Month: December 2021

When his modified 2013 Tesla started acting up after just 900 miles of use and left him facing a $22,000 bill to replace the electric car’s faulty battery, Tuomas Katainen of Finland decided to go a different route: Blow up the vehicle with a mannequin of Elon Musk inside.

In a video posted by Pommijätkät, a.k.a. the Bomb Dudes, the Tesla was towed to a quarry outside of Helsinki where it was strapped with 66 pounds of explosives before the Musk mannequin was choppered in just in time for the detonation, which makes for one heck of a viral video that’s already racked up over five million views. Via Insider:

In the video, a charge can be seen racing along the detonation cord, setting off a series of blasting caps that break the windshield and loosen several body panels. After a short pause, the 14 hotdog-shaped charges erupt into a blinding ball of fire, sending a massive shockwave rippling out from the car. Footage from a drone flying through the cloud of shrapnel and smoke shows a gray and black smudge where the car used to be.

Despite his extremely online presence, Musk has yet to react to the video of the exploded Tesla, but we’re guessing he’d probably just say something about Dogecoin or make a weird “pp” joke. He’s really into those lately.

(Via Business Insider)

Weed products are reaching new heights of potency, quality, and even absurdity. No place is this more evident than Hall of Flowers, a cannabis product conference and trade show held in Palm Springs over the weekend of December 8 and 9th.

As weed infiltrates the mainstream one brand at a time, large-scale events and conferences have emerged, each serving a different facet of the industry. While festivals like The Emerald Cup are all about the growers, the weed, and the deep, tangled roots of cannabis culture in the pre-legal era, Hall of Flowers is glitzy, buyer-oriented, and features entrepreneurs and creators all flush with cash. The current It Girl of weed conferences, the show reflects the future of cannabis branding and the savvy stoner it predicates.

Here are the wildest (and best) products we saw on the conference floor.

The Puffco Peak Pro Indiglow

The Puffco Peak is the seminal cannabis product of the past decade, responsible for revolutionizing concentrate consumption (dabbing) similar to the way Apple streamlined the aesthetics of technology. Prior to its conception, users would have to use a tortch and fundamentally freebase a condensed cannabis substance called concentrate or extract out of a bong-like device called a “rig,” which was sketchy-looking, and deemed inaccessible by most. The Puffco Peak elevated the experience of dabbing and made it as simple as the push of a button. Suddenly, consuming concentrate was as easy as sipping champagne.

Bottom Line:

The second iteration of the original Peak, The Peak Pro, is a perfect device. The Peak Pro Indiglow, a limited edition version inspired by sacred geometry, is almost too beautiful to look at directly. There is no object I own that I love more than this one.

Founder’s Blend Live Resin Aperitif by Artet x Aster Farms

Cannabis drinks run the gamut of quality. A dicey genre I am weirdly obsessed with, (I’ve tried literally every drink in the CA market), the new strain-specific Founder’s Blend live resin aperitif collab between Artet and Aster Farms takes the cake in terms of flavor, effect, and overall chic-factor.

Most cannabis beverages are made using a THC distillate, an isolated THC substance that gets you high but doesn’t necessarily make you feel good as it’s missing the spectrum of other joy-inducing chemicals like terpenes and other cannabinoids. This aperitif is made with live resin, a concentrate made from fresh cannabis flower that preserves joy-inducing chemicals, leading to a more nuanced, full bodied experience.

Bottom Line:

As opposed to mainlining THC, which inherently is not a social substance, you’re experiencing Honeydew Funk, a sungrown strain by Aster Farms that is effervescent, social, and party approved.

El Blunto’s Tiffany & OG Diamond-Infused Bluntitos

Everything about this product is mf baller. First of all, there are literal diamonds in these blunts, and not the kind that come with massive ethical concerns. These diamonds are much more high vibe, and come from weed instead.

El Blunto makes the highest quality blunts money can buy. Hand-rolled, hand-hewn, cured for 72 hours… the works. The weed they contain is whole nug broken down by hand, and comes from El Blunto’s collaborations with the best flower brands in the biz.

Bottom Line:

Available in singles or packs of four, each of the Tiffany & OG Diamond-Infused Bluntitos offer a languid, euphoric high, containing Tiffany & OG flower and a concentrate consistency called “diamonds,” which is made from the cannabinoid THCA and sparkles like the real thing.

Nug Pops

The psychoactive icicle sparkling from the A Frame cabin of your dreams, Nug Pops are Otterpops that get you stoned.

Bottom Line:

I already said “Otterpops that get you stoned” — need I say more?

Her Highness Cum on the Go Pleasure Packets

Her Highness is a fabulous woman-owned brand out of New York who have really hit the nail on the proverbial head with their new product “Cum on the Go.”

Bottom Line:

Single serving CBD lube packets for the woman who has it all, but always wants more.

TSUMO Snacks

Contrary to popular belief, not all edibles have to be candy! I think the fact that edibles exist almost exclusively in the realm of sweets reinforces the idea that cannabis consumption is something indulgent as opposed to something that could be part of your daily routine.

Bottom Line:

TSUMO is exciting because they offer a line of savory cannabis snacks that are just as nostalgic as their saccharine counterparts, from hot cheese puffs to ranch chips and everything in between.

Koan Cordials

Koan Cordials is taking a novel approach to the crowded beverage space with their beautiful effect based line of mini drinks that includes experiences like Play, Delight, Calm, Wonder… you get the point.

Bottom Line:

Each little beverage is concocted with a ratio of cannabinoids and blend of terpenes to deliver a specific and unique experience, allowing users to tailor canna-cocktails to fit their mood. The future is now!

Sweet Pee Diamond Badder by Fig Farms and Gold Drop

I included this Sweet Pee Diamond Badder because it’s a heady drop from two brands that normal people should know about but definitely don’t. Fig Farms is a grower-owned brand with beyond meticulous practices that turn out some of the most insane weed I’ve ever seen. Gold Drop is a concentrate brand that exists in the same stratosphere of excellence. Top shelf in every sense of the term, this diamond batter is an electrifying and uplifting sativa perfect for getting everything on your list done with a blinding, rainbow-like positivity that beams from deep within your soul.

Bottom Line:

The perfect extract to try out with your brand new Peak Pro Indiglow.

Highatus Gummies

Highatus is the new edibles line from Cannabiotix, a weed brand hot enough to have its own subculture of fans. They grow the kind of flower that makes you feel amazing on every level, not just stoned. Made from CBX flower, the Highatus gummies do not disappoint.

Bottom Line:

With exciting branding and effect-specific based copy that lets you know exactly what you’re getting into before you get in too deep, these gummies are sour, fun, and a real stand out in a conference awash with sticky-icky treats.

Green Lantern and Whitethorn Rose from Redwood Roots

These strains come to us from Redwood Roots, a Humboldt distro that brings the best weed in the world, from sungrown legacy, and family-run farms of the Emerald Triangle, all the way to customers like us. Truly, God’s work! Two of the standouts in their current craft roster are Green Lantern by Ridgeline Farms, and Whitethorn Rose by Huckleberry Hill Farms. Green Lantern is a juggernaut of deep forest euphoria that is one of the buzziest strains of the year, not to mention one of the best selling 1/8ths for Cookies right now (who also distributes Ridgeline’s flower).

Huckleberry Hill’s Whitethorn Rose has dark purple buds, tastes like a smoothie, and is my favorite flower I’ve ever experienced. The legacy genetics were originally cultivated by grower Johnny Casali’s mom, who passed them down to him. With a high that’s joyful, exciting, and deeply soul soothing, you can feel generations of love shine through this beautiful flower.

Bottom Line:

The two best flowers I encountered over the course of Hall of Flowers — a show where I smelled, tasted and smoked countless varieties of cannabis.

Meghan McCain recently began her new Fox News job, which involves her saying nonsensical things in a different venue than where we last saw her. That’d be The View, which is reportedly having a heck of a time filling McCain’s spot because (apparently) no one who’s qualified for the gig wants to take it. Staffing in general, of course, is a huge problem across swaths of industries at this time, but in the case of The View, they’re trying to fill the panel’s conservative chair. In other words, they need someone who either has very tough skin or doesn’t care what people say in response to their views.

For the past handful of months (since McCain’s departure), the show has rotated through co-guest hosts while producers seemed to be taking their time in deciding upon a permanent replacement. According to Politico, the gig was offered to a Fox News contributor (Kat Timpf), who rejected the offer for multiple reasons:

Sources said that the show was eager to recruit young libertarian KAT TIMPF, but she turned them down because of the show’s reputation for treating conservatives poorly and her contract with Fox. Timpf declined to comment to Playbook. Others have said that the show has a responsibility to fill the conservative chair with a strong Republican co-host ahead of the midterms if they are going to be a credible political talk show.

Further, Politico reports that the process is growing messier than expected with producers wanting “a unicorn” (according to an ex-The View staffer) and “someone who is going to fight — but not too hard, because they don’t want it to be ugly and bickering.” That’s a tough bill to fill, especially since McCain declared that she quit the talk show because it was a “toxic work environment.” Regardless, a The View spokesperson told Politico that “[o]ur plans are on track as we continue to look for the right person” for the role. That representative added that more guest co-hosts are on the way, so yep, it sound like no one truly knows anything yet.

(Via Politico)

Every so often, David Bowie‘s 1983 interview with Mark Goodman resurfaces on social media — particularly, the clip in which Bowie notes the dearth of Black artists being played on the station at the time. It’s pretty well-known music history by now; early in MTV’s history, the station chose not to play videos by Black artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, or Run-DMC, despite their popularity and obvious influence on the sorts of artists MTV did play. It’s also a complaint that resurfaces every so often, such as in the aftermath of this year’s VMAs.

Only under widespread public pressure did MTV finally relent, playing the sort of artists that obviously came to define its pop-culture dominance throughout the ’90s and early 2000s. In this particular clip, Bowie points out to Goodman, “I’m just floored by the fact that there are so few Black artists featured [on MTV]. Why is that?” Throughout the discussion, Goodman waffles a bit, trying to argue that different viewers glean different perceptions of the coverage, but Bowie remains steadfast in bringing his point back. Noting that he has been observing a “Black station” (likely BET), he notes that “there seems to be a lot of Black artists making very good videos that I’m surprised aren’t used on MTV.”

The clip in question has popped up again courtesy of NBA player turned Twitter star, Rex Chapman, who tweeted the clip with his own observation tying it to current events. “Watching the Nikole Hannah-Jones/Chuck Todd interview it’s impossible to not think about the 1993 David Bowie/Mark Goodman MTV interview [on Meet The Press regarding ‘critical race theory’ bans in schools],” he wrote. “Same thing almost 30-years later. Why is it always ‘what’s acceptable to white people’??

The tweet won the approval of Ice-T, who retweeted it, garnering nearly 4,000 shares and well over 33,000 likes.

You can check out the clip above and the full interview here.

Licorice Pizza is finally out in theaters everywhere, so you no longer have to live in New York or Los Angeles to enjoy one of the best movies of 2021.

The 1970s-set throwback stars Cooper Hoffman (Philip Seymour Hoffman’s son) and Alana Haim (of the Grammy-nominated band Haim), who told Elle that there’s “one very specific moment” in the film that’s based on something that actually happened to her.

“The Shabbat scene with my family is based on something that actually happened where, at the time, my middle sister was dating this guy that she brought to Passover, which is a huge deal,” she said (as a Jew, I can confirm: huge deal). “You’re meeting not only my family but my extended family. We’re all at my house to celebrate, and there’s a tradition where you go around, and you read a paragraph of the Haggadah, and it got to him, and he respectfully refused, because he was an atheist. I think it was the most awkward Passover dinner I’d ever been to.” Haim added, “I remember telling Paul that story, and then reading the script and being like, huh, well, it’s in the script.”

The Safdies (one of whom, Benny, is in Licorice Pizza) need to make a movie about the guy who blew it with a literal rock star because he wouldn’t read the four questions.

(Via Elle)

After causing controversy by moving its entire 2020 film slate onto HBO Max, which angered auteur filmmakers like Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve, Warner Bros. has expressed its commitment to theatrical releases in 2021, but not exactly like the days of old. Over the months, the studio has talked of shortening the theatrical window, and it will be doing exactly that with its biggest release of the year: The Batman.

The highly anticipated film directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson as the iconic vigilante is shaping up to be a gargantuan blockbuster for the studio when it hits theaters in March 2022. However, according to a new Recode interview with WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, the film will make the jump to HBO Max in an extremely short amount of time. Via Comic Book:

Kilar confirmed The Batman will be available to stream on HBO Max on day 46 of the 45-day theater-exclusive window. The Matt Reeves-directed reboot opens in theaters on March 4 and will stream for HBO Max subscribers on April 19, 2022.

“Think about when movies would show up on HBO, which is eight to nine months after theatrical premiere. The Batman is going to show up on day 46 on HBO Max,” Kilar said. “That is a huge change from where things were in 2018, 2017, 2016.”

Despite initially relying on Premier Access during the pandemic, not even Disney has toyed with a theatrical window that short and has waited at least 90 days before dropping its Marvel titles on its Disney+. But with Warner Bros. moving what could be its most profitable title to streaming so quickly, it’ll be interesting to see what repercussions it has on the film industry, if any at all.

The Batman hits theaters on March 4, 2022 and HBO Max on April 19, 2022.

(Via Recode)

Franz Lyons knew it was going to be all good as soon as Seth Meyers asked if any of the members of his band Turnstile had a MacGruber tattoo.

“We just hit it off, and he was just kicking it with us,” Lyons says, a tinge of disbelief noticeable in his voice, even over the phone as he recalls the hours leading up to their acclaimed late-night television debut.

Everyone at Late Night With Seth Meyers was “really excited to rock with us. The music producer for the show just hung out with us every step of the way. He had mad other responsibilities, but he was like, ‘nope I’m with the guys.” Even Meyers’ others guests, Marisa Tomei and Matthew McConaughey said hello. It seems these days everyone wants to kick it with Turnstile, rock’s most exciting band.

But such is Lyons’ dedication to the grind that the day after Turnstile’s late-night set, Lyons was calling from a warehouse, helping his “brothers” in the streetwear brand Carpet build out their new headquarters. “You’ve got to be true to yourself,” he says. “I don’t do nothing different or special. I got back from Seth Meyers, and I came here and just got my hands dirty.”

Turnstile, which counts amongst its members the perpetually shirtless frontman Brendan Yates, guitarists Brady Ebert and Pat McCrory, and drummer Daniel Fang, got their start in Baltimore’s notoriously tough hardcore scene. Like any good hardcore band, they worked hard, grinding away on multi-bill sets and releasing cheaply recorded EPs. They made the type of music you could get beat up to, and they were great at it. But what was remarkable was that even in their early stages, Turnstile made bruised cheek music, sweat-soaked work ethic, and blood-pumping catharsis sound like a total blast.

Turnstile builds their songs on top of the deep rhythmic beds created by Lyons and Fang, which gallop with punk thrust but also incorporate R&B bounce. Upon the release of their 2015 debut album Nonstop Feeling in 2015, one writer compared them to funk greats The Gap Band, while others noted that Yates could actually sing, when he wanted to. That album led to Turnstile signing with Roadrunner, a major label affiliate known for its success with Slipknot, for whom they made their second album Time & Space in 2018.

The five members of Turnstile are all locked into seemingly perfect unison, creating a machine of perpetual motion. But even then, Lyons is key, laying down a low end theory for his bros to follow, while bringing a relentless series of ninja jump kicks to their live sets. Which, yes, do require some stretching beforehand. “I can’t accurately tell a room how I feel about playing my guitar, if I don’t absolutely show you all how I feel while playing my guitar,” he explains.

But even then, he admits to some nerves when the band decamped to Gallatin, Tennessee to record their third album Glow On with Mike Elizondo — a pop-music professional who co-wrote 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” and has worked with Dr. Dre, Fiona Apple, and Mastodon — whom Lyons describes as “a bass guitar specialist.”

“Mike is a stone-cold professional, like bro was Dr. Dre’s link, from what I gather, I think he was like the only one really allowed to touch the button in the studio besides Dre,” he says. “I was in the panic room a little bit. But it was everything you would want to comfortably step outside of your comfort zone. It was all a sick-ass learning episode.”

Glow On — which comes in 4th on the 2021 Uproxx Music Critics Poll — is a basement punk on an arena level, bright, big-sounding, and utterly professional in the best ways, but it still crackles with the burning need to connect that fuels this genre. For some people, albums and bands like this are a renewable energy source, a way to psyche yourself up to push through another day. Even a departure like “”Underwater Boi,” a shoegaze-y ballad that features backing vocals from Julien Baker, still sprints rather than lurches. “‘Underwater Boi’ is mad chill, but it has just as much pressure,” says Lyons. “It’s a real in-the-pocket head nod. And that song is just as strong as any other song on record.”

It would prove to be a major leveling up when it was released in August, becoming a late-entry album of the summer for headbanger nation and earning rave reviews from Stereogum, Rolling Stone, and Pitchfork, which had actually trashed Time & Space. (Turnstile’s online fanbase very much relished that particular turnabout.)

The success of the album has given Turnstile opportunities that rock bands, particularly volatile and decided un-chill bands that were incubated in the loud-fast-rules world of hardcore punk music, don’t see much anymore in the streaming era, including tours with rap hitmakers, clothing lines with streetwear brands such as Lyons’ friends Carpet, and late-night television appearances that set Twitter on fire. Ever fashionable, Lyons was also psyched he got to cop a pair of Off-White Jordans. He’s had a great year. (The only real downspout for the band was that someone pooped in the pit in one of their shows, an incident about which he offers no comment.)

“We made a lot of ill new relationships with people. We’re just thankful that we were fortunate enough for them to hear the record, and the record did the work. The word of mouth has been very strong,” he says, sounding giddy that he got to work with one of his favorite brands on a line. “That team up has yielded a whole different group of people. I don’t even know what their musical preference is or if we were in their visibility.

“We’ve been really fortunate enough to run into people that are real ones lately,” he adds. “And the ones that we’ve been holding on to for a long time have been riding with us for like a decade now. So it’s solid.”

Glow On argues that anything can be hardcore, as long as Turnstile are doing it. That includes ambitious short-films, arena rock solos that bring to mind the Red Hot Chili Peppers, latin-funk-indebted breakdowns, and hazy R&B comedowns that feature Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes, who guested with the band at their New York show, which somehow features a thousand stage divers from the moment the band started. “For him to put himself eye to eye with us, I was like, ‘Oh, he’s a real one for real.’”

We are at the point in our cultural history where we don’t need someone to Save Rock ‘n’ Roll, as savior myths are a bit icky, and the genre is doing just fine, thank you. But their success does come at an interesting time, as several of the year’s Big Event Pop Albums felt overcooked and underwhelming, while pop stars such as Olivia Rodrigo, other “Myspace-Revivalist Acts” such as Willow and Machine Gun Kelly, and even the rapper Polo G brought sugar-y guitar hooks back to the charts.

The streaming era has led to a rise in lean-back listening, where labels and artists favor sounds that can blend in seamlessly on a playlist that you can put on while studying, cooking dinner, or just being chill. It’s music for the era of the vibe, the big mood, for a time period where, more than ever, many of us feel numb and burned out, too distracted and terrified to give anything our engagement, where many need a soothing balm, and disengagement is the best they can muster.

Turnstile don’t’ do anything passively. They are terminally un-chill. Instead, Turnstile makes the argument for maximum passion, maximum engagement. They want you to feel alive, even when it’s scary. Be in the moment, with all your body and mind. It’s exactly what many of us needed in year where the world seemed to constantly vacillate between a dial with Absolutely Terrible On One Spectrum and Slightly Less Terrible on the other. But hell if anything is going to spoil Turnstile’s fun.

On Glow On, Yates sounds like someone who couldn’t wait for all the bullshit to end, bragging that he’s ready to celebrate, letting the audience know that if their music makes you feel alive, well, he’s happy to provide. But even if Glow On didn’t have a lyrical theme of being in the moment continually, Turnstile always plays like a band that refuse to exist in the background.

“Like ‘Wild Wrld,’ to me, it’s been one of my favorite songs on the record, and I’ve been calling it an audio motion picture because it’s like, I can’t passively listen to it,” he says.

Turnstile have had a great year, but even with rock music starting to crawl back into the mainstream, is the larger world ready to get in the pit with them? Early signs are encouraging, as the Meyers set already seems iconic, and Lyons heard that Los Angeles influential KROQ has started adding them into rotation. He’s not sure if that will mean anything, but it’s cool nonetheless. And this past fall, Turnstile were the only rock band on the wildly popular hip-hop duo Suicideboys’s Grey Day tour, which brought them, alongside rappers Slowthai and Chief Keef, in front of arena’s full of kids that normally don’t really feel rock music like that.

Lyons says that he ended becoming friends with everyone on the tour, and lost his mind when his new friend Slowthai would jump into the pit and rap the rest of the show in there. And by the end of tour, he notes that some of the rappers were walking on stage to Metallica songs.

“We got a surprisingly awesome response. They had no choice but to listen for 20 minutes. It was like, ‘I know you don’t like guitar music, you just never seen it in real life,’” he says. “A lot of the messages that the band had got during the tour after were like, I’ve never been to a concert before.”

It’s been a big year, and maybe the next one will be even better. But Lyons insists that their victory came a long time ago. After all, he’s in Turnstile. He’s already won.

“I was just I was completely content with what we made for the first time,” he says. “So like, yeah, the critics are definitely important and other people hearing it is important, but I feel like before it, even like left to the mixer, I was completely content with all the decisions that I made on the record.”

“I’m very grateful, but whether the whole world was paying attention or not, if this was fun and it was paying the bills and keeping us happy, in our heart and in our mind, I wouldn’t even care who was listening,” he adds. “We’ve been doing it for 10 years, and I just turned around yesterday and realized where we were at. It just kind of feels like another day.

“Bro, the only thing that we know how to do is be Turnstile.”

Turnstile is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The 2021 African Entertainment Awards USA were held this weekend and the proceeds generated some attention this year thanks to J Balvin picking up the award for Afro-Latino Artist Of The Year. The situation quickly gained some traction online and became a trending topic on Twitter as may wondered why Balvin was chosen to receive the honor, given that the Medellín, Colombia native is not Afro-Latino.

Even Balvin himself had some uncertainty at least with the award’s name, as in an Instagram Story today, he wrote in Spanish (translated to English via Google), “I’m not Afro Latino, but thanks for giving me a place in the contribution of the Afrobeat music and its movement.”

The video linked to in Balvin’s Story is a PSA from African Entertainment Awards USA, who offers an explanation about Balvin’s win and note that they’ve changed the name of the award to Best Latin Artist Of The Year. The caption reads:

“PSA:
After listening to the concern of our audience we have decided to maintain the purpose of the award but changed the name to Best Latin Artist Of the year.

The Best Latin Artist category is for any artist based in Latin America that is contributing to the African culture especially the Afro-beats sound globally. It is not based on race but more importantly based on pushing the African culture forward on the world stage. This is the first year that we introduced this category to include our Latin brothers and sisters who have embraced Afrobeats music within their platforms. The winner of this category has demonstrated that and is deserving of this award based on the fans votes.

Please remember the nominees in this category had no say in their nomination or influence on the award show. Instead of voicing dissatisfaction, let us encourage these artists to continue bridging the gap between Africa and Latin America. We are asking for your continued support, assistance and guidance in the nomination process for 2022. We thank you for your understanding and looking forward to an open dialogue. We apologize to the people who where offended by this category.”

Some have pointed out that this award follows Balvin’s recent video for “Perra,” in which he walks dog-eared Black women around on leashes. Balvin issued an apology at the time, saying, “I want to say sorry to whomever felt offended, especially to the Black community. That’s not who I am. I’m about tolerance, love, and inclusivity.”

Sometimes, especially in the beer world, simplicity is perfection. A classic crisp lager without any random flavors is a thing of beauty. A bold and robust stout can warm you in the winter without veering too far into the “added spices and chocolate” direction. A biting, tangy, floral, or dank IPA can impress simply with hops, malt, yeast, and water.

But while we love all of these base beer flavors, sometimes we want to get a little crazy with it. Okay, a lot crazy. We’re talking outside-the-box flavors, aging techniques, and fermentations.

Not surprisingly, 2021 gave us plenty of exciting beers full of creativity. Beers that taste like cocktails, beers that taste like dessert, and beers made with heretofore unconsidered ingredients. While we don’t have time to list them all, we would like to highlight eight of the most boldly creative beers that dropped this year. Check them out below.

8) Oskar Blues Death By Flapjacks

ABV: 6.5%

Average Price: Limited Availability

The Beer:

In the past few years, Oskar Blues has dropped a few “Death By” beers. This includes Death By Coconut and Death By King Cake. Its newest release is Death By Flapjacks, a 6.5 percent ABV English porter that was brewed with Honey and Crystal malts. It gets its flavor from the addition of vanilla, lactose, nutmeg, maple syrup, and lemon peel.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is classic pancakes. There are aromas of maple syrup, freshly brewed coffee, vanilla beans, and butterscotch. The palate is highlighted by maple candy, buttery caramel, toasted vanilla beans, chocolate fudge, and more coffee. The finish is sweet, indulgent, and memorable.

Bottom Line:

This is the epitome of a dessert beer. We couldn’t imagine sipping a bunch of these bad boys, but one after dinner is the perfect sweet ending to a savory meal.

7) Boulevard Sugarwood Baklava

ABV: 14.2%

Average Price: $15 for a four-pack

The Beer:

In our opinion, baklava with its layers of pastry, honey, and nuts is one of the best desserts of all time. Boulevard set out to make a beer that tastes like that same beloved treat and definitely succeeded with its 14.2 percent ABV barrel-aged imperial brown ale with maple syrup and pecan flavors.

Tasting Notes:

Best enjoyed slowly, this beer opens with aromas of maple candy, sweet bourbon, rich oak, and a slight nuttiness. Drinking it reveals notes of candied pecans, rich maple syrup, toasted vanilla beans, honey, and oaky whiskey. It ends with a combination of nuts and brown sugar that leaves you craving more.

Bottom Line:

Carrying on the trend of the dessert beer, Boulevard managed to craft beer that totally encapsulates all the flavors of classic, nutty, honey-soaked baklava — that’s no small feat.

6) Firestone Walker Kentucky Mule

ABV: 11.8%

Average Price: $10 for a 12-ounce bottle

The Beer:

The Moscow mule is one of the most popular cocktails of all time. This combination of lime, vodka, and ginger beer has an alternative version called the Kentucky Mule that features bourbon instead of vodka. This year, Firestone Walker decided to try its hand at crafting a beer version of this iconic mixed drink. Part of the brand’s barrel-aged “cocktail series,” this blend of a brown ale and barleywine (each aged for 18 months) was infused with Fiji ginger and California lime juice.

Tasting Notes:

Complex aromas of candied ginger, lime zest, vanilla beans, and maple candy meet your nostrils. The palate swirls with more ginger, wintry spices, toasted marshmallows, butterscotch, and vanilla beans. The finish is sweet, slightly spicy, and filled with whiskey-like oak.

Bottom Line:

This is a truly unique beer that bridges the gap between cocktails and craft beer. Its flavor profile features ginger, lime, and a nice sweet bourbon kick.

5) Great Divide Wood Works Dark ’N Stormy Imperial Red Inspired Ale

ABV: 8.5%

Average Price: Limited Availability

The Beer:

This limited, 8.5 percent imperial red ale was released this summer. It was brewed with caramel malts and El Dorado and Citra hops before being aged in ten-year-old Colombian rum casks for a few months. After maturation, the beer was rested on dry hops with lime leaves, lime puree, and fresh ginger.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll find sweet molasses rum, bready malts, vanilla, and a gentle kick of floral, citrusy hops. On the palate, you’re greeted with woody oak, fresh lime zest, light ginger candy, butterscotch, and floral hops. This is the closest thing to a Dark ‘N’ Stormy in beer form you’re likely to ever see.

Bottom Line:

There’s so much going on in the flavor department that there’s simply no way to find them all with one sampling. This is the kind of beer you need to come back to again and again.

4) Stone and Deschutes Let’s Bee Homies

ABV: 7.5%

Average Price: $5 for a 16-ounce can

The Beer:

We love a good beer collaboration. When two well-known brands get together, great things can come from it. This is the case with the Stone and Deschutes collab Let’s Beer Homies. This hazy IPA was brewed with Chinook, Triumph, Cashmere, Comet, and Mosaic hops as well as both Oregon blackberry honey and California orange blossom honey.

Tasting Notes:

Right up front, this beer has classic IPA aromas of resinous pine, wildflowers, grapefruit, and lime zest. But there’s also a slight caramel malt flavor and sweet honey in there as well. Take a sip and you’ll find flavors like lemon zest, tangerine, ripe grapefruit, pineapple, wet grass, peach, caramel malts, and sweet clover honey.

Bottom Line:

Part of the appeal of this creative beer is the way the honey works in unison with the citrus hop, tropical fruit, and bready malt flavors.

3) Goose Island Bourbon County Classic Cola Stout 2021

ABV: 14%

Average Price: Limited Availability

The Beer:

Every year, stout fans eagerly await the announcement of what beers Goose Island will release in its annual Bourbon County line. This year, one of the most interesting launches was its Bourbon County Classic Cola Stout 2021. This bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout gets its cola flavor from the addition of lime juice, orange juice, orange zest, coriander, cassia bark, nutmeg, brown sugar, and vanilla.

Tasting Notes:

Do you know the smell of whiskey and cola? Well, that’s exactly what this beer smells like. It also has the aromas of dark chocolate, vanilla beans, woody oak, citrus peels, and sweet whiskey. Drinking it brings forth notes of caramel malts, fudge, toasted oak, vanilla beans, wintry spices, and warming, sweet bourbon.

Bottom Line:

It appears that cocktail beers made an impact in 2021. This barrel-aged take on the classic whiskey and cola is definitely not to be missed.

2) Prairie Sundae Service

ABV: 13%

Average Price: $19 for a 12-ounce bottle

The Beer:

There are few indulgences better than a classic fudgy ice cream sundae. The folks at Prairie Artisan Ales understand this. That’s why they created this barrel-aged imperial stout to taste just like the iconic dessert. They did this with the addition of chocolate, fudge, peanuts, sprinkles, vanilla, and cherries.

Tasting Notes:

A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. It literally smells like a chocolate fudge sundae with aromas of vanilla beans, sweet cherries, chocolate, and roasted peanuts. The flavor continues this trend with notes of maraschino cherries, buttery caramel, chocolate fudge, and vanilla beans.

Bottom Line:

In the hierarchy of indulgent dessert beers, it’s hard to top Prairie Sundae Service with its decadent, rich, and sweet flavor notes.

1) Stone Xocoveza Tres Leches

ABV: 8.5%

Average Price: $14 for a six-pack

The Beer:

As if regular Stone Xocovenza wasn’t flavorful enough, the brewers at Stone ramped up this 8.5 percent ABV imperial stout with the addition of chocolate, coffee, Pasilla peppers, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The result is a spicy, warming, and sweet beer well-suited for winter imbibing.

Tasting Notes:

This beer’s nose is both sweet and spicy. There are scents of freshly brewed coffee, butterscotch, chocolate fudge, and toasted vanilla, as well as a slight spice backbone. The flavor is a mixture of sweet vanilla beans, milk chocolate, buttery caramel candy, espresso beans, and slightly spicy heat from the Pasilla peppers.

Bottom Line:

If you’re a fan of Mexican hot chocolate, a pint of this sweet, spicy, rich beer is sure to be a hit.

Earlier this year, fans watching basketball at the Tokyo Olympics were treated to halftime entertainment in the form of a basketball shooting robot that shot from the free throw line, three-point line, and even halfcourt, leading to a lot of jokes about Ben Simmons, Kawhi Leonard, and others.

After impressing early on, the robot was exposed as a fraud, incapable of dribbling and, as the tournament wore on, it got less accurate and started missing shots. However, the FIBA basketball robot got back in the lab — literally, in this instance — and has added dribbling to its arsenal, as it showed off on Monday. However, unless this robot is going back in time to play in 1947, these garbage handles aren’t going to get it anywhere anytime soon.

As happened the first time around with its pitifully slow shooting form, the reaction to the robot dribbling from people was mostly about how they would still destroy it in some 1-on-1.

There were also lots of folks calling out the robot for looking like Stanley from The Office trying to dribble with just one hand.

And, of course, Bob Cousy got slandered by many because, well, what else do you expect from a video of someone dribbling slowly with one hand in a straight line.