New Beer Weekend #190

While I had a beer that was far more conducive to a @beergoot pour attempt than you did, @snaotheus, my results were equally unimpressive. Big head, but lacking that merrangue-like look we've all come to enjoy. Might need to try a new beer tomorrow just to get in another try.

I've had a yearning for a wheat beer for a few weeks and finally did something about it. I've alwys enjoyed wheat beers (and the license to use a ridiculous glass without ridicule), but this one was solid but underwhelming. There was some sediment left in the can so maybe this needs a more vigorous swirl before pouring to get at all the flavor. I must have had a premonition this morning, though, that this beer might not scratch the itch as I made an impulse purchase of a tall-boy of Allagash White.

Today's new beer is:
Jack's Abby Weizen Fest
4.2% wheat lager
(I added this as a hefeweizen in the BA DB because the can says "warmer fermentation" but that might be a slight misclassification as I don't know whether they used an ale or lager yeast.)



Pours a somewhat hazy yellow gold with a bright white four-finger head that dissipates disappointingly quickly.

Straight off the pour I get a big hit of clove that mellows to banana and earthy grains. As it warms there's a slight citrus tingle that shows up as well, but still not much going on here.

Things are better on the palate: banana and vanilla with slight bubblegum sit atop an ever-present foundation of earthy grains. I also get some clove and grapefruit that comes in and out. The finish brings in earthy hop bitterness that lingers through a fairly dry aftertaste. Everything seems a bit muted to me; increased flavor intensity would be welcome.

Fine carb and medium-light body result in a lighter feel than I'd like from a wheat beer. It's smooth but not frothy.

Overall, this is a solid wheat beer. While it doesn't check all of the boxes for me, I expect it will be fantastic for what the brewer intended: a refreshing summer beer without all that added fruit that seems to be in wheat beers these days. I look forward to revisting during warm weather.

 

Bellwoods Bourbon Barrel Aged Bounty Hunter, an imperial stout with coconut and vanilla.



Pours a deep black/brown with a fairly substantial head that dissipates slowly to leave a light mocha ring around the glass’s edge. The beer pours thick and oily.

The nose is mild coconut, whiskey and some woody-ness. I don’t smell the vanilla, nor do I get much from the base stout. That said, my sense of smell has been a little limited since a cold in January.

The taste is very sweet up front. A little too sweet for my enjoyment. The coconut and vanilla are present. There is some brown sugar, very light barrel presence and a little charred grain.

The body is viscous. Slight oily quality as well.

This is one sweet beer. I’ve been losing my taste for flavoured stouts the past year or so, in particular the really sweet ones. This is good as far as it goes, but the sweetness makes it a bit hard for me to finish.

Cheers!

 

Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have clicked that link. After doing so, I was sucked into a vortex and ended up in... New York. The tug of the city I was [virtually] transported from is likely what threw me off course to NYC and landed me in...... Rochester?!??

So, I'm still near a great lake, and I have a cold beer in my glass, and a lager at that (which is generically what I was headed for before being unexpectedly derailed).


I have rated two Genesee beers before this one, and have been over the BA average on both. Let's see if the trend continues with Spring Bock. Starting with looks, this beer would not be stumbling out of the gate. The perhaps barely rusty light beige head builds up on a slightly aggressive pour, though it prefers to just cover the beer's surface, thickening in a medium ring at the edges.

The nose is melanoidin, toasted bread with a sprinkle of light brown sugar, and bare hints of metal and grass. First sips are a barely sweet toasted malt surprise, a pleasant one. Spring bock is a pretty light beer, and it becomes a little thinner as my palate adjusts after a few more tastes of beer. The brown bread with accents of golden raisin and a more generic fruit tang work well together at the beginning of each sip.

A neutral to barely perceptible spicy bitterness brings the sweeter / malt notes to an end. Unfortunately, it does this rather abruptly, more so in the first half of the pour. At this point, there isn't too much evolution in this beer and it doesn't leave my palate really anything to consider after it loses contact with the liquid. If anything, there's a little metallic note that does the rest of the beer a bit of a disservice. Thankfully, the opening part I like does extend itself a little with warmth.

So, a little more than half of this beer is quite enjoyable, a good part of the rest of the beer seems to take a break, and a part of the finish I could do without. As a whole, though, I like it fairly well as a change of pace beer with the bonus of coming at a nice price.

 

From @MutuelsMark West Sixth Brewing's Sunshade Wheat, 5.0% ABV; 3.61 overall

Pours a slightly hazed gold with a pinky of beige head. Average head retention & lacing

S: Slight grassyness, a little lemon, nose picks up a bit once warm

T: Dry, slight phenol profile, a little juicyfruit gum, a touch of grassyness. A touch of lemon, some grasstyness & dryness as this beer warms up. Finishes a little dry with a kiss of citrus & pear

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation

Decent flavor easy to drink, seems pretty typical of the style

 

Hey friends, been a long and wild week and a half; but we’re still kicking and I have an awesome beer surprise from @snaotheus.

I hope everyone joins and tries their best @beergoot pours, I thought it’d be fun to see if any of us can match that beauty. I did my best with this one…

Chuckanut - Rye Lager (5%)



Light amber with some copper hue; crystal clear, big sticky and rocky white head, really nice retention and lacing, this one is a looker.

Nose is so nice, this thing is so beautiful; hint of malt sweetness, fresh baked bread, lightly toasted crust, some grain character, underlying hop character brings it all together; woody and very lightly herbal in nature.

The taste brings all that was promised; lightly toasted and sweet malt character, a grainy husk like bite with a touch of lingering peppery spice character that with some grassy hop character on the finish; that herbal note does come back in the aftertaste.

Light body, incredibly clean on the palate; goes down so easy, finish perfectly dry; no overly so, right in the Goldilocks zone; with a light bitterness on the finish.

This beer is about as perfect as lager can be in my opinion, just so balanced and drinkable. This is the one hyped lager brewery that has lived up, or even exceeded, expectations every time I’ve tried them. Some of the cleanest drinking lagers I’ve ever had. Thanks for sharing this gem with me Ryan.

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@Coronaeus damn NHL network is broadcasting the game tonight so my stream is blacked out. Whoever wins, at least one of us will be happy

Show us your pours everyone!!!! See post #5 for tutorial.

 

An argument against Milwaukee? Just kidding! Poured the first half in a cup as it needed some air. It's been pretty smooth/super affordable drinking since. Likely, won't try again soon. I think the lower abv 711 beer tastes better. Of course a good compromise would be something around 6-7%. Been experimenting with cupware and haven't found a best fit for this one.

 

Social Project Brewing Separate Ways Double Hazy IPA, 8.0% ABV; 4.21 overall

Pours a very hazy gold with 2 fingers of eggshell colored head. Stellar head retention & lacing

S: Tropical fruits, melons

T: Follows the nose, some dryness, peaches, Kiwi Fruit & a kiss of pineapple up front. Some grapefruit pith, dryness, green melon, Finishes a touch dry with grapefruit. papaya, green melon & tangerine

MF: Medium body, subtle carbonation, nicely balanced. Carbonation gets creamier as this beer warms through

Another great IPA from these guys, the nose is the only thing that didn't wow me. Drinks too easy

 

In the past I have posted that Genny Bock is a great 'bang for the buck' beer.

Sometime soon I will be buying a 12-pack of Yuengling Bock which I fully expect will be comparable to Genny Bock. I personally appreciate a pleasant beer with drinkabilty at a very affordable price.

From my perspective these are AAAL (American Amber Adjunt Lager) beers.

Cheers!

 

Lupulin Barrel God Cuvee 2024 Four Year Blend 5BBA Imperial Stout, 14.3% ABV. Pours thick and black with a ring of brown bubbles that left no lacing, but does leave an oily sheen on the glass. With five different bourbon barrels, the aroma is bourbon sweetness, and some chocolate, vanilla, and toffee from char since no add-junks here. Flavor is a mashup of barreling, plus chocolate, toffee, moleasses, and vanilla. Excellent mouthfeel, overall world-class. As suspected, getting even better as it warms.

4.6/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75

I'm big fan of BBA stouts, and a five-barrel multi-year cuvee is the ultimate to feed that. Still not quite as good as the Barbados RBA variant, but still incredible in it's own way.

Blend of 5 oak barrels: 1 aged in Woodford Reserve Bourbon for 48 months; 1 aged in Buffalo Trace Bourbon for 36 months; 1 aged in 1792 Bourbon for 24 months; 1 aged in Russel's Reserve 10 Year Bourbon for 24 months; 1 aged in Buffalo Trace Bourbon for 12 months.

 

It's far from a new-to-me beer, but in the spirit of @beergoot pour weekend...Torpedo. I feel like I didn't fulfill its potential, @jonphisher. I think I need to wait longer for initial pour to settle before secondary stage.


Please don't evict me. Promise, at least one more new beer this weekend!

 

I think you’re into something I got sidetracked after initial big head pour, so it settled for way longer than I intended. I think my inability to remain on task serves my head well…

 

Man, I drank my crowler of that last weekend, and this photo is making me wistful

We're going back to the same place for dinner tonight (because the kids like their fried cheese curds, and who am I to argue?), if they still have it, I think it's a 99.9999% chance I either drink it there or bring another crowler home

That beer is so f*cking good

 

ISO fried cheese curds…

Paired with this beer, that’s a pairing to be jealous of. You have a solid evening in front of you.

Oh and speaking of food, mom dropped off a raspberry Kringle, the big ones they sell at Trader Joe’s @GreenBayBA, let’s just say I was like a kid on a sugar high. If I’m ever in Green Bay, cheese curd and Kringle haul back home to NJ.

 

A couple from Three Floyds this evening, both of which will go into the boxes I’ll be sending to my target in NBS BIF #18, which is ramping up as I type this, with boxes of magnificent beers taking wing across the beer nerd world.

How’d I do on the pour, @jonphisher ?





4.25/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a slightly unfiltered bright golden color with a fluffy white head that provides veins of lacing and a proper cap on the body of the beer as you enjoy it. Beautiful beer.

The nose is very citrusy and tropical, with tart orange, grapefruit rind, mango, lemon, and some white grape notes, with a faint floral note as well for good measure.

The taste is on the juicy side, which I don’t necessarily associate with the WCIPA style, but it works, with the oranges, mango, lemon, and floral notes all crowding the front of the palate, leaving the grapefruit rind at the back to impart some welcome bitterness.

The mouthfeel is medium and dry as expected, working well with this beer. I am really enjoying this juicy take on the WCIPA style, which happens to be my favorite style. Very well done by Indiana’s most notorious brewery.

 

What a weekend for new beer. At a cask ale event and have had several now. Forest and Main’s Dark Mild followed by Phase Three’s Proper Trollied, and now Art History’s Book of Kells.

I will spare individual beer reviews, but rather use this as an opportunity to praise cask ale. #Blessed

 

We want the reviews it’s what gets us all together, next time

 

Yes, Matt is OG beer guy. One time last year I was extolling praise of a Carton Brewery beer I'd recently had. He asked a few questions, and next week he had it in stock. His place is the Monk's of the suburbs.

 

You gotta ask the master…

I finally got a beer I’m pretty sure you rave about and told me it’s right up my hop alley; 6.5 week old anti-hero in NJ. I’ve looked since they’ve been here, have never found within a reasonable date till now. I cannot wait…