New Beer Weekend #32

Starting the day from Backpocket Brewing
Saturday Morning Blackberry Lemon - 6% ABV.

I had another of their Saturday Morning sours last week, and it blew me away - this one, not as much, but not bad at all.

3.71/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Pours a nice red color. 1 finger frothy off white head. The head retention is good. There's no lacing on the glass.
The nose is really minimal. Just the faintest hint of blackberry.
Taste - There's a nice smooth blackberry flavor going on here. There's a hint of lemon. The lactose smooths it out, Not too sour at all.
The body is slightly creamy from the lactose.
Not bad. Fairly easy drinking.

 

Welcome to New Beer Sunday #835!

Heading home today, but not before cracking open at least one new to me beer from this great brewery state.

New Glarus Cabin Fever



Bottle Notes: Lager, no ABV listed. Cool days draw us close to the warmth of home fires. This is the season to sip away the chill and embrace quiet evenings with friends and family.

You hold a Wisconsin Style Honey Bock, easy going and more approachable than its traditional dark German cousin. Bock beers have existed in Wisconsin for over 150 years. This pale bock is brewed with an exclusive blend of Wisconsin two row barley that balances seamlessly with our special European hops. Naturally sweet Clover Honey was added in the kettle accenting warm flavor notes on your tongue.

Whether you reminisce the passing summer sun or thrill to squeaky steps through drifting snow one thing is certain about winter in Wisconsin - this too shall pass.

Appearance: 12 oz bottle poured into large snifter. Clear golden crystal clear orange pour, persistent carbonation. Nice bright white head leaves creamy full ring around the glass. 4.0

Aroma: Bold bready malt aroma, nice peppery spicy lager aroma, backed by light sweet honey. 4.25

Taste: Taste mirrors aroma, bread malt taste strong and pleasant, malt sweetness balanced nicely by complementary hops bitterness. Well balanced enjoyable lager. 3.75

Mouthfeel: Medium creamy body for a lager, carbonation consistently present throughout, lightly dry and bitter, easy crisp clean, very clean finish and easy drinking. 4.25

Overall: This is a solid balanced lager consistent with the style, honey notes mentioned in bottle notes not detected, but malt swwwt enough, balanced well by a significant hop presence. Cabin fever has broken, and I’m enjoying this one very much. Glad I scratched my long New Glarus itch this weekend! 4.0

 

Good day BAs! Overcast, gloomy, and the weather-guessers have scheduled rain all day today. Off tomorrow to pick up the first load of brews for BIF #13 - some are already planned out because I KNOW you haven't had them. The rest, well, I'll wait on target assignments before selecting. If you haven't reviewed them on BA, they're fair game. And I'm looking forward to driving (say, MI and maybe TX) to pick them up. But, for today, today's New Breakfast Beer:




Citraholic IPA from Beachwood. Received on 21/2/21, cost $ 8.17 (Including shipping) for a 16 oz can ($ 0.510/oz) from Craftshack, San Diego, CA. Stored at home at 42 degrees. Reviewed 28/2/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on bottom rim “C1-CITRA 11/30/20”. Served at 50.1 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 56.3 degrees.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Pale Straw (SRM 2), clear.
Body – Straw (SRM 3), slight haze. When rear-lite, same.
Head – Large (Maximum 4.5 cm, aggressive center pour), white, medium density, average retention, leaving a three to six mm undulating crown, and a thin partial cap. Second pour produces a seven mm head.
Lacing – Fair. Blocky bands of very tiny to small bubbles, connected by short columns.
Aroma – 4 – Begins with bright citrus when the can is opened but quickly slides into a musty citrus. No malt, no yeast.
Flavor – 4 – Begins crisp and slightly bitter with moderate generic citrus. No malt, no yeast. No alcohol (7.1 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Toward the end of the second pour at the warmer temperature, the citrus has faded and the earthy/herby/woody simcoe hops have begun to arise. Ends moderately bitter and a bit earthy with a long hang-time.
Palate – 3 – Medium, watery, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 Overall, a good IPA that I’d like to try when it’s fresher (Craftshack sat on the shipment about a month because of the weather here in the NE – damned if you do, damned if you don’t!) Still, one I’d like to try again – I like the hops blend used. Thanks for putting the malt and hop bills on the can!

Rating 3.85, rDev -9%.

 

Hello NBW
I bought a single of this one...

Founders Panther Cub
12oz bottled 01/29/21 poured into a perfect pint glass at fridge temp 9.2% ABV. The beer pours dense dark brown with chocolate tan colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island. Heavy, sticky lacing coats the glass. The aroma is mild with notes of dark chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, coffee and maple. The taste is semisweet maple & vanilla right up front with lesser flavors of roasted malt and slight barrel char & bourbon on the end. Mild bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with just less than medium carbonation and a fairly wet, sticky finish that stops short of cloying. Alcohol is well hidden. Overall, good. A little sweet for my palate and I would bet the bourbon barrels are second use (for beer) because the bourbon is minimal.

I'm okay with a single here, as I suspected. Off for a nap and another nightshift. Cheers all and enjoy the new beer in your glass today!

 

Sounds delightful!

 

Ok, I was going to run some errands. I walk outside to several inches of snow. So much for only a 25% chance of it. I turned around, and popped open this sent to me in a BIF by a former member of this site @azuelke


Pulp - Civil Society brewing - Wheat Ale - 6.3% ABV.

Not bad at all. I am grateful to him for sending it to me. Nice orange flavor, that mellows out to the "wheat" flavor on the back.

Review:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/43215/211322/

4.11/5 rDev -6.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Pours a nice straw color. 2 finger frothy, fluffy white head. The retention is very good, and there's nice lacing on the glass.
The nose is full of orange, I'm also getting a faint hint of "wheat" - a bit of banana, and clove.
Taste - Up front tons of orange, that mellows out on the backside, and the wheat flavors kick in.
Somewhat crisp feeling. Maybe a bit light in the body department.
Tasty and refreshing. Delicious.

 

I totally agree - had to buy a four-pack, the other three I'd totally forgotten about until I read your review. Very forgettable. Wasting space in my beer reefer. I jokingly referred to this as "Panther piss" to my salesperson. Turned out not to be funny.

 

Good morning BAs! Today’s new beer is Founders’ Panther Cub; I picked up a single at the beer store yesterday to try today:





At 54 degrees poured dark brown with ruby highlights; good clarity; two fingers of khaki foam - mixed mousse-like and rocky bubbles; excellent cap retention; heavy ring; bands of heavy lacing; thin legs. Maple and a breath of bourbon; some vanilla b-b-bat candy as beer warms. Sweet maple syrup; bourbon; dark chocolate; oak; vanilla; tastes nothing like KBS or variants, certainly not as sweet maple/fudgey as Maple Mackinac Fudge. Medium plus body; silky soft tongue coating; medium minus carbonation; no appreciable warmth from 9.3% abv. Overall, not too sweet, has a good flavor and it has a nice feel - easy drinking; not as viscous or as strong aroma or flavor wise as Abnormal Beer’s Maple Bourbon BA Maple Mornings (Imp. Stout), but for an Imperial Porter a great value at $4.29/12 oz bottle; I will buy a 4 pack to add as an occasional change up to my morning coffee repertoire.

4.75 | 4.25 | 4.5 | 4.25 | 4.5
Score: 4.43 rDev +6.7%

Cheers y’all and enjoy what’s in your glass!

 

Good morning NBS/NBW and thanks @SawDog505 for the kick off this week.
Todays offering is from Cigar City, the Cubano Espresso Brown is a real treat on the palate, excellent flavors, supported by a lovely texture. I will be looking for some more of this delight.
Cheers all

Cubano-Style Espresso Brown Ale

Brown Ale - English | 5.5% ABV

Cigar City Brewing
Tampa, Florida

4.06/5 rDev -1.7% | Average: 4.13
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12 oz can dated 11/30/2020 into the test glass.
A - Mahagony color, excellent tight knit mocha cap. Foam retention is quite good, displaying lovely lacing thoughout the experience.
S - Espresso, cocoa, roast malt with a subtle smokiness, a kiss of caramel.
T- Caramel up front, then the coffee begins to march in, with a milk sugar mixer from the lactose, "coffee lite on he cream please" comes to mind, There is also a lovely cocoa bite in there.
M - Semi sweet start, then a move toward the bitter, finish is neatral and quite nice
O - A very good coffee brown ale. the lactose use is delicate and adds to the heft and texture.
really well done

 

Might as well keep this train going by going light, and also sent to me in an outside BIF


Oshkosh Lager - Bare Bones Brewing - 4.2% ABV

I remember when my nephew was a little squirt, and he loved saying Oshkosh. He laughed and laughed at the name. So this beer name means a lot to me, and brings me back to when he was a little kid. Now, I could buy him a beer next time I'm brewery hopping in his neck of the woods in southern, MN.

To the beer- they pack a lot into this "little" package. Lots of biscuit, and yeast flavor, and I get a faint apple flavor which surprised me, but fits so well here. Very good.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/41883/476830/


3.75/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Pours a clear clean light golden color. 1 finger white head. Retention is really good, and there's a bit of lacing on the glass.
I get a nice biscuit aroma, and a hint of apple. That surprised me.
Taste, like the nose biscuit, yeast, and a hint of apple, even though it's not really associated with this style.
Crisp, bubbly, and has a decent body.
Tasty, and very easy drinking lager. They packed a lot in here.

 

It was!

 

I guess I'm going to keep going light with a kettle sour I picked up in Iowa a week ago.

Lo-phizzibility - Kettle sour - Singlespeed Brewing - 4.3% ABV.

I don't have much experience with elderberries, but i do know raspberry, and this is delicious.

Review:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33560/326280/

3.92/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Pours a nice red color. Somewhat murky, not clear at all. 1 finger off white/red head. Retention is good, and there's some nice lacing going on here.
The aroma is full of fruit. Raspberry is the main aroma I'm getting. There's other aromas, but I can't pin them down., but pleasing.
Taste - Very tart raspberry, but not overly so. The can says there's elderberry and hibiscus in it, that must be what I'm also tasting, but don't have much experience with them. They hit more on the backside.
Crisp and bubbly feeling. The body is very good for a low ABV beer.
Very tasty, and I'm liking it.

 

Beautiful Town. I used to love Skippers Dock just for the view.

 

First new beer for today is Beer Geek Peanut Butter Shake by Mikkeller. I've been fairly underwhelmed by most, if not all the Mikkeller beers I've had over the last year or so. Hopefully this one bucks that trend.


In short...it doesn't buck the trend. This one didn't really work for me.

3.49/5 rDev -11%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Extremely dark. More or less black with just the tiniest of redish hue as I was pouring it. Finger of mocha colored head that hung around for a minute or two before being reduced to a thin ring around the edges of the glass. Aroma is very sweet with some coffee & chocolate notes. Taste is very heavy on the roast, then beyond that is a mix of flavors that I can't describe well, but that aren't really working for me. The best way I can describe it is "artificial". Dry and mostly bitter. I'll continue to sip this for a while, but this is not a beer I'll be itching to revisit.

 

Time for another before my ribs are done.

Ocean Park Pils - 3 Sons Brewing - Dania Beach, Florida - 5% ABV.

And the sous vide pot just beeped. So I'll make this quick. This was from a beer trade to Florida. I've actually been to the city when I was on my cruise back in 2014. Love the area.
Crisp clean pils. Tasty, and delicious.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34778/422620/

3.77/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Murky golden color on the pour. 1 finger fluffy white head. Retention is good.
Nose is nice bread, biscuit aroma. Tons of malt. Slightly sweet, but not too much so.
Taste, bread, biscuit, yeast flavor, but not as much as the aroma suggested. There's a crisp flavor here. Slight tart flavor going here. Not expected, but good.
The body is crisp, and good. Some carb feel. Somewhat "dry" feeling.
Tasty, and delicious

 

2 new beers this weekend, both from the Bull n Bear Brewery in Summit NJ. Both beers are a style most small breweries don't brew. Beer #1 is a 5.9% ABV Dortmunder named Liquid Assets. Drunk at the brewery it's a bright gold color with a thick white head. There s a nice aroma of herbs and malt. The hops used are Hallertau & Saaz, the brewer claims 30IBUs.The taste is malt and herbs and slightly sweet, the mouthfeel is full and the finish is off dry. Overall a fine and enjoyable brew.
Beer #2 is a Kolsch named Keogh Plan. This beer is also gold but not as bright, The head is white. The aroma is mild but complex both malt and fruit. This beer is hopped with Hallertau Tettnanger and perle. Like the aroma the taste is complex, fruit herbs, malt even a bit of mint,the mouthfeel is light and the finish dry. a very crisp, refreshing and enjoyable beer.

 

Eighty degrees here, seems like a good opportunity to enjoy a Goose Island Gillian.
The 12 oz. bottles work well for me.
I can keep an assortment of the Goose Island saisons on hand without committing a lot of money. This bottle was dated 2/21/2017.
Pretty orange color with a brief fine white head. Strong strawberry and brett, with some lighter floral aromas.
Nice balance of strawberry fruit and sour brett. Light pepper note.
Dry and refreshing, 9.7 ABV is completely hidden.
Great for a Springtime day in February.