New Beer Weekend #79

Having a “Bloody Mary”, Best Maid Bloody Mary Pickle Beer. These pickle beers have been really interesting, I personally like them but see how they are very polarizing.
3.93/5 rDev +21.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz can poured into a can glass

A- A hazy/murky copper color with a small head

S- Tart, vinegar, some garlic, sweet tomato sauce, hints of pepper heat.

T- Sour, big kick for the peppers, vinegar, some garlic, touch of tomato sauce.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- Another unique pickle beer from them. Honestly like the spicy pickle better than this but still enjoy it for what it is

Cheers!

 

I really wanted to jump in earlier today but it has been a little crazy at the phisher household and we went to eat at in laws house, they're down the street but still, no chance to review and chime in. This beer is courtesy of @snaotheus and I was excited when I saw it, why? well it is a style I love but also Astoria, OR.

The goonies was a special movie to me and my siblings when we grew up, we watched it countless times in our conversion van (remember those???) at home. We still quote it to each other very frequently. I'm drinking a beer brewed from the town where that magical movie was filmed, makes it pretty special to me. anyone else love that movie? I cannot wait till our kids our a little older so I can share the magic with them, sloth may scare them for a while though...ok back to beer.

Buoy Beer Company - Dunkel Lager



Pours a crystal clear medium light brown, great head gives way to settling lacing and small creamy islands of light brown.

This has a very pleasant and unique rich sweet aroma, almost like caramelized sweetness. Some fresh bread notes and nuttiness too but wow is that caramel malt smell pleasant and the start of the show. I can't stop smelling this one!

Despite that caramelized sweetness in the aroma, this beer is pleasantly balanced and not sweet tasting at all. The taste is all breadcrust like with the malty caramel and nuttiness coming in last. The bread note has an almost toasted character to it as well. Really really nice taste.

Mouthfeel is perfect as well, light body; incredibly refreshing and drinkable. The finish is clean and dry. I didn't really notice hops in the taste or aroma but they show themselves on the finish, adds to the refreshingness of this beer.

Great great beer, I could drink liters of this @snaotheus you're really treating me with this box of beer so far.

This company name is funny cause I can't help but think of this episode whenever I hear the word buoy...

 

Howdy again, NBWers qua New Beer Sunday aficionados.... I pledged to do better in review, and thus.

I return with NOT a Baltic Porter as apparently I missed that memo (huge surprise, I know) BUT I do have a Polish style smoked wheat beer here to share, and it's new to me.
That's right.

Tabol Brewing's PIWO Grodziskie. 3.4% of fantastic-ness. Out of Richmond, VA - is this what they mean when they say the "south shall rise again?" If it's this, then I'm all about it. Read on.

4.53/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
by eppCOS from Colorado

L - Gorgeous pale-straw color, with decent effervescent head, and lacing that lasts around the edge of the glass. But it gets better.

S - Like a wood-shop class that met in a wheat field while it was on fire, all the classic elements of a quality Grodziskie are here in spades. But wait.... there's more.

T - This is perhaps the finest tasting Grodziskie I've had (and I've had over 2 dozen in the last year), and especially given the weight (3.4) - it has depth, wood smoke, the wheat grist is there but not gritty, fine citric-lime balance held in check; great acidity and presence of the malt. Strange, but if it tequila was made into bread, it would taste like this, without the hangover.

F - Carbonation is impeccable, as is the palate impact, and aftertaste of all things good in the woods.

O - Maybe one of my top 5 favorite beers of 2021-bleeding into 2022. Amazing.

disclaimer: provided by the overly generous @77apm

 

Jesus fucking Christ! That beer was so terrible. Not as bad as their Sour Pickle Beer.

But nothing is.

 

I 100% intend to haha

 

Buoy is another solid brewery. Had lunch there once. Most everything I have had from them has been very good.

 

Haha, I honestly enjoy them, but I am a weirdo! At the same time in 100% understand where that sort of reaction is coming from.

 

Moving on now to de Garde Midi Frais.

4.19/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
by draheim from Washington

750mL into a tulip. Pours a hazy honey golden color with a fluffy white head.

Aroma is bright and acidic, very grapefruit forward. Not tart or sour as expected, just totally dominated by grapefruit rind from the Strata dry hopping. A hint of horse blanket as it warms.

Taste is clean and acidic with more grapefruit, light bready malt. Juicy, gently sour, dry oak on the finish.

Mouthfeel is balanced and soft, super drinkable and refreshing.

Overall a balanced, delicious, well made wild ale.

 

It appears I could go on a month long vacation of Oregon and Washington and never run out of great breweries to visit. I just checked their beers, definitely looks like a place to add to that list.

 

Day #2, another pair from Transient. This first one is a cask aged Helles lager featuring chestnuts.

Nothing to see here, move along …..





4.1/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
by ovaltine from Indiana

Pours a slightly hazy golden straw color with a foamy white head that can get explosive with a pour this is too aggressive. The nose has a nice lemongrass note and a definite nutty aroma as well.

The lemongrass is deliciously forward on the taste, with a woody, nutty flavor at the back of the palate and the slightest smidge of esters. The mouthfeel is crisp and a bit spritzy.

This is a really cool spin on a Helles lager that I’m glad I tried, and would gladly have again. Tasty stuff.

A moment ago Edit Delete

 

A local place by us Double Nickel does one each Christmas Larry if you're every in south jersey at christmas time. They do saint nickels pickle and saint nickels spicey pickle, I have to say I have not been brave enough to try it ever. But I think it sells out each year so there are plenty of weirdos out there, don't worry. I'm one of them too, just not weird enough for pickle beers

 

Ha! It's always funny when someone from nowhere near you opens your eyes to a beer from your own [extended] back yard. Luckily(?) I can feel this way because you list your location on your profile

I have seen Tabor at my local shop, but definitely not that beer. I'll start paying closer attention, though. There's also a Virginia Beach brewer (Commonwealth) that does a Grodziskie that I like well enough. Maybe the planets and stars can align and I find both so I can do a side-by-side.

 

Yeah, although I went to HS and college in Virginia, I left long before any real beer scene took off, so it's great to see some great VA beer product. Tabol's Pilsner (Marke? I think they called it) was also stellar, if you're into the style. Cheers!

 

Usually not in that area that time of year but might try to find the time next December to make that happen. It’s not too far outside Philly so it’s not a bad trip for me

 

I’ll help you out if I remember

 

Actually, you can live here for 15 years and keep discovering great stuff!

 

Fay Fuller from Fair Isle.
4.45/5 rDev +5.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Can from Lupulo Santa Cruz, ca.
Golden slightly opaque yellow. Minimal/moderate head with lacing.
Bretty tart nose.
Taste is lemon/citrus, cracked pepper, tart, little funk. Stonefruit notes. Vanilla notes.
Textbook saison body. Light and dry, slightly tart finish.
Very nice.
What is interesting about this one is is strattles the edge of a “clean” or non-ba saison and a ba saison. There’s some tart and funkiness but it’s very subtle. At the same time the cracked pepper and hay notes are there.
The label does say “feral yeast & bacteria” and they’re definitely in there funking it up. (In a good way).
Easy to drink. Recommended! Especially if it’s available in cans that anyone can buy for a reasonable price. You don’t even have to be in the exclusive Grandma’s knitting club.

 

#2, this is Kamigoye, a 12.5% collab BA imperial stout from Transient and Magnanimous Brewing aged in Old Fitzgerald bourbon barrels with vanilla beans.

Again, nothing to see here, please move along.







4.6/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
by ovaltine from Indiana

Pours black with a dark tan head and mahogany brown on the edges, aka “the Transient ‘Baller Stout’ look.” The nose has a decadent milk chocolate note, bourbon, and vanilla - lots of vanilla.

The taste is led by that delicious milk chocolate flavor, but what makes this beer for me is the interplay between the barrel and the vanilla - it is rich, it is decadent, and then at the very back of the palate, a little stone fruit flavor sneaks in to plant a big ol’ cherry (pun intended) on the top of this magnificent beer.

World class stuff, IMHO.

 

Great start, Jack!