8 Days a Week

Beer’d 8 Days a Week APA
Growlette, $?, 6.7% ABV
At the brewery, Stonington

It’s almost 2015 and in case you missed it, I’ve decided to slow down a bit with this whole “review every Connecticut beer” nonsense. There are just way too many beers coming out, from all corners of the state. And too many of them aren’t worth my dollars or my creative writing efforts.

I also must stop “hate-buying” and “hate-reviewing,” even if it’s easy and fun. Now, if I get off my butt and put ads on this site and got pennies for page hits, I’ll start up with them again. It has been proven over and over that when I tweet out a review of a terrible beer, you people much prefer reading them for a laugh or whatever.

And as my friend and favorite beer reviewer Will Gordon recently wrote, in the comments of his wonderful hate-review of some ABInBev AppleMess, “It’s easier to hate a thing than like a thing, at least for me, so I have the most fun with these [crappy] ones.”

This is absolutely true.

But it’s also true that it’s easier to hate an international conglomerate’s fake apple fake ciderbeer than it is to hate a local guy trying to make a go of things. Woe is me.

Fortunately, this page is about a Beer’d beer. And when I drink Beer’d beers, I’ve got nothin’ but love. (Speaking of which, cheers to Aaren and Precious of Beer’d on their recent December 2014 engagement!)

And as excellent as Beer’d beers generally are, certain Beer’d beers are better than excellent. Eight Days a Week is such a Beer’d beer.

Beer’d Says:

“Single hopped with Citra, this American Pale Ale has a burst of tropical fruit aromas and flavors, with a touch of citrus notes, and a finishing dash of graham cracker character.”

Okay. Read that again all of you wackadoo New England Brewing Fuzzy Baby Ducks obsessives. “Single hopped with Citra.” You know what the Ducks is? An IPA single hopped with Citra. This is an APA single hopped with Citra. You know what else is an APA single hopped with Citra? Three Floyds’ Zombie Dust.

Zombie Dust is probably a top 10 American whale. Fuzzy Baby Ducks is getting to be. These are two of the highest rated beers in the world. So where does 8 Days fit in?

It’s right freaking there. And screw you if you think I’m lying.

Because I’m not.

Here’s the thing. Brewing is an art. Some brewers exceed at it, while other strive to. Many more simply fail. Single-hopped beers are not the easiest things to pull off. Sure, we all love the Citra bombs, but to balance those citrus notes with the other less exciting ingredients is not easy to pull off perfetctly. Beer’d has done so consistently, and with 8 Days, Beer’d has shown it is a master of the art – probably because he uses precise science with his art… and I love that.

I would even contend that 8 Days is even a bit more remarkable than Ducks. I find the Ducks can be a bit overly malted for what I want from a clean IPA. 8 Days has the malt, sure, but it’s merely there to counteract too much of the Citra presence.

I’ve been Beer’d’s main beard since Aaren opened, and for good reason. He is an artist (and a genuinely nice guy) and while I selfishly wish the Beer’d secret was still only mine, his burgeoning success is much and well deserved.

Now, if only he could brew eight days a week and if only there were eight days a week so I could spend a day each week driving to and fro Stonington, the world would be a better and more delicious place.

Man, Keri Russell is pretty.

Overall Rating: A+
Rating vs. Similar style: A+

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