New Beer Weekend #198

Thank you all, I hope we're all still posting here when we make it to 20.

 

Voidbringer, a RIS with Coffee and Maple added, made by Adroit Theory. Last beer in the box of four "Adventures in Thirst Official Compendium of Flavor Fantasy (2nd Edition)"

16oz can served in a big snifter. Can is dated completely illegibly. Provided by @Ozzylizard tangentially related to NBS BIF #18.

Pours black with a humongous dark tan head, dense and uniform at first, settling slowly into a thick layer of mixed-size bubbles, tons of active carbonation visible at rest. Smell is coffee and black licorice, some maple sweetness in the background. Something slightly peanut buttery.

Taste is more of the same, except I don't get any nuttiness anymore. Coffee is dominant, sweetness is there but I'd be inclined to call it molasses if the label didn't say maple on it. Licorice is still competing with the coffee pretty fiercely. Roast bitterness comes along pretty strongly if you wait long enough for the sweetness and licorice to fade.

Mouthfeel is moderately thick, moderately chewy. Overall...this is tasty, unassuming, and dangerously easy-to-drink for a 12% abv beer.

 

Good gravy that sounds great.

 

Another raffle prize from yesterday - Ölōgy’s Spa Goggles, a Gose with cucumbers and lime added:




Deep gold pour with excellent clarity; tight white head;poor cap retention. Cucumber and strong lime nose. Taste is salty lime and cucumber water. Light body; moderate minus carbonation. A flavored Gose that’s ok.

4.0 | 4.5 | 4.25 | 4.0 | 4.0
Score: 4.22 rDev: +9.9%

Another refreshing beer on a hot day. Cheers y’all!

 

Well, another beer, and still in Winterville, NC, but at another brewery in this small town.

Nectarine Supreme- Local Oak Brewing - Winterville, NC - NEIPA - 7.0% ABV

I do not know the water here. Is it soft, or hard? This beer is quite soft and juicy feeling. Tasty as heck.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/58354/700767/
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
On tap at the brewery
This is a juicy looking berr. Murky and hazy as all heck. It looks like pineapple juice. There is a white head to it.
Damn, the pineapple aroma is off the charts here. Very juicy smelling.
The flavor is pineapple dominated. The pineapple does alternate between sweet and tart. There's a faint lemon flavor here. Not much bitterness in the flavor.
Very soft, and juicy feeling. Full bodied.
This is a solid representation of the style. Don't know if the water is soft here, or oats are used, but, soft and juicy feeling.

 

Sunny Sea by Untold Brewing


4.03/5 rDev -2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4


On draft at Plymouth location , $10 for a willi Becher glassful….

Brewers notes: Sunny Sea is back, sporting a fresh new look and name. This beer is one of our favorites, not just because of the radiant notes of fresh peeled oranges and tangerine, but because it means summer is near. For hops the emphasis is clearly on creating citrus, tropical and stone fruits flavors and aromas with late additions of El Dorado, Citra and Simcoe. A very modest amount of lactose is added to provide a touch of sweetness and round out the finish. Designed with warm summer days, backyard cook outs, and beach trips in mind, Sunny Sea clocks in at an approachable 6.4% ABV.

One finger bubbly white foam settles to a ring , few lacings , over a dark hazy orange liquid

Aroma is orange citrus, tangerine

Taste is orange citrus, tangerine, orange pith

Smooth sudsy mouthfeel ,not too heavy , not too light, gentle hop kiss on the finish

Good beer , place is filled with dogs and babies, John Debellis singing his heart out to about 50 folks in the taproom , portable hearth pizza oven outside cooking fresh pizzas ..good addition to the local area

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. It's been cool, rainy Spring in the metro area. Today feels more like late March than early May. Good Stout weather! I've been eying this bottle of Double Barrel Gmork from Forest & Main Brewing Co., for weeks now. This variant was brewed in 2022, aged in bourbon barrels for 11 months, then aged in a cognac cask for 9 months before bottling in November 2023. I bought it at the brewery in late December, along with the "single" BA variant which I drank on New Year's Eve. As expected from Forest & Main, this is a very fine BA Stout!

Poured into a pub glass at 59°. The color is nearly black and it sports a fizzy, medium-mocha head that dissipated rapidly and thin film of lacing. The nose is boozy with whiffs of bourbon and cognac, as well as dark chocolate, freshly-brewed coffee, caramel, and a hint of dark fruit. The chocolate and caramel are much stronger in the initial taste and provide some sweetness to balance the barrel influence. Even at 6 months, the bourbon and cognac are strong and there is a pronounced sour mash. There are also subtle notes of raisin and perhaps fig. It has excellent depth of flavor. The mouth feel is a bit thin for such a big Stout and it is potent for the 12% ABV.

4.34/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I wish I had purchased more bottles of both variants. I'd like to visit Forest & Main again. It's top shelf. Cheers, NBW!

 

I found it for you; canned on 4/26. Wonder how it does side-by-side with the OG? Cheers

 

Happy NBS all!
Needed something quick so I could get back outside and @Victory_Sabre1973 sent just the ticket-

Apparently this is a phenomenon in Minnesota, and while I don’t know if I’d want to drink it all summer, I did find myself wishing it was a larger can.
I got blueberry, lots of blueberry. I imagine some people find it more balanced than I, as the lager portion is very faint, but the whole thing is very refreshing and not overly sweet.
Not sure if I had this blind that I would have even guessed it was a beer at all, but I did enjoy it quite a bit.
Cheers all! Back later with a stout. Or Barleywine. It *is* Sunday after all.

 

Closest thing to a Mexican Lager in the house currently.

3.46/5 rDev -12.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a 12oz can to a Pils glass at fridge temp. The can is dated 3/11/24 and it came out of a JA variety pack.
Condensation aside, this is not exactly clear, just slightly hazy, but nucleation is visible inside the glass. The head is healthy with large white bubbles initially, but they settle to be smaller and smaller eventually just a micro-bubble ring. Lacing is minimal to zilch.
The aroma is spicy in a peppery way.
The taste is clean, biscuit in the front, hops in the middle but the finish is slightly sweet.
The mouthfeel has just a hint of oiliness and I think this could use more carbonation.
Not bad, but I would take a SN Summerfest over this anytime.

 

My second new beer today is Shroomies, a TIPA from Other Half, Hopped with Citra, Anchovy, Motueka, HBC 1019, and Citra Cryo hops. The 2 previous ratings, from 2023, were 3.85 and 4.08. While I don't question others' ratings, and they rated an earlier batch, this ale is superb! But for the high ABV I could drink this all day!

Canned on 4/15/2024. It pours a dense, pastel orange with almost a finger of fluffy, bright white head and very heavy lacing. Classic New Zealand hop aroma of lemon, lime, and white wine, along with sweeter tropical fruit. Wow, this is great! A superb balance of tart lemon, lime, and grapefruit, against the coconut and vanilla sweetness of the Anchovy and HB 1019 hops. I'm getting the taste of lemon, lime, grapefruit, peach, tangerine, honeydew, and dry white wine. There is mild, clean bitterness throughout. As expected from Other Half, the mouth feel is killer: thick and creamy, with perfect carbonation, and it sure doesn't drink like 10% ABV. I have to say that I'm shocked by the previous ratings. Shroomies is an outstanding TIPA.

4.43/5 rDev +7.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

To my taste, Shroomies is a very top shelf New England TIPA. Cheers and have a great week, everyone!

 

My next new to me beer was bought at the brewery by my buddy about two weeks ago in New Hampshire - Kettlehead’s “Feast” a Belgian Golden Strong Ale:



Deep gold pour; excellent cap retention; long lasting creamy white dome; heavy minus lacing. Spicy fruity esters, pears. Taste is peppery alcohol, some bitterness, pears and apples; spicy phenols. Moderately high streaming carbonation; medium body; smooth feel; dry finish. Overall, very well balanced fruity and hoppy notes; spicy linger.

4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5
Score: 4.5 rDev: +8.4%

Very well done - I like! Cheers y’all!

 

A quiet Sunday thus far; it’s another cool and dreary day so that means another English beer, this one, like yesterday’s courtesy of @Providence. He said this is one of his favorites so I’m pretty excited to try it. Here we go…

Fox Farm - Welly (Best Bitter 4.6%)



Very pretty color, a crystal clear mix of copper and gold, off white quick to dissipate head; that being said a nice thin opaque film persists.

Nose has some nice malt to it; lightly toffee like, faint toasty grain, balanced little bit of fruitiness, whether yeast or hop driven I do not know.

Taste, oh yea; this is a beauty, biscuit, lightly browned, marmalade, little grassiness on the finish, overall just very delicate and balanced.

Light to medium body, malt beefs it up a bit, super smooth carbonation, no off flavors, finish dry and with lingering touch of hops on the tongue, low-medium bitterness.

I really really enjoyed this beer, thank you so much for sharing I’m glad I have a second one to enjoy this one again.

————————

Probably no more new beers today, just a quiet dark cool night to sit on the couch and let Monday come do it’s thing, one day closer to next weekend. Have a great week everyone, enjoy your beers or not beers tonight. See you all next weekend.

 

I liked it. I would never compare it to Summerfest a Czech style lager but I would be very happy with a cooler full of ice cold Porchfest. Cheers!

 

I’m really glad you enjoyed it. Such a lovely brew.

 

Saints preserve us! Is there no finer time for a beer with dinner then Sunday Supper? Roast chicken with baked potato's and beans - this sounds like Lager country.

Muskoka Craft Lager

Poured at ice cold lager temperature and aggressively from a tall boy can into a proper lager glass. This lager surrenders a Styrofoam thick 3/4" head with micro bubbles and reduces to 1/2" foam with some sticky cob web lacing, A clear , clean polished gold colour.
I'm gettin a little nervous here.
Aroma is spot on for a classic Canadian lager - Straight two row pale malt with faint to non existent hop aroma
I'm getting more confident.
Taste has much more of hop presence albeit still limited. Silky smooth malt with a slightly astringent dry finish.
This strikes me as another lager attempt that tried to stretch the balloon for the style. If I did this blind folded I'd swear up in down that this was a cream ale. It just doesn't have that classic lager bite in the finish. Yet ,it was there under the nose.

End of the day - its a nice beer. It falls flat on its ass for a lager but its a nice beer.

New Beer Sunday everyone! Cheers!!

 

Really is, I couldn't edit but as it warmed this really subtle floral note kept popping up in the aftertaste, thanks again for sending my way. I look forward to that second can when the mood hits and I still have Scatter and Zoigle for the coming weekends.

 

Another raffle prize win from yesterday - Finback’s “Smooth Beats Miami” IPA with coconut:



Pale gold pour; HazyLite body; very good cap retention; spotty plus lace. Strong coconut nose. Mostly coconut with a little coconut grapefruit and pineapple hidden. Medium light body; moderate minus carbonation; no astringency. Overall, the sweet coconut is cloying/verging on a drain pour.

4.25 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.5
Score: 3.72 rDev: -10.8

Unless you really like coconut, this beer is a drain pour. I could not finish the pint. I don’t ever want to drink another coconut flavored IPA again. I love Finback, but for me, this IPA is an abomination.

Sad to end my weekend participation on such a lousy note. Cheers!

 

Day 3, per the Russian River website, this beer has a new recipe and is triple dry-hopped, so I was a little surprised to see the 2024 iteration not as a “new” beer but tagged in the description of the original entry in the BA database (this is the one thing I believe Untappd does a little better than BA - capture these clearly different variants):

Vinnie spent all of 2023 developing a new recipe for Pliny for President 2024. This year’s brew is a Triple Dry-Hopped IPA with strong stone fruit, tropical, citrus, pine and resinous characteristics and weighing in at 7% ABV. Our first release is a pub and online only release on tap and in cans on December 12th, 2023. We plan to brew multiple batches throughout 2024 to help promote Pliny’s campaign for President!

AVAILABILITY
Pliny for President will be released 4 times throughout 2024 and available in our pubs on draft and in cans, online in cans, and for wholesale distribution on draft AND in bottles for the first time!

It’s new to me, so I’m reviewing it “live” as such.





Pours a gorgeous straw color that is nearly clear with a foamy white head that provides a resilient cap to the beer and LOADS of roapy lacing. Absolutely gorgeous WCIPA.

The nose is a sharply dank mix of citrus, resiny pine, and apricot, with some cracker malt I always associate with PtE. There’s also an earthy note I associate with Simcoe, which is my WCIPA sweet spot.

The taste is led by candied orange and resiny pine, with the apricot and earthy flavors mid-palate, and that perfect cracker malt flowing into the quintessential dry mouthfeel this beer demands.

This WCIPA is so flavorful, so smooth and drinkable, so ….. Plinyable. Tippity top world class stuff, IMHO. Rated 4.67