New Beer Sunday (Week 790)

Sorry but thats a Fluffernutter, liberty may well be included!
Cheers

 

More new beer, again from @Pinz412 . In this case, I know what I'm getting into, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm eager to start sipping and writing. Shall we?



Four Points Brewing's Black Cherry Fruitition

Pours a burgundy-plum with a rich saturation. Lovely colorization, looking exactly like a ripe black cherry. Head is half a finger of pink foam that retains moderately well. Aroma is jam packed with black cherries. Beyond black cherry is tart green apple, pear, cellar stone and wheat, crackery malts. It has a sliver of sourness to the aroma, but centers up between sugary and sour. Flavor profile is even more full of black cherries, imparting a little of the dark cherry sweetness along with a twinge of tangy sourness. Balance is great right here, and is further developed and aided by cellar stone, grapefruit, pear and crackery, wheaty malts. Sourness is mild at most, and when paired with the initial sweetness, creates a very dynamic and playful beer. Mouth feel is medium-thin with a crushed velvet, soft effervescence. Overall, drinking like some black cherry juice with a twinge of tangy sourness, this is one intriguing beer. It marries the idea of Belgian fruited lambics well with a basic American wild ale.

Score: 4.25 | 4 | 4.25 | 4 | 4 | BA Score: 4.12 | rDev: n/a (first review/rating)

 

Is this only available in Chicago, or does it see any MO distribution being a Missouri brewery? I haven't seen it, but sounds intriguing.

@FBarber

 

Totally valid. I think that's one of the things that makes me like that one so much is that, to me, it offers a lighter (and low-abv) option that still has a good amount of flavour and existence to it. I could see why that may not be what people are looking for when snagging a mild, though, and the latter analogy with hoppy APAs is valid.

As to the carbonation... I dunno. I think the question about batch variation is the most logical explanation. As Terry mentions, the brewery is all cask everything, and while I don't remember every bottle I've ever had, a quick UT perusal shows a large incredibly rocky head, though I seem to remember a much more still experience as well. *shrug*.

 

I will say, hearing about the "all-cask everything" makes me put the place as one at the top of my list of places to go if we ever make it to Seattle.

 

Well, let me know if you do and the first round's on me!

 

I have a 2020 on deck for next Sunday. If you have one, and it would be appropriate, would you like to join me and compare notes?

 

You and your friends are invited back to celebrate the 400th In America’s Hometown. The town is built around “ The Rock” , “The Pilgrims” and The Wampanoags. Plenty of great restaurants and a quaint downtown. Mayflower Brewing is in West Plymouth and Indie fermentation’s is south of the downtown . Second Wind is good, tiny new brewer in downtown. The New World Tavern always has a great tap lineup. Plenty of other good bars and restaurants as well.

 

So I don't know the lighter lager-ier side of beer nearly as well, having delved into the porter/stout/barleywine side of things when I first discovered craft before eventually learning to love the hops and just never really appreciating the simple refreshingness of a crisp clean kolsch, etc. I'd like to rectify that and @Harrison8 was kind enough to send along a trio of crowlers from KCMO to help facilitate that learning as a part of his box for NBS BIF #11. I enjoyed Premiant, a hoppy pils, the other day with a burger on the deck, and today seems like a good day to go back to a similar well.
We're spending Easter taking care of stuff around the apartment, including getting the herb garden planted (we went on a bit of a binge when we were at the store the other day), so a sunny warm spring afternoon in the dirt seems like the perfect opportunity to get to know kolsch a little bit better.



Conjunction

Similar to Premiant, it's got just a touch of sandy/haze to it, but otherwise looks to be a gorgeous example of the style. Lovely pale yellow with a big egg-white head that takes its time settling and sticks wonderfully to the side of the glass.

Nose is clean lightly sweet malts and a crisp grassy edge.

Flavour brings creamy biscuit and cracker... like water crackers and saltines, but with a creaminess? OK so not like water crackers. What started as an initially assertive blast of herbacious hop bitterness sits a little further in the background as it warms. Not much though.

Sharply effervescent, the carbonation almost gives it a little bite/warmth on the back end to go with the hops.
This definitely feels like a new school take on the style (based on my already admittedly limited understanding), so traditionalists may raise their objections, but as for simple ol' me, all I know is I enjoy it, and thank you Harrison for sending it my way!!

 

A question for you Midwesterners: Wouldn't a 4 Hands beer be available in Missouri?

 

Wow, given we have more diners than any other state, I'm surprised. What, exactly, is a Buffalo omelette?

 

My eldest son is an ‘06 Dragon and the new homeowners are ‘09 & ‘10 DHS grads. Good call on Stellwagen. I highly recommend VitaminSea in Weymouth. There are certain breweries where nearly everything they produce I seem to like ( Treehouse, Trillium, Other Half, Grimm, Equilibrium, etc.). I put VitaminSea in this category. Also check out Second Wind ( downtown Plymouth) and Mayflower ( West Plymouth).

 

I'm trying to imagine that myself .

There seems to be a word missing. If it is made with buffalo chicken, it should be called a buffalo chicken omelet. If it's made with some kind of sausage made from buffalo meat, then it should be called a buffalo sausage omelet. So, yeah, absent all that, I'm stumped .

 

Buffalo sauce with cheese. Possibly some sort of meat, but not necessary.

 

I guess that's a possibility too .

 

Thanks for the tag, Jack, and Happy Easter! I've been showing love to my local breweries as much as possible lately. Today's new beer comes from the closest brewery to me and is the result of a curbside pickup last week. Cheers to all of the breweries who are adjusting so quickly to the new normal and making pickup a breeze.

Jersey Cyclone Brewing Co.
Beach Blonde Lager
Helles Lager | Somerset, NJ | 5.0% ABV

This is a Helles lager brewed with three types of German malt and Loral hops.

16 oz, canned on 4/1/2020.

Pours a deep gold to light amber color with a slight haze. Darker than your typical Helles. You can still see your fingers through the other side of the glass though. Big, frothy white head with good retention. Sparse lacing on the glass.

Very mild aroma of sweet, grainy malt and earthy hops. The flavor is much more pronounced but it's not jiving with me. Sweet, crackery malt that's a little too heavy and spicy, earthy hops that just don't agree with me at all. The finish is not as soft and clean as I would have liked.

This is my first time trying a beer brewed with Loral hops and I don't think I'm a fan. Overall, it's not an awful take on a Helles but needs a little refinement. It's missing that clean, fully attenuated feel to it. Some noble hops and more focus on good quality Pils malt could do it some good.

3.3/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25