Today, I report back after buying the wildest and weirdest beers simply to entertain my legions of followers and the @beerlover crew.

It is Saturday which makes it #beersaturday for me! Not that everyday isn't beer day but it takes over my blog as I report from my lofty and exclusive (and self appointed ;) position as the STEEM Beerologist! Having bounced around from small cans https://steemit.com/beersaturday/@zekepickleman/beersaturday-small-can-beerologist-strategy, new discoveries https://steemit.com/beersaturday/@zekepickleman/beersaturday-battle-of-the-beers, and incorporating beer into my business https://steemit.com/beersaturday/@zekepickleman/beersaturday-busy-during-the-silence, I am taking a strange path today.

As I perused the aisles in the beer store, I wondered what theme I could follow so that my #beersaturday post could be riveting and revolutionary. It occurred to me that there are some wild styles and flavours I could explore, enjoy, and entertain if I didn't particularly like them. There are some optical and oral illusions that may pose a problem for my epileptic followers so proceed with caution ;)

Strap on your drinkin' socks and lets do this!

Octopus Wants to Fight IPA

I have written about this one in the past as I am a huge fan of Great Lakes Brewery http://www.greatlakesbeer.com/ and their fantastic IPAs. It has been a while and this is goofy enough to fit into this weird expose for its name alone.

Great Lakes has made a name for themselves and their experimentation that they have branded Tank 10. This IPA is brewed with 8 hops and is named after that standard coat hook meme. I love this beer and am so pleased they have made this a regular beer you can get year round. It used to be just in the Winter I think but you get the over-hopped, seriously fun and tasty beer any time.

Elvis Juice - Grapefruit Infused IPA

This beer from Brewdog https://www.brewdog.com/usa/ is strange for a few reasons. First, their humble beginnings in Europe and their unintentional explosion on the international scene because of a contest victory is not the norm. Secondly, because it has french on the can which means they actually gave Canada some specific consideration. Third, because Elvis Juice is just pretty funny. Fourth, IPAs are often referred to as grapefruity because of their bitterness and fruitiness that come from the Hops......this one is actually infused with grapefruit for a big change.

Here, you can see the french and english justification of the name and explanation of the beer. It is rife with alliterations and unjustifyable claims which often serves as a distraction from a lack-luster brew. While often the marketers do a better job than the brewers, that is not the case with this one. I didn't hate it when first tasting which is a good sign. With each subsequent sip (gotta spin some alliterations of my own) I was shocked back into the moment by how well they did with not only the taste, but with the balance of the fruit so it was neither overwhelming, nor an afterthought.

Damn weird and damn good as far as I am concerned.

Killer Cupcake Panda - Double IPA

It was my new friend @mimismartypants who said, "looks like An energy drink you'd take at your monthly parties" which is not far from the truth. It says "Normal is Weird" right on the can but they nailed it with the beer. The design of Flying Monkeys http://www.flyingmonkeys.ca/ click and go play with the funky clouds) has always been outrageous and the beer bold and fun. This one takes it to a new level though.

Making up words like Crush-ous, and infusing your beer with pandan leaves, citrus custard and vanilla, you can imagine, this really does taste like a cupcake in a glass. I first sampled it as a guest tap at Jobsite Brewery https://jobsitebrewing.ca/, enjoyed a half pint, and was glad I only stuck with a half for how wild this is. I happily finished this pint and wouldn't have had another if there was one in the fridge.

Bold and strange and new and a nice change for damn sure.

Nebuchadnezzar Imperial IPA

The name of this Omnipollo https://omnipollo.com/ beer is a mouthful and so is the imperial IPA inside. This brewery strangely originates in Stockholm Sweden but has the interesting business model of satellite breweries across the globe. Nebuchadnezzar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebuchadnezzar_II was king of Babylon c. 605 BC – c. 562 BC, as the longest-reigning and most powerful monarch of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Not sure what this has to do with the beer but speaks to its power.

No explanation on the side of the can either. All I can tell you is that this is a serious beer. I think I had it second on a night that had me laughing at how drunk I was after so few beers. It is definitely imperial in nature and powerful in its delivery and taste.

Juice Caboose Juicy IPA

Railway City Brewing Company https://www.railwaycitybrewing.com/ is from a strange little town called St Thomas in Ontario. The weirdness doesn't stop there as the 60s style bold design seems to match the funky Juice Caboose name. When you have juice in the name, it is a little redundant to tell people it is a juicy IPA rather than let them draw the conclusion and taste it themselves but there you go.

I do like it when there are some stats on the can like IBU, ingredients, and the name of the specific hops used. It is the oats that make beer extra smooth and perhaps juicy when combined with specific hops. 5 hops in a beer is generally a little much when you like specific tastes but I am a big fan of the Mosaic hop, and they included some old skool centennial, newly popular citra, and an el dorada to make things interesting.

I enjoyed this one the most of any other I had from this brewery so weird is definitely good!

Jurassic IPA

Last but not least, we have this IPA from Cameron's Brewing https://cameronsbrewing.com/2019/06/26/camerons-releases-jurassic-india-pale-ale/ out of Oakville. They are a bit of a dinosaur in the new craft brewery movement and their IPAs really haven't been great to date. They set out to make this one the best IPA around and put a Tyrannosaurus Rex on the can to mark it as the king. Having a dinosaur-themed beer is rather strange and the design is a bold mixture of noise and contrast.

While they missed a comma in the description (for us grammar/punctuation nazis) and really fell short of becoming the king of IPAs, I enjoy this beer. I would get it again for a change knowing it is good and having liked Cameron's Brewing for so many years. The hops are a little pedestrian but that may be the best for them as they help usher noobs into the realm of craft beer and IPAs. Nice job and bold/strange presentation.

That is it for my crazy journey of strange and weird. I would suggest you join my drinkin' buddy @detlev and create your own Beer post. Great prizes and an even greater community as we have some social drinks via the blockchain. https://steemit.com/beersaturday/@detlev/beersaturday-week-125

What was your strangest drink the last little while?