New Beer Weekend #197

I believe Forgotten Boardwalk closed in February.

 

Huge game for Arsenal this morning against Tottenham calls for a good beer to enjoy while I watch. I've chosen Oath, an Imperial Nitro Stout from Fox Farm. I will drink this beer every time Arsenal plays if it brings them the good fortune they've had so far today.

4.25/5 rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Appearance is an expected dark brown / black, with a nice creamy beige head. Aroma is wonderful, with loads of fresh coffee and chocolate notes.

Taste has plenty of roasted malts, coffee and intense dark chocolate. It doesn't evolve a ton on the palate, mostly remaining consistent from sip to finish, with a slight pivot towards dark roast towards the end. Not quite as creamy as I anticipated given this is a nitro stout (possibly due to forgetting to gently shake the can?).

Overall, this is very good, and an excellent breakfast beer.
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My wife and I were at the reverse fixture against Spurs in September. Unlike that one, I'm hoping Arsenal can see this one out, which would make today St. Totteringham's Day.

 

I believe you're right, I think they were a little vague about it. rent issues with landlord hinting that maybe they would open up somewhere else but I could be wrong.
Either way I enjoyed what they made so its a bummer

 

Here's my review. Cheers!
4.31/5 rDev -3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Two 12 oz bottles stamped "Manifested On 1/16/24" into a tall glass.
L: SRM 7 Pours hazy dark orange with a 1/2" off white domed head that has excellent retention, thick sticky lacing with loose banding, head becomes thin and very creamy.
S: A large floral note, citrus notes, melon.
T: Taste follows aroma adding berry notes, a hint of yeast, citrus zest, distinct orange. It doesn't have too much aftertaste. Very light alcohol with warming.
F: Lightly brisk, slightly juicy then smooth & even with a medium length slightly drying finish.
O: A pretty simple and straight ahead beer that is expertly balanced. Not intense yet has power. It's ABV is nicely tucked in. It has a complimenting array of flavors that create one of the finest HIPAs you can get. It is world-class in its style.

 

Revolution/Half Acre On & On: Part 3 (Blended Double Barrel Imperial Stout aged in Wild Turkey and Russel's Reserve barrels).

Pours a very dark brown, verging on black with a finger of dark tan head that dissipated quickly. 4.0

Barrel comes through nicely on the aroma as you'd imagine with a double barrel stout, bringing bourbon spirit, oak, and vanillin. Supporting aromas lean sweet, with caramel, some maple, toffee, molasses, and coconut. Some roasted malts and cocoa powder round it all out. 4.25

Taste showcases the barrels nicely. Bourbon spirit and spice, charred oak tannin, vanillin, and coconut come through plenty. Like the aroma, the taste leans sweet, but the barrels do dry it out quite a bit. Caramel, toffee, molasses, some maple, cocoa powder, nougat, some nuttiness, roasted malt, and some dark chocolate. 4.25

High medium body. Slick, oily, sticky, little creamy. It's got a boozy kick and is pretty dry on the finish. 4.25

This was an interesting concept and I can see how both the pale malt and roasted malt beers come through. The barrels are very forward and not as integrated and I feel it could use a bit more of the roasted malt part. This is my least favorite of the On & On series, but there's no denying that this is still a great beer by two breweries that know their way around a barrel. 4.25
Aggregate Score: 4.24

 

Up next is a can of Common Descent - Berliner Weisse with blood orange and lime from Speciation Artisan Ales. This is pushing 5 years old at this point, but thankfully hasn't gone off the rails.

look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Cloudy yellow with short-lived fizzy white head and noticeable ongoing carbonation bubbles. Aroma is strong, even after several years of aging, with plenty of lime and general tropical funk.

Taste mostly follows. Not quite as acidic as I expected (which isn't a bad thing). I get more blood orange than lime. Well carbonated and plenty of lime / orange zest.

Overall, solid beer.

 

This is okay. I certainly do appreciate its heat! No clue on the ABV but it's probly 5% or less. I'll try the remaining two cans in a nucleated glass just for kicks.

Brickfield Triple Threat Hot Pepper Lager
3.59/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
16 oz can date stamp illegible into a Pokal.
L: SRM 4 Pours a yeasty light caramel color with a thin soapy white head that recedes to edge foam quickly, light steady carbo bubbles, no lacing.
S: A very light malt note, a hint of apple, notes of vinous pepper plants.
T: Slightly unripe fruits, peach, lightly vinous, apricot, citrus zest, quite pale, a distant touch of yeast, background dry leather.
F: A bit flat but not dull medium to med-light bodied feel with a medium length smooth, lightly drying and spicy warming finish. The pepper heat is a creeper. It is not overly spicy.
O: Smooth & hot. Maybe a bit thin overall. It has ample heat and is well balanced. It's okay in its style.

 

Day 3 of my kids and grandkids visiting. Everyone has been playing well together, so it's been an enjoyable visit.
Today's new beer is Precious Pine IPA from La Cumbre. Besides being a world-class IPA, purchase of this beer helps the National Forest Foundation. The Hermits Peak Calf Canyon fire burned over 340,000 acres in 2022, and buying a 4 pack will help in the restoration.
Clear gold color, medium-sized white head, good deal of lacing.
Dank aroma. Earthy, piney, cat piss. A little citrus.
Taste of pine, with a little grapefruit.
Medium mouthfeel, very smooth.
Dankest beer I've ever had.

 

Today's new beer is Foulmouthed's Knightvillian Bier Noir, which they say is a German style black ale. I'm always hesitant to judge too much when I haven't purchased myself and don't know how well it's been cared for since packaging. This can is 5 months old and the flavor is all about the roast. Not a lot going on, but what is there is good. Carb bite keeps it from being a good session beer at 4.5%.



Pours a cola-like brown/black with ruby at the edges and a short lived one-finger head.
Straight off the pour aromas are...well, not really there. A hint of roasted coffee comes through.

To start off the taste, it unfortunately follows the nose. There's more (roast coffee, black bread, some char), but still not a lot going on. Time to let it sit and warm up...

And we're back with round 2. After letting it warm for about 15 minutes, I now get milk chocolate and cocoa aromas along with coffee. With a strong swirl, earthy/grassy hops come out. For taste, the chocolate is now here along with some cola, but the main show is still roast, just more pronounced than when first poured. A little hop bitterness shows at the finish, but not much.

Medium carb with some bite, and surprisingly light bodied. The bite is a little annoying as it takes away from this being a nice easy drinker.

With just a little more nuanced flavor this would be a good beer. As is, it is pretty one-dimensional, but I'd rather that at it's low 4.5% than packing in more flavor at 6.5%.

 

Weldwerks - Medianoche

500ml bottle served in a slightly tulippy wine glass. 2023 vintage. I brought it back from California -- pretty sure I bought it, but it's possible that @2beerdogs gave it to me and the fact was lost in the blur of that visit.

Pours like black paint. No head on the pour, looks thick and silky and viscous. "Alluring" comes to mind, but that's probably more anticipation than something inherent about the beer. A tiny ring of extremely fine bubbles eventually rises up from the depths. Smell is chocolate and booze, coffee and bourbon. Maybe a little char.

Taste is a lot. It's going to take some time to unpack this and it's going to be interesting to see how it changes as it warms up. So, let's get started.

The first sip sent me reeling. A blast of booze and a condensed dark chocolate with a side of char were the first impression. Now that I've caught my balance, I'll try again. I have no idea how to characterize it, but there's a hint of an umami character that makes me think soy sauce isn't a crazy descriptor, but it's not one I would use. There's a lot of sweetness, but the roasted grains balance it out, actually overbalance it by a little bit. Trying to focus on the sweetness a little bit, molasses and burnt toffee come to mind. There might be a hint of maraschino cherry in there.

Mouthfeel is, as expected, thick and heavy and velvet. There's also a tiny bit of chalky texture. It's sticky and chewy. Overall, this is a very tasty, very well-made beer. I wish it wasn't quite so hot, hoping that will change as it warms up.

I think I can see where @Beersnake got soy sauce -- the little umami note combined with the more "savory" char and roast accompaniment masking the sweetness. But I think my experience was more similar to @beergoot's.

 

Good afternoon all. This one is normally Citra. Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned on 4/09/34. Pours a very attractive hazy yellow with a finger sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace, with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is cantaloupe, mandarin, mango, and apricot. 4

Taste follows cantaloupe, mandarin, mango, and apricot. 4

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 6.6% it drinks slightly bigger. 4.25

Overall they always produce excellent haze. This is another good one. 4 Cheers all.

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass not sure when it was canned, the date came off. I trust around 4/5/24. Pours a very attractive hazy yellow with a finger sticky white head that leaves thick streaks of lace with excellent retention. 4.75

Aroma is passionfruit, honeydew, peach, tangerine, pineapple, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows passionfruit, honeydew, peach, pineapple, tangerine, and apricot very well balanced. 4.5

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle almost creamy carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 7.2% it drinks bigger. 4.5

Overall this is another very good beer from Spyglass. I would highly recommend this one. 4.25

 

Ok, I pawned off all my bad beer () on @jonphisher after an enjoyable early afternoon with him and @ChicagoJ - enjoying one last 10oz pour at Tonewood after the crew had to break up for the day. Trying the beer that @ChicagoJ started with, Lumber Yard Helles lager:

(on the right, left is the GF’s Fuego IPA)

There is a very slight fuzziness (perhaps chill haze) to the otherwise fairly clear golden beer. The white head doesn’t stick to this glass much, but like to congregate alongside it as a medium-plus thick foam.

A floral aroma initially seems to promise some sweetness, but flowers have stems, and they act to counter the original expectation. Honey cracker with a dash of light herb and maybe a hint of white pepper as I sort through things.

Taste opens with a light grain honey cracker, followed by a generic fruitiness as an accent. The malt carries through for me as the malt gets balanced by the noble hops. The bitterness is lightly flavored, but in an attempt to differentiate, I want to say it’s a little more grassy to green stalk vegetable in nature than herbal, and I am not really getting any of the pepper/spice from the nose.

The overall experience combined aroma and taste has a balanced beer with a toe or two into the floral malt side. Of the beers I had today, I think I liked Poolside - a light colored Mexican lager the most. It maybe benefited from being the first beer of the day.

Thanks to my fellow BAs for getting together for an afternoon of conversation and beer exploration (at least by us visitors).

 

At Great Heights Brewing this afternoon.

Serenity by Chan IPA, 7.2% ABV.



Pours a clear golden/yellow color. A one finger white head forms and recedes quickly. Light lace is left behind.
Aroma is a mix of pine, citrus, and juicer fruits like melon. Along with a "dank" character. Very aromatic and nice.
Taste wise, follows the nose, as this mixes all the pine, citrus, dank, and juicy melon characters. There is a light cracker malt character, and a nice lingering bitterness.
A medium to full body. Crisp carbonation, with a light semi sweet character from the fruity hops. Though because of the bitterness, finishes dry. A good IPA to drink, I can come back to this one easily.

There is a mix of a lot of hops here, Columbus, Citra Cryo, Chinook Cryo, Motueka, & HS Sitiva hops, and it all comes together nicely. With some classic bitterness, but also new age hops that gives a bit more fruitiness. Well done.

Overall score is 3.99, B+ bordering on an A-

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50326/634592/?ba=champ103#lists

 

Lac qui parle by talking waters


4.14/5 rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

New beer from a new brewery courtesy of @Victory_Sabre1973

Breeers notes; Staying true to our roots + love of lagers, this one quite literally pays homage to our local watering hole - Lac Qui Parle Lake. Don’t let the beautiful shade of amber fool you, this Vienna lager has a refreshingly light body, gentle roasty malt flavors + a touch of sweetness making it incredibly drinkable. Do us a favor and enjoy this crushable classic by the water.

Chilled 16oz can poured into a hand bell shaped glass, produces a pencil thin light taupe foam , clear bronze liquid, settles to a layer and island , scant lacings

Aroma is sweet malts, bready, nutty

Taste is seeet malts, bready , nutty

Smooth light refreshing crushable

Good beer, thanks for sharing

 

First lawn mow of the season today. Can't remember it ever being this early, despite basically a week of morning frost.
Here is Myrcene Ale's Hunters Brew.


4.26/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4
Poured from a 16oz can to a snifter at 52F. The can is undated, but it was purchased 8-days ago at the brewery, and was also on tap there at the time.
The pour stream is like dark cola, but in the glass it is opaque black except when held to bright sunshine. Initially there is a significant brown foam head, but it fades to a miniscule ring shortly. Lacing is minimal with a lifespan of only a few seconds after the glass swirl.
There is a nice coffee aroma along with a muted leaf-mulch smell.
The taste is kick-ass unsweetened coffee. I can’t say I have ever had cold-brewed coffee, but this beer example is pretty good. Bitterness without being overly so without acidic notes or off-flavors. There is a sense of dark unsweetened chocolate in the finish. The very subtle alcohol sense reminds you that this is beer and not cold coffee. Afterall, this is only a 6.3% ABV beer.
The mouthfeel is basically like coffee- thin, not coating, no stickiness. Carbonation is just below medium.
I am not a morning alcohol drinker, but this could absolutely substitute for coffee at breakfast if you are so inclined.