The agreed upon trade was that I would be sending out a bottle of Firestone Walker Abacus and two bottles of Firestone Walker Parabola for a bottle of 50/50 Eclipse Imperial Stout aged in Evan Williams bourbon barrels, a growler of Minneapolis Town Hall Masala Mama IPA, and whatever cans of Surly he wanted to throw in to balance out the dollar value for each side. I ended up getting two cans of Surly Furious, an American IPA, and one each of Hell (German lager) and Bender (American Brown Ale). In addition, Joe was kind enough to throw in Dark Horse Plead the 5th Imperial Stout, Central Water Bourbon Barrel Barleywine, and Summit Silver Anniversary Ale. I'll be touching on the Masala Mama again shortly, and I look forward to trying the rest of these beers.
My other trade haul, from Jason in Lincolnwood, Illinois, saw me send out a Brooklyn Black Ops and a New England Brewing Company Imperial Stout Trooper for a Small Animal Big Machine collaboration sour ale from Half Acre and de Struise and a Behemoth Barleywine from Three Floyds Brewery.
Jason also sent me a bottle of Three Floyds Moloko milk stout and their Lord Admiral Nelson extra special bitter. Three Floyds is a very well regarded brewery whose beers have largely eluded me, so it's pretty cool to have a couple waiting in the fridge.
Despite the many good beers now on hand, I decided to spend tonight focusing on my 64oz growler of Masala Mama.
Quite simply, it's the best American IPA I've ever had. There's just enough sweetness to balance everything, a potent burst of bitterness mid palate, and a metric ton of citrusy grapefruit and tropical fruit (think mango and pineapple) notes to close things out. As I said in my BA review, it's almost as if Town Hall had a direct line into my brain in figuring out what the best hop schedule to please my taste buds would be. This is definitely a beer you'll see me trading for more of in the future.
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