Beer of the Week! 12/28/21

Väsen Ragnarakau

Regularly $20.99 / Now on Sale for $18.96
Triple New England Style IPA

That’s right, “Triple” New England Style IPA. What do you get with a Triple New England Style IPA? Well, Richmond’s Väsen Brewing Company gets to bend the style without breaking it.

The Ragnarakau’s malt bill lays the foundation for its divine devastation with 2-Row barley malt, flaked oats, Pale Wheat malt, and German Spelt malts. That’s four different grains going into this brew for Väsen Norwegian Kveik yeast to work on. However, considering the grains we’re talking about, it’s no wonder the malt backbone is surprisingly dry and light for such a big IPA. It’s like Väsen wanted to be able to lean into the strength of the brew (9.6% ABV) and lean into the hops, without making a “big tasting” beer.

And lean into the hops it does with Mosaic, Nelson Sauvin, and (as you’ve probably guessed from the name) Rakau hops. Though the beer is dry (and a little dank), there’s a resilient juiciness behind its dryness.

Bonus Beer of the Week (‘Cause if the year can’t go out with a Bang, at least it can go out with a Bonus!)

New Realm Gram Gram’s Oatmeal Cookie Porter

Regularly $11.99 / Now on Sale for $10.96
Porter with Oatmeal, Raisins, and Cinnamon

The last beer that we had that was styled after oatmeal raisin cookies was a brown ale. While that brew was fine, we think we like this tweaked porter a little better.

South Carolina’s New Realm Brewing Company comes at this beer with a legit plan — brew a beer, add oats, plus raisins, plus cinnamon. It’s the “brew a beer part,” however where they make their mark. Seven different grains go into the brewing of this porter, which might be what gives it a rich taste that belies its medium body.

The strength of the porter allows the raisins and the cinnamon to sit comfortably in the mix without fear of overwhelming things. ‘Cause let’s be honest; cinnamon is strong spice, and in beer it can be tricky. Here, however, it’s fine, giving extra dimension to the dark malts and the hops.

The only downside of this beer is that the porter gives off hints of chocolate, and we all know that chocolate in oatmeal raisin cookies is sacrilegious. We all know that, right? Right? We know that, right?

Remember!

You can see our entire beer inventory on Untappd.com!