Belt’s Beer Garden: Sale of the Century

You may have heard of Detroit’sEastern Market Brewing, as their Elephant Juice is one of the state’s best hazy IPAs. But you might not know that in early 2020 they opened a new offshoot brewery -Ferndale Project- 11 miles north of their OG brewhouse in nearby Ferndale, Michigan.

Ferndale Project acts as EMBC’s experimental arm, with a focus on hop-forward IPAs and crazy sour ales. And boy have they come out swinging! With over 47,000 reviews on Untappd, they’re crushing it with a 4.17 overall rating! And I had never been able to get my hands on one of their libations…until this week.

I snagged a single can of their Yard Sale, a Triple New England IPA double dry-hopped with Citra, Mackinac, and Waimea hops. It’s a beast, with a 10% ABV, but it didn’t come cheap, costing $8.50 for the single 16-ounce can. But I bet if you’re in the Detroit area you can find it much cheaper.

This Triple NEIPA poured a dark, opaque orange color with nearly three fingers of fluffy, dense off-white foam topping the beer. The bubbles slowly disappeared and left a thick coat of lacing down the side of the glass. If it wasn’t for the massive amount of head, you could easily mistake this brew for fresh squeeze OJ…it’s that similar.

On the nose, Yard Sale was hoppy, tropical, and dank. Massive sweet tangerine and orange notes lead the way but joining in are also some mango, papaya, pineapple, and grapefruit. The grist adds a bit of breadiness to the aroma but it’s mostly dominated by the hops. There is a light boozy twinge as well but, with it being double digits in ABV, that’s not too shocking.

Each sip begins with a creamier, thicker mouthfeel. Kicking off the sip are those orange and tangerine flavors…and they do not hold back. It’s a tidal wave of juicy citrus flavors that last uninterrupted for a good while.

Finally, after a moment or two, some pineapple and mango join in on the fun…making it even juicier!

Towards the backend, there is a slight pithy grapefruit note that adds a resinous touch to the beer.

Even with that late resin, the brew ends insanely clean. A sweet, juicy aftertaste of orange remains but all that does is make me want to go back for more and more and more.

Somehow that thicker mouthfeel did not result in a heavier beer. It sits quite light and is one of the most crushable Triple IPAs I’ve ever encountered.

And making it even more appealing and sessionable, is the fact that the massive 10% ABV is completely hidden!! Seriously, I downed this pint in under 10 minutes. It’s fantastic…and very dangerous.

Ferndale crushed it with Yard Sale. It’s absolutely phenomenal.