matt:Is that what?
Rob:it is, I wouldn't have bought 8.7. I 6.7? 8.7. Hey, hey, hey, is that what it is? Hey, matt, yeah, I wouldn't have bought 8.7. I checked this in oh, 8.7, not 6.7.
Mike/Big Z:Hey, I checked this in October 5th 2013. Damn Good God.
Rob:I was a junior in high school 11 years. Welcome to the way back.
Christa:You know what I was a junior in high school in.
Matt:Stop that. Stop that immediately Okay.
Christa:I am young, you all are old.
Rob:So I do not, michael Krista.
Matt:I do not like the nose of it, let's give it a taste, krista that's a decade after I was a junior in high school, so you can absorb that for a minute.
Christa:Yikes.
Rob:Wow, I don't know if it's because it's the last beer that we're tasting is warmed up a little bit, but to me the dankness has not gone away.
Christa:the nose the nose kind of matches the taste a little bit I feel like the nose is more than the taste imo, I think a little bit the taste is not as strong I feel like the taste is not as strong I feel like I just swallowed weed. I feel like the taste is not as strong as the nose.
Rob:What have I brought? Like it mellows, like the end of it, it finishes and it mellows out really, really nicely, but it's not really bringing me much other than that danky, swampy, weedy taste on the front of it.
Christa:I agree, I'm still going to rank it sixth.
Matt:So we all should have eight lined up. We have eight, I have eight. I'm ready to give you want to go. This is so disappointing.
Rob:Did we start with Michael? We'll start with Michael. Michael, give us your eight.
Matt:Mike give us your rundown here, mike Mike.
Rob:Mike, Mike.
Mike/Big Z:I got number one, second Sin, fantasmic 2.0.
Rob:Number two.
Mike/Big Z:I still got the Great Lakes there. My third I have Lost Tavern Steel. My fourth I have the New Trail Backcast. Fifth I've got the Ship Bottom, which was meh Eight.
Rob:I've got the Dirt because only how do we go to from five to eight? Can I ask you that?
Mike/Big Z:I'm sorry, five. I have number eight, which is the dirt wolf oh, oh yeah, there it is um so the dirt numbers.
Rob:Math e equals mc hammer we talking about numbers.
Mike/Big Z:I only have dirt wolf that high, because the last two are horrific the flying dog, which is only there because it's an ipa and then I have last place for michael in the chamonix creek. Bring up the rear, because it's not a fucking ipa.
Matt:Wow fine okay fine, okay, assertive and appreciated.
Christa:That's fine, that's fine so for me my number one, and I mean call me a little bit I conceded? I don't know that was a little bit, a little bit um.
Rob:Self-serving.
Christa:Nostalgic. My first choice is Great Lakes Vibacious, juicy Vibacious, which is one that I brought. My second one is Second Sin Fantasmic, which I do really love. I will buy if I see it in stores for real. It was really good.
Mike/Big Z:You won't see it in stores, then never mind.
Rob:Yeah, you can. Some of this stuff you got to is straight out of the brewery. I loved.
Matt:Second Sense, the steel you're not seeing in stores.
Christa:I did straight love Fantasmic. I would love to find that somewhere, I guess at the brewery itself.
Rob:Yes, that's where you'll find it.
Christa:My third one is Lost Tavern the steel. My fourth is New Trail Backcast, which was one that I had brought. Fourth is new trail backcast, which was one that I had brought. My fifth one down is ship bottom the shack which was kind of middle of the road, it was me it was, it was very middle of the road it was here yes, exactly, it wasn't bad, it wasn't good. I feel like five is a good middle road for that one just so everybody knows we're gonna end this podcast after Rob gives his because fucking.
Mike/Big Z:Matt has number four as number one.
Rob:It's going to be okay, we're going to be alright he can say oh, it's unbelievable.
Matt:No, I don't. You're incorrect that listing. You're looking at it inverted. That's not how I have it laid out.
Mike/Big Z:Why would you lay?
Christa:it out that way. My sixth one down is Victory Dirt Wolf, which I had thought was Dire Wolf.
Rob:Dire.
Christa:Wolf, psych, psych. Then my next one down.
Rob:You know nothing, jon Snow. I'm sorry, you know nothing, jon Snow.
Christa:Then I had Neshamie Creek Shape of Pops.
Matt:Well, wait a minute.
Mike/Big Z:I love it.
Christa:I had Neshamie Creek as my seventh, and my last one was Flying Dogs Giant Slice.
Rob:Okay Reading Matt's handwriting.
Mike/Big Z:It's actually pretty good though.
Rob:It's fine, except for Juicy Vibacious. Looks like Juice Nibacious.
Christa:It's got a lot happening.
Matt:I've known Rob since East Hills Middle School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and since that point reading has not been his strong suit. So let's continue on, hey man, come on, but listen.
Rob:Here's my ranking. Okay, and I would like to specify that this particular ranking is and I know this episode is IPA based, but this ranking is by the best things that I've tasted in this order it's subjective damn it. I will kick your ass. I know you could. It's fine, but I love you. It's fine, okay. Second sin the Fantasmic, that first beer we drank, and you know what, out of the gates, it was the best thing we had all day because it just it had so many layers to it it was.
Mike/Big Z:It was just a hug for the tongue, okay, funny enough great, great lakes, juicy vivacious yeah, number two I would so one, two, we're one and two.
Rob:Okay, here's where I start to diverge. Number three, shockingly enough for me, would have to be the lost tavern steel. I do not usually like west coasts, but the fact that this one to me was drinkable and I'd have it again, I'm gonna bump it to number three. I really, really enjoy it.
Mike/Big Z:I don't know if it's classified as a west coast. I just feel like it's more west coast than hazy.
Rob:Okay, well, that's fine. Then I'm going new trail backcast, okay, and then after that ship bottom the shack. That to me just didn't have a lot going on, but there was enough there. Victory, dirt wolf. Then I'm going to have to put the nishhaminy Creek At 7 Because, although it was a Belgian, it was drinkable.
Mike/Big Z:Okay, it's actually a very good Belgium.
Rob:The Flying Dog Giant Slice was horrific. To me it's the worst thing we drank all day. Is this what it feels like To bring terrible drinks Because?
Matt:this is the first time. This is the first time I'm so disappointed in myself. This is the first time.
Rob:This is the first time I'm so disappointed in myself this is the first time that I've come to this podcast and brought things that were incredibly disappointing for the entirety of the episode. I mean, the wine wasn't great when we did that.
Matt:This is red wine, yeah, yeah matt passed sobriety on about the fourth beer we did today. So here we are and I will give you my rundown. So number one which never moved out of first place, firth. Number one which never moved out of first place is going to be Second Sin, the Fantasmic 2.0, which was a great beer.
Rob:What do you think the first sin was?
Matt:In second place, I have New Trail the Backcast. I absolutely love that beer. I thought it was great. In third, I have the Lost Tavern the Steel.
Rob:Okay.
Matt:I thought it was a solid IPA offering. Can't go wrong with that one.
Rob:Very interesting.
Matt:In number four, I have the Great Lakes, the Nabatius.
Christa:The Nabatius.
Rob:The Nabatius. You can't even read his own handwriting. I love it, I love it.
Matt:Look, I'm not intoxicated. And that's an N, it's juicy vibacious. It's the vibacious Vibacious.
Rob:Okay, goodness gracious, that's the vibacious.
Matt:In fifth place I have the Victory Dirt Wolf. Oh wow, I didn't hate the flavor of that one. I thought overall it was decent. I would grab a six pack of that Seven. I have the Shack by Ship Bottom Decent beer but not making it.
Christa:Not making it.
Matt:Not making it Number four the Flying Dog, the Giant Slice. Good God that was so bad.
Mike/Big Z:I want to make something perfectly clear.
Matt:I have had.
Mike/Big Z:The Flying Dog was the worst beer we had today. Oh yeah, I have had Look.
Rob:I'll say this again Maybe the worst thing we've drank on this podcast.
Mike/Big Z:Yeah, I have to agree with you Flying Dog.
Rob:You've been on every episode of this podcast, everyone. I.
Mike/Big Z:Every episode of this podcast, everyone.
Rob:I have not been. He's the host, okay, but can you confirm that that might be the worst thing we've had on this entire podcast?
Mike/Big Z:It's the worst thing I've drank in Flying dog.
Matt:We got to talk right now Because to be the worst thing ever consumed on this podcast is a high, high threshold. There have been many things. There's been Slurpees infused with vodka. There has been many things. There's been Slurpees infused with vodka. There has been many things. There's been things that sucked, oh, like really bad, and most of them I brought to this podcast. That's very true, straight up.
Mike/Big Z:But I will tell you, you really did actually.
Matt:We have drank a lot of beer on your behalf, tried to figure out what's good and what's not, so I will tell you we're not amateur beer drinkers at this table, so enjoy what we've said so far.
Rob:Guys, I will say this For me anything four and above great beers, go out and get them. Go out and get them and have them. I'm not saying that five and below is bad, but on this particular episode, everything for me personally that I ranked five or lower, I don't know that I'd go out and buy again.
Mike/Big Z:Try your local brewery and get out there and try it.
Matt:Just get out and drink.
Mike/Big Z:Here's the thing there are so many places that do really good things and I'm not at the Lost Taverns of the World, who've kind of exploded a little bit, but like the Second Sins, the Warwick Farms, the McCall's, go out and have those beers Because there's a lot of good things out there.
Matt:I appreciate everyone at this table and all of my friends that drink the universe with me, and all of you, of course, for listening, especially when we've had this much to drink Huzzah. We will be back very soon Indeed.
Rob:Yay, goodbye friends, we love you.
Mike/Big Z:This podcast is a production of unfiltered Studios. If you would like to know more about joining Unfiltered Studios, please visit our website at unfpodcom for more information.
Matt:This episode's boozy quote comes from Thomas Jefferson, who said Fear, if drunk in moderation, softens the temper, cheers the spirit and promotes health. On social media, please like, follow and push all the buttons for us. That's Matt and Friends DTU at Facebook, instagram Threads and TikTok For more information about the podcast, as well as links to our merch store, social media and all the places you can listen to us. Visit our website mattandfriendsdtucom. That's mattandfriendsdtucom. Thank you again for listening to Matt and Friends.
