New Beer Weekend #60

It’s been awhile since I’ve been on BA. Life got pretty tough with COVID, and it felt like it just kept getting tougher for awhile. I’m not sure life has gotten any easier of late, but I think I’m getting better at coping. -And, at least I’m not working some of the crazy hours I was a few months ago (certainly approaching the 90hrs/week category).
Tonight is a new beer to me.

Other Half – Laid Back

6.0 %ABV

The beer is listed as a “sour peach IPA brewed with oats, wheat, lactose, peaches and Vanilla. Hopped with Citra, Galaxy and Motueka.”

Canned-on date of 8-25-2021. This was picked up from Cerebral Brewing on 9/10/2021 (by my sister, whom I am very grateful to). She was told that this was a collab, and I know they only started carrying it at the brewery within the last day or so, but no where can I find that it is actually a collab, and Cerebral’s own website indicates that this is a “guest beer.”

The beer was removed from a 45ish degree temp fridge after having been refrigerated for approximately 5 hours. Beer poured into a 16oz willi belcher glass. Beer consumed while writing review, and review written on/off over a 40-minute period to give the beer a proper chance as it is fully consumed.

First Impression: Often when I first open an IPA, you immediately get some type of hop aroma pouring up. I didn’t get that – could just be the night, or could be the style. It pours beautifully – soft, lucious, and a color consistent with photos I saw online.

Appearance: Beautiful. This is pretty much what I always think a NE style IPA should look like, although this isn’t a NE IPA. A mix of yellow-orange with a punch towards orange. Very turbid. Limited head when poured carefully. (I rarely pour aggressively, but I will for some styles and if the glass is plenty large or if the beer is a cellared stout. I did not pour aggressively, but many other IPAs I have poured similarly have resulted in much more head. I’m not knocking it for less head, just an observation.) Head dissipated quickly with effectively no lacing. 4.5

Smell: This beer is not extremely aromatic, and to be honest that is real disappointing, as I wish there was a very aromatic presence to compliment the wonderful flavor. What I do smell is essentially a very muted IPA with “sweet scents” that are non-descript, but clearly sweet in character. 3.5

Taste: I don't think that I have as good of a palate as perhaps some on BA. I struggle to identify individual flavors. Also: To be honest, I'm not sure what the style should be – it seems like it should be classified as a Milkshake IPA, but I’ve never had the style to really compare, and from my perspective it is a wonderful IPA with subtle additions that make it stand out. -BUT, I thought that milkshake IPA flavors were supposed to be a bit over the top, almost like adjunct flavors in pastry stouts. The peach and vanilla are extremely subtle – but in the most pleasant of ways. One reason that I have often shied away from wanting to try this style is because I was worried that it wouldn’t taste like an IPA. For this beer – that’s not even close to the case. It tastes just like a soft, NE IPA but with the subtle bump of (faintly) sour peach with a hint of vanilla (but if you don’t focus on the flavor, you’d probably not notice the vanilla at all, although I’m sure it’s presence is still very important.)

There are no hard edges. There's no hop bite (up front, or lasting). There's no bitterness to give me palate fatigue. There's no series of 9 flavors that punch me in the mouth; instead, it's like a cuvee; a perfect mixture blended beautifully, artfully together.

There's no real aftertaste - and for me, that's actually a win. Too frequently with IPAs I'm left with this sort of semi-dry, bitter, green, grassy, piney aftertaste that won't go away. All that remains on my palate is minimal, - a slightly sour, almost hint of lemon with a lightly hop flavor. The peach and vanilla were more prevalent as it warmed. Brilliant.

This really is the perfect level of bitterness to me. Trying to rate to style, but I'm sure my bias is influencing the rating. 4.80

Mouthfeel: I think the mouthfeel is great, and it’s definitely as pillowy as perhaps any NE IPA I’ve had. I do understand that milkshake IPAs are meant to be pillowy, and I’m not sure how this qualifies against the best, but from my experience this is way up there. All other mouthfeel-related characteristics are on point. 4.75

Overall: This is great. I'm really loving this. If this was local for me, I'd be the guy grabbing a 4-pack every week, even though IPAs are not typically my bag. But man, this is just fantastic to me. If all “good” milkshake IPAs are this good, I’m down to not only try more, but they might just convert me to more of a hop head. This beer is so easy drinking, and for me the ABV is so perfect, I could easily drink 2 of these on a regular night, and 3 at a party without it being a problem. I mean, man is this good. 4.80

BA Review Score: 4.47

Review can be found here: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33510/347767/?ba=Beer_Economicus#review

Cross-posted with WBAYDN

 

I saw you post this as one of the photos in your haul post recently. When I saw that, I knew you'd like it. I tried this sometime this summer, shortly after I tried a Side Project Langst. Technically they are different styles, but they are certainly playing the same game. I felt like while this was good, it was very much like a "not as good version" of Langst. I guess that sounds like a bit of a turd-comparison to make, but tasting (and judging!) beer is both objective and subjective. Objectively (if you like the style), this is a great beer. Subjectively, it's not as good.

I did get palate fatigue with this beer, which was not quite so with Langst, although Langst was also a 25ozer. Certainly good beer is still being put out at JOs even after Brad left.

 

Loved reading this!

 

Good hearing from you. And that beer is SO on my radar!

 

A rare light night check-in on this glorious New Beer Sunday #864! Needed to cleanse the palate after a day of wonderful beers on the golf course. Ready for another one, this one brewed in the northeast corner of the country, a great place to be in mid-September.

Maine Beer Company Another One



Bottle Notes: 16.9 oz bottled 11:18 on 7/13/21, multiple pours into a shaker pint glass.
Drink fresh within 90 days of bottle date. Do what's right. When we expanded our brewery in 2013, the stress was something, to say the least. I ran out of creative juice for a minute so I decided to have another one for inspiration.

Appearance: Murky yellow pour, light creamy white head dissipates after a few minutes, covering the base and leaving generous lacing throughout. Heavy carbonation persists throughout. 4.0

Aroma: Wonderful hoppy aroma, pine, pineapple and grapefruit, citrus backed. Fruity but in control, not overly sweet. Bold in strength and enticing. 4.25

Taste: Consistent with aroma, nice wonderful old school WCIPA! Pine leads, malt provides nice balance backing. Tropical fruit here as well, though not as strong as the aroma, grapefruit, pepper, citrus, grassy. Complex and nice, very well balanced. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body, heavy visible carbonation nice and easy while drinking, nice balance, slightly bitter overall but malt and tropical fruit sweetness provides a nice counterbalance. Smooth easy finish and drinking, barely notice the abv. 4.25

Overall: These bottles are a bit pricy, but I'm glad I splurged ($7.49 + tax) and took a gamble considering the two months on the bottle. This one is a pleasure, from the moment the nice aroma burst through during the pour to this stage with about half left. Another great one by Main Beer Company, this stands toe to toe with the best WCIPAs I've enjoyed over the years! 4.5

Looking forward to catching up with the weekend posts here, and being steered to more great beers by awesome BA's from around the globe!

Cheers!

 

What a fantastic pic.

 

Darwin!!! Good to have you back. Stay well.

 

That hate is a scientific constant, kind of like the Periodic Table. Likewise with the Washington R er Football Team

 

Thanks! You'll be seeing a message from me very soon! Very glad to be back. Also, I haven't forgotten. You know what that means.

Likewise, and much like my comment above, expect a message soon as well. Really appreciate the warm reception.

 

Pandemic fatigue is real.

 

Well Folks. Anybody on the fence...
NBS BIF #14 Sign Up Thread

Closes tonight...

 

Let's see how the next 2 months go, and Maybe #15 will be my way back into the fold. Still aching to jump back into one of those. What a fun time.

To anyone on the fence, you won't have much more fun than joining the NBS BIF. All you need is:

• Love beer
• Love sharing beer
• Love posting on BA
• Have at least some time to read and reply a few times a week to the thread(s).

There's a reason people often spend several hundreds of $$$s shipping out beer to people. It's fun, it's great to see people enjoy what you send, and it's nice to see people actually appreciate it. And they will. And they do. The people that participate in NBS are a great group of people - Even @FBarber , despite his avatar switching and support for...Filthadelphia teams.

 

Look forward to getting you back in!

 

If I am not mistaken, doesn't Lactose normally thin out a (stout) beer? I don't think I've ever had a stout with lactose that wasn't thin, unless it was a specific "thicc" stout.

I know, clear as mud and twice as thick (or maybe twice as thin if it has lactose in it...), but you know what I'm saying I think...