1966 from 21st Amendment

Welcome to the first Thirsty Thursday of the New Year! Technically, we’re back on the East Coast, except that I am choosing to blur the lines a bit this week. Today, I am sitting down with 1966 from 21st Amendment, based out of San Francisco. I honestly had no idea they were a California based brewery. Shame on me for not taking a second to look 21st Amendment up.

Knowing is half the battle. Go, Joe.

Speaking of Joe, the beer I am reviewing today is a collaboration between 21st Amendment and Peet’s Coffee. Also, a California-based business, I wouldn’t have pegged as such. The name paying homage to the year Peet’s was founded and the Bay Area’s groovy roots.

I had assumed by the collaboration with Peet’s that we were in for sampling a porter or a stout. Coffee pairs well with those styles of beers, after all. Nope. I’ve got the hat trick here on assumptions. This is a coffee IPA. I’ve seen a few coffee IPAs circulating the beer scene, but not all that many. Definitely not something you see every day.

Jack’s Abby in Framingham, Mass. put out a Coffee House Lager a few years ago as part of their experimental batch series. But that was a while back, and it didn’t make it into their regular rotation. Needless to say, the novelty of the combination spurred Adam to pick this up on one of our Total Wine runs to have on hand when we were in the mood to put on a beer tasting for two. I won’t lie 1966 did sit in the beer crisper for a while, waiting for us to pull the trigger on tasting this one. But we did finally take the plunge.

When I brought the glass up to my nose, I get predominately wheat. There is a hint of coffee every few sniffs, but I had to really work to find it. Unusual for an IPA. Or maybe typical for an unusual IPA? And the question for COVID times, is my sense of smell going? I don’t think so…

Front the very start, this beverage smacks your taste buds using the bitterness from the hops. I got the slightest twinge of citrus before the flavors fade into a distinctive cup of Joe. If I was sipping on coffee, I’d be quite happy about it.

But I’m not. This is a beer. 

The coffee doesn’t really hang around long enough. If it did, I’d have been convinced I was drinking Wormtown’s Blizzard of ’78. The quick hit of coffee is rich and delicious. There’s just not enough of it. The hop bitterness isn’t about to be outdone. I want to say the bitterness here is milder than a typical IPA, but because it’s featured so prominently, I can’t get it off my taste buds or mind. Coffee and IPAs are both bitter, but there are different degrees of bitterness. These two conflict too much for me. It comes off as a weird set of flavors to pair together.

My initial reaction from the first sip of 1966 would have garnered a 1 out of 5 coffee beans, as CJ would say. There was nose crinkling involved and some laughing on Adam’s part. I almost just dumped my half of the beer to be done with it. But I just couldn’t do it, so I stuck with it.

The bitterness did dwindle out a little bit after the first few sips giving way to more of that rich coffee flavor. And I felt a little silly for nose crinkling after the first. Overall, I’m sure this is someone’s beer, but not mine, even though it’s combining two of my favorite things.

C’est la vie. Not every beer can please everyone. 21st Amendment certainly tries, though. Their Brew Free or Die, Hell or High Watermelon, and Fireside Chat are particular favorites in this house. Cheers, Nerd Girls, until next time!