New Beer Weekend #14

Hmmm... I usually don't pay much attention to price - but I want to say right around $10 for a four-pack from my bottle shop (which runs a little more expensive than, say, a Total Wine).

 

Totally. Many of us try to be objective, but sometimes a beer just works for you. I'm sure we've all had those beers we had "that one time and loved" that we had a week or two later and were like, "wow, this really fell off." I say that tongue in cheek - as it's often just, "I'm just really not enjoying this as much as last week."

Occasionally it works the other way, but not nearly as often in my experience. Either way, it's good that ratings and reviews can be updated.

 

My German neighbors kept their beer outside even in August. It didn't bother me when I drank them, but could've had them another 10-15 degrees colder. I kept some in the keller, but always put them the fridge from May-October

 

You might enjoy the exercise of doing a side-by-side with a beer at cellar temp and the same beer at fridge temp. I really doubt you’ll change your preference, but I’m sure you’ll get something out of it - such as a reinforcement of your preference. Unless I have company, I don’t even put beers in the fridge anymore.

 

Cheers, NBW! Heading over to see some friends later for their kids’ birthday celebration. Dined out last night sans kids for the first time in a very long time. In celebration of our 10 year wedding anniversary, which was yesterday.

Not only a new beer today, but a new brewery in Four City. Orange, New Jersey. Very excited to try them for the first time. I’ve got a fruited sour as well that I’ll post here this weekend.

Cheers!





Look: Wonderful translucent, and hazy dark straw-pale gold appearance that stops short of full on murk. A fluffy, tightly packed, bone white head. Ribbons of lace coat the glass as I drink the beer. No visible carbonation.

Smell: The hops are really popping here. Sweet lemon and lime, citrus, pineapple, pineapple rind, grassy, lychee, and a little sweet, herbal rosemary. Very clean.

Taste: The pineapple note comes through on the flavor. Sweet, tropical pineapple juice, and the sweet piney flavor too. Grassy, lychee and herbal, slightly bitter rosemary, again.

Feel: Nice medium level of carbonation, light bodied, semi-dry. Smooth.

Overall: A very good first impression from Four City. It’s good haze that strikes a balance between sweet and dry. It showcases a memorable hop combination and does justice to both, bringing me back for more. Unique flavor profile. Solid A.

P.S. - It goes without saying that the name of this beer and label art are stellar. I am listening to the album while I drink this beer and write he review. I don’t know the last time I listened to it, but glad I am right now.

 

I had some extensions on my trellis but they toppled over from weight!! oh well.

I did luck out as I have a nearby dead tall tree and it made use of that in one section... but crud it went... UP! far for me to hardly reach it.

 

I went by my old house in Colorado Springs last October & despite my pleas to keep my Front & backyard hop vines up; I saw no signs of their existence

 

Poured into a 16 Nordic pint glass canned on 10/12/2020. Pours a cloudy orange with a half finger sticky white head that leaves thick streaks of lace with solid retention. 4

Smell is mandarin, peach, papaya, apricot, and some grapefruit rind. 4

Taste follows mandarin orange, papaya, peach, apricot, and a little grapefruit bitterness in the rather balanced finish. 4.25

Mouthfeel is medium, maybe a little dry, plenty of life, and at 6.8% it goes down easy. 4.25

Overall this is a nice East meets West IPA, that 5 years ago would have gotten a higher score from me, but rock solid. 4

 

that picture just gave me a great idea, cause I threw my rhizomes straight in the ground...

yeah... you know where this is going and how it turned out. It's spreading to places, so I need to dig it up, chop them up and put them in planters next to my trellis.

fun times though!

 

Fucking barbarians. Probably put sod down in its place. Boring. Cheers!

 

Nice! That Ettaler comparison is high praise indeed.

 

Hey what's going on!?

Well as you may have seen, we were all talking about our hop vines, for those of us who have them. At some point we're going to have to have a new beer to review right?! I mean right huh?!

Well luckily I have a few. Got some real obscurities too.. let's see how it goes.

What's new for our hero today?



Poured from the can into a nonic(k) pint glass.

A deep rich and just billowing forming head. Perfectly cascading out of the can with great control and frothing up with a light tan, and dare I say is that even orange I see? Colored head. Swiss cheese bubbles, a big pop here and there and finger and clingy clumpy lacing abounds on a good settling. The body color stands at a classic opaque walnut brown with deep mahogany reds. Some inspection shows some actual real nice ruby clarity and color. Great looking brew.

Aroma sticks to mostly neutrality. Faint touches of dry grains, maybe a hair of roast. Not much sense of lactose sweetness either coming off the beer. Slightly mineral as well interestingly.

Palate kind of plays it a bit safe. Fairly wet body, almost like a weak porter. Mid palate has light coffee roast but some sugar water touching like sweetness. Kool aid like body for depth unfortunately, but still manages some chocolate cake like quality, but with lots of granular sugar after flavors. Some classic char and roast, but still.. Coming off fleeting and wet.

This is not bad, and certainly very drinkable, but it comes off more like a sugarized sweetened porter than anything. It is however it's own unique thing in the realm.


look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5 | 3.54/5

Cheers!

 

Along the fence line & flowerbed, so I hope not. That was one of my biggest regrets & leaving all those hops behind they were just starting to get into a good cycle as they were only 2 years old & already producing hops

 

Thanks @JackHorzempa for the great start, love me some fresh hop brews. Only got to sample FH Hop Stalker once, when there was still their spot in Portland's Pearl District.

Slipping in a new one before the Pokes football game (likely only Weihenstephaner Pils during the game). Though I did recently grab the Alemanian Pils from Von Ebert, who took over the old Fat Heads space in Portland. Maybe I'll sneak that one in before kickoff too.

First today is Urban Roots' Rock Me All Mosaic, 100% Mosaic unfiltered IPA at 6.5%. Beer is both new to me and BA.



Can dated Amadeus Amadeus 09/03/20 into a tumbler.

L: Slightly hazy golden with 2+ fingers of pillowy eggshell white head with great retention and left ringed lacing.

A: Dank and crackers, subtle hint of berries.

T: Follows the nose well, plenty of malt coming through. Finishes with plenty of bitterness, some acidity lingers on the palate.

F: Medium bodied with medium-high carbonation, dances on the tongue from the carbonation, crisp on the swallow.

O: Wish I could've tried this fresher, feel like the hops have faded a bit given the prominence of the malt.

BA score = 3.78, rDev = 0.0%

I didn't bother to check packaged dates as I saw the beer being delivered at my purchase establishment. But its already 7 weeks old and was not especially chilled when it was delivered. That's something I should know better by now, always check dates regardless of the appearance of freshness. Got lazy in that regard during fresh hop season, so a point of personal emphasis going forward.

 

At Saint Arnold for lunch today. They had Perfect Pils on tap. Labeled a Bohemian Style Pilsner at 5.2% ABV. This is available only on tap at the brewery, I suspect this is just a repackaged 5 O'Clock Pils, which was one of my favorite lagers in Texas, but they discontinued that early in 2020. I haven't decided if I'm going to add this as a new beer all its own on the Saint Arnold page, but thought it would be a good chance to reevaluate this fresh and see if it holds up to what I thought of the original.



Pours a beautifully clear golden/yellow color. Bubbles continuously rise to the top. A one finger white head forms and recedes to a ring Light lace left behind.
A simple aroma of grassy hops, grains and baked bread. Tastes follows suite, and I find it amazing in its simplicity. Grassy hops, baked bread and sourdough with just a touch of sweetness. Finishes with nice bitterness.
A light to medium body. A superb effervescent carbonation, wonderfully clean and finishes dry. Man, I can drink this all day, and in big gulps.

Yeah, this is a great Pilsner. I think this is slightly more balanced than 5 O'Clock was, as that always had a more aggressive bitterness. This is a master class in less is more though. Solid A or A+ for me. They need to package this and send it out all over Houston now.

Pairs well with an amazing and massive pork schnitzel sandwich

 

Poured into a 13 oz tulip glass canned on 9/29/2020. Pours a hazy orange yellow with a finger plus sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace as it slowly settles. 4.75

Smell is ripe melon, guava, pineapple, peach, and apricot really nice. 4.5

Taste kicks it up a notch for me cantaloupe, guava, peach, pineapple, and apricot really bold and very well balanced. 4.75

Mouthfeel is big, rather soft creamy carbonation, slightly sticky not dry, and at 7.9% ABV extremely approachable. 5

Overall another excellent one this series and from one of the best on earth. 4.75