New Beer Weekend #12

So...Hello Not Quite Late Night NBW (except of European brothers and sisters)...guten abend.

Well it is Mystery Beer popping time in our NBS BIF #12.
My generous sender, @FrankenMiller has blessed me with a few freshies that were not even in the database yet. I mean come on! You can't get mote NBW than that!!! And I've had 2 from a brewery that wasn't even in the database yet (as of last night, but the mods jumped on it and so it's there now), Double Branch Artisanal Ales.

But my Mystery beer is Phase 1.5 by Tactical Brewing Co. in Orlando, FL.

Golden haze pushes a loose fluffy head up 2 fingers, then quickly recedes. Pretty but low retention.Very lite lacing.
Smell begins with a solid blend of citrus, grass, and some nice dank weed.
First sip is a blissful melange of grainy malt spiced with grass, over ripe pineapple, and a hint of weed.
Mouthfeel is slightly slick, a tad fluffy, and carbonation stays along for the whole ride adding a nice twang. Finished slightly juicy with a smooth lingering bitterness that hints at grapefruit.
3.76/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

 

Good early evening, NBW peeps. What a splendid fall weekend here - maybe a bit warm, but minimal perspiration during yahd work...

One reason we like this season is the variety of squash. Butternut is obvious, but we like other varieties better. Delicata is fantastic. We are waiting on honey nut - looks like a miniaturized butternut, but much sweeter and full flavored. Our local farmer tries new things, and one newcomer this year is strawberry crown squash, I guess originating in South America. Super meaty so not much waste, a bit stringy, but excellent flavor.

Yeah, enough with the squash already...what's in the glass...



Everybody can read that, right? Harpoon Midnight in Manhattan. A brown ale with chestnut and tart cherries aged in Kings County Distillery bourbon and rye barrels. 8% ABV.

Pour is awesome. Huge tan head, a mix of rocky and foamy. Clear, reddish chestnutty brown color, cool highlights reflect in the light.

The barrel influence is obvious in the smell. So are the cherries, and an underlying sweetness. Not sure if that is chestnut, but I could be convinced.

I have never had the namesake cocktail, but I think I want one. I expected a heavy hit of alcohol and while it isn't shy, it isn't smack you in the mouth alcohol burn. Pleasantly warm. Cherry, ample bourbon, sweetness, slightly tart, a kiss of the rye. The cherry is more prune-like than medicinal, but clearly cherry. Not sure where the chestnut sneaks in, but I will stick with the mildly sweet component.

The mouthful is interesting. It is low carbonation despite the ample head, nice lacing, and persistent ring and island. It is thicker than it looks, seriously more like a mixed drink than a beer. There is a nice warmth, a bit of a sour sting builds a little, not much bitterness. Dry.

First impression was wow, I like this but I don't know why. Nothing changed as I drank it. By the description and concept, this had train wreck written all over it, but it holds together. My score will be influenced more by liking than adherence to style, but I am feeling 3.8 to 4.0 range. We shall see how it finishes up...

 

A new NEIPA from Lops Brewing Co. Of scenic Woonsocket RI. Sunrise Mimosa.
Lots of mandarin orange. Cheers.



3.52/5 rDev 0% | Average: 3.52
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A sturdy pour from a 32-oz. can into a 20-oz. mug produced short lived finger of white soapy foam with an orange tint. Murky, opaque brownish pineapple juice color.

Orange greets the nose, fresh juice and a creamsicle smell.

Semi-sweet with average bitterness, lightly sour orange juice dominates the taste. The hop flavor is citrus featuring grapefruit with some pine. The malt is masked by the juice, some cracker and toast in the background. Towards the end of the taste, a tart Tang like orange flavor takes over. The finish is long with sour/tangy orange and pepper lingering.

Medium-light bodied, below average carbonation. The brewer stated that this Beer is Newport with added Mandarin orange, maybe a hair to much. If you like um juicy with plenty of hop flavor, this one will work for you.

 

These mystery beers are all fun to see. I need to keep up with the forums more to get in on these BIFs next time...

Until then, my first NBW post. I was going to do a review of one from my Tired Hands shipment, even though none of them are "new" to me anymore, but then I remembered I had some new stuff from my last Tavour shipment.



Anchorage Brewing Company, What Mask?. DIPA with Galaxy, Motueka, and Strata. 8.4% ABV; canned 28 August 2020.

look: 3.75 | smell: 4.0 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.0 | overall: 4.25

Pours hazy but not full New England hazy. I think some light would get through if you pointed a flashlight at it. It's got some good lacing on it that I'm not going to take a picture of.

The smell is piney/earthy, with a very tiny hint of citrus.

The flavor is where this one earns its stripes. Anchorage has always been one of the standout breweries for me ever since I got on Tavour, and this one might be the most flavorful of all the IPAs I've grabbed from them. Everything is balanced just right; each sip brings out different characteristics of the hops. Has kind of a spicy finish that I didn't expect.

It's medium-bodied, I would say, verging on heavy. Not as smooth as the Tangerine Dream from Tired Hands that I almost reviewed for this post -- but I think that's just as well, because you definitely want to sip this one.

I'll probably revise these ratings once I actually go and look up how to rate beers here; the 4.25 is what I rated it on Untappd. Another winner from Anchorage for me, and my favorite from them so far.

 

BIF Mystery beer, curtesy of @MacMalt
First clue is the recommendation for serving temperature- stout?
So I pour into a snifter and witness cola colored liquid settle in the glass and present a light tan head that dissipated quickly.
The aroma was faint and sweet- malty and still sweeter.
The taste followed the aroma, malts and sweet, like no hops at all.
Mouth feel was better than expected, pleasant viscosity.
The color put this as a porter and that would explain the lack of hops, so that’s where I am leaning towards.
Now for the reveal:

Baltic Porter! Lager? I’m confused.
Untied Brewing from New Providence, NJ- Jurmala.
The can states that it’s an imperial dark lager but not a schwartzbier ( sp?) - a Baltic Porter
Well, it’s tasty, whatever they want to call it. If it’s truly a lager, I am quite impressed.

 

My last NBS entry of the night is Aslin's How Now Brown Cow, a milk stout with peanut butter, chocolate, and coffee clocking in at 6% ABV.

I've had enough peanut butter beers in my day to know pretty much immediately whether or not they're worth of my time, so let's pour this and see.

This one is a super-dark and yeasty-looking motor-oil color that caps off with an impressive, long-lasting head of khaki colored foam that retains at a finger or so. Good surface coverage and solid legs with decent lacing to boot. Overall a good appearance for sure!

The nose is roasted peanuts upfront with an authentic salted peanut butter note utterly overtaking the scent. Some bitter dark chocolate and creamy coffee notes sure, but this is almost entirely peanut butter, and it is freakin' glorious if that's what you're after. A co-worker of mine regularly buys and brings in Trader Joe's dark chocolate peanut butter cups, and this smells just like them. I hope it tastes like them too because goddamn are those good.

Yup, it does. Has the slight saltiness/minerality those have with the ever-so-slightly dark fruity undertones of bitter dark chocolate mingling with roasty coffee/espresso and salted peanuts. My god, this is great. I have had about a 50/50 average with Aslin so far, but this is one I am both super-impressed by and also didn't really see coming. It's oily and slick with a beautiful depth to the palate here. I get a lot of coffee and caramel malt with some dense toffee lingering on the tongue even after the rest of the flavors have dissipated. Nuttiness (in the non-peanut butter sense) comes out a bit more as it warms, bringing a bit more depth to the beer. Thick and satisfying feel. Would buy again!

 

Baltic Porter is actually a lager style I believe. Jack's Abby Craft Lagers brews a 'Framinghammer' line of them. If a brewer makes a "Baltic Porter" as an ale I think they are doing it wrong.

http://allaboutbeer.com/article/baltic-porters/

 

My first time trying Radeberger Pilsner.

500ml bottle served in a nonic pint. Label says P 020620 E020921. Not 100% sure what that means, but I think it means it was bottled in February of this year.

Pours clear light golden with a big head and not much active carbonation. Smell is very yeasty, lots of grain.

Taste is lagery, yeast and honey, surprisingly intense bitterness.

Mouthfeel is extremely dry. Overall, nice pilsner.

 

Beers two and three yesterday were shared 16 oz cans collaborations by Beer Zombies. I had a 5 oz taster snifter pour from each.



Galaxy Revenge Beer Zombie Collaboration with Mason Aleworks 8% abv. No can date purchased Sept 24 within 1-2 weeks of release. 5 oz pour from can. Picture after first sip.

Appearance: Yellow dark golden hazy pour, bright white fizzy head leaves creamy fine white fine lacing, light carbonation. 4.25.

Aroma: Pine citrus lemon and mango aroma. Very nice. 4.0.

Taste: Dank tropical fruit taste, mango tangerine, citrus and pine back well. Dry and bitter, complex, works well. 4.5.

Mouthfeel: Creamy rich medium full body, piney resin and syrupy, faint carbonation lingers, sweetness emerges to balance the dry and bitter hops. Easy clean finish, nice. 4.5.

Overall: Overall excellent double neipa collaboration beer. 4.5.

This second one was very hyped as a triple IPA, but didn’t like as much. My brothers wife doesn’t like beer but tried and really liked this sweet offering.



Beer Zombies collaboration with Brujos Brewing. Wizard & Zombies 10.5% Triple Hazy 10.5% 5 oz pour split with brother.

Appearance: Golden yellow murky pour. Creamy white bubbly head. 4.0.

Aroma: Citrus dank tropical aroma. 3.75.

Taste: Very sweet, tropical fruit grapefruit mango tangerine sugar cane. 3.5.

Mouthfeel: Medium creamy body, nominal carbonation, sweet aftertaste. 3.75.

Overall: Good Triple, though much sweeter than my preference. Would have appreciated more balance. 3.5

 

Final new offering yesterday was a full 12 oz can of a February 2019 stout by Stone.

Stone Espresso Totalitarian Imperial Russian Stout 10.6%



12 oz canned 2/23/19.

Appearance: Pitch black pour light tan head, bubbly head leaves soapy lacing. 4.0.

Aroma: Nice roast espresso coffee and malt aroma, strong and pleasant. 4.25.

Taste: Taste mirrors aroma, roast coffee and malt, sweet milk, excellent dessert stout. ABV well masked. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Thin bodied for an imperial stout, slightly creamy, no carbonation slightly dry, slight malt aftertaste. 3.5.

Overall: Very good imperial stout. 4.0

Caught up on beers through today, heading out to hopefully one or two breweries to close out the weekend strong.

 

For whatever reason, this batch of Bernice is the most tart and acidic that I've ever had from SARA. So I agree, it's great, but not amazing. Normally Bernice is something I can easily drink an entire bottle of myself, but this batch is a bit of a struggle. Normally she's fruity and funky, and just a lovely saison to linger over.

 

Craig,

See below. A Baltic Porter is actually a Lager.

https://beerandbrewing.com/baltic-porter-lagers-answer-to-imperial-stout/

I discussed this with the owner of Untied and it seems they got it right. I told him that I was sending a can as a "mystery" beer and he thought that was a cool idea because most folks don't understand Baltic Porters.

 

Awesome work on those beers! I was smiling while reading your description of Sugar Charlatan. It was nearly perfect. My wife loves their "sours" but she hates sour beers. I call them tart more than anything. Great guessing.

Now, after being out all day doing birthday stuff that included four hours of pickleball in the 80 degree sun, it's time to hydrate with the mystery beer from @Pinz412. This comes with instructions to pour into a tulip or snulip. Wilbur seems to agree.



It also comes wrapped in a very nice knit cover that says, "Shut Up Liver, You're Fine." Lily also agrees.



So let's pour this beer and see what it tells me.



My first thought when I smelled it was "sour." My second thought as I poured it was "oak aged." The beer pours a clear apple juice color with a very fast, fizzy white head. The smell reminded me of apple juice or hard cider a bit but has that funky, lacto smell I associate with sours. I'm also getting some oak deep down. The taste made me say, "whoa." It's not really at all what I anticipated. It's a saison, barnyard funk to it that's really strong and earthy. Does this have Brett? It's been a while since I've had a brett beer, so I'm a bit rusty. The mouthfeel is low, fizzy carbonation, and really, really dry on the finish. After tasting it, I'm definitely wrong on my sour notes. Smelling it again after the tasting makes that clear. I just gave it to my wife to try. She pretty much only drinks IPA. She took one smell and said "Barrel Aged." She took a second smell and said "saison." I think she's a smart woman. I would normally be surprised to see ao oak aged saison in a 16 oz can, but I guess anything is possible nowadays - to include me being totally wrong.

So let see what it is. Well, I'm totally wrong.

It's Tequila Barrel Wit Beer from Roundabout Brewery. Called a Maui Wit aged in tequila barrels for 1.5 years.



Knowing what it is, I can see that earthy finish as the wheat in this beer. Really interesting beer and I had a lot of fun trying to figure it out! Thanks, Justin. Now I have a lot of NBW reveals to catch up on...

 

Wait, what? Clearly your TJs >>> than any of the TJs I have in my area!

 

Mystery beer 2 of 3 from @Ozzylizard.

As the bottle is identical in size to number 1, and the crown has similar markings along the visible edge, I’m going to assume this is another Pohjala beer and try to guess which one from the database here. This is going to be tough!!



Pours a thick, very dark brown with a cappuccino head of very tight and tiny bubbles that dissipates slowly.

Looks like a stout to me.

The nose on this is hard for me to pinpoint. I get a little smoke, but it is different than the last one. A hint of baked fruit perhaps, fig, prune plum. I’m not sure.

This time the smokiness remains when sipped, though mild and muted. I’m wondering now if I’m not picking up cherry. I’m not convinced there is any fruit in this beer, but the notes are there.

As it warms further, the sweetness is more pronounced and the slightly syrupy body is more noticeable. I’m not convinced there is any fruit in this stout, but now get the slightest hint of raspberry on the finish. So maybe.

I’m really not sure where to go with this. I still want to say an Imperial stout with some kind of fruit. That said, if I was told it was something different altogether, I wouldn’t be surprised. There is a higher ABV here I’m sure, but I don’t sense barrel aging.

I’m going to guess this is either Cherry Banger or from reading some of the reviews maybe Forest Banger? Fingers crossed!!



No way!! I’m usually terrible at this. I mean, I didn’t guess Rowanberries. I’d never heard of them before the reveal, but the fruit I couldn’t put my finger on was indeed there and is off the radar. The juniper I get now as I finish the last few sips. The smoked malts I was all over. I love smoked beers.

This was really enjoyable and a lot of fun to try to figure out. I’m giving myself a gold star. The Lyme disease is, however, worse now that I’ve been bitten by my second Estonian tick!!

 

One more blind beer to finish the night, thanks @Dimidiata!
12 oz can poured into a tulip

A- Black with a small mocha head. 4

S- Chocolate, dark fruits, some vanilla/oak, slightly nutty, touch of bourbon, some caramel malts. 4.5

T- Chocolate, some roasted coffee, hints of caramel malts, oak, a little nutty, bourbon, dark fruits. 4.5

M- Smooth, full body 4.5

O- A tasty Imperial stout and easy to drink. Nice big flavors. 4.5

Might be a barrel aged Black is Beautiful, but I’m not really sure.

After thoughts:
No change to numbers but the nuttiness and vanilla actually ended up being coconut and marshmallow. Both marshmallow and coconut are hard for me to pin point but once I know they are a part of the beer a lot of flavors seem to come into place.

Modern Times has been killing with their stouts, cheers NBW!

 

What you are describing would push most my numbers 4.75. Still a really good saison, but fruitier and funkier would be amazing.