Rhinegeist: Subliminal Jam
Honestly, this is a bit of an odd one. I was at the liquor store to buy myself a bottle of Japanese whisky when I saw this bottle sitting on the shelf. At first, I choked a little bit looking at the price, and knowing I could buy a full six pack of just about any craft beer I’ve seen for less than what I payed for this bottle. But, I am an adventurous soul, and curiosity ruled the day.
You probably can’t read it, since the print is kinda small, but this is a 1pt bottle. Well, technically it says “1pt. 0.9 FL OZ” But… I say we stick with pint. Also, you get a blurry view of my PC tower in all it’s stickered glory,
Anyway.
On the other side of my desk, I have a Monster Aussie Style Lemonade because I have a headache, so I am hitting it with the caffeine. I mention the Monster, because the Monster is 16 FL. OZ… AKA 1 pint… aka roughly equivalent to the bottle of beer. Gods what have I gotten myself into…
For the record, Rhinegeist is 6th on my list of brewery links over on my links page. And I may still venture down there to get some fresh beer, although with the cost of parking, I might be paying about the same amount for a pint there.
Rhinegeist is a rather large brewery located in the Over-The-Rhine section of Cincinnati. On Google maps it claims to be at the “Brewery District” stop on the streetcar route. But, to be fair… I only see two breweries in this “district” so I have reservations about the labeling. There are other breweries down in that area, notably Northern Row, which is just down the street, the Samuel Adams Cincinnati Taproom which is maybe a quarter mile away and the Taft Ale House which is perhaps a mile away. So I suppose it counts as a district?
Anyway, Rhinegeist, as I said, is a fairly large brewery, which I haven’t visited in a while, so my recollection may be a little off. It is a very industrial-style building, giving off the vibe of a warehouse, or factory. It is incredibly spacious, and has a rooftop section to add to the open space, since a patio area is kind of out of the question for these guys. I’ll have pictures of the place when I actually go back for a visit.
Moving on to the Subliminal Jam itself.
I will not be drinking this. Take a look at what came out of the bottle.
At first, this was difficult to pour. Like there was something stuck just inside the mouth of the bottle. And, there was. What came out was chunky, and more than a little off-putting. You can see the floaters in the picture above. All those white spots… yeah… floaters. Now, perhaps this is how it is supposed to be. Maybe I’m just a little too touchy about my beer, but if it comes with chunks, I’m out.
I do not take this as a ding against Rhinegeist, necessarily. Perhaps it is just a bad bottle. But at the end of the day this looks dangerous.
Considering I spent 14 bucks on this single bottle, I am a little miffed. But I say always err on the side of safety. I was really looking forward to this, too.
Considering the price, and the product I received, I would definitely say this is a “Don’t Buy” sort of thing. Save your money, and get a 6 pack of something that doesn’t have floaters.
Seriously… look at that. It looks like it is a bacteria culture.
I’m gonna go toss this down the drain… or perhaps the garbage disposal.
