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“All whiskey starts off as beer” is a common phrase you hear tossed around in distilling circles. That’s technically true of most whiskey. Whiskey starts off with a mash of ground grains, water, and yeast — just like beer. But then most beers are hopped whereas whiskeys get distilled and aged. Still, the basic foundation of whiskey and beer are very similar, so much so that you can actually use finished beer to make whiskey. Those beer-based whiskeys are what we’re going to dive into today.

The idea of using finished beer as a base for whiskey is a rapidly expanding category, and that makes it exciting. Before we dive too far into the deep end, let’s clarify a few points, though. We’re not talking about beer-barrel aged whiskey. That’s a different category altogether. We’re talking about whiskey that has been made from beer, or, at the very least, uses a combination of beer products in their mash. Products like brewer’s yeast, brewing malts, and/or hops. (If we’re talking about single malts, you can assume beer is the mash. Single malts are a base of 100 percent malted barley, water, and more often than not ale yeasts. That’s beer, folks.)

The ten bottles below are all American whiskeys made with beer specifically. Some of them are using finished beers from partner breweries. Others are using beer ingredients to make their own mash for distilling or even brewing their own in-house beers to distill. Overall, they’re all pretty damn tasty and worth trying out right now.

The Arcane Whiskey

ABV: 40.2%
Distillery: Arcane Distillery, Brooklyn, NY
Beer Base: IPA
Average Price: $45 (half-bottle)

The Whiskey:

This is an interesting expression from a small New York distiller. They gather IPAs from the New York craft brewing scene and then go in a modern science direction with their distillation process. The beer is put into a glass vacuum still. The vacuum allows the beer to boil at a mere 86-degrees Fahrenheit. This ultra-modern technique allows every nuance of the beer to pass into the spirit. After the beers are distilled, they’re blended into this unique expression of whiskey.

Tasting Notes:

I’ve only tried the IPA Batch 2. There are five batches out there. In my experience, this whiskey greets you with a full nose of frothy IPA fragrance. It’s very West Coast with a nice balance of pine resin dank and citrus fruit. That dank carries through the sip as the fruit turns mildly tropical and is undercut by a clear sense of Christmas spices and echoes of wildflowers.

There’s a honeycomb sweetness, a hint of an old apple orchard, more spice, more pine, and a shudder of ersatz bitterness on the end.

Balcones Texas Bock

ABV: 48%
Distillery: Balcones Distillery, Waco, TX
Beer Base: Shiner Bock Beer
Average Price: $37

The Whiskey:

One of Texas’ best craft distilleries teamed up with one of Texas’ most iconic beers to make a new whisky. This straight malt whisky starts with a base of the classic Shiner Bock mash bill with the brewery’s proprietary yeast strain (and a 51 percent malted barley base). After distillation, the juice goes into American oak for a two-year rest in the Waco rickhouse.

Tasting Notes:

This is an interesting sip and very emblematic of what we’ve come to expect from Balcones. Big Texas flavors of cinnamon glazed pear doughnuts mingle next to sense of malt with orange zest lurking around. Those notes carry on and are bolstered by candied walnuts dusted in Christmas spices, hints of maple syrup, grenadine, a sourdough funk, and a rush of toasted oak. The sip leans into tartness with as a raspberry pie essence with a nice and buttery baked crust that mingles with the warming spices and the feel of well-worn leather alongside a note of brine on the finish.

Corsair Citra Double IPA

ABV: 46%
Distillery: Corsair Distillery, Nashville, TN
Beer Base: Citra Double IPA hops
Average Price: $58

The Whiskey:

This whiskey from Tennessee pushes the lines of what a beer whiskey can be. The base is a traditional malted barely beer much like other single malts. The ripple is that Citra hops are added to the vapor basket in the same way botanicals would be added to a gin during distillation. That doesn’t make this a gin but it does technically make it a “flavored whiskey.”

Tasting Notes:

This is a subtle sip. There are notes of bright citrus next to fresh spices upfront. Next, the dram hits on a savory herbal note that’s cut by squeezes of fresh orange, juicy grapefruit, and tart lemon. The sip picks up some mild notes of bitter dark chocolate in the background alongside fresh ginger and nice flourish of spring flowers before a hint of malt brings about a short finish.

Westward American Single Malt

ABV: 45%
Distillery: Westward Distillery, Portland, OR
Beer Base: Breakside Brewery (ingredients)
Average Price: $80

The Whiskey:

Portland’s Westward American Single Malt starts off with a base of local mountain water, two-row barley grown in Washington, and American ale yeast. That’s the start of a pretty stellar beer right there. The beer is twice distilled in pot stills and aged for two years in new American oak. The finished juice is then small-batched from no more than six barrels per bottle.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a whiff of nuts roasted in honey next to sweet brown bread malts. Blips of dark spices, toasted oak, and oily vanilla pods mingle with a hint of red berry tartness, more malts, and a very thin billow of smoke. The end lingers for a while as the spice, oak, and sweet malts slowly dissipate.

ASW Maris Otter Single Malt

ABV: 46%
Distillery: American Spirit Works Distillery, Atlanta, GA
Beer Base: English Maris Otter Malts
Average Price: $55

The Whiskey:

This hard-to-find and award-winning expression marries together Scottish whisky-making, Kentucky bourbon barrel aging, and craft beer ingenuity. The base of this whiskey took master distiller and former brewer Justin Manglitz a decade of homebrewing to perfect with the much-beloved English Maris Otter Malts at the recipe’s heart. The brew is twice-distilled in Scottish copper pot stills and then aged in new charred American oak like American bourbon.

Tasting Notes (from the distiller):

“Black cherry, Cardamom, Fudge, Lemon.”

Berkshire Mountain Two Lanterns American Whiskey

ABV: 43%
Distillery: Berkshire Mountain Distillers, Sheffield, MA
Beer Base: Sam Adams Boston Lager
Average Price: $100

The Whiskey:

Yes, you can drink distilled Sam Adams. This expression takes the iconic Sam Adams Boston Lager and triple distills it in the Irish whiskey style. The juice is then aged for four years in American oak before blending and being bottled in small batches.

Tasting Notes:

The sip greets you with a flourish of toasted malts next to bourbon-like caramel and a hint of wildflowers. From there, the dram leans into the malt and wood as a clear “beer” sense drives through the taste with a note of green spice and bitter hops. The quick finish leans into the caramel, spice, and bitterness.

Charbay R5 Whiskey

ABV: 49.5%
Distillery: Charbay Distillery, St. Helena, CA
Beer Base: Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA
Average Price: $80

The Whiskey:

Don’t let the “Hop-Flavored” designation on the label mislead you. This is a whiskey distilled from Bear Republic’s Racer 5 IPA. The beer is twice-distilled in pot stills. The juice then goes into French oak — Charbay is also a winery — for just over two years. The whiskey is then small-batch bottled.

Tasting Notes:

Hoppy beer, savory herbs, and rich brown sugar lead the way. The sugar turns more molasses as the hop bitterness kicks in. Echoes of dark fruit and flowers flutter in the background as the sweetened malts come to play on the long end, which is touched off by a mild hint of French oak funk.

Brewer’s Whiskey HUB

ABV: 40%
Distillery: New Deal Distillery, Portland, OR
Beer Base: Organic HUB Lager
Average Price: $40

The Whiskey:

This very small release from Portland’s Hopworks Urban Brewery utilizes the craft brewery’s much-adored Orangic Hub Lager. The juice is twice distilled by New Deal Distillery who also ages it in a variety of American oak barrels. The whiskey is then blended and bottled with no age statement.

Tasting Notes:

An apple orchard with hints of dark spices greets you. There’s a puff of dry tobacco smoke that leads to less apple and more dried herbs and dark spice wrapped in an old leather pouch. The sweetness leans towards brown sugar as a distant hint of bitter dark chocolate arrives before the swift and mild final note.

Pursuit Distilling Northwest Craft Brewers Series 2.0

ABV: 47%
Distillery: Pursuit Distilling Co., Seattle, WA
Beer Base: Scuttlebutt Brewing Hoptopia
Average Price: $70

The Whiskey:

This small yet dialed-in craft brewery in Seattle does some great work with an all-Washington grain-to-glass experience. The latest edition to their Northwest Craft Brewers Series (NWCBS) is a collaboration with Everett, WA craft brewer Scuttlebutt Brewing. Pursuit Distilling takes its un-hopped Hoptopia IPA and distills it. They then age the juice for 23 months in American oak, creating an American single malt.

Tasting Notes (from the distiller):

I’ve only tried the Series 1 but Series 2 is what’s available now. This is what the distiller has to say about Series 2: “Red Fruit and Strawberries. Spice and Biscuit. Vanilla and Caramel. Smoke and Malt.”

Seven Stills Chocasmoke Whiskey

ABV: 47%
Distillery: The Seven Stills Brewery & Distillery, San Francisco, CA
Beer Base: Seven Stills Chocasmoke Chocolate Oatmeal Stout
Average Price: $40

The Whiskey:

This tiny San Francisco distillery/brewery takes their own Chocasmoke Chocolate Oatmeal Stout and distills it. They then distill a very peaty malted barley and mix it with their oatmeal stout spirit. That juice is then aged for a short six months in small-format oak (which works faster than larger barrels). The final product is small batched and bottled in a bottle adorned with art from local artists.

Tasting Notes:

Bitter chocolate dances with toasted oats and sourdough malts. The sip keeps those flavors as a foundation for notes of vanilla, stone fruit, honey, brine, caramel, and peaty smoke. A dark and sharp spice warms this velvety dram on the end as the peat, salty caramel, and vanilla slowly fade away.

It could and should be argued that Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP is one of the most influential albums of all time. Even just considering “Stan,” there are only so many songs that have spawned officially recognized new words. Eminem was on top of his game during that era, and that also applied to the videos he released from the album. Videos for the album’s singles have racked up hundreds of millions of views on YouTube over the years, and they haven’t even been available in HD. Well, that changes today: The official videos for “The Real Slim Shady,” “The Way I Am,” and “Stan” (both the long and short versions) have been remastered and can now be watched on YouTube in full 1080p high definition.

Eminem has been celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Marshall Mathers LP this year, and the refreshing of the aforementioned videos is the latest fruit of that effort. The videos are available at the same YouTube URLs they have always been (meaning view counts are preserved), but now, viewers are able to watch them in 720p and 1080p, and they look better than they ever have. So, here is your chance to clearly see every detail of Eminem’s fake butt in the “Slim Shady” video.

Watch the remastered videos above and below.

Since last November, Disney+, Apple TV+, and HBO Max have entered the streaming wars, with Peacock set to debut in July. That’s a lot of hashtag content. But let’s not forget dependable ol’ Hulu, because while it may lack the Studio Ghibli library or that The Newsroom-looking show with Rachel from Friends and Michael Scott from The Office, it’s the only streaming service with Into the Dark: Good Boy, a.k.a. MURDER DOG.

Directed by Tyler MacIntyre, Good Boy is the latest installment in Hulu’s horror anthology series Into the Dark, where every episode is centered around a different holiday (or “holiday,” in the case of Pet Appreciation Week). Here’s the official synopsis: “When Maggie gets an emotional support dog to help quell some of her anxiety, she finds him to be even more effective than she imagined… because unbeknownst to her, he kills anyone who adds stress to her life.” In case “an emotional support dog starts killing people” doesn’t do it for you (it should), Good Boy also stars Judy Greer, Steve Guttenberg, Ellen Wong (Jenny from GLOW), and Chico the Dog as the titular good boy.

As seen here:

What a good blood-covered boy. “How could you do this? You’re only 10 pounds,” an incredulous Judy Greer asks in the trailer above. I will buy a lifetime subscription to Hulu if the dog responds “I did it for you” in English.

Into the Dark: Good Boy premieres on June 12.

Less than 24 hours after its launch, HBO Max is making it very clear that it’s fully in the Warner Bros./DC Comics business.

The streaming service just revealed a brand new poster for the upcoming season two of Doom Patrol, which will officially premiere on June 25. If the new promo art is giving off strong The Wizard of Oz vibes, that would be thanks to the focus on the appropriately-dressed Dorothy Spinner (Abigail Shapiro) who will play a prominent role in the new season of the fan-favorite series.

And below is the official poster for the simultaneous premiere on DC Universe. Obviously, this poster leans even heavier into The Wizard of Oz theme while also offering a clear look at Dorothy’s unusual face, which was only briefly glimpsed in the season one finale.

Here’s the official synopsis for the second season of Doom Patrol:

DC’s strangest group of heroes — Cliff Steele aka Robotman (Brendan Fraser), Larry Trainor aka Negative Man (Matt Bomer), Rita Farr aka Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby), Jane aka Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero), and Victor Stone aka Cyborg (Joivan Wade) — are back again to save the world. That is, if they can find a way to grow up…both figuratively and literally. Following the defeat of Mr. Nobody, the members of the Doom Patrol now find themselves mini-sized and stranded on Cliff’s toy race car track. Here they begin to deal with their feelings of betrayal by Niles Caulder aka The Chief (Timothy Dalton), while confronting their own personal baggage. And as each member faces the challenge of growing beyond their own past traumatic experiences, they must come together to embrace and protect the newest member of the family: Dorothy Spinner (Abigail Shapiro), Niles’ daughter, whose powers remain a mysterious but real threat to bringing on the end of the world.

Doom Patrol Season 2 debuts June 25 on both HBO Max and DC Universe.

(Via HBO Max, DC Universe)

Last week, Flatbush Zombies returned to social media with a photo implying an impending release. “What’s happening exactly ?” teased Meechy Darko, one part of the Brooklyn hip-hop trio. On Thursday, Flatbush Zombies revealed what the hype was all about. The group announced a forthcoming EP and previewed the project with “Iamlegend.”

“Iamlegend” offers a glimpse into Flatbush Zombies’ first project since their 2018 record Vacation In Hell. Slated for early June, Flatbush Zombies plan a return with a six-track EP titled Now, More Than Ever. On the lead single, a rolling beat provides a fitting backdrop for rappers Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice, and Erick Arc Elliott to deliver their fiery flow.

The group’s accompanying “Iamlegend” visual is a disorienting compilation of many snapshots of life. Directed by PTA HAITI 3000, the video was filmed over the span of two months in three separate cities where Flatbush Zombies’ members were individually quarantined.

In a previous interview with Uproxx following their 2018 release, Flatbush Zombies’ Erick Arc Elliot offered is means of escaping reality, which also stands as a glimpse into the rapper’s life in quarantine: “I read a lot, I draw, I play video games,” he said. “I create stuff all the time, I feel guilty when I don’t. That’s probably my own doing, but it’s just the way that I am. At this point I think I can’t help it, so once I stop making music — which is never — I find other ways to get my mind off of thinking about the pressures of how people are going to feel about it when it comes out.”

Listen to “Iamlegend” above and find Flatbush Zombies’ Now, More Than Ever tracklist below.

1. “Herb”
2. “Iamlegend”
3. “Quicksand”
4. “Dirty Elevator Music”
5. “Blessings”
6. “When I’m Gone” Feat. Sophie Faith

Now, More Than Ever is out 6/5 via Glorious Dead. Pre-order it here.

Being a black man in America comes with its own baggage—literally and figuratively.

Tarana Burke—the woman who coined the original #MeToo movement back in 2006—shared a story on Twitter that highlights one of the myriad things black men have to think about that most Americans do not.

She wrote:

“A few months ago my dude was looking for a tote bag to carry some things to the post office. I gave the biggest bag I had which happened to be bright pink and red. He saw the bag and immediately asked for another one. When I asked why he just insisted on a different color bag.”

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“His insistence annoyed me and I started in on him fussing about it being sexist and homophobic, even to reject a bag based on thinking it’s too effeminate! He let me fuss at him for a minute and then finally he said ‘Baby, please stop. That’s not it!’

He said ‘I’m a 6’3 Black man. If I’m walking down the street with a bright pink bag I could look like I stole it from a woman – which could attract police attention. I’m never trying to give these cops a reason to stop me. Ever.’ Never occurred to me.”

It would never occur to me, either. If my white husband were walking around carrying a big pink tote bag, no one would assume he stole a woman’s purse. No one. They might giggle at him. They might think it was adorable, or even courageously feminist, for him to boldly carry a bright pink tote around. No way would there be a presumption of criminality in that image.

And yet black men in America have to think about how they might be viewed by everyone around them. They have to think about how their actions might make people feel uncomfortable, afraid, or suspicious in ways that others do not.

Burke also shared a second story that highlights the baggage of fear and careful calculation black men like her partner carry around with them. She wrote:

“A few years ago me and dude are out and come back to his car to find it vandalized. He parked by a driveway and partially blocked it and we concluded that the owners had vandalized the car. I get pissed and go knock on the door. They don’t answer so I’m yelling!

He’s telling me to calm down and forget it but I’m pissed! A few minutes later cop car rolls by and they stop and get out. I start to tell them what happened and they walk up on him and immediately start questioning him. I interrupt and say ‘excuse me HIS car was vandalized!'”

“The cops tell me to ‘be quiet’ and just as I’m about to turn all the way up on them he turns to me and says ‘Baby, please…’ firmly. Then he calmly answers the cops questions even though they are rude and invasive. They take his license and keep asking ridiculous questions..

‘What are you all doing here?’

‘Did you get into an altercation earlier tonight?’

‘If I knock on these people’s door what are they going to say?’

I was fuming. Now I’m nervous. They eventually stop and let us go. We ride back to my house silently. He goes home.”

“Later he calls and says ‘Please don’t do that again.’ I got it. I could hear the stress in his voice. I thought about both of these stories today. A lot. I know what’s it’s like worrying that my child, partner, brother or other loved ones will meet an Amy Cooper or worse…

…cops like George Floyd did.”

“I know my fears as a Black woman moving through the world,” Burke added. “Especially one who has been harassed and harmed by police. My deep sadness today is for Black men and all Black people who for whom this stress and anxiety never relents.

So many Black folks have died of Covid. So many of them Black men. It’s hard not to feel under siege one way or another and it’s all just too much. That’s all I’m saying I guess. I’m ranting my feelings right now because it’s all too much. #BlackLifeMatters“

The terrible truth is that black men don’t have to be threatening to be seen as a threat. Black men don’t have to have committed a crime to be seen as criminal. Black men have to actively go out of their way to not look suspicious, even when they are doing normal, everyday things. And they have to do so knowing they could lose their life if they aren’t convincing enough in front of the wrong people.

We’ve seen it over and over and over again. Until we actively deprogram ourselves and actively demand change in our law enforcement and justice systems, black men will continue to be burdened by this baggage that they don’t deserve and didn’t ask for.

For a place to start with anti-racism work, here are some helpful resources.

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So, me. I wear my clothes like I’m driving a rental car.

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I think we’re alone now.

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