Cabin Boys Brewing

Both Cabin Boys Brewing and Heirloom Rustic Ales have not been open very long when I stopped by. Cabin Boys had an interesting line up of beers though sadly they were having issues with the big imperial stout that I was most interested in trying. I tried a flight of four and then went on to American Solera where I planned to spend the most time. I was surprised by the taster prices at these new breweries but it seems that $3 tasters (and thus $12 flights of 4 beers) are here to stay in some parts of the country. Cabin Boys has a great little tasting room with a fantastic theme that you can see in the photos included here. I think they will grow into a solid spot for the locals.

I started with the saison, which was good though a bit unbalanced. It had notes of spice and a good dry finish but also a strong bubble gum flavor that may be from their choice of yeast. The bubble gum flavor was strong and overpowered the rest of the beer but with some tweaking this could be a great saison. The stout was excellent with tons of smoke and notes of toffee with a thick chewy mouthfeel. This should stay on as one of their core beers if it isn’t already. It also makes me extra sad that they had issues with the imperial stout while I was there.

The IPA was very classic west coast with low aroma and high bitterness with notes of grapefruit and pine. Though I am generally not into this style anymore, they nailed the classic flavor. This again should stick around as a mainstay. The wheat beer was also a bit unbalanced like the saison, though this one a bit bitter and spicy on finish. If actual coriander was added to the beer, they could have added too much to cause this. Since this was recommended to me by the bartender, I think it may simply be a variation between batches that isn’t common to this beer.

Though I didn’t find anything particularly unique, the beers at Cabin Boys were good enough that I would visit again the next time I am in Tulsa for American Solera. The stout and IPA were well done and to style. Plus their space is quite welcoming in the winter when it is cold outside.

Top 2:
IPA
Stout

Heirloom Rustic Ales

Heirloom Rustic Ales is also quite new in Tulsa though they appear to be enjoying quite the following. When I visited they had recently released some crowlers and they were mostly sold out on the Saturday I was there (the day before Super Bowl) so I was told by the brewery I should buy cans on Saturday if I wanted any. I stopped by on Saturday first to get two cans of Sticky Bottles, their deliciously hopped pale ale with Vic Secret and Citra hops. Because I had crowlers i did not drink it while I was at the brewery the following day. It was a delicious pale ale bursting with hop aromas including citrus and light herb character. I am also glad because this taught me well what Vic Secret hops taste like.

I started with Caves, an open-fermented lager made with all French hops. It had lovely notes of toast and funk with light hop character and a good full body. This is fairly unique as far as lagers go. Next I tried Plains, an open fermented farmhouse ale. This was my favorite of the day, with bright notes of peach and tangerine, some light funk, and a good dry finish.

The Black Cauldron, dark lager, was delicious and balanced with light caramel and raisin notes. This is quite a tasty dark lager. I finished with a strange beer called Devil’s Snare that was more of a novelty beer than anything else. It was unique and something I would not try again but since they mentioned it was made more for novelty I won’t bother going into tasting notes, though I would warn you to not order more than a taster unless you have tried it and know you like it.

I finished with three other tasters though I preferred the first flight minus the novelty beer. The Porter was quite good with notes of cherry and roast. The old ale had notes of maple, apricot, and bitter grapefruit with mild hop bitterness to finish it off. Sub genre, their dry hopped Trappist ale had notes of bright tangerine, mild sweetness and flavors of candied apricot. None of these three beers inspired me to order more although I was also encouraged to leave because my husband wanted to go somewhere else.

I quite enjoyed the feel of their tasting room and may have stayed longer to try more beers if my husband wasn’t pushing me to go on to another brewery. I quite liked the Plains and would love to see where they go from here on future visits. They seem to have some interesting ideas of brewing styles and so they should mature nicely.

Top 2:
Plains – open-fermented farmhouse ale
Caves – open-fermented lager