I’d Drive to Kentucky if it Meant Getting My Hands on Four Roses’ New Bourbon

Every month, a huge amount of booze moves through the Gear Patrol offices — beer, wine and a whole lot of whiskey. This week: rare bourbon, a dangerous triple IPA and better-for-you cocktail mixers.

Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch (2020)

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I typically avoid hyping up whiskey that’s difficult to find, especially bottles that only come out once a year and in extremely limited quantities. But having tried a sample of Four Roses’ 2020 limited edition whiskey, an exception had to be made. The distillery with perhaps the best handle on blending bourbons spun up 12-, 16- and 19-year-old whiskeys made with different yeast strain and mashbill combos into a singular, 111 proof spirit that tastes like a strawberry covered in burnt brown sugar and honey. Whiskey this good is meant to be savored; I drank the sample up in 15 minutes flat. Bottles will hit shelves in September. – Will Price, Assistant Editor

Avec Soda Mixers

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My pitch, to you: an $18 six-pack of soda that is worth your time. Avec sodas were designed for mixing. The ginger soda pairs perfectly with a mellow bourbon, grapefruit and pomelo with mezcal tastes like a better Paloma and hibiscus-pomegranate with vodka is a fancier version of the vodka-cranberry your dad thinks is really just great. Plus, the sodas are relatively low-sugar and low-calorie, meaning you feel less shitty for drinking them, and less shitty in the morning because of the reduced sugar content. If you, like me, are not someone who’s going to make a real cocktail at home, this is a fine alternative. – Will Price, Assistant Editor

Equilibrium Killer Aussie Pinecones Tripe IPA

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This triple IPA is deceptively easy to drink with a creamy mouthfeel – thanks to a base of pale malt, oats, and wheat – and a crapload of hops: Bru-1, Enigma, Galaxy and Simcoe. It smells like mango nectar and tastes like it, too. Killer Aussie Pinecones is like if someone went to the tropics and threw in a bunch of fruit nectar together, then punched you in the mouth with it. The beer gets its name from brewmaster Pete Oate’s near-death experience in Australia when he met the beer’s namesake, an Aussie Pinecone, a skull-crushing 20-plus-pound pinecone. This 10-percent ABV beer might hit you over the head, too. – Tyler Chin, Associate Staff Writer

Harpoon Brewery Farm League Hoppy Farmhouse Ale

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The Grisette isn’t a style many nationally-distributed craft breweries offer. But kudos to Harpoon Brewery for brewing up this bubbly, bright and slightly crisp version. Farm League is part of Harpoon’s recent Fantasy League Mix Pack, just in time for fantasy football leagues getting going. This Belgian-style beer is brewed with a good amount of orange peel (citrus is a backbone flavor for Grisettes), fermented with a farmhouse yeast strain and dry-hopped with Mandarina Bavaria, Huell Melon, and Citra hops for a unique character. It doesn’t hurt that it’s 4 percent ABV and just 120 calories. — Ryan Brower, Commerce Editor

New Holland Brewing Hazy River

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When most beer drinkers think of New Holland Brewing, the iconic Dragon’s Milk Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout tends to come to mind first. But don’t sleep on the other brews coming out of this Michigan brewery. Case in point, its new Hazy River. While a brewery simply brewing an above-average version of a New England-style IPA is not necessarily something difficult to find these days, it’s always impressive when said brewery is able to nationally distribute that NEIPA. Hazy beers are by their nature not really shelf-stable. So the fact that Hazy River can be sent around the country and still present a solid floral hop character and everything you crave from a good NEIPA makes Hazy River all the more something to check out as we say goodbye to summer. — Ryan Brower, Commerce Editor

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