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Common Ground Roots Company: Beta

Common Ground Brewing Company: Beta

Hops: Citra

ABV: 6.5%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Brewed differently each time

@untappd says: 4.05/5

It’s time to get experimental on the Windowsill.

I have to imagine that half the fun of owning a brewery is the research and development phase of production. Nearly infinite combinations of ingredients are at the brewer’s fingertips, meaning he or she can make nearly infinite flavors of any particular type of beer. With their Beta Experimental IPA program, Common Roots Brewing Company has, essentially, opened up the R&D portion of their production process to the public, by releasing slightly different versions of the IPA, as they try to perfect the recipe.

In October, the Beta was made with Amarillo hops and dry-hopping additions. In November, El Dorado, Columbus and Amarillo hops were used. In January, Citra and Columbus hops were the go to for flavoring. In February, un-malted wheat was added to yet another combination of hops. In March’s release, which is the version I picked up at my local beer distributer, all Citra hops were used.

I must say, I was a little disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, the beer was off the chain. I just wish I’d known about all the other versions too. I would have put them all on my sill and compared the flavors! The latest incarnation was crisp, floral and refreshing. The freaky label art is pretty fun too. Very cool stuff from the South Glenn Falls, NY brewery!

Check it out on Instagram, now, and you’ll feel like the Omega of your bunch!

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El Segundo Brewing Company: Steve Austin’s Broken Skull IPA

El Segundo Brewing Company: Steve Austin's Broken Skull IPA

Hops: Citra, Cascade, Chinook

ABV: 6.7%

IBU: 39

Availability: Year-round

@untappd says: 3.91/5

If you want me to open up a bottle of whoop-ass all over my Windowsill today, give me a “Hell Yeah!”

If you were a pro wrestling fan during the late 1990s, you remember the great “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. The “Texas Rattlesnake” was one of the best all-around performers in the history of the business. Since his retirement, the six-time WWE Champion has kept himself busy with some acting, some reality tv and a couple of podcasts, but it’s only fitting that the man who made crushing “Steveweisers” in the middle of the ring famous, would one day go on to release a beer with his name on it.

Austin paired up with California’s El Segundo Brewing Company a few years ago to release today’s beer, Steve Austin’s Broken Skull IPA. Austin loves himself a good IPA, and he wouldn’t release one under his name if he wasn’t sure it would whoop your ass and give you the two-finger salute when it was finished. These days, Austin 3:16 also says “I just got you drunk!” And that’s the bottom line, cuz Beers on Windowsills said so!

Check this one out on Instagram, right now!

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Prairie Artisan Ales: Prairie Weisse

Prairie Artisan Ales: Prairie Weisse

ABV: 3.9%

IBU: 15

Availability: Year-round

@untappd says: 3.81/5

The Windowsill got a little more sour today.

When I was a kid, I loved Super Lemons, Warheads, Sour Patch Kids… Just name a sour candy, and I was all about it. I think that’s why I have such an affinity for sour beers now that I am an adult of sorts. I just like that tingly feeling I get in my jaw when I taste sour things. The Prairie Weisse definitely gave me that lemony-sour trigger I seem to crave.

This is the second beer from Oklahoma’s Prairie Artisan Ales to grace my windowsill and, as with the BOMB!, Prairie did a really good job in its interpretation of an otherwise “normal” beer type. It’s light, refreshing and tingly, but well-balanced and not overwhelming. I think I still prefer the hoppy bitterness of an IPA, but if you’re into sour beers, and companies that really take pride in bringing a unique perspective to making quality brews, you should definitely try the Prairie Weisse, and really anything Prairie Artisan Ales puts out. If anything, pick up some of their beers just so you can take a gander at their cool label art.

Check this one out on Instagram. Like, follow and comment!

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Magic Hat Brewing Company: Electric Peel

Magic Hat Brewing Company: Electric Peel

Hops: Apollo, Centennial, Chinook

Malts: Pale, Carapils

ABV: 6.0%

IBU: 65

Availability: Year-round

@untappd says: 3.4/5

Sometimes, even my Windowsill swings and misses.

Let me first say that Magic Hat Brewing Company is an excellent brewery. Since 1994, the Vermont-based brewery has been making really good, very eclectic beers and, as they say, putting a performance into every bottle. Their beers are bold, experimental and mostly delicious. Unfortunately, the Electric Peel Grapefruit IPA was a miss for me. I think the issue is that I always think I’m going to like grapefruit, so I always buy it, but I never actually enjoy it.

Whether it’s in a beer, or the actual fruit itself, it always leaves me disappointed. The bitterness of the Electric Peel’s grapefruit, mixed with the bitterness of its hops, was just not my cup of tea. I know the next one I try from Magic Hat will be a hit, but I can’t recommend this one.

Check this one out on Instagram, now!

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Interboro Spirits and Ales: Super Bad

Interboro Spirits and Ales: Super Bad

ABV: 9.0%

IBU: 60

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 4.11/5

Brooklyn’s in the house, and on the window sill!

There’s a lot of stuff I don’t like about Brooklyn. Mostly, it’s all the trendy hipster nonsense. Interboro Spirits & Ales, which opened in 2016, is in the middle of hipster central in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and they aren’t shying away from that. Their brewery is carved out in an old woodworking factory. The decor in their tap room is “rustic.” Hell, they even have a live-in cat named Bingo. You know what else the good people at Interboro don’t shy away from? Making tremendous beer.

I picked this baby up the day it was released, not knowing anything about it. I asked the guy at @beertable for a really good hazy IPA, and he motioned to the Super Bad, which had been delivered just hours before. Wowsers, was this beer good. All the flavors–a little grapefruit, orange, mango and caramel–all shine through, but still give way to the nice bitter finish that the hops bring when you sip it. Did I mention Interboro is also a distillery? That’s for another instagram account to talk about, though. Go get the Super Bad, and anything else this place puts out, today. I’d even go to Brooklyn myself to get it.

Check out my informal chat with Laura Dierks of Interboro, and check this post on Instagram, here!