The beer: Other Half SUPERFUN!
ABV: A cool 4.2%
How we got it: We picked the fun one up at Other Half’s Brooklyn location on a Saturday afternoon. Did a drive-by and since delivery business and online orders appear to be booming at OH this was the only ale they could offer a walker-up like myself.
What they say: An American pale ale with not one, but three types of hops: El Dorado, Simcoe, and don’t forget Galaxy.
What you say: This beer has a 4.07 rating on Beer Advocate and a 3.85 on Untappd. Hmm, do I detect disparity in the ratings? A wee bit.
What Mike says —
I proclaimed my love for the session-style, low alcohol, crushable pale ales in an earlier entry. This is exactly the type of beer I have in mind when I talk about that special feeling. The SUPERFUN! is light but super flavor packed. After a sip, I immediately forget that this beer was somewhat foisted upon me due to lack of available other options from the brewery’s stock. That said, I regret only buying one four pack.
More to say about the drinking of the beer in a moment. Two quick auxiliary notes:
I drank this beer during our Memorial Day BBQ in the yard. A Memorial Day BBQ in the yard was never a guaranteed deal this year due to the coronavirus. But we made it happen and I’m grateful that we did — and I’m grateful that I had this beer because it’s clearly meant to be a “drink it outside in the yard” brew.
OK, when I said above that this beer was “foisted upon” me I was being a bit pejorative. But I do want to note that I wasn’t expecting that Other Half would have such limited stock for walk-up customers. Matter of fact, there were three other beers that the brewery was making available to customers that didn’t call ahead that day, but those other varieties had all been crossed out with black sharpie on the menu. Sold out. Meanwhile, as I stood by for a few minutes waiting to get my beer, I watched the team busily fulfilling pick-up orders for the thirsty people who had responsibly placed their orders online. While at the same time, the employees were flanked by a full table of cardboard boxes piled high and stocked with delivery orders waiting to go out. All of this, maybe a good to great sign that this particular brewery’s business is a-boomin’ despite Covid times?
Now, mas noticias on the beer itself.
First, the hops. Three types. Tres...ok, no more bad Spanish. But yes, three types of hops. Simcoe. Galaxy. El Dorado. I’ve correctly declared myself a hop novice at the moment. I’m still trying to wrap my mind about how one special strain of hops can elevate a beer; and this beauty has three. What does it mean? How is it done? I need to know more. One particular note about the SUPERFUN! hop profile: this trifecta definitely serves a mild bitterness that would be a great pick for the drinker who doesn’t care for too much bitterness.
We’ll be seeking hop enlightenment in the not so distant future. It has to be done. I can’t go on drinking so much beer that folks have put so much effort into packing with a manifold of flavor and not be in the know.
Finally, the fruit. I didn’t do my homework before I cracked the can. At first taste, there seems to be some interesting fruit notes that I’m trying to place. The only thing less impressive at the moment than the DTT team’s hop fluency is our ability -- or rather, inability -- to identify fruit. I take it in. It’s not citrus. It might be melon?
After the fact I looked it up and...well, swing and a miss. Lots of connoisseurs make note of lemon, grapefruit (guess I was wrong about the lack of citrus), but no melon. Guess I’ve got some palate work to do.
Final, final note. We said we were going to talk about freshness a lot so I’d be remiss not to mention it here. Canned date 5/19. Date of purchase and commencement of consumption: 5/23. That’s a solid 4 out 5 stars on the back of throat refreshment hit scale.
Oh and next to the date they also wrote a special message to the Covid times drinkingman that reads simply, “Remember fun?”