New Beer Weekend #37

Hello New Beer Weekend. And Happy Easter to those who celebrate at this time on the calendar. @SawDog505 Great opening, thanks for the thoughts. I too have a recent birthday of one of my blessings this weekend. Sounds like we have children around the same age.

As for beer, I am awash in fine fermenteds this weekend thanks to the mammoth generosity of @MacMalt . He hit me so hard in our NBS BIF #13 that I believe I will remain fully hydrated until summer. First off, Space Hurricane from Tin Barn Brewing.
Check out the cool Slack Tide glass he sent me also.


My first Tin Barn beer.
Pours a hazy, subdued orange-gold. Assertive, fluffy white foam breaches my glass. Slowly settles into a nicely packed finger high cap. Solid retention.
Nose bursts with pineapple. Slowly hints of mango come in and then make way for bright citrus notes of tangerine, orange, and subtle grainy sweetness.
The flavor follows the nose in more understated tones, but still excellent. The pineapple is no longer the headliner. Now this is more of a chorus line. Tangerine, pineapple, mango, ripe cantaloupe, lemon, and a creamy, mildly sweet grain note that to me comes off as oats. A slight pithy bitterness comes through near the end.
Mouthfeel is fantastic. Carbonation is active, keeps things alive. Fluffy mouthfeel really allows room for the flavors to dance, coming together and then peeling off to solo.
Love this one. What a great introduction to Tin Barn Brewing.
4.37/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

What a great start to an amazing barrage of beer. A thousand thanks, Rob.

 

I like the glass too, but every time I use it I wonder if it will be the last.
Hoppy Easter right back at you.

 

Fluorescent by Bearded Iris

4.25/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25



Clear Bomber bottle poured into stemmed bearded iris glass

A wild ale aged 12-24 months in French oak wine barrels, then conditioned with incandescent stacks of zappy tart cherries and raspberries. “Expect poppy notes of cherry pie and raspberry sorbet.”


Given to me by Bearded Iris brewer/ owner Paul Vaughn . Anniversary edition , from his cellar

Frothy two finger pink foamy top over a ruby red translucent liquid

Aroma is tart crisp cherries, cherry taste first, raspberries and then the tartness

Taste is tart , crisp cherries, raspberries

Tartness nicely lingers

Good beer

 

And a warmup for today... Stranger Times VI by Smog City.


Labeled as a DDH IPA. No hops or grains listed but it is straw to yellow in pour, fluffy white abundant head Good retention with scattered lacing. Smell is both herbal and generally tropical. A dry earthy grain note is there too.
Flavor is mildly tropical, again no distinct fruits noted. Mildly herbal with hints of lemon zest.
Mouthfeel is fine for style, light to medium, decent carbonation.
Overall a fine hot day beer.
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.62/5 rDev 0%

 

Greetings NBW and Happy Easter-

First up today is pFriem Pilsner, courtesy of @kemoarps in NBS BIF, 13th edition (thanks, I’ve been wanting to try this one!)




A: Crystal clear yellow gold. Large, dense white head with excellent retention, leaving behind lots of sticky lacing.
A: Grass, lemon, bread, herbs, malt
T: Cracker, lemon, pale malt with light honeyed sweetness balanced with the perfect amount of hops bite.
M: Medium carb, light medium body. Crisp, peppery finish with mild lingering grassy bitterness.
O: Delicious, and at 4.5% perfect for easing into a Sunday afternoon. Superbly balanced, just enough tasty hops and pepper on the end, seriously tough to set down without taking another sip. In fact this disappeared before I could finish typing out this brief review. Needs to be packaged in a bigger container...

 

That’s a great glass @2beerdogs i wondered what it was doing all the way out in California till I saw who sent it. Cheers.

 

@Victory_Sabre1973 chose well when deciding to include this as one of the great beers he sent me as part of NBS #13. I really enjoy sour / wild ales, and I have a soft spot for Surly, after having spent a great (but expensive) day in their taproom the Friday before the Super Bowl a few years ago (I'm an Eagles fan, so that was a great weekend overall!)

Anywho, let's see what this can of Pentagram brings to the table.

4.15/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance is reminiscent of root beer, both the actual pour and in the glass. Small amount of fizzy, short-lived head. Aroma is quite vinous, but with plenty of sour / funky notes that I am immediately intrigued by. Taste is really interesting. Plenty tart, but not one dimensionally so. There's a really nice underlying funk that is balanced with the vinous notes and maybe a bit of cherry lurking in the background. Overall, this is refreshingly complex and just an overall very interesting beer.

I really enjoyed this. Love a good, complex beer with plenty of depth. Thanks again, James!

 

Hey what's going on!

Enjoy the weekend all. I couldn't get a cut leg of lamb (sold out ) in time, so I am doing up a turkey.

This is actually a good thing, cause last Thanksgiving my turkey turned out terrible. This shall be redemption!

what's new for our hero today?

Other Half Brewing - Radiant Cut



Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Pale lemon custard yellow, solid and opaque and unmoving. A real fine creamy forming head, nearly nitrous and an easy three fingers tall. Settles nicely with a real soft top and rings and sheets of light bubbled lacing. Real impressive head.

Very nice hop angle. Simple tropical hop note, more towards a light pineapple. Hints of creamy like sweetness somewhere in the vein of cream/vanilla as well. Hints maybe even a little candied orange citrus as well.

Palate seems to keep it simple. A nearly wet session like feel, but just enough to keep the flavors flowing on subsequent sips. Mid palate continues with no surprises, but a touch more towards pineapple and orange, with maybe even a hint of fizzy soda in the mix too. Finishes slightly gaseous, with more of clean and rocky mineral water mixing in with the nice fruit character as well.

Very nice toned down IPA.

look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.05/5

Cheers!

 

We were supposed to travel over May of 2020 but obviously that trip was cancelled...on the bright side when we do finally get to head over it'll be with an even greater appreciation for their beer!

 

After spending the last several days drooling over the cans that have taken over my counter as a result of @FBarber 's generous first (of three? four? when will the madness end? WILL it end?) boxes, I finally have finished my work stretch and as such can begin my exploration of this mountain of midwest munificence. This BIF is crazy, y'all. I implore you to join in next time because hot damn if it isn't a boat load of fun through every step of the way.
I decided to start small, as I am exhausted after this stretch, but needs must stay up for a couple of more hours, and should probably be able to keep my wits about me when entering o ut into the big bright world of other people. And then, mercifully: sleep.
Skeleton Cruise, like Skrap Metal was for @Bluecrow before me, is my first foray into the offerings of Hop Butcher For the World.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the hugest fan of the current zeitgeist within the craft brew hobby towards colloidal, bitterless IPAs, so when I poured this can, and was able to read the fine print on the label through the beer in the glass, I was quite excited. Someone was ready to delve into the classics, to indulge in nostalgia and get back to some good old crisp, bitter, clarity. Wow, I just realized I identify with those descriptors WAY too much.



Anyway,
The pour was crisp and perfectly clear the colour of apple juice. Nice little white head composed of fine fine bubbles, not so much foam. Minimal lacing.

The word I kept coming back to for the aroma was: 'pleasant.' Lightly sweet, some lemon juice, it's nice. As it warms, the berry flavours listed on the can come forward a bit more, but almost in a sugary cereal kind of way that distracts from my quaint little daydream.

Sipping brings it back to that initial pleasant fruity sweetness the aroma led with, but then the second hand slaps you across the face with concentrated bitter lime pith and just doesn't let up. I said up top that I miss bitter IPAs, but I have to be honest: this isn't my favourite route by which to come back to that broad descriptor. Lime zest, and somewhat herbacious, it just completely dominates... it's lacking a certain amount of balance. It reminds me of that era of the WCIPA dominance when it was all about just trying to max-out the IBUs, damn the rest of the construction. Like a nostalgia-movie written by someone who is clearly of hte new school, and sure they've studied the classics, but you can tell that they're trying to crib the style rather than building it from natural expression.
This sounds harsher than I mean it to. And I'm always a little uncomfortable giving anything but a glowing review to a brew that was a (generous) gift, but ultimately I need to be more comfortable with not trying to please everyone and just be objectively honest, ha. (this may be reflections on this stretch at work creeping into my beer review...)

I am super grateful to Frank for having sent this along and am glad to have gotten to try it and continued to hone my experiences and thus my understanding of my own preferences.

Thanks, Frank!

 

A pleasant surprise from Springfield, VT.'s Vermont Beer Makers' New England IPA Series. This series uses the names of some of Vermont's highest peaks.
Cheers!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/60010/542225/



16 oz. can.
Canned late March, 2021.

Moderate pour yields a one inch white head over a cloudy, golden body with some lacing. Nose of tropical fruit and citrus with a bit of floral attributes as well. Taste mirrors nose nicely with an abundance of orange juice and a finish of slight citrus pith bitterness. Nice feel and overall, a clean and smooth, easy drinking IPA that I would recommend to everyone.
Cheers!!

 

A new to me Trappist Strong Dark Ale. I guess this is a relativity new Trappist brewery to begin with. Always up to try some of these.

Zundert 8, at 8% ABV


Pours an almost opaque cloudy amber/brown color. A dense beige head forms and sticks around with plenty of spiderweb looking lace left behind.
Oh man the nose is spicy, peppery, estery, Lots of malts. Banana bread for sure. A little caramel covered apples comes out. This is great.
Taste wise, love that estery banana, spiced apples, and clove. Baked bread, apple cinnamon spice. Toasted malts. Plenty of sweetness, but never overly cloying at all.
A full body, with moderately crisp carbonation. Though becomes ultra smooth as this breaths. and just a bit chewy from the malts. This is a wonderful Belgian Strong Dark Ale to sip on and enjoy for an afternoon. Especially with a good book (in the middle of my Chang-Rae Lee marathon reading session)

Yeah, this is a spot on Trappist Belgian Strong Dark as far as I'm concerned. Love the almost banana bread like mixture that comes from the esters and malts. Well done for me, and will be looking forward to getting their other Belgian Dark/Quad if I can find it on the shelf here.

Overall score is 4.29, an easy A for me.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33472/107400/?ba=champ103#review

 

Happy Easter NBS/NBW and thanks @SawDog505 for hosting this week.
Todays offering is from Schilling Brewing in NH,
It was a little heavy handed, thick, really yeast forward, the wheat seemed an aside.
Flavors are broad, with banana, and clove in the foreground, with a slightly metallic hint that was growing during the experience.

Fabulant

Bock - Weizenbock | 6.5% ABV

Schilling Beer Co.
Littleton, New Hampshire

3.96/5 rDev +3.1% | Average: 3.84
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 500 ml bottle with no date, into the test glass.
A - Cloudy straw color, lots of yeast in the bottle, steady carbonation feeds a thin white cap. Lacing is ring after ring.
S - Banana, clove, hint of orange, a bit of spicey esters but muted.
T - Yeast forward, again with the notes of banana, and clove. There is a doughy palate that dominates the entire experience
M - Creamy, with soft water profile. Carbonation helps usher things along. linger is semi sweet and fruity
O - A fine effort but I will not be revisisting

 

All discombobulated with setting up a new PC, but will catch up on the thread before hopefully my second beer on New Beer Sunday #840, Easter edition. Happy Easter to all who celebrate.

Have two West Coast stouts lined up for today. The first, one on sale that I picked up due to the love shared on Beer Advocate. Also loved the Q & A "Ask me anything" series Gary Fish hosted, so like Heretic been introduced to beers I haven't come across prior.

Deschutes Obsidian Stout



Bottle Notes: Bottled 11/19/20, 6.4% ABV, 55 IBU. "Onyx exterior, Intriguing depth. Endless exploration. Explore this bold stout's seemingly infinite layers to experience an award-winning ale for the ages." Bottle conditioned for quality. Live yeast added to the bottle allows this beer to age gracefully and stay fresher, longer. Keep bottles upright, and away from light and heat.

Appearance: Nice dark brown/black base, creamy rich tan head lingers for a few minutes before forming a layer above. 4.25

Aroma: Pleasant roast malt the primary aroma, dark chocolate and light roast coffee backing as well. Rich and enticing. 4.25

Taste: Taste rich and bolder than the aroma would lead, consistent with the aroma. A nice roast malt and chocolate base, backed by bitter hops and coffee. Really like the balance of sweet and bitter, and how the malts and hops come together. The bottle conditioning really helped this stout go strong five months after bottling, refrigerated for less than a month since purchased at the store's room temperature. Would drink fresher next time to note any differences, but I don't have an aspect I'd improve with this offering. 5.00

Mouthfeel: Light fizzy carbonation holds on throughout, balanced offering with malt sweetness balanced by a stronger hop presence than most stouts hold. Works well for my tastes. Light chalkiness with the malt, on the dry side as well for a stout, easy drinking, easy finish, aftertaste of joy. 4.25

Overall: This is an incredible stout. Light on alcohol, bursting with flavor. Stronger hop presence than most stouts, really an incredible offering. So glad I have five more of these. Highly recommend! 4.5

Hoping my second beer from one of my favorite California breweries fares as well later today. Looking forward to catching up on the thread before my return.

Cheers!