New Beer Weekend #201

New Glarus Brewing Imperial Radler. The look is hazy and murky dark orange ice tea. The smell is grapefruit juice. Very simple. The taste is grapefruit juice with a lemony, lightly-sweet, and bitter finish. It is quite refreshing. I woke up dehydrated, then did my mosh pit training session, so this is very satisfying. The mouthfeel is like a carbonated sports drink. Light, easy-drinking, dry, and smooth, with medium carbonation. Overall, this is a delicious summer beverage, perfect for tailgating, fishing, and chicken toss. With an 8.5% ABV, you have to be careful with this beer. It goes down way too easy.

 

Bad Habit - Maibock

16oz can served in a Monhegan pint glass. Can is not dated as far as I can tell. My can's label says it's 7% abv. Got it from @Victory_Sabre1973 in NBS BIF #18.

Pours clear light amber, brassy undertones, smallish head, moderate active carbonation at rest. Smell is nutty bread, maybe walnut and dark bread. Definite grass with a slight lemon note peeking through.

Earthy bitterness comes through in the flavor, offset nicely with the bready sweetness. Maybe not so much grass now, but some kind of cut green vegetation.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and dry on the palate. Overall, very nice, enjoyable beer.

Got the outgoing beer mostly all packaged up...one more that needs a bit more attention, then some final taping and printing and applying labels. The post office is gonna hate me.

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. Someone, somewhere, apparently threw a switch this week and instantly turned the weather from early Spring to Summer. No complaints in this quarter!

Esker Hart Artisan Ales has been gypsy brewing for several years and some of its beers have been well-received. They recently took over the space previously occupied by Highrail Brewing in High Bridge, New Jersey, a quaint little town located in Hunterdon County, known for its hiking trails. While at the brewery yesterday I had a pour of its coffee-forward Milk Stout, which was superb. They also have an Imperial Stout called Welcome to the Forest that is conditioned on toasted coconut, and Madagascar vanilla beans. I thought it might be pastry-like but it's far more bitter than I anticipated - in a good way.

Poured at 62°. It is nearly ink black in color. The attractive, medium-mocha head dissipated rapidly. Its sweet, aromatic smell includes brown sugar, coconut, vanilla, and dark chocolate. However, the sweetness of the nose gives way to a more bitter flavor. The chocolate is of the baker's variety and there is abundant earthy char and burnt nuts in the background that are softened a bit by the fresh coconut and vanilla bean and just a touch of caramel. Considering the adjuncts this is a very traditional Stout. The mouth feel is pleasantly viscous and creamy with low carbonation, and the 12.5% ABV is quite well hidden with just some mild heat. Overall, I like that Esker Hart avoided the temptation to make this Stout too sweet. It would pair well with a hearty dinner and would be a fine dessert sipper.

3.96/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Esker Hart is off to a very solid start in its new home and I look forward to future visits. For anyone who likes a good walk, the Columbia (rail) Trail has its terminus steps away from the brewery. This is a truly beautiful part of the Garden State and well worth visiting.

I'll be on to new local IPA shortly. Cheers, NBW!

 

We need this in the Bock thread.

 

An unplanned new beer (hanging out on a neighbor's patio and they gave this to me to try). I'm not a big West Coast IPA guy (or IPAs in general) but this is well done.

Lightly hazy orange with a nice, persistent head. Aroma and taste are both straight up pine, with some light malts on the tongue and a very bitter finish. Some citrus notes round out the taste profile, but this is an old school West Coast IPA through and through. While it's not my favorite style, this is well executed.

 

Next up is a somewhat new American IPA from our home town brewers at Autodidact Beer: Free Fall into Foreign Waters. The recipe has been tweaked since the initial release earlier this year. The hop bill is Columbus, Citra, Motueka, Riwaka, and Strata. The grist includes oat, wheat, red wheat, and barley. This is a dry, dank, easy-drinking IPA. It's an early Summer crusher.

It pours an opaque, grassy yellow-orange color with a big cap of flurry, bright white foam and lots of thick, soapy lacing. The nose is floral with lemon, lime, pepper, herbs, and just a whiff of tropical fruit. Its taste opens with big lemon, lime, and grapefruit with dank, grassy, herbal notes from the Strata hops. Strata meets Motueka. The Columbus hops contribute a nice dose of peppery spice. This is no fruit bomb. The wheat and barley provide a dry, crackery base. This ale is lite and crisp with clean bitterness and it's a very easy drinker at 6.2% ABV. Overall, while I'm personally not a big fan of Strata hops, Free Fall is a mellow and easy-drinking American IPA - ideal for drinking with early Summer activities.

4.02/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I hope everyone is enjoying this long weekend while taking time to reflect on our country's history and that we owe our freedom and way of life to the sacrifice of so many of our brothers and sisters. It should humble us all.

 

The Bruery - Chocolate Rain (2014)

750ml capped/waxed bottle served in a little Hoppin' Frog tulip-ish glass. 2014 vintage, #107pt2 12/5/13 15:09 002165 is faintly etched into the glass, label shows it at 18.5% abv. Gift to me by @2beerdogs in a face-to-face meetup which inevitably included an exchange of beer. It is possible that this is associated with NBS BIF #18, but also possibly not.

Pours dark brown, surprisingly not tarry black, with basically zero head on the pour. Nothing emerges afterward, either (which sometimes happens with huge stouts, in my experience). Smell is booze and chocolate. Searching around, I might get a little bit of charred oak and burnt coffee.

Taste is rich, rich chocolate. Booze is noticeable outgassing through the sinuses more than in the flavor itself, which is interesting. I get more toffee and vanilla in the flavor than I would have guessed from the aroma. Maybe some black licorice...but if so, it's fairly subtle.

Mouthfeel is surprisingly light...not to say it's light, it's just not dark matter like I would expect from the style, the brewery, and the abv. Very still, but not offputting. Overall, this is a very good ginormous stout that has stood up to a decade in the bottle quite well.

 

I love me a well executed Table Beer.

4.24/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Batch 2 from June, 2020.

This is a good looking beer. Very light, straw color with excellent clarity and loads of persistent white head that is consistently replenished by the noticeable carbonation. Aroma is lemongrass and freshly mown grass. Overall, the look and smell of this are very, very inviting.

Taste is more lemongrass, and is very light and refreshing. It's not overly complex, nor does it try to be. The saison yeast is working it's charm perfectly here. Well carbonated, and extremely refreshing. At 4% I could drink this all day.

 

Aha! Here we are again good friends. That beautiful, blessed time of the week,:
Sunday evening. New Beer Sunday! With classic family diner fare in the oven of meat pies and roast potato's with mixed vegetables bubbling at a light boil; the only thing missing is an ash try with some Patsy Cline playing overhead.
This, is a fantastic time for a lager beer.
From the bath tubs full of beer that I've brewed to the bath tubs full of beer that I've consumed; one very popular beer has never met my lips till tonight.

With Sunday dinner;

BUD LIGHT

Poured ICE cold from a tall boy can into a shaker pint glass. (4.0% and marked down rather cheap at $2.80 a pint) A light gold colour very bright and similar to brand new construction screws. A thick white office envelope coloured glucose head with microscopic bubbles. The head recessed to half an inch with some cobweb lacing. ICE cold beer here.
Incredibly faint barley malt under the nose with a touch of corn. This beer is so cold I can smell the glass more than the beer. You would need a forensic specialist to pick up on anymore.

With a heroic herculean sized gulp; Light cereal grains with a pinch of caramel on the back end. Bittering hops, no doubt galena ; offer a great compliment to the malting and gives the light lager rather good if not excellent balance. I've brewed with these hops before and they give off a light black pepper finish which is also apparent here.
Bud Light drinks a little heavy for 4.0% when poured and examined like this. But, well you got me on that as all light lagers probably do in complete silence with the lights on high.

Overall with the lights turned back down - its not bad at all for a light lager. I stepped it up a bit and went by the BJCP style guidelines as I found the BA description of light lagers a tad beyond technical and somewhat opinionated.


In the current beer making world where its becoming more and more frequent that brews push past the guidelines; I applaud Bud Light for staying in its lane


Good New Beer Sunday to everyone!

 

I dropped by a brewery outside the city during the week and bought a few new beers. It’s a brewery I used to like, and were taken over by new ownership about 6-8 months back. This is my first go since the new people took over. They used to be a bit more Belgian in orientation. Lots of IPAs on the docket this visit.

This is Illegal Fireworks Session NEIPA from Little Beasts Brewing Co. of Whitby, Ontario.



Pours a lightly cloudy, bright yellow with a loose white head that dissipates slowly.

The aromas are herbal, with a verbena/lemongrass dominance. Bright, but not overtly powerful.

The taste follows closely. Lemony with a broad herbal undertone. An ever so slight hint of dankness on the finish. Lightly flavoured.

The body is light but not watery.

Overall this is a decent low ABV IPA. I tend to like those lemongrass/verbena notes this beer has in spades, so I’d easily enjoy again.

Cheers!

 

Thanks, but I don't know, man. The last few times I had Sly Fox it wasn't great, and lately, there are so many great fresh options around both lagers and IPAs, that I need to slow down, not to get even more beers. In the last few days, I got a 12-pack of Second Fiddle, a 12-pack of Celebration (going strong at 6 months old), a case of Pilsner Urquell, and a few other beers to try. Sly Fox also looks like a special drop, but if I see it somewhere close, I might give it another try anyway, though I doubt it can compete with Jack's Abby, Von Trapp, PU, etc.

 

To be honest when I talk about Sly Fox I mean Pikeland and sometimes Helles.

You’re right too, pricewise it may be higher up by you than here. I enjoy Pikeland more than any other German Pils, except Jever, which seems to have disappeared locally.

We’ll see a shit post on Pikeland next week and then I’ll cry.

 

Happy NBS!

Having a pretty tasty West Coast Style IPA from a local brewery Ramblebine (CO). Pretty nice pineyness.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/59593/703408/?ba=Wasatch#lists

Cheers!

 

What a great opening paragraph, and cool read. I agree with you on BAs description of AAL and I said something similar in a thread a few months back.

I really wish I wasn't afraid of losing another box in shipping to you, Tonewood does this awesome lemongrass witbier each year and I love it...I'm guessing you would too.

Mrs. Phisher just made our summer ice tea with our lemon verbena from the garden too, maybe I should ship as well

 

Ship it to me, I will drive it across the border and ship "domestically"
Dammit, I owe @Coronaeus a LOT

 

We both do, let’s just fly to Toronto with checked bags throw some duffle bags at his door and run.

Then take him out for beer and food the next day…let him sweat a little about who the hell through duffel bags of beer at his house.

 

On it. Let's coordinate.

 

Jester King MR. Mingo Hibiscus Saison ( I think Oklahoma gets all their trash for the most part ) 4.8% ABV; 3.43 overall

My can is 4.8% ABV

Poured from a can. Gusher! Once under control, I get a hazy honey color with a pinky of beige head. Decent head retention & lacing

S: Mown hay, some grainy notes. some tartness & a kiss of grapefruit

T: Hibicus tea, lime, tangerine & grassy notes, some tartness & a kiss of grapefruit dryness up front. Grassy, some soapy notes, more hibiscus & slight tartness as this beer is warmed up. Hints of limes, salt & Hibiscus in the finish, dryness as well

MF: Medium body. slight carbonation. Carbonation builds as this beer warms up, body vanishes

Not wowing me, Drinkability is meh. I like my Saisons more traditional. This can is a year old & that ain't helping

 

You know what, sunshine has gotten to me…too hot, too humid, I want my cool nights back. In fact instead of sipping on sunshine I’d rather be in some Dark Hollow where the sun don’t ever shine!

This is a beer from @cjgiant and I chose this one to sip on tonight, had a pils while grilling and felt like sipping on something nice and slow on this Sunday evening.

Blue Mountain - Dark Hallow (Imperial Stout 10%)



Pours black, tried to rouse a nice head with pour; a decent creamy looking light brown head form and had decent staying power considering the style, a nice little layer persists for a long while.

Nose at first, when cold, showed mostly char, roast, and oak; as it warms there is some dark chocolate, with hints of something licorice like.

Taste similarly has some nice char and roast to it, one thing I do notice is a nice and noticeable dose of oak; dry spicy wood that bites on the finish; pairs quite well with the dark chocolate that shows more and more as it warms.

Body is medium-high; some would say to thin but I like it, and it has a creamy carbonation that helps it drink silky smooth; high roast bitterness on the finish, the 10% is almost entirely hidden except for a light nasal bourbon warmth.

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Have a lovely evening and week friends!! I'm gonna go hang in my dark hollow, cause there's no place I'd rather be right now. Thanks for this lovely beer @cjgiant it really hit the spot tonight...see you all next weekend.

 

Samuel Smith Imperial Stout

7.9% Russian Imperial Stout

Poured from a twelve ounce bottle, the body is an opaque black with mocha colored head. Solid lacing.

Aroma has light notes of chocolate and dark fruits, fig and raisin.

Taste is lighter than anticipated as the malt is not dominant. Following nose, notes of dark fruit and a bit of chocolate. No big roasty notes or much bitterness. Perhaps my tastes run excessive, but that's how I like my stouts. I'm sure this beer is loved.

Mouthfeel is okay and carbonation solid. A bit more heft in the body would be nice for me, but it drinks easy. Compare with a stout with a light feel that I enjoy: Blackout Stout by Great Lakes (regular, not the barrel aged version). ABV is masked in taste but felt.

An easy drinking stout that is not bold enough for my personal tastes.