New Beer Weekend #97

Another great reason to really appreciate this thread- where else can you find head to head 5 year old Saisons like it’s an everyday thing.
Looking forward to the comparison

 

I usually don’t hit up Total Wine, I will check there soon

 

Torch Pilsner, by Foothills, from @superspak in NBS BIF #15

12oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated 081821.

Pours slightly hazy golden with a fairly big foamy head. Medium to light carbonation. Smell is grassy bitterness and lemon juice, a little bit of a grain sweetness.

Taste is a bit of a change in direction. Soda water with some grain flavor. Grassiness is a light presence, strong bitterness in both the citrus zest direction and the wet, cut vegetation direction.

Mouthfeel is light and quite effervescent. Overall...it's not bad, but I'm not loving it. Still, nice to try, and not bad to drink. Thanks, Ian!

 

@FBarber @jonphisher
My daughter already has 3 episodes done, and she's hounding me to start. I just finished report cards, got some more plumbing stuff done, and a bunch of random shit is popping left and right. I'm trying to get to it. But El and the boys will have to wait. And dang, Obi Wan too.

 

From @FBarber Unseen Creatures Strata All Over IIPA.



Pours a deep ruddy orange with light head that dissipates slowly.

The nose is surprisingly boozy. Slight dank quality. Herbal notes, some berry and tropical aromas as well.

Boozy on the tongue. A touch sweet. Dankness more pronounced than on the nose. Tropical notes with some undefined citrus.

Moderate body.

The sweetness and boozy quality are a little too strong for my preferences, but lots of hop character. Very glad to have tried. Thanks Frank!

 

Meant to say it earlier…sorry about your Flames @Beersnake1. Slowly but surely all of us are joining one another in our teams season ending.

That western finals matchup may be some of the fastest hockey all year, I can’t wait to watch those two teams go up against each other: speed and talent vs speed and talent.

 

Welcome to New Beer Sunday #901!

There's a feeling I get, when I look to the West....

It's time to open up my West Coast Five Year Old Saison to see how it stacks up against Oxbow.

Deschutes Brewery Cultivateur Provision Saison



Bottle Notes: 22 oz bottled on 4/17/17. 8.0% ABV. Rustic Brett notes of pear and apricot blend into this bright oak-aged saison. IIRC purchased the last day of Fountainhead, cellared until 6/29/21, refrigerated thereafter.

Appearance: Multiple pours into a large tulip glass. Golden light orange clear base, heavy carbonation throughout. Bright white head recedes after a short fight, leaving a bright white ring and substantial cover over the base. Nice. 4.25

Aroma: Nice peach aroma, funkiness apparent, mild but enticing. Medium strength. 3.75

Taste: Light and subtle, peach profile consistent with aroma. Brett makes its presence felt, very dry, saltine cracker follows. A bit harsh, but pleasant if you like this mix, which I do in measures. Sadly no one is laying down the funk. 3.5

Mouthfeel: This is a very dry beer, unbalanced by traditional standards. Bitter at first, but the peach brings sweetness in a attempt to balance the proceedings. Light, crisp and dry, drinks WAY under the 8% threshold at first, starts to catch up midway through but still light and easy. Fizzy carbonation persistent throughout, adds body depth to this light airy saison. Cottonmouth, may need to split this into two batches, getting water STAT in the interim. 4.0

Overall: This is the most dry saison I can recall. Have water on hand before you dive in. Beyond that, I liked the peach and cracker notes, wish I got some funk notes but dry dry dry and bitter is my predominant takeaway, needs more balance. Perhaps the age or storage before purchase played a role. 3.5

Thought this would be a close battle, but the Oxbow crushed. May go out today or tomorrow for additional new to me beers, otherwise I'll grab one of the few new to me beers left in my cellar to close out Memorial Day weekend tomorrow.

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass canned on 12/29/21. Pours a very attractive near pitch black with a 2 finger mocha head that leaves a few streaks of lace. 4.25

Aroma is deep dark chocolate, roastie coffee, oaky vanilla, and toffee. 4

Taste follows dark chocolate, coffee, woody vanilla, and toffee. 4

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle carbonation, a tad dry, and at 10.1% it goes down rather easy. 4.25

Overall this is a nice stout, doesn’t out as awesome, but would still say worth a shot. 4

 

This was a go to for me also and I was sad to see it completely disappear from my area. I checked Victory's beer finder and the closest place is the TW in DE; it is showing as $17.99 there and if that is accurate that's a great price for a 15-pack of this.

On a related note right before this beer disappeared from the shelves at Wegmans for good I was going to buy some and saw them pulling them from the shelves and inquired and was told that the beer was being recalled due to an issue and then they told me that it may not be back on their shelves, as it wasn't a big seller...guess that was accurate.

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass canned on 5/17/22. Pours a very attractive milky yellow with a finger sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is orange starburst, pineapple, peach, passionfruit, and apricot. 4.5

Taste follows orange starburst, pineapple, peach, passionfruit, and apricot. 4.5

Mouthfeel is a little bigger than medium, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8.3% it goes down very easy. 4.5

Overall this one is unique, but really tasty. I would definitely recommend this one. 4.5 Cheers all

 

Good day BAs and welcome to a loooong weekend here in Murika. Thanks, @Shanex, for starting this weekend's thread. Looks like it might be warming up and drying out finally around here, but I'm not drying out! Today's New Breakfast Beer:



Maibock from Dovetail Brewing. Received from @ovaltine in NBS BIF #15 ninja strike. Stored at 40 degrees after receiving. Reviewed 29/05/22. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Bottom of can stamped “4/13/22”. Served at 45.5 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 53.2 degrees.
Appearance – 3.75
First pour – Straw (SRM 3), clear.
Body – Straw (SRM 3), hazy. When rear-lite, much effervescence present.
Head – Large (Maximum 5.5 cm, aggressive center pour), white, high density with small rocks, average retention, rapidly diminishing to a 0.3 to 0.5 cm gently undulating crown and a thin, rocky cap.
Lacing – Poor. A few tiny islands of small bubbles hang resolutely on the glass as the level drops.
Aroma – 3.25 – Weak floral hops and a vague sweetish/honey-like aroma. No yeast, no malt.
Flavor – 3.5 – Begins slightly sweet with a bit of honey and little malt. No yeast. However, as it warms, raw malt makes its bitter presence felt. No ethanol (6.3 % ABV as marked on label) taste or aroma. Weak and transitory gastric warming occurs. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Ends weakly bitter with a long malt hangtime.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium, watery with a syrupy edge, lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.5 Are the floral nose notes coming from the hops or the honey? The final strong malt flavors make this some sort of bock, but by color alone, I’d lean toward a helles bock rather than a Maibock. Rating 3.46, rDev -14.8%

Thanks Mike! I obviously didn't like this one as well as you - maybe the box setting in the PO for a week or so had something to do with that!

 

This isn’t aimed at @snaotheus , the quote above is for reference.

Beer nerds are so accustomed to seeing place names with beer styles that it’s probably hard to imagine how misleading they can be to others. It’s almost a shock when someone thinks India pale ales are from India because we don’t even see the words for what they are anymore. We’ve forgotten that craft brewers had to fight the government to be able to put Russian imperial stout on a bottle because of how misleading it can be. Adding “-style” to the term was the less ambiguous way to go according to the government. Note the beer a few posts down from the one quoted above that has “German-style pilsner” stated near the bottom of the can.

The beer in the quote above is almost comical. There is almost nothing on the label to provide a signal to a consumer regarding what kind of beer it is except an in-your-face “German Pils” in big black font and the clarifying “German style pilsner” in tiny, light font below it. That extra part is there for a reason rather than redundancy. It’s like a small shadow or ghost of truth for the main title. If I put this beer down in front of my father, I would think he would assume it was made in Germany based on what the stark packaging and brand name presents.

 

First up is Spectral Trellis from Modern Times

4.25/5 rDev +6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
by gopens44 from Virginia

Looks nice, thick and frothy white head from a moderately forced pour. Fairly hazy but it's not OJ looking. Light golden yellow in fact. Nice tropical melange hit me as I cracked open the can and intensified with more of a mango aroma as I poured it and as I drink it. Taste starts a little tropical but bends swiftly towards a more pungent sweet wild oniony taste, brilliant actually. The subtle sweetness is probably the only indication you'd have of this being a touch higher ABV, because the body and mouthfeel suggests a much lighter beer

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass canned on 4/22/22. Pours a very attractive pinkish red with a finger sticky off white head, with pinkish hues that leaves thin streaks of lace. 4.75

Aroma strawberry, coconut, vanilla, rhubarb, pineapple, and raspberry. 4.25

Taste follows strawberry and coconut are the big sellers, rhubarb, pineapple,vanilla, and raspberry are support players at most. 4.25

Mouth feel is above average, plenty of carbonation, maybe a little dry, and at 8% massive flavor, but easy going down. 4.25

Overall this is a really tasty sour, I can get used to sipping this one. I recommend for sure. 4.25

 

Hello Advocates! Thanx @Shanex for #97. Had this in the wee hours today after work. It's a curious pilsner that tastes good but somehow lacks an edge. Remarkably soft water w/good bready & yeasty action goin' down. Fairly delicate. Cheers!
Alaskan Pilsner
3.78/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
by LesDewitt4beer from Minnesota
12oz can best by dated 7/22/22 in to a Pilsner glass.
L: Pours almost crystal clear straw yellow w/a tightly domed 2+ inch white head w/good retention. Well carbonated w/large bubbles. Random skeletal lacing.
S: Bready, yeast, grains, lightly floral.
T: White bread, lightly bitter, a subtle metallic taste, fairly clean, not sweet, wild flowers, a hint of grass/hay.
F: Noticeably soft water, medium-light bodied mouth feel w/a semi-fast finish. A smooth & round feel overall.
O: Not a crisp Pilsner but curiously rather soft & fresh tasting. Well balanced & delicate. Easy drinking and very good in it's style.

 

The day I bought those beers at the source, I drove home and put the Maibock on ice and drank it probably 4 hours after I purchased it.

And yes, I like it a lot - gotta keep up my rep as a serial overrater.

 

Onsetter Stout

6.5% American Stout by Wolf’s Ridge

Solid no nonsense stout that pours a mahogany body. Fluffy brown head poured from the twelve ounce can. Lacing lasted throughout the tasting. Carbonation is good. Mouthfeel is average.

Nose is dominated by a strong coffee flavor and a goof waft of hoppiness. Very pleasant.

Taste follows nose. A strong coffee flavor is boosted by malty char along with a substantial bitterness and light chocolate in the background. The finish is nicely dry.

Nothing spectacular but a very enjoyable beer especially for fans of bitter stouts.

 

This is my first beer of today, last from the generous @Coronaeus sent to me in the current BIF. When he mentioned that Black Oak was an old guard brewery in Toronto I was even more excited to try this beer.

Black Oak Brewing - Nut Brown Ale (5%)



This one pours a beautiful dark (but see through) brown, and it is crystal clear. The head is dense and long lasting and it has just the slightest brown added to its head. As I sip it down I'm getting some great lacing.

Nose on this beer is roasty, nutty, with a slightly sweet fruity note that gives of raisin like vibes.

The taste is where this beer really shines...first and foremost a walnut like nuttiness is very evident, this gets followed up by a raisin like fruit note. As the beer finishes the roast shows as well as some subtle chocolate. It also shows a nice hop note on the finish, earthy like.

A very drinkable beer for me, light body, noticeably dry yet fruity (raisin) like finish. The hop and roast both show themselves with a low but obvious bitterness.

This beer is a perfect example of why I was excited that an older brewery was still brewing a brown ale. Perfectly balanced and drinkable. Just looked it up brewed as a flagship since 1999! You absolutely nailed my preferred beers with that box and I couldn’t have loved them more @Coronaeus bit I think this one takes the cake for my favorite. When I come to scotiabank at some point I’m gonna go to this brewery.

——-

Memorial Weekend update…

Great Sunday, we picked a bunch of our strawberries this morning and made muffins…



Going to my brothers for grilled food later, lettuce is peaking right now so we also picked lettuce to make salad. Later we’ll pick a bunch of snap peas…spring is the best.



What is everyone else eating, picking, or doing today? Enjoy time with friends and family and good beer of course.

 

Im glad you enjoyed it. It’s been eons since I’ve revisited it. When I was informed that IPAs aren’t really your thing, I thought about some beers I haven’t had in forever. Black Oak still brews what was the best WIPA back 10-12 years ago. I need to revisit that one too.