New Beer Weekend #189

You, sir, are correct!!!

 

Oharas irish stout
...solid motor oil black appearance
...light carbonation with an above average body,overall a nice feel
...aroma is licorice, wood,mild char, with a mild mix of coffee,mocha and malt
..taste is slightly dry but theres a creamy sweet finish. The wood lingers and leaves the mouth with a dry feeling.
...overall this was very good,complex and interesting

 

A couple of beers this evening whilst grilling some ribs, this first one is from a brewery I love, but they don’t get the notoriety of another magnificent brewery in their neck of the nape, which is a shame, because they’re world class, IMHO.





4.5/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Pours a very hazy mango color with a creamy white head that provides a nice amount of lacing and maintains a ring around the body as you enjoy the beer. Beautiful hazy.

The nose is dank and citrusy, with tart tangerine, mango, and passion fruit notes, as well as a nice bit of apricot. Full on salivating at this point.

The taste is really led by a delightful interplay between the mango, apricot, and tart tangerine flavors equally delicious and accompanied by a bit of passion fruit. World class stuff here, IMHO.

The mouthfeel is medium and surprisingly lively for a hazy. Tree House rightfully gets loads of attention in the beer nerd world, but Trillium is every bit their equal, IMHO.

 

There was a time I would've looked for it...

 

Was cleaned up already

 

Cheers to @William_Navidson for this

Tox/Long Live Beerworks Frog Bites Imp Stout with Coconut, Peanuts, Chocolate & Vanilla, 12.0% ABV; 4.11 overall

Pours an effervescent ebony with a sliver of rapidly falling mocha colored head. This stuff poured like an oil change that should've been done several months earlier & I mean that in a good way. Traces of lacing & head retention

S: Peanuts & chocolate, some toasted coconut late & a little caramel

T: Follows the nose, some toasted coconut, Vanila. woody hops, plus a touch of booze on the tongue up front. Dryness, some Reese's cup, vanilla, carob & boozy edge as this beer warms up. Finishes with some toasted coconut, chocolate & peanuts

MF: Pretty chewy, dialed back carbonation, very warming

The peanut angle works on this beer, doesn't seem forced or artificial. A bruiser of a beer that lets you know it has heft, but plenty of great flavor as well

 

#2, I love stouts with chiles, so I’m looking forward to this. Let’s see where this lands.





3.97/5 rDev -3.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Pours a dark cola brown and settles black in the glass with mahogany brown hues on the edges and a creamy tan head that lingers a bit. Pretty milk stout.

The nose features a roasty note akin to coffee, with some chocolate and a bit of cinnamon and vanilla. I am searching for the ancho chiles like Columbo on a case, but they’re nowhere to be found.

The taste has that roasty note and some cinnamon, but I get lots of chocolate and vanilla, which works really well, and maybe a bit of residual heat from the chiles at the back of the palate, but not enough for this old beer nerd.

The mouthfeel is medium, but almost watery, which I didn’t expect. This is pretty tasty and I’m glad I tried it, but it could’ve been much more, IMHO.

 

My thread contribution for the day is Molecular Self Assembly, a "Sour Wheat Ale with Pineapple & Raspberry" from Speciation Artisan Ales. I was sent this roughly 5 years ago from a former BA and am finally getting around to giving it a go.

Canned in 2019 (I think). Clear, copper in color with fizzy short-lived head. Aroma is really strong, and with plenty of indication that this will be a very acidic beer. Raspberry still remains, but I don't get any pineapple.

Taste is in fact highly acidic, with berry flavors that I wouldn't be able to pinpoint as raspberries if I didn't know they were used in the beer. As with the nose, I'm not getting any pineapple, but a general faint fruitiness. Lightly carbonated.

Overall, it's tasty, albeit a little too acidic for my liking (and I have a very high tolerance). I'm enjoying it, but more than one of these would have me heading out to the local convenience store for some TUMS.

 

Door county cherry wheat
...cloudy fruit punch appearance with a lasting head.
..medium carbonation with a slightly thin body
..aroma is wheat, sour cherries, cherry juice
..taste is similar to aroma with the sour cherry dominating.
..very nice beer that would go well with certain desserts

 

Stopped for Thai food after work tonight and tried a Chang beer. Not a sink pour

 

I'm going to keep forging ahead emptying the stash of antiques. This one isn't my oldest captive, but I'd guess six years old or so.



Sierra Nevada Trip in the Woods Narwhal, bourbon barrel aged with red and black currants, 9.8% ABV American Imperial Stout.

Pours incredibly dark with about a half inch of brown bubbles. The head falls to a wispy ring, but what left cling like mad.

The initial smell is boozy fruit juice and not boozy in the bourbon barrel sense. The alcohol smell wears off quickly and the currants dominate. It pretty much ends there. I'm not finding much of the OG Narwhal and even less barrel.

The taste doesn't show me anything different. The fruit just about completely dominates. Fruity, quite sweet, just a bit of fruit-driven tartness. Woody, but not bourbon barrel woody. I eventually get a bit of chocolate very late in the taste and a very light hint of woodiness and a molecule or two of vanilla.

Fairly thin for the style in terms of feel. Quite dry on the finish with some residual tartness.

I'm going to look at other reviews as a sanity check on this one before i review it officially. I don't taste anything that screams age is contributing to what I'm tasting. I would think it'd be difficult to overpower Narwhal much less BA Narwhal with some berries, but I'm finding this beer quite one-dimensional. Not sure I'll rate it at all. Me and the missus both had a similar reaction, though - what the hell did they do to Narwhal and why?

 

I’m not done cleaning out my cellar, but a couple of recent trades put some interesting beers into my fridge that I wanted to try.
This one was generously sent by @Mikexw
Again, not sure if it was the right beer at the right time but this is a very good lager.
Pours almost impossibly pale yellow with a lighter yellow head. Bubbles are active throughout.
The smell is lost on me. Stupid Covid.
The taste, oh my. If lagers tasted like this all the time I’d drink them far more often.
Started out like a Pilsner with crackers and a bit of pepper, then introduced the supporting cast of grassy herbs and sourdough bread with a hint of citrus. How they did this in 4.2 ABV is amazing.
The feel is delightfully easy quaffing, I only slowed down to savor this treat.
OA, I think it’s an excellent beer and would be happy to drink it regularly.
Cheers all! I will be back soon with my nightcap.

 

That was my go to in Thailand ( 20 years ago )

 

Dewy Beer Festbier, from @William_Navidson Prost!

5.0% ABV; 3.47 overall

Pours an effervescent gold with a pinky of eggshell colored head. Mediocre head retention & lacing

S: Corny, grainy, perfumy & floral hops show up once warm

T: Follows the nose, dry, some lemon notes, plus plenty of cracker notes up front. Very dry, crackery notes, grassyness & grainy sweetness & a kiss of lemon once warm. Finishes dry with sweet grainyness & a touch of lime

MF: Light/medium body, restrained carbonation

Okay to drink, but his just didn't grab me, I like mine with more German flavors/aspects

 

Not a bad beer, better than getting an AB brew

 

Hey friends, I love reading all these posts each weekend and hearing what everyone is up to, thanks again for the open @cjgiant. So tonight is one of those sort of bending the rules night but this is a very accessible beer in NJ and over in parts of PA. It’s from my favorite brewery on earth and one could say this beer built Tonewood. They have turned into one of the most diverse, consistent, accessible, and reasonably priced breweries I can think of so I’m spreading some Tonewood gospel tonight. I remember the first time they canned a beer and this was one of them, drove the 15 minutes to get my share, it’s amazing to see what they have become since that day about six years ago now.

Why it’s new to me…I haven’t had this beer in years, like 4-5 at least, my brother gave me a can the other day.

My memory of this beer says it’s more of a heady topper type ipa, it’s different, not full on hazy and not full on old school either, somewhere in between. It’s got oomph and bitterness and it’s mostly clean drinking. Let’s see if my memory is correct…

Tonewood - Fuego (IPA 6.2%)



Pours very hazy, edges do show some opacity though, clumpy and sticky white head, ok retention, light lacing from initial head but dies off after.

Very aromatic and mostly fruit forward nose; to me it’s citrus forward with pineapple and perhaps some light berry notes, there is a pine presence but it’s more in the form of a bite than actual pine smelling, some light dank undertones.

Taste leans into that fruity citrus; a melange of sorts, something keeps reminding me of peach rings on the finish but it’s quickly take a over by a resin driven hop bite; very light vegetal dankness on the finish that I seem to always get from mosaic.

Medium body, soft on the palate; sticky dryness coats the tongue, moderate bitterness; some very light sweetness but drinks very clean and dry, especially for its appearance.

—————

This was fun to see if my recollection of this beer was correct. Was it? Well, I guess it was and it wasn’t; it’s more new school in taste and aroma than I remembered, so I was off there but it does this drinks as nicely as I remember it. The best way I could describe fuego is a hazy ipa with the drinkability of an older classic ipa. I can see why this beer is so successful and I would recommend to anyone, even non hop lovers, it’s just a well made beer.

Well, on that note I will hopefully see you all again tomorrow. I’ll leave with this…