New Beer Weekend #110

Yeah, more Texas and specifically, Houston brewery representation . I just reviewed their Munich Dunkel Lager, both of these are excellent.

 

Like I said a black lager sort of weekend…I hope I don’t drop any of these beers while trying to include Philly sports backdrops this weekend. This one’s for you @FBarber and @JackHorzempa

Hog River - black earth



This beer looks black but shows the slightest hints of dark brown only around the edges when backlit. Light brown head, dissipates in a minute or so leaving a nice little cap which then dissipates to a dense ring of head with no lacing.

Nose is light coffee, minor dark chocolate, with a woody note that has some minor hints reminiscent of smoke.

The taste is a nice combination of weak coffee and lighter dark chocolate; a very nice balance. It still maintains some woodsy undertones.

This verge right into medium body for me. It is very smooth on the palate, really creamy carbonation. Low but noticeable bitterness, dry, but not overly so, finish.

This is one very well made beer. It has some nice body to it but it maintains a lot of drinkability. There is also a very nice balance of flavors going on; everything in harmony. Highly recommend it.

 

Good evening. Not much going on at the hidden fortress today. Getting a couple smallish pork shoulders ready for the smoker in the wee hours. It will end up being a few days worth of meals for us - pretty much to where the mere word pork will cause groanings... Think we may freeze some and do the sous vide thing later.

So let's get to what's in the glass and I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't just a little psyched to try this:


Springdale Barrel Room Kolsch Money.

Pours like a beer should. Rich golden color, crystal clear, with a tight foamy head that lasts long and clings hard.

The smell is of biscuity and slightly toasty malt, a bit floral, noticeable white wine, just a bit of lemon, a little yeasty.

This is a very good tasting beer. The white wine like flavor makes a play for dominance, but is fairly quickly tamed by the biscuity malts with just a hint of toasty-ness and a tiny bit of sweetness. There's a nice, bright lemon taste that emerges, but never dominates. There's a little floral hoppiness floating on top and a mild spicy note that lingers but doesn't accumulate. Noticeable but not excessive bitterness.

Light body, crisp, nice and clean feel.

Yep...this is a go-o-o-od one. We called around and found it in a store we frequent about half an hour away as the brewery was sold out. We had no idea there were major concerts at the two venues on the route (apparently Kenny Chesney at Gillette was some huge thing, and I didnt even know Korn still existed) or that we'd catch the start of the thunderstorms, but it was worth the ordeal. I can understand the complaining about Gillette traffic for sure and it wasn't even bad when we were there. This beer is a four-plus all day long. Worthy of the style moniker, in my opinion.

 

Here's Weihenstephaner Festbier. I've actually never had this, not just not had this batch. It's interesting, but I find there's so much good German beer around, I don't find myself reaching for Weihenstephaner ahead of others all that much, cept perhaps for Korbinian and Vitus, which are exceptional.



Looks perfect. Smells is full and rounded. There's a lot of sweet, oktoberfesty goodness. I always think it's cool when festbiers smell like oktoberfest. It's just one of those beers that smell like a brewery. Speaking off, do NEIPA breweries smell like breweries? Say Other Half, does it smell like a traditional brewery? Like porridge and malt, and sweet sugary water et al.

Head has settled but it's coating everything. Lovely full, chewy mouthfeel. A lot of herbal bitterness all about here. Malt sugar up front, but not sweet, more like pilsner malt, just caramlized a touch. Stings the tongue a touch, supremely drinkable. Wow. Great take. Tastes of festbier and fall and other awesome, balanced things.

 

Hey NBWers
It's been a while for me in this forum

Little Rooster American Pale Ale from Trilliums Little Bird series



poured from a can dated 6/6/22

light apricot opaque color, thin to no head to speak of, no lacing, very faint veil.

bright mango aroma, hints of lemon rind, orange and jolly rancher candy

taste is tropical fruit and sour lemon rind, faint hard candy sweetness on the back of the tongue. Earthy tasting but not wet grassy, mango nose is barely evident in the taste

mouthfeel is pretty astringent, dry lingering bite throughout overwhelms the slight candy and lemon notes. I found it fairly brightly carbonated, had a pilsner effervescent type of feel.

overall it's not a bad ABA, one of the better Little Bird series beers. fairly medium abv at 5.8%, not really any alcohol burn or taste but for some reason it sneaks up on you.

4.25/ 4.25/ 4/ 4/ 4/ 4.08 Rdev -4%

 

@Roy_Hobbs it is tiny , on the ocean, adjacent to a residential neighborhood . Shares a parking lot with a small beach . Beautiful ocean views but draft pours require a reservation ( available on the cape cod website) . Has a shop downstairs with merchandise , beers to go (ordered online) and draft pours. Has a tented beer garden with food trucks . Upstairs has a bar for drafts . About a 10 minute drive in Sandwich off of Route 3 once you cross the canal. Definitely recommended

I’m fortunate that it is about a 25 minute drive ( on those days where there is no cape traffic) from my home. Looking forward to the Tewksbury opening as that is 5 minutes from my office ( no I don’t go to my office everyday , boston traffic sucks). From what I have heard that location opening ….sooner rather than later….

 

Loved reading your take on this one, I actually grabbed a single a few weeks ago and now am even more looking forward to opening it.

Ever since I found that beer, thanks to this thread/site, it has been a favorite beer of mine each year. I'm holding out for cans because of the better serving size but I may give in soon and just get my bottles, I can't last much longer.

 

Back with a second planned cross post with the Sour / Wild Tasting thread, with this one falling in the Wild Ale camp. One of my last "New To Me" Cellar Beers.

Jester King Funk Metal



Bottle Notes: 25.4 oz, 9.5% ABV, Sour Barrel Aged Stout. Purchased in May 2020 in a Cellar sale at Local Option for either $10 or $12. Cellared at Local Option, and then after purchase until January 9, 2022 when I transferred to my refrigerator until opening tonight.

Brewed and Bottled in Austin, Texas by Jester King Brewery. Blend #9 - March 2018. Bottle Conditioned Stout Aged in Oak Barrels.

Ingredients: Texas Hill Country Well Water, Malted Barley, Roasted Barley Hops, Mixed Culture of Brewers Yeast and Native Yeast and Bacteria. Suitable for Vegans and Vegetarians.

Shut Up and Listen. Unfiltered, Unpasteurized, and 100% Bottle Conditioned.

Appearance: Poured the first 10 oz into a large snifter glass because of the stout nature of this Wild Ale. Creamy rich dark tan head lingers a few minutes, eventually leaving a dusting over the very dark brown near black base. Carbonation visible rising up and hitting the top. Looks like the bottle conditioning has held up well the past 4 1/2 years. 4.5

Aroma: Weird to smell a sour acidic fruit out of the visible stout, but it is wonderful and on point. Also getting roast malt, cherry, citrus, coffee. Bursting in strength. 4.5

Taste: This is a departure from the aroma, with a bitter coffee grind and roast malt lead, my brain having trouble with the first few sips of this sour based stout, after decades of sweet or bitter stouts. Took another few gulps, becoming a bit more balanced though out of completely disparate corners of the ring, but the coffee grinds are harsh and unpleasant, whereas I typically love strong dark roast coffees and beers. The tart cherry taste is what I do like at this juncture. It is very a very unique and weird concoction, not sure what role 4 1/2 years have played. 3.5

Mouthfeel: Watery and very thin, the visible carbonation leaves no impact on the depth or tongue. The bitter harshness is winning out, though it is unpleasant. The sweet tart cherry still makes its presence known. Only 4-5 ounces in, the ABV is stronger than the already high 9.5%, and tart sweetness the typical aftertaste, though the roast comes through as well. Best way to describe this as similar to black and tan pour, though with a much more different mix separated. 3.25

Overall: This is a strange beer. It has merits, I will try to finish my first 10 ounce pour and revisit over the next day or two, but there is no desire to continue this beer. Not sure I would ever attempt a sour stout in the future either, at least without a one ounce sampler going. in. Still glad to have experienced what I did, but would likely pass on future bottles. 3.25

I'll give an update tomorrow whether I finished the first 10 oz, and whether I intend on trying to finish the bottle likely Monday morning with a cannoli or pastry. See you tomorrow!

 

Single Hill - Dorad-O-Rama

16oz can served in a big snifter. Canned on 09 Aug 10:32. Got it from a CSA coordinated through Brewmaster's Taproom.

Pours a hazy whitish orange with about a finger and a half of head that slowly collapses into a pillow-ridden skin that clings at least a finger up the side of the glass. Moderate amount of active carbonation. Smell is surprisingly mild -- resinous and melon, something vaguely tropical.

Taste is more fruit skin and pith bitterness, a little bit of a marshmallow fluff vibe, resin bitterness really takes over in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is fluffy, airy, soft, dry. Overall, this is quite nice.

 

Ozark/Blackman Brewing Coldbrew Session IPA, 4.5% ABV; 3.98 overall

Pours a very effervescent light gold color with a thumb+ of pearl colored head. Average head retention & lacing

S: Grassy, lemons

T: Grassy, lemons, light breadyness & a little green melon, plus some dryness. Dryness & grassyness as this warms, some lemongrass notes & white grape notes ever so faintly. Finishes dry, fairly crisp with grassyness & some lemons

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation

Cold brewed with featured hops : American Nugget, German Hallertau ( these really stand out ) & New Zealand Rakau, a hop Ozark really likes. Drinks really easy, this had 2 perceived strikes against it going in; Not a fan of Session IPAs & usually most Cold Brewed ones. This managed to thread this needle pretty well, easy to drink & almost makes me think of it as a Helles

 

Kyle Gibson - player of the game. Woo-Hoo!

Cheers!

 

I’m in! Just need to know what tools to bring.

 

All right, let's go all in on beers you're likely to not see in your neck of the woods. I bought this for the sour tasting wondering/hoping it might be an odd way of labeling a Oud Bruin, but it definitively is not.

It's sort of funny expecting a level of acidity in a beer and not getting any at all. Assuming ill intent without basis, Fine Creek Brewing's Brown Ale at worst fooled me by the bottling choice (it is labeled simply as a Belgian Brune). I also picked up a more definitively labeled sour ale in the same bottle, so I am guessing the common thread is the use of some strain of Belgian yeast. The easy head production in the beer didn't refute this thinking.


The nose, however, remains silent on this topic. It reminds me of a medium toasted bread that I left in the toaster just a bit after it alerted me it was shutting down the heat elements. There's a little nondescript bitter note that I might describe as either earthy or tea-like if forced. The aromas are pointing me to expect a dry, medium toasted beverage.

And they aren't far off. A nice toasted malt brown ale greats my palate, and that is the core component of this beer. It does end up pretty dry, but there are accents that keep the journey from the tip of the tongue to the gullet from being too boring. On opening, there are some allusions to fruit - namely white raisin and dried fig; dark fruit tea wouldn't be a stretch as far as I'm concerned. Medium toast on a fairly dense, neutral bread covers the middle notes, with perhaps the ghosts of once fresh fall spices penetrating late.

This isn't an in-your-face brew, and given brown ales (especially the dry, bitter-leaning ones) don't get much love, I'm not sure how much this would appeal to many. I happen to be really enjoying it. Other than looks, the Belgian yeast doesn't seem to want to reveal itself. Something is providing extra carbonation and a dry feel - so are there neutral Belgian yeasts? This comes as something near a Brut brown ale, and I'm digging it.

 

Une Annee - Hibicus Tripel

16oz can served in a tulip. No date that I see.

Pours a dark purple red, fairly clear, with about a finger of head. Carbonation is slow and very fine. Smell is moderately sweet, somewhere between grape and cherry.

Taste is fairly mild, also fairly similar -- fruity, somewhere between grape and cherry, but with some banana esters in the background, and maybe, if I'm patient, a bit of a clove note very late and hiding in the back.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, kind of flat. Overall, it's interesting and not bad, but certainly nothing to write home about.

 

Toppling Goliath Brewing Berry Patch Fandango Kettle sour, 5.3% ABV; 3.92 overall

Pours a very effervescent claret color with 3 fingers of wild looking pinkish purple head, that drops off pretty quick. Near zero head retention & lacing

S: Sweet berries & lemon

T: Sweet blueberry, raspberry along with a little tartness & lemons up front. Sweet & tart berries, plus lemons & dryness once warm. Finishes dry, sour & sweet; berries plus lemons

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, a little stick to the enamel stickyness

Drinks really easy, this is the way I prefer most of my sours, I prefer some sweetness to balance things out

 

Apocalypse How - a pastry stout from Brouwerij West Brewery. Received last summer from @SP23 in what was to be the final “Show us your Can-cans” BIF.
Poured plenty black with a brown head that tried and failed to form, leaving little floaties on the surface of the beer. Did the peanuts separate out? Okay, it’s a solid argument for decanting and filtering your stouts, but how does it taste?
Quite good actually, lots of sweet: the malts with no hops bitterness, the lactose, the chocolate, and they say peanut but the flavor isn’t there. Maybe they did separate out!
The feel wasn’t as bad as the appearance suggests it might be, so no qualms there.
I did enjoy it, if there is ever a next time I would definitely drink it freshly.
Cheers all!

 

Best Mother in law EVAAAHHH.