Beer of the Week! 03/29/22

A Vibrissa Double Shot

Vibrissa Pulling a Thread Porter

Regularly $15.99 / Now on Sale for $14.96
English Style Porter

Vibrissa was founded in 2018 as the Front Royal Brewing Company in (no surprise) Front Royal, VA. Three-ish years and many good beers later, they had reached the level that many new breweries aspire to — they had outgrown their home and needed to expand. Along with their expansion, they also opted for a rebrand-sion. So now, Front Royal Brewing Company is Vibrissa Beer — still in Front Royal with a larger facility scheduled to open in Winchester this summer.

Vibrissa makes the Pulling a Thread Porter in the English style. This designation, first, means it has a low enough ABV (4.8%) that you’re not afraid to go for refill at the pub. Secondly, Vibrissa moderately hops its brew, allowing it to be a malt forward experience.

You get warm, chocolate and toffee notes that drift into coffee flavors on the finish as they mix with the bitterness from the roasted malts. The real treat is how well these flavors meld together for a smooth, almost creamy, experience. Seriously, Vibrissa nails the classic English porter. For maximum flavor, we suggest drinking the Pulling a Thread with only a moderate amount of coolness on it. However, feel free to get a bunch of them to try them at different temperatures. ;P

Bonus Beer of the Week (‘Cause life has shown us
that we love a bonus!)

Vibrissa Gracious Living IPA

Regularly $16.99 / Now on Sale for $15.96
West Coast Style IPA

For our second selection in our Vibrissa Double Shot, we cross back over the ocean and step back in time with a West Coast Style IPA … or do we? The Gracious Living is not hazy and not juicy, but it’s also not the hop-splosion that the classic West Coast IPA was. (For many people, that’s a good thing.)

Vibrissa starts out pretty legit by hopping an off-dry malt backbone with Citra, Chinook, and Amarillo hops. So far, so good. However, they then throw in some Azacca and Cashmere, which — don’t get us wrong — are lovely hops; love to see ‘em. It’s just that we’re not used to them producing those West Coast IPA sharp grapefruit and pine flavors — case in point.

The Gracious Living is a gorgeous filtered IPA that delivers a lemony citrus air with just a touch of tropical fruit notes lingering around the finish. If you’re used to thinking of a West Coast IPA as an endurance test, a bracingly bitter assault on your tastebuds (of which we’ve enjoyed many), you should know that this beer ain’t that. Instead, the Gracious Living is a lovely, lemony IPA that walks up to you, shakes your hand, and offers to sit with you on the veranda for a couple of rounds of cards. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to see if the Gracious Living will deal us in.

Remember!

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