New Beer Weekend #123

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We celebrated at our daughter's house and everyone enjoyed themselves.
My new beer for today is Hellcat, an IPL (or cold IPA per the label) from BrewDog. Not too bad.
A clear gold color. Small white head with a bit of lace.
Citrus aroma, some sweet malt, some floral hops.
Taste of grapefruit, orange, caramel. Some late spiciness.
Nice balance of hops and malt.

 

That beer was brewed at Workhorse which is very local to me (walking distance).

I enjoyed several of those beers on draft at the brewery's taproom.

Cheers!

 

Time for one new beer before I head over in a few minutes to hang out with some friends and watch the USA / England game. This one comes courtesy of @Coronaeus.

Tmavy Lezak 12 a Czech dark lager from Godspeed Brewery

4.14/5 rDev +6.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Super excited to try this courtesy of @Coronaeus, as I LOVE dark lagers. Pour is reddish brown settling to a dark, dark brown in the glass. The highlight of the appearance is the beautiful head. Robust and long lasting with noticeable air pockets interspersed throughout. Excellent lacing Overall a very attractive beer.

Aroma has loads of dark roasted malts. Simple and clean on the nose. More importantly, this beer tastes amazing. It greets you with tons of roasted malts, even more so than on the nose. The roast is enough to almost hint at smokiness, although it's not actually smoky. It's super clean and easy drinking, with a more robust mouthfeel than I anticipated.

Overall, very good beer. I could drink this all day (but alas, this one lasted about 5 minutes)

 

I picked up my first six pack of Anchor's Our Special Ale this week.

Winter Warmer, 7.2% ABV


Pours a dark brown with some ruby highlights. A beige head forms, and rises to two fingers. Good retention and spotty lace left behind.
Aroma is fairly subdued. Bread crust and that ever hard to define pine and spicy character that OSA is famous for.
Taste wise, bread crust, toasted malts, toffee. With an almost cinnamon and peppery spicy character mixed with pine needles. The malty body is the show though, and really enjoyable.
A medium body and moderate carbonation. That becomes ultra smooth and velvety after this breaths. Really enjoyable to drink. I will be getting more of this while in season.

I haven't gotten a new OSA in a while for whatever reason. Though, glad I picked up a six pack again, as this use to be one of my favorite releases of the year, and I'll put it back in that category now. Flavor wise this is always best when it resembles more of a porter with that subtle classic spice kick. Then when the spice overwhelms. This release hits that balance perfectly for my tastes. Well done.

Overall score 4.09, A-
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28/625463/?ba=champ103#lists

Also finished The Greatest Beer Run Ever, a gift to me a while back from @beergoot. Pretty enjoyable all around.

 

Well as sometimes pleasantly happens, our guests left behind some beers I would not normally have the opportunity to try. This is a rather tame NEIPA clocking in at 5.2% Perfect starter beer for this afternoon. We are doing Thanksgiving all over again today with a new turkey and new guests.

3.77/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a 16oz can stamped CANNED ON 11/04/22 to a Pilsner glass at fridge temp.
Body is hazy but translucent gold and the 1-finger head is bright white made up mostly of fine foamy bubbles.
Aroma is of melon and peach..
The front of the taste is similar to the smell. The backend is more medicinal- hoppy, but not bad.
Mouthfeel is medium creamy and the carbonation also runs in the center of the spectrum.
This is a good beer, but not spectacular.

 

I've done a lot of driving recently.
Shortly after my daughter was born (in fact, it was while I was on my way home from my last day of work, set to begin my paternity leave), some kid in his BMW wasn't paying attention, rear-ended me, and totalled my car. Turns out this is one of the worst times in history to try and replace a car due to all sorts of primarily economic issues, so even used cars are often going for more than their new counterparts. Part of the problem there is that dealerships aren't able to keep any new stock in, as most of the ones with whom we spoke were sold out with orders extending several months out. Well, we can't really afford to be without a vehicle for months on end, especially with the baby, so I had to cast my net wide. We finally found the car we were looking for, in stock, but it was in Denver. Well, fortuitously, my sister lives in Boulder! So I flew out to Colorado last week, bought the car, and she and myself resurrected our road-tripping ways (we used to do a lot of them when we were younger), and drove back to Seattle. I had one day to catch my breathe, and then my wife, the baby, and myself drove down the coast to visit some of her family for the holiday. All told, the car has gone from 8 lifetime miles to over 2500 in just a week. Thank goodness it's been up for the task!

Anyway... beer.
I didn't bring a tonne of beer down with us (we're in wine country, and her family, those who drink anyway, tend more towards wine anyway), but I did grab a few cans from @WunderLlama's incredibly generous box(es) of new england goodies, so I've got SOMETHING to share this weekend! Today, while my wife is exploring quaint little Mendocino with her mom and a couple of her sisters, I am digging into Nectarous Mango, from Tree House.



The pour is lovely. Pale chalky orange body with large lively bubbles and a big two+ fingers of staunch foam. Nice clumps and lacing as I sip and the head SLOWLY recedes.

Nose carries some sweet tropical fruit, but, similar to the Nectarous Yellow Watermelon that I drank a couple of nights ago, I get a big yeasty presence as well. I'm not sure what's the deal with that. Nobody else mentions it for either beer, and my wife didn't pick up immediately on that either and she's usually pretty sensitive to yeasty character in beers. But it's so distinct and pronounced to me I have a hard time chalking it up to just other flavours that translate that way in my brain. *shrug*.

Flavour starts with that same yeasty impression, and again I can't shake it. It was more pronounced, to me, in the watermelon version, but it's certainly still here. Also similar to the watermelon version, it gives me that chalky sweet impression that I've long associated with the DDH process, though I'm now wondering if it's more the milk sugars and I didn't realize the other beers in which I've identified this characteristic were also brewed with lactose? Or maybe it is the hopping, and it's just not specifically called out on this can. Whos knows. Sweet tropical fruits do come in and kind of wrestle control back away from the two above mentioned features. There's not much bitterness evident on the sip, but, spoiler alert, it comes in much more strongly on the aftertaste and builds a fair amount as I work through the can.
As it sits and warms, some of these more odd characteristics fade a bit and the fruit comes more forward, including the bitterness, which the bitterness of hard underripe fruits.

Mouthfeel is slick and oily and has some of that chalky drying feeling that again I've often associated with DDH process, but am now wondering if all that I've attributed to that process could be partly explained by the milk sugars. There's a sharp carpet of carbonation, and as mentioned above, the lingering bitterness of the aftertaste builds quite prominently (in the green fruit direction), and that combined with the sweetness feels like it's going to lead to a headache sooner than later.

I always feel bad having anything less than glowing to say about beers that have been so graciously gifted my direction, but the truth is I have not really been a fan of either of the Nectarous series that I've now tried, and to be honest, the whole Tree House 'throw a bunch of pureed/freeze dried fruit into our IPAs!' approach isn't really my jam overall. I AM however incredibly grateful to be have had the opportunity to explore something outside of my normal wheelhouse and form that opinion based on first hand experience. Doubly so that the samples I've been able to use to come to said informed decision are considered some of the prime examples of the style/approach! Thanks Maynard for sharing these with me.

Cheers!

 

Or if I see it on tap I will order a pint.

Cheers!

 

Howdy folks. Wish you all a fine weekend. Really enjoyed this lovely drop today. Cheers!
Unibroue La Fin Du Monde. 9% ABV 19 IBU
4.35/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
12oz bottle best before 08/06/24 into a 12oz tulip glass.
L: Pours medium dull apricot gold w bright edges, a smooth rounded creamy 1/2" or roughly 12.6.5mm white head, very good retention, very active lively carbo, random spotty lacing.
S: Yeast, a hint of pastry dough, banana, clove, light alcohol w warming.
T: Lots of palate flavor, yeast, grains, caramelized malts, banana, clove, a hint of peach, green apple, moderately fruity, a suggestion of yellow bread, light alcohol w warming.
F: Fizzy, lofty, med-heavy and slightly assertive feel w a med-length finish that is moderately drying, clean over all and slightly warming.
O: A full flavored and beautiful tasting Tripel with an elegant feel & finish. Though clean and less earthy, it is up there with some classic Belgian Tripels. It is world-class in its style.

 

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

10% RIS from Brooklyn Brewery

Poured from a twelve ounce bottle, the body is dark black with a nice fluffy tan head. Rey good lacing throughout the tasting. A good looking beer in glass.

Aroma has notes of chocolate, malty char and a light sweetness reminiscent of espresso.

Taste follows nose but adds a good hop bite. The featuring of bitter malt flavor is a welcome change from many modern pastry takes on big stouts.

Mouthfeel is good, perhaps a tick lighter than expected. However the taste more than compensates. Carbonation is solid.

A very enjoyable big, bitter stout. Cheers!

 

Good evening NBW
I bought a few new to me beers this morning, but they are on the back burner. This one was part of an in person trade with @beetgoot a few weeks ago.


The Phoenix Rooftop Bohemian Lager
16oz undated can poured into a becher glass at fridge temp 4.8 % ABV. The beer pours mostly bright golden yellow with nearly white head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves spots of lacing. The aroma is soft, pale malt and a hint of earthy hops. The taste is semisweet pale malt with low bitterness. The hops seem a bit faded, but are mostly rustic / earthy in nature. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Cleanly lagered with no off flavors at all.
Overall, good.

I have plenty more new beers to partake in over the rest of the weekend. Cheers all!

 

So that last beer was from @beergoot, not @beetgoot...

I bought this one...


12oz canned xx/xx/22 (smudged date) poured into a tulip glass at fridge temp 9% ABV 22 IBU. The beer pours opaque medium amber in color with khaki colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. Minimal lacing. The aroma is sweet malt and muted pumpkin pie spice. The taste is semisweet pumpkin pie filling complete with the normal spicing. Minimal bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a semi dry finish. The 9% ABV is well hidden. Overall, ok for a pumpkin beer...

Cheers all!

 

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout 2022, 13.2% ABV. Pours thick and extremely dark brown with a half-finger light-brown head that left no lacing. Nose is coffee and bourbon. Taste is roasty coffee, slight chocolate, faintly sweet, moderately bitter. Great thick and smooth mouthfeel. Overall world-class. The coffee flavor doesn't get lost behind coffee bitterness as many/most coffee stouts do.

4.65/5 rDev -0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

I'll have to pick more of this up, only have four more.

 

Something light this evening:


Loretta - a Farmhouse wheat ale from Oxbow.

Pours a slightly cloudy pale yellow with an enormous soapy head that falls quickly to a decent lumpy cap with messy cling to the glass.

The smell is pretty typical Farmhouse Ale with a wheat overtone. Very slightly funky typical of Oxbow, a bit yeasty, faint lemon, faint peppery snf coriander spice.

The taste is lively and bright, very pleasant. Definite yeastiness, light lemon and a spicy note that is complimentary. Nice earthy funk that is not too strong. A little tang from the wheat. Slight bitterness acts as an anchor.

The feel is light, refreshing and enjoyable. Overall, a nicely crafted saison and another Oxbow brew that screams to accompany food. It is certainly going nicely with the Thanksgiving sandwich.

Easy drinking, light and lively, ticks the boxes as being in the ambiguous family of Farmhouse brews. Feeling around a 3.8 or so for the scoring.

 

Stopped at Fremont to pick up the '22 B-Bomb I bought online on Wednesday, fell in love with these glasses, and brought a crowler of this tripel home: Scarlett Empress.

32oz crowler served in a curvy Fremont glass. Crowler was filled two days ago.

Pours crystal clear dark golden color with a fairly big head that settles into a thin skin and a lumpy ring pretty quickly, not a lot of active carbonation. Smell is belgian yeast, sweet vaguely banana fruit, a little clove/herbal note, mostly it smells like I expect tripels to smell.

Taste is also vaguely banana with a little clove/herbal, has a substantial earthy / grassy bitterness, nicely balanced with the fruity sweetness. Yeast / bread dough is also a pretty strong note. A lot going on.

Mouthfeel is not very thick, but surprisingly a little bit chewy. Overall, I haven't had too many belgian style beers from Fremont, but I shouldn't be too surprised that they did this one so well.

 

Second stout for the weekend, this one from a brewery that started shipping here I believe within the last 12-18 months.

Jackie O's Oil Of Aphrodite - Extra Reserve 2022



Bottle Notes: Comped by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild for volunteering at FOBAB 2022. 12.7 oz, 14% ABV, brewed and bottled by Jackie O's 2022. Imperial Stout brewed with walnuts and Belgian candi syrup, aged in Bourbon barrels, and conditioned on walnuts and maple syrup. Refrigerated since receiving November 5th until opening today.

The most opulent bottling of our beloved Oil of Aphrodite to date, this special blend of Bourbon barrels aged for 20 months before conditioning with Athens Count maple syrup and toasted English walnuts. Slightly sweet maple and boisterous walnut tones heighten the sumptuous notes of walnut brownie and dark fruit from one of our longest produced barrel aged beers.

Appearance: Single pour into a large snifter. Pitch black base, light tan / white head dissipates instantly leaving a light white ring along the rim above the base. Light flow of carbonation visible. 3.75

Aroma: Let this warm for 20 minutes before first sip. Getting strictly barrel throughout the first 15 minutes, pretty strong, and then a touch of syrup emerges as this warms. No walnut or brownie. 3.5

Taste: Very sweet syrup hits you at first, the bourbon taking a back seat. Syrup, syrup and more syrup. Really didn't get any complexity here with either the walnut, brownie, base. The bourbon tries to hold this together to no avail. A sugar hungry 5 year old would really like this. 2.5

Mouthfeel: Creamy rich body, drinks at the ABV level with the bourbon asserting its authority, though not to the level of sweetness emerging from the syrup. It's almost like drinking fermented syrup. Syrup aftertaste lingers. 3.25

Overall: If you are really into sweet syrupy stouts backed by bourbon, this may be for you. Too unbalanced and sweet for my taste range, wish I would have had more complexity and the chance to taste the walnuts and base. Will be hard to finish this bottle. 2.75

Wish I had a second bottle of the cerebral vs. this. I can always share / give away if I am not able to finish this one. Prime example why I like to stick with barrel only or coffee or coconut variants from trusted brewers while shopping.

Think I'm going with lighter easier styles the last two days of the weekend.

Cheers!

 

A happy accident while looking for a couple other obscure stouts and barleywines this morning...

Firestone Walker Parabolita
16oz can vintage 2022 poured into a Spiegelau stout glass at fridge temp 9.2% ABV 40 IBU 100 SRM per can. The beer pours black with no light penetration and light brown head. The head recedes slowly to a thick cap. The aroma is chocolate brownie and vanilla with bourbon. The taste is semisweet caramel and chocolate with a hint of salt and subtle bourbon and barrel notes in the background. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with average carbonation and a semi dry finish. Overall, very good.

Cheers all!

 

Gotahold Brewing ( Eureka Springs, AR ) Past The Breakers West Coast Style IPA, 6.4% ABV; 4.02 overall

Pours a bright & effervescent gold with one finger of cream colored head. Below average head retention & lacing

S: Tropical fruits, melons, all fade a bit as this beer warms & the carbonation dissipates

T: Follows the nose, some sweet orange, a touch of pine, plus some dryness & a touch of guava. Guava, green melon, a little lime & strawberry as this beer warms up. Finishes a little dry with green melon, guava, passion fruit , a trace of coconut & lime

MF: Medium body, delicate carbonation, nice balance

This is a very good IPA, but you are looking for an old school West Coast IPA this ain't it. I am betting there are a lot of Southern Hemisphere hops at play here