New Beer Weekend #65

Moving right along to another new beer from @tasterschoice62, Long Live Beerworks DDH Through These Eyes DIPA. After really loving my first Long Live yesterday, I'm eager to check this one out. Look is softly glowing orange juice, with an impressive head that leaves sticky lacing. Aroma very tropical, in this way reminiscent of the LL I had last night, but less bright/more muted. Perhaps a little vanilla on the nose, too? First taste is really surprising, not a re-run of that last LL, but equally unexpected: ripe papaya, vanilla and even a little green pepper, which tastes much better than it sounds. "Bracing" is the word that keeps coming to mind. There's a bit of an herbal quality (not dank) that I think might put off someone like @Roguer that deepens as it warms. Overall, gains complexity, and even a cantaloupe quality, as it warms. I'm probably not making it sound that appetizing, but it really is superb.

I keep wondering why I haven't heard of Long Live before now; a quick Google search shows they're five years+ old. I hope they don't lose some of this quality through rapid expansion/scaled production the way Aslin did, for example. Thanks again, Larry. Another stellar brew!

 

After a very busy day at the store, I'm ready to crack a few new-to-me beers.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34222/515299/



16 ounce can.
Canned 07OCT21.

Moderate to vigorous pour yields one and a half inch white head over a hazy golden body with sticky lacing. Nose of pineapple, orange, and a bit of candy corn. Taste is pineapple, orange, and too much candy corn for my tastes. Never liked 'em! Nice feel, though. Finish is all candy corn and I won't be finishing this one...
If you like candy corn, have at it!
Cheers?!?

 

All NBW BIF #14 all the time for me this weekend, with all of today’s lineup courtesy of my friend @BBThunderbolt. He crushed my porch.

And then he crushed it again.

And then he crushed it again.

I believe a little retribution is in order. But first, I shall enjoy these excellent beers. Doing anything else would be uncivilized.





4.17/5 rDev +8.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Pours a nicely hazy golden straw color with a sudsy off white head that laces the glass nicely nicely. Melon, oranges, bit of passion fruit, and a floral note as well.

The melon and candied orange flavors are forward, with the bit of passion fruit and that floral note at the back of the palate. This is a flavorful, really easy drinking APA that I am digging immensely. Excellent stuff.

 

Rock on Sparty! On to some baseball in the cave and getting into a second @WunderLlama brew, Avery The Kaiser, imperial Marzen, huge sweet carmel notes, buttery, malts galore, there is booze there as expected at 8%, and slightly puts it out of balance, but a nice spin with slight warming that’s unexpected in a Marzen. Thanks Maynard

 

My first disappointment with an Oktoberfest beer this season; I am not saying the beer itself is not good, it is quite flavorful in fact, but it is not quite an Oktoberfest beer. Syrupy in the aroma as well as flavor (though some hop bitterness tames the malt), this is largely an amped-up version of Yuengling's Traditional Lager which I have always enjoyed. I am simply enjoying this one as a heavier amber-style lager.

 

Another week down and it’s great to be back with some new beers to share. For starting late I just had quite a bit of catching up to do, still have a few I haven’t read. My first up is one of the last few beers I brought back from Seattle, all that’s left is a few saisons now.

Heater Allen - Pils



Dark straw color and almost crystal clear. Had very nice head retention, dense and perfectly white. Very minor splotchy lacing.

The first thing that came to mind when I smelled it was wafer. This was followed by bread, grain, some floral notes, lemongrass, and to be fresh air on a spring day. A lot going on in the aroma, lots of refreshing smells.

Surprisingly of the flavor leans on the grassy, floral and earthy side of the nose. It is pretty hoppy but nowhere near overdone. I’d say it’s just about perfectly balanced. The malt is also very present and gives this beer a hearty backbone that allows all the hops to ride on.

The mouthfeel is light and delicate. It has a really pleasantly smooth carbonation and a little bit of grassy bitterness. It’s on the lower side but very noticeable and welcome. It’s almost surprising as it at times seems out of place but to me it works very well.

Delicious and well drinking beer.

@officerbill great minds think alike I think I’ll be drinking a Baltic porter next as well. If not tonight than tomorrow.

 

I've heard good thing about Mikerphone, local, 30 miles away but I've not seen their product locally, purchased this in Duluth, oh well.
3.55/5 rDev -6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a pale, hazy, yellow, white head fades quickly, minimal lacing. Fruity aromas dominate, mango, papaya and others I can't identify. Its a bit sweeter than I'd like, tastes great at the start and by the time I've consumed 12 of the 16 oz, I've had it. Anxious to try something else from Mikerphone.

 

#2, I’m going to join our friend @JackHorzempa and enjoy a weizenbock from @BBThunderbolt, and wholeheartedly agree with Jack that we all need more weizenbocks in our beer nerd lives.





4.35/5 rDev +6.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a hazy burnt orange color with a fluffy white head per the style. Beautiful beer. The nose has all that estery goodness the best weizenbocks feature as well as some clove and banana. I’m salivating.

The taste has all that estery goodness as well, with some banana and more of the clove at the back of the palate. The mouthfeel is very full and a bit spritzy, again per the style.

I’m drinking this on a chilly fall evening in Northern Indiana and this beer is a perfect sipper. I could drink this until it came out my ears.

 

Their beers arent distributed- brewery only. From what I have heard there are no plans to expand. Theres more to the story Im just tight on time rigjt now. Getting ready to see Jamie Foxx at the Apollo in Harlem. Glad you liked it. I really liked You Got a Good Life.

 

I hope this one is better than their last one!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34222/444341/



16 ounce can.
Canned 04OCT21.

Vigorous pour yields a two inch white head over a deep golden, hazy body with sticky lacing. Nose of pine and citrus with a hints of floral attributes as well. Taste is citrus and pine all day. Nice dry, bitter finish of pine with slight citrus pith. Cascade! Nice feel and overall, a great representation of the West Coast Style IPA.
For you left coast lovers, this beer's for you!

This 4Q offering puts them back in front of the 8-Ball!

Cheers!!

 

Beer #4 for today, also courtesy of @2beerdogs is Mind Gardens, a Riwaka Pils from Radiant Beer Co.

First review (added beer to database)
3.55/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Clear & light yellow. Short-lived fizzy head that recedes to a thin ring with a tiny amount of lacing. Aroma is bright and clearly reflects the Riwaka. There's a clear, lemon cleaner scent that dominates the aroma. Taste largely follows the nose. It's a bit of a weird beer. Definitely not a classic Pils. I can't get the thought out of my head that I'm drinking something infused with lemon scented cleaner. I know I'm not, but that's what my brain is thinking. Feel is slightly under carbonated, but not too off base. Interesting / different beer. I'm mostly struggling with the PIls designation.

 

Last one, also from @BBThunderbolt and it features a new hop varietal.

I love when that happens.





4.35/5 rDev +14.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a gorgeous hazy straw color with a creamy white head that laces the glass nicely. I’m not familiar with the Idaho Gem hop, but a little interwebz research reveals that this hop varietal features red cherries, and that is true for my nose, with some citrus as well.

The cherries are prominent on the taste, which works extraordinarily well for me because I absolutely LOVE cherries, but I can see how this would cause some palate confusion because you don’t typically look at a straw colored hazy and think you’re going to find cherries at the end of your flavor journey.

But this works really well for me, and I look forward to trying more stuff from this adventurous brewery.

 

Thanks to @JackHorzempa for kicking this party off this week!
I'm here with a beer I received in a mammoth strike of beer ordinance from Beer nerd extraordinaire, @ovaltine - a pale smoked beer no less!

Almost a mystery beer as I had absolutely no idea what a Grodziskie style anything is, let alone a beer. But we were have stir fry for dinner and I knew that meant hot Chinese style mustard, so I rolled the dice.
It holds it's own!
Poured into an imperial pint Pilsner glass and almost didn’t have enough room, the nearly white head was a good 2” tall and slow to dissipate.
The aroma was smoked something, sorry, couldn’t define it. Interesting if nothing else.
The taste though, it leads with a nice citrus character and morphs into a smoky ale. Pretty wild, this is definitely new to me.
The feel was good, but to be honest I was concentrating on what I was tasting.
OA it’s quite good, especially on a cool day, I’d drink it again!
Thanks for sending me this strange and enjoyable beer Michael!

 

That was the 2nd FH brew I had this year with Idaho Gem, and neither worked for me. Also, cherries is not a flavor I picked up, at all. Shrug.

 

Well @officerbill the Baltic porter didn’t work out. A semi gusher can, every sip the carbonation just masked almost any flavor there was. But I did have this as a perfectly fine substitute.

Enegren - Nighthawk



Pours a very dark brown, if held up to light it does penetrate to a crystal clear beer. Not much retention or lacing as it settles. Islands of lace and a thin layer of mocha brown for the head.

This beer is like drinking milk chocolate bread. I mean this in a good way though. It has a really nice backbone to it that gives it a bread feel. I feel I don’t normally get this from other schwarzbiers. There is also a nice roasty not as well as some light coffee. Both of these show themselves at the end and in the aftertaste, the chocolate still present as well.

This beer as stated above has an extra some thing to it’s body that I find very enjoyable. That extra something does not infringe on the light body though. It drinks very easily and finishes clean.

This was a very enjoyable beer, I’m glad I ordered some of the lager fest singles to try. This is the one I wanted to try the most and it didn’t disappoint. Looking forward to reading more great reviews and opening one or two new ones tomorrow. Happy Saturday Night!

 

Good evening NBW
I decided to save my other milk stout for tomorrow. This is an appropriate evening beer

12oz bottled 08/26/21 poured into a tulip glass at just above fridge temp 11.3% ABV per label. The beer pours mostly bright honey colored amber with off white. The head recedes to a pencil thin ring and an island of micro bubbles. The aroma is mild with notes of vanilla, oak and sweet malt. The taste is semisweet caramel, vanilla, oak, light bourbon barrel, with just a trace of the wheat in the finish. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, very good wheatwine or American strong ale. Not a American Pale Wheat Ale at all.

Luckily, I'm not a fan of the lighter wheat beer styles, so I'm enjoying this one. Nice sipper. We rarely see a barrel aged beer from Bell's around here, so happy to have picked this one up. Cheers all!