I really wanted this beer review to be about dark lagers, specifically about dark lagers conditioned in wood, and the subtle beauty of these beers. Unfortunately Josh Stylman, the CEO and co-founder of Threes Brewing, decided to go on a completely ill-informed rant about vaccines on Twitter today, and it would be irresponsible to write about their beer and not address it. If you are in a high level position at a business it can be dangerous to take any kind of political position on social media, especially related to divisive issues. I am sure many breweries are OK with their leadership taking clear positions on certain issues, many have been outspoken on LGBTQ+ rights or the movement for racial equality and probably don’t care if their outspoken views potentially alienate clientele of certain political persuasions. Ranting against vaccine passports or mandates, and comparing them to Jim Crow or the Nazis, is an entirely different matter. I imagine that there are some parts of the country where these views would be tolerated, or even celebrated, but probably not in Brooklyn, where Threes Brewing is located. It’s No surprise that the brewery quickly attempted to distant themselves from their co-owner (although they quickly deleted the Tweet, things live forever on the internet).
There are a ton of problems with Stylman’s statements. For one, it shows a piss-poor understanding of history and a disrespect to the horror of the events he is comparing vaccination to. It also shows a complete lack of understanding about why the people who refuse to get vaccinated from COVID are a public health menace whose selfish decision impacts many others. During every COVID spike our hospitals get overloaded, and the vast majority of people who are in the ICUs are unvaccinated, which has led to a shortage of services for people with other serious health conditions. The unvaccinated are also perfect hosts for the virus, making them more likely to transmit it to the immunocompromised and increasing the ability of the virus to replicate, and potentially mutate, causing the pandemic to drag on. The vaccines are effective and safe, every single study shows that the potential negative consequences from the vaccine are minuscule compared to the potential negative consequences of COVID. I’m not even covering all of the problems with his Tweetstorm, but his obvious scientific illiteracy cannot go unchallenged.
Anyways, Threes Brewing made a oak-aged Czech dark lager called Precipice. They brewed it in collaboration with Schilling, which kind of sucks because I am sure Schilling had no clue that the Twitter rants were coming. I had planned to review the beer today since the beginning of the week, so here it goes. Threes/Schilling Precipice pours nearly black with a solid tan head. The aroma features some roasted malt and a little wood. The malts lead the flavor, hints of dark chocolate, raisin and black licorice. This is balanced by a touch of earthy and herbal hops. The oak aging adds some subtle tannin and pitch. Precipice is light and easy drinking, sessionable at 4.5% ABV. The finish is crisp and clean, with just a hint of lingering malt. Hoppy Boston score: Who cares. Don’t buy beer from Threes Brewing. Buy lots of great beers from Schilling, just not this one.
Previous Schilling/Resilience Reviews:
Schilling Konstantin, Schilling Erastus, Schilling Modernism, Resilience Geppetto
Hoppy Boston 
